By JAY BRAMAN JR.
Correspondent

HIGHMOUNT — A plan to turn the state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center over to an authority that  runs the state’s other ski areas has been stalled.

The Press Republican, a newspaper that covers the Adirondack region, reported earlier this month that the Olympic Regional Development Authority is taking a wait-and-see attitude about taking the reins on Belleayre from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The newspaper quoted Ted Blazer, the president and chief executive officer of the authority, as saying that entering into any agreement this year on Belleayre would be premature since the Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing consolidation plans  within its own agency.

OTHER OFFICIALS with the authority said there must be a thorough cost analysis of the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center before any agreement is considered.

The latest news follows summertime optimism among Belleayre boosters who saw an immediate takeover by the Olympic Regional Development Authority as a good move for the beleaguered ski center.

In June, Joe Kelly, the chairman of the Coalition to Save Belleayre, said the Department of Environmental Conservation is “too busy and too distracted to properly operate a ski facility,” and that a move to the authority would be good for both the authority and for Belleayre.

HIS REMARKS came just months after a series of local protest rallies over the state agency’s treatment of employees at the ski center. Most were shifted from full-time to part-time status as a cost-saving measure.

Kelly was hopeful the authority would step in immediately.

“This move could help put Belleayre front and center again for at least the next six months to a year,” he said. “It could get us the attention we’ve long sought, the investment that will make us great and the stability we need to grow our local economy.”

LAST WEEK, Kelly said he was aware that the authority was stepping back, but also said recent events have put Belleayre in the limelight in Albany, following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent visits to the region in the aftermath of tropical storms  Irene and Lee. Continued...

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“I think it’s in the governor’s hands. Not ORDA’s hands and not our hands,” he said.

Kelly said he is optimistic that Cuomo’s experience in the region will change the dynamics of how he sees the Catskills for the better.

“BELLEAYRE has been a beacon,” Kelly said. “During (the storms) we witnessed a graphic example of the importance of the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in all our lives. We watched our Belleayre employees perform tirelessly and heroically, acting in search and rescue, setting up an emergency medical facility, repairing critical roads, preparing and delivering thousands of meals a day in a multi-county area, and providing care and comfort for the evacuees and homeless.  Belleayre was the command center for the National Guard, FEMA and all disaster relief agencies.

“NO RATIONAL person can say this is just about skiing or sport; Belleayre is a critical asset,” he said. “It provides not only our best hope for a viable economic future, but is the anchor of our cultural, social and community survival. A better, more secure and vibrant Belleayre is vital to us all, and I don’t think that is lost on the governor.”

This weekend, Belleayre, which is off state Route 28 in Highmount, was to host its 32nd annual fall festival in and around the Overlook Lodge.

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