Moss, Margeson spar on First Arena issues
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – “You can bulldoze this arena down and make it a parking lot. You can let it sit here and let it rot away or you can develop it and do something about it.”
Tensions are high right now between Chemung County Executive Chris Moss and the Chairman of the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency Mark Margeson.
A post on the county Facebook page about First Arena and the way the IDA operates it took their disagreement public. Moss says the IDA is not doing what it should when it holds executive sessions during its meetings.
“So, they’ll have a meeting this week like they have every month and then they go into an executive session and they talk all about the arena finances. The media’s locked out from it, the public is locked out from it. Why do we need to be in an executive session to talk about how much taxpayer dollars are being spent to supplement the arena being open on a month to month basis,” said County Executive Chris Moss.
FULL INTERVIEW: Chemung County Executive Chris Moss
Margeson says he’s confused by Moss’s statement. He says the County Executive has access to all of the records of the arena.
“Chris Moss meets with the director of the IDA every Wednesday. And every Wednesday, he has access to information we provide at all the IDA meetings. Now, if he’s talking about the community, I understand there is a lot of money being spent on the arena. Executive sessions are primarily for financial matters that are up for public discussion at that point for projects that may be coming into the community,” said Chairman of the Chemung County IDA Mark Margeson.
FULL INTERVIEW: Chairman of the Chemung County IDA Mark Margeson
Moss says $700,000 was funneled from the IDA to pay arena bills
“Not that I’m concerned so much with the amount as I am, why don’t we know that? Why doesn’t the public know that? I have no idea, you know, what’s being spent on a monthly basis.”
Margeson says there’s a misconception that most arena funds are paid for with local taxpayer dollars. But taxpayer money it was, only it came from a federal COVID relief grant.
“The issue is that the perception is that all of this is tax money. It’s not tax money. It’s money that comes from income streams through the IDA project development. All the potential tax money if you will is the potential for ARP funding.”
He also says the IDA has spent a lot on arena maintenance because of its previous operators.
“When we took over operations of this facility, imagine the entire building being picked up, flipped over, and laid back down. Was it $700,000? No, it was more. I would say roughly $1.2 million potentially.”
Despite their differences, both agree the arena will likely not turn a profit.
“The arena’s not going to turn a profit, I think we can all agree on that. We’re just not in an area where it’s going to make a profit,” said Moss.
“I’m not sure it can turn a profit, but I believe we can come closer. to a maybe not a break even, but maybe if we lose a couple hundred thousand. But, if you look at every arena in the country, they’re all losing money. The sad thing is arena’s like this are normally supported by the county or the city,” said Margeson.
18 News also had the opportunity to talk with FPHL Commissioner Donald Kirnan about the future of the River Sharks.
“Some people have said that we didn’t want to come back. Basically, we want to make it clear that we loved it here and we really appreciate the fan response and you know, we’d love to stay here for a long time,” said Kirnan.
FULL INTERVIEW: FPHL Commissioner Donald Kirnan
The commissioner says lack of promotions is partially responsible for low attendance.
“Well, we would like to have more attendance, but it’s something that was a unique deal set up with the IDA here and we feel that there are ways to increase the attendance. There just wasn’t enough promotional things put in place this year.”
When asked if the IDA and First Arena personnel hope to have hockey back, Kirnan believes both parties hope to have hockey back at the arena next season.
“I think that they do. I think that it’s worked out really well. I think that they see the potential and I believe that we know that the failures of previous teams have been they were in a budget that was too high and I believe this is the right league for the community.”
Kirnan says his dealings with the IDA have been professional.
“Yes, they’re very prompt. Our response and our dealings with the IDA have been excellent and we’re very happy with the professionalism of the IDA.”
The IDA pays Kirnan around $83,000 per month to operate the team. That’s nearly $1 million a year.
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