Plattsburgh

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.

The city of Plattsburgh is looking into putting its budget and business operations onto a cloud-based platform.  Representatives from OpenGov were at City Hall Tuesday evening showcasing their system.

After nearly a year, the City of Plattsburgh has ended a moratorium on new or expanded cryptocurrency operations in the city.

An update now to a story we’ve been following for months: the Plattsburgh Common Council has tabled a resolution that would lift a moratorium on new cryptocurrency mining operations within the city.

Plattsburgh was one of the first cities to be awarded a $10 million New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant.  The primary area that will be redeveloped is a large parking lot one block from the center city adjacent to the Saranac River.  A developer recently revealed a proposed $25 million multi-use plan for the nearly five-acre site. Mayor Colin Read tells WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley he is hopeful construction work can begin soon.

The New York state Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System ranks the city of Plattsburgh among 10 municipalities in the state under moderate stress. Within that category, Plattsburgh ties with Rockland County for most stressed. Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read, a first-term Democrat, was not surprised the city received that designation because it is based on data from financial reports for the 2017 fiscal year. The city has implemented a five-year budget planning process to reverse the trend.  Read tells WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley for the 2019 budget year, city leaders this month approved a budget that is under the tax cap and minimizes tax increases.

Regional and business officials gathered this morning to hear from the head of the Clinton County legislature, the Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor and the city of Plattsburgh mayor on the state of their communities.

One of the key areas in Plattsburgh to be redeveloped with New York state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding is a large parking lot between the city center and the Saranac River. The project’s developer recently laid out the plans during a public forum.

The cities of Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Plattsburgh have filed lawsuits against the manufacturers and distributors of opioid painkillers. The cities are hoping to recoup expenses from a crisis they say has placed a strain on taxpayers.

During the most recent Plattsburgh Common Council meeting, questions were raised about the willingness of the mayor to meet with town officials regarding an ongoing dispute over annexation of land.

Planners for the Town of Plattsburgh held a “community social” last night to present preliminary concept plans for redevelopment of a large tract of the town’s commercial center.  WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley was there.

The Plattsburgh Common Council is revising the city’s departmental managerial compensation package to attract and keep personnel while at the same time dealing with fiscal constraints.  At the most recent meeting, there was considerable disagreement between councilors over data presented to justify some proposed changes.

In March, Plattsburgh officials imposed an 18-month moratorium on new cryptocurrency operations in the city.  Last night, the Common Council adopted a local law placing regulations on such operations – but did not end the moratorium.

In 2013, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli implemented a Fiscal Stress Monitoring System that evaluates local governments. This week the office issued the scores for municipalities with fiscal years that ended on Dec. 31, 2017.  Plattsburgh was among the communities listed with the second-highest level of fiscal stress.  As WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports, the score was not a surprise to Mayor Colin Read.

Plattsburgh’s mayor and common council held a public hearing last night on the mayor’s proposed 2019 city budget.  But no one commented on the $59 million fiscal plan.