Critical decisions will soon be made on the Village of Saranac Lake’s plan to build a 69,000-square-foot emergency services complex at 33 Petrova Ave. The cost of the project was estimated two years ago at $27.5 million, not including contingencies such as environmental remediation or road and sidewalk upgrades for access roads. At that time, Saranac Lake submitted requests for Congressionally Directed Spending totaling $28.5 million from the FY2024 federal budget. That effort resulted in only $4.5 million, supplemented by a $1 million grant from New York State. According to the village manager, as of late November, no further money or funding requests were in the pipeline. When federal funding failed to come through, Mayor Williams was asked directly how much debt he was willing to incur to fully fund the project. He did not answer the question.

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Worst case scenario

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New York State’s Constitution limits the amount of debt any municipality can carry to 7% of the combined full valuation of its taxable properties. For Saranac Lake, that cap is $25.4 Million. Absent any funding windfall — and there are few known funding sources for projects this size — Saranac Lake taxpayers would need to commit to the full extent of the cap for this one project.

Maxing out available credit would eliminate any avenue of external funding for Saranac Lake’s long list of capital improvement projects — improvements to roads and sidewalks, building and parking lot repair, maintenance of parks and recreation facilities — amenities that improve life for all villagers and attract visitors and prospective residents. It would also remove any fiscal flexibility in case of emergency.

Equally damaging is the impact such a large debt would have on Saranac Lake’s annual budget. Repayment of principal alone of a $25 million bond over a 20-year period would require 17.5% across-the-board cuts (based on this year’s general budget). These cuts to personnel and services would impact police and fire budgets and contracts with the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad, along with every other department.

Conversely, paying off the debt by increasing property taxes over the same 20-year span would result in a $350 additional annual levy for every $100,000 of property valuation. Simply put, it is a cost that our community cannot afford.

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Alternative solutions

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Unless village trustees map out a credible financing plan that will not effectively bankrupt our community, it would be irresponsible not to consider alternatives.

A 2018 report commissioned by the village board on best uses for its now-vacant former offices at 1-3 Main Street recommended expanding the police department into the entire ground floor of the building and any portion of the second or third floors as needed. The price cited in 2018 for retrofitting the building was $1,888,000 ($2,884,000 today, when adjusted for inflation).

The combined 84,000 square feet of contiguous properties on Broadway currently occupied by fire and rescue services could then be used to accommodate the 53,853-square-foot need for these services claimed by Saranac Lake’s consultant. Growing the fire department in place would also allow for restoration of the historic 1912 fire hall for administrative offices, recruiting and official functions.

With industry standard project/construction costs ranging upward from $200 per square foot, establishing department programming needs–which ultimately determines the facility size–is an all-important consideration. The 20-year programming need identified by Saranac Lake’s consultant, who will also oversee procurement and construction for the project, is 2.3 times the size determined by members of our own emergency services at a station design conference in 2022. This discrepancy has yet to be explained by the consultant, Mayor Williams or members of the village advisory committee overseeing the project.

Expanding police, fire and rescue services downtown in their historic locations is one of many alternatives the village has not explored with diligence in its drive to build at Petrova Ave.

While members of our community have identified a number of shortcomings to locating emergency services at 33 Petrova Ave. — location in two overlapping school zones, inaccessibility to village residents and visitors, increased emergency response times among them — lack of affordability of the project currently being considered by the village board will leave the deepest impact on quality of life across our community for decades to come.

We urge village residents to press our elected officials to explore alternative solutions that better balance the needs of our emergency service personnel with the longterm fiscal health of Saranac Lake.

Respectfully,

Eric Ackerson, Jess Ackerson, Glenn Arnold, Susan Arnold, Jason Brill, Briar Corelli, Tony Corelli, Joy Cranker, Ren Davidson, Donna Day, Ben Douglas, Steve Erman, Jeremy Evans, Kathy Ford, Margo Gold, Steve Halasz, Katherine Hanford, Molly Hann, Stephen Hann, Joseph Henderson, Tracey Henderson, Kelly Hofschneider, Mark Hofschneider, Shaun Kittle, Elizabeth Kochar, Jen Kretser, Melinda Little, Emily Martz, Betsy Minehan, Keith Murphy, Marge Murphy, Patricia O’Gorman, Bekkie Poliquin, Joseph Poliquin, Franny Preston, Bob Ross, Peter Seward, Rich Shapiro, Eleanor Sweeney, Robert Sweet, Mary Thill, Dave Trudeau, Val Trudeau, Leigh Walrath, Brian Weinrich and Mark Wilson

Saranac Lake village

James Abendroth, Dave Cilley, Rivka Cilley, Jim Connolly, Lisa Crocker, Al Dunham, Charlene Dunham, Dorothy Federman, Jay Federman, Nancy Keet, Arden Kleffmann, Mark Kurtz, Linda Lacey, Walt Linck, Jamie McAloon, Tamara Peary, Virginia Slater, Paul Van Cott, Andy Walkow, Erin Walkow, Peggy Wiltberger and Lisa Yanchitis

Saranac Lake area