[1:25] how

[1:43] me

[1:55] hey

[12:57] [Music]

[13:55] okay i'd like to call this connected

[13:57] city council committee meeting to order

[13:59] for monday may 2nd 2022

[14:02] and the first committee up is public

[14:04] safety mr williams

[14:06] so i'd like to call the public safety

[14:08] committee to order we have one item on

[14:10] our agenda tonight that is the school

[14:12] committee engagement officers uh this

[14:14] evening i would like to introduce the

[14:16] superintendent of our smackdown city

[14:18] school district superintendent and paul

[14:20] solaire uh thank you for joining us this

[14:22] evening sir i thought it was important

[14:24] to have

[14:25] him be present to provide us a statement

[14:28] from the school district and also to

[14:30] provide better context to the degree of

[14:32] the community engagement officers and

[14:34] allow us the opportunity to just hear

[14:36] straight from his mouth the intent with

[14:38] the program and uh we appreciate you

[14:40] being here sir supporters

[14:43] yeah thank you for uh sorry i can

[14:44] physically be there in person

[14:47] so i just want to thank city council for

[14:49] inviting me uh definitely to provide

[14:51] some remarks on the community engagement

[14:53] officer uh program uh that we've

[14:55] instituted since november um any

[14:58] specific questions but you know for us i

[15:00] think one thing that uh i want to really

[15:03] be clear on is that it's been a really

[15:04] collaborative effort uh really focusing

[15:07] on

[15:07] um what i'd like to say as another

[15:09] mitigating strategy

[15:11] for our students and our community when

[15:13] it comes to safety you know we have

[15:16] administrators school counselors

[15:18] staff typically first responders and as

[15:21] uh issues progress and sometimes the

[15:23] challenges progress

[15:25] we had to find another mitigating

[15:26] strategy and

[15:28] that's right community officers being

[15:30] kind of that last defense before we uh

[15:33] would allow families to just go out and

[15:35] engage

[15:36] the police on their own or hopefully not

[15:38] take matters into their own hands and so

[15:41] um been very very beneficial

[15:45] kind of reset that we've had it's not a

[15:47] traditional school resource officer

[15:49] program and real intentionally called

[15:51] community engagement officers because

[15:53] we're trying to change the narrative of

[15:55] what schools and officers up in schools

[16:00] [Music]

