Mayor Collins says "Glens Falls has arrived," outlines ARPA spending, housing projects and new task forces

Mayor Bill Collins delivered the annual State of the City address at the Queensbury Hotel, saying Glens Falls has “arrived” and announcing several committees and funding priorities to manage growth and infrastructure needs.

Collins said the city has seen strong sales-tax growth over the last four years and highlighted Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects and a forthcoming ribbon-cutting for several downtown rehabs. “Glens Falls has arrived,” Mayor Bill Collins said, adding that the city will continue to pursue grants and prudent bonding to fund major projects.

The mayor reviewed how the city has used federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and other grants. He said the city received roughly $12,000,000 in ARPA funding and outlined allocations reported to the council: about $5.1 million for water and sewer projects (including Dix Avenue reconstruction, new sand filters and a remote camera sewer-inspection system); a little more than $2.0 million for parks and recreation upgrades; roughly $800,000 for technology upgrades; slightly more than $800,000 for fire department repairs and equipment; $346,000 for police equipment and vehicle replacements; about $1.3 million toward Heritage Hall improvements and other business development needs; $239,000 for business equipment for the controller and city engineer; and approximately $1.3 million for Department of Public Works (DPW) capital equipment. Collins also noted a $172,000 contribution from Warren County ARPA toward playground upgrades at Eastfield and Montcalm Street.

Collins reviewed progress on housing and downtown projects, saying private and public investment will deliver more housing units downtown. He said the downtown rehabilitation portfolio totals about $49,000,000 in combined state grants, private investment and anticipated long-term city bonding; the work includes roughly 88 apartments (70 designated for low- and moderate-income households) and additional units already under construction or approved. He also listed recent grant awards that support low- and moderate-income homebuyers, accessibility improvements and conversions of vacant space into apartments; Collins said the city expects one housing grant to help about 15 additional buyers and earlier grants helped 10 buyers.

To prepare for continued growth, Collins announced new committees and task forces. He said he created a financial planning committee to work with Controller Mark Powers to develop longer-term budgeting and benchmarking. He also announced a parking task force, to include members of the business improvement district (BID), the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Center Coalition and city residents, to produce a comprehensive parking plan; Collins said he will prepare a council resolution to suspend time limits on certain city parking lots while the task force works. Finally, he announced a community engagement task force to support the police department and the city social worker, Darlene Hackman, in outreach and service coordination for people in need; Councilman Bob Landry has agreed to chair that task force, Collins said.

Collins addressed recent increases in people spending long periods in City Park and downtown and framed the engagement task force as part of a coordinated response. He said staff have connected three people to housing and that services are stretched; the city will also pursue opioid-settlement funding at the county level to expand direct service coordination.

Collins thanked local partners — including the Governor’s office, Department of State, Empire State Development, New York State Homes and Community Renewal (as referenced in his remarks), Warren County departments and the Adirondack Glens Falls Transportation Council (AGFTC) — for grant support and technical assistance on waterfront, pedestrian and traffic-signal projects. He noted federal and state aid for Webster Avenue paving and water/sewer upgrades and said the city spent nearly $3.0 million on paving and sidewalks in 2024 ($1.0 million on paving and about $1.96 million on sidewalks, as reported by the mayor).

On public safety and operations, Collins said police and fire staffing improved in 2024 (the police hired four officers after seven vacancies in 2023 and the fire department filled seven vacancies and is at full staff) and recounted the municipal response last July to two severe storm events that downed dozens of trees and closed streets. He also described technology and code department upgrades funded with ARPA dollars, including new laptops and Wi‑Fi in city hall and a planning and zoning coordinator position.

Collins closed by urging continued cooperation among municipal, county and state partners, restating his administration’s priority to invest in infrastructure while avoiding unnecessary tax increases, and inviting residents to participate in a forthcoming smart-growth community survey and public workshops coordinated by contractor EDR of Saratoga.

Ending: Collins said the city government must continue to pursue grants and long-term planning to sustain the momentum he described and encouraged residents to submit input to the mayor’s office and to participate in the community survey and upcoming DRI updates.