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[4:11] 23.

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[4:26] first committee is Public Safety I think

[4:29] you'd like to call from safety

[4:30] committee's order we have three items on

[4:32] the agendas tonight first of which is

[4:34] the acceptance of the state and

[4:35] Municipal facilities program granted by

[4:38] Chief cooker

[4:39] thank you

[4:43] good evening good evening here before

[4:46] you tonight to ask for two things

[4:49] they're connected so I'll talk about

[4:51] both at the same time

[4:52] we have been partnering with catapult

[4:55] games over the last three and a half

[4:57] years

[4:58] to help them along with the community

[5:01] build a platform called brpd which is a

[5:05] virtual reality de-escalation training

[5:08] tool

[5:10] um that has again been built by catapult

[5:12] games and the community with the

[5:14] community's input

[5:16] the owner of the company catapult games

[5:18] Dane Jennings has offered the police

[5:21] department a significant discount if we

[5:23] enter into a two-year contract

[5:27] at a contract amount would be seventy

[5:29] thousand dollars

[5:31] we previously had

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[5:35] previously dedicated

[5:37] roughly if I can find my paperwork here

[5:42] what I did with it

[5:44] we had previously dedicated a uh a Jag

[5:48] award from jax21 25

[5:52] 000. roughly 25 000 range

[5:55] I think it was a sword of 25 000.

[5:58] um which which left us a bit short for

[6:00] the seventy thousand dollars and uh from

[6:03] uh assemblyman Santa Barbara had been

[6:06] involved in this development he'd

[6:07] attended some of the some of the

[6:09] workshops and he had expressed interest

[6:11] in helping us and he came through with a

[6:13] 50 000 Sam Grant to help offset the cost

[6:17] of the seventy thousand dollars so our

[6:19] plan is to is to use the the Jag funding

[6:23] of roughly 23 000 and change with the

[6:25] fifty thousand dollar CM Grant uh upside

[6:28] you're right twenty five thousand one

[6:30] sixty eight was the Jag Grant so we have

[6:33] roughly 75 000 in uh in funding to put

[6:37] towards this program with seventy

[6:39] thousand going towards entering into an

[6:41] agreement with catapult games for the

[6:44] software as a service that includes the

[6:46] equipment

[6:47] and um and then the remaining funds we

[6:50] would use

[6:52] um to put on the community events where

[6:54] we plan to utilize this training to

[6:57] bring to the community to have the

[6:59] community be the end user on the

[7:01] de-escalation with the police officer

[7:03] and then we will flip roles at the

[7:05] Community member see what it's like to

[7:08] have to de-escalate a situation where

[7:10] the police officer will be the uh the

[7:12] person that is uh is on the other end of

[7:15] it so my request now would be to uh to accept the Sam Grant of fifty

[7:21] thousand dollars and the second request

[7:23] would be to enter into the agreement

[7:25] with catapult games for the seventy

[7:28] thousand dollar

[7:30] contract for the software as a service

[7:33] question

[7:35] to comments

[7:51] have any questions or comments regarding

[7:53] answering the agreement with checkbook

[7:55] news this word for me so Chief we did

[7:57] have a discussion could you just talk a

[7:58] little bit about how um axon has some of

[8:01] these same capabilities and what the um

[8:03] you know what will happen after this

[8:05] money runs out with the intentions of

[8:07] that sure

[8:08] um so uh we had entered into this

[8:11] partnership with catapult games again

[8:13] three and a half years ago and in that

[8:15] span of time

[8:17] um we we recognize the need to replace

[8:19] our body cameras and that's what got

[8:21] brought us down the roadway of entering

[8:22] into an agreement with axon axons

[8:25] officer safety plan was a bundled

[8:28] service where VR training was also

[8:32] included when you bundle everything

[8:34] between the tasers and the body worn

[8:36] cameras effectively we got the virtual

[8:39] reality training for free however we had

[8:41] already gone down the road working with

[8:43] catapult games so I did not want to

[8:45] abandon that that's why we've um we're

[8:48] doing both simultaneously we're using

[8:50] the axon virtual reality training for a

[8:54] variety of different things including

[8:56] the escalation however the difference is that catapult games is built by our

[9:02] community and it's also specific to

[9:05] de-escalation training with a two-way

[9:08] user Street rather than putting the

[9:10] virtual reality on and just interacting

[9:12] individually you're interacting with

[9:15] another person on the other side and no

[9:17] two scenarios are going to be the same

[9:20] So the plan is is to we're going to use

[9:22] it for the two years and we're going to

[9:23] see if there's a value in maintaining

[9:26] two separate programs or if there isn't

[9:28] then we will certainly have to go with

[9:31] the one that's free most likely which is

[9:33] the axon one if we don't see the value

[9:36] and maintaining the catapult games but

[9:39] we're hopeful for is that we'll we will

[9:42] continue building it with catapult and

[9:43] find Value in it because there it is a

[9:46] local company that built basically built

[9:50] this for us and we're hoping that we see

[9:52] the value and that you know two years

[9:54] from now we're back before you asking

[9:56] you to continue it

[10:00] I know that there were many many

[10:02] Community discussions

[10:04] um I know that Mr Rivas I think hosted

[10:06] multiple events that the community came

[10:09] to so it had positive feedback from

[10:11] folks that attended those events is that

[10:15] yeah yeah Will Rivas was involved in it

[10:18] um so was Mr Benitez who helped share

[10:20] our we did she he moderated our police

[10:22] reform uh reinvention conversations and

[10:27] then there was many other people

[10:28] involved in this even from Albany that

[10:32] were involved so they so we have a more

[10:34] of a regional approach to building this

[10:35] but we were we were the lead on it it

[10:37] was really our community that took the

[10:39] lead on and giving feedback so that I I

[10:43] know that everybody that's involved in

[10:45] this is very excited about the program

[10:48] but you know I kind of build a woman

[10:50] special for saying so she probably would

[10:52] remember us saving some time together

[10:54] with some young man in the boys and

[10:56] girls club and we're kind of talking

[10:57] about I'm just this very uh In This Very

[11:00] topic and I'm wondering do you see this

[11:02] as a tool to

[11:04] um as more of a an engagement tool for

[11:08] maybe for like some of the youth

[11:09] population maybe some of the something

[11:13] applicable to the partnership that's

[11:14] been online right now with the school

[11:16] district or do you see this as just you

[11:18] know more or less than the de-escalation

[11:21] uh tool that in his people can just kind

[11:24] of get that experimental piece

[11:27] I'm the police officer and I see this as

[11:29] training

[11:31] um coupled with the the engagement end

[11:33] on the community and I see this as

[11:35] engagement and I really want to be able

[11:37] to reach every age group that's in our

[11:40] community

[11:41] um from the from the youth to adults to

[11:44] our seniors I think that's important for

[11:46] everybody to understand

[11:48] the challenges that we as police

[11:50] officers face especially the

[11:52] de-escalation challenges but also we

[11:55] want to learn from all those three

[11:56] different groups what it's like to to

[11:58] have to practice different skills on

[12:00] de-escalation and I'm not going to lie

[12:02] I'm going to use this as a recruitment

[12:04] tool also when I go to the schools and

[12:06] colleges and maybe even out in the adult

[12:08] community to show that you know this is

[12:11] a job that is is professionalism that it

[12:15] uses many different disciplines to be

[12:17] effective and it's a very rewarding job

[12:20] to have so I I do want to use it as a

[12:22] recruiting tool we'll bring it to our

[12:23] recruiting events but even when we're

[12:25] out there talking to them to our youth

[12:27] tell them to start thinking about the

[12:29] career in law enforcement

[12:33] I deferred to Mr farluki sure thank you

[12:36] mayor so I was wondering do you see this

[12:39] um in a connection with the hiring of

[12:42] the mental health professional

[12:44] that we approved class budget do you see

[12:46] like this time maybe like but then

[12:47] they're overall because I'm thinking

[12:48] de-escalation that might be something

[12:50] that

[12:51] um Falls within that will help

[12:53] sure and that's the beauty of this is

[12:55] that um you know that professional or

[12:57] anybody that has experience in that

[12:59] space can sit on the other end of it and train an officer on on the

[13:04] challenges so there's so many different

[13:06] scenarios that can happen but we could

[13:08] have somebody that just dealt with a

[13:09] scenario last night and wants to

[13:11] simulate that in a virtual reality

[13:13] training that when you give these

[13:14] commands they're replicating what was

[13:16] given as a way to just you know train on

[13:19] different things because no two

[13:21] scenarios are ever the same

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[13:24] thank you Mr chairman and again people

