BY JIMMY LAWTON

North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg agreed to extend a contract that provides police security at the Ogdensburg International Airport, but some concerns have been raised over late payments from the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority.

As of last Monday’s council meeting, the OBPA was about $40,000 behind in payments to the city. The city provides police officers to work as security personnel at the airport. OBPA pays for the extra cost of the officers, who work the detail at as overtime, so there are not fewer patrols available to perform regular duties.

The contract was extended Monday for an additional three months, but Councilor David Price raised concerns over payments coming in late to the city.

Ogdensburg Bridge and port Authority Director Wade Davis said the OBPA is doing its best to make payments as timely as possible.

“The Law enforcement agreement with the City is both expensive and essential for airport operations which economically benefit the City and the entire region. The Authority does our best to keep payments to the City within 90-day terms and that is very difficult given the magnitude of the expense. Currently we owe three months and have a payment anticipated for next week,” he said following a request for comment.

“Recently OBPA requested a three month extension of the current agreement with the City to provide the time necessary to negotiate a new agreement and are awaiting the City's response to the proposal,” Davis said.

Davis also said he believes the airport provides an important service to the city.

“I would hope that the City continues to recognize the economic benefits the airport brings to the City and chooses to continue the strong partnership between our entities. which improves the quality of life for all its residents through economic growth,” he said.

City Manager Sarah Purdy acknowledged that the city benefits from the airport, which she said has become an economic driver, but the late payments can be taxing for the city, which has struggled with its own cash-on-hand needs in recent years.

The city has commonly had to borrow money as it waits for state reimbursements, which also often come in late.

Purdy said a short contract extension is in place as the city and OBPA continue work on some details of the agreement.

Purdy said that while the airport security detail agreement is designed to not hinder the police force, she says at times it has caused extra expenses or reduced manpower for the department.

“It’s done on an overtime basis, but unfortunately meth labs don’t burn according to a shift schedules,” she said.

Purdy said she intends to continue working with the OBPA to work out a deal that addresses those issues and benefits the city of Ogdensburg as well as the airport.