01/25/2026
Per Mayor Rossi:
[Update at 9:30am Sunday - For the purposes of ensuring snow clearing can proceed properly, we are attempting to reach all residents on Mechanic St./Van Buren St. and North High Street.
Police will be coming through to remind those who may not have heard about the State of Emergency to move their cars to the proper side of the street if a driveway or parking lot is not available.
Furthermore, on North High Street, residents may ignore the "No Parking This Side" signage and should instead adhere to the odd/even approach on that street if they cannot find a driveway or other street to park on (this is a unique one-way street that was called to our attention due to the signage). Please continue to get word out about these parking rules to avoid tickets, towing, and delays in snow clearing.]
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED FOR THE VILLAGE OF BALLSTON SPA UNTIL 6:00AM TUESDAY WITH SPECIAL PARKING RULES
For the first time in my nearly four years as Mayor, I have issued a Local State of Emergency related to the major winter storm that is widely expected to dump over 15” of snow on the Village in a 24-hour period starting around Noon Sunday. The document is posted in the comments, but I will summarize it here and add some other information.
First, I have suspended and replaced the normal snow emergency parking rules after consultation with our DPW Working Supervisor in order to aid in snow plowing and removal. As such, the following streets will have NO STREET PARKING from 6:00am Sunday until 6:00am Tuesday:
Salem Drive
Adams Circle
Lexington Street
Minuteman Lane
Franklin Street
Victory Circle
Revere Drive
Concord Avenue
Nathan Drive
Dublin Drive
Limerick Lane
Monroe Avenue
Kerry Court
Jefferson Street
Crestline Drive
Frederick Lane
Meadow Lane
Rosewood Court
Chester Wood Court
The following streets will have NO STREET PARKING from 9:00pm Sunday until 7:00am Monday, and again from 10:00pm Monday until 6:00am Tuesday:
Front Street
Low Street
ALL REMAINING STREETS will have ODD/EVEN PARKING rules every 12 hours. From 6am Sunday until 6pm Sunday (and again from 6am Monday until 6pm Monday), you may park on the EVEN side of the street in legal parking spaces there. All other times (6pm until 6am the following mornings), you may park on the ODD side of the street in legal parking spaces there. All signage related to time of day or duration of parking may be ignored on these streets, as these rules and allowances supersede those limited no-parking rules. Spots that would be 24-hour no-parking spaces remain as "no parking" spaces.
Note that failure to adhere to these rules will lead to ticketing of motor vehicles by our Ballston Spa Police Department and/or towing of those vehicles. As such, please take these parking rules seriously and share them with your friends and neighbors.
While this is NOT a travel ban, we highly advise all of you to seek shelter and not travel unless absolutely necessary, especially during the heart of the storm (likely from Noon Sunday until the early-morning hours of Monday). With the abnormal freezing cold temperatures, there is no need to be outside for any long period of time. We are in direct contact with County and School District officials to coordinate and ensure they are aware of the State of Emergency and related rules.
In the case of power outages or other issues, the Town of Milton has advised me that Village and Town of Milton residents are welcome to seek shelter at the Milton Community Center on Northline Road during the storm and until power is restored. For more information concerning this, please feel free to call Supervisor Ostrander at (518) 222-2382, but obviously, please recognize that he may not be able to respond immediately to all calls to that phone line.
In the case of actual life-threatening emergencies, please call 9-1-1, as Village and Town officials are not in a better position than County dispatchers to handle emergencies, especially during major storms.
The lack of a plowed road is NOT an emergency warranting a 9-1-1 call — plows will be around in the street cycle they are scheduled to follow. Please do not clog emergency lines with such calls.
Finally, my best advice is this: if you attend Church services normally on Sundays, please utilize Saturday Vigil masses or early Sunday morning masses — Noon or later masses may place you in the heart of the storm, depending on the timing. For those looking to enjoy NFL Conference Championship games, please plan on watching them at home unless you can walk to any establishments planning to remain open Sunday. The quantity of snow will be a problem for our crews to handle efficiently with vehicles traveling and parked throughout the Village — so, please help us help all of you by planning ahead and minimizing travel during this major storm.
And PLEASE DO NOT WALK ON STREETS. Visibility will be abysmal during most of this storm, and you are taking your life into your own hands if you do so. If you see folks standing or walking in the streets, please encourage them to get off the street.
I will keep you updated as necessary. Please be prepared and be safe. While our area is “used to” storms like these over the years, that is not an excuse to throw caution to the wind or to be unprepared for a storm we’ve known about for several days. Thank you for reading and for adhering to these rules and suggestions.
