Overview of first session

So while we're going through all the talk that I already saw once today, I'm going to give a bit of an overview of what we heard this afternoon so you don't necessarily have to go through every single entry.

Probably about 55 people or so spoke this afternoon. Many were prominent figures from Tupper Lake — ARISE heads and volunteers, municipal leaders, business owners — but there were definitely a few regular Tupper Lakers who spoke as well — seasonal and permanent residents. There were people from out of town — Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Black Brook, to name a few, including Saranac Lake village Mayor Clyde Rabideau and Trustee Allie Pelletieri. There were even ski industry people from out of the area.

The vast majority of the people who spoke this afternoon were in favor of the project. They talked about the poor economy in Tupper Lake. They expressed concern that too many jobs here are reliant on the state, which is precarious right now, so those jobs could easily and suddenly disappear. They reminisced about times they've had on the ski slope, in the past and since it has reopened on a volunteer basis last winter. They've said they hope the ACR will mean young people will have opportunities in Tupper Lake and won't have to move away. And they've expressed a lot of frustration over the influence of environmental groups over the APA hearing process, accusing them of stalling the project for the majority of the seven years since the project was introduced.

Two people spoke with concern about the project. David Gibson, of Adirondack Wild, a party to the adjudicatory hearing, talked about environmental issues and said the project needs to be redesigned before it should be given a permit. And a new Lake Placid business owner said he wants the project to be passed, but he has some concerns about it and said he hopes it will be regulated under watchful eyes.

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