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Brunner Meets Hein For Photo Op
Nevele Efforts Kick Into Even Higher Gear

The photo op at Ulster County Executive Mike Hein's Kingston offices was fast and enthusiastic last Thursday, August 14, as local press crowded into the special room set aside for just such events. Nevele COO Kathy Meci arrived first with members of the casino proposal's promotional team up from New York City. Then Hein and new Nevele CEO Angel Brunner, named the day before, came in a bit late, fresh from a private tete-a-tete that was the first official acknowledgement of the Ellenville economic development project for months.

"I've spent my whole career in economic development and never worked with a project that has an entire community's support like this," Brunner said. "I'm going to work every angle to help us get this license; this represents economic development for the entire county, the whole valley."

Hein spoke about the proposed Nevele as "a four season resort destination made economically viable because of gaming, and added how it would work to make Ellenville "a walkable destination." He added how many had been working on just such a dream "for 20 years or more," and both he and Brunner dismissed previous controversies surrounding the entity's former CEO, Michael Treanor, as mere competitiveness overwhelmed by "the compelling nature of the project."

Meci earlier noted that Treanor, as CEO of Claremont Partners, which owns the Nevele project, will still be working to do all he can to see gaming and the new $640 million resort come to to Ellenville.

Brunner added that her EB5 Capital company would be committing $100 million in financing to the project and working to secure the rest, most of it already lined up from Wall Street and overseas sources awaiting state licensing.

As for that licensing, talk before the photo op centered around the current possibility that a final siting decision may now be held up until after the November election, as well as how the state GOP has begun trumpeting statements from state senator John Bonacic, long the leading proponent of gaming in the Catskills, calling out Governor Andrew Cuomo for playing such a large but hidden role in siting decisions... purportedly based on financial incentives.

"Too bad it's not yet legal to put a line up on any of this," noted Meci, a casino gaming veteran.



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