[13:27] have to be cognizant of keeping the back

[13:30] of your mind while we have to be talking

[13:32] about policing and Public Safety tonight

[13:35] this is applicable over a wide range of

[13:39] applications for training so it might be

[13:42] the paramedics could be the Bureau of

[13:44] service

[13:47] simulating just interactions with the

[13:49] public coming in and whether it might be

[13:53] in the city clerk's office or in finance

[13:55] or other areas so it's part of the

[13:59] transformation in how education is done

[14:03] not only we're looking in the city but

[14:06] in college platforms and schools and so

[14:09] that we're fortunate to have a local

[14:11] company to work with the chief has been

[14:13] a leader in terms of implementing this

[14:15] at the same time we're looking at those

[14:18] options down the road again to leverage

[14:21] that so that the headsets some of the

[14:25] equipment that may end up being

[14:27] purchased now through the police

[14:30] department again could be used in the

[14:32] fire department for other training

[14:34] opportunities

[14:36] any other questions or comments

[14:39] I also definitely thank you chief for

[14:41] the efforts that you and your department

[14:42] are making that broaden our awarenesses

[14:45] both as law enforcement professionals

[14:46] and as community members that we can

[14:48] truly work together so if there are no

[14:51] other questions or comments second what

[14:54] was your favorite all right thank you very much and the third item

[14:58] on the agenda is a college hearing to

[15:00] amend chapter of 186-16 in the city code

[15:03] fires and smoking prohibited and city

[15:06] parks exceptions injured thank you

[15:10] um obviously

[15:12] um the council knows that the use of

[15:14] marijuana and cabinet Canada products

[15:17] have been legalized and it's being

[15:19] regulated in the state of New York there

[15:21] are obviously a lot of restrictions that

[15:22] apply to the use of those products as

[15:24] well as tobacco products New York State

[15:27] amended public health law state law to

[15:29] prohibit smoking in public parks the

[15:31] enforcement of the state law however is

[15:33] left with the County Board of Health

[15:35] there is language in the public health

[15:37] law though that allows municipalities to

[15:40] adopt and enforce local laws to prohibit

[15:42] smoking and vaping for example that so

[15:44] long as they're consistent with the

[15:45] state laws currently city code

[15:50] 186-16b states that no person shall

[15:52] smoke within city parks but we Define to

[15:55] smoke as being to burn a lighted cigar

[15:58] cigarette or pipe or to use any other

[16:00] matter or substance which contains

[16:02] tobacco so obviously it does not address

[16:04] because at the time it was enacted the

[16:07] legalization of marijuana and cannabis

[16:09] products and also electronic cigarettes

[16:12] so in order to be consistent with the

[16:15] restrictions of New York state public

[16:17] health law to give our local law

[16:20] enforcement the ability to enforce those

[16:22] rules and as opposed to relating of

[16:24] relying on the County Board of Health

[16:27] I'm looking to

[16:29] requesting a call for public hearing and

[16:33] as it relates to those definitions

[16:35] relying on the definitions provided in

[16:38] state law as opposed to creating our own

[16:40] definitions so that would consistent

[16:43] with New York state law

[16:45] thank you Mr chairman I guess the

[16:48] Corporation Council to put this on I had

[16:51] a complaint from a citizen who was so

[16:53] walking his dog that his name is Eric

[16:56] Clifford

[17:01] I wanted to follow up on your citizens

[17:04] complaint

[17:07] any other questions or comments and

[17:10] you're not going to get a motion so

[17:12] second all in favor

[17:16] for the policy Committee hearing on in

[17:19] the election for adjourn so second

[17:21] favorite

[17:24] thank you call to auto finance so the

[17:27] first item is authorization for the

[17:29] mayor to enter into an agreement with

[17:31] Community with all the fund or the

[17:32] capital regioning for two hundred

[17:35] thousand dollars for small business

[17:36] assistance program

[17:40] all right

[17:46] good evening

[17:47] um so we're just here completed our five

[17:50] day public comment period which was

[17:52] required under the CBG CD rules

[17:55] um we received no comments

[17:58] um so at this point in time we're just

[17:59] looking for authorization to enter

[18:01] contract with uh

[18:07] to for small business systems

[18:11] questions any questions

[18:15] Mr Gray the last time we did some

[18:17] allocation can you give us a little

[18:19] about did you receive any feedback from

[18:22] the community in terms of how the

[18:23] program rolled out and were there any

[18:25] coupling in terms of people not getting

[18:27] adequate funding

[18:30] um I mean the by environment programs

[18:33] people were happy to get the funding we

[18:35] provided them lastly we provided grants

[18:37] up to ten thousand dollars on we're

[18:39] going to discuss the The Loan Fund would

[18:41] make sense to restrict it to that limit

[18:43] this time or not

[18:45] um obviously there's plenty of

[18:46] businesses that would have liked and

[18:47] received more money and there wasn't

[18:49] enough money to go around to all

[18:52] businesses that requested money

[18:55] but overall the business that received

[18:56] it was well received it helped I think

[18:59] we assisted over 64 businesses

[19:05] go ahead so are you aware whether those

[19:07] businesses or those folks are still in

[19:09] business or how they're doing this point

[19:11] is there any level of process to the to

[19:13] the loans

[19:15] um we had been following up

[19:16] um I think much of that had been kind of

[19:18] done through Ron Garfield's office okay

[19:21] um I believe that the ones that I can

[19:23] think of off the top of my head that I

[19:25] know got the loans are by and large

[19:26] still in business and still operating

[19:28] yeah

[19:30] thank you

[19:32] okay so for small businesses have who

[19:36] have previously received a loan

[19:38] um what what that play into the

[19:40] determination of who was eligible for

[19:42] this time around and that effort to kind

[19:43] of like

[19:45] um Cast Away internet and have more

[19:47] people take advantage of it or is it

[19:49] just pretty much the urban thinking I

[19:51] mean that you're just going to kind of

[19:52] go in line with the same metric units

[19:55] last time

[19:56] um well so last time it was you couldn't

[19:59] have received other sources of funding

[20:01] okay so like we prioritize businesses

[20:03] that didn't get

[20:05] PPE money or other other sources of

[20:08] funding

[20:09] um this time I imagine how this kind of

[20:11] the same guidelines we would start

[20:13] probably with businesses that that

[20:15] didn't receive money last time

[20:17] um we haven't you know started

[20:19] soliciting businesses yet and Publishing

[20:22] a program so

[20:23] it was kind of hard to say who's going

[20:25] to reply but generally speaking we would

[20:27] start with people that didn't get it

[20:28] before

[20:30] um and then you know people still needed

[20:32] additional assistance we would look at

[20:33] those applications as well

[20:36] any other questions

[20:38] move it second all in favor all right

[20:42] thank you

[20:45] the next item is the higher ground

[20:47] Worship Center 8801 Stanley Street

[20:49] Louisville property tax inference and

[20:52] penalty

[20:54] so far

[20:57] good evening everyone good evening uh

[21:00] the corporation council's office was

[21:02] contacted by an attorney representing

[21:03] Higher Ground Worship Center their

[21:05] religious nonprofit corporation they

[21:07] purchased a property uh in 2008 which

[21:11] resulted in a lapse of their religious

[21:14] property tax exemption through March of

[21:17] the following year in 2009 this resulted

[21:20] in about a six thousand dollar tax

[21:21] liability in the corporation did not pay

[21:23] it so it was named and is now currently

[21:27] an interim tax Corp

[21:29] in order for the municipality to apply

[21:32] any kind of religious exemption

[21:35] retroactively would require State

[21:37] Legislative approval so rather than do

[21:39] this the corporation has opted to pay

[21:41] the back taxes but it now seeks a waiver

[21:43] of the interest and penalties which

[21:45] amounts to about 17

[21:47] 000 eighteen thousand dollars from 2009

[21:50] to date and that would bring them

[21:54] current on their on their taxes and pull

[21:56] them out of the in-run

[21:58] um and they are fully tax exempt now

[22:00] they have been since 2009.

