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[13:53] for Monday November 21st 2022 first time

[13:58] on our agenda is presentation Miss

[14:00] Patrick yes thank you very much

[14:03] president Porterfield I'd like to

[14:05] introduce Mr Neil golub um Neil if you'd

[14:08] like to come up and stand here Marion

[14:10] that'll put you on the camera Neil's

[14:11] going to speak with us this evening

[14:12] about his concept

[14:17] he's going to speak to us about news new

[14:20] Schenectady

[14:21] take it away it's just that simple yes

[14:24] that's it

[14:25] hello hello thank you it's nice to meet

[14:27] you all I don't think I met you all

[14:28] personally but you have my personal uh

[14:31] gratitude and appreciation for letting

[14:34] me be here as many of you know I've been

[14:36] involved in this community for an awful

[14:38] lot of years back in the 80s my Jane

[14:41] before she passed she and I put together

[14:43] with the with the Anti-Defamation League

[14:46] a world of difference and no place for

[14:48] hate and these are programs that are

[14:51] available in our schools K through 12

[14:54] and they were first programs approved by

[14:57] New York state for Statewide use K-12

[15:00] and I'm happy to report that we've had a

[15:03] tremendous amount of success as a matter

[15:05] of fact so much these programs have now

[15:07] become National and probably one of the

[15:09] few that exist in this community we have

[15:12] a lot of schools there are eight schools

[15:14] that have no place for hate as part of

[15:15] their curriculum for the year and

[15:17] Schenectady unfortunately there's only

[15:19] two of them in the region there's eight

[15:21] and entire region there's close to 60

[15:24] odd schools that have put these programs

[15:26] in and they are year-long programs for

[15:28] the students and the schools to work on

[15:31] things to help improve the conditions

[15:35] that exist but I want to talk to you

[15:37] tonight about is the project that I have

[15:40] been working on for a long time as many

[15:41] of you know with Roger ho we started

[15:47] um

[15:48] the effort to bring itself back it's

[15:51] going to keep 2000 was started in about

[15:53] 1993 and we created some very good

[15:58] things with our programming and have had

[16:02] much success in doing that one of the

[16:05] things that we wanted to do was to

[16:07] change the reputation of Schenectady

[16:09] because there had been a long period

[16:11] where our reputation here and really

[16:14] going down the tubes and in 1990 our

[16:17] downtown was described as one of the

[16:19] ugliest in the state of New York and so

[16:22] we attempted to do something to change

[16:24] that in 1997 Bob Farley came to me and

[16:28] said he had an idea and we put together

[16:30] the Metroplex Development Authority

[16:33] which was a unique design which had been

[16:36] brought in from others that have been

[16:39] used in New York state we've got the

[16:40] state legislature to approve it

[16:42] including the Senate and the assembly we

[16:45] did all the lobbying work and then

[16:47] lobbied the governor had this

[16:49] legislation passed and in 1999 we got

[16:53] the Metroplex Development Authority for

[16:55] Schenectady and it has been

[16:57] schenectady's driving engine ever since

[17:00] then and frankly as I look around today

[17:02] I'm frankly amazed at the changes that

[17:06] have occurred in our community and there

[17:08] have been substantial changes and I know

[17:11] when I hear people from Albany and other

[17:13] parts of the community coming here for

[17:16] dinner or for events or activities and

[17:19] giving Schenectady lots of credit but my

[17:22] thought has always been what we have to

[17:24] do to improve our reputation and like

