[6:36] [Music]

[6:59] uh

[7:05] remember when your kids

[7:06] used to smell it the little paper

[7:09] exactly

[7:11] did i miss it no i owned it

[7:14] [Music]

[7:37] for us

[7:50] so

[8:05] we just started

[8:18] is

[8:51] hmm

[9:09] okay

[9:20] basically

[10:29] hmm

[10:38] um

[10:54] [Music]

[11:04] thank you thank you

[11:13] [Music]

[11:22] council committee meeting for death

[11:23] tuesday january 18 2022

[11:26] and so we'll start with the public

[11:28] safety committee

[11:30] so i'd like to call to order the public

[11:31] safety committee on tonight's agenda we

[11:33] have one item there's a discussion for

[11:35] reducing barriers to the connectivity

[11:38] fire department i'll be spoken to by mr

[11:41] harlow okay thank you okay so currently

[11:44] in schenectady the firepower cars all

[11:46] happen it's the complete

[11:48] college credit course which means that

[11:50] right now the requirements in order for

[11:52] them to be a firefighter you must be a

[11:54] paramedic um after talking um with the

[11:58] assistant chief

[11:59] moreno here and and having some pretty

[12:02] candid conversations and he just has a

[12:03] wealth of knowledge um we're trying to

[12:07] kind of look at this and say

[12:09] we want the highest skilled

[12:12] qualified people working in these very

[12:15] important

[12:16] positions

[12:18] how do we

[12:19] um be intentional about increasing

[12:22] access

[12:23] um an opportunity to become a

[12:25] firefighter in scenicity

[12:27] um and we're kind of thinking about

[12:29] and having some conversations about how

[12:31] do we open up the access but at the same

[12:33] time maintaining and increasing you know

[12:36] the safety of residents that live here

[12:37] in the city is connected

[12:39] um so like i said we're just kind of in

[12:41] the early parts of the conversation but

[12:43] i want to bring it up i'm here and get

[12:45] um get some input uh and invite you know

[12:47] everyone else to into the conversation

[12:49] about how do we do that

[12:51] in a way that um

[12:53] maintains that standard because we're

[12:55] not into lowering standards that's not a

[12:56] place that we can afford to do so but

[12:58] maybe um look at

[13:01] the order of of

[13:03] you know right now you can't even you

[13:05] know part of the parts like to talk to

[13:06] you unless you're apparent right now how

[13:09] it's written but you know there are ways

[13:10] that where you can kind of maintain that

[13:12] expectation um throughout your uh

[13:16] employment uh

[13:18] and time here with the firefighters and

[13:19] there's also some um

[13:21] interest uh from our schenectady city

[13:23] school district and

[13:25] sec about doing some um pilot uh public

[13:28] safety tracks um to kind of uh

[13:31] expose some of the youth to uh what it's

[13:33] like to be a

[13:35] firefighter and or you know law

[13:37] enforcement in the city of connecticut

[13:38] so

[13:39] that's just kind of where we're at right

[13:40] now but um

[13:42] assistant chief fatigue yes yes

[13:44] and i want to acknowledge our assistant

[13:46] chief don here um again we're just in

[13:49] if you wanted to share anything any

[13:51] thoughts about that

[13:52] yeah could you come up and explain what

[13:54] it currently is

[13:56] to become a firefighter

[13:57] in the city

[14:05] [Music]

[14:08] is

[14:16] okay so currently uh the process is

[14:19] uh simply request civil service to

[14:23] make an announcement for another

[14:25] uh test

[14:26] of the civil service exam which we

[14:28] currently have one active that's going

[14:30] to close in january january 31st it's

[14:34] been open since the 1st goes january

[14:35] 31st

[14:36] the test will be march 19th

[14:40] in order to take the test you have to uh

[14:44] be a resident of

[14:46] connecticut county or the contingent

[14:48] counties

[14:50] that's number one number two you have to

[14:51] be 20 years old

[14:53] and number three you have to be you have

[14:55] to hold an emt card

[14:57] and then you'll be able to sit for the

[14:58] test

[14:59] after that you take the test

[15:01] um

[15:02] you bring all your

[15:04] qualifications to civil service to keep

[15:06] track

[15:07] and you won't get an interview with the

[15:09] city with the fire department unless you

[15:13] have 60 college credits

[15:15] and

[15:17] you have a paramedic card

[15:19] and also you've got the physical agility

[15:21] test those are the three qualifications

[15:24] at that point if you're still

[15:26] qualified then we would invite those

[15:29] people in

[15:31] after the interview if you move beyond

[15:34] that

[15:35] we send you for a physical

[15:38] for a mental health check

[15:41] and uh

[15:42] fingerprints

[15:44] and a

[15:45] background check

[15:47] and if all that goes

[15:49] well

[15:50] then we'll talk about

[15:52] employment

[15:55] thank you

[15:58] are you any questions from our fellow

[16:00] counselors in schools

[16:01] um

[16:02] chief could you tell us a little bit

[16:04] about um

[16:05] in terms of the

[16:07] for example you had the open house a few

[16:09] weeks ago um and some of the other

[16:11] initiatives that you currently have

[16:12] underway to

[16:14] try to um be recruiting especially from

[16:17] within

[16:18] our city yeah

[16:19] we prefer to hire within the city for

[16:22] numerous reasons

[16:24] so we target all our recruitment efforts

[16:27] within the city

[16:28] we use facebook footage they go a little

[16:31] bit outside city libraries

[16:33] so we use facebook we've had an ad

[16:36] campaign

[16:38] billboards we've spoken to the media

[16:40] many of our media partners have run

[16:44] different articles we've done interviews

[16:46] that way

[16:48] spoken to all neighborhood groups

[16:50] talking to other groups um

[16:53] that operate within the city so all our

[16:56] efforts have been targeted with this

[16:58] prior to covet i think i mentioned this

[17:00] from the last time i was here

[17:02] that this is all short-term or

[17:04] short-term plans

[17:06] long-term plans we want to get in

[17:08] within the city schools

[17:11] to kind of plant the sea

[17:13] for

[17:13] young people coming up that then think that this could be an

[17:18] option for them

[17:19] uh that's more of a long-term game

[17:21] and because the colbert that got

[17:24] sidelined we're now

[17:26] in conversation with several people to

[17:28] try to

[17:29] make that uh

[17:33] that's long term

[17:36] any other questions mr

[17:38] yes mr williams so um chief

[17:41] the qualifications that are set now how

[17:44] long have they been in place for

[17:46] firefighters paramedics here in the city

[17:50] exactly where we're doing it now i'm

[17:51] going to guess about 20 years

[17:53] and and what do you where do you think

[17:55] our ranking is statewide or

[17:57] nationally even as far as us being such

[18:00] a

[18:00] great fire department paramedic unit

[18:02] with the qualifications that we set for

[18:05] our

[18:06] third parties and paramedics

[18:08] i think we're

[18:09] not only originally

[18:11] recognized

[18:13] state recognized and then also

[18:15] nationally

[18:16] we've had there have been articles about

[18:18] us

[18:18] within some of the uh

[18:21] career

[18:22] magazines fire house and fire

[18:23] engineering uh so we're very well

[18:26] respected

[18:28] it's a very efficiently run department um

[18:34] we can go into details but i'm not going

[18:36] to get deep into what's here

[18:40] we do nearly 20 000 calls

[18:44] and we have 117 paradox when you start

[18:48] comparing that to other departments

[18:51] um

[18:52] they don't compare they do a good job

[18:54] but they don't compare to what we're

[18:55] doing

[18:57] which

[18:59] on certain calls may be a very recent

[19:01] call

[19:01] it's extremely important

[19:04] to have that level of care

[19:06] when things are going south things are

[19:07] going bad you want to make sure you have

[19:10] your highest level of care

[19:12] which we did

[19:14] on the call i'm thinking about

[19:17] thank you for all you do thank you so

[19:19] much

[19:23] so right now you have so every

[19:24] firefighter is a paramedic

[19:27] so when you were initially talking you

[19:28] said in order to take the test they only

[19:30] had to have their emt card right they

[19:32] could be 20 years old 20 years old right

[19:34] to be appointed

[19:36] 21 years old

[19:39] have a paramedic card

[19:40] so okay between taking taking the test

[19:43] and actually applying they have to

[19:44] finish those 60 credits which a lot of

[19:47] people don't take it as an emt as

[19:49] they're pursuing their paramedics

[20:02] okay

[20:04] and um

[20:07] the other question is um

[20:08] because i talked to this to ben and i

[20:10] can't remember his last name ben

[20:14] do you or um we talked about perhaps

[20:16] having a like a cadet program sort of

[20:18] like the police do but for

[20:20] younger people who want to um

[20:23] who may want to become firefighters

[20:26] like a cadet program today yes

[20:30] so is that something is that what you're

[20:31] talking about when you talk about the

[20:33] schools or is that something different

[20:36] no that would be

[20:38] i wouldn't call it that program but it

[20:39] would be

[20:40] an opportunity to speak to young people

[20:44] have them see us on a regular basis

[20:47] so they say you know i'm not firing down

[20:49] i'm just dying and this is what i do for

[20:52] a living

[20:53] and you plant the seed

[20:55] that's a long term goal because those

[20:57] individuals would be 16 17 18 they

[21:00] couldn't take the test but they

[21:03] could go to emt school paramedic school

[21:06] and get their

[21:07] you know get exposed to it and see if

[21:10] there's something it's curious out for

[21:12] everybody

[21:15] [Music]

[21:17] again students so it's my understanding

[21:19] that hudson valley i'm sorry hudson

[21:21] valley community college has um the type

[21:24] of program that someone would need to go

[21:26] through

[21:28] the paramedic so let's go

[21:30] there's lots of scholarships there's

[21:31] lots of financial aid available to folks

[21:34] that choose to

[21:35] go to hudson valley so in terms of the

[21:38] affordability

[21:39] of going through the paramedic program

[21:41] that sort of

[21:42] is helped by the financial

[21:45] you know first of all the low tuition

[21:47] but secondly i know that i know the

[21:49] scope of the scholarship potential that

[21:51] the community colleges offer

[21:54] so

[21:55] do we get a lot of folks that go through

[21:58] that program are there folks going

[21:59] through other programs and then could

[22:01] you also speak a little bit about the

[22:03] kind of

[22:05] the physical the physicality

[22:07] of what also is required um

[22:10] in terms of you know i'm certainly not

[22:12] going to be someone that's going to be

[22:13] able to get on a week or two o'clock in

[22:15] the morning a nice storm

[22:16] um you know kind of thing but the kind

[22:19] of physical training

[22:20] the mechanical ability in terms of some

[22:23] of the i know when i did my ride along

[22:25] and and toured the fire departments just

[22:27] the kinds of things that our

[22:29] firefighters have to do to maintain our

[22:31] equipment

[22:32] um so

[22:34] basically the program

[22:35] access to that program at hudson valley

[22:37] just your your thoughts on that as well

[22:39] as the physical nature and the

[22:41] mechanical aptitude that someone would

[22:43] need

[22:44] we had our open house i think it was

[22:45] december 10th i remember right now and

[22:48] at the open house we had a

[22:49] representative from hudson valley

[22:52] gentleman came

[22:54] they've been very good that's very

[22:55] helpful or

[22:57] they assist us in the way that we need

[22:59] and when we came in

[23:01] uh

[23:02] we asked specifically because we have

[23:04] some people come through we have

[23:06] specifically about opportunities

[23:07] financial opportunities

[23:09] and he did confirm what we thought that

[23:11] there are those but those are in an

[23:13] individual basis a person would have to

[23:15] go and you know they talk about us to

[23:17] see exactly where they would

[23:19] those opportunities are there being told

[23:22] there are other opportunities maybe for

[23:24] people that need assistance

[23:27] and i don't know all of them

[23:29] hudson valley

[23:31] and culpa skill rhino paramedic program

[23:36] there is a day course and a night course

[23:38] the day course

[23:38] [Music]