[22:04] questions

[22:06] good thanks

[22:08] um in good faith and it shows up here on

[22:10] the next page of your packet

[22:12] um they have made a payment

[22:15] um recently

[22:16] um really it was last week I believe uh

[22:19] so they paid a substantial amount of the

[22:22] total amount of the

[22:24] um of the principal

[22:26] um obviously there's still some residual

[22:27] that they'll have to pay

[22:29] um you know unfortunately the state law

[22:32] that was enacted didn't cover this

[22:34] property it was not specific to this

[22:36] property it's one of those unfortunate

[22:37] things

[22:39] um so you know and this is not a

[22:42] property

[22:43] um that would if the city were to take

[22:45] in foreclosure it's not you know

[22:48] I want to say that there's no use for

[22:50] the property but I think it's better

[22:51] served with the church

[22:58] any other questions

[23:00] I'll move it second all in favor all

[23:02] right thank you

[23:05] the next item is a location of

[23:07] additional American Rescue plan act

[23:09] funds for the construction of the

[23:12] Central Park Pool credit and Facilities

[23:15] uh

[23:21] okay Mr Wilson who is uh

[23:24] going to manage the project in San

[23:28] Antonio Associates

[23:30] Dan is here to answer questions go

[23:33] through the process how it got there the

[23:36] committing and

[23:38] do you want to take anything

[23:46] did you want to start since you guys

[23:49] were here from the beginning yeah

[23:53] all right here we are that microphone is

[23:55] for the people at home Pat all right in

[23:58] this week that's what I was going to say

[24:00] because I tend to project pretty well

[24:01] anyway how you folks doing

[24:04] um last time I was here we talked about

[24:06] a project I think it was in December of

[24:09] 2021 uh the potential for Central Park

[24:12] Pool and we were looking at a concept

[24:16] that would be around five million

[24:17] dollars so if you look at kind of where

[24:21] the renderings were land to where we are

[24:23] today there has been a lot of input from

[24:27] the community there was a committee that

[24:29] came on board looked for a number of

[24:31] additional improvements

[24:33] obviously we've been dealing with the

[24:35] construction costs so we built we ended

[24:38] up doing a design of something that was

[24:40] more significant than what we originally

[24:42] planned on but if you look at what we

[24:44] came up with it's really a benchmark

[24:47] project it's kind of a legacy project

[24:49] it's kind of a once in a generational

[24:52] thing and we were encouraged by the

[24:55] committee to make this somebody that

[24:57] would be generational not just a pool

[24:59] but really a destination so that's what

[25:03] we ended up with and then we went

[25:05] through the process of putting it up to

[25:07] bid and we got bids back and there's a

[25:10] number of challenges with respect to

[25:11] Penny right now first of all there's a

[25:14] number of issues with construction costs

[25:16] there's issues with respect to some of

[25:18] the requirements for the city which can

[25:20] be a challenge and is scared some

[25:22] bidders away but we work very hard to

[25:24] get bitters in and we ended up with bid

[25:26] prices working with Tom and twna from

[25:29] Schenectady to get a project that we

[25:33] could wrap our heads around that was I

[25:35] think around

[25:36] is it nine million dollars for the

[25:39] contingencies yeah eight million yeah so the project has grown the project is

[25:46] bigger it's more exceptional than it was

[25:48] before

[25:50] um but the prices are what they are and

[25:52] I will tell you in the business of

[25:54] design and construction nothing is

[25:56] coming in where it's under cost

[25:58] estimated so the challenge really is

[26:01] justifying where we are and we had a

[26:04] very highly credible uh bidders that

[26:08] were thoroughly vetted we came in we're

[26:10] very comfortable with where the prices

[26:11] are Tom's company is uh absolutely

[26:14] experts in this field of bid evaluation

[26:17] construction management so now we're

[26:20] standing here talking and we're glad to

[26:22] address any questions that you have with

[26:25] respect to how we add to this point

[26:27] but we do have good costs that were

[26:30] higher than were anticipated however the

[26:33] project we discussed with you in

[26:35] December of 2021 is not the project we

[26:39] have today it's bigger and frankly it's

[26:41] better

[26:44] any questions please you just mentioned

[26:47] the the new cause for the overall

[26:48] project is just just over 8 million

[26:51] dollars yes and that's including a

[26:53] contingency

[26:54] at what percentage of contingency area 8

[26:57] million twenty one thousand is the uh

[27:00] agricultural bids that came in and I

[27:03] think Chris put eight or eight percent

[27:04] on top of that he did put an eight

[27:07] percent containment but eight million 21

[27:11] 000 plus 8 plus soft costs

[27:15] so

[27:28] X

[27:32] says yeah

[27:42] um so thank you for for coming again

[27:44] sure and I want you to know I know I'm

[27:46] fully supported the project but I have

[27:48] to tell you really shock that the Dublin

[27:51] doubling price than what you originally

[27:53] um came with and you did mention that so

[27:57] these are add-ons this is not that it's

[27:59] double enticed based on your original

[28:00] design but because so many things were

[28:03] added our there's there's actually three picks okay to add

[28:09] into the cost First of all the scope was

[28:12] increased there were additions

[28:15] um and secondly the construction costs

[28:18] are highly volatile and third our

[28:20] estimates are based on just you know

[28:24] just no dealing with

[28:27] um uh labor unions and any sort of any

[28:31] sort of challenges dealing with the city

[28:33] of apprenticeship program stuff that

[28:36] some some uh contractors don't have so

[28:39] that is a challenge and so those things

[28:42] added up

[28:43] and with inflation kind of got us to a

[28:46] million dollars

[28:47] but the scope is greater than it was

[28:50] previously

[28:54] do you find municipalities that just go

[28:57] like kind of halfway or whatever or

[28:59] sorry in the future that they really

[29:01] didn't put everything out there one time

[29:03] in one time only well I work I work

[29:06] almost solely with municipalities

[29:07] throughout the state right and what we

[29:11] have done historically is when there's a

[29:14] hard cap in terms of spending you try to

[29:16] phase it unfortunately this project

[29:19] doesn't

[29:20] provide itself to be something that can

[29:22] be phased the the thing we do with our

[29:25] parks

[29:26] is that the the the the investment in in

[29:30] soft infrastructure like Parks always

[29:33] gets a very strong uh return on

[29:35] investment between seven to one or nine

[29:38] to one is the return on investment with

[29:41] respect to people coming to the parks

[29:43] people tend not to regret the money

[29:46] that's been invested

[29:48] um you know we we we frankly did a

[29:51] project a few years ago in Amsterdam

[29:53] which was a bridge uh pedestrian bridge

[29:56] over the river which no one could

[29:58] understand why it was there it gets a

[30:01] quarter of a million people a year now

[30:04] so you know if if I were to you know I

[30:08] recommend it to every one of our

[30:09] Municipal clients when the Arca funding

[30:12] became available to go for it because

[30:14] this opportunity is generational and the

[30:17] cost is greater but it is going to have

[30:19] an even greater impact on the community

[30:22] with the final result thank you we're

[30:24] very proud of this side yeah

[30:27] go ahead please I just want to say I'm

[30:30] very supportive of this project I think

[30:32] that the expanded scope also I think in terms because of some of the meetings

[30:37] I mean multiple meetings which such a

[30:40] large group of community members were

[30:42] able to voice what they wanted to see as

[30:45] part of this project but the project I

[30:47] was going to say Legacy as well

[30:49] um but the project just in terms of the

[30:52] numbers of Youth served by this by this

[30:56] project are just going to be

[30:57] astronomical especially over Generations

[30:59] as well as the youth that we employ to

[31:03] not only the youth that will take

[31:04] advantage of the pool but the youth that

[31:07] we employ but the other parts of it the

[31:11] road work the parking all those other

[31:14] aspects are going to only enhance what

[31:16] already is considered a jewel of our

[31:18] city in terms of how it will assist the

[31:21] other parts of the park like the tennis

[31:24] courts like music Haven

[31:26] um you know the other the other ass

[31:27] aspects of everything that so many

[31:30] people throughout the city well you

[31:32] enjoy you know I I have two responses to

[31:34] that first of all our most successful

[31:37] parks are the ones in which the

[31:39] community is very actively engaged and

[31:42] this committee was very actively engaged

[31:44] we met for a number of months on this

[31:46] and they're kept being things added you

[31:49] know we didn't originally plan on having

[31:50] a hill removed but now you go up there

[31:53] and you go up to Central Park and you

[31:55] look and you go oh you can see a diamond

[31:57] in the background boy that's beautiful I

[31:59] didn't realize that was there it helps

[32:02] connect that part there's there's so

[32:05] many pieces to that Park that people

[32:07] aren't aware of this helps just bring

[32:09] people there and get a greater

[32:11] understanding of the other elements and

[32:14] uh activities that are available at the

[32:16] park and I think this is kind of like

[32:18] the launching point for the park to be

[32:20] even more than it currently is and the the second thing I would say is you

