Ballot Proposal # 5 deals with an Adirondack issue.
The official ballot text reads as follows:
In Relation to a Land Exchange in the State Forest Preserve with NYCO Minerals, Inc.
The proposed amendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution would authorize the Legislature to convey forest preserve land located in the town of Lewis, Essex County, to NYCO Minerals, a private company that plans on expanding an existing mine that adjoins the forest preserve land. In exchange, NYCO Minerals would give the State at least the same amount of land of at least the same value, with a minimum assessed value of $1 million, to be added to the forest preserve. When NYCO Minerals finishes mining, it would restore the condition of the land and return it to the forest preserve. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?
What it Means?
NYCO Minerals, is a mining operation in the towns of Willsboro and Lewis. It employs over 100 people.
This amendment would grant access to more veins of Wollastonite, a mineral used in paint, plastics used in the automobile industry, brake pads and linings, and more. This swap would allow NYCO to remain viable in Essex County for 10 more years. Currently, the only two Wollastonite mines in the country are located in the North Country.
NY would transfer the 200 acres to NYCO in exchange for 1,500 acres of company-owned property and a promise to return the 200 acres back to the state as reclaimed property down the road. Basically in exchange for the short-term use of the 200 acres, NY would gain 1,500 acres now and these 200 back later. Among other things NY would obtain, a pair of trout streams and new access to Jay Mountain, where a long, rocky ridge-line provides spectacular views of the Adirondack High Peaks, Lake Champlain and Vermont’s Green Mountains. NYCO will continue to operate and 100 Adirondack jobs would be preserved.
Here is a video in support of Prop #5
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X1C4kvlRm8#t=111