Referred to: The Economic Development, Tourism, Housing, Planning and Transit

Committee (Chairman Maloney and Legislators Berky, Delaune, Lapp, Litts, Maio

and Rodriguez)

Chairman of the Economic Development, Tourism, Housing, Planning, and Transit

Committee, James F. Maloney, and Legislator Peter M. Loughran offer the

following:

WHEREAS, in 1987, the voters of the State of New York approved a

constitutional amendment authorizing the expansion of the Belleayre Mountain Ski

Center; and

WHEREAS, the 2008 Catskill Park State Land Master Plan included the

recommendation to modernize and expand the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center,

stating that, “New efforts to link recreational development on the Forest Preserve

with Catskill communities can give substantial support to local economic

development”; and

WHEREAS, the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center Unit Management Plan

(UMP) was revised for the express purpose of establishing a comprehensive plan to

allow the NYS Olympic Regional Development Authority to modernize and expand

the entire facility to address future needs, and increase public safety and enjoyment;

and

WHEREAS, the revised UMP for the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center was

developed based upon recommendations by ski-industry experts to expand and

renovate the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center to ensure its continued viability; and

WHEREAS, on December 2, 2015, the New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation, as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality

Review Act, issued a Findings Statement for the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center Unit

Management Plan and approved the revision to the Unit Management Plan allowing

for the development of the “Full Build Out Alternative” for the ski center; and

WHEREAS, on December 4, 2015, Governor Cuomo announced the final

approval for the expansion and modernization of the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center,

which stated this project is expected to provide a major boom to tourism in the

Catskills and the region's economy; and

WHEREAS, the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center is a significant economic

driver for the Rt. 28 corridor, drawing ski visitors from throughout the Northeast and

creates both full time and part-time employment for nearly 400 Catskill Region

residents; and

WHEREAS, visitors to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center also patronize

numerous local businesses in Ulster County and the region, allowing those businesses

to prosper, create jobs and raise significant tax revenue for the State of New York

and the local communities; and

WHEREAS, the “Full Build Out Alternative” is projected to more than double

the number of skier visits to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, creating 32 new fulltime jobs at the Ski Center and inducing over $32 million of visitor spending at small

businesses throughout the region annually; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature requests a meeting

among the Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature, the Chairman of the

Legislature’s Standing Committee on Economic Development, Tourism,

Housing, Planning and Transit, representatives from the NYS Department of

Environmental Conservation, and representatives of Governor Cuomo’s Office

to discuss the Unit Management Plan and current status of the project; and be it

further

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature hereby requests that

Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature enable the implementation of the multiyear capital improvement plan contained in the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center Unit

Management Plan by allocating the requisite funding within the 2017-18 State

Budget,

and moves its adoption.

ADOPTED AS AMENDED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES: 16 NOES: 3

(Noes: Legislators Greene, R. Parete, and Wawro)

(Absent: Legislators Gerentine, Maio, Roberts and Ronk) 

Passed Committee: Economic Development, Tourism, Housing, Planning and Transit

on February 7, 2017

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE

Legislator J. Parete motioned, seconded by Legislator Loughran, to add an additional

RESOLVED as indicated above in bold font.

MOTION ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES: 18 NOES: 1

(Noes: Legislator Greene)

(Absent: Legislators Gerentine, Maio, Roberts and Ronk)

STATE OF NEW YORK

 ss:

COUNTY OF ULSTER

I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Ulster, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is

the original resolution adopted by the Ulster County Legislature on the 15th Day of February in the year Two Thousand and

Seventeen, and said resolution shall remain on file in the office of said clerk.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the County of Ulster this 17th Day of

February in the year Two Thousand and Seventeen.

|s| Victoria A. Fabella

Victoria A. Fabella, Clerk

Ulster County Legislature