[32:27] know it's just the the opportunity to do

[32:31] a project like this is just it's just

[32:33] really special and and I think this is

[32:36] something that can be generational in

[32:38] terms of the impact on the community and

[32:40] the youth in that in this community

[32:41] particularly in that area

[32:45] so you didn't mention about Community

[32:47] inputs or it is a individual community

[32:50] members or organizations within our

[32:52] community I have both it was

[32:56] a son

[32:58] the uh

[33:01] Woodlawn preserve and stuff that were

[33:04] Boys and Girls Club to manage it uh

[33:07] trying to think who else was there music

[33:11] Haven yes Representatives the greenhouse is there yeah

[33:18] we also have the uh the folks with the

[33:21] uh the disc golf

[33:23] they were they were Parkers are in the

[33:25] whole two holes with one hole was

[33:28] relocated there's a few that are going

[33:30] to be impacted but fortunately they were

[33:32] great to work with and frankly the the

[33:37] um the the person that was participating

[33:38] from the boys and girls club was of

[33:40] Great Value because we were looking to

[33:42] put these these uh

[33:44] make it so it's user friendly for all

[33:46] the programs

[33:48] um that they have and so that's where we

[33:50] ended up with the ultimate design

[33:55] I think I think if I'm speaking myself

[33:58] as people I think all of those support

[34:00] can you fooled in Central Park Islam

[34:03] with a Jew but the thing that is uh

[34:04] getting us here today is the hard

[34:06] question of moving from 5 million to

[34:09] 10.1 million

[34:11] it's still originally we are allocated

[34:13] five million dollars a month we're

[34:15] asking for 10.1 million so those are the

[34:18] hard questions I ask in you and your

[34:19] hair to answer those questions but

[34:20] that's right my final question of that

[34:22] is if we were to proceed with this

[34:24] project can you give us a breakdown of

[34:26] the timeline the project timeline

[34:28] well I think I think Tom you might be

[34:30] the person to answer that I mean

[34:31] probably yeah it doesn't uh we would if

[34:36] we awarded contracts we'd start as soon

[34:38] as possible the weather breaks these

[34:40] guys are ready to go

[34:42] um I think the contract I think it's end

[34:44] of September is when uh looks like it

[34:46] would be complete and we don't see a

[34:48] problem with that completed in September

[34:50] of this year yes

[34:57] foreign

[35:01] closing down the old pool what happens

[35:03] with that

[35:05] well that hasn't been addressed oh thank

[35:07] you yeah thank you thank you that has

[35:10] not been addressed the closing down in

[35:12] the old rule right now the ECU will love

[35:14] it but I mean looking at a future use of

[35:17] it there's a lot of potential things

[35:19] that could be done in that space and it

[35:21] could be taking back some of it to help

[35:23] crew you know have have a more

[35:25] Consolidated Iroquois Lake and kind of a

[35:28] Great Lawn there there's a lot of ideas

[35:30] but but then again ma'am that that

[35:32] involves going back to you know a

[35:35] committee getting Community input what

[35:37] the city wants the most successful

[35:39] projects we've ever worked on are the

[35:42] ones in which the city is actively

[35:43] involved in the programming

[35:45] well I would 100 agree with that and so

[35:48] the reason we're asking all these

[35:49] questions we weren't apprised of all the

[35:51] additions that you're talking about

[35:54] to us you know so that's why you know

[35:56] you're asking me here tonight so there

[35:59] would be an additional cost to do the

[36:00] work around the old pool so that's not

[36:02] included in this class so if we that's

[36:04] what we want to do with the opal then

[36:06] we're going to invert more costs that is

[36:08] correct okay

[36:09] um so in terms of the things that were

[36:11] added

[36:13] is there anything if like I know there

[36:15] was a wish list clearly from the

[36:17] committee who said like let's just give

[36:18] everything Bells whistles and then bells

[36:20] on top of the whistles so if if they're

[36:23] realistically is there anything that we

[36:26] could really have done about and still

[36:27] make this a state-of-the-art project

[36:30] I I think hindsight is always 20 20.