[16:01] all right thank you again uh

[16:02] superintendent solaire really appreciate

[16:04] you being uh being here tonight i didn't

[16:06] know

[16:10] oh yeah uh does anyone have a question

[16:11] for superintendents away from the

[16:14] council members no i don't

[16:16] i was going to ask to see if she clicked

[16:19] here tonight and then also received

[16:21] thanks for joining us again

[16:23] yes do you have do you have any other

[16:24] employee or feedback further at this

[16:26] time

[16:30] so i know our discussion last week was

[16:32] postponing the resolution

[16:34] to allow additional time for insulate

[16:36] and input i know for myself before

[16:38] allowing my council members and fellow

[16:40] counselors to add their input i

[16:42] definitely appreciate having the

[16:43] additional time to have conversations

[16:46] with one of our current

[16:48] community engagement officers i know

[16:50] other members reached out to uh

[16:52] superintendent solaire to get some more

[16:53] justification and using that additional

[16:55] two weeks to just provide more

[16:57] clarity to this program i think was

[17:01] very intentional and also deserve it

[17:03] just based on the magnitude of

[17:06] time that was allowed on the school

[17:07] board to have these discussions i know

[17:09] for myself it was definitely very

[17:10] important to take the time to

[17:13] peruse through this agreement to make

[17:15] sure that as i deliberated for myself i

[17:18] made the appropriate decision so i'd

[17:20] like to at this time turn it over to any

[17:22] uh comments or feedback from my fellow

[17:24] consumers

[17:28] so similar thoughts that you know the

[17:31] first time we saw it we you know had it

[17:32] like from a friday so we just had a

[17:34] couple of days and there were some

[17:35] questions that uh arose

[17:37] um that needed to that evening came out

[17:39] of the discussion that was that um when

[17:41] she presented there were some questions

[17:43] that it was at least in my mind so again

[17:45] i also thought it was important because

[17:47] we're making a very important decision

[17:48] here

[17:49] and we need community input and in

[17:51] addition to that

[17:53] although the school board got to hear

[17:54] both sides of it the city council did

[17:56] not so

[17:57] i personally reached out to the

[17:59] superintendent to make sure that i

[18:00] understood

[18:01] things from both point of views both

[18:04] points of view i think that's extremely

[18:05] important for everyone who's um you know

[18:08] engaged in making decisions in addition

[18:10] to that making sure that i spoke to

[18:13] other administrators other residents and

[18:15] all the people that are involved in this

[18:17] decision-making process so i'm glad that we took the additional

[18:21] two weeks to do that it's not a decision

[18:24] that's going it needs to be rushed um

[18:25] it's going to end up being something

[18:27] that we'll be doing for three years so

[18:29] you know to take two more weeks to make

[18:30] those decisions and make sure we had all

[18:32] the information we needed just um to me

[18:34] made sense so i i appreciate the

[18:36] committee um chair and the members for

[18:37] doing that

[18:39] so

[18:40] any other input or feedback mr moon yeah

[18:43] thank you i'm too glad that we held it

[18:45] for two weeks to to answer some of the

[18:47] questions that council members had and i

[18:49] think most of the question was answered

[18:50] i had an opportunity to have a

[18:52] discussion with superintendent also

[18:54] so we know we have all the answers to

[18:56] our questions and i think we're ready to

[18:58] move forward with it

[19:00] but uh on my side i

[19:02] wanted to suggest or to make a

[19:04] recommendation for just an amendment

[19:06] and i'm just going to read it and

[19:08] have a discussion on it all the

[19:10] reimbursement received from the school

[19:13] districts remain under the police

[19:15] department budget

[19:17] and use to hire mental health profession

[19:20] and to continue to hire a community

[19:22] engagement officer would you mind

[19:23] repeating that

[19:26] all the reimbursement that we're

[19:27] receiving from the school district

[19:29] remains under the school on the police

[19:31] department budget

[19:33] and this money used to hire mental

[19:36] health profession professional and

[19:39] community engagement officers

[19:41] [Music]

[19:45] that is my suggestion to add to this

[19:47] resolution

[19:56] [Music]

[19:58] i would support that because our initial

[19:59] when we initially did our reform and

[20:01] reinvention when we talked about

[20:02] community engagement officers

[20:04] initially they were supposed to be out

[20:06] in the community um and i understand

[20:08] that um having the meeting with the

[20:10] superintendent actually he himself said

[20:12] that when he saw it he said this is

[20:14] something we need in the school so i

[20:15] understand us um including that in the

[20:18] school however we still need to stick to

[20:20] what we said into our reinforced

[20:22] reinvention and make sure that we have

[20:23] community engagement officers in the

[20:25] community as well so if we could use

[20:27] that i won't call it savings because uh

[20:29] but if we could use the money that we're

[20:31] now going to be receiving to make sure

[20:34] that we um still stick to what we said

[20:36] we were going to do what we assimilated

[20:38] to the state i think is extremely

[20:39] important

[20:45] yeah i just want to clear something up

[20:46] we keep talking about the community in

[20:48] the school district because if they're

[20:50] two separate things

[20:52] the school district is part of the

[20:54] community the kids in the school

[20:56] district are part of the community

[20:58] they're not two separate entities so i

[21:01] just want to clear that up

[21:02] and first of all i would like to more

[21:04] clarity as into

[21:06] what is meant by

[21:09] mental health professionals are you

[21:10] talking about training for the police

[21:12] officers

[21:13] or

[21:15] something else

[21:17] earlier today mccarthy and i had a

[21:18] discussion earlier this morning and this

[21:20] afternoon in terms of partnering with

[21:22] mental health

[21:24] organization or

[21:26] county who is already doing or providing

[21:28] service mental health services to

[21:30] partner with them with the police

[21:31] department or to hire somebody directly

[21:34] within the police department to oversee

[21:36] the mental health

[21:38] issues

[21:44] if i was to respond mr palmini i would

[21:45] agree with the portion of your statement

[21:47] however there are many individuals in

[21:49] our city who do not have members their

[21:51] family that are actively in the school

[21:52] district although they are members of

[21:54] the city i think it's appropriate to

[21:56] make sure we're taking steps on both

[21:58] sides to make sure everyone is

[21:59] benefiting from this reform

[22:01] collaborative i know myself although i

[22:03] have a daughter she is not a school age

[22:05] so although we're taking these steps to

[22:08] prepare and

[22:10] better position our staff and students

[22:13] within the school district it's

[22:14] important to make sure that if our

[22:16] intent is to build um better

[22:18] relationships for our community and our

[22:20] police taking these additional steps in

[22:22] the other avenue as well

[22:31] [Music]

[22:34] i would like to move this with the

[22:37] stated amendment to this resolution

[22:41] and i would second it oh sorry also you

[22:43] can boo inside we just have a question

[22:47] almost

[22:48] i'll move it with the intended um

[22:50] changes to the resolution

[22:52] and

[22:54] just mr ferrari how do we handle uh

[22:57] today

[22:59] the school district will hire

[23:01] police officers for sporting events

[23:03] other activities and they reimburse

[23:06] us pretty much 100

[23:09] correct

[23:10] uh

[23:11] does that just go into general revenue

[23:13] or does that go back to offset the

[23:15] expenses within the police department uh

[23:18] the police in our budget we have a

[23:20] budget for a police

[23:23] or activity outside and that goes into that budget category we don't

[23:27] reimburse the police budget now

[23:32] said he will run into the police budget

[23:34] the requirement the

[23:38] should be done it's an amendment to this

[23:41] resolution that's before you or

[23:44] if you want to do a separate resolution

[23:45] just saying that this money is going to

[23:47] go back into

[23:49] whatever

[23:50] line that

[23:52] the chief designates or the two

[23:54] designated so that accounting is

[23:56] consistent with

[24:01] yes as we do

[24:02] uh we're paying out the city is paying

[24:05] 100 percent and the money you receive

[24:07] from the uh school district would we

[24:09] consider a revenue

[24:12] it doesn't offset the uh does not add

[24:14] any money or reimburse the police budget

[24:17] it comes in as a revenue at the end

[24:23] so if you if you wanted to use that

[24:24] money again you would have to

[24:26] reappropriate

[24:27] an expense

[24:29] if you want to use that money to expend

[24:30] for something else

[24:34] as opposed to doing this just do a

[24:36] separate resolution

[24:37] doing a budget amendment saying that the

[24:39] 300 000 is going to go back into

[24:46] [Music]

