Auction of Big Tupper properties could be as early as this fall

by Dan McClelland

Franklin County officials are planning to sell four properties associated with the former Big Tupper Ski Center on Mt. Morris at public auction as early as this fall.

The story of the pending auction date broke last week in the latest online issue of the Adirondack Explorer, a regional publication, in a story by its editor, James Odato. The story was also printed in its entirety in an issue of the Albany Times Union last week.

The parcels that will be sold by the county’s auction contractor, NYS Auctions at Malone’s Moe’s Restaurant and community room, where recent county auctions have been staged in recent years, are parcels on Mt. Morris and the Tupper Lake shorefront that are owned by Preserve Associates LLC and Big Tupper LLC. They are the main companies associated with the failed development of the Adirondack Club and Resort.

The four parcels are believed to include the former Big Tupper Ski Center lands on the mountain, the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort marina and clubhouse on Tupper Lake, lands around Cranberry Pond and a shorefront right of way at the base of the Country Club/Big Tupper town road.

County Treasurer Fran Perry, whose office will oversee any forthcoming county auction that will include those parcels, told the Free Press Monday they are hoping for a late October or November auction date. So far, however, they have not been given an open date from the auction company.

For several years Supervisor Ricky Dattola and the members of the Tupper Lake Business Group which he formed at the bottom of the pandemic that March and the new economic development committee the town board formed when Mr. Dattola was first elected supervisor, and County Legislator Nedd Sparks have met regularly with the country treasurer and County Manager Donna Kissane to explore ways for the Town of Tupper Lake to be sold the mountain parcels for back taxes before any auction.

Mr. Sparks had won the support of his fellow legislators to give title of those lands back to the town to develop a four season recreation park there, with an eye to someday reopening the mountain to alpine skiing by a private developer who would be leased the land by the town.

The town board several years ago voted unanimously to buy the properties for back taxes from the county, if the opportunity ever arose.

The back taxes, including interest and penalties, on the mountain parcel itself where Big Tupper stands, are in the amount of about $450,000. As part of any forthcoming land swap between the county and town, the penalties and interest in the amount of about $150,000 may have been negotiated away.

A monkey wrench in that plan happened this spring when, according to Treasurer Perry, the New York State legislature changed its laws with respect to municipalities selling properties at public auction for back taxes owed. “The law, signed by Governor Hochul, requires, us now to get fair market value for property sold.” The law was passed by the state this past April.

The county process leading up to this proposed auction has been long and often delayed.

The county finally foreclosed on the four parcels in a special proceeding this spring, according to Ms. Perry.

County Court Judge Craig Carriero had ruled that a foreclosure could move forward, 30 days after all stakeholders and debtors were served notice of his order.

The notice was apparently served on July 16 and a notice of appeals was entered on August 13 by the biggest debtors- the consortium of legal firms who had represented Michael Foxman and Tom Lawson and other partners in the 12-year fight to win permits for their projects from the Adirondack Park Agency.

The proposed Adirondack Club and Resort project involved a complete modernization and redevelopment of the ski center, which closed here in 1999, the construction of a major motel adjacent to it and over 600 condominiums, townhouses and private single-family residences on 5,800 acres of Oval Wood Dish Liquidating Trust lands on the mountain surrounding the ski center, and to the east wrapping around Simond Pond.

County Legislator Nedd Sparks said last week that he was “disappointed” that the county was no longer able to sell the Big Tupper properties to the town for the development of a four-season recreation park, following the adoption of the new state law.

Plans by the local business group and the town’s economic development committee include opening up the ski mountain for back country skiing, the development of more nordic trails to supplement the town’s successful system in and around the golf course, hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, etc.

Asked what she felt might be the fair market value of those properties, Ms. Perry wasn’t sure. According to the new state law, “whatever they sell for at public auction, is what will dictate is their market value.”

She said she felt that as long as Franklin County makes a meaningful attempt to get fair market value in whatever auction bids are accepted in public auction, it is doing the legal thing.

The county treasurer said this issue has been on her plate for a long time and she is “looking forward to getting it settled.”

She said she took office as county treasurer in 2018 and the next year she “defaulted” the owners of those properties “because they were not making their contractual payment” as part of a tax repayment plan the property owners and her office had agreed upon.

She said the foreclosure process was started by her office and the county board “and then COVID hit.”

During the pandemic counties and other municipalities were prevented by the state from commencing or proceeding with foreclosure actions for unpaid taxes.

She said after COVID, “because we viewed this as a difficult situation, we started the process all over again because so much time had passed. We didn’t know if additional judgements had been filed in the interim.”

“So we started our search (for those judgements) over again and our in-house attorney,” who was Dick Edwards, “and because of the difficult situation we were in with this case, felt we needed special counsel that could litigate for us.”

That’s when the county board hired the firm of Phillips Lytel, a firm which specializes in litigation in these often unusual back tax cases. Ms. Perry and her staff are working with the firm’s Rochester office, although it has a number of offices across the country.

She said the firm “handles a lot of big tax foreclosure cases, so they are very well versed in our situation.”

Like Nedd Sparks, the news of the forthcoming auction, hit Town Supervisor Ricky Dattola very hard too.

He’s optimistic, however, “Tupper Lake still has a shot” at acquiring the Mt. Morris lands.

Part of the mission of Mr. Dattola’s business group was the development of a detailed and bold plan to augment the community’s economy by capitalizing on its robust recreational opportunities. The comprehensive plan was completed in the group’s first year of work and was later adopted in its entirety by the town board about 2022.

“I’m not giving up the ship yet! I’ve talked to a number of people in recent days who have called me and offered to help. There are groups out there that work with towns and villages, to help them tackle these kinds of things.

“I’m not disappointed yet, because I don’t think we’re beat!”

Likewise he said the members of the Tupper Lake Business Group and the town board’s economic development committee are not giving up in their quest to acquire the ski center properties.

“The good thing” is the unknowns associated with the ownership of the mountain tract and the adjacent parcels are coming to an end. “At some point soon we are either going to know if someone is going to buy those properties or maybe no one will! Either way it’s soon coming to a finish!”

He said he was glad Fran Perry was “sticking to her guns” and getting this issue “to an auction” hopefully in late October or early November.

He said he believes that she and County Manager Donna Kissane and the county board members that he and Nedd have been working with over the past several years “want the best for Tupper Lake!”

“-And we’re not dead yet! We still have a shot!”

“It’s gotten harder with this new state ruling,” but we can still get control of those Big Tupper lands. “I’m still optimistic we are still going to make this thing happen!”