For 15 years, the St. Regis Mohawks have had so many meetings and handshakes exchanged, it was almost beginning to look like casino gambling was coming to Monticello ”“ almost.
The tribe had received approval more than a decade ago to move forward with a Class II casino. Two years ago, then-Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne blocked the move, saying Native Americans had gone too far from tribal boundaries to establish casinos.
In a statement released in early July, tribal Chief Mark Garrow said, “At the time, the Monticello resorts site seemed to make the most sense ”“ it had obtained final environmental approvals from the federal government.” Garrow indicated “discussions with Empire Resorts to reach acceptable terms of purchase for the land … have not been successful.” The St. Regis Mohawks are looking at other venues.
“The company will continue to explore every growth opportunity, including the expansion of our current facility,” Empire Resort CEO Joseph D”™Amato said in a statement. “In terms of tribal gaming, the Monticello Casino and Raceway site has unparalleled infrastructure, approvals and access that will make it a prime location for any future gaming in the Catskills, should the Mohawks or any tribe wish to pursue off-reservation gaming in Sullivan County.”
Monticello Casinos has been promoting itself heavily, but attendance and revenues have been down. The racetrack is operating on a weekly basis, but weekend racing is negligible. Three Saturday races were scheduled for July and August, the next and last one to be held Aug. 14.
Tim McCausland, president of the Sullivan County Partnership, said it”™s tough for tracks such as Monticello to compete with nationally known racetracks on weekends, “so it makes more sense for them to schedule races when there is less competition.”
And what of casinos? “Well, we”™re hoping, we”™re always hoping, for the best. We need this area to become a destination again … the residents alone can”™t make the economy happen … we need tourism and a reason to come here. We also need higher paying jobs.”
Over on Broadway in the village, Paul Colby, owner of The Bitter End in New York City, is planning a $2.4 million project under the Empire State Development Corp.”™s downtown revitalization program with several partners including developer Tommy Ting, Monticello Village Manager John Barbarite said.
Under a Restore New York Grant, Colby may be eligible for up to $1.7 million for his project to recreate Greenwich Village”™s landmark music hall. A public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10. “It should take 12 months to complete if approved,” said Barbarite, “with the money coming from the state in incremental payments as the construction is done.”
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Quiet start for tempestuous project
Five years ago, Kaz Kameyama was feeling confident Yukiguni Maitake Mushroom Corp. was going to be breaking ground on its first plant in the United States. The company president was “ecstatic” with the location in the town of Mamakating ”“ on the border of Orange and Sullivan counties ”“ where water flowed abundantly, a key ingredient in growing mushrooms.
Maitake are not your ordinary forest-grown variety of fleshy fungi grown indoors in sawdust devoid of fecal matter for nourishment. They are touted for healing properties and are undergoing study for their medicinal value.
Notwithstanding their potential benefit ”“ either to the medical community or job creation ”“ members of the Basha Kill Area Association fought a long, hard fight to keep the mushroom plant from sprouting and kept the battle going nearly a decade, winning some concessions on the scale and size of the project.
Two months ago ”“ and several years after Kameyama thought environmental and water issues had been laid to rest with environmentalists ”“ the project finally broke ground.
“Yukiguni didn”™t want to make a big splash,” said Tim McCausland, president of the Sullivan County Partnership of the groundbreaking. “The company is doing some site work in preparation of beginning construction in September.”
The first component of the proposed $75 million plant will cost in the range of $8 million and employ 40 people; if it measures up to the Japan-based company”™s expectations, it will continue its build out and eventually employ a total of 160 workers.
“These are the kind of jobs we like to see coming here,” McCausland said. “While $8 an hour jobs do help, they are not going to help build a sustainable economy. I give Kaz a lot of credit. He persisted and was even-tempered throughout while bringing this valuable project to our county.”
