1 00:00:00,659 --> 00:00:02,760 I'd like to call the city Caucus meeting 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,259 to order 3 00:00:04,259 --> 00:00:07,760 ladies and gentlemen 4 00:00:07,770 --> 00:00:15,350 [Music] 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,039 I'd like to call the city Caucus meeting 6 00:00:17,039 --> 00:00:20,939 to order for Monday January 9th 2023 7 00:00:20,939 --> 00:00:23,340 and we will open with Prayer by Reverend 8 00:00:23,340 --> 00:00:32,150 Amare Tanya Santos 9 00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:35,579 as we prepare to listen and consider the 10 00:00:35,579 --> 00:00:37,800 state of the city address and as a city 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,360 council convenes for his first meeting 12 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,840 as a plenary in 2023 We Gather to call 13 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,600 on every source of inspiration for 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,660 excellence admiration and goodness it is 15 00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:51,480 my hope that we can find manifold 16 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:53,579 reasons to be thankful this evening even 17 00:00:53,579 --> 00:00:56,760 in the midst of the very real and 18 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:58,739 profound challenges faced by far too 19 00:00:58,739 --> 00:01:01,320 many in our beloved city of Schenectady 20 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,080 And We Gather in prayer because as a 21 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,900 community of leaders we must seek to be 22 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:09,600 guided in our discernment and empowered 23 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,240 in our actions by everything that is 24 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:17,220 true holy righteous pure lovely and 25 00:01:17,220 --> 00:01:19,140 worthy of praise 26 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:21,060 and it is seeking to be guided and 27 00:01:21,060 --> 00:01:23,700 empowered in these ways that I invite 28 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:26,360 you to join me in prayer 29 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,520 Everlasting source of Truth and Love 30 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,280 in whom we leave and move and have our 31 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,400 being as individuals and as a community 32 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,860 give us purity of heart and strength of 33 00:01:37,860 --> 00:01:40,680 purpose that no selfish passion May 34 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,079 hinder us from knowing your will 35 00:01:43,079 --> 00:01:46,579 no weakness keep us from doing your will 36 00:01:46,579 --> 00:01:49,259 that in your light we may see light 37 00:01:49,259 --> 00:01:52,439 clearly and in your service find perfect 38 00:01:52,439 --> 00:01:54,000 freedom 39 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,320 open unto us light for our Darkness 40 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,100 open unto us courage for our hatred 41 00:02:02,100 --> 00:02:05,700 open unto us hope for our despair 42 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:09,060 open unto us peace for our turmoil 43 00:02:09,060 --> 00:02:12,480 open unto us joy for our sorrow 44 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,260 open unto us strength for our weakness 45 00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:19,920 open unto us wisdom for our confession 46 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,620 open unto us forgiveness for our 47 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:24,060 shortcomings 48 00:02:24,060 --> 00:02:28,080 open unto us love for our fear 49 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,220 open unto us your holy self for our 50 00:02:32,220 --> 00:02:34,020 human self 51 00:02:34,020 --> 00:02:37,319 to you all sorts of goodness open unto 52 00:02:37,319 --> 00:02:42,050 us we pray amen 53 00:02:42,060 --> 00:02:44,040 thank you Reverend Santos and I'd like 54 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,420 to just first of all wish everyone a 55 00:02:45,420 --> 00:02:48,000 Happy New Year tonight the mayor will be 56 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,379 presenting his state of the city address 57 00:02:49,379 --> 00:02:54,290 mayor McCarthy you have the floor 58 00:02:54,300 --> 00:02:59,940 [Applause] 59 00:02:59,940 --> 00:03:01,319 president 60 00:03:01,319 --> 00:03:03,959 Reverend thank you other distinguished 61 00:03:03,959 --> 00:03:05,760 members of the clergy that are here 62 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,000 thank you for joining us tonight 63 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,560 appreciate the work and the service that 64 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:18,770 you provide to our community every day 65 00:03:18,780 --> 00:03:21,420 council president Mr Majority Leader 66 00:03:21,420 --> 00:03:23,819 members of the city council thank you 67 00:03:23,819 --> 00:03:25,620 for the opportunity to address you 68 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:26,819 tonight 69 00:03:26,819 --> 00:03:31,200 as we start our 225th year as a city 70 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,739 I'm looking to talk to you about housing 71 00:03:33,739 --> 00:03:37,379 continued development Public Safety and 72 00:03:37,379 --> 00:03:40,070 city services 73 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,180 I want to thank our department heads and 74 00:03:42,180 --> 00:03:43,920 the city staff for the work they do 75 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,500 every day for the residents of our city 76 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:48,239 and especially how they stepped up 77 00:03:48,239 --> 00:03:50,760 during the pandemic to make sure that 78 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,459 our city ran smooth and it's great to 79 00:03:53,459 --> 00:03:55,620 see everyone out here tonight 80 00:03:55,620 --> 00:03:59,940 I see uh judge Hoffman is with us he's 81 00:03:59,940 --> 00:04:03,060 been retired a few days 82 00:04:03,060 --> 00:04:04,920 we got to find a way to put you back to 83 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,280 work judge it's done uh I see Mark 84 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,799 little joined us who's uh again 85 00:04:10,799 --> 00:04:12,720 contributed so much to this community 86 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,620 his role at Global r d for GE the 87 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:19,100 service on the Smart City commission 88 00:04:19,100 --> 00:04:22,199 his and Terry's contributions to the 89 00:04:22,199 --> 00:04:25,380 community on an ongoing basis uh Neil 90 00:04:25,380 --> 00:04:28,740 golub uh we're just so lucky to have all 91 00:04:28,740 --> 00:04:30,740 the talent that we have within this room 92 00:04:30,740 --> 00:04:34,560 I want to thank my staff that helped put 93 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,540 this all together coordinates all this 94 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:40,020 John coluccio Alex Sutherland Michelle 95 00:04:40,020 --> 00:04:42,900 Davis Amy Hill 96 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:45,060 can some of the people who are joining 97 00:04:45,060 --> 00:04:47,220 us tonight our district attorney Robert 98 00:04:47,220 --> 00:04:50,460 Carney uh distinguished members of the 99 00:04:50,460 --> 00:04:52,979 County Legislature Rich Russo Rich 100 00:04:52,979 --> 00:04:57,440 paternity Gary Hughes Omar McGill 101 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,600 assembly member Angelo Santa Barbara is 102 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,400 in route and should be here shortly 103 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:04,199 hopefully when they come from the state 104 00:05:04,199 --> 00:05:06,180 if they bring a check it always livens 105 00:05:06,180 --> 00:05:09,360 up in these meetings then 106 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,699 uh former city council member Sean 107 00:05:11,699 --> 00:05:12,919 O'Brien 108 00:05:12,919 --> 00:05:17,759 uh Sunni president steady mono I don't 109 00:05:17,759 --> 00:05:20,040 know if it's Dr Professor just all 110 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,300 around good guy to Shabazz uh helped us 111 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:25,979 so much with some of the work we're 112 00:05:25,979 --> 00:05:29,460 doing in the reform uh with the police 113 00:05:29,460 --> 00:05:32,280 department uh the police collaborative 114 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,759 and the work is doing to help us with 115 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:38,580 Recruitment and education within law 116 00:05:38,580 --> 00:05:39,919 enforcement 117 00:05:39,919 --> 00:05:44,340 uh Deputy superintendent uh Lynn Rudnick 118 00:05:44,340 --> 00:05:46,380 with us from the school district thank 119 00:05:46,380 --> 00:05:49,620 you for joining us uh former School 120 00:05:49,620 --> 00:05:52,380 Board member our former city council 121 00:05:52,380 --> 00:05:54,180 