[17:27] we've done so many things here if I said

[17:29] to you all right now do you see the

[17:30] changes that have occurred in

[17:32] Schenectady what would you say yes and I've done this at the Chamber of

[17:37] Commerce meeting I've done it at other

[17:39] meetings over the past number of months

[17:41] I've spoken to literally a hundred

[17:43] different local political Executives and

[17:47] everybody I've talked to has been very

[17:49] positive about the concept and what I'm

[17:53] trying to do is to say that why we've

[17:56] made all these changes there's nothing

[17:58] that separates Schenectady from what it

[18:00] was we still have when we say

[18:03] Schenectady still carries with it that

[18:05] old reputation and what I'm suggesting

[18:08] we do is something very simple and let

[18:10] me give you an example of something that

[18:12] really worked I think we've all heard of

[18:14] the grocery product called tide

[18:17] we use that to clean the wash and so

[18:20] forth as we know well a number of years

[18:22] ago they designed a new tide they had a

[18:26] new formula and they didn't change their

[18:28] name they used the same name and what

[18:30] did they call themselves new tide well I

[18:33] wish you could see what happened to

[18:35] their sales numbers when they did that

[18:37] people heard it they respected it they

[18:40] tried it and they and they changed it

[18:42] and since then over a number of years

[18:45] the word new has disappeared because

[18:46] it's not new anymore but the fact is by

[18:49] using new they got people to hear their

[18:52] name and what I'm trying to do and I've

[18:54] looked at hundreds of names over the

[18:57] past year I've used a marketing

[18:59] consultant locally we've looked the

[19:01] names and it really came to the

[19:03] conclusion that you can't change

[19:04] Schenectady Schenectady is what it is

[19:07] and nobody's going to go for that

[19:09] however I said to myself what happens if

[19:12] we just use one simple adjective new

[19:16] Schenectady

[19:19] well for those of us who know and we

[19:21] hear the term we know what new

[19:23] Schenectady is but for those people who

[19:25] don't know what new Schenectady is

[19:28] they're going to say what do you mean

[19:29] new Schenectady and that gives us a

[19:32] chance to explain it to them there's no

[19:34] cost we don't have to get any government

[19:36] approval to do it it's a word that's

[19:39] here today and gone tomorrow if we

[19:41] should so choose but it gives us a

[19:43] chance to leverage what we've done in a

[19:47] way that people might hear that's

[19:49] Schenectady is today a different place

[19:51] and I know you're all struggling to find

[19:54] a way and certainly this community has

[19:56] many opportunities but you know what

[19:58] there are a lot of wonderful people in

[20:00] this community and we wouldn't be where

[20:02] we are today if it wasn't for the people

[20:04] here that have made such a strong effort

[20:07] to bring this community to a different

[20:09] level and I've spent the last 30 or 40

[20:12] years been working on it and I ain't

[20:14] done yet and I've done until until we

[20:17] find a way that we have some thing that

[20:20] helps us move the Schenectady reputation

[20:22] to a higher level and so I wanted to

[20:25] share with you what the thought was I

[20:27] have worked with my advertising people

[20:29] and by the way it's a very low cost

[20:31] operation I'm not asking for a dime you

[20:34] know okay but I I think we can I think

[20:36] we can pull this off my advertising guys

[20:39] come up with some Billboards that we're

[20:41] working on right now some really clever

[20:44] unique Billboards that would get the

[20:46] message across and some other methods of promotion and advertising that would

