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Committee sets grant deadlines, discusses county pass-through to towns and municipal responsibilities
Summary
The committee approved release of the county’s farmland/open space and trails grant applications with deadlines (open space due week of June 13; trails due week of July 11) and discussed whether county funds should continue to pass through municipalities, asking staff to consult finance and legal.
The Saratoga County Trails and Open Space Committee agreed to release the county’s farmland and open space and trails grant applications for the year and set application windows intended to align with related county grant deadlines.
Jason, county staff, presented draft schedules and said that, if the committee kept the same timelines as last year, the open space applications would be due the week of June 13 and the trails applications the week of July 11 (committee members also referenced July 25 as an alternate trails due date). Members asked that the deadlines be staggered to avoid overloading municipal staff; the committee settled on June 13 for open space and July 11 for trails.
A longer discussion addressed how county grant funds are disbursed when projects are managed by Saratoga PLAN or other nonmunicipal applicants. Staff said county funds historically flow to a municipality (the town) rather than directly to Saratoga PLAN, and committee members said some towns have expressed confusion about that role — in particular, that towns may need to accept reimbursements and handle accounting even when Saratoga PLAN is administering the project. Jason and supervisors noted three common scenarios: town-led applications where the town handles procurement and reimbursement directly; hybrid projects where a town contributes funding alongside Saratoga PLAN; and projects where Saratoga PLAN seeks only a town endorsement and the town does not anticipate any fiscal responsibility.
Committee members asked staff to consult county finance and legal staff and to consider adding application language or a formal resolution requirement that clarifies municipal obligations in cases where county funds will pass through a town to a nonmunicipal project sponsor. For this year, the committee decided to proceed with the application release on the agreed dates but to research whether policy or application wording should change in future cycles.
Ending: Staff will consult finance and county attorneys and return to the committee with recommended procedural language or options prior to the next application cycle.
