Potsdam village holding two open meetings to discuss parking, finance issues
Jan. 21—POTSDAM — The village board has scheduled two public meetings intended for them to discuss, respectively, downtown parking on Jan. 29 and village financial issues on Feb. 12. Both will be at 6 p.m. at the Potsdam village offices, 2 Park St.
The trustees voted to set the meetings during their Monday night meeting. Their intention was to make them for discussion only. However, should matters arise that require immediate attention, they may take action.
During the board member comments section of the meeting, Trustee Monique Tirion said she doesn't think the board has enough opportunity to gather and have in-depth discussions on issues that may cause confusion. That's because Open Meeting Laws mandate that they can only informally meet on a committee level with two trustees. Three or more trustees makes a quorum, which state law automatically makes an open meeting that public can attend and must be announced in advance.
"This is the only time we can get together and we can have some hope of getting less confused," Tirion said. "These are the open meeting laws that prevent us from making really useful interaction ever."
The board decided to hold the single-issue meetings after Trustee Stephen Warr and Mayor Alexandra Jacobs-Wilke made the suggestion. At the end of the meeting, the board voted unanimously to set them for the two upcoming dates.
Tirion has been publicly voicing concerns about the village's financial record keeping. She's not saying or implying there's any wrongdoing or malfeasance. On Monday, she expressed "concerns I have about about the way that the board is not really on top of some of these expense. Everything is kosher. Everything is spent well."
As an example, she cited how much money the village has in its bank accounts. She said right now, it's about $7 million, however "not all that money is spendable. Some has already been spent."
She pointed out a $1 million watertower project from five years ago that still hasn't been drawn out. Her concern is that officials may budget "on an assumption that's incorrect" and wants to hold the focused discussion on Feb. 12 to find out "how can we keep these incumbencies in the budget items."
Tirion had aired concerns about village financial record keeping that led to friction with the village treasurer. Go to http://wdt.me/qngqhg to read more about that.
The parking issue, to be further discussed Jan. 29, divided the board during Monday night's meeting. The Board of Trustees voted 4-1, with Trustee Sharon Williams voting no, to enter into a merchant agreement so they can place three parking kiosks downtown on a trial basis and have them accept card payments. Two of them will go into the Prosh lot, on the south side of Elm Street at Market Street. The other will go on the stretch of Maple Street on Fall Island.
Trustee Lynzie Schulte, who voted yes, and Williams said they want to see free two-hour downtown parking with permits needed for longer term parking, which would include people who rent the apartments in that area. Trustee Stephen Warr also voted in favor of the test agreement, but said he doesn't support switching from coin-operated meters to digital kiosks. Go to http://wdt.me/KQ6wFq to read more about that discussion.
