HUNDREDS TURN OUT FOR HEARING ON BIG TUPPER PROJECT

The reopening of Big Tupper Ski Area as part of a controversial 700-unit resort project will turn around a town that’s fallen on hard times and is desperate for real economic development.

That’s what some of the Adirondack Club and Resort’s supporters said during an Adirondack Park Agency legislative hearing last night at a packed Tupper Lake High School Auditorium.

Peter Day, former owner of the ski center, asked people to take a ride around the community. “Take a good look at how little traffic and activity there is in Tupper Lake,” he said.  “It is in desperate shape.  We desperately need Big Tupper Ski Center open.  We desperately need the accompanying development and added tax base this project will bring.”

Other speakers feared for the future of Tupper Lake without the resort.  Dan McClelland is publisher and owner of the Tupper Lake Free Press. “I would encourage you all to look favorably on this project,” he said.  “Without this development, I shudder to think what the future holds for Tupper Lake.”

The comments come at a critical point in the review of the three year-old project.

The APA board is scheduled to decide next month whether to approve the plans or send it to an adjudicatory hearing that would include testimony from witnesses, cross-examination and a judge who ultimately makes a recommendation to the agency board.

Last night’s legislative hearing was meant to give commissioners an idea of what the public thinks of the plans.

The loudest applause was for those speakers who supported the project.  Many shared personal stories of growing up skiing at Big Tupper – an opportunity they feared won’t be around for the next generation.

But others had lingering concerns about the developer’s financing, a proposed PILOT program and possible impacts on water quality, the backcountry and the small town character of Tupper Lake. 

Peter O’Shea said the project would cause dramatic changes to the environment, economy and social structure of the region. “Not to subject this proposal to the scrutiny of a full adjudicatory hearing would be a dereliction of duty on the part of the park agency and a grave disservice to the people of the Adirondacks,” he said.

Several speakers encouraged the public not to jump on the project’s bandwagon just because they want to see the ski area reopen.

Susan Delehanty said the desperation many people feel has made them vulnerable. “It has become our Achilles heel,” she said.  “There are those who feel that whatever the developer wants we should give it to him without question or he’ll take his money elsewhere.”

Representatives of several Adirondack environmental groups pushed for the project to go to an adjudicatory hearing so “hard questions” could be asked.

But supporters like Randy Jones said it was time to move ahead. “The time for endless questions and doubts is over,” he said. “If you’re questions have not been answered in the past three years then you really don’t want to know the answers.  Lets let Mr. Foxman build this resort and let Tupper Lake live up to its potential.”

Following the hearing, lead developer Michael Foxman said many of the questions raised by the project’s opponents “were irrelevant or had been answered already.”

As for the requests for an adjudicatory hearing, Foxman said it would be of no use. “That really means ‘let’s have a fishing expedition and delay it as long as we can,’” he said.  “I think the park agency has all the information it needs.  But that’s its decision and it will have to decide.”

Foxman has spent $5 million on the project so far.  “We’ll keep at it, as long as it makes sense to,” he said.

While some 400 people attended last night’s hearing, another 100 showed up for a technical presentation of the project earlier in the day at the Harrietstown Town Hall in Saranac Lake.

The LA Group, the lead consultants for the developers, outlined the project to the APA board over four hours.  Among other things, agency members asked questions about the proposed great camp lots, lighting and the number of units involved in the project.

REPORT: PERRYMAN’S ACTIONS ‘DECEITFUL’

The hearing officer who recommended the Village of Saranac Lake terminate Police Chief Donald Perryman Jr. says he “engaged in willful, deceitful conduct.”

“Chief Perryman’s conduct has undoubtedly eroded the public trust and caused a negative impact on the integrity of the Saranac Lake Police Department, thereby shaking its foundation,” reads the document, which the village provided to the media Wednesday in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The report, detailing events surrounding an October 2005 car crash involving a pair of the department’s officers, was the basis for the village board’s unanimous decision to fire Perryman Tuesday night.