member and current School Board member 122 00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:57,419 Kathy Lewis thank you for uh 123 00:05:57,419 --> 00:06:00,479 stopping by tonight 124 00:06:00,479 --> 00:06:03,720 Schenectady is a leading Community with 125 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,479 new housing initiatives work continues 126 00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:08,940 on the next phase of the 300 unit 127 00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:10,860 Northside Village 128 00:06:10,860 --> 00:06:13,919 home ownership opportunities are still 129 00:06:13,919 --> 00:06:15,780 the Cornerstone of my award-winning 130 00:06:15,780 --> 00:06:18,900 homes program in construction of market 131 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:21,300 rate Apartments remains strong in this 132 00:06:21,300 --> 00:06:22,199 community 133 00:06:22,199 --> 00:06:25,020 the last several years we have produced 134 00:06:25,020 --> 00:06:28,979 over 1100 units of newly built or 135 00:06:28,979 --> 00:06:31,380 renovated affordable housing in the city 136 00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:32,940 of Schenectady 137 00:06:32,940 --> 00:06:35,230 [Applause] 138 00:06:35,230 --> 00:06:40,979 [Music] 139 00:06:40,979 --> 00:06:43,139 our Partnerships with the federal and 140 00:06:43,139 --> 00:06:45,000 state government are producing Real 141 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,000 Results congressman tanko and Governor 142 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,759 hokel have been very supportive in 143 00:06:50,759 --> 00:06:52,979 creating Innovative housing options and 144 00:06:52,979 --> 00:06:55,680 assisting us here in Schenectady 145 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,740 Congressman tanko was able to secure in 146 00:06:58,740 --> 00:07:01,139 recent Federal legislation a million 147 00:07:01,139 --> 00:07:03,960 dollars for a community virtual power 148 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:05,699 plant project 149 00:07:05,699 --> 00:07:07,560 we have partnered with a local company 150 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,520 Echo long who's CEO Nancy Min is joining 151 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,280 us tonight 152 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,780 this will be done in conjunction with 153 00:07:15,780 --> 00:07:18,360 the Brookhaven National Laboratory this 154 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,220 project will place highly efficient 155 00:07:20,220 --> 00:07:23,099 components into homes that will lower 156 00:07:23,099 --> 00:07:26,099 heating cooling and lighting cost by 30 157 00:07:26,099 --> 00:07:28,800 percent and what we expect it may grow 158 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,440 to as much as 50 percent with some of 159 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,120 the machine learning that's being 160 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,340 developed by the Brookhaven National Lab 161 00:07:35,340 --> 00:07:37,680 and this is a nationally recognized 162 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,660 program and deployment that's happening 163 00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:41,940 here in the city of Schenectady the 164 00:07:41,940 --> 00:07:44,280 Clean Energy Efficiency modifications to 165 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,139 low and moderate income residential 166 00:07:46,139 --> 00:07:49,139 buildings will include on-site clean 167 00:07:49,139 --> 00:07:51,840 energy generation such as solar and 168 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:53,400 battery storage 169 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,740 building loads will be optimally 170 00:07:55,740 --> 00:07:58,259 controlled using machine learning for 171 00:07:58,259 --> 00:08:01,380 energy use reductions in demand in 172 00:08:01,380 --> 00:08:04,860 generation flexibility to lower overall 173 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:06,539 energy cost 174 00:08:06,539 --> 00:08:08,580 each building will be connected and 175 00:08:08,580 --> 00:08:11,400 coordinated to further optimize the 176 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,039 demand and flexibility and again this is 177 00:08:14,039 --> 00:08:17,580 going to serve as a national model 178 00:08:17,580 --> 00:08:20,460 I'm looking to incorporate the community 179 00:08:20,460 --> 00:08:23,099 virtual power plant in a soon to be 180 00:08:23,099 --> 00:08:24,900 formally announced affordable home 181 00:08:24,900 --> 00:08:27,780 ownership opportunity on Summit Avenue 182 00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:30,780 working with aik properties whose 183 00:08:30,780 --> 00:08:32,700 principle is also with us tonight Pam 184 00:08:32,700 --> 00:08:34,399 swanigan 185 00:08:34,399 --> 00:08:37,039 and MLB 186 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,200 construction who is one of the 187 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,060 principals Damien Pinto Martin is here 188 00:08:44,060 --> 00:08:49,200 will construct on 15 vacant city-owned 189 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:50,880 properties they're going to get 190 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,339 converted into 31 units of affordable 191 00:08:53,339 --> 00:08:55,320 housing using this higher level of 192 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,959 technology which will again make them 193 00:08:57,959 --> 00:08:59,640 much more energy efficient and while 194 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,220 these are going to be applied to some 195 00:09:02,220 --> 00:09:04,440 low and moderate income housing the 196 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,120 technology that's being developed is 197 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,300 applicable across housing not only Here 198 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:11,519 in Schenectady but really across the 199 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:12,720 country 200 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,860 DePaul properties on Crane Street their 201 00:09:16,860 --> 00:09:20,040 Mosaic Apartments will transform several 202 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,980 Parcels of vacant land and buildings in 203 00:09:22,980 --> 00:09:24,720 the Mount Pleasant commercial Corridor 204 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,540 into 60 units of new quality affordable 205 00:09:27,540 --> 00:09:28,740 housing 206 00:09:28,740 --> 00:09:31,500 this is the same developer that did the 207 00:09:31,500 --> 00:09:34,620 Joe Allen Apartments on Albany Street 208 00:09:34,620 --> 00:09:36,540 and this is just up the street from the 209 00:09:36,540 --> 00:09:38,899 recently developed Orchard Park 210 00:09:38,899 --> 00:09:42,800 and down the street from the new 211 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,480 Pleasant County Library it's actually 212 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,279 not quite as new now it's been a couple 213 00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:49,320 of years but really great projects 214 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,600 within the neighborhood 215 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,000 the former Elmer Avenue School on 216 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,920 Eastern Avenue received some local 217 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,680 financial support and it's recently been 218 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,140 awarded state and federal housing tax 219 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:04,220 credits to transform the building into 220 00:10:04,220 --> 00:10:08,399 Elmer Gardens a senior housing complex 221 00:10:08,399 --> 00:10:10,740 developed by home Leasing and better 222 00:10:10,740 --> 00:10:13,200 Community neighborhoods the project will 223 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,839 convert the historic Elmer Avenue School 224 00:10:15,839 --> 00:10:20,640 into 51 apartments for adults aged 55 225 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,880 and older and 26 homes will be reserved 226 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:25,740 for seniors in need of Supportive 227 00:10:25,740 --> 00:10:29,279 Services to live independently these 228 00:10:29,279 --> 00:10:31,380 units will be funded through an Empire 229 00:10:31,380 --> 00:10:33,779 State Supportive Housing Initiative 230 00:10:33,779 --> 00:10:34,800 award 231 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,380 I thank governor hokel and her team at 232 00:10:37,380 --> 00:10:40,080 Housing and Community Renewal for this 233 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,300 critical support that makes possible our 234 00:10:42,300 --> 00:10:44,640 efforts to renovate the historic Elmer 235 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,000 Avenue School and create the new Elmer 236 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,519 garden senior housing 237 00:10:50,519 --> 00:10:52,800 our unified economic development team 238 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,820 led by Metroplex in the chair Ray Gillen 239 00:10:56,820 --> 00:10:58,860 is here with us tonight 240 00:10:58,860 --> 00:11:01,079 worked