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Mayor Keeler reports retiree payouts, park plantings and new parks director
Summary
Mayor Keeler updated the council on three retirement payouts, park improvements at Van Schaick Island Park (13 trees planted, fish stocked, paving planned), and announced Dan Carpenter as the new director of Parks & Recreation following Matt LaBombard’s resignation.
Mayor Kevin Keeler reported a series of operational updates at the May 26 Cohoes Common Council meeting, including three non‑budgeted retirement payouts and planned park improvements.
Keeler said recent retirements resulted in non‑budgeted payouts: a police officer payout of $30,000, a police lieutenant payout of $96,000 and a fire lieutenant payout of $107,000. He also said that year‑to‑date the city's three firehouses have been open nearly 100% of the time but staff expect coverage gaps when members bundle vacation time from June through August; Hill and Island houses are expected to remain open.
On parks, Keeler described multiple improvements at Van Schaick Island Park: the city purchased 13 blossoming trees and planted them with assistance from fifth graders at Van Schaick Elementary School; JD Lawncare performed weeding and mulching around the pavilion, flagpole and walkways; and the city stocked the pond with smallmouth bass and minnows with student help. Keeler said the loop around the pond and the parking lot would be milled and paved and that the south foot path would be raised to address recurring water issues.
Keeler also announced that Parks & Recreation Director Matt LaBombard resigned to take a full‑time security position with the school district and that Dan Carpenter — identified in the meeting as a Cohoes native, longtime youth sports coach and retired Cohoes police officer — has been hired as the new director.
Other items Keeler raised included discussions about Central firehouse needing substantial work, a conversation with Albany County staff about moving some events to the county athletic center known as "The Gil," planned promotional ceremonies for the fire and police departments on June 3, Cohoes PD’s first-time New York State accreditation on June 4, and a June 18 kickoff for the RTB event. Keeler also flagged concerns about the state Tier 6 retirement reform potentially shifting costs onto municipalities.
Keeler’s summary outlined next steps for park work and staffing transitions; specific project budgets and timelines were not provided during the public portion of the meeting.