Its release also marks the first time the village’s specific charges against Perryman – misconduct and incompetence – have been made public. 

Robert Hite ultimately found Perryman guilty of 12 separate misconduct allegations while finding him not-guilty of 14 instances of incompetence.

The report also rejects all five defense arguments made by Perryman’s attorney, Greg LaDuke of Lake Placid. 

Among other things, LaDuke had argued the village failed to properly train and supervise its employees, including Perryman.  He had also argued that the village wanted to discipline the chief because he filed a lawsuit against the village over a failed attempt to remove him in 2000.

But Hite, the hearing officer, found no proof that the village improperly trained or supervised Perryman.  And he found no evidence that the village decided to discipline Perryman because he filed the lawsuit.

Instead, Hite said the chief “engaged in a deliberate course of conduct to prevent State Police from thoroughly investigating the accident.”

If he had simply ordered a breathalyzer test for his officers and given a responding State Trooper the chance to speak with them “it would have prevented substantial controversy, embarrassment and mistrust of the Saranac Lake Police Department that resulted from the conduct of the chief and other members of the department,” reads the report.

Perryman and LaDuke have yet to respond to several phone calls and messages.

Asked yesterday how the members of the police department were handling the news of Perryman’s firing, Acting Police Chief Dick Depuy said the reaction was mixed.  “Some of the people here worked with him a long time and they feel sorry for him,” he said.  “I feel sorry for him too.  He made a mistake and now he has to live with it.”

Depuy says he’ll serve as interim chief until a permanent replacement is selected by the village board. 

H-TOWN RESOLUTION URGES NCCC TO STAY IN SARANAC LAKE

The Town of Harrietstown Board is scheduled to consider and will most likely pass a resolution at its meeting tonight urging officials from North Country Community College to keep their main campus in Saranac Lake.

“The Harrietstown Town Board is requesting the college Board of Trustees make it their priority to expand the campus in Saranac Lake and exhaust all possibilities before considering moving the campus from its present location,” reads the resolution proposed by Councilman Howard Riley.

Riley said he was surprised when he first heard the college is considering moving to the former Upstate Biotechnology property in Lake Placid. “I think Saranac Lake deserves to keep the college here,” he said.  “The idea originated here with Dr. Anthony Gedroiz and William Meyer.  My feeling is just because the idea originated here and it was established here because of all the hard work of the citizens of Saranac Lake that it ought to stay here.”

At a meeting last month, the college board of trustees narrowed its focus for the future of the main campus to either staying in Saranac Lake or moving to Lake Placid.  Surging enrollment and a lack of room for growth on the Saranac Lake site have been cited as the reasons why the college is looking elsewhere

Riley said one possibility the college board should consider is the Village of Saranac Lake’s ten acre sand pit – a property once sought by Wal-Mart that’s contiguous to the college campus.  The town’s resolution asks the village board to contact the college board about making the sand pit site available for the college’s expansion.  “It’s a perfect site,” Riley said.

The impacts for Saranac Lake, if the college leaves, are tremendous, Riley said. “It’s very, very serious,” he said.  “I don’t think people know.  I wish I could quote the millions of dollars that means to the economy here.  That’s why need a dialogue with the board – whether it’s the mayor, the supervisor, the head of the chamber.”

Riley said he thinks his fellow board members will support the resolution.

College officials are scheduled to discuss their plans with representatives of Franklin and Essex Counties in a special meeting today.  The sponsoring counties would have to approve and help fund any expansion or relocation plan.

PROPERTY TAXES DISCUSSED AT LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST

Nearly 100 people turned out Wednesday morning at the Hotel Saranac to hear the region’s politicians address key issues facing the area at a Legislative Breakfast hosted by the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Saranac Lake Rotary Club.

State Senator Betty Little and Assemblywomen Teresa Sayward and Janet Duprey told the audience of local leaders and businesspeople that property tax reform was the most pressing issue facing the state.

