Sullivan County and the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County are in a federally designated Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) zone, which helps projects in the zone to obtain grants or loans from the United States Department of Agriculture. The board of the REAP Zone held a news conference on June 11 to announce their support for the remaining three proposed casino projects in the zone.

"It should be no surprise to anyone that this area has been singled out by the federal government for special assistance with economic development - and indeed, is one of only five such areas in the United States. The intent of the Constitutional Amendment and the casino legislation in New York State is to provide a similar economic boost to regions like this one. That is the reason why lawmakers contemplated two casinos going to the Catskills," said Roberta Byron Lockwood, head of the Sullivan County Visitors Association, and the REAP Board President.

"The REAP Zone perfectly mirrors the strongest and most logical sites for two casinos, including as it does Sullivan County and Wawarsing. This is why the REAP Board voted to support two casinos in this area," Lockwood said.

So far, none of the proposed casino projects have approached the zone board about possibly applying for USDA funding, but many of the benchmarks used in such funding decisions line up nicely with the intent of the casino legislation in the state.

The REAP Zone was created in 1999, extended in the 2008 Farm Bill, and renewed again in 2014 with support from Congressman Chris Gibson.

Nevele completes environmental impact statement

Developers working on the proposed casino at the site of the former Nevele Hotel passed to significant hurdles. On June 13, the organization announced that the Town of Wawarsing accepted the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS), thereby completing the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) review for the Nevele Resort, Casino & Spa.

A press release from the organizations pointed out that the Nevele is only the second bidder to complete the extensive SEQRA process; the first bidder to complete the process was the Empire Resorts/EPR project at the site of the former Concord Hotel.

In another development, the Nevele, the Town of Wawarsing and the Village of Ellenville, have approved a comprehensive Community Mitigation Plan (CMP) Agreement. While Ellenville is not technically a “Host Community” as defined by the CMP Agreement, the Nevele felt strongly that Ellenville be included because some of its services (i.e. water, sewer systems, and police force) will be used by the project.

Democrats oppose Orange casinos

Michael Sussman, noted lawyer and spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance of Orange County, sent out a notice saying the alliance opposes any casino projects for Orange County and the organization is looking for volunteers to help defeat the proposed project there.

The notice says that a strong consensus opposes locating a casino there. He said while friends and members were split on whether to support casinos in Sullivan or Ulster, “nearly all believe that if casinos are built, and this now seems inevitable, they should be opened in neighboring counties.”

The notice continues, “Sullivan County leaders and residents have fought for the revitalization of their county for decades. They have pinned their hopes to major venues like casinos… While we may question the wisdom of this model and believe that agriculture, eco-tourism and the promotion of hamlet-based charm may be better solutions to Sullivan's anemic economy and dismal standing on most measures of socio-economic well-being, we respect the fact that county leaders have fought to be the central location for casino gambling in our region and believe Sullivan was clearly an intended location for at least one casino.”

The notice said there would be an organizing meeting on June 16, 2014 at 1 Railroad Avenue, 3rd Floor, Goshen at 7:30 p.m.