[23:40] takes approximately a year

[23:42] the main course is a little slower pace

[23:44] will take two years

[23:46] and both hudson valley and

[23:48] cocoa skill

[23:54] about the physical nature in terms of

[23:56] that training as well and the mechanical

[23:58] aspects yeah

[23:59] um

[24:01] so this is a little college

[24:03] um

[24:04] there are many aspects to the gym to the

[24:07] career just besides

[24:09] you know putting the wet stuff under

[24:10] itself

[24:12] oh yeah

[24:14] and if a person has

[24:15] mechanical ability it's going to assist

[24:17] them and we get people from all parts of

[24:20] like all

[24:21] always you know all different

[24:24] they're in different places right

[24:26] some people are very strong here

[24:29] when we get them we them to where they

[24:32] need to be we work with them

[24:34] some go quicker so we can take a little

[24:36] more work

[24:38] but to get somebody that has that

[24:40] mechanical skill

[24:42] or or

[24:44] you know whatever

[24:45] we're dealing with heating

[24:48] um

[24:50] issues furnaces right we're dealing with

[24:53] water issues we're dealing with

[24:55] medical issues we're dealing with um

[24:58] asthmaticians weapons of mass

[25:00] instruction

[25:03] and not everyone's going to come in with

[25:04] all those skills so we have to train and

[25:06] we do that

[25:08] um as far as physically it is a physical

[25:11] job it's a young person's job

[25:14] you go from

[25:16] zero to 60 in a matter of seconds

[25:19] several years ago one of the news

[25:21] stations did a

[25:22] study they put somebody on a monitor

[25:26] and they just work with them all day

[25:27] long

[25:28] you know all the different things they

[25:29] were doing and they watch your heart

[25:31] rate be at about 55 60 64 whatever

[25:36] we call it the bell it's not the volume

[25:38] or but when the call comes in

[25:40] this person's heart rate went from 60 to

[25:43] 120 in about 20 seconds that i'm not

[25:46] exaggerating

[25:47] it's just

[25:48] so that alone takes its toll

[25:50] so now you're

[25:52] doing whatever

[25:53] complaining about mourinho's chicken

[25:55] farm

[25:59] and the next thing you know three

[26:00] minutes later

[26:02] you're crawling through smoking flames

[26:04] going for that child that's opening the

[26:06] second floor

[26:07] it takes a toll

[26:09] so there's

[26:11] physicality is is a major part of it

[26:15] so um definitely appreciate all the

[26:17] comments chief marino simply put not to

[26:19] belabor the topic over the course of

[26:21] your tenure as a firefighter would you

[26:22] say recruitment has

[26:24] risen stayed the same or declined

[26:28] in

[26:29] numbers correct

[26:31] that's declined great so um

[26:34] i definitely appreciate our

[26:35] conversations that we've had on the

[26:37] topic i think it's apparent from

[26:38] everyone that's been in the room that

[26:40] something needs to change

[26:42] i appreciate mr farley's comments and

[26:44] also bringing up this agenda item

[26:47] but i think you hit it on the head chief

[26:49] moreno what we have to measure our

[26:51] short-term or long-term benefits and

[26:52] what direction we seek for this

[26:54] connectivity for the safety fire

[26:56] department

[26:57] i definitely understand that

[26:59] unfortunately there may be some adverse

[27:01] impacts that are prohibiting people from

[27:03] submitting their applications

[27:05] unbeknownst to

[27:06] scholarship grants or opportunities i

[27:08] know for me personally working in

[27:10] employment sometimes takes an illness

[27:12] over individuals career aspirations

[27:14] but i appreciate all the efforts you've

[27:16] done to get in front of this issue

[27:18] because we need to make sure that we

[27:19] continue to stack our fire department to

[27:22] the best of its abilities especially to

[27:24] meet these demanding

[27:25] criteria that you alluded to tonight so

[27:28] what i would love to see is having

[27:30] members from our local institutions come

[27:33] to include our colleges

[27:35] and also

[27:36] high schools to be able to

[27:37] collaboratively get around this issue

[27:39] and make sure that we have a pipeline in

[27:40] place so that we are targeting

[27:42] individuals

[27:43] to also include potentially curtailing

[27:46] some of the initial

[27:48] uh requirements not from the standpoint

[27:49] of lowering our expectations but just to

[27:51] make sure that we have the people and

[27:53] the right people skilled to perform our

[27:55] duties so

[27:57] i would like to see this put back on for

[27:59] another two weeks question

[28:02] is there an upper age limit sorry is

[28:04] there an upper age limit that you can

[28:06] like after you get to age

[28:08] 35 you can no longer so it's as long as

[28:10] you're physically fit you can you can

[28:12] actually and have everything else in

[28:14] place at this moment there's no cut off

[28:16] age limit as long as you can pass the

[28:17] physical damage i use myself as an

[28:19] example no but you're already here

[28:21] no no i don't mean i don't think is

[28:23] there an age do you have to age out at

[28:25] some point but no there's no way no

[28:27] there's no okay

[28:29] well that's good to know

[28:30] carl

[28:31] mccartney

[28:33] just when you're talking about

[28:34] recruitment you have to

[28:36] where the numbers have gone down you

[28:38] know one time we staffed the department

[28:40] within excess of the think of 150

[28:43] people today we have

[28:45] budgeted 117 firefighters from the

[28:48] command staff

[28:50] we're normally looking for

[28:52] three

[28:53] four five people a year

[28:56] to fill the slot so it's not necessarily

[28:59] quantity it's quality and matching up

[29:01] those individuals who have the interest

[29:03] and the skill set to do the job

[29:06] uh because at covet and other things

[29:08] where we put a hiring freeze i think

[29:10] we're down now nine

[29:13] firefighters we're down right now by

[29:15] the end of january

[29:19] some retirements have been coming out so

[29:21] it's a little bit unusual now

[29:23] but

[29:24] it's to again reach out and

[29:27] get people to come in

[29:29] and

[29:31] it's how do you identify just the one or

[29:34] two individuals sometimes the shotgun

[29:36] where you want 100

[29:37] is not really what you're looking for somebody that has

[29:40] that skill set

[29:42] and schenectady was

[29:44] the first really to offer a paramedic

[29:47] program we're right now the first that

[29:49] is doing some of the

[29:51] telemedicine

[29:53] so

[29:54] we're putting more responsibility

[29:57] in doing more and

[30:02] it's also look at the revenue side

[30:06] to get reimbursed for some of the work

[30:08] that we do or some of the stuff that's

[30:09] not today reimbursable

[30:12] uh anything we get some

[30:14] als calls advanced life support

[30:19] the bls calls the basic life support

[30:24] just under the insurance reimbursement

[30:26] we don't get anything we're looking now

[30:27] to leave patients in place

[30:30] and do other support

[30:32] diagnostic treatment

[30:35] evaluation

[30:36] it's how you shift that model for

[30:39] reimbursement in

[30:42] improving not only the outcome

[30:44] but

[30:45] just the convenience of treating people

[30:48] so that they're getting the appropriate

[30:49] level of care

[30:51] or they may not need the full suite of

[30:52] services in an emergency room it may be

[30:55] an urgent care center

[30:56] maybe getting it scheduled with a

[30:59] doctor or some other medical provider in

[31:02] a reasonable period of time and so

[31:04] uh you're looking at recruitment it's

[31:07] also where the whole delivery of service

[31:09] model is starting to shift here in

[31:11] schenectady is leading in that

[31:14] and it's a substantial commitment when i

[31:16] look when i hire a firefighter i'm

[31:19] making a commitment on behalf of the

[31:20] city's connection for about three and a

[31:22] half million almost four million dollars

[31:25] in today's dollars of what they will pay

[31:28] during their career and retirement

[31:31] benefits that we provide to them

[31:37] before you know my my response would be

[31:38] similar to the military and their

[31:40] recruitment platforms you would

[31:41] traditionally go to the high schools

[31:43] that

[31:44] recruits just to save time and just

[31:46] economics of scale but what

[31:48] systematically happened is you would be

[31:51] uh

[31:52] not appealing to other communities so

[31:54] just looking at the situation from a

[31:56] different perspective to ensure that

[31:57] everyone is given the opportunity

[31:59] because communication is

[32:01] dual responsibilities to make sure that

[32:03] we're doing our part to make sure that

[32:04] these announcements and opportunities

[32:07] are afforded to everyone

[32:09] but i think this type of credit first

[32:12] oh no i was just i was just kind of

[32:14] gonna figure back on that to say like

[32:16] you know as we um i'm really proud of

[32:19] the steps that the city's taking you

[32:21] know and innovative ways of service

[32:23] delivery i think is something that is

[32:25] going to be key um moving forward so i

[32:28] think that that just really uh amplifies

[32:30] the importance of partnering with

[32:32] city school district and other

[32:35] educational institutions you know so

[32:37] we're casting a wider net um at the same

[32:40] time we are not only maintaining but

[32:42] really we're increasing you know

[32:45] that uh requirement of skill level skill

[32:47] set um and we get a larger pool of

[32:50] qualified uh

[32:51] applicants um to select from and i think

[32:54] that that just really uh

[32:56] makes us a stronger safer uh uh

[32:58] community so again i i commend the

[33:00] efforts and i really appreciate the

[33:02] steps that we're taking as a city i

[33:04] think this is something that we should

[33:06] continue to do

[33:08] patrick i just wanted to say as a

[33:10] closing comment that i think that we're

[33:12] just so fortunate here

[33:14] in our city and in the county because

[33:17] obviously we're also out on all those

[33:18] calls as well and the fact that when our

[33:22] folks

[33:22] show up and most you know a lot of times

[33:25] it's a medical call

[33:27] we're going to have all paramedics

[33:29] that are going to be able to provide

[33:31] those services those are life-saving

[33:33] services

[33:34] and at that level as opposed to an emt

[33:37] which i mean

[33:39] there's just so many more things that a

[33:40] paramedic is allowed to do in terms of

[33:43] administering an iv administering

[33:45] medication i mean they are really saving

[33:47] lives and we're fortunate for that i

[33:49] think the telemedicine piece again

[33:53] you know to be able to have a paramedic

[33:55] on the other end of that is going to

[33:56] benefit all of us as well so i

[33:58] appreciate that we have on the standards

[34:00] that we have in place and i am

[34:03] happy to not see any change

[34:05] in that as we continue to do the kind of

[34:07] recruiting that we do so i just wanted to commend

[34:10] you for that and say thank you to all to

[34:14] all of our fire

[34:15] fighters because it really is to our

[34:17] benefit that we have such a such a

[34:19] highly skilled

[34:21] uh

[34:22] force

[34:24] thank you so thank you so much

[34:26] can i just ask a question though because

[34:27] you said the paramedics i thought don't

[34:29] we have doctors on the other end with

[34:32] televisions well

[34:34] paramedics are in the field right but

[34:36] the doctor is the guy answering the

[34:37] questions that wherever he is okay uh

[34:40] depending on the fact pattern the call

[34:42] yes oh i'm sorry

[34:44] i just wanted that our folks were taking

[34:46] those so i think the mayor said our

[34:50] paramedics work with the doctor

[34:53] on the uh on the other side of you guys

[34:56] gotcha and they want paramedics

[34:59] on our side

[35:00] um

[35:02] training level schooling in emt is

[35:04] approximately eight weeks

[35:06] and a paramedic is very

[35:09] close to here yeah so

[35:12] it's night and day yeah

[35:15] and if i may say one more thing

[35:18] um

[35:21] every solution

[35:23] creates other challenges

[35:26] so we've had some really good

[35:28] conversation we've talked about that

[35:30] there's no one panacea to this

[35:33] there's a lot of ways chief likes to say

[35:35] we know we're here

[35:37] here's where we want to go how are we

[35:38] doing

[35:40] the challenge

[35:42] i guess i'm just imposing our i want to

[35:44] just reiterate for anyone to to be clear

[35:47] that in no way are you looking to lower

[35:51] up here

[35:54] this is one of our you know strong

[35:55] points of the community that we want to

[35:57] build on um so it's quite the opposite

[36:00] of that so i just want to make sure that

[36:02] we're all clear to understanding that

[36:04] it's it's a right to point to we know

[36:06] where we're at we know where we want to

[36:08] get and where we want to get there's not

[36:09] include a lower standard of care it

[36:12] includes a higher standard of care and

[36:14] so how do we get that and that's where

[36:15] the direction of the conversation

[36:16] involved so thank you for your time well

[36:19] thank you thank you thank you um so

[36:22] motion what's up

[36:26] here

[36:36] right uh if i can get a motion to

[36:38] redress

[36:52] of this question to come forward the

[36:54] committee

[36:55] motion to

[36:56] if i can emotionally adjourn seconds

[36:59] second almost in favor

[37:01] and we are trying to thank you

[37:05] all for the finance committee on the

[37:07] force item is a 20 22 hot emergency

[37:09] solution grant for the 90

[37:12] players of new york king

[37:14] that's kristen died

[37:22] um this request is in relation to our

[37:24] emergency solutions grant that was

[37:26] awarded through the cares act as part of

[37:28] the coronavirus pandemic

[37:30] um

[37:32] uh you know the cares act so this this

[37:34] request is coming from the ywca

[37:37] and they are looking to

[37:40] basically just remove funding from what

[37:42] was allocated so originally when this

[37:44] was allocated it was kind of speculation

[37:46] on what was going to be the highest need

[37:47] so they've seen an increase in need for

[37:49] emergency shelter here

[37:51] and so the request is basically to move

[37:53] forty thousand dollars

[37:55] um to the emergency shelter line from

[37:58] the rapid rehousing line

[38:00] um

[38:01] and so we are just requesting a

[38:03] resolution accepting this change

[38:06] to

[38:08] the funding to emergency shelter

[38:12] any questions

[38:14] come in

[38:17] we have a motion

[38:19] second one second all a favor all right

[38:23] the next item you are requesting

[38:25] um

[38:30] okay thank you the next item is

[38:32] authorizing the mail for answering to an

[38:34] agreement with saratoga associate for

[38:36] design service

[38:38] related to the construction of the new

[38:39] pool at central park using our perform

[38:43] mr mayor

[38:44] thank you mr chairman uh

[38:47] general discussions on this uh swimming

[38:50] pool this would be to retain

[38:53] saratoga associates

[38:55] and have uh

[38:57] aquatica who did a presentation function

[39:00] as a

[39:01] subcontractor

[39:04] with the architectural firms to start to

[39:06] do

[39:08] the design work and preliminary layout

[39:12] for the pool this would include

[39:14] community engagement

[39:15] uh some of the other uh

[39:19] ancillary

[39:20] potential projects that may

[39:23] happen

[39:24] with the a diamond

[39:26] with uh tennis courts

[39:30] and uh i don't know chris or any other

[39:34] things that would be in the scope of the

[39:35] works

[39:37] yeah we're looking at

[39:38] access

[39:40] parking pass uh particles yeah

[39:44] it's it's it's not just the uh the scope

[39:46] of work is not limited to the pool

[39:48] itself um this is in cooperation with

[39:51] the our application that was submitted

[39:54] by myself and the mayor

[39:56] for not only the pool but the ancillary

[39:59] features that would uh would help pool

[40:02] better acclimate to the park into the

[40:04] surrounding areas of the community so

[40:07] that is why it's just uh where the

[40:09] presentation was you know the pool

[40:10] itself we had an estimate of three

[40:12] million dollars however when we wanted

[40:14] to really bring it into everything else

[40:16] the cost was closer to a determining

[40:18] cost of five hence the fee was based off

[40:21] of that desire of

[40:30] is this 450 part of the 5.5 yes

[40:34] okay and that's

[40:35] forfeit this point not to exceed so

[40:41] they would do the community outreach

[40:43] design workup so that those numbers are

[40:47] kind of vague at this point

[40:50] just this will enable us to have a

[40:52] firmer

[40:54] estimate in terms of what the cost would

[40:56] be in the scope of the work for the

[40:58] actual project or

[41:00] getting the ancillary undertakings that

[41:02] we may decide to do

[41:05] so aquatica is acting as a sub

[41:08] contractor for design

[41:12] specialization on the uh

[41:15] swimming pools oh sorry associated

[41:18] design will be

[41:21] [Music]

[41:29] all the code requirements any features

[41:31] that are

[41:32] interior to the pool walls so to speak

[41:35] but once you would get out of the pool

[41:37] out onto either like the concrete

[41:39] surface or the area that would still be

[41:41] within the fence that's where the

[41:43] serotonin associates would take off with

[41:45] a landscape design and the site design

[41:48] of it so the two of them will be working

[41:50] just like this because you know

[41:52] the pool is something the pump house

[41:54] there's a lot of components there's a

[41:56] service associates would do the bath

[41:58] house that's not a pool portion that's a

[42:00] norman architecture portion and then how

[42:02] it integrates with the tennis facilities

[42:05] the rose the fair and the parking hockey

[42:07] agent and all that that's stereotype

[42:10] associates for the black cup they have a

[42:13] substance also be in here there's also a

[42:15] need to have a survey that's another

[42:17] sub-consultant fee so this is a it's a it's a layered project that would

[42:22] have several different people working on it

[42:26] and this is like the mayor said to get

[42:28] moving on the first part is what you saw

[42:30] everything that you saw was a high-level

[42:33] concept so that we could show you what

[42:35] there is

[42:36] possible however we really don't know

[42:38] what

[42:39] we would like to do until we sit down

[42:41] and talk about sizing and programming

[42:43] and really the space of what we what

[42:45] we'd like to finally see

[42:49] is this going to be a design build

[42:51] with saratoga associates on the

[42:53] iphone

[42:54] this would be a design build not a

[42:57] design better than traditional sense of

[42:58] what it is that we would design it and

[43:01] then we would fit it

[43:02] so we are but that's the next thing this

[43:05] is getting that jump start on getting

[43:07] designed because if if everything goes

[43:10] through the applications and the

[43:12] schedule is as we talked about that the

[43:14] goal would be to have

[43:16] some of this ready in the ground for the

[43:18] end of this year so that it can be

[43:20] wrapped up at the latter part of the

[43:21] early part of 2023 for possible use in

[43:25] 2023 um so that's why

[43:27] the mayor elected to get this ahead so

[43:29] that we don't lose that time

[43:36] so with respect to the 450 service fee

[43:52] with respect to the 450 000 uh service

[43:56] fee uh can you speak to mr wong or

[43:59] american carpet how this entity was

[44:01] selected and then if other bids were

[44:04] taken into consideration because there's

[44:06] no way with this is one estimate to

[44:07] understand that they're

[44:09] being asked too high or too low

[44:11] sure uh this is a professional service

[44:13] the state typically does not

[44:15] bid professional services so for this

[44:18] particular service what the city usually

[44:20] does under engineering is

[44:23] i put out what we call term agreements

[44:26] i have a term agreements with a

[44:28] multitude of firms

[44:30] each firm is pre-selected so right now

[44:32] i'm working with mr holden in the

[44:34] mayor's office i have term agreements

[44:36] with approximately nine firms that are

[44:38] pre-selected we have

[44:40] two architects traditional we have three

[44:42] civil engineers we have two landscape

[44:44] architects and i have a mechanical

[44:45] market

[44:46] those firms are all working with me to

[44:48] supplement my staff or lack thereof

[44:52] to get the work done that i need to get

[44:54] done here

[44:55] so when this project was presented we

[44:58] wanted to find a specialty

[45:00] pools are very special there are not a

[45:02] lot of pool contractors so the mayor

[45:05] asked me to reach out we reached out to

[45:06] aquatica who had done some surveys of

[45:08] our existing pools in the past and we

[45:11] brought them in

[45:12] uh aquatic met with the mayor myself and

[45:14] our staff and they said listen we are

[45:17] ready and available to do this work

[45:20] as a professional service for the pool

[45:22] design however

[45:23] they said that you know we do the pool

[45:26] we do not do the ancillary

[45:28] so then i started looking at the best

[45:30] fit for doing the ancillary work

[45:32] saratoga associates we've engaged them

[45:34] already previously under a previous

[45:36] contract the contract was for central

[45:39] park way finding parking signage and

[45:42] pass

[45:44] that project we worked on with the

[45:46] mayor's office uh chris vanzano who was

[45:48] here and we actually have a report

[45:50] that's already done with some

[45:52] recommended features i don't know if

[45:53] you've seen it before but had some fair

[45:55] acting parking some paths

[45:57] and the reason that that project kind of

[45:59] ran up was it done right before covent

[46:02] which is difficult and it was done with

[46:04] a funding issue which was how do we

[46:06] actually build it there was a lot of

[46:07] discussion about how to do it but it

[46:09] wasn't a priority with everything that's

[46:11] going on so now in this to circle back

[46:13] to this project when we got to here it

[46:15] was they were kind of a natural fit to

[46:18] bring in so that we weren't redoing

[46:20] things because we're talking about a

[46:21] location that's central to fair avenue

[46:23] central to the a diamond where we

[46:24] already had them

[46:25] and their skill set

[46:27] already being for this kind of thing and

[46:29] we already had them on a term agreement

[46:31] so that's how we brought them in but to

[46:34] your point you're exactly right

[46:36] we do not have this bid

[46:38] a typical thing that we do is when it

[46:40] comes to that to design services and

[46:43] this we use the rule of ten percent

[46:45] so when i put in the arpa application it

[46:47] was we know that we wanted around five

[46:49] million dollars based off of estimates

[46:50] 10

[46:51] the most usually see is 500 i talked

[46:54] with them we worked out you know they

[46:55] said do you want us to do the survey do

[46:57] you want us to do this and said i said

[46:58] you have to do it all i don't have time

[47:00] to subcontract yourself

[47:02] so then we talked about when we came to

[47:03] this fee of 450 000 which is slightly

[47:06] less than the 10

[47:07] and that's i mean honestly you're here

[47:11] you're going to get that fee right

[47:12] around there regardless um that's kind

[47:14] of where that is uh aquatica is in there

[47:17] aquatica's fee was roughly 80 000 for

[47:19] the pool because the pool was a lesser

[47:21] cost and their design is less

[47:23] so

[47:24] and that's usually how we work with

[47:26] professional services because to do

[47:27] everything with a bid for the

[47:29] professional services we would quadruple

[47:31] my my workload

[47:33] so just to bring it up that's how we are

[47:35] and like i said i do have that service

[47:37] list and it's a three-year contract

[47:40] uh that we do with the professional

[47:42] services issues and the supplemental um

[47:44] and then we have a whole different thing

[47:46] which you see which is federal or state

[47:47] which we follow different requirements

[47:49] other than our own

[47:57] i put in a lot of time in working with

[47:59] andrew and the mayor's office to to

[48:00] really get to this so that we're we're

[48:02] above board with everything that we do

[48:18] my following question to understanding

[48:20] more that the services that they're

[48:21] providing are with the pool was that

[48:24] correct

[48:26] with the pool

[48:27] and hillary clinton and and so that's one of the things i just wanted

[48:31] to make sure

[48:32] this is not just a hole in the ground

[48:34] we're talking about the pool it's going

[48:36] to have utility servicing that might not

[48:38] service it already we're talking about a

[48:40] pump house a separate building because

[48:42] that's kind of one of the layouts that

[48:43] we had thought about

[48:45] a bath house that's a considerable size

[48:47] compared to what we don't have a

[48:48] bathhouse now um ancillary concrete

[48:51] around the area to service it concrete

[48:53] as you know is expensive there were

[48:55] parking lighting

[48:57] possible cameras you know some of the

[48:59] things that we're looking at access past

[49:01] so all of that design um so that's where

[49:04] we're segmenting it but there are a lot

[49:06] of components that are going to go into

[49:07] there and then as part of this if it

[49:09] once again as part of the discussion i

[49:12] would like to roll into that ancillary

[49:14] cost outside of the pool

[49:16] some of the work that we've already done

[49:17] which is way finding signage you know

[49:20] where you come into fair avenue how to

[49:22] get to the pool how to get to parking

[49:23] where music is because we've already

[49:25] done that work and i think it really

[49:27] blends itself in nicely to have that

[49:29] done at the same time

[49:30] um so yeah and everything's going to

[49:33] we'll discuss it as a group once we have

[49:34] a committee everything comes to bid you

[49:36] guys are welcome to see any of the plans

[49:38] that we develop and this is a new thing for myself it's a new thing

[49:42] for you know this group the city has not

[49:44] built the pool in quite a while

[49:48] so we're looking forward to it

[49:50] but it is it is specialized and uh

[49:54] yeah i don't have much to say about it i

[49:57] think we're going down the right back so

[49:59] seeking clarification were these uh

[50:03] resources taken into consideration other

[50:06] pools that are in the city i would say

[50:07] that because we received a

[50:09] uh

[50:10] not a complaint but but an email from a

[50:13] local resident just asking for us to

[50:15] evaluate

[50:16] another local pool resource and i'd just

[50:18] like to know if it's appropriate to

[50:20] potentially extend

[50:22] this

[50:23] initial

[50:24] investment opportunity to include other

[50:26] areas of the city so that we're not

[50:27] duplicating expenses and resources

[50:29] entirely if that's us

[50:31] defensively

[50:33] this

[50:34] is moving forward though because of

[50:36] issues that we have with the current

[50:38] pool in the central park

[50:41] uh with the county department of health

[50:43] where it doesn't meet the current

[50:45] standards

[50:46] so that if we don't move forward in some

[50:49] manner show them good faith we're

[50:51] looking to correct that

[50:54] is possibly just get shut down and

[50:56] wouldn't be able to use it at all

[50:58] the other pools in the city

[51:02] have

[51:04] and we put splash pad woodlawn

[51:07] front street

[51:09] you have to look at each one in terms of

[51:10] what the needs are

[51:12] and

[51:13] this again would use more as an example

[51:15] of what we can do or can't do and then

[51:18] roll it into other projects

[51:21] is we're going through the not only the

[51:22] arba

[51:23] process but capital projects that we

[51:26] would look to entertain

[51:28] this year next year and a year down the

[51:31] road

[51:32] if you want my honest unsolicited

[51:34] opinion without bouncing it off everyone

[51:36] else uh to that end to what you're

[51:39] discussing i think it's a it's a great

[51:41] uh path to go down but i would recommend

[51:44] that either you know the the health and

[51:46] recreation committee become involved

[51:48] with also the parks and rec committee we

[51:50] have the budget that we're bringing on a

[51:52] parks director

[51:53] and that yourselves and the two

[51:55] committees

[51:56] work towards

[51:58] june

[51:59] when we do the budget for 2023 because i

[52:02] think that what you're going to find is

[52:03] when you go down the avenue of looking

[52:05] at the other pools

[52:07] it's going to it's going to blossom into

[52:08] a larger task than we think that for

[52:11] this you know this is a i think trying

[52:12] to keep it singularly focused

[52:15] and on trying to get these deadlines so

[52:17] that we can get the pool designed and

[52:19] out and ready and then meet with those

[52:21] groups and reinstate them so that we can

[52:24] focus a little bit better i mean we find

[52:25] a need that we could you know attack it

[52:27] with more of the capital budget the

[52:29] mayor saying these are

[52:30] the front street pool you know that pool

[52:32] we have discussions with development

[52:34] about other other things in that area we

[52:36] have you know hillary's pool we have we

[52:38] have some pools and they all have needs

[52:40] and i think if we start you're going to

[52:42] see these costs just skyrocketing you're

[52:44] going to realize

[52:46] we're not ready to take all of that on i

[52:48] think

[52:49] this is the focus on this one i think is

[52:52] a

[52:52] worthy endeavor on its own

[52:57] just a quick question tell me a little

[52:59] bit more about the deadlines you're

[53:00] speaking of

[53:01] trying to get this done

[53:03] yeah um i mean these are all

[53:05] i guess at the time they're they're

[53:07] [Music]

[53:08] superficial deadlines but we're really

[53:10] trying to as you know we work backwards

[53:13] so one of the things that we're going to

[53:14] be once we engage with saratoga

[53:15] associates in aquatic officially is uh

[53:18] we always work backwards so it is when

[53:21] do we need to have this awarded by and

[53:24] then you know you subtract the months

[53:25] for council you subtract the month for

[53:27] bidding you know so if we needed to have

[53:30] someone in the ground let's say in

[53:32] october let's say we wanted to have

[53:33] someone there october 1st to dig a hole

[53:35] and that's probably too late so you say

[53:37] september that means we're bidding in

[53:39] august

[53:40] and if we're or we're bringing it to you

[53:42] in august so if we're bringing it to you

[53:44] in august we're bidding it in july

[53:47] and that if we're bidding in july that

[53:49] means we have to have the design done by

[53:51] mid-june

[53:52] and it's january so that means that we

[53:54] really have february march april

[53:57] to get this done to get all the

[53:58] community involved to get the buy-in and

[54:00] get it designed so our window gets it's

[54:03] very small

[54:04] um so that's how we usually work back

[54:06] because you know we're a government we

[54:08] have a bureaucracy to follow you know

[54:10] and that's if everything goes well

[54:12] one of the things we started to do was

[54:13] really delay things so that myself and

[54:15] aaron and ron we could all review and

[54:18] sit down and that's actually why we

[54:19] started to delay certain things just to

[54:21] make sure that we have everything so

[54:23] we're doing one time and not twice back

[54:26] so

[54:26] you know

[54:27] it sounds like to have something ready

[54:29] in september is september but when you

[54:32] work backwards you have to be ready to

[54:34] go june 1st i would say with design

[54:36] documents

[54:53] uh

[54:54] imagine you're going to ask for a motion

[54:56] my only reservation is just making sure

[54:58] appropriate considerations are made

[54:59] towards the other pools i would only

[55:01] hope that time was built for this to be

[55:03] delayed another two weeks just to allow

[55:06] and i can accept bonus for that just

[55:07] ensuring that individuals that voted for

[55:09] me uh

[55:11] understand that i ran on a campaign and

[55:13] just making sure that information was

[55:14] provided to the members of the community

[55:16] and i took the time to actually delve in

[55:19] make sure that when i did

[55:21] move this forward or second this i did

[55:23] that with every

[55:24] consideration and support of this so

[55:27] with that

[55:28] i would just like to hold off to allow

[55:30] me the opportunity to do some research

[55:37] so you're asking for us to hold off on

[55:39] this until here at least two weeks

[55:44] [Music]