[20:52] be good for us we've talked to the

[20:53] people that discover Schenectady and

[20:55] they're anxious to work with us and I

[20:57] think most of the people that we have

[20:58] talked to kind of think it's a good idea

[21:01] so what I was hoping to get is your

[21:04] support and your agreement that you

[21:07] don't think is such a bad idea maybe

[21:08] it's a good idea and maybe we can all

[21:10] help ourselves a little bit and if we

[21:13] can get people from other communities

[21:14] saying what's new snack to go about that

[21:17] gives us a chance to deliver the message

[21:19] so that people can hear and we can be

[21:22] proud of what we've accomplished here

[21:24] and we have all accomplished a lot and

[21:28] this could not have happened without

[21:29] hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of

[21:31] people doing their thing we fortunately

[21:33] have gotten a good leader at the

[21:36] Metroplex who has been able to put lots

[21:38] of deals together and what we created by

[21:42] the way when we when we design Metroplex

[21:44] every town in the city in the county of

[21:47] Schenectady has benefited from the

[21:49] benefits that have accrued as a result

[21:51] of Metroplex

[21:52] the Metroplex has given back to the

[21:55] towns close to 90 over 90 million

[21:58] dollars in tax benefits have gone back

[22:01] to the towns

[22:03] so that the relationship in the towns

[22:05] with the city

[22:07] good very good and I'm hoping we can do

[22:11] more so I'm asking for your support

[22:16] I'll be happy to take any questions

[22:22] I've been stumped you

[22:27] so Mr Gold definitely thank you for the

[22:29] presentation just trying to wrap my head

[22:30] around to what extent so would you have

[22:33] an example of how the designation news

[22:35] connected will be applied like am I

[22:37] having trying to conceptualize it would

[22:39] it be mayor McCarthy city of New

[22:41] Schenectady or whether it be updating

[22:43] cdca

[22:46] one of the things I want this to be is

[22:48] Grassroots and you would call they said

[22:50] all of us and if we all say we live in

[22:53] new Schenectady or this is part of new

[22:56] Schenectady all we're doing is putting

[22:58] an adjective on a term that we have

[23:00] lived with I've been in the city since

[23:03] 1937 a couple years I've got a couple

[23:05] years under my belt okay but I'm still

[23:07] working for Schenectady I haven't given

[23:09] up and I still believe in this community

[23:11] before my dad passed

[23:14] he had tried to turn Schenectady around

[23:17] but unfortunately wasn't able to and he

[23:19] said Neil he says you you have the

[23:21] ability to be able to do it would you

[23:22] please try and work with Roger Hall at

[23:25] Union College at the time and and we did

[23:27] and I think over these years we've come

[23:29] a long way and I think it's a it's a

[23:32] Grassroots thing that we can all do that

[23:34] everybody in this room can do when we

[23:36] talk with our friends and I'm sure when

[23:38] you ask your friends if you've been to

[23:40] Schenectady what do you think they'll

[23:41] give you the same response that people

[23:43] have given me

[23:45] now we got lots of things to do here you

[23:48] know we we played a big role in the Boys

[23:50] and Girls Clubs and this past summer

[23:52] with the police chief we sent 50 kids

[23:55] from from Arbor Hill to the uh to uh

[23:58] Ginger cook for for a week you know

[24:00] there's lots of good things going on

[24:02] here good educational programs hopefully

[24:04] more of the people in the school system

[24:06] will use what we've already given them I

[24:09] underwrite a full-time group of people

[24:11] that teaches no place for hate

[24:13] a full-time organization that goes

[24:16] around to the schools promoting from

[24:18] kindergarten through high school no

[24:21] place for hate and if we could figure

[24:23] that out as a community as people as

[24:25] friends we'd be a much greater community

[24:28] and that's what I'm hoping this will

[24:30] help us do just one more step

[24:35] yep Mr Farley so uh I I want to say I

[24:39] like the idea of new Schenectady

[24:41] um because I think just adding new to it

[24:43] but then you know Schenectady to capture

[24:46] the historic relevance and then all the

[24:48] good things that have happened I think

[24:50] that um some something that we can do

[24:51] better as a city is really highlight the

[24:55] good things that are happening in the

[24:56] city I think that you know to your point

[24:58] um there was a point in time where we

[25:01] um had earned them maybe a reputation

[25:03] that that we shouldn't be proud of but

[25:05] um just really earned it by the way yeah we did I'm about accountable but

