Formed by Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran in January, the Saratoga Springs Ad Hoc Downtown Advisory Committee will host a workshop on Wednesday, May 17 for all eating and drinking establishments in the City, referred to as “Chapter 136” licensees in the City Code.
The workshop will feature presentations by the City’s police and fire departments with the goal of establishing clear expectations for how such establishments can comply with all state and local laws and to review a set of new protocols and technologies now in place to improve communications and collaboration between the public safety officials on patrol and the owners and security personnel at work in these establishments. In advance of this meeting, the establishments and public safety officials on the committee have piloted the use of these new protocols and technologies to ensure that they work as promised.
“We’re hearing from the police officers on the street and the establishment owners that both the new protocols and technologies we tested are making a positive impact,” said Commissioner Moran. “Some of the protocols allow for immediate action to deal with minor disturbances and others allow for the sharing of information which is of value to everyone involved. We’re ready to roll these new resources out to all Chapter 136 establishments and look forward to doing this on May 17.”
According to Moran, the ad hoc committee has met five times so far and they have consulted with establishment owners, public safety experts, consultants, and other community leaders to evaluate the range of actions the City and the establishments might take to ensure Saratoga Springs remains a safe place to live, work, and visit. The plan is for this committee to continue to meet so that as opportunities or challenges arise, everyone continues to work together. In addition, the committee plans to host a second workshop after Labor Day for all Chapter 136 establishments to review how these protocols and technologies worked during what is expected to be a busy summer season in Saratoga Springs.
“So far in 2023, we’re pleased that we’ve hosted events like Chowderfest and New Year’s Fest which attracted thousands of people without incident,” said Todd Shimkus, President of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, and co-chair of the committee. “Local establishments have also shared that they’ve been busy in the first quarter and again there were no major incidents. We know the summer season will be even busier and I’m glad that we now have a forum to talk about actionable efforts we can take if issues arise.”
Participants can register here: https://chamber.saratoga.org/events/details/city-of-saratoga-springs-workshop-41895?calendarMonth=2023-05-01