on this project for several years 241 00:11:01,079 --> 00:11:03,360 and while it was not an easy deal to put 242 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,519 together this award of the highly 243 00:11:05,519 --> 00:11:08,279 competitive tax credits is a recognition 244 00:11:08,279 --> 00:11:10,079 that our team with the governor's 245 00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:14,399 support has once again been successful 246 00:11:14,399 --> 00:11:16,720 foreign 247 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,670 [Applause] 248 00:11:18,670 --> 00:11:25,190 [Music] 249 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,180 we're proud to support the construction 250 00:11:27,180 --> 00:11:29,399 of Bethesda house new eight and a half 251 00:11:29,399 --> 00:11:33,180 million dollar facility Cara house 252 00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:36,180 which will include 26 units of permanent 253 00:11:36,180 --> 00:11:39,720 Supportive Housing 11 units with 16 beds 254 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:41,779 of emergency housing for adults 255 00:11:41,779 --> 00:11:44,519 experiencing homelessness and those 256 00:11:44,519 --> 00:11:46,200 re-entering the community from 257 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,000 incarceration 258 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,760 facility being built on a previously 259 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,519 vacant city-owned lot at 910 State 260 00:11:53,519 --> 00:11:54,779 Street 261 00:11:54,779 --> 00:11:57,839 will expand Critical Care in safe and 262 00:11:57,839 --> 00:12:00,060 secure housing for our most vulnerable 263 00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:01,320 residents 264 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,120 we're grateful to have the opportunity 265 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,220 to support this project and share 266 00:12:05,220 --> 00:12:08,459 Bethesda House's call to create 267 00:12:08,459 --> 00:12:11,940 healthier safer and a thriving community 268 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:14,399 I also want to thank again Neil golub 269 00:12:14,399 --> 00:12:16,940 again for his personal contribution 270 00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:21,640 which made this project possible 271 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,000 [Music] 272 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,920 kneels cars the one out front that has 273 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:27,540 the bumper sticker that says new 274 00:12:27,540 --> 00:12:31,550 Schenectady on it 275 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,200 also the New York State Office of 276 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,380 temporary and disability assistance 277 00:12:36,380 --> 00:12:39,000 nyserda and our partners in Schenectady 278 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,160 County who have supported this year's 279 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,320 Long effort to make this project a 280 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,060 reality 281 00:12:45,060 --> 00:12:47,519 I said before work continues at the 282 00:12:47,519 --> 00:12:49,620 North Side village on Van branken Avenue 283 00:12:49,620 --> 00:12:52,500 both Hillside Crossing on Albany Street 284 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:55,139 and Renaissance Square just off Eastern 285 00:12:55,139 --> 00:12:58,440 Avenue are open and fully occupied these 286 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,560 developments represent over 180 million 287 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,579 dollars of investments in our community 288 00:13:05,579 --> 00:13:08,270 foreign 289 00:13:08,270 --> 00:13:13,800 [Applause] 290 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:15,899 we received a record amount of Home 291 00:13:15,899 --> 00:13:17,700 funds through the American Rescue plan 292 00:13:17,700 --> 00:13:19,560 to reduce homelessness and increase 293 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,360 housing stability 294 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,880 this award is shared with the city of 295 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,180 Troy in the town of colony the majority 296 00:13:27,180 --> 00:13:28,980 of these funds will be used for 297 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:30,839 additional affordable housing 298 00:13:30,839 --> 00:13:32,399 opportunities in the respective 299 00:13:32,399 --> 00:13:34,920 communities 300 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,160 recently the 2.3 million dollar Restore 301 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:40,860 New York award for the wedgeway building 302 00:13:40,860 --> 00:13:42,600 at the corner of state and Erie 303 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,540 Boulevard was the second largest award 304 00:13:45,540 --> 00:13:48,000 within the region and the sixth largest 305 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,760 award in the state which will enable the 306 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,920 restoration of this vacant blighted and 307 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,320 historically significant structure in 308 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,000 the heart of downtown 309 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,820 we're lucky to have Mark Paquin and his 310 00:13:59,820 --> 00:14:02,040 team at Cass Hill development now owners 311 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,860 of this site they have transformed they 312 00:14:04,860 --> 00:14:07,019 will transform this corner into a great 313 00:14:07,019 --> 00:14:09,380 addition in downtown 314 00:14:09,380 --> 00:14:11,060 [Applause] 315 00:14:11,060 --> 00:14:12,790 [Music] 316 00:14:12,790 --> 00:14:13,940 [Applause] 317 00:14:13,940 --> 00:14:16,680 [Music] 318 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:19,440 the Adaptive reuse of historic buildings 319 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,860 adds character art to our community the 320 00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:25,019 Foster and Edison buildings are great 321 00:14:25,019 --> 00:14:28,800 projects home to a great restaurant The 322 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,860 Nest the Edison Banquet Hall in housing 323 00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:34,200 to new people who are moving to our 324 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,019 community and if you have not stopped at 325 00:14:37,019 --> 00:14:39,600 the Armory Studio to see the van Gogh 326 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,180 immersive experience please put it on 327 00:14:42,180 --> 00:14:43,920 your schedule because it's got a few 328 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,279 more weeks of being there 329 00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:51,060 I was doing a quick count and I think on 330 00:14:51,060 --> 00:14:54,540 this list there are only 39 projects but 331 00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:57,120 I see John Roth in the audience in the 332 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:58,860 public hearing tonight for the Masonic 333 00:14:58,860 --> 00:15:01,380 temple historic district overlay later 334 00:15:01,380 --> 00:15:02,880 on the agenda 335 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,279 so the city council should be able to 336 00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:07,320 assist in the financing to make this 337 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,720 restoration possible so that we can add 338 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,459 it to the list and round that number up 339 00:15:11,459 --> 00:15:16,400 to an official Ford 340 00:15:16,410 --> 00:15:18,120 [Music] 341 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,459 thank you 342 00:15:20,459 --> 00:15:23,040 just the last few years we've reduced 343 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,839 the number of vacant properties in the 344 00:15:24,839 --> 00:15:27,360 city of Schenectady by more than 50 345 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,240 percent but distressed property still 346 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,160 drives a lot of our costs for code 347 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,980 enforcement police fire and related 348 00:15:34,980 --> 00:15:38,399 expenses on top of the lost property tax 349 00:15:38,399 --> 00:15:40,440 revenue 350 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,839 the cities of Albany Schenectady and 351 00:15:42,839 --> 00:15:46,260 Troy obtained a settlement of over 665 352 00:15:46,260 --> 00:15:49,620 thousand dollars in a coordinated zombie 353 00:15:49,620 --> 00:15:52,680 property lawsuit against Ocwen Financial 354 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:57,300 Corporation and PHH Mortgage in July of 355 00:15:57,300 --> 00:16:00,660 2021 utilizing New York State zombie law 356 00:16:00,660 --> 00:16:03,720 the three cities filed 18 lawsuits 357 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,860 covering 18 properties with over 502 New 358 00:16:07,860 --> 00:16:10,860 York State building code violations this 359 