Little said she’s supporting a “circuit breaker” bill that would base a person’s taxes on their income. She said a recently formed commission has been tasked with finding ways to ease the burden of property taxes. “This is what we’re promoting - getting back to the circuit breaker but one that’s very meaningful,” she said. “And I know this commission sounds like pie in the sky but you have to consensus throughout the state as to what is a significant change and what is going to be beneficial throughout the state that we can get passed throughout the state.”

The legislators also said they were cautiously optimistic with promises made in Governor Eliot Spitzer’s state of the state address.

Sayward was happy the governor mentioned striking a balance between protection of the environment and spurring growth in the Adirondacks.  But first, he has to better understand the region, she said. “He needs to understand that right now with the makeup of the land there’s very little land left for us to grow and to build on,” she said. “He has to work with us to help refine some of the rules and regulations at the Adirondack Park Agency to make it a little bit easier to through the permitting process which scares so many of our businesses away.”  

The legislators also fielded questions from the audience.

Harrietstown Supervisor Larry Miller asked what could be done to get the state to pay more for the land it has acquired over the years. “In the Town of Harrietstown the state owns 70-percent of the land and they only pay 15-percent of the taxes,” he said. “We don’t have a problem with them buying up the property, but I think they should pay their fair share.”

“Certainly I’d like to see (the state) not buy one more acre,” responded Sayward. But if more land deals happen, a dialogue should take place with town leaders to ensure portions could be developed, she said.

Others asked questions about income tax, broadband access and health insurance.

Vernon James, Rescue Chief for the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department pushed the legislators to enact a bill that would allow the village’s ambulance squad to bill for services.

Little said statewide legislation had been introduced but failed to gain “traction.” She recommended they push for a law of their own. “It may be best to look at doing a specific bill,” she said. “I don’t know if you want to do it countywide or try to do it specifically for certain fire departments.”

After the forum, Lake Placid Mayor Jamie Rogers said he was pleased with much of what the legislators had to say.  But, he said, there may be simpler ways to fix the property tax problem, like increasing state aid to municipalities.

“I’m not as excited about changing the system and coming up with as many new programs as much as I’m interested in trying to fix the problem that currently exists,” he said.  “The Tri-Lakes adopted a joint resolution to look at AIM funding.  That’s a very simple fix for property tax relief and something I believe should happen.”

The Albany representatives held a legislative breakfast last year in Plattsburgh.

FIRE DAMAGES WELLSCROFT LODGE IN UPPER JAY

A lodge on Route 9N in Upper Jay was damaged by fire this morning.

Firefighters from Jay, Upper Jay, Wilmington and Keene were called to the Wellscroft Lodge, owned by Randy Stanley, at 7:04 a.m. this morning.  Tanker trucks from Keene Valley, Ausable and Lake Placid also responded.

It took about 2000 to 2500 gallons of water to extinguish the small blaze in the attic of the building. 

A spokesman for the Upper Jay fire department says they were able to contain the fire to the third floor.  No significant structural damage was reported, though the structure sustained some smoke and water damage.

The cost of repairs was estimated at approximately $10,000.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but the fire department spokesman said it’s believed to be an accidental electrical fire.

Stanley was home at the time of the blaze.  No injuries were reported.

Firefighters had returned to their stations by approximately 10:45 a.m.

POLICE REPORT

Tupper Lake Village Police charged a 17 year-old female from Tupper Lake with violation of parole at 12:47 a.m. this morning.  Police say the teenager, whose name was not released, was arrested on a bench warrant.  She was arraigned and sent to the Franklin County Jail without bail, pending a January 22 appearance in village court.

Saranac Lake Police charged 21 year-old Kerri L. Borden of Lake Placid with unlawful possession of marijuana at 5:30 p.m. yesterday.  Police say she was stopped for a vehicle and traffic infraction and allegedly found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana.  Borden was released on an appearance ticket.