BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- With only one meeting held so far, Ogdensburg's leadership has set a new tone and trajectory.

At Ogdensburg's first meeting of the new council, Mayor Michael Tooley and incoming councilors Jennifer Stevenson, Donna Trimma, Michael Weaver and Storm Cilley began working on goals laid out during their campaign.

Chief among them was interest in rebuilding relationships and better partnering with other organizations, governments and community groups.

On Jan. 8, council heard from members and leaders of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority and the City Library with both groups experiencing tension during the previous administration.

While Tooley made no promises to the organizations, he made it clear that his intent was to partner where they could for the betterment of the community. He also made clear an interest in hearing from various community groups and leaders at future meetings.

Tooley offered similar words to members of the public, whom he encouraged to share thoughts and ideas.

At the same time, Tooley did clarify plainly that those speaking at the meetings should not expect a back and forth conversation to take place with council during public comment.

During the first meeting council modified the city budget to add six firefighters back at what will be an upfront cost savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first year alone.

The action was in stark contrast to plans laid out by the previous council. Tooley also made clear the city's plans for finding and hiring a new city manager, a process some felt was delayed by the previous council.

At the same meeting, the new council changed a policy regarding access to the city attorney and took the time to explain it to the public.

The previous council had required a majority vote in order to seek opinions from the city attorney on matters and in some cases the majority council withheld those opinions from other members of council.

However the new policy will allow councilors to make requests to the city manager who will relay them to the city attorney and present a response to the council.

Tooley said all councilors will have access to the attorney's response once it's presented by the city manager.

Addressing another complaint raised by citizens, Ogdensburg City Council also gave an update on the city audit and laid out plans for ensuring that the next audit is completed in a timely manner and is available prior to budget preparation.

Delays in the audit the past two years raised concerns about the quality of numbers being used within budgets.

Tooley acknowledged that the city faces many challenges, but the actions taken at the first council meeting were well received by those in attendance.