BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg won’t be distributing American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Frederic Remington Library or Ogdensburg Public Library, following a split vote Monday.

The measure failed with Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly, Steve Fisher and Bill Dillabough voting against it. Voting in favor were councilors Michael Powers, Nichole Kennedy and Dan Skamperle.

Councilor John Rishe was excused.

A resolution to the board would have allocated $61,175 to the museum to cover retiree expenses, but City Manager Stephen Jellie noted that the Remington employees were not city employees and said the relationship and past practices of the city regarding the museum were “inappropriate.”

The library was set to receive $9,895 in ARPA funding, but did not. Likewise a $5,000 allocation to the Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce failed to pass.

City Councilor Stephen Fisher did put forward a resolution to use $5,000 to fund the Ogdensburg Snack Pack program, which passed unanimously.

Although details were not shared, City Manager Stephen Jellie alluded to legal issues between Remington and the city.

To date the city has allocated $173,500 to small businesses to assist with improvements using the funding and $124,442 for individuals.

Fisher noted that the money saved by axing allocations to the museum and library would allow the city to assist more citizens with ARPA funding.