TUPPER LAKE — The town and village boards have passed resolutions requesting that they keep the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism as their marketing organization as the Franklin County Local Development Corporation takes over the county’s tourism contract.

The two municipalities have also requested that the county allocate $45,000 in occupancy tax revenue to help them pay for ROOST’s services.

The resolutions passed do not actually put these requests into action. They are just proposals and have to be agreed upon by the LDC board.

The LDC was awarded the Franklin County tourism contract in December 2019. ROOST had previously held that contract for five years. ROOST submitted a bid initially, but the county rejected it. During the second round of bids, ROOST didn’t submit anything, and the LDC stepped in as the county’s tourism marketer.

The municipal leaders in Tupper Lake said they want to stay with ROOST because it is “established” as the tourism marketing group.

“We have invested so much time and energy with ROOST,” village Mayor Paul Maroun said.

Local leaders said during their six years with ROOST the community has developed a brand identity that has been enthusiastically adopted by residents and businesses.

“We don’t want to give up all the good stuff we have on tupperlake.com,” town Supervisor Patti Littlefield said.

They also said they think ROOST has the infrastructure to keep that brand going strong.

“I think ROOST has been with us for a long time now, and they know our structure,” village board Trustee David “Haji” Maroun said. “I think it’s a good thing to stay with ROOST.”

The LDC is led by Jeremy Evans of Saranac Lake, who is also CEO of the Franklin County Industrial Development Agency. He said Littlefield and Maroun, who is also a Franklin County legislator, had requested a meeting between the organization and the municipalities. Evans said he thinks this is an “appropriate outcome.” He said he understands the municipalities’ concerns.

“It’s change,” Evans said. “When any of us thinks something is going well and somebody wants to change it, there can come an understandable level of frustration and uncertainty.”

Evans said he believes the LDC has a good plan to market Franklin County and the communities in it, and he hopes his and ROOST’s visions align well.

To keep ROOST, the municipalities are requesting that the LDC, through the IDA, allocate some of the county bed tax money to pay ROOST.

The village and town of Tupper Lake have each contributed around $10,000 a year to the Tupper Lake-ROOST contract in the past, Maroun said, and the town of Piercefield contributes around $5,000. With the county’s $45,000, the annual total comes to around $70,000. That total and the contributed numbers will remain around the same going forward.

Maroun said Tupper Lake will keep Katie Stuart, its ROOST regional marketing manager.

ROOST CEO Jim McKenna said he is glad to be moving forward with Tupper Lake.

The combination LDC-IDA board meets next on March 18 and Evans said they will be discussing and firming up future plans.