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Plattsburgh council discusses five-year financial planning, beach property and waterfront studies
Summary
Councilors agreed to work on a five-year financial forecast with staff and discussed next steps for beach property, waterfront feasibility studies and strategies to boost summer visitation after noting uncertainty in Canadian visitor numbers.
Councilors spent a substantial portion of the meeting discussing a five‑year financial forecast and related planning tasks, and debated how the city should approach long-term projects at the waterfront now that the Civic Center is gone.
On the five‑year plan, staff (Richard and Casey) told councilors they can prepare updated actuals for 2024 and 2025 and populate a worksheet that the council can review. Councilors agreed to start with fixed, verifiable numbers — current expenditures, debt-service obligations and employee costs — and then use a workshop (two two‑hour sessions was suggested) to set assumptions for revenues, inflation and capital priorities. Staff estimated they could prepare the baseline numbers in a few hours; councilors asked that the work be shown live (projected during a workshop) and that prior forecasts be compared year‑to‑year to help judge forecast accuracy.
Councilors also returned repeatedly to waterfront issues: staff said feasibility and environmental testing are necessary before any major work at the beach, pier or shoreline is undertaken, and that previous studies exist which the council can reissue and review. One councilor noted testing and planning costs can be high and recommended focusing first on the studies already paid for rather than commissioning new expensive work. Staff said some grant funds will pay for testing and the feasibility pieces that form the city’s match.
The council discussed summer visitation and parking revenue, noting anecdotal business reports of reduced Canadian visitors this season. Staff said parking permit and meter data can be used to estimate changes in visitation and pledged to pull plate‑capture and permit records to produce a baseline. Councilors and staff also discussed amenity improvements — a larger snack bar/summer concessions area and new bathrooms — and asked staff to increase outreach once improvements are ready.
Why it matters
The five‑year plan discussion is intended to produce a shared, council‑wide framework for prioritizing capital projects and avoiding structural deficits. Waterfront feasibility and environmental testing are prerequisites for any redevelopment at the waterfront; councilors emphasized they do not want to commit taxpayers to large construction costs without clearer funding and feasibility outcomes.
Clarifying details from the meeting
- Staff said they will prepare updated actual numbers for 2024 and a worksheet populated with '25 budget figures; councilors estimated two 2‑hour workshop sessions may suffice to work through assumptions. - Councilors referenced at least two prior waterfront feasibility studies; staff will reissue those documents for council review before asking for new studies. - Staff said it may be possible to estimate Canadian visitor impacts by analyzing parking permits and daily meter plate captures; staff to follow up with a data pull.
Closing
Councilors endorsed the staff plan to prepare baseline financial numbers and scheduled a workshop to develop consensus assumptions and prioritization. They also asked staff to reissue prior waterfront studies, to coordinate environmental testing timelines with upcoming grant work, and to return with data on parking and beach usage.