00:16:10,860 --> 00:16:13,139 coordinated action sent a strong message 360 00:16:13,139 --> 00:16:15,660 to Mortgage Services across the state 361 00:16:15,660 --> 00:16:17,820 that they must properly maintain 362 00:16:17,820 --> 00:16:21,060 properties upon which they foreclose and 363 00:16:21,060 --> 00:16:23,519 bring foreclosure proceedings to a 364 00:16:23,519 --> 00:16:25,079 timely completion 365 00:16:25,079 --> 00:16:28,740 also in the city of Schenectady judge 366 00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:32,940 found El AK al-haq LLC guilty of 367 00:16:32,940 --> 00:16:35,399 multiple property code violations at 368 00:16:35,399 --> 00:16:36,959 eight properties in the city of 369 00:16:36,959 --> 00:16:39,060 Schenectady and imposed fines totaling 370 00:16:39,060 --> 00:16:41,820 over 600 thousand dollars 371 00:16:41,820 --> 00:16:43,920 the city Law Department prosecuted the 372 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,860 cases and proved numerous violations 373 00:16:46,860 --> 00:16:51,000 going back to 2018 and I thank Andrew 374 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,980 Colden and the team and the corporation 375 00:16:52,980 --> 00:16:54,959 council's office for their work on that 376 00:16:54,959 --> 00:16:58,189 project 377 00:16:58,199 --> 00:17:01,019 city of Schenectady was a winner in the 378 00:17:01,019 --> 00:17:03,480 IDC government's Insight fifth annual 379 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,839 smart cities North America Awards the 380 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:08,640 city was recognized in the 381 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,040 administration category for our 382 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,439 community data our community officials 383 00:17:13,439 --> 00:17:16,140 data exchange commonly referred to as 384 00:17:16,140 --> 00:17:17,400 code 385 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,160 this project that shares data around 386 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,319 problem property owners and best 387 00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:24,660 practices in Code Enforcement with the 388 00:17:24,660 --> 00:17:26,939 goal of using data to address Urban 389 00:17:26,939 --> 00:17:29,160 blight in our communities 390 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,020 we thank the New York State Department 391 00:17:31,020 --> 00:17:33,660 of State and the center for technology 392 00:17:33,660 --> 00:17:35,880 and government the applied Research Unit 393 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,160 the University of Albany for their 394 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,320 partnership and continued engagement in 395 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,419 the work together that we're doing to 396 00:17:42,419 --> 00:17:44,880 address the stress property we're 397 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,039 grateful to receive this recognition for 398 00:17:47,039 --> 00:17:49,740 our joint efforts to Target blight in 399 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:51,900 the harm that it does to our 400 00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:56,150 neighborhoods quality of life 401 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,440 since I've been mayor my focus has 402 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,919 continued to prioritize the sale of 403 00:18:00,919 --> 00:18:03,840 foreclosed properties and to create home 404 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,760 ownership opportunities 405 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:11,820 since 2013 chart shows that we have sold 406 00:18:11,820 --> 00:18:19,910 over 817 properties 407 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,679 [Music] 408 00:18:21,679 --> 00:18:25,559 a number of those are vacant Lots but 409 00:18:25,559 --> 00:18:28,440 most of them again have been 410 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,900 put there in our creating home ownership 411 00:18:30,900 --> 00:18:33,600 opportunities throughout our city and 412 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,520 it's an ongoing effort I appreciate the 413 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,799 work that the city council does and the 414 00:18:37,799 --> 00:18:40,980 staff does to make that all possible 415 00:18:40,980 --> 00:18:43,080 at the same time this program is 416 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,480 producing real Revenue these sales have 417 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,120 generated 13 and a half million dollars 418 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:50,760 in revenue and it's just not that 419 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,620 purchase price but getting the property 420 00:18:52,620 --> 00:18:54,720 back on the tax rolls and the 421 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,179 reoccurring property tax revenue that is 422 00:18:57,179 --> 00:18:59,880 being generated by competent and 423 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,520 conscientious landlords and property 424 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:04,440 owners 425 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:09,240 prior to covid we had a cutter tax rate 426 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,940 for five consecutive years 427 00:19:11,940 --> 00:19:15,539 today our tax rate is still six and a 428 00:19:15,539 --> 00:19:19,170 half percent less than it was in 2015. 429 00:19:19,170 --> 00:19:26,090 [Applause] 430 00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:28,679 and we actually lowered the tax rate by 431 00:19:28,679 --> 00:19:32,220 one cent a thousand for 2023 when we did 432 00:19:32,220 --> 00:19:34,380 the final computations before the tax 433 00:19:34,380 --> 00:19:36,539 bills were sent out so we're continuing 434 00:19:36,539 --> 00:19:38,400 that trend 435 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,320 our assessed value of property in the 436 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,020 city continues to steadily rise with a 437 00:19:43,020 --> 00:19:48,409 total value of over 2.4 billion dollars 438 00:19:48,419 --> 00:19:51,000 this summer the city of Schenectady and 439 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,280 local community organization hosted the 440 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,640 inaugural 518 common Unity cup 441 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,620 local law enforcement and Community 442 00:19:58,620 --> 00:20:00,840 organizations participated in a 443 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,419 five-week summer Sports series that was 444 00:20:03,419 --> 00:20:06,419 kicked off during National Night Out 445 00:20:06,419 --> 00:20:10,020 the 518 common Unity cup was a five-week 446 00:20:10,020 --> 00:20:13,140 summer Sports series with one cause the 447 00:20:13,140 --> 00:20:14,100 community 448 00:20:14,100 --> 00:20:16,340 during the eighth month of the year 449 00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:19,200 there were events held every Tuesday in 450 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:19,980 August 451 00:20:19,980 --> 00:20:23,100 basketball kickball football softball 452 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:25,860 dodgeball and field games and the 453 00:20:25,860 --> 00:20:27,799 locations were Jerry Burrell Park 454 00:20:27,799 --> 00:20:30,780 Bellevue 4th Street Park Schenectady 455 00:20:30,780 --> 00:20:33,360 High School Central Park at the Mount 456 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:35,400 Pleasant Middle School 457 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,320 and we're looking to make that an annual 458 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,960 event and I want to thank will Rivas 459 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,360 who's here tonight and the event 460 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:44,700 sponsors we can give will a round of 461 00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:45,980 applause here 462 00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:52,250 [Music] 463 00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:54,900 thank you to thank will and the event 464 00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:57,059 sponsors on this successful Community 465 00:20:57,059 --> 00:20:59,940 Partnership this is an exciting new 466 00:20:59,940 --> 00:21:02,340 event designed to promote activities for 467 00:21:02,340 --> 00:21:04,320 local Youth and serve to strengthen the 468 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,419 bonds within our community and I thank 469 00:21:06,419 --> 00:21:08,400 all the dedicated Community Partners 470 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,460 who've made that possible 471 00:21:11,460 --> 00:21:15,059 in 2020 we saw historic lows in criminal 472 00:21:15,059 --> 00:21:18,000 activity due to the covid pandemic we 473 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,100 unfortunately have seen an uptick in 474 00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:22,860 crime since then and these graphs show 475 00:21:22,860 --> 00:21:26,160 the last over the last 10 years 476 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,240 our part one violent crime is still 20 477 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,360 percent lower than what it was in 2012. 