Catching up: Polls, controversy and other stuff

Alright, I know it’s been a while since I posted here. Like, probably almost a month.

That obviously hasn’t been for a lack of things to write about, that’s for sure. I was just a little burnt out on the whole thing after the hearings, I took a little bit of time off and, to be honest, I was avoiding it because I think some of the rhetoric got a little out of control for a while, as it has at times.

But let’s recap: First of all, my last post was on a reader poll we were doing asking whether the project should be approved now that the hearings are over. The results: There were 905 votes, and 70 percent of people said yes, while 28 percent said no and 3 percent were undecided.

Then at the end of June, Mayor Mickey Desmarais launched a salvo at developers looking for guarantees on Big Tupper. There was a swift, unified response from project supporters decrying the action, but there were also some quieter, more reserved people who said they appreciated that Desmarais was asking questions. Probably the people with the best point against Desmarais were planning board members, who said it’s within their jurisdiction, not the village board’s, to look for that sort of guarantee for developers. Planning board members had discussed providing for such guarantees, but they said it’s premature to start making demands about it.

In the midst of all this discussion, Paul Maroun, an ardent resort supporter, won pretty handily the Democratic Party’s endorsement in his race against Desmarais for village mayor.

At July’s APA meeting, commissioners said they’re looking to do a three-month review, which is outside the standard project review clock but Preserve Associates developers have agreed to as long as its complete and a decision is made by the end of January.

The following day of the APA meeting, board Chairman Curt Stiles announced he’s done at the end of August. After that, Brian Mann did this story questioning how Stiles’ departure would affect the ACR decision. I had been mulling my own version of the story and am still trying to get around to it. Hopefully that will come soon.

Besides all that, we’re waiting for Judge O’Connell’s decision on how long he’s going to allow for closing briefs and responses to them.

OK, I think now we’re up to speed. Most of you know most of this already, I’m sure, but since I have been out of touch, I wanted to review. Feel free to comment away!

Hope everyone's having a lovely summer.

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