[25:04] because revenue would be police services

[25:05] and then if you want to offset that

[25:08] revenue you would have to appropriate a

[25:10] budget

[25:11] expenditure

[25:17] [Music]

[25:23] increase the revenue i don't have my

[25:25] budget information police services like

[25:27] 300 000

[25:29] and then you would increase

[25:32] the budget appropriation for

[25:34] police salaries i believe that's a

[25:38] 3-1

[25:39] 31

[25:50] so we can just move the resolution to

[25:52] reallocate reallocate the 100 000

[26:11] i recommend two resolutions one

[26:13] obviously

[26:14] the council is inclined to enter into

[26:17] this agreement with

[26:18] the school district and then a separate

[26:21] resolution

[26:23] stating where uh the reallocation of the

[26:25] three hundred thousand dollars will be

[26:27] made

[26:29] yeah i don't mind doing separate

[26:31] resolution but i just wanna reference

[26:33] into this resolution that we're passing

[26:35] the police

[26:36] community engagement offices reference

[26:37] that where it's going to be going and

[26:39] then to additional resolution okay so

[26:43] great uh our second all those in favor

[26:45] aye

[26:46] all right

[26:47] uh is there any other items the public

[26:49] school advice

[27:05] all right and then we'll have to do the

[27:06] next one for the

[27:09] uh

[27:10] this is reallocation or

[27:12] wasn't that the real elevation that was

[27:13] it that would be one resolution taking

[27:15] in thank you

[27:17] so much

[27:20] perfect thank you

[27:21] any other items to fall for the public

[27:23] safety committee

[27:24] um so if it is not i would

[27:26] have a motion to adjourn so

[27:29] a second all those in favor

[27:36] call to our

[27:37] finance committee and the first item is

[27:40] the 2022 project reappropriation for

[27:43] pasta avenue site

[27:45] mr ferrari

[27:50] council president

[27:51] city council mayor apollophone was out

[27:54] ill today i was very sick but he asked

[27:56] me to come and uh uh

[27:58] get this

[28:00] uh try to get this out front of the

[28:01] council because it needs to be done as

[28:04] you can read from the background of what

[28:05] we sent you uh the dc has inspected some

[28:10] uh a site on foster avenue and uh found

[28:13] that there's potential violations uh so

[28:16] well uh what the city has done they met

[28:18] with dec they met with uh contractors

[28:21] and they uh came up with a plan

[28:23] and uh it turned out the plan uh that

[28:26] they uh approved is with the william

[28:28] learning sons that put the play together

[28:31] to mediate this site

[28:32] and uh

[28:34] the cost

[28:35] of estimated cost is 557 000

[28:38] uh we like to appropriate uh

[28:41] our revenue loss as part of the finance

[28:43] laws that we see that way we don't

[28:45] uh have the money uh that way we'll have

[28:47] to borrow the money that's we don't have

[28:48] to use reserves and uh it's part of our

[28:51] revenue loss that will you know be the

[28:54] best for the city uh to use financially

[29:02] sorry

[29:04] any questions from my colleagues

[29:07] who haven't supported all right the

[29:09] current budget of 4.6 million and yeah

[29:12] um

[29:14] in the actual budget isn't this

[29:16] allocated for salaries or job intentions

[29:18] it's allocated for it as as the thing

[29:20] that i sent you what we do we want to

[29:22] increase that but we're taking it from

[29:24] the

[29:25] revenue loss portion of uh art for

[29:27] revenue

[29:28] because this will be still be considered

[29:30] opera revenue

[29:33] what was the amount i'm sorry what was

[29:35] the amount of money that we originally

[29:36] had in for the salaries for this i

[29:38] thought this was i haven't

[29:46] so we're increasing that revenue line

[29:49] uh by the amount of 557

[29:54] of that uh revenue loss

[29:56] appropriation

[29:58] that's my question thank you

[30:01] any other questions

[30:04] my only concern is that i mean we

[30:06] continue to chip away at the alcohol

[30:08] money and to keep moving money from well

[30:11] this is this is part of that 8.9 million

[30:13] separate from what we what we've done

[30:15] this is the revenue loss

[30:17] from 2019 to 2020 that was separated

[30:21] from that you know that we broke out of

[30:23] the original 26 million you know that

[30:26] was the guideline for the federals

[30:28] that's the one that we're uh we don't

[30:30] have we we don't have that much uh

[30:32] there's no uh what's word i want to use

[30:35] restrictions

[30:36] on that port at a revenue loss portion

[30:41] is there any possible to use money from

[30:43] contingency to offset this because we

[30:44] don't have enough money

[30:53] all right the contingency budget for the

[30:54] year was only 250 000.

