Committee asks staff to draft amendment to events-coordinator agreement, discusses funding and operations

On April 22, the Warren County Joint Parks O&M Committee directed staff to prepare a draft amendment to the intermunicipal agreement with the Village and Town of Lake George to clarify how payments meant for a special events coordinator would be handled, after an extended discussion of staffing, funding allocations and operational authority.

Committee members said the current contract requires the Village to maintain a village employee in the role of special events coordinator and that county and town payments help cover that employee’s salary and expenses. An attorney for the committee told members the contract runs April 1 through March 31 and “that agreement requires the village to have a village employee that’s referred to as special events coordinator,” creating legal limits on the committee’s ability to force a village to change hiring decisions.

Members discussed a proposal from the Village to eliminate the village employee position and instead send occupancy-tax payments to the Village for distribution. Under the proposal discussed in the meeting, the total annual allocation would remain about $35,000: Warren County contributing $15,000, the Town of Lake George $5,000 and the Village $15,000. Committee members who summarized the Village proposal said it would split the funds so that roughly $5,000 would be designated for an assistant, $5,000 to cover Department of Public Works (DPW) overtime, and the remainder to the mayor’s office for event-related work.

Members raised operational concerns if the special events coordinator were not a village employee. One committee member cautioned that an events coordinator would not have authority to order DPW staff to pause other work: “I can’t have an event coordinator call my DPW and pull them off of something I told them to do,” the participant said, arguing that would add a layer to the chain of command. Others suggested issuing a request for proposals for a contracted promoter or coordinator to test whether an external hire could perform the role.

The committee also discussed related operational items: summer bookings at Wood Park are “a little light,” several weekends remain open, and one large event was canceled after the promoter disclosed a health diagnosis. Committee members reported planned discussions with engineers and foundations about rebuilding the playground and splash pad to include adaptive and inclusive play features; they said they would present materials and potential funding pathways to the committee.

Rather than adopt a contract change at the meeting, the committee asked staff to prepare a draft amendment or resolution reflecting the Village’s proposed payment allocation and return it for review at the next meeting. The committee’s attorney warned that, if the Village chooses not to hire a village employee for the special events coordinator role, the committee’s ability to compel that change is limited by the separate legal authority of the Village. The committee agreed the cleanest legal approach would be to provide occupancy-tax funds to the Village for park management and include any required terms in a revised agreement.

A draft amendment and resolution will be prepared and placed on the next committee agenda for formal consideration.