[55:49] if i can speak to that i i clearly

[55:51] understand what you're saying and um

[55:52] perhaps you are coming at this meeting

[55:55] but given the timeline that um

[55:58] mr walden has given us in addition to

[56:00] that we can't we can't do what you're

[56:02] asking and have people be part of this

[56:05] is what i'm understanding

[56:06] the so the front street

[56:08] whatever pool is uh if we need to look

[56:11] at that it wouldn't we would not be able

[56:12] to look at it apart at as part of this

[56:14] just because of what it would entail i'm

[56:17] not going to tell the council or the

[56:19] mayor what you can or cannot do what i

[56:22] what i'm saying is that an arpan

[56:24] application was submitted

[56:26] by the deadline

[56:27] for an amount of money and at the

[56:30] mayor's request we wanted to

[56:32] you know accelerate the design portion

[56:34] of that ahead of the process that you

[56:36] will be going through so that we could

[56:38] potentially meet these deadlines

[56:41] i did not have it on my my agenda or my

[56:43] radar to do the other pools

[56:45] which it's perfectly fine if someone

[56:47] wants i just it's a separate

[56:50] project it's a whole separate

[56:52] idea and in the front street pool in

[56:54] particular gets into

[56:57] a lot of larger conversations because of

[56:59] a fema project that we have going on

[57:01] down there and some of the other things

[57:03] that we've talked about so i'm just

[57:05] trying to make sure that we're not

[57:07] muddying waters with things that help my

[57:09] mass broke but without the things that

[57:11] we're talking about and holding

[57:12] something up because of that but i

[57:14] understand if you made a commitment to

[57:15] it that that's perfectly fine i just

[57:18] especially the front street pool

[57:20] it's it's a complicated it's a

[57:22] complicated situation with that

[57:23] particular pool

[57:25] no please go ahead my only consideration

[57:27] is we already have a company that's

[57:28] doing assessments

[57:30] wouldn't it be prudent upon us to make

[57:32] or give assessments for other

[57:34] individuals not saying that we're going

[57:35] to take a step and move forward we'd

[57:37] have those figures just for assessments

[57:40] so

[57:41] to bring aquatica on ask them because

[57:43] they've done this once before but it was

[57:44] about 10 years ago to have them to come

[57:47] in and do uh new assessments for the

[57:49] other three pools right that's what i

[57:51] know that's what i'm delaying the

[57:52] considerations on scene

[57:54] well if you want i'll have them go out

[57:56] and look at

[57:58] what a ballpark figure would be to do

[58:00] those and come back

[58:02] in two weeks but this would still move

[58:04] as a separate project

[58:08] is that something that

[58:10] you want to see happen

[58:12] so you're telling me putting out two

[58:13] weeks is going to entirely derail the

[58:16] entire project

[58:20] i don't want i don't want to

[58:24] no

[58:25] but what i'm understanding is that this

[58:27] project would still move forward but

[58:29] what you're asking was still happening

[58:30] as well okay all right

[58:32] is that what you're saying but i'm not

[58:33] gonna go to them and have them

[58:36] this project right define the scope and

[58:39] works if you want the other ones

[58:40] evaluated i'll commence get a price on

[58:43] that and come back to you in two weeks

[58:45] and this one is still going to move

[58:47] forward

[58:48] as a separate project and this is not

[58:52] again has been outlined it's not a

[58:53] simple it's not just a swimming pool

[58:56] because there's going to be work done in

[58:57] conjunction with the a diamond with the

[59:00] parking lot

[59:01] the

[59:02] bath house will service the needs for

[59:04] the work that we've done at the tennis

[59:07] courts

[59:08] and then looking at putting some stadium

[59:10] seating another the tennis courts on the

[59:13] back because we're eliminating the

[59:15] tennis stadium for the site for this

[59:18] pool

[59:19] and there's some modifications for the

[59:22] disc golf course

[59:24] that plays

[59:25] through the park

[59:31] want us to probably understanding that

[59:32] um in two weeks we'll have a price

[59:35] analysis on the cost to fix repair

[59:39] well i don't know

[59:42] the ability to go out and do the

[59:44] evaluation i don't know if we would have

[59:46] all the

[59:48] scope works

[59:50] in the detail of analysis in two weeks

[59:53] where

[59:54] yeah it's uh

[59:55] it's hard to do some of it

[59:57] now where there's frost in the ground

[59:59] and other things are shut down

[1:00:02] goodness so so i just for

[1:00:05] my own clarity here so

[1:00:07] we're not suggesting that um in two

[1:00:09] weeks time

[1:00:11] that all of the other

[1:00:13] uh tools are assessed i think or you say

[1:00:16] like in two weeks time

[1:00:17] to uh

[1:00:18] get a commitment or understanding with

[1:00:21] uh

[1:00:23] to see if they have the capacity and the

[1:00:25] ability to to do it well come back and

[1:00:29] have them give us a price because we've

[1:00:31] asked him to do this evaluation so come

[1:00:33] back and say

[1:00:34] is that going to be

[1:00:37] uh ten thousand dollars is it going to

[1:00:39] be

[1:00:40] 20 000. whatever it is to go through

[1:00:44] and look at those as they have started

[1:00:47] the process on

[1:00:49] the woman's central park

[1:00:51] and we'd be dealing directly with

[1:00:52] aquatic for for that type of evaluation

[1:00:55] that would not be uh saratoga associates

[1:00:57] so we would have

[1:01:00] because we're talking about specifically

[1:01:01] the pools

[1:01:02] and what might the cost of that be

[1:01:04] for the evaluation yeah anything can

[1:01:07] come along i think the mayor was and the

[1:01:09] mayor was fairly accurate um you know we

[1:01:11] had them look at the central park pool

[1:01:14] um it does not take them long to look at

[1:01:16] the deficiencies they they check pumps

[1:01:18] and encode

[1:01:19] so

[1:01:20] i i don't think it would be a huge

[1:01:22] number i think under 20 000 would be

[1:01:24] totally reasonable for we're just know

[1:01:26] about three pools central park we've

[1:01:27] already kind of looked at

[1:01:29] and i wouldn't be surprised if it's it's

[1:01:31] under that

[1:01:32] quite a bit but would you like to have i

[1:01:33] can get a proposal they're a small

[1:01:35] outfit that's locally

[1:01:40] um

[1:01:41] i think if we're going to do it though

[1:01:42] we should include you know those places

[1:01:44] that have um the uh

[1:01:49] the splash pads because i think splash

[1:01:51] pads are a great alternative

[1:01:53] as well so i mean this is this is sort

[1:01:54] of a longer term evaluation

[1:01:57] i'm just saying no i mean i think

[1:02:00] opportunities for you know

[1:02:02] i think the second thing because correct

[1:02:04] me that aquatic use is a term water

[1:02:06] features right so it could be a swimming

[1:02:09] pool it could be

[1:02:10] a slide that has water on it there's

[1:02:13] things that are

[1:02:16] quite creative

[1:02:18] well i'm just saying i mean rather than

[1:02:19] put pools or you know there might be a

[1:02:22] broader project of getting their

[1:02:24] analysis of what they might because

[1:02:26] part of this package is going to do the

[1:02:28] outreach

[1:02:30] for like working with the boys and girls

[1:02:31] club current users neighborhood

[1:02:35] associations get the community input in

[1:02:38] terms of

[1:02:41] what people are looking to have at the

[1:02:43] facility

[1:02:46] so that can be done

[1:02:50] we moved a little bit on this

[1:02:52] so we feel comfortable with what's

[1:02:54] before us but we have to go back and get

[1:02:56] other numbers

[1:02:57] and

[1:02:58] better define a scope of works whether

[1:03:00] it's just the other swimming pools

[1:03:02] whether you would look at other places

[1:03:03] where we put

[1:03:05] or evaluate uh potential either what's

[1:03:08] there now or potentially place water

[1:03:10] features

[1:03:12] [Music]

[1:03:14] okay just for clarification my attention

[1:03:15] was just to see if we could maximize and

[1:03:17] see if there were other abilities to

[1:03:19] just benefit from the entire city but i

[1:03:21] completely understand thank you for all

[1:03:22] the input

[1:03:24] um so i can make a motion to

[1:03:26] program sorry you know go ahead go ahead

[1:03:29] yeah if you're comfortable with let's

[1:03:30] move over to

[1:03:32] the understanding that these things are

[1:03:33] going to be happening in the next couple

[1:03:34] of weeks and i say

[1:03:37] two weeks it's uh actually because of

[1:03:39] the

[1:03:40] when the fifth monday it would come back

[1:03:43] to the council in three weeks

[1:03:47] i'll leave it

[1:03:48] [Music]

[1:03:50] have a second second all in favor

[1:03:52] aye

[1:03:53] thank you thank you

[1:03:56] the next item is the 2022 contest

[1:03:58] reappropriation

[1:03:59] that's the ferrari

[1:04:01] and you're going to stay there for a

[1:04:02] while

[1:04:05] for president council in there

[1:04:08] um the first thing on agenda is a 2022

[1:04:11] budget uh reincorporation and what we're

[1:04:13] requesting here is uh because of the

[1:04:18] time to manufacture products in the 2022

[1:04:21] capital project we have uh

[1:04:23] requested four garbage structure packers

[1:04:26] and uh street sweepers where they have

[1:04:28] estimated the manufacturing of these to

[1:04:30] be of 18 months or longer now usually

[1:04:34] what we do is

[1:04:35] we

[1:04:36] go out to

[1:04:37] fund these projects uh through the uh

[1:04:40] through uh of bans or bonding by

[1:04:43] anticipation though and usually that

[1:04:44] doesn't happen to me

[1:04:46] what we're asking is to uh to speed this

[1:04:49] up by moving money to our appropriate

[1:04:51] fund balance to cover that up until we

[1:04:54] borrow the money in may so we can order

[1:04:56] these trucks now so that we'll get them

[1:04:58] in sometime in 2023

[1:05:00] and if we wait to make we probably won't

[1:05:02] get into these trucks till 2024. so

[1:05:04] we're just asking

[1:05:05] us to up until may to move money from

[1:05:09] our front balance into the

[1:05:11] uh the budget

[1:05:12] of you know transfer to other funds so

[1:05:14] we can uh start the process of uh

[1:05:17] ordering these uh five vehicles four

[1:05:20] garbage trucks and a street sweeper

[1:05:23] [Music]

[1:05:26] we can't spend money unless it's been

[1:05:29] budgeted

[1:05:30] and

[1:05:32] the

[1:05:33] normal process would be go through the

[1:05:35] bonding process

[1:05:37] before i can order the garbage trucks

[1:05:39] make sure we have the cash we want to

[1:05:41] make sure we have money before we do

[1:05:42] that so if i ordered the garbage trucks

[1:05:45] today

[1:05:46] and then the council decides not to bond

[1:05:50] in the spring

[1:05:52] then we're stuck so what this is saying

[1:05:54] is that we're going to pay for this one

[1:05:57] way or the other because of the long

[1:05:59] lead time on these vehicles

[1:06:04] we're hoping that you pass this so that

[1:06:06] we can do that

[1:06:07] so we can get this problem is there any

[1:06:08] commitment on a timeline excuse me is

[1:06:11] there any commitment a form commitment

[1:06:13] on the timeline

[1:06:14] is there to get these uh these problems

[1:06:24] that's the minimum so we know what we're

[1:06:27] trying to do is save five months of time

[1:06:29] to get it within 2023 instead of 2024.

[1:06:34] and we plan as recorded we do plan to

[1:06:36] borrow uh capital project money this

[1:06:38] year anyway so once once we get that

[1:06:40] money in we'll just move it back into

[1:06:42] fund balance yep

[1:06:45] any questions

[1:06:46] comments

[1:06:47] i'll move it

[1:06:49] like that all in favor

[1:06:51] aye

[1:06:52] thank you

[1:06:53] the next item is the

[1:06:55] 2022 budget reallocation person for

[1:06:58] agreement between the city of

[1:06:59] schenectady and csea i'm going to pass

[1:07:01] out though i'm going to pass out

[1:07:05] the cost of all these reallocations so

[1:07:07] that you can look at them but you can

[1:07:09] use that smile so they'll put them over

[1:07:11] there

[1:07:12] so you can look at what we're talking

[1:07:14] about

[1:07:14] [Music]

[1:07:17] so uh

[1:07:19] as you recall uh uh

[1:07:21] [Music]

[1:07:23] the console the console itself has

[1:07:25] passed uh

[1:07:26] several uh

[1:07:29] you have enough no it's one feature

[1:07:32] do you have a mr holden i'm multiplying

[1:07:34] right now i can always yeah

[1:07:37] all right we're good okay so

[1:07:40] this picasa is already uh passed and

[1:07:42] appropriated uh uh monies for uh uh the

[1:07:46] different uh unions that we had in

[1:07:47] agreements to so we're looking to uh

[1:07:51] to appropriate those funds

[1:07:54] uh for the agreement so the first one we

[1:07:56] have here is the csaa for 2022.

[1:07:59] uh but let's go back to csa for 2021

[1:08:02] which is how far is this if you look in

[1:08:04] the patches i sent you uh i essentially

[1:08:07] would have the cost for the total for

[1:08:09] 2021 and 2022

[1:08:12] for 2020 and 21 because these are retro

[1:08:15] payments that we've done in uh

[1:08:18] the negotiations and the contract went

[1:08:20] back to 20 uh 2020. so what we're gonna

[1:08:23] do is uh do retro payments to the union

[1:08:25] members from 2020 and 2041.

[1:08:28] and but uh you know according to

[1:08:29] government standards we have to show

[1:08:31] those expenditures and those costs in

[1:08:34] 2021

[1:08:35] so what we have to do because that money

[1:08:37] was not appropriated through the budget

[1:08:40] process because we're negotiating all

[1:08:42] that time this is the requirement to uh

[1:08:45] appropriate those funds

[1:08:46] uh

[1:08:47] from uh

[1:08:48] [Music]

[1:08:50] our bounces to the to the budget to pay for them um this is the plan uh the

[1:08:56] plan that we use uh you know is to use

[1:08:58] uh our lost revenue through our

[1:09:00] professional monies so as you can see

[1:09:04] uh with what i sent you in in that uh

[1:09:07] little package over there

[1:09:09] we have for uh 2021 we have retroactive

[1:09:12] payments for management for csea for

[1:09:15] 2020 cse for 2021

[1:09:18] 10 37 for uh 20 21 and operating

[1:09:21] engineer for 20 21.

[1:09:23] the total amount with the uh fica that

[1:09:26] is a process that i met and i

[1:09:28] put it on the sheet can we put that in

[1:09:30] the resolution with the fico amount

[1:09:34] that total for uh all of those budgets

[1:09:37] for 2021 is 617

[1:09:40] 689 and 94 for all those

[1:09:43] budgets for retro payments for 20

[1:09:46] through 20 21.

[1:09:48] [Music]

[1:09:51] now for 2022

[1:09:53] we have a

[1:09:54] reallocations for uh the management

[1:09:57] csca for 2022 and operate engineers now

[1:10:01] when we're when we're doing the

[1:10:03] negotiations and the budget for 2022 we

[1:10:05] had anticipated the budget can we do

[1:10:07] each item individually because we want

[1:10:09] to ask them yeah we have to pass them

[1:10:11] individually sorry yes i'm sorry

[1:10:13] this is not explained the whole

[1:10:29] uh budgetary allocation for city

[1:10:31] schenecta

[1:10:32] according to the budget pass

[1:10:34] that total for 2022

[1:10:36] uh is uh 347 994

[1:10:41] plus uh uh

[1:10:42] 30 thousand and uh

[1:10:44] oh thirty thousand at five guys so you

[1:10:47] have to have the total budget right

[1:10:48] there that

[1:10:50] man that thirty thousand covers more

[1:10:52] than just cse oh yeah you're right so

[1:10:54] it's the csca 2022 the 347 944 plus

[1:10:58] whatever that fico percentage is sorry

[1:11:00] about that right yep i do have that

[1:11:02] number here someplace

[1:11:07] whatever that percentage is 7.65

[1:11:09] absolutely that's what it is any

[1:11:11] question on item number five

[1:11:14] i haven't moved it

[1:11:15] all in favor hi

[1:11:17] item number six number six is uh the the

[1:11:20] amount we talked about for cse

[1:11:23] for 2021 for the retro payments that

[1:11:25] will be charged at 2021

[1:11:27] uh i explained uh the amounts there

[1:11:31] any questions on that

[1:11:33] a little bit second all in favor

[1:11:37] number seven number seven is uh this is

[1:11:40] uh the 2020 allocation for the operating

[1:11:42] engineers again was passed

[1:11:47] for retro payment for uh 2021 uh came to

[1:11:50] 18 000 plus

[1:11:53] point the 7

[1:11:53] percent for uh

[1:11:55] fica

[1:11:56] any questions on that i'll move it

[1:11:58] thank you favor

[1:12:00] item number eight number eight is the

[1:12:03] 2022 budget allocation

[1:12:05] for city schenectady and the operating

[1:12:08] engineers for 2028.

[1:12:11] that's a that's a 41 478 plus this fico

[1:12:15] uh

[1:12:17] budget

[1:12:19] second all in favor

[1:12:22] number nine and uh uh the 2021 budget

[1:12:26] reallocation for the 1037

[1:12:28] uh

[1:12:29] that again as you recall is up here that

[1:12:32] is a total for 2021 for the retro

[1:12:34] payment of 296 000 390 plus the

[1:12:38] 7.65 for uh fifa

[1:12:41] question

[1:12:43] second

[1:12:44] call in favor

[1:12:48] is the agreement between the city of

[1:12:49] schenectady and the city budget of the

[1:12:51] city management team

[1:12:53] uh those that was a two percent increase

[1:12:55] from september through december that

[1:12:57] came to 18 000 353

[1:13:00] 65 plus the 7.5

[1:13:12] the city is connected into city uh

[1:13:13] management benefits for 2022.