478 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,179 I first came in as mayor and property 479 00:21:36,179 --> 00:21:40,200 crimes are 18 percent lower than 2012. 480 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,520 a lot of the data that's quoted today 481 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,380 references the historic lows that 482 00:21:46,380 --> 00:21:48,900 occurred during covet crime was down 483 00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:51,780 economic activity was down people were 484 00:21:51,780 --> 00:21:54,360 laid off from jobs everything had a 485 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:56,880 lower base and so people have to put 486 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:58,500 things into perspective and understand 487 00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:00,960 what the real numbers are when you're 488 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840 doing economic comparisons 489 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,200 last week we added nine police officers 490 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,480 who graduated from the zone five Academy 491 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,150 and I hired six 492 00:22:13,150 --> 00:22:18,289 [Music] 493 00:22:18,299 --> 00:22:20,940 and I hired six officers who will start 494 00:22:20,940 --> 00:22:23,400 at the police academy this will bring us 495 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,220 closer to full Staffing and enable the 496 00:22:26,220 --> 00:22:28,080 public to see a greater level of 497 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,200 deterrence to criminal activity 498 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,720 the city is partnering with transfinder 499 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,360 who CEO Tony savitel is here tonight 500 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:42,830 Tony are you great 501 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,900 on the development 502 00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:48,900 and pilot deployment of Patrol finder 503 00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:51,840 it's a GIS software that will increase 504 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,539 police officer efficiency 505 00:22:54,539 --> 00:22:56,640 dramatically improve the flow of 506 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:58,559 information to and from the patrol 507 00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:01,980 officer expand Community safety and 508 00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:04,620 forward-facing transparency 509 00:23:04,620 --> 00:23:07,140 I'm doing this solely as a teaser 510 00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:08,940 putting it out there because we're not 511 00:23:08,940 --> 00:23:10,860 going to get into the full details of it 512 00:23:10,860 --> 00:23:14,039 that Tony and the team at transfinder 513 00:23:14,039 --> 00:23:16,020 Chief Clifford and the members of the 514 00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:18,120 Schenectady Police Department are going 515 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:21,059 to do a formal announcement on this next 516 00:23:21,059 --> 00:23:24,360 Tuesday the 17th at 9 30 at the GE 517 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,059 theater in the Proctors campus and I 518 00:23:27,059 --> 00:23:29,400 invite everyone to stop and see that and 519 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,799 again we thank the transfinder team for 520 00:23:31,799 --> 00:23:34,730 their work 521 00:23:34,740 --> 00:23:36,960 we continue to develop a new 522 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,419 telemedicine platform with Ellis 523 00:23:39,419 --> 00:23:42,140 Hospital insurance carriers United 524 00:23:42,140 --> 00:23:45,360 concierge medicine and ideon and are 525 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,460 looking to expand our Partnerships with 526 00:23:47,460 --> 00:23:50,990 other providers 527 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,340 the country saw the value of immediate 528 00:23:53,340 --> 00:23:55,679 and appropriate Medical Care last week 529 00:23:55,679 --> 00:23:57,659 with the fluke incident with Buffalo 530 00:23:57,659 --> 00:24:01,380 Bills safety Demar Hanlon and I wish him 531 00:24:01,380 --> 00:24:04,260 the best in his continued recovery 532 00:24:04,260 --> 00:24:07,440 but having trained and equipped 533 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,620 Personnel that immediately respond 534 00:24:09,620 --> 00:24:13,159 produce in that case and every day 535 00:24:13,159 --> 00:24:16,559 life-saving results about 70 percent of 536 00:24:16,559 --> 00:24:18,659 the calls to our fire department are for 537 00:24:18,659 --> 00:24:21,360 Emergency Medical Services 538 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,059 we're able to put apparatus with fully 539 00:24:24,059 --> 00:24:25,860 trained paramedics in front of your 540 00:24:25,860 --> 00:24:27,840 house in three to four minutes from that 541 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,659 9-1-1 call 542 00:24:30,659 --> 00:24:34,740 the current protocols have paramedics 543 00:24:34,740 --> 00:24:36,720 put the patient in the ambulance and 544 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,360 transport them to the emergency room 545 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,659 if there's trauma a cardiac or stroke 546 00:24:42,659 --> 00:24:44,820 event that's clearly the best way to 547 00:24:44,820 --> 00:24:47,880 treat the patient but most cases most 548 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,360 patients don't need the full Suite of 549 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:53,039 services that are provided in an 550 00:24:53,039 --> 00:24:54,720 emergency room 551 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,760 we're using our well-trained and 552 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,980 equipped paramedics to do a more 553 00:24:58,980 --> 00:25:01,500 detailed diagnostic evaluation in the 554 00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:04,260 field with direct observation and 555 00:25:04,260 --> 00:25:06,360 consultation with emergency room 556 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:10,020 certified UCM Physicians the patient can 557 00:25:10,020 --> 00:25:12,360 then be directed to the most appropriate 558 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:13,919 level of care 559 00:25:13,919 --> 00:25:16,380 it could be an urgent care center their 560 00:25:16,380 --> 00:25:18,600 personal doctor maybe an Imaging 561 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,159 facility where you're not sure if 562 00:25:20,159 --> 00:25:22,559 somebody has a twisted sprained ankle or 563 00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:24,299 broken ankle 564 00:25:24,299 --> 00:25:27,600 or even the emergency room but doing it 565 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,179 on a scheduled basis is opposed to kind 566 00:25:30,179 --> 00:25:31,860 of the random event 567 00:25:31,860 --> 00:25:35,159 through the 9-1-1 call 568 00:25:35,159 --> 00:25:39,890 you go there with a non-life-threatening 569 00:25:39,900 --> 00:25:43,080 set of circumstances or symptoms you can 570 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,919 sit there for a long period of time 571 00:25:45,919 --> 00:25:49,200 in some of this it's to level that flow 572 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:54,120 in the emergency room and also uh 573 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,400 cases where people maybe should just be 574 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,620 left at home it's our partnership with 575 00:25:58,620 --> 00:26:00,900 ideon that's going to allow a high level 576 00:26:00,900 --> 00:26:03,299 of monitoring for patients that are left 577 00:26:03,299 --> 00:26:05,520 in place 578 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,299 but by getting individuals quick and 579 00:26:09,299 --> 00:26:12,059 appropriate level of care it will 580 00:26:12,059 --> 00:26:14,400 improve the outcome and reduce the 581 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,460 overall cost of Health Care again this 582 00:26:17,460 --> 00:26:20,760 is being looked at as a national model I 583 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:21,940 thank the men 584 00:26:21,940 --> 00:26:28,669 [Applause] 585 00:26:28,679 --> 00:26:30,980 thank Chief Marino we have some of the 586 00:26:30,980 --> 00:26:32,880 members of the Schenectady fire 587 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,279 department with us tonight thank you for 588 00:26:35,279 --> 00:26:37,140 the work that you do every day and 589 00:26:37,140 --> 00:26:39,240 really part of this Innovative and 590 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,580 transformational program 591 00:26:41,580 --> 00:26:45,120 [Applause] 592 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:51,710 foreign 593 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,549 fix 594 00:26:55,559 --> 00:26:57,480 everybody doesn't have it on your phone 595 