Yellowstone (TV Series)

An Acceptable Surrender (2020)

John Emmet Tracy: Ellis Steele

Quotes 

• Governor Lynelle Perry : Okay, where to begin...

  Ellis Steele : You've looked over our proposal?

  Governor Lynelle Perry : I have. Yes.

  A.G. Stewart : This the airport?

  Ellis Steele : Mm-hmm.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : What investment are you requesting from the state?

  Ellis Steele : We want the land. You retain ownership, we operate on a 30-year lease. The airlines are assuming construction costs on their respective terminals, we'll build the infrastructure, contract management and operations back to the state for obvious reasons. Our build costs are just over a billion. Now, we're looking for 400 million in land and a tax subsidy of 500 million over ten years.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : Talk to me about numbers.

  Ellis Steele : The park has roughly 4 million visitors a year, the majority flying or driving through Jackson Hole. Now, Cody, Wyoming sees the most automobile traffic. We feel once ski resorts are operational, the airport could see 2 million guests a year.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : Has the forest service agreed to the lease for the resort?

  Ellis Steele : They have.12,000 acres will be developed in three phases. The first resort will be open in eighteen months with roughly 2000 beds available through our three resorts. Ancillary building: condos, hotels not under our umbrella, those things lag by another 18 months to two years.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : Well, here's my concern: uh, I don't really look at Jackson Hole as a model for responsible development. You have multimillion dollar second homes that are pricing the locals from living there. Jackson has multiple bedroom communities to absorb the displaced. Paradise Valley doesn't have that.

  Ellis Steele : Livingston is ripe for growth. Our urban planners feel the town could absorb 40,000 people in the next decade, and it needs to: Multimillion dollar second homes paying property taxes into the community without drawing on its services is exactly what this valley needs. And we're talking about between 3 and 6 billion in annual tax revenue generated by these developments.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : Have you chosen a location for the airport?

  Ellis Steele : Initially, we thought the golf courses at the Paradise Valley sporting club could be repurposed, but the FAA feels the valley there is too narrow. The FAA chose this location. This area here.

  Governor Lynelle Perry : That's the Yellowstone. That's a seven-generation ranch. He'll never sell. Then you'll invoke eminent domain. It's been attempted. He beat it.

  Ellis Steele : Mm-hmm, for a three-hundred unit condo complex. That was a land grab. Did seven generations of ranchers infuse 6 billion dollars into the economy? That's progress, Governor. And progress has a price.