[1:13:16] uh

[1:13:17] that uh uh came to a total of nine

[1:13:19] thousand four hundred nine dollars that is the uh the difference in the the

[1:13:23] reallocation of the longevity numbers

[1:13:25] that'd be nine thousand plus a point

[1:13:27] seven five

[1:13:28] seven point six five percent for fica

[1:13:38] 21 and 22 is gonna be a million

[1:13:41] forty seven thousand all thirty one

[1:13:43] point fifty one i'm gonna probably even

[1:13:45] come back to you another two weeks with

[1:13:46] the fire department

[1:13:48] uh you think these numbers are big

[1:13:51] oh stop

[1:13:53] so yes i do have questions yeah other

[1:13:56] than the fire department or all the

[1:13:59] contact settle for all the labor unions

[1:14:01] all labor union contracts are settled

[1:14:03] the only uh uh one that's close to being

[1:14:06] finished is the police department is

[1:14:07] december of 2022 which will start in

[1:14:10] 2023 the next

[1:14:12] negotiation probably earlier but but

[1:14:14] everything else everything else is good

[1:14:16] through uh

[1:14:17] 2024 just a lot yeah

[1:14:19] and yeah yeah

[1:14:21] question you said that you'll kind of

[1:14:22] come back with the fire department

[1:14:24] yes yes yes and so there'll be are some

[1:14:26] using our funds as well so this is the

[1:14:28] total amount of our no this is not total

[1:14:30] amount uh this is uh like i said where

[1:14:31] our plan is to use the loss revenue from

[1:14:33] our funds which uh which uh which uh

[1:14:36] later on i'll give you the whole uh breakdown of that but our federal

[1:14:41] funds allocation for uh lost revenue is

[1:14:43] eight point

[1:14:44] eight million nine hundred twenty two

[1:14:45] thousand six eighty three

[1:14:47] so that's a million of that right off

[1:14:49] the bat right there okay so eight

[1:14:51] million something okay all right

[1:14:53] any other business before finance

[1:14:56] second holly favor hi thank you

[1:15:01] okay so i'd like to call the government

[1:15:03] operations committee

[1:15:04] um today we have three items on the

[1:15:07] agenda uh the first verse is we're going

[1:15:09] to have discussion

[1:15:10] uh about

[1:15:12] carl williams

[1:15:15] thank you mr farley uh so my subject

[1:15:17] line is hosting quarterly city hall and

[1:15:19] city council and community outside of

[1:15:21] the city since attending um these

[1:15:23] meetings i've never once seen them build

[1:15:25] outside of special resolutions or

[1:15:27] considerations for individuals which is

[1:15:29] understandable i also understand that we

[1:15:31] are currently in the middle of a

[1:15:33] pandemic however i think we need to

[1:15:35] address certain transportation issues to

[1:15:37] include time restraints from individuals

[1:15:39] like myself who wasn't able to get home

[1:15:41] and i understand that we have our time

[1:15:43] set and that's something that we need to

[1:15:44] work around however i think

[1:15:46] identifying locations throughout the

[1:15:48] city to traditionally host quarterly

[1:15:50] meetings i think that is something that

[1:15:52] we should research to potentially have

[1:15:55] news in other areas of the city so that

[1:15:57] we are moving city hall to the people as

[1:15:59] opposed to having the people only be

[1:16:01] able to come here if they receive

[1:16:03] information although it includes a

[1:16:04] virtual component there are some members

[1:16:06] of our communities that do not have

[1:16:08] access to internet so i think if we're

[1:16:10] truly being here to provide a service to

[1:16:12] the community this should be something

[1:16:14] that we should uh take on

[1:16:16] in partnership with osm to make sure

[1:16:17] that we're able to still host a virtual

[1:16:20] component for individuals that prefer

[1:16:21] that long term

[1:16:29] so yes and you know i've had other

[1:16:31] people also talk about this and i i

[1:16:33] really don't think it's a i think it's

[1:16:34] actually a good idea that we're well we

[1:16:36] come outside outside of city hall walls

[1:16:38] right now we do it when there's a

[1:16:40] special thing when we just had to win on

[1:16:42] like a tour of sorts to do the arca

[1:16:44] um presentations so to do this quarterly

[1:16:47] is to me it's not not a heavy lift and

[1:16:50] um you know there's a lot of

[1:16:52] municipalities or elected individuals

[1:16:54] who do what they're called they're

[1:16:55] called town halls so i think that it's actually a good idea to you know i

[1:16:59] know that um some of us attend um

[1:17:03] meetings for the uh for different

[1:17:04] neighborhoods but however that's the

[1:17:06] agenda that they're putting forward but

[1:17:08] so i think it is a good idea for us to

[1:17:09] be able to bring ourselves to the people

[1:17:11] on a uh like i said this are you

[1:17:13] suggesting a quarterly basis so just you

[1:17:16] know four times a year i don't think

[1:17:17] it's a i think it's actually a good kind

[1:17:19] of a public relations kind of thing in

[1:17:22] terms of us as uh elected

[1:17:27] any other discussion on that um

[1:17:30] i guess i would just add i think that

[1:17:32] it's really um

[1:17:33] i was uh we were sending a strong

[1:17:36] message around making plans with people

[1:17:38] and not for people and i think that this

[1:17:40] will you know as a way to demonstrate

[1:17:42] that commitment that we're not only i'm

[1:17:44] going to be

[1:17:45] uh we're going to honor and be who we

[1:17:47] say we would be but we're being flexible

[1:17:49] and responsive to the needs of the

[1:17:50] community um so i think it's definitely worth the

[1:17:54] discussion to have

[1:17:56] and i'm interested to hear if anyone

[1:17:57] else has any

[1:18:00] um i'd like to ask if we were to pursue

[1:18:03] this um

[1:18:05] i'd want to make sure that we were

[1:18:07] also including security issues around

[1:18:11] the well actually we just left i think

[1:18:14] we have police officers or off-duty

[1:18:16] police officers or auxiliary police

[1:18:18] officers

[1:18:19] as well as the metal detector

[1:18:21] and other types of security

[1:18:23] as we have access to here i think is

[1:18:26] important as one of the considerations i

[1:18:28] also have to say that i do think it's

[1:18:30] important as sort of city hall as the

[1:18:33] center

[1:18:35] government as the center of our

[1:18:36] democracy here in the city that

[1:18:38] personally i like the idea that we're

[1:18:40] here

[1:18:41] for our meetings i also will throw up

[1:18:43] just as another consideration if this

[1:18:45] discussion continues

[1:18:47] um to return to the discussion about the

[1:18:50] time of our meetings which we did start

[1:18:54] earlier we discussed the idea of you

[1:18:57] know perhaps having all of our meetings

[1:18:58] at 5 30 which would give people the

[1:19:00] opportunity to be able to come

[1:19:02] right from work rather than go home and

[1:19:05] have to come out

[1:19:07] late at night

[1:19:08] on a winter's night for example to go

[1:19:10] home and then come back i think is

[1:19:12] really discouraging to a lot of people

[1:19:13] but i think that mr williams's point

[1:19:15] about kobe

[1:19:17] certainly has affected

[1:19:19] our attendance because i think at least

[1:19:21] before coded we definitely had more

[1:19:24] people at our meetings um so i think

[1:19:26] that there's probably that aspect too so

[1:19:28] we'd have to also ensure wherever we

[1:19:29] moved the

[1:19:31] meetings if we were choosing to do that

[1:19:32] on a quarterly basis that would be able

[1:19:34] to do the distancing and have the checks

[1:19:36] and all that kind of stuff as well

[1:19:38] so those are just my comments

[1:19:40] my initial thoughts

[1:19:43] i don't think this is something that we

[1:19:46] can do

[1:19:47] right away i mean but i think it's

[1:19:48] definitely something we should consider

[1:19:49] and

[1:19:50] um

[1:19:52] i understand the seat of government but

[1:19:53] i also understand engaging the community

[1:19:55] because when we want to that's what we

[1:19:56] do so i think that this this allows an

[1:19:59] opportunity for us to do both because we

[1:20:00] will continually without question have

[1:20:02] our meetings here that's that's not even

[1:20:04] an option we will definitely do that but

[1:20:05] this is just like four times a year

[1:20:07] let's you know let's do something and

[1:20:10] let's be out there and i think that

[1:20:12] we do see we do see

[1:20:14] specific people let's just you know if

[1:20:16] it comes to our council meetings it's

[1:20:17] like generally we know who's going to be

[1:20:19] there who's not going to be there and

[1:20:21] this probably will i believe will open

[1:20:23] it that more people will see more people

[1:20:25] than we would normally see to come here

[1:20:27] if we were out in the community so i

[1:20:30] think it it

[1:20:32] would work discussion and maybe even

[1:20:34] trying to implement

[1:20:36] um i understand the security issues i'm

[1:20:38] just not sure how we address them in

[1:20:40] terms of metal detectors i'm not sure

[1:20:42] how that happened

[1:20:44] i don't know that they're portable i

[1:20:46] don't know i don't know

[1:20:47] i guess they use wands

[1:20:50] so um but i'm certainly open to

[1:20:52] continuing this discussion and seeing

[1:20:54] how we could um plan that out

[1:20:57] yeah as to

[1:20:58] for example we've tried some meetings in

[1:21:01] the past in the community and pretty

[1:21:04] poorly attended

[1:21:07] have council meetings been done in the

[1:21:09] past

[1:21:11] outside of city hall um i think that's

[1:21:16] perhaps has happened

[1:21:18] mary would have maybe better regulations

[1:21:22] before i

[1:21:27] there have think times when they've

[1:21:29] gone to other places but it's been more

[1:21:31] of a rarity than they regularly

[1:21:33] scheduled

[1:21:35] and

[1:21:38] generally

[1:21:40] when things are going fairly smooth

[1:21:42] everybody's doing a pretty good job you

[1:21:43] get poor attendance

[1:21:45] when

[1:21:46] uh you get a point of controversy or

[1:21:48] something public debate that attendance

[1:21:51] goes up

[1:21:52] and so it

[1:21:54] tries to keep that in the back of your

[1:21:55] mind of where we hold the meeting we're

[1:21:57] going to have a

[1:22:00] bigger event that there's more things

[1:22:02] going on

[1:22:03] uh you have to be more selective

[1:22:06] the other side could be more informal on

[1:22:08] some of them may allow for just better

[1:22:10] discussion and more interaction with

[1:22:12] people

[1:22:16] sorry i have a couple other questions

[1:22:18] but

[1:22:19] go ahead oh

[1:22:20] um

[1:22:22] in concurring with miss patrick

[1:22:24] um

[1:22:26] i think um

[1:22:30] an earlier

[1:22:32] time especially for seniors

[1:22:34] and we did discuss

[1:22:36] before we we got on the console you know

[1:22:39] of a 5 30 for for everyone something

[1:22:41] where again maybe even six o'clock

[1:22:43] people are on the way home from work

[1:22:44] they stop they don't have to come back

[1:22:46] out

[1:22:46] i think that's a that's a good idea

[1:22:48] um

[1:22:49] and city hall being central

[1:22:52] to schenectady

[1:22:54] um and on bus lines walk within walking

[1:22:57] distance should we

[1:22:59] enter a facility that's

[1:23:02] not on a bus line

[1:23:03] um

[1:23:05] where someone from the north side

[1:23:06] couldn't get over to bellevue

[1:23:08] so at least here we're central i mean

[1:23:10] those that's my only take on on

[1:23:12] everything so i just say we remain where

[1:23:15] we are and we put ourselves out there to

[1:23:18] the constituents every day via our email

[1:23:21] they can email us they can call us they

[1:23:23] can send a letter to sam which is she's

[1:23:25] written and all those things can be

[1:23:27] addressed and i understand that and i'd

[1:23:29] love for our meetings to be i would like

[1:23:31] the whole city to come to be honest with

[1:23:33] you and tell us what they want um but

[1:23:36] anyway that that's my take on it right

[1:23:38] now is that

[1:23:42] back to the security issue that's one of

[1:23:44] the things that people

[1:23:46] for years we're complaining about is a

[1:23:49] lack of security here and now that we

[1:23:51] finally have it

[1:23:54] you know i think that's an important

[1:23:55] component but the other questions i have

[1:23:58] is how many people does negatively

[1:24:00] impact because

[1:24:02] this is a central location so if we move

[1:24:05] a meeting to

[1:24:07] you know i don't know woodlawn

[1:24:09] will people who would traditionally come

[1:24:12] here go to those meetings

[1:24:13] how many would be negatively affected i

[1:24:16] think is something that we really need

[1:24:18] to

[1:24:19] consider

[1:24:20] um

[1:24:22] yeah is there a real want for this um

[1:24:25] you know i've seen this

[1:24:27] building packed with people

[1:24:30] and people will show up when it's

[1:24:32] something that they're

[1:24:36] fired up about i guess for a lack of

[1:24:38] better word

[1:24:39] and

[1:24:40] so i think those are all things that we

[1:24:44] need to

[1:24:45] have in place before we even

[1:24:48] consider something like that

[1:24:52] on top of you know

[1:24:55] are there legal issues

[1:24:57] yeah if a

[1:24:59] employee goes and gets hurt

[1:25:02] off location

[1:25:04] you know what's the ramifications for

[1:25:05] that

[1:25:07] so i think there's a lot of things that

[1:25:09] really need to be buttoned up

[1:25:15] so when we had the opportunity to invite

[1:25:16] the belmont football team to celebrate

[1:25:18] their accomplishments it was so

[1:25:20] inspiring to see that many young people

[1:25:22] in city hall

[1:25:24] growing up in the city i i couldn't tell

[1:25:26] you where city hall was

[1:25:27] and it wasn't until i began um going

[1:25:30] through my professional career that i

[1:25:32] understood that it didn't require me to

[1:25:33] become a homeowner to be vested in my

[1:25:35] city politically that it was important

[1:25:37] to be involved

[1:25:39] from the ground up so i do think that

[1:25:42] having these meetings

[1:25:44] in snappy high school and the boys and

[1:25:46] girls club where there are individuals

[1:25:47] from the community that feel comfortable

[1:25:49] going to those places

[1:25:51] that this is appropriate for us to at

[1:25:53] least make another attempt

[1:25:55] and i don't know

[1:25:57] if

[1:25:58] community organizational leaders were

[1:26:00] collaborated with

[1:26:01] but i ensure you that we are with this

[1:26:04] coming year having these arpa

[1:26:05] conversations

[1:26:07] having these police reform conversations

[1:26:09] that we are working in unison and i

[1:26:11] think it is prudent i'll use that word

[1:26:13] again for us to re-engage this topic

[1:26:17] when we are all vested in understanding

[1:26:18] according to working together this year

[1:26:22] actually i actually like to directly

[1:26:24] respond to that because

[1:26:25] that particular meeting with those those

[1:26:28] young people that were here from the

[1:26:29] beaumont top one or in the cheerleaders

[1:26:32] um was pretty much my favorite meeting

[1:26:34] so far while i was sitting there i

[1:26:36] really thought about the fact that it

[1:26:38] was so great that they had that

[1:26:40] opportunity to come to city hall

[1:26:42] and understand

[1:26:44] that we have this place

[1:26:46] that is part of our civic engagement and

[1:26:49] i remember sitting there thinking this

[1:26:51] is really awesome that all of these kids

[1:26:53] who maybe would never ever have stepped

[1:26:56] foot into this building

[1:26:57] are getting that chance to be here with

[1:27:00] their leaders with their political

[1:27:02] leaders at a low below

[1:27:04] um and be able to embrace and understand

[1:27:06] i mean when they when we all start stood

[1:27:09] together and did the pledge of

[1:27:10] allegiance for example i mean it made me

[1:27:12] start to cry to hear all of those kids

[1:27:16] um in unison in this sort of

[1:27:19] not you know i don't know the right word

[1:27:22] sacred it's not the right word but to be

[1:27:24] in the chamber

[1:27:26] um for me was was really impressive and

[1:27:29] i was thrilled i mean i went home

[1:27:31] actually and said

[1:27:32] it was so great to know that they

[1:27:33] probably never would have had that

[1:27:35] chance

[1:27:36] um on a day-to-day basis to actually be

[1:27:38] at city hall and hopefully that would

[1:27:40] inspire them to think about

[1:27:42] coming more or getting involved maybe

[1:27:45] running for office

[1:27:46] et cetera

[1:27:48] but i also want to

[1:27:49] [Music]

[1:27:51] comment on something that ms porterfield

[1:27:52] said which i think in thinking about the

[1:27:54] site i'm getting ready for tonight the

[1:27:57] idea is also that we do have all the

[1:27:59] neighborhood associations and we do have

[1:28:01] a number of other meetings

[1:28:03] um that many of us attend on a regular

[1:28:05] basis

[1:28:06] um and i i hear

[1:28:08] so i think that was a good point as well

[1:28:10] that we are out there in the community

[1:28:12] trying to listen to our neighbors trying

[1:28:14] to

[1:28:15] get their input

[1:28:16] at a recent

[1:28:18] i think it was upper union street

[1:28:20] neighborhood association meaning they

[1:28:22] actually invited the mayor and mr lafon

[1:28:24] to come in and talk about

[1:28:27] issues that were affecting that

[1:28:29] neighborhood which actually ended up

[1:28:31] being a lot of the central park

[1:28:33] issue as well um but it was great to be

[1:28:36] able to be there and be so you know

[1:28:38] listening to all of their input about

[1:28:40] what they wanted to see happen um in

[1:28:42] their neighborhood so i do think that

[1:28:44] that's another opportunity at least in

[1:28:46] the short term for all of us and i know

[1:28:47] that we all do do that we all go out and

[1:28:50] attend these meetings so

[1:28:52] um that that is also another avenue for

[1:28:55] getting the input and being being around

[1:28:58] our community in our community

[1:29:02] so i just want to add a point of clarity

[1:29:04] in terms of the um

[1:29:08] the kid young people coming down here

[1:29:10] and the reason that they came here is

[1:29:11] because there was a council member who

[1:29:13] was engaged with the community that

[1:29:14] somebody reached out to and said this is

[1:29:16] what's going on so it's not like they

[1:29:18] just decided to come so so so to to to

[1:29:21] mr william's point i i think us being

[1:29:23] out there more

[1:29:25] allows them to see we are out here and

[1:29:26] then there's opportunity to come here so

[1:29:28] i think if there's definitely an

[1:29:29] opportunity for that give and take for

[1:29:31] us to be there where they assemble

[1:29:33] wherever that is and here as well so it

[1:29:36] didn't happen just out of the clear sky

[1:29:38] they thought oh let's all accounts it's

[1:29:40] because

[1:29:40] a council member who's engaged with the

[1:29:43] community

[1:29:44] was contacted by a community member

[1:29:46] because of engagement so that i think

[1:29:47] that's where we're trying to get here is

[1:29:49] that we make sure that the community is

[1:29:51] engaged is with us on a basis where they

[1:29:54] feel that comfort level because i've

[1:29:56] asked the question of the young people

[1:29:57] have you been here some had and some

[1:29:59] hadn't so i think that we're trying to

[1:30:01] get that kidney engagement that we talk

[1:30:03] about so very often and just this is one

[1:30:05] of the other ways we can consider trying

[1:30:07] to get there

[1:30:09] so if i could share her thought around

[1:30:11] all this i think that um

[1:30:14] this is common with situations where a

[1:30:16] few things can be true and i think that

[1:30:17] you know um

[1:30:20] to your point if

[1:30:22] those young people this was their first

[1:30:24] time coming to city hall um i think that

[1:30:27] you know that just highlights uh area

[1:30:30] where you know we have to be not afraid

[1:30:31] of better to how do we create

[1:30:33] opportunities for our younger people to

[1:30:36] walk through city halls um and and they

[1:30:39] don't necessarily have to be able to

[1:30:40] receive a resolution but to just because

[1:30:42] they feel you know because we're

[1:30:43] intentionally being inclusive um and

[1:30:46] making those efforts and i also think

[1:30:48] that you know

[1:30:50] the the heart of our city is in our

[1:30:52] neighborhoods

[1:30:53] so the more that we

[1:30:55] as a government body are present in the

[1:30:58] neighborhoods

[1:30:59] then that doesn't just you know foster

[1:31:02] um um just engagement but what it does

[1:31:05] is it demonstrates and it helps us i

[1:31:07] think it helps us have a better picture

[1:31:09] um

[1:31:10] of what's happening in the neighborhoods

[1:31:12] and that present

[1:31:14] that presence right there works on a

[1:31:15] couple of different levels so i think

[1:31:17] that um

[1:31:18] we're not uh

[1:31:20] if i understand correctly we're not

[1:31:21] saying that we're going to not meet a

[1:31:23] city although we're not going to um uh

[1:31:26] you know it's not an either or type of

[1:31:28] situation it's more of a yes and so

[1:31:30] we're going to continue um to meet here

[1:31:32] but we want to be able to not allow the

[1:31:34] tradition to stifle innovation we need

[1:31:36] to get out there in the community and i

[1:31:37] think that there's a lot to be said to

[1:31:39] for us doing that so

[1:31:43] any other uh discussion on that

[1:31:50] i think we're just continuing into

[1:31:51] visiting this and seeing how we can do

[1:31:53] it considering all the things that have

[1:31:55] been brought forth as concerns and so i

[1:31:58] think we'll just have to continue to

[1:31:59] discuss it i don't know that needs to be

[1:32:01] i mean it's up to mr williams this is

[1:32:03] about two weeks but but i think it it

[1:32:05] warrants more discussion

[1:32:07] i mean i guess uh it should highlight

[1:32:09] what we saw in our belief

[1:32:12] conversations or around our funds and

[1:32:13] he's going to all the neighborhoods that

[1:32:15] was like you know i i i was there for

[1:32:18] most of those conversations and they

[1:32:20] were extremely well attended and i think it you know

[1:32:25] the mayor the staffer did a wonderful

[1:32:26] job um and you know doing some q a um

[1:32:30] got some real authentic conversations

[1:32:32] happening with city residents so i think

[1:32:33] that and i don't know that that same

[1:32:36] level of organic exchange of ideas

[1:32:38] happens in in city hall and it might

[1:32:41] kind of change

[1:32:42] the dynamic a little bit but i think

[1:32:44] that that was some really valuable

[1:32:45] interaction that was happening with uh

[1:32:47] with city residents so i wanted uh to

[1:32:49] amend the mayor of the city team for

[1:32:50] doing that and i think that that kind of

[1:32:52] led to your point calling that this is

[1:32:53] something that we should really be

[1:32:54] considering um so thank you for that

[1:32:58] okay so so next

[1:33:00] um

[1:33:01] i would like to put forth uh

[1:33:03] a ceremony ceremonial resolution to

[1:33:06] acknowledge black history month

[1:33:09] um black history is world history um it

[1:33:13] is american history and it certainly is

[1:33:16] city schenectady history so i know this

[1:33:18] is something that happens every year and

[1:33:20] i just um think that oh

[1:33:23] that's something that we need to

[1:33:24] acknowledge in a very meaningful way not

[1:33:26] just

[1:33:27] though this is a ceremonial resolution

[1:33:29] um not just from a performative space

[1:33:32] but really as we acknowledge um and um

[1:33:34] black history how do we uh make sure

[1:33:37] that our

[1:33:38] the decisions we make today on

[1:33:41] a range of different um items that will

[1:33:43] be before us as a government committee

[1:33:44] that we um uphold the principles for the

[1:33:48] people who have come before us and um

[1:33:50] and made of such great sacrifices uh

[1:33:53] people of color so

[1:33:54] um

[1:34:01] all in

[1:34:03] all favor

[1:34:06] okay so next on the agenda uh

[1:34:09] i'm gonna give this over to uh mr andrew

[1:34:12] here so you can talk a little bit about

[1:34:14] june and the section 138-30 of the code

[1:34:17] the city is connected

[1:34:19] thank you

[1:34:21] i know there isn't anything attached to

[1:34:22] this

[1:34:23] [Music]