[36:35] um but where the design is now if

[36:38] anything were to be pulled out in a

[36:40] redesigned to occur it would probably

[36:43] take up half of that cost for the

[36:45] redesign and then if you look at that

[36:48] cost in 20 it's as opposed to 2023 if

[36:51] the construction is done in 2024 you

[36:54] might have you you might lose the rest

[36:56] of that benefit so the way construction

[36:58] costs are moving I think it's best I I

[37:02] think it's probably the wisest decision

[37:04] for the committee to to go forward with

[37:06] this rather than to agreement

[37:09] and

[37:11] part of the challenges the bidding

[37:14] environment how the market is right now

[37:16] and in order to do a substantial

[37:18] redesign you'd probably have to go up a

[37:21] bit you you'd be looking and re-bidding

[37:24] it

[37:25] when you rebid it it all starts over

[37:27] again everybody's seen everybody's

[37:29] number if you I'm making things up if

[37:32] you want to pull 250 000 out of removing

[37:36] something well you got to design what

[37:38] goes back number one

[37:40] number two we right now have the GC

[37:43] complaining because they're having a

[37:44] hard time holding their structural steel

[37:46] numbers it's very volatile very volatile

[37:49] I cannot stand here and say if you pull

[37:51] 250 000 out you go out to rebid in four

[37:54] or five months it won't come in more and

[37:57] you've lost

[37:58] so we had a project in Albany last year

[38:02] the guy asked me you know what what is

[38:05] your advice on a fitting strategy I said

[38:07] well my crystal ball says bid it as soon

[38:10] as you possibly can and get your bids in

[38:12] so that if worse comes worse you can bid

[38:14] it twice which you do not want to do in

[38:17] this environment from our perspective so

[38:19] that that's my concern and the other and

[38:22] when when you re-bid you have to you

[38:24] know as I said the numbers are out there

[38:27] it I stopped a long time ago trying to

[38:29] decide what everybody else's strategy is

[38:32] going to be but I know crazy things will

[38:34] happen so we uh and I'll say here

[38:37] um we stand before you with some some of

[38:40] the the best contractors that we have

[38:43] worked with we worked with jerson on the

[38:45] pump station I personally worked with

[38:48] jerson on the uh

[38:50] I'm very Services 25 million the head of

[38:52] schedule under budget we work we know

[38:54] those guys

[38:56] um and and all the other there's the RMB

[38:59] and I think O'Connell electric Rock

[39:02] Solid guys

[39:03] so we're

[39:06] sort of comfortable ready to go we

[39:08] understand the questions and completely

[39:11] get it

[39:12] but there's a catch every time you want

[39:15] to Ravel you start to pull the string

[39:17] you know so I agree with any other any

[39:20] other question yeah the mayor said

[39:21] something about um you would explain

[39:22] about concrete and that was one of the

[39:25] reasons that's a cost increased yes it's

[39:29] um Let me let me address that that's one

[39:31] of

[39:32] and I have a Mark here there's probably

[39:34] one of nine things that were more than

[39:37] 20 off I think concrete's gone up it I'm

[39:42] gonna say 30 to 40 percent in the last

[39:44] six to seven months the Northeast has

[39:46] hit harder than a lot of the other parts

[39:48] of the country

[39:50] um we know that polypropylene adhesives

[39:54] uh any any uh the iso insulation goes on

[39:59] the roofs is up gypsum is way up

[40:03] um steel right now is sort of I can't

[40:06] say it's stabilized but it's it's

[40:08] volatile in terms of then they're

[40:10] complaining that they they're concerned

[40:12] about getting the steel and they're

[40:13] pushing us right now like we're counting

[40:16] the days for the award and those you

[40:18] know they got 45 days for the award

[40:20] we're going to get a phone call is this

[40:22] a go or not because they got the steel

[40:24] guys pressure in them so concrete is

[40:27] absolutely up uh asphalt last year went

[40:30] up 10 percent we expected to go to

[40:32] another again another time

[40:34] now um You said like this is really

[40:37] fancy and all this so are we using are

[40:39] we using concrete that's like above and

[40:41] beyond normal concrete are we going with

[40:42] any of that colored stuff and all of

[40:44] that and does that include the car yes

[40:47] that's uh I think I think we have blue

[40:49] some some colored concrete especially

[40:52] the splash the splash pad area it's not

[40:54] a colored concrete is not cheaper it's

[40:57] included

[40:59] um that is something you you could you

[41:01] could turn it off and not do it without

[41:03] probably rebidding um you might be you

[41:07] might save twenty thousand dollars

[41:09] it's not it's not a wholesale change but

[41:12] it you know it goes in the right

[41:13] direction that's for sure if that's the

[41:15] concern

[41:16] but

[41:17] the blue concrete is also part of the

[41:19] design that matches the tile on the

[41:21] outside it's sort of cool but you know

[41:23] those

[41:24] absolutely something that could be like

[41:26] I said the only thing I would add to

[41:27] what Tom says you know in this business

[41:31] when when like the stimulus funding

[41:33] started coming out we kept looking for a

[41:35] point where it was going to add

[41:37] and it was like okay hold on you know

[41:40] hold your money spend it now you're

[41:44] going to be able to get more bang for

[41:45] your buck we're not seeing the drop off

[41:47] in the construction industry there is so

[41:50] much public money funding these projects

[41:52] unfortunately we don't we don't see it

[41:54] dipping

[41:55] um probably it's as strong as I've ever

[41:57] seen the market I know we're as busy as

[41:59] we've ever have been

[42:01] um Our advice to our Municipal clients

[42:03] is try to get the project you can right

[42:05] now and move forward because we don't

[42:08] know what next year is going to be like

[42:09] and and I'm sorry go ahead

[42:13] I was just I was just going to say that

[42:15] to piggyback on to what what Dan just

[42:17] said it's um

[42:20] the guys are generally a big picture

[42:22] we're commercial construction managers

[42:24] we we operate in Albany Schenectady

[42:27] manly a few other places

[42:30] um guys are loading up on Municipal work

[42:32] the private work they're they're not

[42:34] hanging their head on so much because

[42:36] it's that's a little shaky as as

[42:38] everybody knows with the economy where

[42:40] it's heading so these got you know it's

[42:42] not their first clam bag they know that

[42:44] they want to load up on middle school

[42:45] work and that's what that's what people

[42:47] are doing so the concern I have big

[42:49] picture not for this project for other

[42:52] projects we have other public bids

[42:53] coming up and that is get your beds in

[42:56] get it done because then these guys stop

[42:58] bidding and you're only as strong as

[43:01] your week you know your your bidders

[43:03] list really

[43:05] So to that very point I don't want to

[43:07] speak lightly of it and growing up as a

[43:09] kid and we'd get x amount of money to go

[43:11] to McDonald's and my mom would say you

[43:13] can get whatever you want as long as it

[43:15] doesn't go over this dollar amount so I

[43:17] understand the the consists with trying

[43:19] to make sure we maximize uh the

[43:22] potential for this pool area my biggest

[43:24] concern is truly if we are trying to

[43:27] stretch this arpa funding

[43:29] how much rest of the project exists

[43:32] because it'll be nice to have a very

[43:34] lavishing pool area but if we want to

[43:37] still have this other unfinished uh pool

[43:39] that's just sitting if we have this

[43:41] casino building that still needs to be

[43:43] renovated if the pathways and paveways

[43:46] still need to be addressed what is going

[43:48] to be left that we are now responsible

[43:50] because we have invested this much money

[43:52] into to complete or we're just going to

[43:55] have a half project well I can't I can't

[43:57] speak on the city's budget okay what's

[43:59] playing

[44:00] um but uh but there's there's always

[44:02] opportunities for grant funding that's

[44:05] right um and because we work with a lot

[44:07] of communities with respect to exactly

[44:09] that doing doing those you know you can

[44:12] deal with though you can deal with

[44:14] oprhp with respect to Grants for the

[44:16] casino building you can look with DEC

[44:19] with respect to potential grants for

[44:22] repurposing Iroquois Lake In The Swim

[44:25] area I think the things are to remember

[44:27] about what's the central our goal is

[44:30] going to be is it's going to be a

[44:32] destination which is a good thing

[44:34] because the more people you come have

[44:37] coming to that area the more interest

[44:39] you're going to get in Central Park Pool

[44:41] in the ear it is for you to get

[44:43] additional monies for additional

[44:45] projects at Central apartments

[44:52] so pick back on your question and just

[44:54] follow up on that when we were having

[44:56] all these discussion with these

[44:58] community members and organizations did

[45:00] we let them know that we have a budget

[45:02] of five million dollars

[45:06] no because we didn't go back to that

[45:09] original number until most of this work

[45:11] had been put in place

[45:14] and In fairness you don't know what the

[45:18] number is until you get all the input

[45:20] and then you put the design together

[45:22] so you didn't we didn't know that said

[45:25] okay that gets us to you and that's the

[45:27] term we call Value imaginary

[45:29] and what we wanted to do is put all the

[45:32] pieces in and then kind of see where we

[45:34] were with respect to the original

[45:36] guideline of five million dollars but as

[45:39] you can see it's it's more of a project

[45:42] than it was when we were talking about

[45:44] it as a five million dollar project no

[45:46] understand understand what you're saying

[45:48] there but at Highland we we take all the

[45:50] information we take all the input from

[45:52] the community we put them together in a

[45:54] drawing we take it back to them and we

[45:56] say okay this is going to cost 10

[45:58] million I'll instead of 5 million

[46:00] dollars

[46:00] Where Do We Stand do we just go over the

[46:03] community input rather than us coming to

[46:06] a compromise and a solution to say we

[46:08] have five million dollars or we're just

[46:10] going to go ahead regardless and spend

[46:12] 10.1 million dollars no I respect your

[46:14] possession it's I absolutely do because

[46:17] it's like we got the community in but

[46:19] this is where the dollar is and you

[46:21] folks have to make the decision and you

[46:24] know it's not an easy decision and we

[46:25] respect that

[46:29] yeah

[46:30] go ahead decide so you say uh I don't

[46:34] know whether you're able to speak to

[46:35] this what portion of the entire Central

[46:37] Park uh redesign will be remaining after

[46:41] we address this pool area in our

[46:43] facilities

[46:44] well a lot of items of connectivity are

[46:47] addressed because there's a new road to

[46:50] access ways and stuff so you're really

[46:52] improving the connectivity of Central

[46:54] Park just by putting this part in place

[46:56] it's not the end at all right there's a

[46:59] number of descending projects that will

[47:01] come from us none of them are going to

[47:02] be eight million dollars but there's a number of other projects which

[47:06] would probably be very manageable chunks

[47:09] to get funding for them changing for for

[47:13] kind of so it's set up

[47:15] oh absolutely yeah that's the one nice

[47:18] thing about this the pool is it it's it

[47:22] also addresses the need for you know

[47:24] locker rooms and restrooms for the

[47:27] tennis courts which was good I hate a

[47:30] lot of use

[47:31] and if you had to put a number to that

[47:33] would you say that's 10 would you say

[47:35] that's 30 remaining

[47:37] oh in terms of the other pieces versus

[47:40] well you know a lot of that depends on

[47:42] what you want because we don't have a

[47:44] broad master plan for everything to be

[47:48] done at the park because you you can put

[47:51] a broad concept together but then you

[47:53] want to look at these things piece by

[47:54] piece in terms of what does the

[47:56] community want here do you want an area

[47:58] for picnics do you want more playground

[48:01] area do you you know do you want more

[48:04] pickleball do you want other things do

[48:06] you want a skating area tough to tough

[48:09] to do this year but those those sorts of

[48:12] things it has to be addressed that way

[48:13] to kind of do a piecemeal once you have

[48:16] the infrastructure in place but we

[48:18] really think having another destination

[48:20] at the for the as the pool which can

[48:23] also serve to benefit the tennis court

[48:26] area is going to help activate that

[48:29] whole area and I think that you

[48:31] cued in on one of the important aspects

[48:33] of limiting scope expansion for that

[48:36] very reason we can have whatever we can

[48:38] afford to pay for and absolutely I think

[48:41] and making sure this resource reaches as

[48:44] many people as possible or visitors and

[48:46] patrons absolutely but we want to make

[48:48] sure we're not overspending in this one

[48:50] area and then we're having to schedule

[48:52] them to get things included on the back

[48:55] I I really appreciate the position but I can tell you frankly from my

[48:59] experience working with parks and

[49:01] communities

[49:02] I have never heard a client or a

[49:05] community complain that too much was

[49:07] spent they often lament the fact that

[49:10] not enough was wish we didn't cut this

[49:13] corner here wish we didn't do that

[49:15] that's that's just I've been looking

[49:18] back at hindsight I've seen that a lot

[49:21] thank you

[49:22] hey Mr chairman to begin we have

[49:25] taking these components if you look at

[49:28] adion which you know like a few years it

[49:31] was an embarrassment dirtfield

[49:33] systematically lined up the money and I

[49:36] will tell you I'll take most of the

[49:38] credit for putting that in place and

[49:40] making it happen

[49:42] you look at the upgrades we've done in

[49:44] the music Haven you look at the upgrades

[49:46] that we've done at the golf course these

[49:49] are not routine Municipal facilities

[49:51] anymore they are entities that the

[49:55] region looks at you look at the

[49:57] volunteers that go into the Rose Garden

[49:59] you look at the activity that's

[50:01] happening at the greenhouse we're

[50:04] setting the standards of things that are

[50:06] happening within this community and

[50:08] within the region and this swimming

[50:10] facility is going to complement that

[50:15] you you mentioned earlier about Brands

[50:18] this project might be prime for friends

[50:20] is that something that you can help the

[50:22] city oh absolutely I don't know if the

[50:25] city needs our help the city the city is

[50:27] very good at doing these things but we really enjoy the relationship we've

