BLACK BROOK -- A preliminary ruling by the New York State Supreme Court has leaned a contentious suit toward the Town of Black Brook.

Acting Justice Patrick McGill recently imposed a stay on the suit. He also disagreed with New York state and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on two actions and dismissed the third for lack of jurisdiction.

TOWN VETO

In 2005, as part of a land acquisition, New York state acquired nearly 255,000 acres of private land belonging to International Paper in the Adirondack Park.

Almost 18,000 acres of that property, mostly forested, was located within Black Brook.

"We were told by the DEC that we could accept the purchase or veto it," Town Councilor Howard Aubin and Town Supervisor Rick Nolan said in a written statement. "We were told that if we didn't like it, that we would have to file a lawsuit."

The town voted to veto, but that decision was later rejected by the administration of Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

The state argued that Black Brook did not adequately transmit its veto against the purchase and also said that the law allowed using money other than the Environmental Protection Fund to be used, thereby circumventing the veto.

"They left the town with a choice of don't do anything or sue us," said Aubin.

In 2007, Black Brook sued New York state and DEC.

AREA FOR GROWTH

Aubin said the 18,000 acres had been marked by the Adirondack Park Agency as able to be developed for Black Brook's future expansion.

"Now they say, We're going to buy all the area where your development is supposed to occur,'" Aubin said, noting the irony. "The reason the town objected to the state buying the land was the limited number of development rights in Black Brook. This was the bulk of the land rights."

Services became a worry, too.

"The town has two water districts. We've always wanted to join the two," said Aubin. "Once it becomes state land, you couldn't do any development with it. You couldn't even get a water line over there."