[1:34:24] i did have a chance to speak with the

[1:34:26] city clerk earlier today

[1:34:29] i believe and i know some council people

[1:34:32] reached out to me with questions

[1:34:34] concerns that they may have related to

[1:34:36] amending this section of the code

[1:34:39] there was

[1:34:40] one written

[1:34:42] submission

[1:34:44] for the public hearing from

[1:34:46] the concerned citizen

[1:34:48] i'm happy to address any questions or

[1:34:50] concerns that any of the council people

[1:34:52] may have

[1:34:53] otherwise i would

[1:34:55] request that the

[1:34:57] ordinance as

[1:34:59] presented in the public documentation

[1:35:02] move forward

[1:35:06] so i just have a question hopefully it's

[1:35:07] appropriate for this uh

[1:35:09] room right now would you mind clarifying

[1:35:12] the post and pre declaration that was

[1:35:14] highlighted as an issue the the what

[1:35:17] sorry the post and pre-deprivation that

[1:35:19] was highlighted as an issue sure

[1:35:23] from a practical standpoint

[1:35:25] when a code enforcement officer goes out

[1:35:27] to a property to do an inspection

[1:35:29] he or she obviously does

[1:35:33] an inspection

[1:35:34] and may see

[1:35:37] conditions that rise to the level and

[1:35:39] condition when i say conditions and being violations

[1:35:43] which rise to the level of the necessity

[1:35:45] to issue an order to vacate

[1:35:47] at that time the officer doesn't just

[1:35:50] provide you know a notice of the

[1:35:51] violation and a notice that i'm going to

[1:35:54] be issuing in order to vacate which

[1:35:56] could potentially give rise to what we

[1:35:58] would consider a pre-deprivation hearing

[1:36:01] instead the

[1:36:02] officer

[1:36:04] issues in order to vacate because the

[1:36:06] conditions rise to that level of

[1:36:09] putting uh people in peril

[1:36:12] and issues the order to vacate

[1:36:15] what we would be doing is offering a

[1:36:17] post

[1:36:19] a post-deprivation hearing

[1:36:23] in which within the time frame given in

[1:36:26] what was presented uh

[1:36:28] an aggrieved party could be the owner of

[1:36:30] the property could be a tenant

[1:36:32] uh requests uh a review of the order to

[1:36:36] vacate um

[1:36:39] i think we have it now the the way was

[1:36:41] proposed within three days they can

[1:36:43] submit their request

[1:36:45] and then within a certain amount of time

[1:36:46] the city would provide a hearing

[1:36:48] uh to review the order to vacate

[1:36:51] that would be a post-deprivation now it

[1:36:54] should be you know mentioned that

[1:36:56] generally when the city issues in order

[1:36:59] to vacate and we placard a property and

[1:37:01] provide a notice to the owner and any

[1:37:04] tenants we don't physically you know

[1:37:08] unless

[1:37:09] uh in maybe a rare circumstance would we

[1:37:11] physically remove people from

[1:37:14] a property we're providing them with

[1:37:15] notice we're providing them with

[1:37:17] information related to services so that

[1:37:19] they can get the housing that they need

[1:37:21] in the interim

[1:37:23] but a lot of that you know

[1:37:26] falls on the responsibility of the

[1:37:28] property owner to make sure the tenants

[1:37:30] are are leaving

[1:37:32] and the tenants themselves to leave um

[1:37:36] generally

[1:37:37] uh code enforcement

[1:37:39] contacts social services to see what

[1:37:42] type of temporary housing might be

[1:37:44] available but again this is more of a

[1:37:47] post-deprivation opportunity um for

[1:37:50] you know we're going to provide help

[1:37:51] we'll try to assist in providing housing

[1:37:54] but also the hearing that would be in

[1:37:55] place would be post-deprivation not

[1:37:57] pre-deprivation

[1:37:59] you got to address that

[1:38:01] clarification was warranted for anyone

[1:38:03] that might be listening sure definitely

[1:38:08] so um so when someone is uh there's a

[1:38:10] notice to vacate right now and when in

[1:38:12] that three-day period for on them to

[1:38:15] kind of um request the hearing loss

[1:38:19] they are

[1:38:20] once you have noticed a vacate the

[1:38:21] expectation is for you to vacate

[1:38:23] immediately the right or spirit it's meant to be immediately it's meant

[1:38:28] to be immediately because you know when

[1:38:31] an officer sees that where to vacate

[1:38:33] it's because

[1:38:34] there's a condition at the property in

[1:38:36] which there's it's dangerous for

[1:38:38] somebody to remain there

[1:38:40] uh you know and certain conditions you

[1:38:42] know may

[1:38:44] necessitate certain actions by those

[1:38:46] tenants some people take you know

[1:38:48] uh

[1:38:49] may take a chance and continue to stay

[1:38:51] there you know we don't chain up

[1:38:54] the property so somebody may leave and

[1:38:56] then come back

[1:38:58] and also there's an opportunity for

[1:39:00] people to

[1:39:01] go and try to correct correct the

[1:39:03] violations the property owner can go

[1:39:04] back and correct the violations

[1:39:06] we allow for that because we want them

[1:39:08] to abate the violation so they can go

[1:39:11] back in there the idea though is we're

[1:39:13] not keeping tabs after necessarily after

[1:39:15] hours to see if people are going back

[1:39:16] and staying the night

[1:39:18] um

[1:39:19] that's a tall task for us to accomplish

[1:39:23] uh given you know our limited capacity

[1:39:27] so

[1:39:29] any um

[1:39:31] on the uh notice the ak or any of the uh

[1:39:35] paper that's given to a tenant or a

[1:39:37] property owner for numbers to vacate

[1:39:39] does is there any like you know kind of

[1:39:41] like leaving like well the recourse what

[1:39:44] happens if i if i'm a tenant and i don't

[1:39:46] um vacate is there like you know

[1:39:49] in order to vacate is lawful order

[1:39:52] you know so when a code enforcement

[1:39:53] officer or the building inspector issues

[1:39:55] in order to vacate it's a lawful order

[1:39:58] uh the way the code's written and this

[1:39:59] is the property maintenance code

[1:40:01] somebody could potentially be

[1:40:03] um removed from the property now that

[1:40:06] potential exists

[1:40:08] the city

[1:40:10] as far as i know since i've been working

[1:40:12] for the city i don't know if we've

[1:40:14] exercised that in my time where we've

[1:40:16] you know removed somebody but the

[1:40:18] potential exists because if a property

[1:40:20] is unsafe we want to make sure that we

[1:40:21] are protecting people

[1:40:23] [Music]

[1:40:24] which is why you know there's this

[1:40:26] opportunity now we don't it's the

[1:40:28] balancing here right protecting people

[1:40:31] giving them the opportunity making sure

[1:40:33] that they're safe and also

[1:40:34] recognizing that you know people could

[1:40:37] potentially be getting kicked out of

[1:40:39] their home because of this unsafe

[1:40:40] condition so we're trying to balance

[1:40:42] that in a way by giving people this

[1:40:44] opportunity to be heard

[1:40:47] after the orders is issued

[1:40:51] one more question

[1:40:53] so

[1:40:54] and and right now it's written if

[1:40:56] someone's um well you know it could be

[1:40:59] not conditions right now i think uh are

[1:41:01] pretty demanding but it'll say like if

[1:41:03] you're in that and if someone uh is in

[1:41:05] the middle of the summer and someone's a

[1:41:07] power is cut up for a failure to

[1:41:09] pavement power is that right now does it

[1:41:12] do i understand correctly that that

[1:41:13] would be a reason to vacate

[1:41:16] a cold the cold enforcement would say

[1:41:18] right now you don't have power in your

[1:41:19] home and

[1:41:21] this rises a level for you to vacate

[1:41:22] departments i i can't speak for

[1:41:25] the code enforcement department and you

[1:41:27] know

[1:41:28] what would trigger in order to vacate

[1:41:31] um i generally would be of the mind that

[1:41:33] if there's no power to a house that in

[1:41:35] order to vacate should be issued there

[1:41:38] are certain you know minimum

[1:41:39] requirements that are

[1:41:43] a necessity for living in a hop in a

[1:41:45] house right so right now in the middle

[1:41:47] of winter for example if the heat

[1:41:50] doesn't work i would suspect that in

[1:41:52] order to vacate should be issued

[1:41:54] however if that condition existed in the

[1:41:55] summer time

[1:41:57] it might be a different determinations made given

[1:42:00] the circumstance right

[1:42:04] so mr cullen so if um

[1:42:07] for um

[1:42:09] legality if we issue that

[1:42:12] and

[1:42:13] does it take away

[1:42:15] um like code knowing about something so

[1:42:17] we're not held liable should the

[1:42:20] building fall down on top of people so

[1:42:22] the idea behind the

[1:42:24] issue in order to vacate obviously um

[1:42:27] there's a protection to the city you

[1:42:28] know when we issued a vacation right

[1:42:31] the idea is we placard the property we

[1:42:33] re we recognize that it's unsafe

[1:42:36] um

[1:42:37] somebody decides that you know after the

[1:42:39] order is issued i'm going to stay here

[1:42:42] i would submit to you that they are

[1:42:44] assuming the risk in staying in the

[1:42:46] building after we placard the building

[1:42:49] and deem it unsafe

[1:42:52] the idea with the hearing is to

[1:42:54] obviously uh give people those folks who

[1:42:57] are aggrieved an opportunity to be heard

[1:42:59] on whether or not the ordered vacant was

[1:43:01] properly issued if it should have been

[1:43:04] um you know

[1:43:06] maybe

[1:43:07] it should have affected maybe the entire

[1:43:09] building but only one of the units for

[1:43:11] example it gives them the opportunity to

[1:43:13] be heard

[1:43:15] as i said i think our code enforcement

[1:43:16] department errs on the side of caution

[1:43:19] to protect the public

[1:43:21] and given the circumstances you know at

[1:43:24] three o'clock in the morning for example

[1:43:26] uh to or to issue in order to vacate for

[1:43:28] an entire two-family structure

[1:43:31] but then give those folks who are

[1:43:33] aggrieved an opportunity to be heard

[1:43:35] maybe a couple days later to say you

[1:43:37] know i live on the second floor this

[1:43:39] shouldn't have impacted me you know it

[1:43:41] gives us enough it gives them an

[1:43:42] opportunity to be heard and if they feel

[1:43:44] um you know even after that hearing

[1:43:47] that

[1:43:48] the order to vacate

[1:43:50] let's say the order of vacate is

[1:43:52] uh by heard by hearing officer who says

[1:43:55] no it was properly issued

[1:43:57] there's a next step and that they can

[1:43:59] seek you know uh

[1:44:01] they can seek redress in supreme court

[1:44:03] which would be filing an article 78 it's

[1:44:04] an administrative process so you know i

[1:44:07] don't want you to think that you know

[1:44:10] after that initial hearing giving them

[1:44:11] this hearing that that is all that they

[1:44:14] have they have an opportunity to be

[1:44:15] heard beyond that

[1:44:17] so

[1:44:17] you know we're trying to provide again

[1:44:19] the opportunity for people to

[1:44:21] uh you know

[1:44:23] i guess seek redress seek review of

[1:44:26] an administrative decision that happens

[1:44:28] you know

[1:44:30] in a moment you know so to speak right

[1:44:33] where something gets called out in the

[1:44:34] middle of the night because there's no

[1:44:36] heat for example uh officer goes out

[1:44:38] issues in order to vacate there's no

[1:44:40] heat um

[1:44:42] and then redress can be sought you know

[1:44:44] by

[1:44:45] a tenant or an owner saying no no no

[1:44:48] it shouldn't have been issued because

[1:44:51] you know whatever the example is or it

[1:44:52] should have been issued on the entire

[1:44:53] property so this is just creating a

[1:44:56] roadmap for people to have their voices

[1:44:58] heard

[1:44:59] give them an opportunity to seek redress

[1:45:03] and

[1:45:03] really i think foster better

[1:45:05] communication between the city and why

[1:45:07] we do what we do

[1:45:09] and and those people who are impacted by

[1:45:12] the decisions that we make out in the

[1:45:13] field

[1:45:40] second

[1:45:50] development and planning we have 13

[1:45:53] items on the agenda

[1:45:55] um the first uh this diana's dumpling

[1:45:58] first four actually the first one is

[1:45:59] lead agency for a seeker and 30 day

[1:46:02] comment period regarding the rezoning of

[1:46:04] bear street and south

[1:46:08] [Music]

[1:46:11] is avenue the rezone of approximately

[1:46:13] 3.9 acres of land um from our 2-2 family

[1:46:17] to this c4 downtown learning district

[1:46:20] obviously is passing out a map that

[1:46:22] shows this area which

[1:46:24] the r2 um the currently zoned r2 area is

[1:46:27] directly adjacent to the c4 downtown

[1:46:31] zoning

[1:46:32] um

[1:46:33] we are we're making this request because

[1:46:36] there are constraints as to how these

[1:46:38] properties can be used

[1:46:40] and just given its proximity to downtown

[1:46:43] there's a lot of non-conforming uses

[1:46:45] within many of the parcels within

[1:46:48] the zone

[1:46:49] so when we're trying to look at a

[1:46:51] comprehensive development strategy for

[1:46:53] this this area and some of the projects

[1:46:56] that are

[1:46:56] um you know happening and some of the

[1:46:58] things that are currently within

[1:47:00] um as non-conforming uses

[1:47:03] that is what is sort of behind this

[1:47:04] request

[1:47:06] it's also kind of mid-block where the r2

[1:47:08] kind of comes in

[1:47:10] um

[1:47:10] so the block is kind of split between

[1:47:12] the c4 and the r2 so we're just

[1:47:14] requesting to basically extend that c4

[1:47:18] um

[1:47:20] as it's outlined and i don't know if you

[1:47:21] want to explain a little bit more this

[1:47:23] is obvious

[1:47:26] um so the first page on the maps that's

[1:47:28] just an avalanche

[1:47:29] where the zoning is what you see in the

[1:47:31] yellow hash marks there is what we're

[1:47:33] proposing to rezone the c4 that's

[1:47:35] currently the r2

[1:47:38] you can see the south of that kind of

[1:47:39] where the alley is

[1:47:42] that's about the block where the zone a

[1:47:44] changes from the c4 to the r2

[1:47:47] the second

[1:47:49] page in that packet

[1:47:51] is um it shows that conformance with the

[1:47:53] lab races that this one is talking about

[1:47:55] um

[1:47:56] you can see

[1:47:58] the ones in blue do conform with what's

[1:48:00] currently permitted the ones do not

[1:48:09] and then on the third page this is the

[1:48:12] performance with development standards

[1:48:14] so that means things like the

[1:48:16] setbacks the required front-end

[1:48:19] properties how large the properties have

[1:48:20] to be in general to be

[1:48:22] uh to be buildable so most of these

[1:48:25] structures are

[1:48:26] pre-dated the existing

[1:48:29] block development standards so if you're

[1:48:31] trying to build something now you

[1:48:32] wouldn't be able to in most cases

[1:48:35] by changing it to

[1:48:37] the c4

[1:48:39] it would allow for

[1:48:41] a greater use of the properties and just

[1:48:43] really just maybe easier for uh

[1:48:46] comprehensive developments it aligns

[1:48:48] with the

[1:48:49] zoning distance out of it

[1:48:52] so

[1:48:53] anytime there's a reason it's kind of a

[1:48:56] process you know the city council kind

[1:48:58] of

[1:48:59] can declare the intent to act as lead

[1:49:02] agency there's public hearings and then

[1:49:04] you refer

[1:49:05] to the planning commission to make their

[1:49:07] recommendation so it's kind of a little

[1:49:09] bit of a process this is the first step

[1:49:11] in the process

[1:49:13] but before we ask for that is there any

[1:49:16] questions

[1:49:18] i think sam were these made available on

[1:49:21] the site okay so i'm not sure you can

[1:49:24] pass these down at this late point

[1:49:38] is

[1:49:44] [Music]

[1:49:52] oh in relation to that first map that's

[1:49:55] in our packet where it says that um aik

[1:49:58] proposal so where is that on uh so

[1:50:00] that's a proposed

[1:50:03] um project so where is that on again

[1:50:06] what the highway is okay

[1:50:08] yeah thank you

[1:50:12] all right

[1:50:16] [Music]

[1:50:22] so right now you're requesting for us to

[1:50:24] become the uh you know you have to

[1:50:25] concerns regarding that

[1:50:29] technically i don't know if this was

[1:50:31] made available 24 hours

[1:50:36] the first map wasn't this

[1:50:39] the second two pages is the question

[1:50:42] yeah

[1:50:43] and that was just additional information

[1:50:44] that

[1:50:45] we thought might be helpful but if what

[1:50:47] you know

[1:50:48] the first map is really what the request

[1:50:50] is

[1:50:51] correct so the second map is more of

[1:50:54] just supporting information that shows

[1:50:56] conformal uses

[1:50:59] so we're so this is what we're

[1:51:01] acting on

[1:51:02] okay

[1:51:03] all right

[1:51:05] so are there any further questions or

[1:51:07] comments or concerns

[1:51:10] i'll hold this second

[1:51:12] all those in favor

[1:51:15] say yeah on the second i'm going to get

[1:51:17] the apollo public hearing yep so in

[1:51:19] relation to the same thing this is for

[1:51:21] the city council to call for a public

[1:51:23] hearing for the results

[1:51:24] rezoning of approximately 3.91

[1:51:29] any questions or concerns

[1:51:37] okay third item agenda is ferris street

[1:51:39] and south street avenue rezoning

[1:51:41] planning commission referral correct

[1:51:44] a resolution referring the zoning

[1:51:45] amendment proposal to the city's

[1:51:47] planning commission for a recommendation

[1:51:49] so once we get through our process

[1:51:50] you're just asking now that

[1:51:52] you'll be ready to move it on to the

[1:51:53] planning commission

[1:51:55] correct okay

[1:51:57] any questions yesterday

[1:51:59] thank you for coming quickly

[1:52:02] [Music]

[1:52:06] is this solely being done

[1:52:08] for

[1:52:10] the development projects there kitty

[1:52:12] corner

[1:52:13] on south and barrett

[1:52:16] that's definitely part of our

[1:52:19] that's part of our part of the

[1:52:20] discussion on this

[1:52:22] um

[1:52:23] but it's it's beyond that it's it's

[1:52:25] looking at what makes sense for this

[1:52:27] area that's so close to downtown with

[1:52:30] the changes that are happening there and

[1:52:31] how

[1:52:32] you know we can just have a more appropriate zone

[1:52:38] for it

[1:52:39] i guess my follow-up question is

[1:52:42] why not

[1:52:45] like this has been

[1:52:47] forever yeah so why not

[1:52:50] this has been something that we've

[1:52:51] discussed um

[1:52:53] previously you know in relation to

[1:52:56] just some of the there's there's

[1:52:57] barriers to kind of like infilling some

[1:53:00] of this area and as you know with the

[1:53:02] limits and equity projects and a lot of

[1:53:03] the voids in the neighborhood we want to

[1:53:06] make sure that we're able to do the

[1:53:07] in-field development there that we don't

[1:53:10] continue to have noise um where they're

[1:53:13] you know

[1:53:14] there could be potential um

[1:53:16] you know benefits to the neighborhood so

[1:53:19] nice

[1:53:22] oh mr voodoo

[1:53:23] um i have a question related to item

[1:53:25] number two that we just passed there is

[1:53:27] no date for the public hearing

[1:53:31] in this resolution no yeah well but

[1:53:35] are we are we setting in standard yeah

[1:53:45] are there other questions regarding

[1:53:47] rezoning

[1:53:48] and referring to the planning commission

[1:53:53] [Music]