[30:57] and we already used half of that already

[31:07] go ahead please

[31:08] i would have to agree with mr munivarian

[31:10] that uh

[31:12] still continuing to pull from the heart

[31:14] of my i get how some things do occur

[31:17] sproutedly throughout the year but i

[31:19] think with already having formulated the

[31:22] advisory committee yeah but this is just

[31:23] separate from that right now

[31:25] this is going to pull from that no it

[31:27] doesn't pull from that 13 million this

[31:29] is the actual revenue loss it's already

[31:31] been budgeted yeah okay so we've got a

[31:33] separate phone number separate from that

[31:34] yeah okay

[31:39] so um it seems like you've already

[31:40] chosen the contractor right he's the one

[31:42] that uh applied and uh

[31:46] out of the contractors uh that all had

[31:48] uh

[31:50] sent there this is the one the dec

[31:51] approved with this and it actually

[31:53] happens to be the lowest uh oh it's a

[31:55] bit too

[31:57] i don't have the other bits with us this

[31:58] is just that's my question because

[32:01] i'm accustomed to seeing three bids and

[32:02] if they're not here one point one point

[32:05] two and seven hundred and seventy and

[32:07] this was uh

[32:10] like i said paul's not here so we don't

[32:12] have all the

[32:13] stuff but i just want to give you you

[32:14] know what it is

[32:17] and the only reason why i do this you

[32:18] know we can probably if you want we take

[32:20] money out of reserves but this is

[32:21] something that we have to do with dec

[32:24] if you don't wish to do that but i'm

[32:26] trying to find the city the best way at

[32:28] the least amount of cost in the long run

[32:35] any other questions

[32:39] [Music]

[32:40] go ahead i mean it's entirely up to the

[32:42] committee whether they move it out

[32:43] tonight or not but i would like to

[32:45] before we formally vote and as a full

[32:46] council would like to see the other bids

[32:48] it's it's a common practice that we see

[32:50] all the bids

[32:51] not a problem

[32:53] well i don't know when paul will be back

[32:55] and he has all that information

[32:57] so can we hold this for two weeks then

[33:01] i think we may be able to get that

[33:03] together for you tomorrow

[33:05] okay

[33:07] he has a better connection to paul and i

[33:08] thought

[33:11] would there be any violation with the

[33:12] dec if we put it on hold for two weeks i

[33:15] mean this is something that we need to

[33:16] move

[33:17] i know that we were you know we told

[33:19] them we're going to do this by the

[33:20] constructing the construction season

[33:22] which is now is made

[33:24] so it says you know site work will begin

[33:27] at the 22 construction season you know

[33:30] so this is actually the construction

[33:32] stuff there where

[33:34] they don't mind us

[33:36] using a temporary basis but we can't

[33:39] leave some of the material there on a

[33:40] long term basis

[33:42] and

[33:45] some of they said that there was a

[33:47] consent order entered into

[33:50] a long time ago we have no record of it

[33:53] and dec didn't have any record of it

[33:56] but

[33:57] so we're trying to avoid that and that's why

[34:00] that's what we're trying to

[34:01] speed the process up

[34:04] so just for clarity so you're swinging

[34:06] out of this the last revenue what we

[34:08] have right now is eight point something

[34:09] million eight point nine two million

[34:11] people

[34:12] so and we have unallocated money

[34:15] in that

[34:16] bucket right now yes taken five seven out of that correct

[34:25] was that money supposed to be set aside

[34:27] for

[34:28] projects

[34:30] yeah well yeah this is not really a

[34:32] capital project this is a what i mean

[34:34] yeah for stuff like this for that you

[34:36] know yeah

[34:37] you know for our lost revenues yep

[34:40] because we lost our revenues because you

[34:41] know we did we lost three million

[34:43] dollars in 2020 you know

[34:46] and

[34:47] uh 2019 you know we had uh

[34:49] two losses you know

[34:56] any other question

[34:58] i'll move

[35:00] it and i would say based on uh the

[35:03] assessment that this is within that

[35:05] budgeted pocket of money out of the

[35:06] second half

[35:09] contingent upon us getting we'll get the

[35:11] traditional information information

[35:13] yeah

[35:15] all in favor

[35:17] aye thank you thank you

[35:21] the next item is the allocation of 30

[35:24] 000 of cdbg funding to the 2022

[35:26] pre-planting

[35:28] collaborative is kristen yet

[35:32] thank you good evening everyone um this

[35:34] is related to the tree planting

[35:36] collaborative program um it's a

[35:38] partnership with retrieve schenectady

[35:39] sjta and community fathers

[35:42] in 2021 this partnership planted over 30

[35:45] trees in hamilton illinois pleasant

[35:47] we're looking to expand it this year um

[35:50] employing six to 12 youth that's going

[35:52] to be based on who applies to the sjta

[35:54] program and who gets assigned

[35:56] um so this is just um an authorization

[35:59] to allocate 30 600 of cdbg funds for

[36:03] this 2022 tree planting collaborative um

[36:06] and to enter any necessary agreements to

[36:09] effectuate

[36:10] this resolution and the program for this

[36:12] year

[36:14] any questions yeah

[36:16] please go ahead

[36:18] i'm curious why this isn't going through

[36:20] schenectady retreat which is what we've

[36:23] typically

[36:24] done never allocated we never retreat

[36:28] provides more of the volunteer services

[36:30] with selecting the species of trees

[36:32] and doing on-site volunteer coordination

[36:37] so the the community fathers pieces is

[36:40] really through the actual training so

[36:43] working with their occupation instead of

[36:45] incarceration

[36:46] as a as a program that they have to

[36:49] basically train

[36:50] um youth and to

[36:52] manage the the summer youth employment

[36:55] piece of it retreat doesn't actually

[36:57] manage the sjta

[36:59] youth so that would be something that

[37:01] would be done through the community

[37:02] father's partnership so then all 30 000

[37:05] will go to the kids

[37:08] yeah and to the yep to that and then to

[37:10] the site leaders in the in the

[37:12] management of the program so do you have

[37:14] a breakdown of

[37:17] the administrative expenses

[37:20] we do i don't do we dan might have do

[37:22] you

[37:23] know more about the breakdown

[37:35] yeah i mean we can send you the

[37:36] breakdown as proposed to be fathers if

[37:38] you'd like to see it it's primarily to

[37:40] manage like the

[37:42] you know somebody has to oversee the

[37:43] children

[37:46] it's actually a whole curriculum we did

[37:48] the first um we did this for the first

[37:51] time last year so there's classroom time

[37:53] that involves training and

[37:55] speakers from you know landscape

[37:57] architecture or city planning or just

[37:59] various

[38:00] um various of the the trades and

[38:02] expertise that would be involved in the

[38:04] plantings so they have the classroom

[38:06] time and then they have the on-site time

[38:08] of actually planting the trees so it's a holistic curriculum that again is