[50:32] worked with the city on a number of

[50:33] projects over the last time you will

[50:35] engage with us we absolutely can support

[50:37] that in any way

[50:42] so um one of you mentioned the soft

[50:45] costs that weren't in there before

[51:00] um my other question is there's clearly

[51:03] going to be a lot of work that you've

[51:04] done here you you've um accepted bids

[51:07] from the various contractors

[51:09] in terms of your mwbe participation

[51:14] what are your guidelines on that and

[51:15] where are you with that

[51:17] um it was it was part of mid package in

[51:20] terms of the requirements each of the

[51:22] contractors filled it out I I don't I

[51:24] can't recall the percentage off the top

[51:26] of my head but we did have a

[51:27] conversation with um the main contractor

[51:30] jerson and Ron and Ron was working with

[51:34] these guys in the past again on the pump

[51:36] station and uh

[51:39] I again I don't know the percentages but

[51:42] they should be in the package

[51:44] um each of these guys are required to

[51:46] fill it out I think Jersey I I don't

[51:48] want to quote numbers because I I've got

[51:49] a

[51:50] contract because I'm dealing with these

[51:52] days so

[51:53] um but they filled it out and it was

[51:55] part of the bid package just like the um

[51:58] just like their number again

[52:01] so um Mr Wellington put in contingency

[52:04] for changeovers at eight percent which

[52:07] was a 641 680. so

[52:12] you know we've already double the price

[52:16] we I think what we're looking for is an

[52:17] assurance that it's not going to now

[52:19] increase more

[52:22] my crystal ball

[52:25] um so so let's recruit the the

[52:30] project 100 design

[52:34] you could you could go in with a

[52:37] slightly lower contingency that would be

[52:39] comfortable however this is a big

[52:42] earthworm project it's as soon as you

[52:45] start talking about earthwork there's no

[52:46] drawing that shows where the rocks are

[52:48] buried and you can't do borings every

[52:51] two feet to a triple A you know exactly

[52:54] what's going on so because it's a big

[52:55] earthwork project

[52:57] I I leaned towards and I was part of the

[52:59] eight percent decision in that session

[53:02] but discussion and she said it's Chris's

[53:04] decision

[53:05] um

[53:06] I'm very comfortable the eight percent

[53:08] now now if it was

[53:12] if the substrata wasn't really

[53:14] understood I'd be I'd be a little more

[53:18] nervous about the eight percent because

[53:19] it's such a big dirt work job however

[53:21] they just did

[53:23] um in the mass excavation and it's

[53:25] generally insane it's beautiful soil it's and so unless

[53:32] there is some burial ground we don't

[53:34] know you know and I hate to even say it

[53:37] but it could have stranger things have

[53:39] happened

[53:39] um I don't I don't I am not concerned

[53:42] with that Ampersand I'm very comfortable

[53:44] going into this yeah very comfortable my

[53:46] you know my experience I I my

[53:49] experiences is environmental engineer so

[53:52] I've done boring solve around the

[53:53] country and this was some of the most

[53:55] consistent Sans I've seen uh we were

[53:58] also involved with the the golf course

[54:01] and I have a high level of confidence

[54:04] because we saw that we aren't going to

[54:07] get any anomalies specific to the

[54:10] subsurface however as Tom would say you

[54:13] never know until you know and and but I

[54:16] at this point I would say confidence

[54:19] levels are high that we wouldn't get

[54:21] eight percent the other thing I want to

[54:22] add

[54:23] um as soon as you ask me that question I

[54:25] think about who the who the um

[54:28] the parent load bitters are well the low

[54:29] bitters they're all solid guys that we

[54:32] know can deliver and we've had

[54:34] experience with it so we're that much

[54:36] more comfortable they're not they're not

[54:39] change order artists you know they do

[54:41] their job and uh we hope and we're there

[54:43] as construction managers to hold their

[54:45] feet to the fire our job is to protect

[54:47] the city against strange or less

[54:49] interests yeah but with these this gang

[54:51] I'm not too worried about it

[54:53] and I knew there was one bitter that we

[54:55] didn't actually we didn't have a bid you

[54:56] had to go back to the Planters website

[54:58] yeah so so

[55:00] um

[55:01] the general contractor the plumber the

[55:04] electrician we all got bids for HVAC we

[55:06] got no bids okay okay that affords us

[55:10] the opportunity to then request

[55:11] proposals so we our strategy was we

[55:14] requested proposals from the plumbers

[55:16] that did bid that also do adrac

[55:21] and honestly we have a good relationship

[55:24] with these guys so they didn't actually

[55:26] really want a bid on it because it's

[55:27] such a small package they're bidding on

[55:30] you know fifty thousand dollar thing and

[55:32] they got that much paperwork to do so

[55:35] slightly reluctant we we certain we uh

[55:38] enticed them a bit on it and so the the

[55:41] good news is the the plumber that's

[55:44] they've got the the plumbing bed is is

[55:47] low bidder on the proposal was Fed so

[55:51] it's the same guy and that's exactly

[55:53] what happened just by chance on the on

[55:56] the pump stations and again ideal if you

[55:59] can have the plumber in the mechanic I'd

[56:01] be the same same guy that is one big

[56:03] issue that's resolved so that's that's

[56:06] really good news so so yeah it's a good

[56:08] question but that was

[56:10] um accept the proposals because we had

[56:12] no public bids

[56:14] thank you I have two news

[56:19] so

[56:21] my statements last question is that

[56:25] what how I'm understanding is that the

[56:28] project itself didn't double in cost it

[56:30] wasn't the project that don't make cost

[56:32] it was the expansion of the scope you

[56:35] know the watch then

[56:37] um got us to where we're at uh for the

[56:38] most part right because it is

[56:41] that and the market markets

[56:45] at all okay so I so you know I believe

[56:49] uh Mr one was saying that uh usually

[56:52] there's a 10 on contingency there oh

[56:55] it's not uncommon and I think right now

[56:59] when we're you know my concern is that

[57:02] because this has doubled in cost due to

[57:07] um the market as well as the additional

[57:08] rate we have to make sure that we're

[57:10] paying really close attention to that

[57:12] and is that why the eight percent is is

[57:16] there instead of the normal 10 or is

[57:18] this just kind of it

[57:22] go ahead

[57:25] if the council Awards it says

[57:28] presented to you these guys are in place

[57:31] and they're going to bring this in on

[57:34] time

[57:35] and at least on budget and I hope it'll

[57:39] come in under budget and I expect that

[57:41] from Wilson and Saratoga Associates you

[57:44] know they're ones that we work with and

[57:46] you know we're all working together

[57:47] sometimes

[57:49] the discussions are a little bit more

[57:51] heated but they're going to live up to

[57:53] these obligations do it in a timely

[57:55] fashion and within this existing budget

[57:59] I have no problem with that and and then

[58:02] the 10 that's not necessary you know I

[58:04] don't know the context of that statement

[58:06] and you know this is what we do for a

[58:08] living we're the ones that put we didn't

[58:10] put this budget together we got we got

[58:12] involved in the bitter you know The

[58:13] Bitter End but

[58:14] um it's usually it really depends if you tell me the drawings are at 70

[58:19] percent

[58:20] 10 if you tell me the drawing chart 100

[58:23] we're done and we're on the street

[58:24] bidding you can reduce it and that and

[58:27] then it's not a it's not a science it's

[58:29] more it's actually more of an art you're

[58:31] like ah there's a lot of dirt work but

[58:33] the dirt work is this yeah based on four

[58:36] years experience

[58:37] um

[58:39] eight percent and I'm I I will

[58:44] I'm comfortable with that going into

[58:46] this I'm comfortable that with that sand

[58:48] and how what we think we know

[58:50] and and solid contractors that um

[58:56] they're not gonna you know they're we've

[58:57] just worked together they you know last

[59:00] job we did that I ran with with the city

[59:03] was Bureau of services and it was I had

[59:04] a schedule and under the adjusted budget

[59:07] uh somebody reminded me of that and I'm

[59:09] like oh I didn't know it was an option

[59:10] to do it otherwise it was a lot of hard

[59:13] work to get it done on your budget and

[59:15] had a schedule you know so yeah you

[59:17] definitely answered my question I was

[59:18] just wondering what are the variables

