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Plattsburgh revisits $82,000 Sailors Beach feasibility grant after RFP failed to award
Summary
City staff told council members the $82,000 state grant for a Sailors Beach feasibility and master-plan study remains available but an earlier RFP was not awarded because some councilors found the proposed scope too large; staff will ask the state whether the scope and city match can be reduced and return with options.
Plattsburgh city staff said the city still holds an $82,000 state grant to fund a feasibility study and plan for Sailors Beach Park, but an RFP to award the work was not completed after council concerns about scope.
The grant — awarded through the state consolidated funding application process and administered by the Office of Parks and Historical Preservation — covers $82,000 in consultant work, of which the city would provide a $41,000 match, Alicia, a city staff member, told the council. Two firms responded to the RFP: Saratoga Associates and Barton Le Judas, she said, but the contract ultimately was not awarded.
The discussion matters because a feasibility study is the usual precondition for later construction grants, staff said: the study would identify environmental constraints, estimate costs for repairing the dock (described in the meeting as a “pier” or dock), evaluate a retaining wall and accessibility upgrades, and set a practical scope that could attract construction funding.
Councilors who had previously considered the item told staff they felt the original scope was too large. “A couple people… felt the scope of the whole project was a little bit too big,” one councilor said during the meeting, citing concerns about the pier portion of the plan. Staff said the grant remains within the five-year implementation window and that the feasibility work would take around nine to 10 months to complete if awarded.
Staff proposed several next steps: return to the council with a revised, smaller scope if feasible; contact the state grant administrator to ask whether adjustments to the scope or the city match are permitted; and, if needed, reissue an RFP with the revised scope. Alicia said she had already sent a message to the state contact to explore scope adjustments and pledged to bring verification and options back to the council.
Councilors also discussed broader grant-management lessons after staff reported that the state had cited the city’s record on previous unspent grants when evaluating other applications. Several councilors urged clearer up-front council buy-in on applications so that, if a grant is awarded, the city is prepared to follow through on implementation costs.
If the council directs staff to re-scope and re-bid the project, staff said they would return with a recommended scope and any conditions imposed by the grantor.
Votes or formal action were not taken on the Sailors Beach RFP during the work session; the matter remains under discussion and staff will report back to the council.