[38:12] in partnership with retreat and the job

[38:14] coaching from sjta

[38:16] um so it's a it's a partnership that

[38:19] really involves all three parties

[38:22] um which includes community fathers

[38:24] actually housing the training and the

[38:27] planting sites

[38:28] i want to see the breakdown

[38:30] when you when you're standing like can

[38:31] you please copy it to the entire console

[38:35] that information

[38:37] thank you

[38:39] clarifying question uh on the agenda

[38:41] says thirty thousand dollars um in the

[38:44] materials it says 30 600 as if this goes

[38:47] through i want to make sure that the

[38:48] resolution is correct it's 30 600. yep

[38:51] okay and that was the budget that was

[38:53] presented and like i said it will be

[38:55] dependent on how many youth actually get

[38:58] we're trying to expand the program this

[39:00] year but that really depends on the you

[39:02] know who gets assigned to it so that funding will also you know if we

[39:08] don't this is the maximum budget like if

[39:10] there was 12 years and we had more than

[39:12] you know we had

[39:14] i guess that's the maximum budget if we

[39:16] didn't utilize it all we would just put

[39:18] it towards the program next year or to a

[39:20] similar program

[39:22] um

[39:23] so we're just getting approval if we get

[39:25] the 12

[39:26] um sjta candidates but we're not sure

[39:28] who we're going to get right now

[39:31] so i just wanted to make that clear

[39:34] any other questions

[39:38] no i don't have a question i just um i

[39:40] you know was familiar with the program i

[39:42] saw what the kids did last year and i

[39:43] think it's we always talk about how we

[39:45] want to engage our youth and make sure

[39:46] we have programs that teach them skills

[39:48] et cetera and this is a um

[39:50] it's just really a great program i

[39:52] actually went once and um helped maybe

[39:55] put a shovel of dirt in i don't know

[39:57] that's it but um

[40:01] but to see them engaged and many times

[40:04] we don't see urban youth um engaging on

[40:06] this level so i think it's a you know

[40:08] it's a good program and community

[40:10] fathers actually have a very good

[40:11] reputation in the community engaging

[40:12] youth and fathers uh and doing this so

[40:15] um yeah really i'm hopeful that we can

[40:17] move forward with this because um

[40:20] as i said it's already proven they did

[40:22] it last year

[40:23] we already have um retreat involved

[40:25] who's continually been doing things and

[40:27] now to just engage our youth is is also

[40:29] a good move

[40:30] so thank you

[40:32] and you have a question

[40:33] i have a motion

[40:38] i would like to see the administrative

[40:40] expenses before i do anything

[40:45] well we'll get you that we'll get that

[40:47] tomorrow to uh

[40:49] tentative breakdown

[40:50] just to understand is it's conditioned

[40:52] upon

[40:53] the actual number of uh

[40:55] youth that are uh

[40:57] assigned to or work under the program

[40:59] yeah because i really want the money

[41:01] going to the kids and

[41:04] that's where i'd like to see it so i

[41:06] will move it on that

[41:07] so we're moving it continuously while

[41:09] i'm getting receiving the information

[41:11] all the favor

[41:13] hi

[41:14] thank you

[41:16] the next item please stay just there the

[41:18] resolution of reallocating seventy

[41:20] thousand dollars to the hamilton hill

[41:22] dropping art and prague association inc

[41:27] yes so um

[41:29] in 2020 we had allocated cdbg cv funds

[41:32] through the cares act to the hamilton

[41:34] hill art center for specific

[41:35] improvements to their building

[41:38] since that time they received additional

[41:40] funding through the state and have

[41:42] expanded their scope of work on the

[41:43] project

[41:45] so they actually have more a capital

[41:47] campaign

[41:48] um to contribute to the reconstruction

[41:52] of the art center which

[41:54] has increased in scope

[41:56] um so we're just bringing this forward

[41:59] to

[42:00] account for that um that we're not moving forward with just

[42:06] the hvac services but we're trying to

[42:07] help with some pre-development costs

[42:10] related to the overall renovation um

[42:12] with the 70

[42:14] 000. so it's basically a change in scope

[42:17] of work of an allocation that was

[42:19] already approved in 2020.

