Plattsburgh

A public hearing was held Monday evening on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement that assesses the impacts of proposed redevelopment in Plattsburgh’s downtown area as a result of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House in January would impose “a fee on the carbon content of fuels… or any other product derived from those fuels that….emit greenhouse gases…”  City officials in Plattsburgh recently joined a number of municipalities across the country in supporting the measure.

The Plattsburgh Common Council approved the city’s 2020 budget Tuesday night.  The $59.6 million dollar plan includes a $600,000 surplus and builds the fund balance.

Plattsburgh City Councilors have received a status report on the city budget and the implications for the 2020 budget proposal they are reviewing.

The Plattsburgh Citizens Coalition formed in July to oppose the current Downtown Revitalization Initiative development plan and advocate for an alternative that is closer to the one that was initially offered. The group held an informational meeting Wednesday to give a status report on the current development.

The Plattsburgh Citizens Coalition will hold an information session tonight on the city’s Downtown Redevelopment Initiative project.  As WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports, the group formed this summer when opposition to the current redevelopment plan boiled over.

The city of Plattsburgh and the town of Plattsburgh remain at odds over a Payment in Lieu of Taxes Agreement from 1992. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley has the latest.

In 2018, the city of Plattsburgh filed a lawsuit against the Town of Plattsburgh in a dispute over a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement. At Thursday evening’s Common Council meeting, the city’s mayor announced that he had offered a settlement to the town.

In a precursor to a potential lawsuit, the attorney for a coalition opposed to the current plans for Plattsburgh’s downtown redevelopment delivered a letter to city leaders Thursday informing them they do not have the legal authority to enter an agreement with the developers.

Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read released his proposed budget on August 19th and residents had a chance to weigh in on the plan Friday morning. But no one commented.

Just before the new school year, the Plattsburgh Common Council debated the idea of putting police officers in local schools at its most recent meeting.

City officials in Plattsburgh held a public meeting Thursday to allow people to review and comment on the draft outline for the city’s Generic Environmental Impact Study for downtown redevelopment.  The few people who commented felt they were being rushed.

Plattsburgh officials and partners working on the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative project held an open house Wednesday evening to allow the public to review current plans and talk directly with developers.

Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read released his proposed 2020 budget on Monday, saying the plan stays below the tax cap and lowers property taxes.

Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read has released his proposed 2020 budget.

In April, Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read issued a plan to address energy and the environment that included the creation of a sustainability committee. The new group met for the first time this week and outlined intentions to obtain a grant to review and inventory the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

A new coalition has formed to unify the groups that are opposed or concerned about the current downtown redevelopment plans in Plattsburgh.

The Town of Plattsburgh has a number of initiatives in progress and is actively pursuing new businesses.  A new Kohl’s will soon open at one shopping mall, and down the road sporting goods supplier Runnings is renovating a former K-Mart store.  Town officials are also looking at long-term Smart Growth plans to create a walkable sustainable community that links residential areas with the commercial growth centers.  Town Supervisor Michael Cashman, a Democrat, tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley there’s a high level of interest from a number of new businesses that have been scouting the uptown corridor.

Less than a month after presenting revised Durkee Street redevelopment plans, the developer was back before the Plattsburgh Common Council with a new set of plans Thursday night.

The city of Plattsburgh is looking to annex 224 acres of land that it owns in the adjacent town.  The effort took a step forward recently when the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation granted the city’s request to be the lead agency for the property’s environmental review.

Plattsburgh, New York Mayor Colin Read has had a somewhat tumultuous first term. Protesters opposed to downtown redevelopment plans gather every Thursday during city council meetings outside City Hall.  There’s been a rocky relationship with the adjacent town after the city filed a lawsuit over a 1992 PILOT agreement.  Mayor Read is also attempting to annex 224 acres of town land. Early in his four-year term, Read and a city councilor were caught on tape making controversial comments and the mayor’s first budget eliminated four city departments.  
Despite the hurdles, last week Mayor Colin Read let it be known that he will run for a second four-year term next year.  The Democrat tells WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley that he hopes to stay in office until the city’s fiscal foundation is stable.

The Plattsburgh Common Council presented its five-year budget plan to the mayor Thursday evening.

Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read will run for a second four-year term in 2020.

The Plattsburgh Common Council chambers were filled Thursday evening with residents curious to see the developer of the Durkee Street parking lot provide updated redevelopment plans.

A former Plattsburgh City Councilor has died unexpectedly. Democrat Becky Kasper is perhaps best known for her blunt criticism of the city’s current mayor when she resigned her seat last year.

Plattsburgh leaders recently announced an Energy and Resiliency plan aimed at reducing the city’s carbon footprint and power costs. The announcement came on the same day councilors adopted the New York state Climate Smart Communities pledge.

The Plattsburgh Common Council is considering join hundreds of New York communities that have signed the state’s Climate Smart Communities pledge. The Plattsburgh Sustainability Committee plans to hold an Earth Day program at city hall on Monday evening to urge councilors to sign the climate smart pledge.

The Plattsburgh Common Council was scheduled to vote Thursday evening on a proposal to reestablish a compensation policy for certain managers in the city.  But the measure was tabled.

The Plattsburgh City Council has approved a measure to include electronic smoking devices in the smoking ban at the city’s public properties.  At a meeting Thursday, a number of students voiced their support of the measure while some adults detailed their opposition.

The Town of Plattsburgh is growing. That’s according to Town Supervisor Michael Cashman.  Late last year town officials unveiled a Smart Growth concept plan for an area of the town. New medical offices have opened in the Smithfield Boulevard area and nearly half a dozen national and regional chains are considering locations in the town. As it grows, the town is clashing with the adjacent city of Plattsburgh as that community tries to annex town properties. Supervisor Cashman says the status of that dispute hasn’t changed for several months.