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,360 put it on before you leave tonight 596 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,700 we continue to see an increase in use of 597 00:27:02,700 --> 00:27:05,039 our online platform for residents to 598 00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:07,200 contact the city with issues or 599 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,320 questions after our first full year of 600 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,840 deployment we're very happy with the 601 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,880 utilization and look to continue to 602 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,340 promote its use by our residents is just 603 00:27:17,340 --> 00:27:20,100 one more way to better manage citizen 604 00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:22,559 requests and to assure appropriate 605 00:27:22,559 --> 00:27:24,900 follow-up last year we were able to 606 00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:30,179 successfully close out 1500 requests 607 00:27:30,179 --> 00:27:32,700 we've now completed the conversion of 608 00:27:32,700 --> 00:27:35,580 all our 4 000 plus utility pole mounted 609 00:27:35,580 --> 00:27:39,720 street lights uh in the city to Smart 610 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:41,760 LEDs 611 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,070 [Applause] 612 00:27:44,070 --> 00:27:47,470 [Music] 613 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,179 this mesh network has reduced our 614 00:27:51,179 --> 00:27:54,360 electric use by over 1.6 million 615 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:58,850 kilowatt hours every year 616 00:27:58,860 --> 00:28:01,200 this next slide shows some of the 617 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,140 equivalent impacts of that savings you 618 00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:08,580 know it's over 50 000 trash bags uh 619 00:28:08,580 --> 00:28:11,580 would be recycled 20 620 00:28:11,580 --> 00:28:14,279 000 trees seedlings growing for 10 years 621 00:28:14,279 --> 00:28:17,279 again it's a significant positive impact 622 00:28:17,279 --> 00:28:19,500 it reduces our costs it's 623 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:22,320 environmentally sustainable and in fact 624 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,900 the lighting on the streets are higher 625 00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:26,760 level and better than what they were 626 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,500 before 627 00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:30,299 our public Wi-Fi deployment 628 00:28:30,299 --> 00:28:33,000 neighborhoods is also steadily increased 629 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,400 which has been critical to many 630 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,159 residents throughout the pandemic 631 00:28:38,159 --> 00:28:41,100 they want to acknowledge Camille 632 00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:43,140 susanowski and Christine Moore from the 633 00:28:43,140 --> 00:28:46,260 goose Hill Neighborhood uh 634 00:28:46,260 --> 00:28:48,179 give me a hard time because I said the 635 00:28:48,179 --> 00:28:50,220 North End would be sooner in this 636 00:28:50,220 --> 00:28:52,500 program that it actually ended up being 637 00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:54,299 which was more of an engineering 638 00:28:54,299 --> 00:28:56,159 decision but this is in our next phase 639 00:28:56,159 --> 00:28:58,440 and it's highlighted there so we're 640 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,539 coming to the North End 641 00:29:00,539 --> 00:29:02,880 I remind residents of the interactive 642 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,460 Wi-Fi map we have on our website to keep 643 00:29:05,460 --> 00:29:08,100 everyone posted on where we currently 644 00:29:08,100 --> 00:29:10,080 have this service 645 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,380 networking of All City facilities with a 646 00:29:13,380 --> 00:29:16,440 fiber backbone is found is a 647 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,899 foundational part of this project in 648 00:29:18,899 --> 00:29:21,179 we're more than halfway there and I want 649 00:29:21,179 --> 00:29:23,640 to thank Nathan Roberts from nice Tech 650 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,159 who's here in the work he does every day 651 00:29:26,159 --> 00:29:27,840 in the guidance that that organization 652 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,179 has given us in terms of deploying and 653 00:29:30,179 --> 00:29:32,700 implementing this we have installed over 654 00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:34,559 115 655 00:29:34,559 --> 00:29:37,380 public Wi-Fi access points throughout 656 00:29:37,380 --> 00:29:40,679 the city there are 304 additional access 657 00:29:40,679 --> 00:29:43,140 points that are going to be installed in 658 00:29:43,140 --> 00:29:45,779 the near future through the cares act 659 00:29:45,779 --> 00:29:48,539 Grant and our total project will have 660 00:29:48,539 --> 00:29:50,480 1500 661 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,140 with the full city-wide deployment 662 00:29:55,140 --> 00:29:57,120 to show just how important this network 663 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,820 has been for residents in just the past 664 00:29:59,820 --> 00:30:01,799 year there have been almost a million 665 00:30:01,799 --> 00:30:04,140 and a half visits to our Network this 666 00:30:04,140 --> 00:30:07,440 was driven by over 53 000 unique 667 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,520 visitors in 19 2022 and that's up from 668 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:16,320 forty five thousand in 2021. 669 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,620 can we're looking to continue to expand 670 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:22,679 this and I hope everybody's Wi-Fi access 671 00:30:22,679 --> 00:30:25,799 tonight is working or or John I'm going 672 00:30:25,799 --> 00:30:30,230 to have to yell at you 673 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,020 our Partnerships uh continue to produce 674 00:30:34,020 --> 00:30:35,419 Real Results 675 00:30:35,419 --> 00:30:39,000 uh the solar Consortium with Schenectady 676 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,640 County again it's from replacing the 677 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,100 city street lights with Advanced LEDs to 678 00:30:44,100 --> 00:30:46,140 building the municipal solar arrays to 679 00:30:46,140 --> 00:30:49,260 expanding our EV charging infrastructure 680 00:30:49,260 --> 00:30:51,679 to Growing our Municipal Fleet 681 00:30:51,679 --> 00:30:55,380 uh proud to continue the electric City's 682 00:30:55,380 --> 00:30:58,200 Innovative Legacy by Leading The Way on 683 00:30:58,200 --> 00:30:59,279 climate 684 00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:01,559 the city of Schenectady has previously 685 00:31:01,559 --> 00:31:03,360 received a climate smart Community 686 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,539 certification through DEC and a clean 687 00:31:06,539 --> 00:31:08,700 energy Community designation through 688 00:31:08,700 --> 00:31:10,919 nyserda 689 00:31:10,919 --> 00:31:13,020 I want to thank everyone and all the 690 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:15,059 volunteers who helped organize the 691 00:31:15,059 --> 00:31:17,399 Capital District Drive electric week in 692 00:31:17,399 --> 00:31:19,559 sustainability Fair 693 00:31:19,559 --> 00:31:22,020 to celebrate National Drive electric 694 00:31:22,020 --> 00:31:24,960 week Here in Schenectady 695 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:26,880 and this was done in conjunction with 696 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,760 the Green Market Schenectady was the 697 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,279 largest National Drive electric week 698 00:31:32,279 --> 00:31:34,320 event in the country by the number of 699 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,270 registered participants 700 00:31:37,270 --> 00:31:38,880 [Applause] 701 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:44,090 [Music] 702 00:31:44,100 --> 00:31:46,080 and we continue to take advantage of 703 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,179 incentives and Partnerships as we build 704 00:31:48,179 --> 00:31:51,840 out our infrastructure and shift the 705 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,419 fleet over to vehicles that are far more 706 00:31:54,419 --> 00:31:56,700 sustainable 707 00:31:56,700 --> 00:31:58,919 it'll be formally announced next week 708 00:31:58,919 --> 00:32:01,260 that Schenectady has been selected as 709 00:32:01,260 --> 00:32:03,960 the electric vehicles Association EV 710 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:08,250 city of the year in 2022. 