[1:53:58] okay uh fourth item on the agenda to

[1:54:00] accept thirteen thousand grant award and

[1:54:02] uh to create historical

[1:54:05] oh okay

[1:54:06] thank you mr epstein that's okay

[1:54:23] um so this is this was a 13 000 grant

[1:54:26] award um to create historic design

[1:54:28] guidelines through the office of parks

[1:54:30] recreation and historic preservation um

[1:54:33] so these guidelines will be used to

[1:54:34] provide information and guidance for

[1:54:36] residents who live in historic districts

[1:54:38] on the different criteria that's

[1:54:40] evaluated when they you know make a

[1:54:43] change or

[1:54:45] make repairs to their properties so it

[1:54:48] kind of would just give more guidance

[1:54:50] for the historic district commission to

[1:54:52] i think kind of be less subjective and

[1:54:54] have criteria and guidelines around the

[1:54:56] way of intermission decisions and also

[1:54:58] making that information available

[1:55:00] to the property owners and residents who

[1:55:02] live

[1:55:03] within historic districts

[1:55:05] so

[1:55:06] the recommendation here is a resolution

[1:55:08] from the city council authorizing

[1:55:10] basically just the acceptance of these

[1:55:11] grant funds

[1:55:12] not to exceed thirteen thousand dollars

[1:55:15] and authorize the mayor his doesn't need

[1:55:17] to enter the agreement to effectuate

[1:55:20] this resolution

[1:55:22] and just further clarify the only food

[1:55:24] private is the like the sixteen hundred

[1:55:26] seventy hundred dollars in form of staff

[1:55:28] so there's no there's no past math

[1:55:30] correct match

[1:55:35] so

[1:55:37] if we move forward with this

[1:55:39] we then would probably though have an

[1:55:42] opportunity it would come back to

[1:55:43] council to approve whatever the design

[1:55:47] guidelines are that are developed the

[1:55:49] design guidelines would then become part

[1:55:51] of its own poem

[1:55:52] and

[1:55:53] i believe we

[1:55:55] have to come back to get those adopted

[1:55:57] so this would just be to kind of start

[1:55:58] that process and then they would have to

[1:56:00] be added to the zoning code

[1:56:06] that's the farthest

[1:56:07] yeah i was just microphones aren't

[1:56:09] because there are existing guidelines

[1:56:10] right now right so and how would that be

[1:56:15] yeah there there are and obviously a

[1:56:17] little bit more about this it's just

[1:56:19] very broad so a lot of the language

[1:56:21] that's currently used is really just

[1:56:24] like from this

[1:56:26] it's not specific to schenectady until

[1:56:29] it's the things that we have here what

[1:56:31] we have in the code right now is fairly

[1:56:33] general uh really specifies of what's

[1:56:36] you know certain terms but it doesn't

[1:56:38] define everything it doesn't um provide

[1:56:41] as much context i'm sure like what

[1:56:43] characterizes certain

[1:56:45] uh historic areas within the city the

[1:56:47] design guidelines um

[1:56:50] so we have design guidelines for like

[1:56:51] upper union

[1:56:53] corridor so

[1:56:55] they are referenced in the zoning code

[1:56:57] so that they apply

[1:56:59] um but the

[1:57:01] body of that language isn't actually in

[1:57:02] the code so we just have a section that

[1:57:04] says

[1:57:05] you know these

[1:57:06] guidelines

[1:57:07] are applicable

[1:57:08] so something similar would have to

[1:57:09] happen after we were created the design

[1:57:11] guidelines where

[1:57:13] there's a sentence that refers

[1:57:15] in the zoning code to the design

[1:57:17] guidelines themselves

[1:57:21] other questions

[1:57:24] okay

[1:57:25] and 10 motions accept the ground

[1:57:27] so we'll second all is in favor hi

[1:57:30] thank you thank you

[1:57:32] yeah so i'll tell you that

[1:57:34] okay

[1:57:36] all right the next item on the agenda is

[1:57:38] the discussion of the review committee

[1:57:39] for the arba applications

[1:57:42] so just uh i'm sure you all know that we

[1:57:45] you know got it uh we're getting 53

[1:57:47] million half of the money

[1:57:49] we have already received

[1:57:51] um and part of our when we weren't doing

[1:57:54] our tour we um well i'll say i but you

[1:57:56] know

[1:57:57] continually advocated to try to have

[1:58:00] people included from the community in

[1:58:02] terms of our review process

[1:58:04] so um that's so this is what this is

[1:58:07] about putting that um committee together

[1:58:09] and what that looks like and um and how

[1:58:11] we do that so i'll ask mr just to tell

[1:58:14] um from the development um department

[1:58:17] where they are with the applications

[1:58:19] right now the number

[1:58:21] the the amount being requested the

[1:58:23] amount we basically have to expend in

[1:58:26] this particular round

[1:58:28] sure so we've been kind of going through

[1:58:30] an american probably explains you know

[1:58:34] more along the lines of like the amount

[1:58:35] of funding and stuff but right now we've

[1:58:37] received i think it was just over 70

[1:58:39] applications and we've kind of just been

[1:58:41] categorizing them into different um

[1:58:44] basically just different categories so

[1:58:46] we have like the arts youth workforce

[1:58:48] and economic development

[1:58:50] facilities and infrastructure

[1:58:52] food and health and then housing

[1:58:54] um so we've just been kind of working on

[1:58:57] getting those into categories to be able

[1:59:00] to evaluate internally um so we did come

[1:59:03] up with an internal kind of like just

[1:59:05] criteria to start to look at the

[1:59:07] applications and do that internal

[1:59:08] evaluation that we can then use to make

[1:59:11] recommendations

[1:59:12] um around you know projects that we

[1:59:15] think are are suitable for the funding

[1:59:18] um

[1:59:19] in terms of

[1:59:20] the amount available i would defer to

[1:59:23] them

[1:59:41] allocated with the city council and what

[1:59:44] we have spent

[1:59:45] uh i did this really quick so that's why

[1:59:47] there's not too many

[1:59:49] titles on here

[1:59:50] okay

[1:59:52] passed out

[1:59:53] the first cop the first columnist you

[1:59:55] can look at that's that's the amount of

[1:59:57] the budgeted amount that was uh

[1:59:59] allocated it's 8.9 million the lost

[2:00:01] revenue

[2:00:03] uh the 2021 uh uh job allocation budget

[2:00:08] boys and girls club on and on that's a

[2:00:10] and uh the bottom line 4.6 million

[2:00:13] that's for the 2022 budget that was

[2:00:15] allocated

[2:00:16] so that total right there is 15 million

[2:00:18] 255. the second column 784 000 is what

[2:00:23] we actually have spent so far from uh up

[2:00:26] to today

[2:00:28] uh i put a balance in there but that

[2:00:29] balance is really you know

[2:00:31] back there because like i said

[2:00:33] like just today we just passed that at

[2:00:35] one point you know he's not a budget for

[2:00:36] the loss of revenue

[2:00:38] and uh the what do you call the covid

[2:00:41] job for 2022 we you know we haven't even

[2:00:44] started yet so that balance uh the one

[2:00:47] really to look at is the

[2:00:48] 2021 budget cal allocation for job

[2:00:51] retention because we actually went

[2:00:53] through we so far we've uh designated

[2:00:56] 1.4 million

[2:00:58] we definitely know we spent 523 000 but

[2:01:01] as we go through the period for audits

[2:01:03] and stuff like that when we redo it so

[2:01:05] this is a kind of like spurt of moment

[2:01:07] thing so that 900 000 is

[2:01:11] we figured is about available to move on

[2:01:13] to next year

[2:01:15] for the next process uh so so far we did

[2:01:18] receive 26 million dollars 485 at 899

[2:01:21] and we're we're due to receive another

[2:01:23] 26 million in um

[2:01:27] in may of 2022

[2:01:29] uh so we figured totally uh between

[2:01:32] those those two amounts we should have

[2:01:33] about

[2:01:34] 38 million 646

[2:01:37] to uh to allocate

[2:01:41] so this year

[2:01:43] yeah after we received the money in may

[2:01:45] of 2022. for this year you know with the

[2:01:47] 26 million we got right now uh we're

[2:01:49] looking at uh

[2:01:51] 11 million two hundred thirty thousand

[2:01:53] one hundred fourteen plus the other nine

[2:01:55] hundred eight thousand where i think

[2:01:57] we're going to have available after we

[2:01:59] do that gives us a total for that first

[2:02:01] thing of twelve million one hundred

[2:02:03] thirty eight thousand

[2:02:04] one hundred and fourteen dollars

[2:02:07] okay

[2:02:09] so that's um you know what we're talking

[2:02:11] about in terms of these um applications

[2:02:13] but the application amounts are well

[2:02:16] over

[2:02:20] [Music]

[2:02:21] right so right now there's 80 million

[2:02:23] and asked so just wanted to uh you know

[2:02:25] give you that

[2:02:27] background and also every all council

[2:02:29] members received an email on january 6th

[2:02:32] which gave us

[2:02:34] links to go to what the final

[2:02:37] recommendations are or final ways that

[2:02:38] we could use the money so there was you

[2:02:40] know everybody had had access to that

[2:02:41] and i believe we all actually

[2:02:43] also got the um the email with listing

[2:02:47] from mr sutherland listing um the

[2:02:49] projects did everyone get them right so

[2:02:51] listing the projects and what they were

[2:02:53] so this is where we are now and so um

[2:02:56] getting back to and obviously once we

[2:02:58] get there we'll that'll all be go

[2:02:59] through finance in terms of us

[2:03:01] doing the funding but working with the

[2:03:03] department of development

[2:03:05] um so

[2:03:06] having said that we will try to get

[2:03:08] community engagement on this um mr moody

[2:03:11] aaron do you want to talk about the

[2:03:12] steps that you've taken so far well yeah

[2:03:14] thank you madam president yeah i had the

[2:03:16] opportunity to reach out to this

[2:03:19] united neighborhood uh president

[2:03:21] tom kerry

[2:03:22] and he was

[2:03:24] willing to help us to get all the

[2:03:26] neighborhood leaders a representative

[2:03:28] from each of the neighborhood

[2:03:30] we're actually compiling that list now

[2:03:32] we should have it in a day or two

[2:03:34] and able to present it to the entire

[2:03:35] council in a couple days all the names

[2:03:38] from each neighborhood that will be part

[2:03:40] of this advisory group

[2:03:43] that will help us to review this

[2:03:44] application

[2:03:46] i encourage on the council if you have

[2:03:48] any names please please submit it so uh

[2:03:51] not a president

[2:03:53] yes because at those meetings there were

[2:03:55] some people right in the room that said

[2:03:56] i'd like to be a part of it that aren't

[2:03:58] necessarily um connected to neighborhood

[2:04:00] associations so what mr um

[2:04:03] mr kerry has submitted to us and let me

[2:04:04] just say he couldn't come tonight he was

[2:04:06] wanting to be on his own to have this

[2:04:08] discussion however he was um

[2:04:11] he was uh

[2:04:13] some he came in contact with someone who

[2:04:15] was uh positive with toby so he's in

[2:04:18] good quarantine and chose not to come

[2:04:20] here which i'm very happy about

[2:04:22] even though he tested uh he did he did

[2:04:24] test but he wasn't positive but uh you

[2:04:26] know airing on the side of caution he's

[2:04:28] quarantined so that's why he is not here

[2:04:30] tonight um so i'm not sure if you're

[2:04:33] here okay so um

[2:04:36] so that's so but he did he did reach out

[2:04:38] he did submit some names there are other

[2:04:39] people who also would like to um

[2:04:42] you know be a part of it um some of the

[2:04:44] questions that he said there's a number

[2:04:46] of questions that came through what

[2:04:47] their uh what their role would be and

[2:04:49] there's just a number of questions so

[2:04:50] there's a lot of things the council have

[2:04:52] to work out along with the mayor and uh

[2:04:54] developments who worked with the

[2:04:55] parameters of review would be

[2:04:58] um

[2:04:59] so i think that's where we you know

[2:05:00] that's where we are now just developing

[2:05:01] this committee and um and how the

[2:05:03] application process in terms of review

[2:05:06] would work how many people would be on

[2:05:07] the committee

[2:05:09] and with their roles and

[2:05:10] responsibilities i had some brief

[2:05:11] conversations with the mayor so you know

[2:05:13] we would work with the department of

[2:05:14] development how we make sure that we not only have people that are

[2:05:19] interested but also people that have

[2:05:21] that skill set and i i mean you don't

[2:05:23] have to be um have a degree in reviewing grants or have

[2:05:27] done it you know forever or something

[2:05:29] like that but you know having input from

[2:05:31] the community i think is vital and

[2:05:32] important which is why we're going down

[2:05:33] this road

[2:05:34] so right now we're just trying to

[2:05:35] develop that committee to um to move

[2:05:37] forward and and us to

[2:05:39] you know i'm not sure what our timeline

[2:05:40] is going to be in case that's the

[2:05:41] question but uh as quickly as possible

[2:05:44] to organize the committee

[2:05:46] to talk with the council and together um

[2:05:49] us you know be able to review the

[2:05:51] applications and allocate the remaining

[2:05:53] funds

[2:05:56] are there questions concerns mr calamity

[2:05:59] yeah a couple things first i find it

[2:06:01] very troubling that

[2:06:04] the

[2:06:04] organization

[2:06:07] was approached before the council even

[2:06:09] discussed whether or not we would put

[2:06:12] together a committee to look at the

[2:06:14] applications that to me is very

[2:06:17] troubling

[2:06:18] that

[2:06:19] the council as a whole did not discuss

[2:06:22] and approve that

[2:06:24] so that's the first thing

[2:06:26] secondly

[2:06:27] it's my understanding a committee list

[2:06:29] has already been submitted and is going

[2:06:32] around

[2:06:33] there's some names that have been

[2:06:34] suggested that's not that does not make

[2:06:36] up the committee that's what we're here

[2:06:37] discussing those are names that were

[2:06:39] submitted and at the last committee

[2:06:41] meeting we did talk about it and so no

[2:06:43] that we did not take a vote but

[2:06:44] certainly there was discussion that

[2:06:45] there will be a committee put together

[2:06:47] it was discussion but the idea was for

[2:06:50] all of us to come together

[2:06:52] and decide whether or not

[2:06:54] and i don't really have any particular

[2:06:56] problem with having committees

[2:06:59] but it was decided based on one or two

[2:07:02] people to do this

[2:07:05] and that

[2:07:06] in my opinion is incorrect it's just not

[2:07:08] right

[2:07:10] and so moving forward hopefully those

[2:07:12] discussions do happen in public

[2:07:15] so that the entire council can

[2:07:17] make that decision together so that we

[2:07:20] can have a stronger

[2:07:22] process going forward and i will say i

[2:07:25] have received the email

[2:07:26] that the committee has been deciding

[2:07:29] maybe not fully but there's certainly

[2:07:32] neighborhood representations that have

[2:07:34] been suggested that this they call the

[2:07:36] committee well they they can put

[2:07:38] whatever name on it but that decision as

[2:07:40] i'm saying here today is the decision

[2:07:42] that we make

[2:07:43] because there are some people who have

[2:07:45] asked to be on there who are not on the

[2:07:47] list of people that have been suggested

[2:07:49] so that is not a done deal it is

[2:07:51] absolutely not the first step is to even

[2:07:53] decide whether or not we're going to

[2:07:54] have a committee before we even decide

[2:07:56] who's on the committee and that had

[2:07:58] never been done so if you feel like that

[2:08:00] i feel like that we were through that

[2:08:02] process but if you feel like we haven't

[2:08:03] there's a certain discussion we can have

[2:08:05] it's uh something that was advocated for

[2:08:07] so

[2:08:08] um and i think we should move forward

[2:08:09] but if you feel like we need to make

[2:08:11] that official um motion in order to do

[2:08:13] that

[2:08:14] then certainly let's do it yeah i do

[2:08:17] because it wasn't this we talked talked

[2:08:20] about possible things that we might do

[2:08:22] that was one option it was never decided

[2:08:25] except for in the minds of maybe two

[2:08:27] individuals and that that is not

[2:08:29] appropriate in my mind well i think

[2:08:31] there's a mind more than two however so

[2:08:33] if you want to at this point discuss

[2:08:36] whether or not we need to have a

[2:08:37] committee we can have that discussion

[2:08:38] now and we can

[2:08:39] um

[2:08:40] yes detour

[2:08:44] field so anyway if it was discussed in

[2:08:47] the mind the more than two

[2:08:50] council

[2:08:52] um persons

[2:08:53] who were the more than two um because i know i wasn't approached at all

[2:08:58] regarding if um and

[2:09:01] regarding well i thought

[2:09:08] i know the mayor um said something like

[2:09:10] well that's up to the to the council

[2:09:13] that was all that was said and then the

[2:09:15] last meeting i said we'll go ahead we'll

[2:09:17] go forward and start looking forward and

[2:09:18] i didn't i didn't hear that i'm sorry

[2:09:20] but i was never approached um so who was

[2:09:23] because here's the opportunity at this

[2:09:25] point what i said is

[2:09:26] people there as some some other people

[2:09:29] have come to me and what i'm saying that

[2:09:31] this is not a done deal and that there's

[2:09:33] names mr mcvaren said if there's names

[2:09:34] that you would like to submit let's do

[2:09:36] that

[2:09:38] yes

[2:09:39] will you actually have your hand over

[2:09:41] there

[2:09:42] well i do want to say um

[2:09:44] seeing a list of names that have already

[2:09:46] been submitted

[2:09:47] via email as a committee and i hear what

[2:09:49] you're saying

[2:09:50] um

[2:09:51] i want to make sure i think that we're

[2:09:53] way a few steps back before we do

[2:09:56] actually have a committee because i

[2:09:58] think there really has to be guidelines

[2:10:00] i'm not i think i expressed after our

[2:10:02] meeting

[2:10:03] last last time after a committee meeting

[2:10:05] first of all that i thought that it

[2:10:07] wasn't really appropriate for city

[2:10:08] development and planning that it was

[2:10:09] more appropriate that this agenda item

[2:10:12] go through finance i know that mr

[2:10:14] muniveron agreed with me on that but

[2:10:16] that was after our committee meeting

[2:10:17] last time just because it is the

[2:10:19] appropriation of money

[2:10:21] i felt that it was more appropriate to

[2:10:23] go through finance but i also feel

[2:10:25] that given the fact that

[2:10:28] among all the projects on that list are

[2:10:31] many city projects that

[2:10:34] you know i know i'm going to advocate

[2:10:35] strongly for

[2:10:37] some of the city projects actually

[2:10:39] happening

[2:10:40] right now we're at about

[2:10:42] i forget what he just said um a little

[2:10:44] bit over 12 million dollars that google

[2:10:46] have left um in the first round i think

[2:10:49] there's close to 80 million dollars on

[2:10:50] that list

[2:10:52] um i think we have to really take a step

[2:10:54] back and make some decisions about

[2:10:58] if there is a committee which projects

[2:11:00] are committing to look at

[2:11:03] if there is a committee

[2:11:05] i want to really make sure that there's

[2:11:06] nobody on that committee who has you

[2:11:08] know already submitted letters of

[2:11:10] support for certain projects

[2:11:12] um

[2:11:13] might be involved with certain projects

[2:11:15] i mean i think that it's

[2:11:17] right what's the word right

[2:11:19] with the potential for conflict of

[2:11:20] interest among that so i think we have

[2:11:23] to really be careful about that as well

[2:11:25] and then i think that there's projects

[2:11:26] on the list

[2:11:28] that don't fall into the guidelines of

[2:11:30] the funding

[2:11:31] and which also might overlap with

[2:11:33] potential for cbpg funding

[2:11:36] so i want us to really have a

[2:11:37] conversation around that as well so that

[2:11:40] we're not putting out to

[2:11:42] a committee

[2:11:43] um all these projects when in fact some

[2:11:46] of them wouldn't even be projects that

[2:11:48] we would consider funding so through our

[2:11:50] yes so that is not that's not the plan

[2:11:52] just saying these are all the things

[2:11:53] i've been thinking about with and which

[2:11:55] makes sense absolutely all it makes

[2:11:56] sense which is not the plan we

[2:11:57] understand that in-house we will have to

[2:11:59] make those decisions and once we decide

[2:12:01] which applications will be considered

[2:12:03] the committee then reviews the

[2:12:04] application so we would do that work and

[2:12:07] as you said you've looked at the

[2:12:08] applications and some of them clearly

[2:12:10] it's not going to be 70 70 will not be

[2:12:12] the number because some of them clearly

[2:12:14] even just looking at it

[2:12:15] um quickly you'll realize like well no

[2:12:17] we can't fund that so that kind of work

[2:12:21] would be done as it is done in-house but

[2:12:23] the committee would then look at

[2:12:25] applications that met the criteria based

[2:12:27] on we know what the criteria is we all

[2:12:29] have the documents the the developer

[2:12:31] department of development has the

[2:12:32] documents and then they would be

[2:12:34] reviewed so this discussion today is

[2:12:36] just talking about how we put together

[2:12:38] the committee together to do that part

[2:12:40] of it the committee does not make the

[2:12:41] guidelines and stuff all that belongs to

[2:12:43] the city the committee does not do that

[2:12:45] so i just want to be clear on that

[2:12:50] mr farley yeah well you kind of

[2:12:51] clarified the point i was going to make

[2:12:53] what the city owns

[2:12:55] that i'm so i might um i i don't know

[2:12:58] that this is the um

[2:13:00] appropriate time to kind of raise this

[2:13:02] uh

[2:13:03] concern kind of request for some

[2:13:05] thoughts around um the extending the

[2:13:07] length of the application process

[2:13:09] um i just think it's important that um

[2:13:11] we recognize that this

[2:13:13] was a really tight window um

[2:13:16] during the pandemic and during the

[2:13:19] holidays

[2:13:20] for a lot of people

[2:13:22] and um so i you know think that as we

[2:13:25] figure out

[2:13:26] you know is there going to be a

[2:13:28] committee or not that's something that

[2:13:30] you know we should probably factor in i

[2:13:32] also uh uh think that the the final um

[2:13:38] guidance was

[2:13:39] released on the 26th i think

[2:13:43] [Music]