[42:23] any questions

[42:25] may have a motion

[42:28] second all in favor all right

[42:30] the next item is proposed 2022 2023 hot

[42:34] annual action plan we had a public

[42:36] hearing last monday

[42:38] would you like to update us on anything

[42:40] in regards to this um i believe sylvia

[42:43] had sent the

[42:44] public comments to you sam i don't know

[42:46] if those were distributed yet the public

[42:49] comments though

[42:50] from the national public comments

[42:52] no it was just the notes that we had

[42:54] from the public hearing

[42:56] and

[42:58] okay well i think sylvia sent that to

[43:00] you so if we just distribute that to the

[43:03] council yeah i think the next committee

[43:04] cycle will be coming for the approval of

[43:06] the action plan oh

[43:08] so you're not looking for any action

[43:10] here tonight on this item

[43:11] no because our public comment period

[43:13] actually ends on the 5th i believe so we

[43:16] are waiting until the next cycle

[43:18] you guys like just wait till the end

[43:20] yes

[43:38] agenda to hold the public hearing this

[43:42] public hearing we just have to

[43:43] incorporate the minutes

[43:46] from that hearing as part of the grant

[43:48] application

[43:49] and then

[43:51] should we be

[43:52] successful we're cautiously optimistic

[43:55] then when it comes back the council

[43:56] would vote to actually accept the money

[43:59] at

[44:00] some point in the future

[44:03] thank you

[44:04] the next item is

[44:08] financial deposit

[44:09] to consolidated local street and highway

[44:13] improvement program chips

[44:15] mr wallen

[44:20] hi

[44:21] so every year after the state budget has

[44:24] passed

[44:24] we receive a letter from the new york

[44:26] state department of transportation

[44:28] uh detailing a annual appropriated

[44:31] balance for consolidated highway

[44:33] improvement program known as chips the

[44:36] first one we have here is the chips

[44:38] program itself which is chips and it

[44:40] also encapsulates the extreme winter

[44:42] recovery program in the paved new york

[44:44] program

[44:45] our balances are identical to that of

[44:47] last year

[44:48] so

[44:49] totaling

[44:50] almost two million dollars of total

[44:52] funds for our roads

[44:54] and we also use that money for design

[44:56] services and consulting anything having

[44:58] to do with public works or on our

[45:01] streets

[45:02] so that is the first one

[45:06] as well like many chances do you have

[45:07] like a list of the streets that will be

[45:09] participating in this program um

[45:12] well this is just accepting funnel just

[45:14] accepted you don't have you don't have a

[45:15] list

[45:16] i do have a list i can share that but

[45:18] that's a different that's the paving

[45:19] program this is what helps fund the

[45:21] payment program

[45:23] so i can give you that list

[45:25] when we're working on developing it our

[45:27] favorite program is going to be going

[45:29] out in the next week or two please share

[45:30] it to the council so that you have an

[45:32] idea sure plaza and lexington

[45:39] put that on the back

[45:40] thank you

[45:42] any other any questions from alex

[45:46] [Music]

[45:51] the next item is the commission of

[45:53] finance deposit the new york state

[45:55] department of transportation touring

[45:58] program funding

[45:59] and the total amount of 1.6 to 5 million

[46:02] correct

[46:04] this is

[46:05] the second year of the new york state

[46:06] touring route program

[46:08] prior to two years ago the city was

[46:11] solely responsible for the ownership and

[46:13] maintenance of touring routes in the

[46:16] city our touring routes are

[46:18] state street route 5 erie boulevard

[46:22] so if you were to drive into town of

[46:24] niskuna town of colony anything not a

[46:27] city the state owns maintains those

[46:30] roadways in the cities all those

[46:32] roadways were owned and maintained by

[46:34] the city

[46:35] due to some

[46:37] new programming it was decided to set

[46:39] aside money

[46:40] for

[46:41] that it was given out based on how many

[46:43] miles of road you have and our

[46:45] appropriation of this new funding is 1.6

[46:48] million dollars i believe this program

[46:50] right now has a five-year life meaning

[46:53] that this is year two of five years

[46:56] um so this is not like chips where we

[46:58] essentially have gotten it for over a

[47:00] decade

[47:01] but we are using this and it can be used

[47:03] similarly to chips it does not have to

[47:05] be used on state or area we use it to

[47:07] supplement our paving program

[47:10] any questions

[47:12] may have a motion

[47:15] exactly all in favor

[47:17] aye thank you mr

[47:19] any other businesses for finance

[47:22] may have a motion

[47:27] [Music]