711 00:32:08,250 --> 00:32:14,220 [Music] 712 00:32:14,220 --> 00:32:16,200 the electric vehicle association is 713 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:18,120 North America's leading volunteer 714 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,640 organization that accelerates the 715 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,760 adoption of electric vehicles 716 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,940 the climate vulnerability and adaptation 717 00:32:26,940 --> 00:32:29,399 report done by our staff identified 718 00:32:29,399 --> 00:32:31,860 critical the critical role that Urban 719 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:34,399 trees play in combating air pollution 720 00:32:34,399 --> 00:32:36,960 reducing the heat island effect and even 721 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,000 improving Mental Health 722 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,179 DEC provided funding to complete our 723 00:32:42,179 --> 00:32:44,159 city-wide tree inventory and management 724 00:32:44,159 --> 00:32:47,279 plan uh Kenneth Brooks I believe is here 725 00:32:47,279 --> 00:32:49,140 tonight 726 00:32:49,140 --> 00:32:52,260 from uh ground up Landscaping who in 727 00:32:52,260 --> 00:32:54,120 conjunction with Community fathers 728 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,220 worked with us to plant over a hundred 729 00:32:56,220 --> 00:32:58,980 trees throughout the city of Schenectady 730 00:32:58,980 --> 00:33:00,840 this last year we looked to continue 731 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,000 that effort as we go forward 732 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,330 [Applause] 733 00:33:04,330 --> 00:33:10,549 [Music] 734 00:33:10,559 --> 00:33:12,480 garbage collection is one of our 735 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,460 greatest services that we provide to our 736 00:33:14,460 --> 00:33:16,559 residents unfortunately we're still 737 00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:18,840 facing two issues with that 738 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,480 a recycled material we used to have it 739 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,700 taken away at little or no cost today 740 00:33:23,700 --> 00:33:28,380 our cost is just under 62 dollars a ton 741 00:33:28,380 --> 00:33:30,260 for disposal 742 00:33:30,260 --> 00:33:34,080 and compared to our MSW that's standard 743 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,620 municipal waste is it only at forty four 744 00:33:37,620 --> 00:33:39,960 dollars a ton so again it costs us more 745 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,659 to dispose of recyclables than it does 746 00:33:42,659 --> 00:33:44,820 for just regular garbage 747 00:33:44,820 --> 00:33:47,340 and we're still dealing with individuals 748 00:33:47,340 --> 00:33:50,039 who put out extraordinary quantities of 749 00:33:50,039 --> 00:33:52,320 garbage I look forward to working with 750 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,019 the city council to address this issue 751 00:33:55,019 --> 00:33:58,140 and our code and trying to create some 752 00:33:58,140 --> 00:34:00,899 process by which we can shift that 753 00:34:00,899 --> 00:34:02,940 burden to those individuals that drive 754 00:34:02,940 --> 00:34:05,279 up some of those dramatic costs and not 755 00:34:05,279 --> 00:34:07,740 have it go back onto the homeowners who 756 00:34:07,740 --> 00:34:09,839 really play by the rules and do 757 00:34:09,839 --> 00:34:12,179 everything that's right 758 00:34:12,179 --> 00:34:14,220 I appreciate the city council's early 759 00:34:14,220 --> 00:34:17,550 support for a new pool in Central Park 760 00:34:17,550 --> 00:34:25,020 [Applause] 761 00:34:25,020 --> 00:34:26,940 this is moved a little slower than I'd 762 00:34:26,940 --> 00:34:28,800 like but it will allow us to deal with 763 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:30,679 the state department of Health's 764 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,000 compliance issues with the current pool 765 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:34,859 it's going to reduce our overall 766 00:34:34,859 --> 00:34:37,200 maintenance issues and this facility 767 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,639 we'll complement our previous 768 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:41,460 investments in music Haven the a diamond 769 00:34:41,460 --> 00:34:45,960 in the Central Park tennis courts 770 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,179 we rededicated the Central Park a 771 00:34:48,179 --> 00:34:50,280 diamond last year to the famed William 772 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,339 Buck Ewing Ewing was a star catcher for 773 00:34:53,339 --> 00:34:55,859 the Mohawk Giants who used the Central 774 00:34:55,859 --> 00:34:59,220 Park field as their home field from 1924 775 00:34:59,220 --> 00:35:03,180 to 1943. Buck Ewing spent five years in 776 00:35:03,180 --> 00:35:05,420 the Negro Leagues including three years 777 00:35:05,420 --> 00:35:09,480 1928 to 1930 with the famed Homestead 778 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:10,980 grays 779 00:35:10,980 --> 00:35:13,200 this Improvement of these improvements 780 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,839 this facilities were made possible by a 781 00:35:15,839 --> 00:35:17,700 million and a half dollar Grant from 782 00:35:17,700 --> 00:35:20,520 assembly speaker Carl Hasty and assembly 783 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,300 member Santa Barbara and stack 784 00:35:24,300 --> 00:35:26,099 [Music] 785 00:35:26,099 --> 00:35:30,170 foreign 786 00:35:30,180 --> 00:35:32,960 we look forward to starting construction 787 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:35,700 in the spring for Jerry Burrell Park 788 00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:39,060 upgrades that's a million three in 789 00:35:39,060 --> 00:35:41,400 investment in that facility this will 790 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,410 include 791 00:35:44,420 --> 00:35:46,320 [Applause] 792 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,060 this will include a new Splash Pad 793 00:35:48,060 --> 00:35:50,820 basketball court seating area lighting 794 00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:53,220 and public art again this was possible 795 00:35:53,220 --> 00:35:55,079 because of support from New York state 796 00:35:55,079 --> 00:35:57,660 parks Schenectady County and it 797 00:35:57,660 --> 00:35:59,640 complements the Investments made by the 798 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,040 city of Schenectady 799 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,200 we continue to plan upgrades in other 800 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,000 Parks we have projects for both 801 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,760 Hillhurst and Fairview Park and the 802 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:10,579 Bellevue neighborhood 803 00:36:10,579 --> 00:36:13,740 they're designed and ready to be bid for 804 00:36:13,740 --> 00:36:15,960 construction this year these projects 805 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:17,640 were designed with the input from the 806 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,339 Bellevue preservation Association in the 807 00:36:20,339 --> 00:36:22,440 Mohawk pickleball League 808 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,839 again we're going to put one full tennis 809 00:36:24,839 --> 00:36:27,240 or basketball court there two half 810 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,000 courts six pickleball courts and 811 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,700 refurbished the two tennis courts in 812 00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:34,859 Fairview Park 813 00:36:34,859 --> 00:36:37,980 the Schenectady Municipal Golf Course I 814 00:36:37,980 --> 00:36:41,339 generated an all-time record in 2022 of 815 00:36:41,339 --> 00:36:44,339 over 1.4 million dollars the course 816 00:36:44,339 --> 00:36:47,339 continues to be recognized as a regional 817 00:36:47,339 --> 00:36:50,220 asset in its quality and the really 818 00:36:50,220 --> 00:36:53,160 fantastic plane opportunities there and 819 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,790 I thank Matt Daly and the team 820 00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:57,200 [Applause] 821 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:58,240 [Music] 822 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:06,230 [Applause] 823 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,060 the 3.1 million Francis Avenue bridge 824 00:37:09,060 --> 00:37:10,980 deck replacement was completed through 825 00:37:10,980 --> 00:37:13,260 the New York State competitive Bridge 826 00:37:13,260 --> 00:37:15,060 New York program 827 00:37:15,060 --> 00:37:17,220 the project included the complete 828 00:37:17,220 --> 00:37:19,260 removal and replacement of the concrete 829 00:37:19,260 --> 00:37:22,859 bridge deck the sidewalks and increased 830 00:37:22,859 --> 00:37:25,140 lighting and I again appreciate the 831 00:37:25,140 --> 00:37:27,359 tolerance of the neighbors because we 832 00:37:27,359 --> 00:37:29,400 closed that bridge so that allowed the 833 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,300 project to move at a faster Pace 834 00:37:32,300 --> 00:37:35,940 but it did create some inconvenience for 835 00:37:35,940 --> 00:37:37,500 the neighbors and residents who wanted 836 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:40,260 to use it these essential upgrades to a 837 00:37:40,260 --> 00:37:41,940 vital link connecting to Mount Pleasant 838 00:37:41,940 --> 00:37:44,520 and Hamilton Hill neighborhoods also 839 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,260 