[2:13:44] the email came on january 6th january

[2:13:46] but and that was after the application on the

[2:13:51] initial application closed so i think

[2:13:54] that you know

[2:13:55] thinking about

[2:13:57] the public and as they get information

[2:13:59] and kind of determine whether or not

[2:14:01] projects

[2:14:02] that they have in mind

[2:14:04] um fall under the uh

[2:14:07] what was permissible for these funds

[2:14:09] then i think that we really need to um

[2:14:11] be really really intentional about

[2:14:13] considering extending the application

[2:14:16] process as well

[2:14:18] so

[2:14:20] this way

[2:14:21] so i can speak into address just the

[2:14:23] previous issues that were spoken to i

[2:14:25] think well i've been recalling i think

[2:14:27] i'd like to miss two or three of the

[2:14:29] neighborhood meetings and conversations

[2:14:30] regarding this topic um looking at the

[2:14:32] final rules that were put in place with

[2:14:35] this money one of which is fighting the

[2:14:36] pandemic and supporting families and

[2:14:38] businesses struggling with its public

[2:14:40] health and economic

[2:14:42] impacts

[2:14:43] similarly one of the issues that was

[2:14:45] continuously brought up at every meeting

[2:14:47] was the involvement of the community and

[2:14:48] having oversight from individuals

[2:14:50] outside of our chambers

[2:14:52] that was the expectation that i

[2:14:54] continuously heard

[2:14:55] so a theme without a further review i

[2:14:57] would expect us to adhere to the

[2:14:59] public's cry to have a voice on this

[2:15:01] council or have a voice in these

[2:15:03] conversations

[2:15:05] addressing the second concerns where if

[2:15:07] issues were

[2:15:09] noticed

[2:15:10] with the creation prematurely i was

[2:15:12] having these conversations on the city

[2:15:14] council

[2:15:15] i would only ask that

[2:15:17] when those were recognized that i don't

[2:15:19] know if opportunities were made to reach

[2:15:20] out to council president portfield to

[2:15:23] provide some clarity before this

[2:15:24] evening's meeting

[2:15:26] but definitely i don't find any issues

[2:15:28] or

[2:15:29] ill will with them seeking

[2:15:31] recommendations i understand that there

[2:15:33] may be displeasure with individuals

[2:15:35] choosing a different language that is

[2:15:37] not in line with their

[2:15:40] intent which was just getting

[2:15:42] recommendations to bring forth to the

[2:15:43] council unfortunately i imagine they

[2:15:45] can't speak for what someone else said

[2:15:47] but definitely the topic was to review

[2:15:49] the committee assignments and i am

[2:15:51] confident that

[2:15:52] mrs porterfield was here to review any

[2:15:55] issues or entertainment issues but

[2:15:57] any recommendations that they are

[2:15:59] bringing forward so

[2:16:00] to answer mr pauline's question i again

[2:16:03] [Music]

[2:16:12] one way we can kind of like come be a

[2:16:15] little more efficient and process look

[2:16:16] at what's done look at the facts is

[2:16:18] there a committee um have we have we

[2:16:21] formed the committee right now no that

[2:16:23] hasn't happened people have submitted

[2:16:25] names all right so so then

[2:16:27] something clearly that that hasn't that

[2:16:29] hasn't happened that decision hasn't

[2:16:31] been made so i think that that can kind

[2:16:33] of alleviate any concerns around um

[2:16:35] decisions being made even or every more

[2:16:37] um but just wanting to uh counseling

[2:16:40] that didn't happen

[2:16:44] all right hear what you're saying man i

[2:16:46] appreciate what you're saying

[2:16:48] however the email that was going around

[2:16:50] was they were asked to create a

[2:16:52] committee

[2:16:53] and they have done so

[2:16:55] this was never decided by the council as

[2:16:57] a whole i don't have

[2:16:59] an issue

[2:17:00] particularly with a committee being

[2:17:02] formed

[2:17:03] the issue is we did not discuss

[2:17:06] and agree to that as a council

[2:17:09] it was done by a few individuals

[2:17:12] and those individuals contacted son

[2:17:15] and son was asked to create a committee

[2:17:18] they sent that out with individuals as

[2:17:22] here's the committee now there may be

[2:17:24] additional people

[2:17:25] but that's what was going on that's the

[2:17:28] problem i have

[2:17:29] just to clarify i do take your

[2:17:32] um comments

[2:17:34] um

[2:17:35] well attention and i yeah i agree with a

[2:17:38] lot of what you're saying

[2:17:40] but there's an appropriate process

[2:17:42] and it wasn't followed that's the

[2:17:44] problem so let me ask mr munimer did you

[2:17:46] ask them for names or did you ask them

[2:17:48] to make it specifically asked to submit

[2:17:49] names

[2:17:50] so the council could review

[2:17:52] so if there was a misunderstanding for

[2:17:54] ask as opposed to what was given that's

[2:17:56] a different conversation because my

[2:17:57] understanding there is no committee

[2:17:59] there's simply names being

[2:18:00] um submitted put it forward and as i

[2:18:03] said there are other people whose names

[2:18:04] are not on that list that i know that

[2:18:06] have reached out to me that have said

[2:18:08] i'd like to be a part of that so that to

[2:18:10] me is not the committee's not being

[2:18:12] formed and um

[2:18:14] to miss patrick's point the there's this

[2:18:17] will be a two-prong process as i said

[2:18:20] we're working this is city development

[2:18:22] playing so the city development planning

[2:18:23] committee is working with development to

[2:18:25] make sure that we get the process in

[2:18:26] place and then the applications

[2:18:28] themselves will be financed that yes

[2:18:30] so

[2:18:31] it's you know

[2:18:32] let's just be clear that this is uh

[2:18:35] something that's never happened in this

[2:18:36] city before so are we creating

[2:18:39] guidelines that we as we go for some that we have to so if there's been

[2:18:43] missteps i apologize for that however

[2:18:45] there's no ill intent

[2:18:47] the only intent is to make sure that the

[2:18:50] city residents

[2:18:51] voices are herd

[2:18:53] and that we try to to our to the best of

[2:18:55] our ability to make sure that that

[2:18:56] happens

[2:18:57] so

[2:18:58] um

[2:18:59] so at this point in time i will have a

[2:19:01] roll call and for those who are in favor

[2:19:03] of creating or not committing to

[2:19:05] creating

[2:19:06] a committee to review the our

[2:19:09] applications so that we make sure that

[2:19:11] everyone is on record to where they

[2:19:13] stand on this particular issue can i

[2:19:15] just ask one more question

[2:19:16] um so

[2:19:18] and i know i'm jumping the gun on a

[2:19:20] straw pole here but um

[2:19:23] because i also would love to be able to

[2:19:25] if we are going to have a committee then

[2:19:26] i think each of us should be able to

[2:19:28] also

[2:19:29] submit names and

[2:19:30] um absolutely you know of people that

[2:19:33] would be on the committee

[2:19:34] uh as well so i just wanted to make that

[2:19:36] clear as well that was that was made

[2:19:38] clear that was stated and in addition to

[2:19:39] that i if i didn't say it it certainly

[2:19:42] was in my mind that we also have to we

[2:19:44] made it

[2:19:45] 40 names are we going to have reported a

[2:19:47] committee of 40. chances are absolutely

[2:19:49] not so then we would have to look at the

[2:19:50] names they're submitted and say

[2:19:52] this person i mean yes or no so we would

[2:19:54] have those are decisions that we would

[2:19:56] make based on what's the information

[2:19:58] that's provided to us and just one more

[2:19:59] comment again back to mr williams i mean

[2:20:01] we did all attend all the neighborhood

[2:20:03] meetings that were very productive

[2:20:05] meetings as mr farley noted on that the mayor and and city staff ran and got

[2:20:12] a lot of input i mean i took pages of

[2:20:14] notes

[2:20:15] um on what our community members want to

[2:20:18] see happen with the arbor funding so i

[2:20:20] think we all and i know i missed one of

[2:20:22] those meetings i think probably all of

[2:20:24] us missed maybe one meeting

[2:20:26] but for the most part we were all we

[2:20:28] were all there

[2:20:29] and heard and heard from that plus we

[2:20:30] had the survey

[2:20:32] um as well that was done to also solicit

[2:20:34] community input so

[2:20:36] um it's not like we had a closed process

[2:20:39] even to this point um in terms of what

[2:20:41] we what we did to try to solicit

[2:20:43] community

[2:20:44] and i shouldn't say we the city the

[2:20:46] mayor

[2:20:48] i think you could say we as the council

[2:20:49] attended and we certainly encourage

[2:20:51] people to come and put the information

[2:20:52] out there so i think we is appropriate

[2:20:56] so is there further discussion if not

[2:20:58] i'll have uh the clerk called the role

[2:21:00] on this particular issue point order

[2:21:02] here this

[2:21:03] it doesn't this isn't a roll call but

[2:21:05] we're in a committee meeting so it's

[2:21:07] within yourself

[2:21:11] did you have something to eat yeah

[2:21:12] because i'd be remiss that i didn't

[2:21:14] highlight his previous comment hopefully

[2:21:16] you didn't feel like i just

[2:21:18] over emphasized it with potentially

[2:21:20] reopening the application process uh

[2:21:23] i've had

[2:21:24] considerations myself i want to put it

[2:21:26] on on record that i definitely

[2:21:28] appreciate everyone who was able to meet

[2:21:30] those deadlines they were definitely uh

[2:21:33] during uh the heightened stages of our

[2:21:35] pandemic they were during a holiday

[2:21:37] season and i want to applaud everyone i

[2:21:38] was able to submit that on time however

[2:21:41] i think

[2:21:42] having it

[2:21:43] unfortunately a link to further

[2:21:45] discussion i think we should open to

[2:21:48] understanding potentially having it

[2:21:49] extended

[2:21:50] to incorporate individuals that weren't

[2:21:52] able to meet those

[2:21:54] expectations and what i want to say is i

[2:21:57] don't think it's done added a service to

[2:21:59] any projects that currently were

[2:22:00] submitted because i don't want it to be

[2:22:02] seemed as if we're competing against

[2:22:04] each other this is community this is

[2:22:06] money for the community that's going to

[2:22:07] benefit the community and if we seem to

[2:22:10] look at it as us competing against each

[2:22:12] other i think that will negatively pit

[2:22:14] us against one another which is

[2:22:16] essentially uh what could potentially

[2:22:19] happen so i think if we look at whether

[2:22:23] extending it

[2:22:24] even if it was only done from the

[2:22:26] standpoint of

[2:22:28] for the duration of the creation of this

[2:22:29] committee

[2:22:30] my recommendation would be opening up

[2:22:32] for two weeks

[2:22:34] if that uh is a cause of a concern

[2:22:37] definitely understand i don't want to do

[2:22:39] it uh to the detriment of people i've

[2:22:41] already submitted projects but i

[2:22:43] definitely agree with mr uh farley's

[2:22:45] comments of some people missed out due

[2:22:47] to unforeseen issues

[2:22:51] and i

[2:22:52] wanted to again highlight that the final

[2:22:54] guidance for what the money um it can be

[2:22:57] used for came

[2:22:59] after we closed the um

[2:23:01] the uh

[2:23:03] for for uh people who want to submit so

[2:23:05] once again you know if we are in a

[2:23:08] position where we're getting new

[2:23:09] information the public has more

[2:23:10] information then there could be

[2:23:12] potentially some people who might have

[2:23:14] put an application in

[2:23:17] um due to the uh

[2:23:19] to the final direction of the guidelines

[2:23:20] but

[2:23:21] before that information was made

[2:23:23] available to the public just didn't um

[2:23:25] didn't think that their project would

[2:23:27] fit in and i also had a question

[2:23:31] this like what's the usual

[2:23:33] length for like uh

[2:23:35] for our community block grant one like

[2:23:37] what's like usually though

[2:23:39] yeah there's usually five weeks so five

[2:23:42] to five weeks because we put it out and

[2:23:43] the january is usually in by march

[2:23:45] and then we have the review period and

[2:23:47] all the public hearings so all right so

[2:23:50] and that and how long was the

[2:23:53] for the performance

[2:23:55] it was the month of december i believe

[2:23:57] yeah

[2:24:00] so i think so kind of highlight the fact

[2:24:01] that uh the community blocker and money is

[2:24:06] something that happens annually so

[2:24:07] there's like some expectation um um that

[2:24:10] this happens um this right here is a you

[2:24:14] know a one-time

[2:24:16] opportunity for us so i think that it

[2:24:17] would be you know

[2:24:20] really wise of us as a council to say

[2:24:22] that we at least give the same amount of

[2:24:24] time that we give to the community for

[2:24:26] something that is um

[2:24:29] where people are

[2:24:30] relatively can expect that to happen um

[2:24:34] and i think that this is a really good

[2:24:36] opportunity to uh make sure that we are

[2:24:40] casting the widest that we can and look

[2:24:42] for opera opportunities to collaborate

[2:24:45] with the members of our community mayor

[2:24:48] but just in terms of that window of

[2:24:51] opportunity we went out to the community

[2:24:53] meetings we're telling people telling

[2:24:55] groups what

[2:24:57] the potential

[2:25:01] areas were

[2:25:02] wanted them to think about it had them

[2:25:05] talk about some of their goals desires

[2:25:09] uh and i think we were actually live

[2:25:11] before december 1st so it was

[2:25:14] you might be arguing about days even

[2:25:16] though we had talked about opening it up

[2:25:18] it was getting the site up and making it

[2:25:21] live

[2:25:22] and effort this is the first round of

[2:25:24] monday that's right so

[2:25:26] still looking to do this

[2:25:29] one more time

[2:25:30] uh when we get the money uh

[2:25:33] expected in may

[2:25:38] so i don't want to

[2:25:41] i'm

[2:25:42] not quite sure how to

[2:25:44] position it

[2:25:46] so we get other applications who's going

[2:25:49] to process those who's going to rank

[2:25:51] them the city council are going to take

[2:25:53] care of that

[2:25:57] i've put

[2:26:00] criteria in place assigned staff to do

[2:26:02] it i have other things you know i have

[2:26:04] to manage the day-to-day operations so

[2:26:06] somebody brings in

[2:26:08] an application now

[2:26:12] is that going to get

[2:26:13] talked about people who are going to be

[2:26:15] mad because everybody else did meet the

[2:26:17] criteria and this one is out there in

[2:26:21] the fine guidance

[2:26:23] it was not a dramatic deviation from

[2:26:25] what the preliminary guidance was so

[2:26:28] that i don't think there was anybody

[2:26:30] from what i saw and i had not read every

[2:26:33] application

[2:26:35] uh

[2:26:36] that would have been precluded

[2:26:40] or

[2:26:40] opened up

[2:26:42] and based on that final guidance that

[2:26:44] came out of the treasury part

[2:26:46] that's

[2:26:51] um

[2:26:52] i have to say with all due respect and

[2:26:53] just now putting my professional hat on

[2:26:56] as opposed to the council hat um having

[2:26:59] been a grants developer for you know 40

[2:27:02] years

[2:27:03] um

[2:27:04] it's

[2:27:05] common to have that kind of a length of

[2:27:07] time in order to be able to submit a

[2:27:08] grant there were many other grant

[2:27:10] applications that were also due on

[2:27:12] december 31st to nonprofits

[2:27:15] the united way for well no not the

[2:27:16] united way but there were other

[2:27:17] applications that we had to get in by

[2:27:19] december 31st i think

[2:27:21] folks

[2:27:22] i think it would be unfair really

[2:27:24] honestly if i was somebody that put in a

[2:27:26] grant application and i heard the

[2:27:27] process was reopened i would really be

[2:27:30] upset um because i think it would be

[2:27:33] like

[2:27:34] you know basically oh you guys all got

[2:27:37] it in on time but now we're going to

[2:27:38] open it up again we already know that

[2:27:40] we're not going to be able to fund

[2:27:42] most of the applications um so now we're

[2:27:45] going to be even like trying to get even

[2:27:46] more applications in that we'll have to

[2:27:48] say no to

[2:27:49] um so it's

[2:27:51] i just i mean again all due respect i

[2:27:53] hear what you guys are saying but i

[2:27:55] think it would really um

[2:27:58] be unfair

[2:28:02] we tried to make that application

[2:28:05] process fairly simple

[2:28:07] and straightforward so we weren't

[2:28:09] looking for reams of information other

[2:28:12] things

[2:28:13] you know we may go back to some of the

[2:28:15] groups now and ask for more

[2:28:16] documentation as you go through this

[2:28:18] review process

[2:28:19] to make the final decision but again it

[2:28:22] was to

[2:28:23] get things in there conceptually

[2:28:26] and be able to work with groups

[2:28:29] some who were

[2:28:30] maybe more informal this might be their

[2:28:33] one and only time applying as well as

[2:28:36] other ones who

[2:28:38] on a routine basis either apply for cdbg

[2:28:41] money other uh

[2:28:43] money from uh city other entities and uh

[2:28:47] i think all in all it went

[2:28:49] fairly well

[2:28:51] uh

[2:28:52] you know it's a

[2:28:55] number of

[2:28:56] applicants there that

[2:28:58] put forth some interesting ideas and

[2:29:00] concepts and

[2:29:04] i think it reflects well

[2:29:06] in the community as a whole the problem

[2:29:08] is now there's always never

[2:29:10] the newcomers of the council will learn

[2:29:12] that

[2:29:14] there's never enough money to fund all

[2:29:16] the things and you have to

[2:29:20] put down the that narrow path of trying

[2:29:23] to keep uh as many people happy as you

[2:29:25] can

[2:29:26] and leverage the dollars to get the

[2:29:28] biggest impact

[2:29:30] mr moto baron had did you have a point

[2:29:32] two part question um

[2:29:34] did you receive any application after

[2:29:36] the deadline

[2:29:38] no i don't think um well we officially we closed the

[2:29:43] portal on the monday

[2:29:46] so there was there was a complication

[2:29:47] over the weekend

[2:30:00] next year

[2:30:01] this year you know

[2:30:03] yeah for the for the next round but i

[2:30:05] mean

[2:30:06] i think

[2:30:08] i guess you just kind of i don't know

[2:30:10] from my perspective i think that i'm

[2:30:12] also

[2:30:13] if we have 80 million dollars in ask

[2:30:15] right now we know we can't fund most of

[2:30:17] the applications i am concerned about

[2:30:20] that um not to say that you know

[2:30:22] whatever the process is the process but

[2:30:25] whatever is decided is decided but i am

[2:30:27] worried about the amount of ass the

[2:30:29] amount of good products there's not that

[2:30:31] many that are disqualified i can tell

[2:30:34] you something that wouldn't qualify for

[2:30:36] the funding so you know it's going to be

[2:30:38] a question of how we make those

[2:30:40] decisions

[2:30:41] um because it's already

[2:30:43] just just a question of that we talk

[2:30:45] about rolling somebody's application

[2:30:46] into cdbg or they can qualify under the

[2:30:49] cdbg

[2:30:50] may or did we receive a number in terms

[2:30:53] of how much we're going to receive with

[2:30:55] regards to infrastructure money

[2:30:57] no because some of these applications

[2:30:59] i've gone through you know scan across

[2:31:00] some might fall into that category

[2:31:03] it's possible and we don't have enough

[2:31:06] time

[2:31:07] so we have to look at that as well so

[2:31:09] the cdbg and also the infrastructure

[2:31:11] money that was recently passed

[2:31:14] on this application here

[2:31:16] mr berlin so a few things so you're

[2:31:18] saying that when after the uh portal

[2:31:21] closed monday you got a couple

[2:31:22] applications in

[2:31:24] we told you it wasn't closed december

[2:31:25] 31st we didn't actually close it until

[2:31:28] um january 2nd 4th february 4.