[25:09] that's that's behind us and I I give the

[25:11] mayor a lot of credit he's made a lot of

[25:13] very positive change in this unity and

[25:17] at one time I didn't support him but I

[25:19] do now and and and I think he's made a

[25:23] real effort it's a you know it's a group

[25:25] of people all trying to work together so

[25:28] that you can get your thoughts across

[25:29] you know in in business one of the

[25:32] things that I have tried to train my

[25:34] organization is you have to listen to

[25:36] other people you have to hear what they

[25:38] say and it's helpful even if you

[25:40] articulate what they said to make sure

[25:42] that you understand what they said too

[25:45] often people talk and nobody listens and

[25:47] as a result good ideas go by the board

[25:49] if Bob Farley had said had said he said

[25:52] to me that one night he said we can get

[25:55] a Public Authority but it's going to

[25:57] take you and me working together to get

[25:59] it done because it's going to be a big

[26:01] job if I had let that idea go over my

[26:04] head and didn't hear it we wouldn't be

[26:06] where we are today

[26:07] and I happen to be a pretty good

[26:09] listener and I've tried to train my

[26:11] people to be good listeners and I hope

[26:14] as as a council as a city as a county

[26:17] that if we do the same thing we can go a

[26:20] lot farther as a community of people all

[26:22] working together to figure out what our

[26:24] problems are and how do we fix them

[26:26] and I'm doing my share I guarantee it

[26:29] I'm doing my sharing I'm going to

[26:30] continue to do it I don't know how many

[26:32] more years I got around here but I'll

[26:33] continue to keep working

[26:39] my friends coming here by the way

[26:43] well thank you very much Neil everybody

[26:45] any other thing do you have a question

[26:47] nope okay thank you thank you thank you

[26:51] all right I'll give you your mic there

[26:52] thank you very much

[27:05] okay

[27:06] um we only have one member of the

[27:08] finance committee here so we're going to

[27:10] be moving all of those items to City

[27:11] development and planning

[27:13] uh so we'll move on to health and

[27:15] Recreation I'd like to open health and

[27:18] Recreation we have one item on the

[27:19] agenda and that is

[27:21] um I'm proposing that we um

[27:24] create a ceremonial resolution

[27:28] um honoring the Schenectady Belmont Pop

[27:30] Warner cheerleaders who I think all of

[27:33] you know

[27:34] are headed to the Nationals and they're

[27:37] looking to raise some money to do so I

[27:39] think they have a they have a GoFundMe

[27:41] campaign underway already so actually Mr

[27:45] Toro has actually spoken to the coach

[27:47] and we'd love to have them come next

[27:49] week and accept a resolution supporting

[27:51] them and congratulating them for all

[27:53] their hard work I was a cheerleader in

[27:56] high school so I have to say an old

[27:58] cheerleaders you know we don't we don't

[28:00] give up the cheerleading so

[28:02] um that's what I would like to put

[28:04] forward so I'd like a motion for that

[28:08] and a second

[28:10] okay all in favor all right okay thank

[28:14] you very much

[28:15] um and now I'd like a motion to adjourn

[28:17] okay okay

[28:19] all in favor all right okay thank you

[28:22] very much

[28:22] I'd like to call to order student

[28:24] development planning and now we have six

[28:26] items on the agenda the first item on

[28:28] the agenda will be a reminder for the

[28:30] 2023 uh dsad budget and the public

[28:34] hearing is going to be 11 28 and I

[28:35] believe that we have someone here from

[28:37] dsic that was just language would you

[28:39] like to come up

[28:41] foreign

[28:43] [Music]

