Town board forms its own committee to explore recreational opportunities of Mt. Morris acres

by Dan McClelland

The Tupper Lake Town Board Tuesday formed a citizens' advisory committee to explore recreational opportunities on Mt. Morris should the town be permitted to purchase the 600 plus-acre parcel on which the now closed Big Tupper Ski Center is situated.

Over a year ago, as part of its mission to improve Tupper Lake economy through the development and promotion of recreational facilities and assets here, the Tupper Lake Business Group created its own Mt. Morris/Big Tupper recreation park committee to encourage and help the town promote hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and back-country skiing there.

The business group has lobbied county lawmakers, with the help of Legislator Paul Maroun, to consider selling those acres to the town, should the property go to county foreclosure for non-payment of back property taxes. The town board late last year embraced that plan.

The group's members also met several times last fall with Mike Foxman, one of the partners of the Big Tupper LLC which owns the property, to secure his permission to lease those acres to the town, as he does acres just above the golf course where the town's nordic trail system was expanded. Mr. Foxman has been very amenable to the newest plan in order to help the community.

The lease discussion with Mr. Foxman has continued informally in recent weeks with Town Attorney Kirk Gagnier and Councilman Rick Donah.

The TLBG Big Tupper committee was chaired by Rick Donah and Rob Gillis. That chairmanship arrangement will continue in the new town board group, as will most of the members who served on it.

Introducing the idea last week Deputy Supervisor Mary Fontana said the new town group would be an advisory one made up of town and village residents “with participation from experts and professionals with a working knowledge of business and recreation to come together to explore the idea of approaching Mr. Foxman to allow public use of the Big Tupper property for specific recreations.”

She turned the discussion over to Councilman Donah, who is the only town board member on the new committee.

“This is something I feel very strongly about,” he told his colleagues that evening.

He pointed to several reasons for that. “Going back in Tupper Lake's history we all know the generations of people who grew up here and who understood how valuable the Big Tupper Ski Area was to the community! -And how much it still means to quite a few people here and who live elsewhere!”

He said the ski center unfortunately has been idle for many years. “There was an effort (through ARISE) that many of us participated in as volunteers tried to resurrect it from 2010 to 2015. There was very little snow any of those years. “Unfortunately, it just wasn't sustainable!”

“We all know the circumstances involving the Adirondack Club Resort piece of this, but the ski area itself has large value to the community as a recreational area.”

“I am hopeful with the development of this committee, which has really been meeting informally for about a year and with participation from former Supervisor Patti Littlefield,” a lease for those Mt. Morris lands can be inked.

He said the new town committee will be charged with exploring all the options to bringing four-season recreation back to those lands.

The new councilman said he hopes the new advisory group can devise what he called “a long-term vision” for recreational use of those mountain lands, not just at Big Tupper but below it on Mt. Morris where the excellent James C. Frenette cross-country ski trail network has been created.

“We already have a beautiful recreational foot print” on Mt. Morris and new recreational opportunities developed farther up the mountain at Big Tupper will just add to that.

The new advisory group was dubbed by Mr. Donah as the “Mountain Rec Park” committee. He said its mission will be to “encapsulate all the activities we can develop up there, with the help of Mr. Foxman.”

“Our aim will be to create a major recreational asset there!”

He said as the committee co-chair, he will report monthly to the other elected officials on the town board.

“It will be intense...there are many things we will have to research. -And we want to do this the right way!”

Continuing on from the TLBG group will be Rosie Littlefield, whose family has a wealth of ski industry experience, retired Coca-Cola executive Charlie Frenette, Matt Ellis, who is with the Coldwell-Banker Whitbeck, and Free Press owner Dan McClelland.

New on the committee is Village Trustee Ron LaScala, Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce President Jocelyn Law, Building Contractor Jim Frenette Jr., Scott Brandy, president of the state ski area association and a man who brings decades of ski industry experience to the group and Eric “Shakey” Lanthier, a volunteer on the town ski trail maintenance team and a lifelong skier.

“I think we have a great make-up of people on what I think will be a very active committee exploring opportunities” for the Mt. Morris acres, Mr. Donah told his colleagues.

Ahead for the committee's discussions will be research of the insurance necessary for the outdoor activities proposed there to protect the town and the property owners, he noted.

Among the activities that could be staged there are hiking, biking, cross-country and back country skiing, snowshoeing and picnicking, as well as community events.

“As next steps we'll be focussing on developing policies and an operating plan. At this point there won't be a significant investment by the town, because so far we are only talking about the cost of insurance,” he explained.

“We're not talking about re-opening the ski area. That's not on our agenda! I just wanted to make that clear!”

“Our focus will be instead on the basic recreational opportunities!”

“This committee is organized for the purpose of creating and marketing recreational opportunities on or around the dormant Big Tupper Ski Area!”

“Improving our community's quality of life and promoting abundant activities for our youth are, in my view, our priorities No. 1.” he asserted.

He said while the new group will function independently from the town board, it will collaborate regularly and vigorously with the town's elected officials.

He said the charge of the new group is “to return to the community something that has been missing in Tupper Lake for many years”- the use and enjoyment of that special parcel here.

Mr. Donah said from recent conversations with the late town supervisor, Clint Hollingsworth, he was very interested in seeing something good happening there, as “all of us would like to see. We just have to make sure we put a good plan together that makes sense for the town” and reduces liability for both the town and the landowners.

“It was a tragedy we lost Big Tupper. We've all seen the effects. Our town is now a lot slower in the winter time and our small businesses” struggle to make it through each winter. This is a wonderful use of our time to look at ways to reinvent” our winter economy, he asserted.

The new group is expected to convene shortly via Zoom, before the end of March.

The board motion was adopted unanimously.

In the second public committee period Tuesday former supervisor, Patti Littlefield, said she really liked the idea of an advisory committee for the mountain to create recreational activities there. “It's great it will be more of a community advisory committee rather than the business group telling everyone what they think should be done. This way, you'll get more feedback from other people here too!”