acerbone@adirondackdailyenterprise.com
The slopes of the Big Tupper Ski Area are seen across Raquette Pond in 2018.
(Enterprise photo â Aaron Cerbone) TUPPER LAKE An attempt by Franklin County to foreclose on the Big Tupper Ski Area property has stalled in court as property owners and lien holders attempt to get the foreclosure thrown out. The Tupper Lake Business Group has asked the town if it could lease the property from its current owners so people can once again recreate on the property. Tupper Lake town Supervisor Patti Littlefield, who also sits on the recreation development group’s Big Tupper task force, said she’d look into this but there are no guarantees anything will come of it.
acerbone@adirondackdailyenterprise.com
The slopes of the Big Tupper Ski Area
are seen across Raquette Pond in 2018.
(Enterprise photo â Aaron Cerbone) TUPPER LAKE The Tupper Lake town board is drafting a letter to the Franklin County Board of Legislators, letting the county know the town is interested in discussing the Big Tupper Ski Area property if the county forecloses on it this spring. In this letter the town board will express interest in having the chance to purchase the property it used to own and run as a recreation area in 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. It is not an actual request to purchase the land. The county may foreclose on the property in the coming months, taking it from the owners for unpaid taxes, but has not started the process to do so yet.
acerbone@adirondackdailyenterprise.com
The slopes of the Big Tupper Ski Area are seen across Raquette Pond in 2018.
(Enterprise photo â Aaron Cerbone) TUPPER LAKE After a discussion with the Tupper Lake Business Group at a town board meeting last Thursday, board members are cautiously considering, among other things, purchasing the Big Tupper Ski Area if it becomes available at a foreclosure auction in the spring. The group also asked the board to help assemble working groups to dive into the details of each of the five pillars of their long-term recreational plan. The main pillar is the purchasing of the now-defunct Big Tupper, which the town built in the 1960s and sold in the 1980s. The business group then wants to find some entity, public or private, to run the ski area.
Guest Commentary I read John Salamy’s letter in the Tupper Lake Free Press on Dec. 29. John’s letter was well written and raised some good concerns as regards the proposal here in Tupper Lake by a group of businessmen and community members. The plan comes in four phases, focus is on the first phase for now. It involves purchasing (1) Big Tupper Ski Area, (2) connecting snowmobile trails throughout town, (3) turning the James C. Frenette Sr. cross-country ski trails into year-round trails, (4) building 10 miles of mountain biking trails near Rock Island Bay at the south end of Tupper Lake, and (5) irrigating the lower six holes of the Tupper Lake Golf Course. Total estimated cost is $928,000. Personally, I believe that all five5 proposed projects are worthwhile for our town. Some of these very same proposals were discussed by the town board in the late 1990s and very early 2000s.