[59:20] that are considered between that eight

[59:21] and ten percent yeah no it sounds like

[59:22] the same like once you know the more

[59:24] further along you get in the project you

[59:26] know more so you're able to right kind

[59:28] of pinpoint right right and I'm exactly

[59:31] and you know there's it's very dynamic

[59:33] as you go there's also there's

[59:35] opportunities as you can go that might

[59:37] that we could address as we go

[59:40] um and you can adjust that going it

[59:42] might even come in much much less right

[59:45] well we know we know which way you want

[59:49] it to head and that's our game you know

[59:50] look you know our

[59:53] you know we have a certain fee what I

[59:56] like to do at the end of the end of the

[59:57] game we keep score we keep score every

[1:00:00] change order we keep score at the end of

[1:00:01] the day we like to walk in and say see

[1:00:03] this is how much we save yeah and so

[1:00:07] that is our game and uh you know we're

[1:00:11] again working hopefully with guys and

[1:00:13] gals that we can we can work with as we

[1:00:15] go forward on us

[1:00:17] so I'd say assuming um the chairship for

[1:00:20] this committee uh just being very

[1:00:21] candidly I appreciate both of me being

[1:00:23] present and the work that your teams

[1:00:24] have done I would say before I feel

[1:00:26] comfortable voting in favor of moving

[1:00:29] these monies I would like to hear from

[1:00:30] our city engineer especially from an

[1:00:33] understanding of wanting to recognize

[1:00:34] what aspects of the entire project still

[1:00:37] exist and as you mentioned there are

[1:00:39] some great opportunities still existing

[1:00:40] where is he get them on the phone he's

[1:00:43] on vacation yeah he's on the he's alive

[1:00:45] delaying the

[1:00:47] projects so you can get them on the

[1:00:51] phone seriously let's try the challenges

[1:00:54] were down about 45 days and we start

[1:00:56] losing

[1:00:57] contractors

[1:00:59] um

[1:01:04] I thought it was like tomorrow

[1:01:08] we were tracking the 45 days it's

[1:01:12] you know

[1:01:16] so I um for me I just wanted to make

[1:01:18] sure that it comes in on September 20

[1:01:21] 23. that we're there yeah

[1:01:25] um we you know we brought Wilson Times

[1:01:28] too because

[1:01:30] the Saratoga recommended that TWA be

[1:01:33] brought in specific for what they had in

[1:01:36] construction that uh construction

[1:01:38] management and value engineering because

[1:01:40] we've worked with them and they

[1:01:42] absolutely

[1:01:44] watch every penny that's spent and make

[1:01:47] sure it's spent wisely and we thought

[1:01:48] that was in the best interest in the

[1:01:50] city so I'd say before I was cut off I

[1:01:52] think the rest of my comment was going

[1:01:53] to be would that posing any continued

[1:01:56] issues with the funny university project

[1:01:58] so if you're saying that 45 days is

[1:02:00] already spent up is that what I'm

[1:02:02] hearing well what happens is the bids

[1:02:04] come in right and the contractors they

[1:02:07] have to hold they have to hold their bid

[1:02:09] for 45 days and then and then after that

[1:02:12] 45 days if you don't award they they get

[1:02:15] to decide and we already know that the

[1:02:18] construction was concerned that there's

[1:02:21] still a guy who wouldn't hold their

[1:02:22] numbers because it's very volatile so

[1:02:26] I'm not feeling very comfortable but

[1:02:29] you know and I'm not I remember the

[1:02:33] question was what day are we in I know

[1:02:35] the re the question is what day are we

[1:02:38] in so I know we're really close to the

[1:02:40] 45 days and today now two weeks we bring

[1:02:43] as well as well

[1:02:45] 26 7 6 is a Sunday right right that's

[1:02:49] when the 45 days comes up will they give

[1:02:51] us one more day it's

[1:02:54] somebody will get wallet on the phone

[1:02:58] and be able to answer your questions Mr

[1:03:00] counseling

[1:03:02] well I think

[1:03:05] she had that I'm sorry I think we had

[1:03:09] that opportunity to give our questions

[1:03:11] to Mr wrong if you let us know that he

[1:03:13] was going to be on vacation this week

[1:03:14] and then if we got any questions given

[1:03:16] all the material that he gave us

[1:03:18] um that we were to contact him last week

[1:03:20] before he left for vacation so I

[1:03:23] personally just have to say I mean

[1:03:25] especially given the level of community

[1:03:27] input over months for this project and

[1:03:31] the numbers of people

[1:03:33] in all areas of our city that will be

[1:03:36] benefiting from the use of this for me

[1:03:38] like and you know as chair of the parks

[1:03:41] committee here

[1:03:43] um I have to say that I would be so

[1:03:45] proud to be on a city council that

[1:03:48] actually approved this kind of project

[1:03:50] which long after we're gone uh not just

[1:03:53] as a city council but probably on this

[1:03:55] Earth will still be enjoyed by the

[1:03:58] residents of this city

[1:04:00] um so I I know I'm not on the finance

[1:04:02] committee so I don't get to vote this

[1:04:04] evening but I really encour encourage my

[1:04:06] colleagues to vote in favor of this

[1:04:09] project because I just think it has you

[1:04:11] know long lasting benefits for so many

[1:04:14] people in our city including water

[1:04:16] safety employment

[1:04:18] um you know just Health hot summers a

[1:04:21] lot of the kids that use our pool

[1:04:24] um you know don't have that kind of

[1:04:26] opportunity at home to be able to cool

[1:04:28] down with people with the pool so I just

[1:04:32] really encourage the three of you to

[1:04:34] vote in favor of this project this

[1:04:36] evening

[1:04:37] this question

[1:04:40] I'm sorry what three are you referring

[1:04:41] to the three people that are on the

[1:04:43] committee I think Mr Williams

[1:04:45] Oh I thought you said I thought that you

[1:04:48] said that you were now the chair of the

[1:04:49] committee for the evening assuming chair

[1:04:50] responsibility yes yes

[1:04:53] two people

[1:04:55] oh I'm sorry I thought that Mr Paul and

[1:04:57] my name is Miss Porterfield and no no

[1:04:59] okay sorry about that so let's see here

[1:05:02] okay um so I just sort of so I'll start

[1:05:05] saying what I said when I started

[1:05:07] speaking that I'm fully supported this

[1:05:08] project and I just want to be clear it

[1:05:10] wasn't why Community was there was a committee that was formed

[1:05:13] and I have no objection for that but I

[1:05:15] don't want it to be understood that

[1:05:16] there was this you know we went from

[1:05:18] Community to community community that's

[1:05:19] not what happened there were

[1:05:20] representing some Community who formed

[1:05:22] the committee so let's you know um you

[1:05:24] know just be clear with that

[1:05:26] um

[1:05:27] so and I just really uh for me again we

[1:05:31] did not have the opportunity to hear

[1:05:33] about the expanded

[1:05:36] uh project that's expanded plan which is

[1:05:39] why I felt like I needed to hear more if

[1:05:42] you see the dollar uh amount of her

[1:05:45] project you know go from one percent and

[1:05:48] then it's doubled 100 I think it's fair

[1:05:50] to ask for an explanation for that so

[1:05:52] which is you know why I wanted you to

[1:05:54] come today to to ask to get that

[1:05:57] explanation so it's not about not being

[1:05:59] against the project it's about making

[1:06:01] sure we're clear because we are making

[1:06:02] decisions financial decisions

[1:06:07] so that that's 100 clear so um that's

[1:06:11] what I wanted to say and I did I did you

[1:06:13] know send questions to Mr Wallen

[1:06:16] um got those responses so um here we are

[1:06:20] today I'm I also am not on the committee

[1:06:22] so I don't get to vote well I'm going to

[1:06:24] make a motion to move this forward

[1:06:26] especially before I think it's important

[1:06:28] to say that there's yet again another

[1:06:30] instance where the council is being

[1:06:32] directed I absolutely do not want to be

[1:06:34] the constructionist or anything holding

[1:06:37] up these efforts I can understand the

[1:06:39] investment that was made by both the

[1:06:41] community and yourselves so I appreciate

[1:06:43] that my hesitation again is just making

[1:06:45] sure we can find the other aspects of it

[1:06:47] but with the motion I will support it

[1:06:49] um all those in favor

[1:06:51] aye aye promotion to return

[1:06:54] so I would say definitely it's making

[1:06:57] sure that as a council these

[1:07:00] conversations are brought in real time I

[1:07:03] imagine that would alleviate any of

[1:07:05] these instances continuing for

[1:07:07] can I get a motion to start amazing

[1:07:11] [Music]