complements the recent pedestrian 840 00:37:46,260 --> 00:37:49,140 improvements at the Forest Road in 841 00:37:49,140 --> 00:37:51,720 Francis Avenue intersection and I'd like 842 00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:54,480 to congratulate and thank Chris Wallen 843 00:37:54,480 --> 00:38:00,650 our city engineer 844 00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:02,400 the team in the engineering department 845 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,560 and our project Consultants on this 846 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,359 successful completion of this critical 847 00:38:06,359 --> 00:38:09,839 infrastructure project in our community 848 00:38:09,839 --> 00:38:12,180 last year the city of Schenectady paved 849 00:38:12,180 --> 00:38:15,000 14 miles of Road 850 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,960 we paved more miles in 2022 than any 851 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,820 year in the past decade 852 00:38:23,830 --> 00:38:26,400 [Music] 853 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,980 and we're slated to receive four million 854 00:38:28,980 --> 00:38:34,859 dollars in 2023 in the state budget 855 00:38:34,859 --> 00:38:36,839 the current process used by the city 856 00:38:36,839 --> 00:38:38,940 council for special assessment for 857 00:38:38,940 --> 00:38:41,700 sidewalk replacement I believe is too 858 00:38:41,700 --> 00:38:43,020 complex 859 00:38:43,020 --> 00:38:45,420 it has many variables that residents 860 00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:47,940 find hard to understand 861 00:38:47,940 --> 00:38:49,920 I'm going to submit legislation to the 862 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,980 council and ask you to put in place 863 00:38:52,980 --> 00:38:56,880 a fixed cost of 55 dollars per foot of 864 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:59,339 sidewalk for the property owner which 865 00:38:59,339 --> 00:39:02,280 could be financed from 10 15 or 20 years 866 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,079 at the council or the resident's 867 00:39:04,079 --> 00:39:05,339 discretion 868 00:39:05,339 --> 00:39:08,099 the city would assume the liability for 869 00:39:08,099 --> 00:39:10,380 the variable cost and again we're 870 00:39:10,380 --> 00:39:11,820 spending a lot of time and effort 871 00:39:11,820 --> 00:39:13,740 engineering class design class going 872 00:39:13,740 --> 00:39:17,220 back and forth that translates into 873 00:39:17,220 --> 00:39:20,280 added expense but not actually anything 874 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:21,960 practical in the field we're doing 875 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,660 calculations in terms of how much we 876 00:39:24,660 --> 00:39:26,520 should charge the residents if we just 877 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:29,880 make that assumption it'll smooth things 878 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,160 along and speed things up 879 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:33,900 and I'm also going to recommend that the 880 00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:35,700 council appropriate a million and a half 881 00:39:35,700 --> 00:39:38,579 dollars of our dollars to help Finance 882 00:39:38,579 --> 00:39:40,680 this initiative 883 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:43,260 in 2022 the Capital District 884 00:39:43,260 --> 00:39:45,240 transportation committee approved over 885 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:48,000 14 million dollars for major 886 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,400 transportation infrastructure projects 887 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,859 in the city of Schenectady it's included 888 00:39:52,859 --> 00:39:55,020 nine million dollars for the Craig main 889 00:39:55,020 --> 00:39:56,160 connection 890 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,160 and we're going to go to the cdtc this 891 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,260 month with a tip amendment to merge 892 00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:03,660 these three individual projects into one 893 00:40:03,660 --> 00:40:04,980 large project 894 00:40:04,980 --> 00:40:08,339 we anticipate that all of 2023 will be 895 00:40:08,339 --> 00:40:11,820 dedicated to design of these and begin 896 00:40:11,820 --> 00:40:16,380 construction the projects early in 2024. 897 00:40:16,380 --> 00:40:19,460 the forest's main Forest Holland 898 00:40:19,460 --> 00:40:22,320 improvements to these two intersections 899 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,359 are designed and will be coordinated 900 00:40:24,359 --> 00:40:27,480 with what is ultimately approved in the 901 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,420 New Albany crane complete Street study 902 00:40:30,420 --> 00:40:33,720 and we also have I still have in place a 903 00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:36,960 500 000 Grant from assemblyman Angelo 904 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,560 Santa Barbara to complete the crane main 905 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,200 Chrysler intersection upgrades and 906 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:45,720 Solomon I thank you for that before you 907 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:47,280 arrived it's always good when people 908 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:49,200 from the state come and bring a check so 909 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:51,110 if 910 00:40:51,110 --> 00:40:53,730 [Applause] 911 00:40:53,730 --> 00:40:55,500 [Music] 912 00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:58,200 we look forward to you coming back many 913 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,060 times 914 00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:03,660 we have over 35 million of spending on 915 00:41:03,660 --> 00:41:06,920 infrastructure projects uh going into 916 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:10,800 2023. the Rice Road water infrastructure 917 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,140 improvements which include three new 918 00:41:13,140 --> 00:41:16,619 water wells that will produce 9 000 919 00:41:16,619 --> 00:41:21,300 gallons of high quality pure water per 920 00:41:21,300 --> 00:41:23,820 minute made possible by a three million 921 00:41:23,820 --> 00:41:26,040 dollar WIA Grant from the New York State 922 00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:28,980 Environmental facilities Corporation in 923 00:41:28,980 --> 00:41:31,380 these critical infrastructure upgrades 924 00:41:31,380 --> 00:41:34,079 will help improve the resiliency and 925 00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:36,960 sustainability of our water supply which 926 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:38,760 serves not only the city of Schenectady 927 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,130 but multiple adjacent communities 928 00:41:43,140 --> 00:41:46,500 and we're still hiring we still have 929 00:41:46,500 --> 00:41:48,900 openings in the city I would appreciate 930 00:41:48,900 --> 00:41:50,940 if people go to the city website you 931 00:41:50,940 --> 00:41:52,980 have people that might be uh looking for 932 00:41:52,980 --> 00:41:55,800 a new job looking for a career change 933 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,740 look at the site and see if we can match 934 00:41:58,740 --> 00:42:00,480 something up and help with the city 935 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,460 Workforce 936 00:42:02,460 --> 00:42:05,700 we're receiving National recognition in 937 00:42:05,700 --> 00:42:08,280 terms of that home energy project with 938 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:11,579 Congressman tanko the electric vehicle 939 00:42:11,579 --> 00:42:15,540 designation our telemedicine program the 940 00:42:15,540 --> 00:42:17,460 record of our accomplishments is 941 00:42:17,460 --> 00:42:21,480 impressive our City's future is bright I 942 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,760 thank you for the opportunity to serve 943 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:25,800 as your mayor and I want everyone to 944 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,020 enjoy the rest of the evening thank you 945 00:42:28,020 --> 00:42:30,670 very much yield Batman 946 00:42:30,670 --> 00:42:31,540 [Applause] 947 00:42:31,540 --> 00:42:33,560 [Music] 948 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,099 [Applause] 949 00:42:35,099 --> 00:42:36,570 thank you 950 00:42:36,570 --> 00:42:38,810 [Music] 951 00:42:38,810 --> 00:42:40,630 [Applause] 952 00:42:40,630 --> 00:42:45,920 [Music] 953 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,310 [Applause] 954 00:42:47,310 --> 00:42:47,980 [Music] 955 00:42:47,980 --> 00:42:52,500 [Applause] 956 00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:52,860 [Music] 957 00:42:52,860 --> 00:43:03,780 [Applause] 958 00:43:03,780 --> 00:43:04,800 thank you 959 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:06,900 I'd like to thank the mayor for the um 960 00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:11,450 for the state of the City address 961 00:43:11,460 --> 00:43:23,140 10 minutes to clear the room 962 00:43:23,150 --> 00:43:26,209 [Music]