LAKE PLACID — The state Olympic Regional Development Authority and the town of North Elba will be holding a public hearing Wednesday for a renewed agreement that allows the town to continue paying ORDA to operate the three town-owned Olympic venues. They include the Olympic Center, the Olympic Jumping Complex and the Olympic speed skating oval (which is co-owned by the Lake Placid Central School District).

The hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the Olympic Conference Center at 2634 Main St. A Zoom link is available on the public hearing notice document on the town website, or at tinyurl.com/46j2d8mf.

The new agreement has a 20-year term, with the option to renew for another 20 years. Town Supervisor Derek Doty said the new agreement mainly “cleans up the language” in the old one to make it more relevant to the current situation at the venues, such as old inventory lists. The new agreement can be viewed on the public notices page of the town website, or at tinyurl.com/bdzev9x2.

Although the amount that the town has paid ORDA has varied over the years, since 2016 the typical annual payment has been $500,000. Title 28, the law that created ORDA in 1981, actually would require the town to pay much more — the calculation is based on property tax assessments, which Doty said would cause the town to owe ORDA about $2,000,000 per year.

“It would bankrupt the town,” he said. “ORDA was great in these negotiations to recognize that to be a partner with the town of North Elba was what was most important.”

Instead, Doty said the town has negotiated an “affordable rate of compensation” in the new agreement. They will continue paying $500,000 per year, with the payment increasing 2% every five years (starting in 2031). Doty says that, in the town’s view, this is a reasonable price for what ORDA brings to the town.

“Call it a ‘thanks’ if you will,” he said. “ORDA gets half a million dollars that sustains, maybe a thousand jobs a year. And out of those thousand jobs come world-renowed events that fill this town and give tremendous business to all the hotels, to all the restaurants, to the hair salons — you name it. Every business gets the benefit of the core importance of ORDA.”

The agreement also establishes an ORDA Community Engagement Commission, which is meant to provide an additional avenue for communication and collaboration between the town and ORDA. Doty said the CEC is meant to replace the Community Advisory Panel, or CAP, which was created by state law to provide feedback to ORDA. CAP went defunct in 2016.

The CEC will consist of seven members, three of which will be appointed by the board to represent each venue or sport. The town will also appoint one “community member at large” and ORDA management will appoint the last three members to represent each venue. A board chair will be elected by CEC members for a two year term and the commission will meet and report to the town board twice per year.

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Concerns about transparency and oversight

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The town has previously been accused of “backroom” dealings and Open Meetings Law violations, which the Enterprise reported in March after Jeff Erenstone resigned as chairman of the Lake Placid Sports Council. The LPSC was created in the 1920s to run the North Elba Park District, but was given the power to appoint members to the CAP, who would then provide oversight for ORDA.

Doty disputes the accusations of backroom dealings, repeating his assertion that the Feb. 1 meeting previously reported by the Enterprise was meant as an “introduction” for council members Rick Preston and Emily Kilburn Politi to meet key ORDA leaders. Doty said these council members continue to be the primary drivers of negotiations with ORDA.

Erenstone was concerned about the amount of time given to the public to review the agreement in advance of the meeting and said he is concerned that this process is continuing to be done in a “backroom manner.” The town did publish a legal notice in the Enterprise on Friday, Feb. 7 and the notice posted online was dated Feb. 4.

Compared to other contracts and events, Erenstone thinks this agreement has been more rushed, at least from a public perspective.

“There were so many debates and conversations about the Ironman contract,” he said. “Why has this been completely behind doors and then all of a sudden there’s a one-week period, when this actually has a much bigger impact than Ironman?”

Erenstone added that he would like to see the CEC mentioned explicitly, by name in the text of the new agreement. Doty said the town and ORDA are committed to the CEC, and there is a second document on the town website fully explaining the role and function of the commission. This document can also be viewed at tinyurl.com/5hcj43s9.

Despite his ongoing concerns about transparency and the amount of input that North Elba residents are being given in the town’s relationship with ORDA, Erenstone said he has been happy with ORDA CEO Ashley Walden’s work. He said she seems to be prioritizing the good of the public. Erenstone is mostly concerned about maintaining that good will, and for the town to get its “money’s worth” from ORDA, in the years and decades to come.