BANGOR (AP) – The owner of Big Squaw Mountain Resort is looking to expand a ski area outside Greenville into a four-season draw for the Moosehead Lake region.

Jim Confalone has told the staff of the Land Use Regulation Commission that his short-term plans include construction of about 200 condominiums at the resort, upgrades to the existing hotel and base lodge and improvements to the ski lift.

Longer-term, a consultant said in a letter to LURC that Confalone would like to build an 18-hole golf course, two new hotels and conference centers, single-family homes and a train station near the resort.

Confalone is requesting a pre-application meeting with LURC staff to discuss his short-term and long-term plans for the resort that he has owned since the mid-1990s.

“In the coming months, Mr. Confalone will work with teams of professionals to collect data on existing conditions, prepare the application for the first phase of development and develop a comprehensive long-range plan,” wrote Tom Farmer, an associate with the landscaping and architectural planning firm Terrence J. DeWan and Associates of Yarmouth.

“We are confident that the eventual plan will be a sound and environmentally sensitive approach for future growth at Big Squaw Mountain Resort.”

The resort on what is now called Big Moose Mountain, located on Route 15 a few miles west of downtown Greenville, currently offers 33 miles of ski trails.

Confalone owns more than 6,500 acres on Big Moose Mountain and along the nearby shores of Moosehead Lake. Currently, 925 acres surrounding the resort are zoned for general development.

Piscataquis County commissioners on Tuesday discussed discontinuing winter maintenance of the access road to Big Squaw Mountain because of uncertainty over the resort.

John Simko, the Greenville town manager, said the resort owner’s plan, if completed, would be a “tremendous benefit” to the region.

“It’s something that we have all hoped for and wanted in that location for decades,” Simko said.

Plum Creek Timber Co. has proposed building an 800-accommodation resort not far away. LURC will consider those resort plans this fall as part of its review of Plum Creek’s larger Moosehead Lake development plan.

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