ECHL wants Elmira to stay, Chemung County wants to hold off the vote
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Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli wants the county to hold on to First Arena, which it seized in foreclosure, long enough to investigate how the arena has been run for the past 12 years.
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"I just can't imagine, for the life of me, how they allowed this facility to be operated when there was not a working fire alarm and there were questions about the sprinkler system while ... they had events where people slept overnight," Santulli said.
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The Jackals will continue to play at the arena this season, Santulli said, noting that he'd spoken with representatives from the ECHL, the league in which the Jackals play.
"The league is very concerned about this. They want a well-run facility," he said.
Beyond that, it's not clear how the Afrs will react if the legislature doesn't accept the repurchase offer.
"I have no idea what they'll do," Santulli said. "The hockey league is telling us that there will be hockey in Elmira. They love Elmira. They love this place, and their statement to me was, there will be hockey. They just want this facility open, and that's what we're going to do."
In regards to Santulli...How the hell could you NOT believe this? It's Afrs trademark. I believe his trial in Louisville took place in 2001, I have a hard time thinking that never made news around here.
Also to the league....why do you want a team here? Easily the smallest arena in the league.
Knowing this county they will vote to take his money just to prevent a hassle.
do you really have to be negative about everything? All that stuff is rumors, there is no point in even talking about that stuff. Go with the facts, you cant question the facts
do you really have to be negative about everything? All that stuff is rumors, there is no point in even talking about that stuff. Go with the facts, you cant question the facts
These aren't facts either. The league saying they wanna be here going forward is like a player hitting free agency saying they wanna stay and will take a hometown discount. It all means jack til it happens.
do you really have to be negative about everything? All that stuff is rumors, there is no point in even talking about that stuff. Go with the facts, you cant question the facts
Speaking form past experience, it is not hard to be negative at all. I watched the Penguins' situation with trying to get a new arena here in Pittsburgh. Once the politicians get involved things get mucked up. In this case though, I tend to trust the politicians more than the ownership group. That is absolutely opposite of how it should be.
Speaking form past experience, it is not hard to be negative at all. I watched the Penguins' situation with trying to get a new arena here in Pittsburgh. Once the politicians get involved things get mucked up. In this case though, I tend to trust the politicians more than the ownership group. That is absolutely opposite of how it should be.
I have a hard time believing that Nichols is caught up in this. I thought he had a better reputation than that.
Simmons is his lackey. His wife's(Nichols) business partne(former Assistant GM Don Lewis) just hired this guy over at the baseball stadium. He hired Jimi as our scout a few years back. I've been told Robbie just hires this guy to boost his ego. Could be true. But i do know Jimi was gunna put a Junior A team in here as the owner and bailed at the 11th hour. Apparently hes well known as a guy in the Northeast that runs Junior teams and waits for the kids parents to pay and then either folds thje operation or he just doesn't play quite a few of the kids, and he never issues refunds.
Simmons is his lackey. His wife's(Nichols) business partne(former Assistant GM Don Lewis) just hired this guy over at the baseball stadium. He hired Jimi as our scout a few years back. I've been told Robbie just hires this guy to boost his ego. Could be true. But i do know Jimi was gunna put a Junior A team in here as the owner and bailed at the 11th hour. Apparently hes well known as a guy in the Northeast that runs Junior teams and waits for the kids parents to pay and then either folds thje operation or he just doesn't play quite a few of the kids, and he never issues refunds.
Did he ever run the Johnstown Jets? I had a teammate who was much younger than I who signed with them and then the team folded. No refund.
So this team never got off the ground??? That sucks. Why did they fold???
I blame Jimi Simmons for why Johnstown no longer has hockey, LOL
Jimi Simmons is not to blame for Johnstown not having hockey. However, he did screw about five or so kids. He posted on the website that he had like 12 kids then started looking for local kids. once they signed up, he moved the other kids to his other team(s) so the Johnstown team had like 5 kids. No refund when the team died before playing a game.
Would love for anybody who has some good first hand dirt on Jimi Simmons and Robbie Nichols to email them on it. I don't have anything, and everyone around here thinks Robbie's so great. But that article from last night bothers me, I have talked to many season ticket holders who won't renewal if they do FHL or some joke junior league Simmons is known for.
Tuesday we talked about FHL and the situation in Elmira, NY. In a conversation on Wednesday with former Jackals' General Manager Robbie Nichols, Nichols denies any intention to join the FHL. "I brought the ECHL to Elmira and want to work with the league to make sure it stays.Yes, we did meet with the FHL, but nothing was concrete. As far as Jimi Simmons is concerned, he is going to do what he is going to do. I cannot control what he (Simmons) has to say or what (Don) Kirnan and (Sarge) Richards is saying."
Interesting. But i'm not buying. Your no longer employed at the arena. Even if new ownership comes in whos to say you will be the right hand man? Also, what do you mean it wasn't a discussion about anything concrete? You mean talking to them about the league with some potential interests isn't concrete? Even if nothing about a deal was talked about or reached potentially?
So the dispute for this joint began way back in 02. The Egyptian owes a lot of people in a lot of places money. I know this is the 3rd time this joint is facing foreclosure. This is the farthest it's gotten though.
Santulli said the overwhelming sentiment around the community is to decline the repurchase request in a bid to find a new operator for the arena. If the bid is denied, the county would take control of the arena debt-free.
“I’ve never has as many calls, emails, everything, as I have from the people that are very concerned about the condition and operation of the arena,” Santulli said. “Ninety-nine percent, maybe 99.9 percent, of the responses -- and we’ve had hundreds -- think it’s time to go in a new direction.”
Santulli said he is convinced a change is needed and it’s time to replace Afr. He said Afr’s history of mismanagement and the deteriorating condition of the arena make a change necessary.
So wait, the new owners wouldn't be respomsible for things like the money Afr owes the bank?
So wait, the new owners wouldn't be respomsible for things like the money Afr owes the bank?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THAT QUESTION? You claim to pay attention so much, you should know the answer since it has been written in black and white since the beginning. NO THEY DONT. They hand the check back to Afr and it becomes county owned, and debt free.
A source close to the arena has said that the AFR family has filed a lawsuit and are suing Tom Santulli & Chemung County for trying to run the Jackals team out of Elmira. It seems, which Santulli has stated several times, that Santulli has contacted the League and asked how to end Hockey in Elmira, the League has contacted the Afr's and Arena and told them that Santulli told the league they don't want hockey in elmira and want the arena for other purposes that will benefit the county but not hockey!!!
