Ogdensburg council won't weigh late Diamond National waterfront proposal

John Ciccotti of JGK Associates, a consultant working for developer and financier Jeffrey Cohen, has appeared at the last two Ogdensburg City Council meetings asking members to consider a proposed project at the former Diamond National property. The plan describes an outdoor amphitheater, a marina and other amenities at a cost of about $4.3 million, and calls for the city to receive $275,000 for the property plus between $500,000 and $1 million a year as a host community package, according to Ciccotti. He told council on July 27 that the financing, drawings, business plan and a letter of intent are in place.

City Manager Fonda Chronis said the proposal arrived four months after the RFP deadline and has not been vetted by city staff, and that claims about financial benefits to the city should not be assumed accurate until that review happens. Five developers submitted proposals by the deadline, Chronis said, and those have not been made public. Mayor Michael Tooley read a statement saying council determined the JGK Associates proposal would not be considered as part of the current Diamond redevelopment solicitation because it did not meet the city's submission requirements, and that council must treat every prospective developer equally. Tooley said the city expects to run an RFP process for the nearby former Shade Roller property once the DEC deems it clean, and that JGK Associates and others could submit proposals then. ClickNNY has not independently confirmed this account.