Green group demands info about Tupper Lake ARISE project
The adjudicatory hearing is set to resume for the Adirondack Club and Resort project in Tupper Lake, possibly as early as next month.
As part of that process the various parties are filing “discovery” motions, demanding information about the project.
Jim LaValley, with the non-profit group ARISE — which supports the resort and restarted the Big Tupper ski mountain last year using volunteers — says he was troubled to learn that one environmental group was seeking information about his organization.
“We’re not a party to the hearing,” LaValley said. “I don’t understand what [ARISE] has to do with the ten items that are being adjudicated.”
He said the request was part of a “cloud of threat” hanging over the project from environmental groups, which hope to see the project blocked or heavily modified.
“There was an air of whether there was collusion and of whether ARISE has commenced the project on behalf of the Adirondack Club,” LaValley said.
ARISE operates the ski hill based on a temporary permit issued by the Adirondack park Agency.
The request for information was made by the group Protect the Adirondacks, which has formed a legal defense fund to help pay for its opposition to the resort.
“We asked for any documents regarding that relationship,” said John Caffry, an attorney in Glens Falls who sits on Protect’s board.
“Not necessarily because we thought there was anything wrong about it. But one of the things that we’re looking at is the financing of the project and the operation or potential operation of the ski area in the future. We just wanted to see what those documents might reveal about those subjects.”
Caffry described the request as routine:
“It’s not that we had any particular problems with ARISE or their operation of the ski area…When you’re reviewing something like this, the more pieces of the puzzle you have, the more you understand what’s going on, how the project might work.”
I’d be more interested in reviewing the books of all the green groups allegedly working in the best interests of the Park. Note I did not say “the people” of the Park, for they are not interested in us.
The green groups are not interested in the human economy any more than ARISE is interested in preserving the wilderness. But ARISE is lobbying for the big real estate development and running the ski slope. Its probably reasonable to think there is some kind of relationship there. Not sure what difference it would make one way or the other.
It only seems suspicious because LaValley has taken a defensive posture, suggesting that there is something to hide.
LaValley is also a real estate salesman and this is a huge real estate development. He presumably has something to gain as well.
I am not sure what I may have said that would be considered a defensive posture. As a matter of fact, I have always offered an open door to discuss the relationship that ARISE has with the principals of the ACR. When ARISE applied for an APA permit to operate the ski area, I made it clear to the Agency that we would be transparent with all of our dealings, and that we would hide nothing. They were satisfied that there was no collusion, or that our work was in any way, commencing the ACR project. I will continue to tell people that we have nothing to hide, and I am available to discuss ARISE, whenever. What concerns me is the manner in which Mr. Caffry is going about raising the issue. In my opinion, it is a simple case of intentional stall. There would be no comparison between the way the volunteer group ARISE has handled the financial operation of Big Tupper vs. the way the paid employee based ACR will handle it. .
As far as being a real estate broker, I’m guilty. Having been born and raised in Tupper Lake, I have seen the community landscape change in a way that is concerning. There will be a number of businesses and individuals who stand to gain. And, hopefully before it’s too late. Not sure why that might be viewed as a negative.
Every small business within 50 miles of Tupper Lake will benefit from this project. Mr Foxman has far more patience than I would with this process and constant road blocks put up by organizations who’s employees are paid with money coming from anywhere BUT the Adirondacks. How many other developers have come forward want to re-open Big Tupper Ski Area? Allow me to answer..None. Why? Because you need people, to draw people there has to be somewhere for them to stay. It is not rocket science, unlike the process the resort is being force to follow.
To get a bit more of an idea of where ARISE is coming from (they are not just a bunch of volunteers trying to open Big Tupper), this guest commentary and letter to the editor in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise are worth reading (http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/522394/We-can-do-the-math.html?nav=5041) and (http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/522466/How-do-public-worker-unions-feel-about-NY-s–30M-easement-.html?nav=5005). ARISE is as much a political action group as any of the environmental groups and has a very specific mission: to support Michael Foxman and his development. Quite frankly, they should all be forthcoming and transparent with their involvement on whatever side of the issue they fall. They become very suspect otherwise.