[28:49] executive director of the new downtown

[28:53] Schenectady Improvement Corporation I

[28:55] gotta keep practicing that but I mean if

[28:57] anybody's been downtown in the last 15

[28:59] years I don't think you would argue that

[29:00] yeah there was a lot of new down there

[29:03] but

[29:04] um

[29:04] I also just want to say my board

[29:06] president Heather Peterson here is an

[29:08] important members Paul Ambrose and

[29:09] Andrea cordov so thanks for being here

[29:12] uh yeah this is our uh this has been a

[29:14] super busy year at the dsac after

[29:19] we all know it's been a challenging few

[29:22] years before that but so um

[29:24] we did a lot of growth a lot of learning

[29:26] and we're really going to be going into

[29:28] 2023 with a real strong

[29:32] programs a real strong suite of programs

[29:35] and we're really excited about

[29:37] everything that we have in store so uh

[29:39] but the budget there you have in front

[29:40] of you at the end there's multiple pages

[29:42] but to the city council here tonight to

[29:46] approve the assessment portion of our

[29:48] budget which is page one but when you

[29:51] get to page three that's sort of our

[29:53] overall budget because of course we want

[29:55] to make sure that city council knows how

[29:58] the assessment fits into the overall

[30:00] budget and our other income and expenses

[30:03] so on page one is you recall

[30:05] in 2020 the city council

[30:09] approved our expansion of our district

[30:11] for the first time in our history so we

[30:14] are now in Little Italy we're all the

[30:16] way up Erie Boulevard to the circle by

[30:18] the casino and then all the way down

[30:20] Broadway to Exit 5 8 90. and at that

[30:25] time because of the expansion the extra

[30:27] work we the strategy that our board had

[30:29] put together to do some incremental

[30:31] increases in the assessment to make sure

[30:33] we had the wherewithal to do all the new

[30:36] programming the new services that we had

[30:38] to do during covid we took a break with

[30:41] that because obviously that was a

[30:43] difficult time and we had to make sure

[30:45] that we were being sensitive to the

[30:47] situation but looking forward to next

[30:49] year again we are back on that strategy

[30:53] so you're seeing our assessment for next

[30:55] year the board is approved for 355 and

[30:59] then there's the base partition

[31:01] participation fee which is the fee that

[31:04] the vast majority of the properties in

[31:06] downtown pay except for some of the

[31:08] larger ones in some

[31:10] core areas of downtown and so that will

[31:12] be at 3 44 2023

[31:17] um

[31:19] you know the second page really is for

[31:21] the board I mean it breaks it down by

[31:22] our different program areas how much of

[31:25] the assessment is going towards

[31:27] different program areas

[31:30] and then page three is the overall

[31:32] budget with

[31:34] the full overview of the income and the

[31:37] expenses and then the last two pages

[31:39] really do break down uh the remainder of

[31:43] that budget by our two main program

[31:44] areas which of course are outdoor

[31:48] cleaning and maintenance and and place

[31:51] making and improvements in downtown and

[31:54] then our marketing and promotions

[31:55] Communications that we do to bring

[31:58] people downtown and make sure everybody

[31:59] knows

[32:01] uh all the great things that are

[32:02] happening in downtown so if anybody has

[32:05] any questions

[32:17] I'd just like to say that I'm just

[32:20] always impressed and with what little

[32:23] really funding you have how much you do

[32:25] and get done and the physical labor

[32:27] that's put out there on a consistent

[32:29] basis so thank you yes everything just

[32:32] looks wonderful all the time yeah thank

[32:35] you we're very fortunate to have a

[32:37] really great strong team that really

[32:40] cares about

[32:41] downtown or what they're doing so um

[32:43] we're very lucky and very fortunate so

[32:45] thank you for recognizing that

[32:48] um How would how would you like move up

[32:49] on State Street a little towards like

[32:53] Mohawk Ambulance or you know what

[32:57] it I think it would be a similar process

[32:59] to what we did back in 2019 where

[33:03] we

[33:04] you know we did the research we looked

[33:07] at the different properties we looked at

[33:08] the impact would be we estimated what

[33:10] the increase in expenses would be for

[33:13] bringing the services up there and then

[33:15] we presented it to the council and then

[33:17] we um

[33:19] yeah

[33:30] 28 to 20 yep okay great Happy

[33:33] Thanksgiving everybody and

[33:36] um also be sure to come down on the

[33:38] small business Saturday on the 26th and

[33:40] Shop small because we've got some green

[33:42] and there's going to be a great video we

[33:43] put together highlighting a lot of the

[33:45] downtown businesses that'll be coming

[33:47] out on social media in the next few days

[33:49] thank you thank you

[33:52] foreign

[33:57] on the agenda is the Upper Union Street

[34:00] business district

[34:01] and the public hearing will also be on

[34:03] the 28th summer

[34:08] hello everybody my name is Antonia

[34:10] Nelson I'm the treasurer of the

[34:12] operating industry bid we had a good

[34:15] year last this year uh we're rounding

[34:18] out the year with the tree lighting

[34:20] ceremony that we're doing a little bit

[34:22] bigger than we have in the past next

[34:25] year we're going to keep the budget the

[34:28] same but we're going to focus on street

[34:30] beautification and improving we have so

[34:33] many banners that we bought this year

[34:36] that are going to be up in a week or so

[34:38] and we're gonna improve with hanging

[34:42] baskets

[34:43] urns flowers maybe some we're looking

[34:46] for some street art things like that

[34:49] that's how

[34:53] um and that's pretty much it

[34:55] does anyone have any questions for me

[34:57] questions Mr Toro I will say coming down

[35:00] Union Street today and the circle by the

