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The Saratoga Springs City Council defeated a resolution Tuesday, Oct. 2, to approve the construction of a public safety facility on Woodlawn Ave. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the City Council meeting. Kim and Mayor Valerie Keehn voted for the project while Commissioners John Franck, Matt McCabe and Tom McTygue voted against it. Once it was clear Kim would not be getting the public safety building, he tabled the rest of the items on his agenda, one item of which was tied to the council having approved the first. After tabling the items, he said, “Sometimes it is very important to stand up, I don’t need to spend any more time at this City Council meeting,” and he left, receiving applause from the audience, some of whom followed him out.
The proposal for the development of a nearly 1.5 acre lot on Woodlawn Ave. initially was looked at by the council mid-June. Put together by Community Initiatives Development Corp., Bonacio Construction, BBL Construction, The LA Group, Frost Architecture and other organizations, the project would have included a 500-space parking garage, a public safety building and a mixed-use building on Woodlawn Ave. As originally proposed, the CIDC, a nonprofit organization, would turn the parking garage and an initial $200,000 for its upkeep over to the city. The public safety building would belong to nonprofit CIDC and would be leased to the city for approximately $1.4 million a year, for 30 years. Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting, as Finance Commissioner Matt McCabe went over the draft 2008 comprehensive budget, he noted, “I’d like to establish one thing very clearly, I am not against an improved municipal facility, I am not against the police, I am not against our employees, our expenditures, creative financing, thinking inside or outside the box. What I am committed to is the importance of addressing the revenue side of our capital needs. How we approach these projects will have an effect on virtually every other capital project facing our city.” During the presentation, McCabe noted that in the draft budget no funds were included for capital projects in 2008, unlike the $8.6 million in 2007. The draft comprehensive budget already would require a 4.87 percent increase in taxes, not including any capital projects. McCabe also pointed out that the proposed $25 million capital program if passed as is, would use up all but $4 million of the city’s bonding capacity for years to come, until major payments toward the outstanding bonds had been made. In order to fund the public safety building without taxing citizens as heavily, McCabe put forth using alternate methods of funding, including paid parking downtown and using City Hall as a revenue source. Commissioner McTygue proposed the city put out a new request for proposals with very specific criteria to build a public safety building in the parking lot below City Hall, which would lead to a better selection for the council to consider. Before the vote, Commissioner Kim suggested setting aside the revenue the video lottery terminals bring to the city from the state to fund the public safety building. The suggestion was the second item on his agenda. McCabe cautioned, however, that the VLT funds are not a guaranteed source of revenue. A public hearing will take place on the draft comprehensive budget on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in the City Hall. Several workshops will be held as well. |
