Mountain Lions ink agreement with Monticello By TOM RUE
MONTICELLO - Village trustees and Mountain Lions baseball team owner Jay Acton reached preliminary accord over locating a class-A minor league team in Monticello on February 22. The proposed 25-acre ballfield is in the northeast corner of a 123-acre tract near the old Monticello Airport, off Park Ave. and Fairground Rd., and is owned by the Village of Monticello. The lease will run for 5 to 30 years. All who spoke on the subject at village board meeting supported baseball coming to town. Local officials have tied hope for regional economic growth to success of minor league baseball, and have courted Acton for several months. Acton predicted the first ball will be pitched this spring. The team is also buying an adjacent parcel for an access road to the stadium, according to village manager William Cummings. Acton reportedly considered two other sites in Monticello -- both near the racetrack, but found them impractical.
Payments in lieu of taxes Acton agreed to an annual $6,980 as payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), for the first three years. Of this, the village will get 30%; the Town of Thompson 25%; Sullivan County and Monticello Central School District 20% each; and the fire department 5%. Former Thompson supervisor John Barbarite asked village officials to look carefully at the PILOT amount. On February 25, mayor Robert Friedland told The River Reporter he thought $6,980 a year was fair. The PILOT will increase 3% every three years under the agreement. The $6,980 sum is based on a $250,000 assessment of the proposed Mountain Lions site, Cummings said. After the meeting, Cummings admitted he forgot to include one taxing authority -- the Crawford Public Library District -- in the PILOT plan. But he expressed confidence Acton would "make a donation to the library" as part of any final agreement. The Mountain Lions will pay for their own trash pickup, water, and other municipal services at the same rates as other users, Cummings said.
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