Getting back into the ACR process

I've been taking a bit of a break from this blog lately, mainly because not a lot has been going on the ACR front. But now things are starting to ramp back up, so I figured I should get a post up now!

So the biggest news lately is the closing briefs being submitted. The APA argued that concerns presented in the adjudicatory hearing on the economic viability of the project are irrelevant, because the law doesn't require that economic benefits be a certainty, just that they're possible.

Reply briefs are due at 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. Hopefully I'll get those in quicker and have a story on them the following day or the day after that. I had some trouble getting copies of the closing briefs.

This Friday, APA commissioners are going to be doing a site visit of the ACR property. Media and members of the public are allowed to come, but they can't communicate with commissioners due to ex parte rules, which limit the information commissioners receive to what is part of the hearing record and tries to bar side conversations that could skew their opinions/votes one way or the other. I'll be there, and hopefully it will be a decent day and I can get some pretty pictures.

Also, I'm working on interviewing all the people running for the two town council and two village trustee seats that are open in Tupper Lake, and obviously they each have opinions about the ACR. Some of the candidates include David Tomberlin, Cliff Levers and Rick Donah, who have been instrumental to the ARISE initiative of opening up Big Tupper on a mostly volunteer basis and vocal supporters of the ACR. I have yet to talk to some of the people I don't know as well about their positions on the project, but those stories should be published towards the end of this week or the beginning of next. (It's tough to wrangle eight candidates all in one week!)

Of course, since I haven't heard of any strong write-in campaign, it looks like Paul Maroun will be taking over as mayor in December after Mickey Desmarais decided not to run again.

Things are starting into motion.

Feel free to comment on any or all of these topics or anything else you think is ACR related and should be part of the conversation right now!

Edit: I had originally been thinking that the new mayor starts in January, but Maroun wrote to me to correct me that he'll start at the board's first meeting in December. Sorry 'bout that!

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