Council Approves RISE Lease Agreement on Williams Street in 4-1 Vote

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A temporary lease agreement granting Rise Housing and Support Services use of city-owned property on Williams Street was approved by the City Council this week.  

The 7,800 square-foot building at 5 Williams St. previously housed the Saratoga Senior Center and will be used by RISE administration and staff while the organization’s permanent office space is being rehabilitated. 

The not-for-profit organization operates a human service agency to provides safe, healthy housing and support services to people with mental health concerns, substance use, and other life challenges. 

Leading up to this week’s discussion and vote, RISE officials offered assurances that the space will be used for administration purposes, and specific language in the agreement prohibits its use for any type of housing or as a shelter. 

Still, the proposal resulted in some push-back, particularly from parents of students at Saratoga Central Catholic School – located in close proximity of the Williams Street building – and from some who expressed fear that sex offenders may be served as a part of services.    

 “We will not be providing services there,” Lindsey Connors, Associate Executive Director at RISE said during the Aug. 6 City Council meeting. “We do not serve sex offenders. I’ll say it again: We do not serve sex offenders. And we screen. Please stop repeating this.” 

Last October, RISE was awarded their bid to operate the building on Williams Street via a public bidding process to non-profits for a short-term lease. The lease will be for a term of six months, with optional renewals at the city’s discretion. 

RISE will pay the city $500 per monthly rent as well as all utilities and costs of day-to-day maintenance of the building. The amount “constitutes fair and adequate compensation,” according to the agreement, adding that the benefits derived from the lease agreement with RISE as equal to or greater than the benefits to be derived from any reasonable market rental of the property. 

“It is unfortunate that something as simple as temporarily relocating administrative offices for a human service agency is the subject of such abject scrutiny and misinformation distribution to the greater community by the few and the loud,” said Connors, prior to the council’s vote.  

RISE was originally founded in the late 1970s and located near downtown Saratoga Springs. The not-for-profit housing agency provides trauma informed care and support to people with mental health diagnoses and substance use disorders through a number of residential, supportive, and care management programs. 

“Despite what media coverage might suggest, RISE’s services for those experiencing homelessness in our community are the newest and smallest part of what we do. We’ve been in this community since 1979 ensuring that those living with mental illness are supported in whatever way they need to live safely and happily in the community,” Conners said. 

The agreement was approved by a 4-1 council with Mayor John Safford casting the lone vote against. “I don’t think that it should be in that location,” Safford said.