Public rallies in support of Tupper Lake resort

Here's George Earl's report on yesterday's Adirondack Club & Resort public hearings:

The L.P. Quinn Elementary School cafeteria was packed Wednesday afternoon during public hearings over the proposed Adirondack Club & Resort project in Tupper Lake.

Dozens of community members, business owners, politicians and other leaders from throughout the Adirondacks spoke during the hearings. The overwhelming majority were in support of the Adirondack Club and Resort project proposed for the Big Tupper ski area.

Melissa McManus of the Tupper Lake Revitalization Committee asked the state Adirondack Park Agency to send a message that “appropriate development can happen here, that Adirondacks are still open for business and that there is in fact hope for Adirondack communities like Tupper Lake.”

Update on future status of the VICs (the Paul Smiths facility anyway)

It’s been about five months since Governor David Paterson’s executive budget called for the closure of two Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Centers.

Since then, numerous leaders and advocacy organizations have come together to discuss ways of keeping the popular destinations open in some form.

So far, the efforts have largely been headed up by the Adirondack Park Institute. At this week’s annual Conference on the Adirondacks, an event staged by the Adirondack Research Consortium, officials showcased a conceptual design for what’s being dubbed the Center for Outdoor Life, an extension of the VICs that focuses on outdoor recreation, research and education.

Meanwhile, officials from the APA and Paul Smith’s College are working on a memorandum of understanding that would result in the sale of state-owned VIC facilities to the college.

Valentino to replace Townsend on APA Board

Those of you who follow the Adirondack Park Agency will want to tune in for tomorrow's broadcast.

Jon Alexander has penned a story on the appointment of F. William Valentino to one of the out-of-park APA Board of Commissioners seats.

Valentino is the former president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Fire towers may stay put

The Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners met today at their headquarters in Ray Brook. I've posted below portions of the text from Jon Alexander's story regarding the fire towers on St. Regis and Hurricane mountains (the full story will air tomorrow and appear on the website, too):

Adirondack Park Agency commissioners directed agency staff Thursday to find a way to let the fire towers remain atop St. Regis and Hurricane mountains – provided that a non-taxpayer-based funding source for their upkeep can be found.

Located in a state-owned Primitive and Canoe areas, both towers are considered non-conforming structures under the current draft of the State Land Master Plan.

Sheehan, Valesky do battle over Hornbeck

The battle to get Minerva boat-builder Peter Hornbeck seated on the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners has gone public in central New York as Democratic state Senator David Valesky and Adirondack Council spokesman John Sheehan are trading jabs in the region’s press.

On Monday, Sheehan blasted Valesky in his own district’s largest newspaper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, for his role in stalling Hornbeck’s appointment.

Sheehan noted that the Democrat’s lack of support for Hornbeck’s nomination is at-least partially the result of the complaints of a member of the minority opposition party, Republican Senator Betty Little.

“What is New York State Sen. David Valesky thinking? At the request of a minority-party senator who doesn’t even live in the Adirondack Park, he is opposing the governor’s latest nominee to the Adirondack Park Agency,” Sheehan writes.

And he didn’t hesitate to take a shot at Little either.

Senate Finance Committee appointment hearings backlogged months

If recent history is any indication, the pending appointment of Peter Hornbeck to the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners could take some time.

On Tuesday, the state Senate Finance Committee approved 24 gubernatorial nominations of would-be agency commissioners plucked to serve on state boards ranging from the Buffalo and Fort Erie Bridge Commission to the Empire State Plaza Art Commission.

Written In Stone?

After nearly four decades, environmental groups and local governments are ready to take a risk and reopen the ever-divisive state Land Master Plan.

Over the last several months, calls for reopening the SLMP have grown louder.
The SLMP outlines acceptable and non-acceptable uses on state lands based on the land-use designation ascribed to it by the Adirondack Park Agency.

It also outlines if man-made structures are allowed or not on state land of a given designation.

Historically, both local governments and green groups have balked at the notion of reopening the SLMP out of fear that it could go bad for them, one way or another.

A DEC proposal to amend the Unit Management plans for the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area and the St. Regis Mountain Canoe Area is yet another example of a situation that could call for SLMP amendments.

The proposed UMP amendments would require the demolition of the two fire towers in the areas, something that local officials argue is tantamount to selectively gutting the region's cultural history.

Some environmentalists are quick to point out that structures like fire towers are antithetical to the concept of Wilderness and therefore should be removed.

APA Chairman Curt Stiles has repeatedly argued that SLMP amendments aren't that pressing of an issue. He instead would prefer to see the agency's operating procedures revised through either new legislation or amendments to the APA Act itself.

So here's the question: After nearly 40 years, is it time to reopen the SLMP or is Stiles correct in saying that APA operating reform is of greater importance? If it is time to dive into the SLMP, what would you like to see changed?