(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
Glens Falls Economic Development Director Jeff Flagg demonstrates the Parking Genius app.
Glens Falls budget passes despite two against
The Glens Falls Common Council approved its $22.6 million, 2023 budget at their regular meeting Tuesday Nov. 22, despite “no” votes from councilors Diana Palmer and Ben Lapham. The budget, up about $525,000 from last year, passed 4 to 2.
In the two weeks since Nov. 10 when FoothillsBusinessDaily.com first reported the councilors’ concerns, Mayor Bill Collins was apparently not able to shift their thinking on the current budget.
“I still have concerns about the amount of money that we’re going into the fund balance for,” Lapham, the Ward 4 councilor, said.
The city has budgeted to draw about $1.6 million from a fund balance of about $7 million at this point. The mayor has maintained that the city likely will not need that fund balance at all as the budgeted amounts are very conservative.
The city is still working on payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements with developers such as SpringCity which is developing property on South Street. Variable revenue such as sales tax is a very low estimate, Collins has said.
[Read the earlier budget story here.]
Palmer’s concerns were aimed more at the rise in legacy expenses such as full-time salaries and benefits. Those are costs that continue in perpetuity and must now be part of every budget, she has said.
She also had concerns with the process overall.
“I am also still uncomfortable with this budget,” she said before the vote, “but I’m hoping that this process has led to perhaps the ability to start talking about this in an ongoing way next year, so we can all feel comfortable with this next year.”
The mayor said his budget coordinator, Chip McTiernan, will prepare a budget meeting for the first Tuesday every month.
“It doesn’t hurt to have that conversation, and let's have it throughout the year,” the mayor told the council. He added that the process was not perfect. He said: “We all want to change it.”
"I appreciate that," Palmer replied.
Councilor-at-large Jim Clark Jr. agreed.
“It’s a daunting process when you’re looking at a 22-million-dollar-plus general fund budget,” he said.
The mayor dos not vote on the budget. Voting yes: Clark (At-large), Ed Donohue (Ward 1), Bob Landry (Ward 2), and Mary Gooden (Ward 5).
Glens Fall Parking: There’s an app for that
The mobile phone app Parking Genius is tied into the system of parking sensors installed throughout Glens Falls, and anyone using the app can see available parking spaces throughout the downtown core.
“It helps wayfinding and parking enforcement to be efficient,” said Glens Falls Economic Development director Jeff Flagg on Saturday Nov. 19.
People can use the app to find parking, and parking enforcement officers can use the app to check for cars over the time limits.
The app is not branded with Glens Falls’ iconography, but it will be soon, Flagg said, as the city gets ready to roll the app out, officially.
The city had not been enforcing parking rules since the start of the pandemic in 2020, but they have begun to issue warnings, and Flagg said the return to full parking enforcement will begin in January. The app should be ready by then.
The city council approved installation of parking sensors in the streets and related equipment on light poles throughout the city in September.
The data collected by the sensors will help inform decisions about parking regulations and will be used in an ongoing parking study that will determine the possible placement of a downtown parking structure.
[Read about the parking sensors here and our extensive coverage of parking, a potential transportation hub, and the ongoing parking study, here.]
On another note, the city is looking at overnight parking regulations. Ward 5 Councilor Mary Gooden is heading that study.
[Correction: We misspelled Chip McTiernan's name in the original post. He is the special assistant to the mayor and the budget coordinator. It has been corrected with our apologies.]
Assembly member Carrie Woerner introduces herself
During public comment Nov. 22, State Assembly member Carrie Woerner who won her bid for reelection earlier this month, introduced herself to the Glens Falls Common Council. Woerner, a Democrat, won the newly-drawn 113th Assembly District, which now includes Glens Falls.
“I’m really, truly delighted to work with you as your representative in Albany next year,” Woerner said to the councilors. “Keep my number handy, I’m always available to you.”
The Common Council briefly applauded and thanked her for taking the time to stop in.