ELLENVILLE – A sense of stunned disappointment filled the air Wednesday afternoon after the state Gaming Facility Location Board announced its decision to site only one casino in the Catskills instead of the earlier agreed upon two. Officials with The Nevele, Ulster County's sole proposal in the running, said they were "kind of in shock" over the news, although County Executive Mike Hein immediately released a statement saying that he would be pushing the state to reconsider reneging on its promise to place two casinos in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region for economic development purposes.

Before naming Empire Resort's Sullivan County-based Montreign proposal, and Adelaar Casino, as the sole licensee for the region, Location Board chair Kevin Law noted how placement of any casinos in Orange County had been nixed because placement there would be "too great a challenge" for any other casinos in the region. But he then added that the board had also decided that "giving two casinos to the Catskills would be too much" and would result in "cannibalization."

Law also spoke at great length about the board's requirement for "sustainability" from any of the casinos it okayed, as if the idea of recent casino failures in Atlantic City, and a general downturn in the gaming industry, had clouded his board's vision and affected its decision.

The other two casinos named by the board for licenses Wednesday were the Rivers Casino & Resort, to be built on the site of an old factory in Schenectady complete with a new riverfront park and marina; and Lago Resort & Casino in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre, at the north end of Seneca Lake off the NY Thruway. No proposed resorts in the state's Southern Tier, which had also been pegging its economic hopes on the state okaying fracking, were okayed.

"Devastated" and "betrayed" were two words that Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach, an Ellenville native, former mayor and former village manager, used in describing the reaction in Ellenville when it was announced that the Nevele project would not be recommended while he was seated in the resort's top floor offices in the village's government center Wednesday afternoon.

"A cheer went up from the crowd when it was announced that all of the Orange County sites were out. Nothing against Orange, but we took that as a good sign," Auerbach said of the mood among local officials and Nevele employees huddled around a computer monitor watching the announcements which were livestreamed from Albany's Empire State Plaza.

But elation soon changed to deflation, and disappointment.

"They felt that there was every reason to believe it was going to happen," he continued. "Ellenville met all the criteria. It felt like we got punched in the gut."

By then, however, Hein had already released a statement including his continuing sense of fight.

"Today's announcement that the Nevele project in Ellenville was not chosen as a future gaming site is truly disappointing news for the Hudson Valley. I am, however, immensely proud of our amazing community and the unprecedented show of support and solidarity by so many individuals, organizations and local governments who came together to advocate for this project," the County Executive said. "All of us who have supported this project believe the state legislation that brought casino gaming to New York was crafted with sites just like the Nevele in mind; and so, it is my great hope that the State will reconsider and award the second Catskill area license to the Nevele. The decision announced today is once again deeply disappointing, but our focus will remain on taking positive steps to assist Ellenville, Wawarsing and all the residents of Ulster County."

For the Nevele's part, with its CEO Angel Brunner and COO Kathy Meci on the road, and original developer Michael Treanor not available for comment in his Ellenville offices, a press statement was sent out that read, simply, "For more than three years, we sought to make the case that the redevelopment of the Nevele as a family-friendly resort destination and casino is the only opportunity to rebuild the economy of the Hudson Valley-Catskill region. We obviously fell short in making that case, and are very disappointed... Our proposal enjoyed unrivaled regional support — hundreds of organizations, elected officials and civic leaders and thousands of everyday residents expressed their support because they understood that it would have provided much-needed economic stimulus to one of the most depressed areas in the Hudson Valley. Without the more than 3,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in public revenue the Nevele project would have generated, the future of the area communities remain unclear."

Later, the resort project's VP for community relations, Michael Smith, said that his group still needed to figure out their next steps, although he did note that company principals were already in discussion with Hein and other political leaders, who would lead any effort for a possible second casino in the area. His comments were later backed up by officials at the Empire City Raceway in Yonkers, which also noted how it had been hoping for a second Catskills casino in Ulster County, and state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill's calls for the authorization of video lottery terminals for two locations in Ulster County.

"We lost out big time," said Wawarsing supervisor Leonard Distel, adding that he was preparing a "Plan B" moratorium on large subdivisions for his town board at their next meeting on December 18. "We will continue to seek businesses. We have a great area with great people and we will all have to decide what we need to continue on."

"I was expecting, anticipating bad news. It's easier to take that way," added Ellenville Mayor Jeff Kaplan. "I understand the rational of the commission for there being one casino in the area; that one will be more successful than two. I'm happy to see the Catskills recognized."

He suggested his community as a great place for those working in Sullivan County's casino to live, and noted that the Nevele may yet become a prime piece of real estate.

Meanwhile, Bill Herrmann, supervisor of the Sullivan County gateway community of Mamakating, welcomed the recent decision, as did the supervisor of the Town of Thompson, where the $1 billion Montreign complex will be built on the site of the former Concord Hotel.

As for state senator John Bonacic, who wrote the original legislation for a casino and has represented both Wawarsing and Sullivan County for years, his statement Wednesday stayed middle of the road.

"There have been many false starts on the broken road leading to this moment. For fifty years, the Sullivan County Catskills have sought gaming as a way to grow our tourism-based economy," he wrote. "And now that moment is here, with this resort destination facility, which will drive investment and job creation, not only in Sullivan County, but also surrounding counties for generations to come... With the beauty of our geography, four seasons of outdoor recreational opportunities, and now the approval of this destination resort, I firmly believe that the best days of the Catskills are yet to come.

The three selections made by the Gaming Facility Location Board will now be reviewed and finalized by the New York State Gaming Commission, who will award the licenses in the coming year.

In the meantime, folks in Ellenville are trying to get their oft-lost mojo back in order... and see if Mike Hein was serious about pushing for yet another reconsideration in their favor.

Stay tuned.