[35:04] McDonald's and that's just beautifully

[35:06] decorated it's just it's just a point

[35:08] little section of Upper Union Street

[35:10] that just makes you feel like homey and

[35:12] Welcome to our city so it always looks

[35:15] very nice thank you we're gonna try it

[35:17] for next year to get some more

[35:18] decorations

[35:20] um we're going in the right direction

[35:23] thank you thank you thanks for coming

[35:26] thank you

[35:29] all right guys number three the public

[35:31] hearing uh for this was held on 11 14

[35:34] um for the purchase of

[35:37] um 0.15 acre paper Street behind 588

[35:41] Broadway

[35:42] Mr Mayor

[35:43] yes Madam president at this point asking

[35:46] the council's approval to allow me to

[35:49] enter into a contract to sell that to uh

[35:52] the adjacent property owner

[35:55] which is locating a business on Broadway

[36:02] any questions

[36:05] Miss Patrick so FW Webb that is already

[36:08] confirmed that they're they're coming

[36:10] and locating their business yes

[36:15] I did have the public Hearing in there

[36:17] as you recall there was one business

[36:20] owner who had some concerns regarding

[36:22] that so I just want to remind everyone

[36:23] yes

[36:24] um they thought that it was going to

[36:26] impact their business

[36:27] because they were then not just them but

[36:29] the smaller businesses that um

[36:32] or in the city and and provide the same

[36:35] type of service oh sorry that's right

[36:37] maybe you weren't there

[36:38] well in reviewing that the uh again the

[36:42] company has a presence in the Capital

[36:44] District in fact in the Northeast

[36:47] uh and where I believe the question was

[36:50] whether we were providing some incentive

[36:53] to locate this company here and we're

[36:56] not we're actually selling this piece of

[36:59] property at a premium over what we would

[37:01] normally get and all the property of the

[37:05] city is very valuable but this dead end

[37:07] street

[37:08] is uh

[37:11] my classified as slightly less valuable

[37:14] that they've been more than willing to

[37:15] pay this and they'll give them some

[37:17] parking and they will also Consolidated

[37:21] into the other lot so that going forward

[37:25] it'll be more simplistic for people

[37:27] wanting to do anything with the real

[37:29] estate there

[37:30] well I think people are going to be glad

[37:32] to hear they're not getting some

[37:33] incentive I don't know if Mr Birch I

[37:35] believe it was Kraft

[37:38] mentioned that but he did mention that

[37:40] he thought that it would impact some of

[37:41] the smaller businesses when he came to

[37:43] speak at the um at the council meeting

[37:45] last week

[37:47] they run a great business there we want

[37:49] to promote them and it's just good to

[37:51] have so much interest in this connected

[37:55] any further discussion

[37:57] if not I'll entertain a motion I'll move

[37:59] it

[38:01] um the other second all in favor

[38:04] aye

[38:05] okay the next item for discussion is the

[38:08] medical debt relief relief

[38:11] Mr Farland

[38:13] so thank you madam president so this is

[38:16] just um this uh idea if you will is is

[38:20] you know kind of bringing to the council

[38:23] and its infancy

[38:25] um intentionally because I think that at

[38:26] this point we can you know I'm welcoming

[38:29] people to be thought Partners on how we

[38:31] can do this

[38:33] um this happened in Toledo Ohio and

[38:34] there's another version of this

[38:37] um in uh Chicago I believe

[38:39] um where they were able to leverage

[38:44] um 1.6 million dollars this was 800 from

[38:47] the city

[38:49] um and 800 from the county and they were

[38:52] able to leverage that uh money into what

[38:55] looks like it's going to be about 250

[38:57] million dollars uh to pay off um some

[39:01] medical debt for the citizens residents

[39:02] that live there so I was you know

[39:04] thinking that not only uh really

[39:06] impressed but you know the ability to

[39:09] leverage the funds so that magnitude

[39:12] we're also think about you know

[39:14] what that does for our new Schenectady

[39:18] as we're talking about giving people an

[39:20] opportunity to kind of free themselves

[39:21] up for some debt and they can you know

[39:23] put them in a better position to buy

[39:25] some of those very valuable Parcels of

[39:28] land that the mayor is talking about

[39:30] um I think that this would be you know

[39:32] something that is really worth some

[39:33] investigation there as opposed to the

[39:35] council is even something that would

[39:37] work for us

[39:40] questions

[39:42] thank you

[39:43] um how did they do that is there like an

[39:45] article or somewhere we can read about

[39:47] it or were you presented a little

[39:49] further I mean yeah definitely you know again like I said

[39:52] this is really the beginning stage but I

[39:54] will definitely sure I'll share the

[39:55] article that I read that kind of piqued

[39:56] my interest with the entire Council yeah

[39:58] I would like to do that so I'll make

[40:00] sure I do that

[40:01] um and again that's all you know

[40:04] we could copy and paste you know what's

[40:07] done there you know um I think but you

[40:10] know

[40:10] my initial thought isn't to just do that

[40:13] I think we can kind of take what's

[40:14] worked take what works and then kind of

[40:16] open this up to our larger Community

[40:18] discussion and get input from different

[40:20] stakeholders and you know some people

[40:22] areas of expertise in this to really see

[40:24] if we can leverage that

[40:26] um you know I was thinking about you

[40:27] know all the kind of connective tissue

[40:29] if you will no pun intended around like

[40:31] how how its medical debt is not just

[40:34] impacting people's ability to you know

[40:36] for to move upward economically but

[40:39] really think about even like the health

[40:40] concerns you know like so when people

[40:42] are having you know you know one of the main reasons people don't go to the

