WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Ogdensburg city councillors voted unanimously Monday night to fund several “mission critical” capital improvements around the city.
It was a 6-0 vote. Councillor John Rishe was not at the meeting.
The city will spend $500,000 from its fund balance.
The projects are to replace city hall’s roof, make repairs to the Dobisky Center’s sprinkler system, add security cameras, do HVAC work at the police department, and start the design and engineering process to replace the fire department’s roof.
Director of planning and development Andrea Smith asked councillors to decide on the improvements so the work can start once the weather warms up.
“These are what we consider to be mission critical projects that we really need to advance in the short term in order not to jeopardize our facilities,” Smith said.
Smith says these improvements will bring some facilities up to code. The Dobisky Center sprinkler system just failed its five-year inspection.
Councillors had already voted in favor of the city hall roof project, but staff needed to know where the money was coming from.
Meanwhile, Police Chief Mark Kearns wants to try again for a grant to hire more officers.
He says the department applied for four officers last year but was denied. He says applying for two instead could give them a better chance this year.
That would bring the department up from 19 to 21 officers.
Councillor Nichole Kennedy asked for a resolution to be drafted for the next meeting.
The grant deadline is in early May.
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