BILL NUMBER:  S861

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act authorizing the commissioner of general services to convey real
property at the St. Lawrence psychiatric center to the city of
Ogdensburg

 PURPOSE :

To convey certain surplus land at the St.  Lawrence Psychiatric Center
to the city of Ogdensburg.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 authorizes the Commissioner of General Services to convey
certain specified land and improvements situated thereon, at the St.
Lawrence Psychiatric Center, to the city of Ogdensburg.

Section 2 describes the parcels of land at the St. Lawrence
Psychiatric Center which are to be conveyed to the city of Ogdensburg.

Section 3 provides that the description in § 2 of this act is not
intended to be a legal description but is only intended to identify
the premises to be conveyed. It is a condition of purchase that the
City of Ogdensburg submit to the commissioner of general services an
              

accurate survey and description of the lands generally described here.

Section 4 provides that the commissioner of general services shall not
grant the land description in § two of this act unless application and
improvements is made by the city of Ogdensburg within one year after
the effective date of this act.

Section 5 is the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center campus covers more than 400 acres,
including extensive frontage along the beautiful St.  Lawrence River,
and access to highways and a major international border crossing. Over
the course of several decades, core services at the facility have been
centralized in just a few of the more than 100 build- ings at the
site, and much of the land remains vacant and unused, excluded from
development and removed from local tax rolls.

Community leaders have long recognized the development potential for
this unused land and buildings, and the City of Ogdensburg proposes to
begin a long-term revitalization program utilizing these neglected
assets. Development of these parcels would transform underutilized
eyesores into major community assets that can help revitalize the
North Country's economy and serve as a model for the rest of the
state. The City envisions redeveloping approximately 160 acres of
surplus properties and buildings, arranged in four distinct sites
across the campus, for mixed use residential, recreational, commercial
and industrial purposes. Because the success of such an ambitious
redevelopment plan will rely on full support and aggressive action by
local community stakeholders, the City seeks transfer of these parcels
from the state.

One needs only to look at other recent examples to understand why
local control is critical to the success of redevelopment efforts
involving underused government-owned assets. Two such examples involve
the former Griffiss Air Force Base, and Governor's Island near Lower
Manhattan, where local control is allowing redevelopment after years
of delay. Such a visionary redevelopment effort would benefit Northern
New York and St. Lawrence County by attracting significant private
investment, creation of hundreds of construction and permanent jobs,
and returning hundreds of acres of now-exempt property to local tax
rolls

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2014: S.6661 - Referred to Local Government / A.8943 - Referred to
Governmental Operations

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.