[47:30] uh we have 14 items on the agenda

[47:34] however

[47:35] we don't have a quorum for claims so

[47:37] we're going to have to move that

[47:38] particular item into city development

[47:40] and planning as well

[47:42] so

[47:43] um oh mr paul here you are so our first

[47:45] item on the agenda is revocable permit

[47:47] number 669

[47:49] vocal permit 669 is for two awnings at

[47:53] 26 broadway this is the building between

[47:57] finhead susan's and 20 north broadway

[48:00] the building is

[48:02] under new ownership and they would like

[48:04] to put two awnings over the windows

[48:06] these awnings do overhang

[48:08] the city right away and sidewalk

[48:11] there you'll see the little sketch that

[48:13] they have

[48:14] three feet off the building and we have

[48:17] 104 inches so

[48:19] no no issues with these these are kind

[48:20] of typical in that area we have that at

[48:23] the restaurant across the street as well

[48:26] are there any questions

[48:28] i remove this

[48:30] second all those in favor all right

[48:33] the next item on the agenda is a revolt

[48:35] movement number 670

[48:37] this is a similar same applicant they

[48:42] purchased the building

[48:44] across the street

[48:45] closer to the corner of union i believe

[48:48] it used to be like a travel agency and

[48:50] they want to put a similar style awning

[48:52] on the window of this building

[48:54] similar application

[48:56] there we go

[48:58] so that okay

[48:59] right there

[49:00] and

[49:01] uh once again 36 inches no issues so

[49:04] kind of typical for that block

[49:07] 30 inches

[49:09] any questions

[49:11] um move this

[49:13] second all those in favor all right

[49:16] thank you

[49:18] okay uh the next item in the agenda is

[49:21] uh 145 barrett street historic landmark

[49:23] elite agency for seeker sdf

[49:30] so the department of development

[49:32] received a request from one point by

[49:34] fair street to designate this structure

[49:36] um as a historic structure and to apply

[49:39] the overlay historic district to the

[49:41] property so it's currently in the c4

[49:43] downtown mixed use district between

[49:45] franklin street and state street

[49:47] um so this is a three-story brick and

[49:49] wood frame structure originally

[49:51] constructed as a residential townhouse

[49:54] between 1899 and 1900

[49:56] most recently it was used as a jazz club

[49:59] um it's also been was the carpenters

[50:01] union hall from 1928 to 1985.

[50:05] so designating the historic structure to

[50:07] include it in the oh district

[50:10] would open the potential for historic

[50:11] tax credits while also applying the

[50:14] review standards required for properties

[50:16] designated um in the zoning ordinance

[50:19] under the this overlay

[50:21] um

[50:22] so

[50:23] this we have to do for reasons we have

[50:25] to do the three requests the first would

[50:27] be the city council um declaring the

[50:30] intent to act as the agency for the

[50:31] seeker review and commence the 30-day

[50:34] public comment period

[50:36] miss tia do they have to go to the state

[50:38] at all to um to get this historic

[50:41] destination yes

[50:43] so they would do this for that process

[50:44] after

[50:46] yeah i believe

[50:47] and the owner is here um just to be super clear i am the

[51:00] applicant so uh i'm not giving any

[51:03] advice to the commission uh any

[51:05] questions on the lawsuit with mr golden

[51:07] but so this is a local designation local

[51:09] zoning designation

[51:11] it will streamline the process for

[51:13] listing on the state national historic

[51:15] register but it is a separate process

[51:17] entirely so this gives me

[51:20] kind of the zoning protections for that parcel under the city's owning

[51:24] law demolition section and also opens up

[51:27] an avenue for property tax exemption

[51:29] credits for historic rehabilitation and

[51:32] then after this process i will see

[51:34] listing on the state national registers

[51:36] which open up the uh historic tax credit program for

[51:41] qualified rehabilitation expenses

[51:42] [Music]

[51:44] well um so just to be clear so can we

[51:47] really do this before you've gotten it

[51:48] as from

[51:50] designated by the state um yes so uh

[51:53] this is a function of our local zone uh

[51:56] and so this would be the city of

[51:57] schenectady making the determination

[51:58] that the structure is historic which

[52:00] would actually help with the application

[52:03] with the state

[52:04] uh for the national register and the

[52:07] federal register

[52:08] um this is an alternative to creating a

[52:11] historic district so

[52:12] uh

[52:13] it would just apply to that strength of

[52:15] that parcel right yeah here

[52:23] any other questions

[52:25] i'll move this

[52:27] second

[52:29] all those favor all right

[52:33] the next item on the agenda is

[52:35] to refer this item to the planning

[52:37] commission

[52:38] that is correct

[52:41] same same project just referring

[52:44] the to the planning commission for a

[52:45] recommendation

[52:47] so

[52:48] all right oh sorry

[52:51] um this is question mr holden um

[52:53] considering that you know you make sure

[52:55] there's

[52:56] uh this is the city employee so we want

[52:58] to make sure that that's clear and uh do

[53:00] we need to do anything to make any

[53:02] declaration in terms of any conflict do

[53:04] we need to do that that was so conflict

[53:06] um you know he's came here as a private

[53:08] citizen he made it very clear

[53:10] that he's here on behalf of the llc the

[53:12] owner he's a member of i don't know if

[53:14] he's a sole member

[53:15] his partner might be a member too

[53:18] um

[53:19] i don't see any you know

[53:22] legal issue with a conflict

[53:24] okay

[53:25] you're acting independently as a city

[53:26] council if you have legal questions

[53:29] obviously direct related to this

[53:31] particular

[53:32] measure please direct them to me

[53:34] um and not mr martin okay just want to

[53:37] make sure we're clear

[53:38] thank you

[53:39] i will second

[53:41] i was in favor aye

[53:43] okay

[53:44] and now to call for a public hearing

[53:47] 145 bear three

[53:49] so

[53:51] can she

[53:52] just um let's just help

[54:08] all right so sunnyview belmont uh avenue

[54:11] reselling

[54:12] yes so we received a request from

[54:14] sunnyview rehabilitation hospital to

[54:16] change the zoning of three parcels

[54:19] from our one single family

[54:21] to the institutional district

[54:23] these three parcels are currently owned

[54:25] and maintained by sunnyview

[54:27] and they um the size is approximately

[54:30] 0.57 acres

[54:32] it is immediately adjacent to the eye

[54:34] institutional zoning district in which

[54:36] sunnyview and alice hospital campus are

[54:38] located

[54:39] um so sunnyview has been experiencing

[54:42] steady growth over the past decade and

[54:43] they have a new expansion plan for the

[54:46] building

[54:47] so additional parking will be needed to

[54:49] accommodate this new plan because the

[54:51] new plan actually takes up some of their

[54:53] existing parking

[54:55] on the site

[54:57] so

[54:57] that is the proposal

[54:59] and

[55:01] um

[55:03] yes the the uses is allowed within the

[55:06] institutional zoning district

[55:08] and so we are asking that council

[55:11] declared an intent to act as the agency

[55:13] for the seeker review and commence the

[55:16] 30-day public comment period if there

[55:18] are any questions we also have the

[55:19] engineer on the project here

[55:22] if anybody has questions

[55:24] any questions

[55:27] if not i'll obtain a motion

[55:29] second all those in favor hi

[55:32] okay uh sunnyview belmont avenue zoning

[55:34] uh planning commission referral

[55:36] [Music]

