BG_A_0099_0330

Page 1

ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS

Now hiring at Schluter®-Systems

PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

518-324-5678 • coryerstaffing.com Entry-level talent provided exclusively by Coryer Staffing 203941

Published By Denton Publications Inc.

DIRECTLY MAILED TO OVER

71,354

MYCAPTURE PHOTO GALLERIES

See photos from all the game action last weekend.

HOMES EVERY WEEK! March 30, 2019

Burgh/North Countryman

suncommunitynews.com

• EDITION •

Plattsburgh school board OKs footbridge deal District, city set to formalize repair agreement

“So that’s my priority.” Krieg said that he’s not thrilled with the council’s offer. But at the end of the day, he’s happy to see the process move forward. “The taxpayers pay for this bridge, no matter whose budget it comes from,” he said.

By Elizabeth Izzo

REPAIR COSTS

STA FF W RITER

PLATTSBURGH | Repair of the Webb Island Footbridge may be imminent. The Plattsburgh City School District Board of Education voted last week to accept an offer from the city, a harbinger of the end to nearly 16 months of negotiations. The offer, approved by the Common Council March 14, could lead to the repair of the bridge as soon as this spring. With a recent decision from the Plattsburgh City School Board, the repair of the Webb Island Footbridge may be imminent. Photo by Elizabeth Izzo With the school board’s approval, the city and district attorneys will now hash out a more formal contract, which will need to return to the Common Council once again for fi nal approval. The city’s corporation counsel, Dean

Schneller, expects the deal will be finalized within the next few weeks. After that, work on the bridge can begin. “The people I’ve heard from the community ... they want this bridge open,” school board member Steve Krieg said last Tuesday.

The Webb Island Footbridge — a pedestrian connection between the South End, Plattsburgh High School and the SUNY Plattsburgh campus — has been shuttered since November 2017. An engineering report released at that time deemed the structure unsafe to use. State Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) has secured up to $400,000 from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to help offset the cost of repairing the bridge. “It is hoped that the cost of the repair and all related expense will be well below $400,000,” Superintendent Jay Lebrun wrote in an email to Mayor Colin Read and the Common Council last week. As part of the council’s offer, the district is asked to use a portion of that state funding to contract with an engineering firm to work on behalf of the city to review repair plans, inspect the bridge and supervise repair. » Footbridge Cont. on pg. 3

Gov announces college diversity initiative SUNY Plattsburgh continues efforts to recruit diverse staff

hopes to begin steering minority students interested in doctoral graduate work into areas where the college will need faculty in the future, according to a spokesman for the school. “They would ideally come back to teach here,” said Ken Knelly, SUNY Plattsburgh spokesman.

By Elizabeth Izzo

ONGOING EFFORTS

STA FF W RITER

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new initiative last week designed to increase faculty diversity at state universities. File photo

PLATTSBURGH | Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced a new initiative to increase the diversity of faculty at state universities. As part of the program, “Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth,” or PRODiG, the state aims to hire 1,000 early- to midcareer professors from minority groups by 2030. Officials here hope the effects of the initiative will reach the North Country within the next three to five years. As part of the PRODiG program, SUNY Plattsburgh

Teens on the Plattsburgh City Police beat City police launch ‘Youth Explorer Law Enforcement Program’

certified lifeguard. She’s also one of five teens to make it into the first class of the Plattsburgh City Police Youth Explorer Law Enforcement Program, a new initiative launched by the department last Friday.

By Elizabeth Izzo

Smith, clad in a pristine gray-and-black police uniform, stood smiling with her hair tied back and her tie clipped on straight at the explorers’ first meeting last week. The police department’s explorer program is designed to give local kids the opportunity to shadow a city police officer, and get a taste of what it’s like to work in law enforcement. » Teen cops Cont. on pg. 2

STA FF W RITER

PLATTSBURGH | Chloe Smith is a star student. The 18-year-old is on the honor roll at Northern Adirondack Central. She’s a member of the National Honor Society. She has a part-time job, volunteers at ARC and is a

These efforts under the PRODiG initiative dovetail with an existing push by the college to recruit a more diverse staff, Last year, amidst controversy on campus over what students perceived as a lack of inaction by the college administration in response to a racist SnapChat post by a freshman, SUNY Plattsburgh President John Ettling released a list of action items the college would implement designed to improve the campus climate. One of those items: Ettling promised that he would ask for more diversity among college faculty.

» Diversity Cont. on pg. 9

CUTTING THROUGH THE RED TAPE

Meet the first class of Plattsburgh City Police youth explorers: Zachary Coughlin, 14; Matthew Latinville, 18; Chloe Smith, 18; Kiara Maggy, 15; and Emily Dufour-Woznicki. Photo by Elizabeth Izzo

Redevelopment of Pfizer Rouses Point property ongoing

By Elizabeth Izzo STA FF W RITER

ROUSES POINT | Redevelopment of the former Pfizer property in Rouses Point is on track, a spokesperson for the new property owners said last week. ERS Investors, a New York City-based real estate development firm, is in the process of remediating and demolishing several buildings on the former pharma-

ceutical company property. The process of preparing the 79-acre site for redevelopment is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The company is planning to build a new industrial park there. “The vision for the redevelopment of the property, which is already well underway with serious negotiations ongoing with multiple tenants, includes manufacturing, warehousing and distribution buildings in a state of the art industrial park setting,” said Joan Velardi, a spokesperson for ERS Investors. After demolition is complete and tenants are secured, the company will move forward into a design and planning phase for the site. ERS Investors purchased the former Pfizer property last year. Velardi declined to disclose how much the property was purchased for.

The firm has brought CDC, a local real estate company, on board to attract tenants. “The desire expressed by firms to come to the site has been very strong, and ERS is proving to be an ideal partner for potential tenants to work with,” CDC President Matt Boire said in a statement. ERS Investors President Christian Wilson said that the company is currently negotiating with “large regional and global firms to begin occupancy far sooner than we could have hoped.” ERS Investors focuses primarily on acquiring and rehabilitating “underutilized, distressed and environmentally-challenged” industrial properties, according to a news release from the company. For more information, visit ersinvest.net. ■

210815

New owner plans industrial park on site of former pharmaceutical plant


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
BG_A_0099_0330 by Sun Community News and Printing - Issuu