Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler gave his third annual State of the City address this week.
In the opening minutes of his talk, Keeler, a first-term Democrat, noted that over the past 24 months the Albany County river city has seen, on average, one new business open per month.
He says Cohoes is doing more with less: completing more major projects, purchasing more new equipment, and paving more roads.
"The very significant budgetary fallout our city government experienced in 2020 was more than reversed last year," said Keeler. "Cohoes not only saw a resumption in NYS aid to pre-pandemic levels, we were on the receiving end of $7 million in county sales tax revenue – an all-time high. Additionally, the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided funding to state, local and tribal governments. While the formula that allocated funding under that act distributed significantly less funds to towns, villages and small cities like Cohoes relative to what was given to larger cities...the $1.7 million we received will certainly help."
Keeler noted that 2021 was a banner year for Cohoes in terms of grants received. He anticipates 2022 will be even better. Keeler pointed out that Cohoes is the first municipality in the state to receive grant funding through The Recycling Partnership under a new initiative.
"The second of three ‘Cleaner Greener Cohoes’ projects involves our recently completed purchase of nearly 1,600 streetlights across the city in December of 2021," said Keeler. "Having taken ownership of the streetlights, we will soon begin converting the High-Intensity Discharge bulbs to more energy-efficient Light-Emitting Diode, or LED lamps. Once completed this spring, we anticipate saving $300,000 in the first 12 months alone, with additional savings annually thereafter. The third ‘Cleaner Greener Cohoes’ project is our city-owned floating solar array. This project involves installing, owning and operating a 3.2 megawatt DC floating solar array on the city’s 10-acre enclosed reservoir. 8,000 solar panels would cover two thirds of our reservoir’s water surface."
Keeler pegs the anticipated cost of the installation at $5.9 million, which the city has applied for federal, state and foundation grants to cover. He adds that once operational, floating solar would generate 100% of the city’s electric energy demand for its municipal facilities, resulting in an annual $500,000 savings on the city's electric bill.
Keeler also spoke of numerous infrastructure projects, including a $116,000 New York State Library Construction grant to fund emergency restoration work at the public library. It closed back in July after a sizable portion of the exterior facade collapsed near the main entrance.
"In December the City of Cohoes was awarded four grants totaling nearly $3 million in NYS Regional Economic Development Council Grants," Keeler said. "Two of those grants will go toward restoration and clean energy-related upgrades for City Hall."
Keeler mentioned his ongoing involvement in the situation with the Norlite plant and the initiative to move residents out of neighboring Saratoga Sites public housing. This week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ordered Norlite to immediately cease and desist actions resulting in dust leaving the property, and threatened to close the plant down if it doesn’t comply.
2nd Ward Councilman Donald Russell, also a Democrat, says Keeler is doing a good job.
"He's been making strides in working with both DEC and Congressman Tonko in regards to moving Saratoga Sites and trying to make things better for the community as a whole," saidRussell.
Keeler reported that Cohoes ended 2021 $2 million in the black, with its Rainy Day fund at nearly $5 million, $1 million higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic level. Keeler says he has no plan to raise taxes, adding he is certain that Cohoes’ best days lie ahead.
"Now history may see the past several years as some of the city’s darkest, considerable light is now shining on Cohoes, and its immediate future has rarely looked brighter," Keeler said. "In a word, the State of the City is ‘strong’, because our residents are strong."