[40:47] doctor is when they have some willing

[40:48] medical bills over their head and it's

[40:50] like what that does is that makes us a

[40:52] sicker Community overall because then

[40:53] people go to the doctor when they have

[40:55] to right so it kind of can

[40:57] um you know definitely impact up at

[40:59] one's a bitterly ability to access good

[41:01] medical care as well so it's a lot of

[41:03] different you know kind of positive

[41:05] byproducts as looking at something like

[41:07] this but uh could do for the community

[41:09] so and I'm super excited doctor but you

[41:12] know the way that we can you know

[41:14] leverage such a small amount of money

[41:17] um and to make sure that we can impact

[41:19] so many people like I'm really excited

[41:20] about that I don't know any other parts

[41:22] we can get that type of Leverage out so far in terms of the you know

[41:28] what what's the audience you're talking

[41:30] about is there a specific well let's

[41:33] talk about that so yes on Ohio what they

[41:35] did is um they used four times the

[41:37] federal uh income for property because

[41:42] we all know that that is you know very

[41:45] dated and not uh update updated metric

[41:48] to use so they did four times and I was

[41:51] looking at just kind of like our members

[41:53] locally and if we just use their

[41:54] threshold then I mean we're talking like

[41:56] for families it'll be like 53 of the

[41:59] families that live in 12305

[42:02] um uh 57 on the families that live in uh

[42:06] one two three or four and one two three

[42:09] or eight is 56 actually so like there's

[42:11] definitely you know obviously people in

[42:14] our community that could really benefit

[42:16] for something like this

[42:17] um again I think the part now is once we

[42:20] all get a little bit more information

[42:22] about this and start to look you know

[42:24] Auburn you know our level of expertise

[42:26] to the table and I think it's something

[42:28] that collecting we can do as a counselor

[42:30] to see if this makes sense and I believe

[42:33] it does and you know you know so I

[42:35] really welcome you guys thought Partners

[42:37] on this

[42:39] okay I did a little research on prepping

[42:42] for tonight and I saw that the New York

[42:43] Health Foundation

[42:46] um I think some of the statistics maybe

[42:48] came from that that

[42:49] um the 41 of your perhaps so I noticed I

[42:53] wasn't sure if um perhaps I noticed that

[42:55] the New York State Assembly and the New

[42:57] York State Senate sent legislation to

[42:59] Governor vocal which hasn't been signed

[43:00] yet to help alleviate medical debt

[43:05] um there were two specific areas

[43:07] relating to hospitalization I think

[43:10] so I would be interested in learning

[43:12] more about that I tried to access uh

[43:15] there's there's a lot of data by County

[43:19] um but I couldn't uh I have to go back

[43:22] and try to figure that out I wasn't able

[43:23] to find Schenectady County actually on

[43:25] the list of

[43:28] the entire country by the way is is on

[43:31] this interactive map to see what the

[43:34] percentage was in Schenectady County of

[43:36] people that actually have medical debt

[43:39] but all that information is out there I

[43:42] think that I mean I want to learn more I

[43:44] think that you know obviously there's

[43:46] opportunity for people to

[43:49] Medicaid you know perhaps helps with a

[43:52] lot of this

[43:53] especially for lower income individuals

[43:56] but I need to learn more as well yeah no no we often I think so

[44:02] um there's a there's there's a there's a

[44:05] pretty pretty clear need

[44:07] um but again I think that you know um

[44:10] there's some you know some a memo that

[44:12] was released by The Biden Administration

[44:14] that kind of that that spoke to this as

[44:16] well so I think it would be wise for us

[44:19] to look at you know what's existing or

[44:21] what's likely to come you know even

[44:22] though these bills haven't been signed

[44:24] yet legislation haven't been signed yet

[44:25] you know to kind of look up what's

[44:26] likely to come and you know we can you

[44:29] know use that as you know

[44:31] because again I don't want to just copy

[44:33] and paste you know something from

[44:34] something else I want to be kind of

[44:35] really see how responsive we can be to

[44:37] our community and I was thinking about

[44:39] even um

[44:40] I don't know

[44:43] how many of us have been to the

[44:45] emergency room here in Schenectady as

[44:47] you know in a recent time um and you

[44:49] know unfortunately I mean you have but

[44:52] not unfortunately fortunately we have a

[44:53] team of dedicated medical professionals

[44:55] that are doing the best that they can

[44:58] um but there's also a really really long

[45:01] wait time and this is the emergency room

[45:03] right and you know and I would assume

[45:06] but after you start listening to work

[45:07] because I know that there's there's

[45:08] staff shortages and things of that

[45:09] nature but it's also

[45:11] people you know the emergency room has

[45:13] to treat you right there's a different

[45:15] level of uh obligation when someone

[45:18] comes to emergency as if they go to a

[45:20] different you know a medical facility so

[45:23] what ends up happening is that

[45:26] you have people that might be there

[45:27] might not even be seeking that that

[45:29] might be the appropriate level of care

[45:31] that they need in the moment but

[45:34] if you have people that are waiting to

[45:36] get back to the doctor or waiting to go

[45:38] to the doctor just you know because

[45:39] they're concerned about how this medical

[45:41] bill is going to impact their family

[45:44] then you get a whole bunch of really sick people who missed out on

[45:48] some some preventative care that

[45:50] probably could have helped and then so

[45:52] it not only does it make a secret as a

[45:54] community but then it messes with our

[45:55] access as a city to uh like those

[45:58] Emergency Medical Services and I know

[45:59] the mayor had uh speaking not too long

[46:02] ago about like the different things that

[46:04] are you know different type of