[55:37] uh

[55:40] so this is just to refer

[55:42] um refer this request to the planning

[55:44] commission for a recommendation all

[55:46] right

[55:47] any questions

[55:49] uh i'm just getting a motion so

[55:52] second all those in favor all right

[55:54] and um

[55:56] the next one the sunny new belmont

[55:58] avenue resulting request public hearing

[56:00] yep call for a public hearing for

[56:02] rezoning approximately 0.57 acres along

[56:05] belmont ave from our one single family

[56:07] to institutional

[56:08] okay any questions

[56:11] in a motion so

[56:13] second all those in favor

[56:16] thank you i think that's it for you

[56:18] [Music]

[56:20] thank you very much

[56:21] uh just want to the next item on the

[56:23] agenda is to give an update on the rf

[56:25] advisory committee

[56:27] as i sent the email out to council

[56:28] members there was a training last week

[56:30] there were two there was a in person for

[56:32] those that could make it and we also

[56:33] held a virtual so um

[56:35] that the individuals

[56:37] that were that

[56:39] agreed to be on the advisory committee

[56:41] received their training

[56:42] one of the documents the department of

[56:44] development uh was there to make sure

[56:47] that

[56:48] they did all the um technical part of it

[56:50] i was there to just let folks know you

[56:53] know how the committee came about we

[56:55] talked about the tour that the mayor did

[56:57] and the various neighborhoods and just

[56:59] kind of giving background information

[57:01] and obviously including how arpa came

[57:03] about and all of that so um

[57:06] today their applicant they should be

[57:08] seeing their applications

[57:10] and they will start their review process

[57:12] uh in terms of questions we asked them

[57:15] to that miss miss michael the single

[57:18] point of contact to get receive their

[57:20] questions so the questions aren't you

[57:22] know going numerous places and people

[57:24] leaving questions unanswered um so and

[57:27] then she will forward them to to

[57:28] department of development as as

[57:31] is necessary and then you know send the

[57:33] responses as well

[57:34] so that's where we are in the process as

[57:37] we told the folks when they signed on

[57:39] that this will be a four-week process so

[57:41] the intent is that by may 31st this

[57:43] process will be complete and their

[57:46] ratings will um then be submitted

[57:49] to

[57:50] back to the department of development

[57:54] are there any questions about that

[57:57] okay um the next item on the agenda is

[58:01] the ceremony resolution

[58:03] recognizing barbershops as community

[58:05] institutions

[58:06] mr farley is not here tonight however um

[58:09] this is something that's pretty simple

[58:11] um

[58:12] it um may is national barber month along

[58:15] with many other national months and um

[58:18] and for those of you that go to barclays

[58:19] or mutations you know that it's a place

[58:20] where a lot of conversation goes on and

[58:22] maybe some even advice so he just wanted

[58:24] to do a resolution to recognize that

[58:28] so i

[58:30] just entertain a motion for that so

[58:32] second elbows in favor

[58:34] uh do we have

[58:36] all the information in there

[58:38] well he'll

[58:39] yes we'll make sure that he i think the

[58:41] uh resolution of excuse me legislative

[58:43] request is here i'll make sure that he

[58:45] uh that we get the

[58:47] information for the resolution if

[58:48] there's additional information obviously

[58:50] excuse me if there's additional

[58:51] information i saw the legislative

[58:53] requests yeah

[58:54] it's had some things i think there may

[58:55] be more but i'll ask mr farley to make

[58:57] sure that we have it thank you you're

[58:58] welcome uh the next item you can do a

[59:01] resolution for each barbershop oh

[59:04] that's a lot of paper

[59:06] maybe they can pass it around each

[59:08] people will be spending money for trees

[59:09] here

[59:10] [Music]

[59:11] and they can just pass it around

[59:13] everybody hold on to it for a week

[59:15] um the next item on the agenda is a

[59:17] ceremony resolution for national foster care month mr williams

[59:22] thank you so in addition to me being a

[59:25] national embargo month um

[59:27] i thought it was important to

[59:28] intentionally thank

[59:30] the families that have assisted with

[59:32] these impacted communities as they go

[59:34] throughout this process although i was

[59:37] not a person that experienced going through

[59:41] the foster care system is something that

[59:43] very much exists in our country and

[59:45] taking a moment to appreciate the impact

[59:47] that a lot of our local residents have

[59:49] done to help

[59:51] individuals who are succumbed to that

[59:52] system i think is important

[59:55] any questions

[1:00:04] thank you

[1:00:06] and

[1:00:07] the next three items on the agenda and

[1:00:10] time will be an executive session so

[1:00:12] um i would ask for a motion going

[1:00:14] executive session to do

[1:00:16] property sales and also um discussion um

[1:00:21] litigation

[1:00:23] so

[1:00:24] second

[1:00:25] all those in favor

[1:00:26] okay we're in executive session thank

[1:00:28] you

[1:00:31] so much

[1:01:58] you

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, May 2, 2022

Transcript