News - Ivins addresses city's economic issues

Ivins started out the night by giving a presentation on the bonding of capital projects. He said that bonding should be the final step in the process and not the first, alluding to the way the city has gone about the proposed public safety building.

Ivins said the real lesson was that the City Council shouldn’t have bonded last year because they were not ready to go forward. He sighted the proposed public safety building as an example saying he left out the facility when he put together all the other bonds because he new the project was a long way away.

“If we approved everything tonight we still wouldn’t be bonding until sometime next year,” Ivins said.

In recent weeks, Commissioner of Public Safety Ron Kim has implied that the city could use the funds bonded for the indoor rec center to build his public safety building. Ivins addressed the issue by showing that it would cost the city $868,055.76 to close the bonds and transfer them to the public safety building.

Ivins also addressed the funding of the indoor rec center, which was bonded by the previous City Council in 2007. Ivins said he did not feel the council should have bonded the project because at the time plans for the building had not been completed. Nonetheless, funds bonded in 2007 will expire on July, 1 2010 and other funds bonded in 2006 will expire on April, 1 2009. The city must spend the money before those dates in order to have access to the funds. The city has $1,574,258.44 remaining to be spent on the 2006 bond and $4,330,000 remaining on the 2007 bond.

Ivins went on to say that he did not agree with the previous councils decision to bond the rec center before plans had been completed, but since it had been done the city would have to move forward with the project to avoid losing the funds.

After the presentation, Kim spoke of the council’s need to prioritize its spending. He questioned the city’s priorities, saying it was more in need of a public safety building and new fire station then it was of an indoor rec center.

Commissioner of Accounts John Franck and Mayor Scott Johnson both blamed Kim for his failure to design a realistic public safety building. They also sighted that Kim currently does not have the 4/5 vote needed to bond funds for the proposed facility. However, members did all agree to sit down and discuss options for the construction and funding of the project.

“Solving the police station is a priority but we have to go through the right process,” Ivins said.

Commissioner Ivins also addressed city finances during his agenda, citing the tuff economic times that currently face the state. He said the city can’t just rely on state funds anymore because VLT money is not guaranteed.

“We need to do our tax payers justice and tighten our belts as well and we really need to start prioritizing our requests,” he said.

Ivins said he is trying to keep city spending at minimum and addressed Governor Paterson’s recent decision to cut agency spending and the possibility of state worker layoffs. Ivins said he hopes the city will not have to do the same, but people must keep in mind that Saratoga is not immune to the economy.

In other business.

• During the Mayor’s Agenda, the council authorized Mayor Johnson to purchase a .28-acre lot that borders the South Side recreation field for $145,000 in a 3-2 vote. Johnson commended the owner for taking less than market value. He said that even if the indoor rec center is not built it will expand the fields open space.
Both Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco and Commissioner Kim voted against the measure. Scirocco cited a concern over the proper removal and cleaning of the site after a one-family home was previously demolished and removed from the sight, while Kim sighted an issue with funding associated with the purchase

• In a 5-0 vote, the council donated two parcels of vacant land owned by the city to the Shelters of Saratoga. The agency intends to construct a new building on the sight to help shelter residents who have are currently employed, but still are not able to afford their own hosing.
Shelters of Saratoga is the only homeless shelter in Saratoga, Washington and Warrant Counties. The shelter has been in operation for 16 years and helps more than 250 individuals each year with shelter, food, clothing, employment, transportation assistance and case management.