Sullivan may get new urgent-care center

TOWN OF THOMPSON - Catskill Regional Medical Center is looking to build an urgent-care center along Route 42, according to Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber.

Rieber said plans for the urgent-care center were submitted to the town’s Building Department two weeks ago. There will be a public hearing held by the town’s Planning Board on Feb. 24.

“We will streamline the approval process and get them moving as quickly as we can,” Rieber said.

The facility will be located on a portion of 1,700 acres of land, which is just behind the Dunkin Donuts along state Route 42. The land is owned by EPR, which is building the Montreign Resort Casino at Adelaar on another portion of the site.

On Monday, the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency unanimously approved to acknowledge the sale of 13.8 acres of that land to the hospital.

This is because the IDA is leasing that land to EPR through a PILOT agreement. Part of that agreement allows EPR to build up infrastructure such as installing water systems, building roads and installing electricity, and then sell or lease portions of the land. It has already done so with the Montreign Resort Casino at Adelaar.

The hospital purchased the land for more than $1.5 million, according to IDA attorney Walter Garigliano.

The hospital is a tax-exempt entity, which means the town will not see any property tax revenue from the facility. But Rieber said it is something the town needs, especially with the increase of traffic the area will see with the casino.

“Certainly there will be some very reasonably well-paid professional jobs in an area that desperately needs it,” Rieber said. “It shows how the casino development sparks other development.”

Representatives from Catskill Regional Medical Center did not return a request for comment.

abeam@th-record.com