[2:31:34] so we didn't receive something during

[2:31:36] that period of time oh there's nobody

[2:31:38] that called up and said we did not

[2:31:40] submit our application we spit it at

[2:31:42] this point in time

[2:31:43] if we have we would have taken it and

[2:31:45] then referred to

[2:31:46] the group here

[2:31:47] of whether to accept the application or

[2:31:49] not but we did not receive anybody

[2:31:51] stating that they were not able to

[2:31:53] submit the application right no my

[2:31:56] question was more specifically so the

[2:31:57] communication was that that portal will

[2:31:59] close on the 31st but it didn't close on

[2:32:02] 30 hours and we refused when we received

[2:32:04] a few applications after the 31st

[2:32:10] if you look at the spreadsheet the date

[2:32:11] that we received was noted there so you

[2:32:12] see that did we did receive a problem on

[2:32:15] january 2nd and first

[2:32:22] okay

[2:32:30] my question is if

[2:32:31] the application came in after the time

[2:32:33] that we

[2:32:34] communicated to the public that we were

[2:32:36] going to close the portal we did accept

[2:32:37] those applications though we did we did

[2:32:39] good we did we didn't

[2:32:41] have any applications

[2:32:44] um

[2:32:45] there was a couple people there's

[2:32:46] somebody did call about some things that

[2:32:47] were located far away from the city we

[2:32:49] told them i mean you can apply them

[2:32:56] so are you suggesting mr farley that if

[2:32:58] it came after that we just we say you

[2:32:59] missed the call update and not accept those applications

[2:33:04] what i'm

[2:33:05] kind of trying to note here is that

[2:33:07] we're saying that

[2:33:09] you know to economist uh carmel's points

[2:33:11] that if i'm somebody who got my

[2:33:12] application in and then somebody else

[2:33:15] does and i feel like it's not fair i

[2:33:17] don't think it would be unfair for me

[2:33:18] and you know i i think that

[2:33:20] the larger point that i'm trying to make

[2:33:22] is that this this is common you know

[2:33:24] working in a non-profit for a long time

[2:33:26] myself i know that this is a common

[2:33:28] timeline um but as a governing body we

[2:33:31] have a obligation to recognize that

[2:33:33] these are uncommon times

[2:33:35] so when these these these being uncommon

[2:33:38] times our opportunity to be responsive

[2:33:40] to the community um and to

[2:33:43] ensure that we're casting a wide net and

[2:33:45] even though we have

[2:33:47] i think

[2:33:48] uh mr marriott point is well taken we're

[2:33:50] never going to have enough right

[2:33:52] so

[2:33:53] but when you want to be equitable does not matter how much you

[2:33:56] have it's it's it's the process of what

[2:33:59] you allocate and distribute so we could

[2:34:01] be equitable with 10 million dollars or

[2:34:03] one dollar and i think that what we need

[2:34:05] to do is just make sure that we're uh

[2:34:07] considering the fact that this was

[2:34:09] during a pandemic this was a short

[2:34:12] timeline and there was further darkness

[2:34:14] that came out after the portal folks so

[2:34:17] even though it wasn't maybe a dramatic

[2:34:19] shift there was still more information

[2:34:21] how can we expect the public to make a

[2:34:23] determination of whether to submit

[2:34:25] something if the guidance came out after

[2:34:27] we closed the portal

[2:34:29] but i have to say to the mayor's point

[2:34:31] that that didn't change a lot it was not

[2:34:33] a significant a significant change and i

[2:34:35] don't know which applications you're

[2:34:36] talking about if anything's particular

[2:34:39] um because i didn't see a lot of change

[2:34:40] in in the guidance i don't know if any

[2:34:42] of you had an opportunity to look at it

[2:34:44] there was not there were not major shifts

[2:34:48] no mr williams uh so just i don't know

[2:34:50] if it was mentioned or if it was implied

[2:34:52] but i thought we should at least credit

[2:34:54] your staff mayor mccarthy for taking uh

[2:34:56] ownership of this huge ask

[2:34:58] hopefully my comments did

[2:35:00] not recognize that this was like a

[2:35:02] monumentous project that you guys did

[2:35:04] successfully and i appreciate all the work that he did and if we choose

[2:35:09] him before with another application

[2:35:10] process it's going to be these lessons

[2:35:12] learned that improve it moving forward

[2:35:14] so i just wanted to know

[2:35:18] so at this point in time so we can kind

[2:35:20] of bring this to a close i think there's

[2:35:21] a couple of questions that we have to

[2:35:22] ask the first one and just get the the

[2:35:24] pulse of the council

[2:35:26] if the first um that we're um in favor

[2:35:29] of creating a committee that includes um

[2:35:32] neighborhood representatives to review

[2:35:34] the application so just want you know

[2:35:38] so we'll just call the council uh mr

[2:35:40] williams

[2:35:42] yes

[2:35:44] mr farley yes

[2:35:46] miss patrick i would say yes to the

[2:35:50] applications except for the ones that

[2:35:51] were submitted by the city

[2:35:56] mr mitsubaran

[2:35:58] uh yes but uh you know this is something

[2:36:00] that when we uh when we went through the

[2:36:02] city when mayor mccarthy had the

[2:36:04] meetings the harper meetings it was

[2:36:06] something that the community wanted all

[2:36:08] the neighborhood it was echoed across

[2:36:09] all neighborhoods community

[2:36:11] involvement

[2:36:13] how can we participate in helping the

[2:36:15] city council the administration in terms

[2:36:17] of coming up with the ideas how we spend

[2:36:19] this money

[2:36:20] so i think it's it's not new what's

[2:36:22] happening

[2:36:23] it's something that we were they were

[2:36:25] asking for and we're actually doing it was something that was discussed some

[2:36:30] of the council remember were not here it

[2:36:32] was thrown out but it's something that

[2:36:33] we

[2:36:34] brought with us from all these

[2:36:36] neighborhood meetings and it's something

[2:36:38] that we're trying to put in place

[2:36:39] together

[2:36:40] and you know i encourage everybody to

[2:36:42] get on board and submit names and you

[2:36:44] know we can come to the table and flash

[2:36:46] names out if we want to select so like a

[2:36:48] workable group not 40 names you know i'm

[2:36:51] just using numbers but something that we

[2:36:53] can all work for and

[2:36:54] towards and

[2:36:56] get a group that help us you know manage

[2:36:58] and able to discuss and come up with

[2:37:00] ideas on how to be able to look at each

[2:37:02] of these applications

[2:37:04] and come up with ideas on how we can

[2:37:06] able to fund that

[2:37:07] and i have you know i agree

[2:37:09] after

[2:37:10] mccarthy that we can open up the

[2:37:13] application process when we receive our

[2:37:16] funding in so there will be

[2:37:17] opportunities for others to to

[2:37:20] resubmit or submit applications during

[2:37:22] that process we have to be look at the

[2:37:24] logistics too i mean be fair to the

[2:37:26] staff and you know going back

[2:37:28] applications already and paperwork with

[2:37:30] us

[2:37:30] let's move on what we have

[2:37:32] and when the next round come we'll

[2:37:34] encourage who didn't submit on time to

[2:37:36] encourage them to reach out to them and

[2:37:38] to make sure that they submit

[2:37:40] application on time

[2:37:42] and full support of getting this

[2:37:45] advisory group together to help us move

[2:37:47] this forward

[2:37:49] thank you mr toro um i'm supportive a

[2:37:52] committee but i would really like some

[2:37:54] guidelines before we even up on what the

[2:37:56] committee's

[2:37:58] job java bay um absolutely you know

[2:38:01] we're our neighborhoods we all live in

[2:38:02] our neighborhoods we want to spend our

[2:38:04] money in our neighborhoods but again as

[2:38:06] the mayor said we want to get

[2:38:08] the most

[2:38:09] uh

[2:38:10] money

[2:38:12] we want to get the most out of what

[2:38:14] money we have sure

[2:38:16] so as much as i would love to help

[2:38:18] everyone i mean

[2:38:20] you know a lot i want to know more about

[2:38:22] what what this committee is going to do

[2:38:24] and who's going to have the final say so

[2:38:28] you know

[2:38:29] and so if there's if i bring 10 there's

[2:38:31] already 10 12 on it on a list submitted

[2:38:34] 20 30 40 60 100. who's gonna who's going

[2:38:37] to interview these people i don't feel

[2:38:39] confident enough to interview someone

[2:38:42] and say you're not

[2:38:43] qualified enough to make this decision

[2:38:45] when none of us really are at this point

[2:38:47] because everything's so new so i'd like

[2:38:49] some guidelines on what what this

[2:38:51] committee is absolutely

[2:38:53] that's part of forming committee so as i

[2:38:55] said this is all new territory for all

[2:38:57] of us

[2:38:58] but we still have an obligation and so

[2:39:00] we're going to put together

[2:39:02] a group so we can make that obligation

[2:39:05] all right

[2:39:06] mr coleman i want to be clear i have no

[2:39:08] issue with public involvement in the art

[2:39:12] of money

[2:39:13] absolutely not i mean it's been said

[2:39:16] many times

[2:39:17] that at the meetings

[2:39:20] people wanted to be involved and that's

[2:39:22] a great thing and i'm happy for that and

[2:39:25] i want people to participate

[2:39:28] however

[2:39:29] this was decided before this meeting

[2:39:32] and the email says we have as requested

[2:39:37] we have put a committee together

[2:39:39] we have assembled this committee with

[2:39:42] nine names

[2:39:44] and are ready to work with the council

[2:39:46] to make recommendations on submitted

[2:39:48] projects

[2:39:50] that's just not right for any of us

[2:39:54] i don't care who we are it's just plain

[2:39:57] wrong so i'm voting no out of principle

[2:40:00] but i want to make clear i have no

[2:40:01] problem with

[2:40:02] public

[2:40:03] input

[2:40:06] yes and as i said before the committee

[2:40:09] to me has not been determined names were

[2:40:11] submitted so

[2:40:12] um

[2:40:13] again if there's a misunder

[2:40:14] communication on what was asked of the

[2:40:16] people who were asked

[2:40:19] but

[2:40:20] there is no committee that has been

[2:40:21] fully completed that's why we're having

[2:40:23] the discussion tonight

[2:40:25] so we can move forward with that

[2:40:29] yes mr mayor and also

[2:40:32] remind the council who's uh pointed out

[2:40:35] by mr wall and that we have

[2:40:39] over the last few years put together

[2:40:41] lists of professional

[2:40:45] individuals groups who

[2:40:48] they're not on a formal retainer but we

[2:40:50] have agreements that if we need them

[2:40:52] it's a predetermined rate so if we need

[2:40:54] an engineer they'll provide a

[2:40:58] certain rate we need an architect we can

[2:41:00] get it and so

[2:41:03] those

[2:41:06] resources

[2:41:07] can be made available

[2:41:09] and we're not quite that far in terms of

[2:41:12] the internal review do we need some

[2:41:14] technical assessment and so i don't

[2:41:17] belabor because the meetings running on

[2:41:20] a lot of these are very good groups

[2:41:23] well-intentioned projects

[2:41:26] i worry

[2:41:28] that some things where they've made

[2:41:30] they've had ideas and thoughts out there

[2:41:32] before

[2:41:33] where there were cost estimates that

[2:41:35] they had come up with a couple years ago

[2:41:38] those may not be valid today because

[2:41:41] we've seen costs go up the disruptions

[2:41:44] in the supply chain

[2:41:46] and so

[2:41:47] again you may have something that

[2:41:49] looks good on paper you think it's well

[2:41:51] thought out

[2:41:52] and then when you actually go to

[2:41:54] implement it it won't be

[2:41:56] the numbers that the assumptions were

[2:41:58] there and we have to make sure that

[2:42:00] we're going to do things that are in

[2:42:01] fact going to be

[2:42:05] meet the goals under the federal ranks

[2:42:07] but we'll also be able to make the

[2:42:09] timeline to put them in place and

[2:42:11] some of those outside firms we may have

[2:42:14] to bring in to do

[2:42:16] uh

[2:42:17] again that assessment to make sure that

[2:42:20] uh

[2:42:21] everything

[2:42:22] will move ahead of the smooth and

[2:42:24] straightforward man

[2:42:27] well thank you and i'm sure that we will

[2:42:29] need those resources as i said as we go

[2:42:31] through this uncharted territory so

[2:42:33] thank you so it looks like there's a

[2:42:34] majority of the council who's

[2:42:37] uh ready willing to move forward with

[2:42:39] having this committee

[2:42:40] um the second question that was raised

[2:42:42] by mr um damon mr farley was whether or

[2:42:45] not we should we have an open

[2:42:46] application process and i'll um also ask

[2:42:49] the council to weigh in on that

[2:42:57] mr farley yes

[2:43:00] is patrick no

[2:43:03] mr winterberg

[2:43:05] i'm going to vote

[2:43:07] i just mentioned that you know we got to

[2:43:08] get referred to the staff who did all

[2:43:10] this process and get it to us where

[2:43:12] yesterday

[2:43:13] the process is going to reopen back when

[2:43:15] we receive our second

[2:43:17] set of funding

[2:43:18] so i encourage and i will do my part to

[2:43:21] make sure you reach out to who didn't

[2:43:22] submit so please submit

[2:43:24] and get your application on time and we

[2:43:26] can you know consider those applications

[2:43:28] in the next rounds

[2:43:35] it's tutorial no

[2:43:37] mister palomini

[2:43:40] this profile

[2:43:41] so um i you know as we discussed this i

[2:43:44] have to first to um you know for the

[2:43:46] people who put their application in and

[2:43:48] get it on time you know i think we

[2:43:50] definitely have to respect that and even

[2:43:52] if this request had come several weeks

[2:43:54] ago before we really closed the portal

[2:43:55] then i could i could support it but i

[2:43:58] just think uh to for people who did

[2:44:00] their due diligence got it in

[2:44:02] and did what they're supposed to do to

[2:44:03] open it puts them in a disadvantage and

[2:44:05] i'm going to be frank if i were on the

[2:44:07] receiving end of that i would not be

[2:44:08] happy so

[2:44:10] just have to be 100 and um and i

[2:44:12] understand and so we do we need to do a

[2:44:14] better job of maybe getting the

[2:44:15] information out there whatever it is we

[2:44:17] need to do we need to do that again it's

[2:44:19] a learning process for us so but i um i

[2:44:22] would have to go no i could not support

[2:44:23] reopening the process the staff has

[2:44:25] already done a tremendous amount of work

[2:44:28] and putting the applications together

[2:44:29] and all of that so at this point in time

[2:44:31] i cannot support that um i will however

[2:44:34] say that we um

[2:44:36] we should really look at it considering

[2:44:38] opening our next process earlier so by

[2:44:40] the time the money hits the application

[2:44:42] is already there and reviewed

[2:44:44] and we can move forward on a more

[2:44:45] expeditious manner

[2:44:47] if somebody is aware of

[2:44:50] uh somebody who didn't

[2:44:52] meet the timeline

[2:44:54] i'm more than willing to review it and

[2:44:57] the other thing is that we're debating

[2:44:59] or i shouldn't say debates we're all one

[2:45:01] big happy family

[2:45:03] we're

[2:45:03] discussing

[2:45:05] uh

[2:45:06] the options for this one

[2:45:08] chunk of money

[2:45:10] there are other funding streams that are

[2:45:12] out there as mr motavirin pointed out is

[2:45:15] the uh

[2:45:16] infrastructure money there's other

[2:45:18] things in the state so

[2:45:22] money and so if somebody's aware of

[2:45:25] somebody that didn't meet the timeline

[2:45:27] here that doesn't mean that there

[2:45:30] wouldn't be other scenarios that we

[2:45:32] might be able to point into

[2:45:35] to

[2:45:36] again

[2:45:38] have a worthwhile concept project or

[2:45:40] idea

[2:45:42] flushed out and

[2:45:44] developed in a more

[2:45:46] robust manner

[2:45:49] so it looks like you know there's not

[2:45:51] enough support to open the process but

[2:45:53] there are other opportunities to do

[2:45:54] other things

[2:45:58] all right so we will um

[2:46:00] move forward um on you know sending out

[2:46:03] information to uh i'm sorry mr coleman

[2:46:05] sorry i just want to um

[2:46:07] i know there was a strong a strong vote

[2:46:09] on the advisory committee

[2:46:11] um but there wasn't a if there's a

[2:46:14] request or resolute for a resolution

[2:46:15] here uh there wasn't a motion for one

[2:46:18] okay in a second

[2:46:21] so

[2:46:21] let's do that let's uh maybe so i'll

[2:46:24] need a motion to uh

[2:46:26] if you're going to establish a an

[2:46:28] advisory i would recommend that that's

[2:46:30] the process that you do so that's clear

[2:46:33] all right

[2:46:36] so okay

[2:46:59] you know this is to establish an

[2:47:01] advisory committee

[2:47:02] um

[2:47:03] and within that you know obviously

[2:47:06] you know you're not establishing a set

[2:47:08] number

[2:47:09] um you're establishing you know that

[2:47:14] you haven't actually established

[2:47:16] you haven't really

[2:47:18] you're establishing a committee without

[2:47:21] actually saying what that committee is

[2:47:23] going to be made up of

[2:47:25] so i think we just generally say to to

[2:47:27] review the our applications we would you

[2:47:29] know we would have to leave it very open

[2:47:32] and not put in numbers because we don't

[2:47:33] know those numbers yet

[2:47:34] correct we just know we want to uh

[2:47:36] establish a committee

[2:47:39] so i'm a little confused i mean are we

[2:47:41] should we be moving it or not

[2:47:43] this this actually the legislative

[2:47:45] request form

[2:47:47] was that the recommendation would be the

[2:47:49] city council work with some and other

[2:47:51] community groups to identify individuals

[2:47:53] to be part of a team that works with the

[2:47:55] city staff to review the application my

[2:47:57] recommendation is if you're going to

[2:47:58] have these outside groups or individuals

[2:48:01] review applications that were submitted

[2:48:03] to the city for the purpose of providing

[2:48:06] advice to the city council and it's done

[2:48:08] by resolution

[2:48:09] because this information is something

[2:48:11] that

[2:48:13] given what could be in the applications

[2:48:14] in terms of identifying information and

[2:48:17] so forth

[2:48:18] i would suggest that it's set up

[2:48:20] through resolution and not ad hoc

[2:48:26] so

[2:48:34] anyone opposed

[2:48:36] okay

[2:48:38] thank you so we will um get those emails

[2:48:41] out and we'll get that resolution done

[2:48:43] and get the emails out and work towards

[2:48:44] uh developing that committee

[2:48:47] so thank you for that very robust

[2:48:48] discussion

[2:48:50] and hopefully mr truman you'll reach out

[2:48:52] to the mayor and to the department of

[2:48:53] development to see what other

[2:48:54] opportunities there are

[2:48:56] to to get funding

[2:49:00] all right uh the final remaining items

[2:49:02] are all on property sales and will

[2:49:04] therefore be an executive session

[2:49:07] so members of the public will

[2:49:10] make a motion to go to

[2:49:14] all those in favor all right

[2:49:15] thank you we're here

[2:49:26] hmm

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, January 18, 2022

Transcript