The North Elba Town Council called a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 9 to discuss the APA move and to enter into an executive session to talk about “contracts and personnel,” according to the meeting notice. The council voted to back the move.

On Thursday, Aug. 10, the Harrietstown council unanimously passed a resolution expressing support for the APA move. One councilwoman, Tracy Schrader, stopped short of supporting the entire plan, citing her concerns about the construction of a new building and potential loss of parking spaces.

The current APA building is located in the town of North Elba, and the proposed new location is inside the village of Saranac Lake in the town of Harrietstown.

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What’s proposed

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For the last 50 years, the APA has operated out of a 1950s-era log cabin in Ray Brook on a shared campus with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Police. The APA plans to renovate and move into the historic Paul Smith’s Power and Light Company building at 1-3 Main St. in Saranac Lake.

The building’s current occupants — including the Saranac Lake Police Department and a Franklin County Department of Social Services outreach office — would need to relocate elsewhere.

Because of a dam attached to the building, the village of Saranac Lake will continue to own the building; the APA would lease it.

The APA also plans to construct a new three-story building in the back of the lot, on the Lake Street and Petrova Avenue hillside. A 72-space parking lot would be constructed behind the existing building and extend along one side of the new building.

The state Legislature has already earmarked $29 million to pay for a new APA headquarters.

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Concerns

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Right now, the parking lot next to the former Power and Light building is used by the police department, county staff and visitors to Riverside Park, Saranac Lake’s River Walk and the High Peaks Farmers Market.

The APA plans to expand the current parking lot and increase the number of spaces from around 40 to 72. That’s in part because the APA is hoping to expand its workforce from 44 staff members to 55.

“I absolutely support them moving into the current location. I do not support a new building being built on the back side of Lake Street by the state for various reasons,” Schrader said.

Before approving the resolution, the council revised it to take out mention of support for the construction of a new building, as well as other paragraphs that councilors described as “fluff.”

“My personal opinion is that it’s a historic building, and the village doesn’t have the capital to invest in restoring it, right? This is my struggle with the town hall right now, so I totally get that,” Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach said. “I feel like having the state invest that money into that building is going to preserve it for years to come.

“At the same time, I do struggle,” Mallach added. “I struggle with how the village has handled the situation. I think we haven’t gotten the communication that I wish we would have had in terms of what’s happening, or the impact of it, or allowing for public input. The other thing I struggle with is: What are the plans for the people that are in that building? You’ve got county services that people are able to walk to — which is critical — from DeChantel (Apartments), from Lake Street, from the high rise. … I haven’t been presented with a plan. There isn’t a plan, in terms of what’s going to happen.”

Mallach said she thinks those concerns are separate from whether the council should support the move. She believes it’s not the APA’s responsibility to make sure the police department and county Department of Social Services has a place to go; it’s the village’s.

“I do support the move of the APA to 1 to 3 Main,” Mallach said.

Council member Jeff Denkenberger also supports the move. He said he’s not familiar with the plans, but he doesn’t see anything negative about bringing more business to Saranac Lake.

“I feel the same way. It’s a lot of money and a lot of investment in the infrastructure,” Council member Johnny Williams said.

“I’m 100% in favor,” Council member Ashley Milne said.

The resolution adopted by the Harrietstown Council was written by Saranac Lake village Trustee Kelly Brunette. The same resolution was also sent to the North Elba Town Council, though like Harrietstown, North Elba adopted its own version.

Members of the Saranac Lake Village Board of Trustees approved Brunette’s resolution at their meeting on Monday, Aug. 14.

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Debate

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These resolutions of support come as controversy over the move continues to circulate. The APA has gotten both positive and negative feedback on its proposed plan.

The Saranac Lake Affordable Housing Task Force expressed its “strong opposition” to the plan in a letter sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul. A group of 19 former APA employees and board members have also written a letter to Hochul expressing opposition to the move from the agency’s current headquarters. However, the village’s Downtown Advisory Board gave its “enthusiastic support” for the relocation project in an open letter to the public. Former Saranac Lake Mayor Clyde Rabideau did the same.

An APA staff survey showed that among 36 current employees who responded, more than half disagree, or strongly disagree, with the agency’s plan to relocate to Saranac Lake, the Adirondack Explorer reported last month. An Adirondack Daily Enterprise straw poll asking the community’s thoughts on the plan in June received 552 responses and had a two-vote gap between the number of respondents who said they liked the plan and those who didn’t. Seven percent of respondents were undecided. This poll was not scientific and its results represented only the opinions of internet users who chose to participate.

The Adirondack Park Agency’s next meeting is on Aug. 17-18. An agenda is available at tinyurl.com/yr8vr56f and at apa.ny.gov.