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July 23, 2008

Groups seek common ground

By JACOB RESNECK

LONG LAKE -- A diverse gathering of elected leaders, environmental groups, state officials and special-interest groups met recently to try to tackle common challenges facing the Adirondack Park.

It was the second-annual meeting of the Common Ground Alliance, an ongoing attempt to forge alliances among natural adversaries.

"We're more in violent agreement than disagreement," said APA Chairman Curt Stiles.

The Common Ground Alliance presents a unique opportunity for stakeholders across the park to join forces and tackle the common problems everyone faces, he said.

State Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) said she was impressed to see the more than 160 people gathered.

"I think that, while we do have differences, I think the common thing that we have is that we all love the Adirondacks. We love what we have, and we want to see it continue with sustainable communities, as well as continuing with preservation of the environment."

Brian Houseal of the Adirondack Council urged the gathering to set aside its differences for the afternoon to concentrate on some common causes.

"There are things that we can agree on and we all know that have to be solved, and there is other stuff -- lest I mention ATVs -- that we can't resolve today. But let's go for the ones that we all know commonly that we can get to."

TOP CONCERNS

A survey with 14 issues was distributed, with attendees ranking issues they felt needed to be addressed.

Property taxes topped the list; the lack of broadband Internet and energy issues tied for second. At the bottom of the list were threats from acid rain and invasive species.

Bill Osborne, director of the Hamilton County Department of Economic Development and Tourism, said the Common Ground Alliance's priorities aren't necessarily the most pressing in the park but are those on which they can find common ground.

Osborne said the list didn't address what he considered the most pressing challenge: creating meaningful year-round employment in Adirondack communities.

James McKenna, director of the Lake Placid-Essex County Visitors Bureau, said issues like property taxes are a statewide problem and that this group should focus on issues that are unique to the Adirondacks.

Osborne and Adirondack Mountain Club Executive Director Neil Woodworth presented a joint proposal: The alliance should work to bring a climate-change research facility to the Adirondacks that is partnered with a college or university. It would study weather patterns and the threat of pollution and invasive species and identify economic opportunities.

ASSIGNMENTS

During a brainstorm session, the group identified two specific challenges to be studied before the next meeting: energy issues and the lack of broadband Internet in much of the Adirondack Park.

Representatives from the Adirondack Research Consortium, Syracuse Center of Excellence and Workforce Development Institute said they would work on energy strategies.

The issue of broadband Internet went to two organizations already working on the task: the Community Broadband Network and the Development Authority of the North Country. Officials from the Adirondack Park Agency and Empire State Development also said they would lend assistance.

Organizers of the Common Ground Alliance urged the conference to assemble working groups to study specific problems to report back in the fall.

LOBBYING

"We would still like a document that has 150 organizations signed on to it that can go to Albany and say this is it," said Lani Ulrich, who chairs a key committee of the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners.

Ulrich is one of the organizers who hope the Common Ground Alliance can wield some influence in the state capital.

Others -- like Fred Monroe, executive director of the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board, which represents the interests of town and village governments inside the park -- said there are risks to lobbying or becoming another advocacy group.

Monroe said that if the alliance were to pass resolutions on specific issues over a minority, that minority would begin to feel shut out.

"You do that with enough issues and then the whole thing starts to fall apart," he said in an interview.

Bill Farber, president of the Association of Adirondack Towns and Villages, said that as long as the advocacy is a product of total consensus, it could be an impressive tool in Albany and Washington.

"As long as the advocacy is driven by our agenda, I think it's a great role for us," he said.

But getting a "formal document that everybody can agree to" is not the greatest accomplishment of the Common Ground Alliance, he said.

"They've been able to change the tenor and debate between all the interest groups of the Adirondacks."

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