[46:05] innovations that we're trying to use to

[46:07] make sure that uh yeah yeah so so again

[46:10] so I think it watch highlights I think

[46:12] that it's a it's a conversation worth

[46:14] having I think it's a project that we

[46:15] all can kind of wrap our head around and

[46:16] see if we can produce something that

[46:18] improves

[46:22] yes and I think when we're considering

[46:24] that we also have to consider there are

[46:26] some programs in place currently with

[46:28] medical providers that if someone can't

[46:30] pay the bill

[46:31] um you know so we should just look at

[46:32] all aspects of it if we're going to be

[46:35] considering how we could also

[46:36] participate and assist in them so yeah

[46:39] and I did look

[46:41] you know which I would say very limited

[46:43] research if you will around like some of

[46:44] the existing programs and what I think

[46:46] is unique about this is that this um is looking to

[46:51] um completely alleviate that that

[46:54] medical bill is that you know I think

[46:55] that there's programs that exist that

[46:57] are operating on a sliding scale but if

[46:58] you're able to consolidate and you know

[47:02] um from that secondary medical marketing

[47:04] you're kind of consolidating that debt

[47:06] then your ability to leverage it and you

[47:09] know your money is what makes you know

[47:11] such a huge difference but no and I

[47:12] think

[47:13] to your point we really want to consider

[47:15] all things that are existing right now

[47:17] that are helping people because there

[47:18] are things that are helping people I

[47:20] think it's just a matter of scaling and

[47:22] you know it's just a really good

[47:23] opportunity for us to even indeed that

[47:26] much more impactful

[47:28] so what would you like uh so I think so

[47:31] all right so again I'll I'll mail I'll

[47:34] email everyone

[47:35] um kind of the research that I've been

[47:37] doing the Articles I've been looking at

[47:39] and then you know I'm thinking I'm gonna

[47:41] maybe we can um bring it back in a

[47:43] couple weeks and

[47:45] we can talk a little bit more about it

[47:47] as it starts to take a little shape

[47:48] because I think we're in a really good

[47:49] position I've reached out to um Ohio and

[47:53] they um are you know more than willing

[47:55] to kind of help Partners and let us know

[47:58] about what worked for them and then what

[48:00] day and I think we're in a good position

[48:01] to kind of you know they can shorten our

[48:04] learning curve if we will you know kind

[48:05] of using what works with them and what

[48:08] didn't and then we can kind of Identify

[48:10] some of those pitfalls that we won't

[48:11] have to experience so

[48:13] um so I think a couple weeks bringing it

[48:14] back once we have some more of those

[48:16] conversations and I welcome all my

[48:18] fellow council members into again the

[48:20] ballpark designer we could probably have

[48:21] a more defined conversation

[48:24] um so are you just talking about

[48:25] Citywide or so we're just talking about

[48:27] residents of the city well right now

[48:29] right here I'm talking University City

[48:31] because that's you know it's a city

[48:32] council but I have reached out to a bomb

[48:35] um some of the members of accounting

[48:37] Legend they're interested as well to see

[48:38] if it's in that makes sense I'm

[48:40] welcoming

[48:41] as many Community Partners as we

[48:44] possibly can I don't want them to become

[48:46] one of those things where if it's

[48:47] everything it's nothing right for so

[48:48] many you know but I wanted to be

[48:50] manageable but I really uh welcome you

[48:53] know people's air expertise and passion

[48:55] around the subjects I think that it

[48:58] clearly is a really issue for our city

[49:00] okay we'll look forward to hearing some

[49:02] of the information for you

[49:04] okay

[49:05] um the next item on the agenda is the

[49:07] amended MOA with Metroplex

[49:10] for the Reconstruction of South Church

[49:11] Street

[49:12] McCarthy

[49:14] thank you madam president uh Council had

[49:17] authorized the city to enter into an

[49:19] agreement with Metroplex to

[49:21] manage and coordinate the development of

[49:25] what's generally referred to as South

[49:27] Church Street some of that was uh city

[49:30] property in the streets some of it was

[49:33] adjacent property owned by private

[49:35] entities some of this County property

[49:39] the project has been completed I think

[49:42] people have gone down there see how much

[49:44] better it looks parking's been approved

[49:47] lighting's been improved it was one of

[49:48] the reasons that we were able to attract

[49:52] Van Gogh coming into the Armory was just

[49:56] having those improvements there

[49:59] unfortunately the costs were a little

[50:02] bit higher than what the original

[50:03] estimates were we found an underground

[50:06] tank some of the lighting things that

[50:09] were a little more complicated so that

[50:11] the original agreement doesn't have a

[50:14] dollar amount that allows me to now

[50:16] assign the final contract with Metroplex

[50:18] The increased cost is about 154

[50:23] 000.

[50:25] it's uh unfortunate but it's money

[50:28] that's been well spent and again is

[50:32] generating a level of activity at that

[50:34] end of the street that end of State

[50:36] Street where we just hadn't seen it so

[50:39] just continuing to build out downtown

[50:41] and would ask the council's favorable

[50:44] consideration to allow me to or to

[50:48] modify that dollar amount and allow me

[50:50] to enter into the Metroplex

[50:53] let's repeat the amount that's increased

[50:55] by uh it's roughly 154 thousand dollars

[51:00] okay

[51:02] any other questions

[51:05] I'll leave it a second okay the money is

[51:07] in the paving budget the money's already

[51:10] there okay well that's always good a

[51:14] second all those in favor

[51:15] aye aye thank you thank you okay our

[51:19] final final uh agenda item is the sale

[51:21] of two three four Dwayne Avenue and for

[51:24] this property sale we will need to go to

[51:26] Executive session

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, November 21, 2022

Transcript