[1:07:12] I was a additional comment and ask for

[1:07:14] it so remember which one of his emotion

[1:07:16] you were supposed to either not prove it

[1:07:18] or go gentlemen emotion second Paul's a

[1:07:22] favorite for your turn

[1:07:24] thank you I'd like to call the Florida

[1:07:26] City development and planning

[1:07:28] so

[1:07:30] thank you thank you both for coming in

[1:07:32] the explanations

[1:07:35] all right all right thank you so we have

[1:07:39] uh seven items on the agenda

[1:07:42] uh these first item is to

[1:07:46] um oops I'm sorry

[1:07:48] government officers

[1:07:52] sure okay so I'd like to call the order

[1:07:55] of operations we have one agenda item

[1:07:57] that's a reminder that amended to

[1:07:59] chapter 161 is connected to city code

[1:08:01] regarding the collection of white goods

[1:08:04] um uh public hearing will be held on uh

[1:08:07] 227 2023

[1:08:12] any questions comments on that

[1:08:16] I like the next motion

[1:08:19] no I don't need much better

[1:08:24] modification okay that's just a reminder

[1:08:26] okay

[1:08:28] any questions

[1:08:39] thinking now reconvene City development

[1:08:42] planning we do have seven items on the

[1:08:44] agenda the first item on the agenda is

[1:08:46] to award and bid the contract for the

[1:08:48] Central Park Pool

[1:08:50] Etc we just had a lengthy conversation

[1:08:52] about funding it

[1:08:54] um

[1:08:55] so Mr Wallen is not here is there

[1:08:58] someone here to speak to this for Mr

[1:09:00] Wallen

[1:09:01] I'm more than willing to address any

[1:09:03] issue that you have questions

[1:09:06] are there any questions with regarding

[1:09:08] the state and contract you just heard a

[1:09:10] very thorough explanation any questions

[1:09:14] I'll move it I'll second all's in favor

[1:09:17] aye aye and the second item on the

[1:09:20] agenda is the award admit contract for

[1:09:21] the Central Park Pool spray pad Etc

[1:09:24] contact to MC to

[1:09:27] um RMB mechanical and the amount of

[1:09:30] fifty three thousand dollars yeah

[1:09:34] second all's in favor bye

[1:09:37] uh the third I'm on the agenda is the

[1:09:40] ceremony recognition uh ceremony

[1:09:42] resolution recognizing women's History

[1:09:44] Month

[1:09:46] Etc yes March's women's history month

[1:09:49] and so as we've done in the past I'd

[1:09:51] like to

[1:09:52] um have a resolution recognizing that

[1:09:56] so I'd like to use that all right I'll

[1:09:58] second all in favor

[1:10:00] item number four is going to be

[1:10:02] postponed

[1:10:04] item number five uh creative outdoor

[1:10:07] presentation on outdoor garbage

[1:10:08] collecting bins Mr palomini yes last

[1:10:11] time we had a presentation by Mr Diamond

[1:10:13] from create about George about garbage

[1:10:16] cans to put around the city but also

[1:10:19] generate some Revenue let me give us a

[1:10:22] question surrounding that I did ask and

[1:10:26] he said all depends upon the cost of the

[1:10:30] ads themselves but generally speaking

[1:10:33] for the size of our city and the number

[1:10:35] of cans that would be put out anywhere

[1:10:37] from ten to fifteen thousand dollars

[1:10:39] would be generated in revenue for the

[1:10:41] city so we would have those cans put

[1:10:46] around the city hopefully to deal with

[1:10:49] some of the issues in regards to litter

[1:10:52] Mr Golden and his staff looked into the

[1:10:57] legality of it for the city he said it's

[1:11:00] okay

[1:11:01] yeah just for the sake of discussion

[1:11:04] um we don't see any legal impediments

[1:11:06] for moving ahead with this

[1:11:08] and so therefore I would recommend that

[1:11:11] we authorize the mayor to enter

[1:11:12] contracts with creative outdoor for

[1:11:15] these garbage cans

[1:11:18] so 10 to 15 000 per year yes

[1:11:24] and um so they said it would have to be

[1:11:26] about 40 garbage cans

[1:11:28] is what I'm doing I think that would be

[1:11:31] something the mayor would negotiate but

[1:11:32] he said minimum for you after I remember

[1:11:35] what and

[1:11:37] um and I as I also understand it needs

[1:11:39] to be in high trafficked areas

[1:11:41] yes but I think that's also something

[1:11:43] that the mayor could negotiate with

[1:11:45] higher traffic areas okay

[1:11:49] look at this it's what I call some of

[1:11:51] the obvious areas so you're going up

[1:11:54] Albany Street Craig Street Crane Street

[1:11:56] areas of downtown Eastern Avenue Van

[1:11:59] Rank and

[1:12:00] uh would be

[1:12:03] areas that they would be able to agree

[1:12:06] with us in terms of the best placement

[1:12:07] of it

[1:12:09] well for me I would like to see a plan

[1:12:12] of exactly where they're going to go

[1:12:15] um and

[1:12:16] yeah I would like to see a plan of where

[1:12:18] they're going to go and he definitely

[1:12:19] said high traffic areas and I there's

[1:12:21] actually actually I got some information

[1:12:22] that was really specific about that so

[1:12:24] they wouldn't be in residential areas so

[1:12:26] I'd like to see a plan where we replace

[1:12:28] these

[1:12:29] um so do you want some in residential

[1:12:31] areas or not

[1:12:36] quite frankly I think that that's

[1:12:37] another conversation that is maybe could

[1:12:39] be out there for the public to have a

[1:12:41] discussion regarding uh it's not just

[1:12:43] you know what I would like to see there

[1:12:44] but I definitely if we're talking about

[1:12:46] high traffic areas I would definitely

[1:12:47] like to see where that is going to be

[1:12:50] and do we even get to that 40 number

[1:12:52] considering that so I would like to see

[1:12:54] a plan from this organization

[1:12:56] um and and definitely some feedback for

[1:12:59] what they've seen in similar size cities

[1:13:01] in terms of that

[1:13:03] um before we 100 commit to it not that

[1:13:06] we don't have a problem with litter we

[1:13:07] all know that we do I don't know that

[1:13:10] this particular very large

[1:13:14] piece of equipment is is

[1:13:18] ideal

[1:13:19] so I would really like to see a plan on

[1:13:21] that before we move forward with that

[1:13:23] that's mine I'll send your questions

[1:13:26] along the email and I'll see if he will

[1:13:28] address those I will say that this goes

[1:13:31] hand in hand with the litter proposal

[1:13:33] program that was put forward and the

[1:13:35] council got behind and furthermore the

[1:13:40] garbage cans are free instead of using

[1:13:42] other resources that we could be using

[1:13:44] for other efforts around the city this

[1:13:48] would be something that we could get for

[1:13:50] free and bring in money so send your

[1:13:52] questions along and I'll be happy to try

[1:13:54] to get those addressed

[1:13:56] I'll make sure that I'll send them

[1:13:58] through Miss Michael like we do

[1:13:59] everything and then they can they can

[1:14:00] move forward

[1:14:02] um that's my concern about that and I

[1:14:05] would like to see if it's anyone else

[1:14:06] that has any questions or concerns

[1:14:07] regarding this

[1:14:10] so I I actually

[1:14:12] um you know after listen to the

[1:14:13] presentation

[1:14:14] um I think it sounds like a really good

[1:14:17] absolutely opportunity

[1:14:19] um but I definitely would think that would be we'd see like kind of a

[1:14:24] proposal where you know where the garden

[1:14:27] that's a pretty reasonable expectation I

[1:14:29] don't understand think that you need to

[1:14:30] ask for that I thought that'd be

[1:14:31] something that naturally happened but

[1:14:33] quite honestly I I I appreciate the

[1:14:36] information that was sharing I think

[1:14:37] this is a good opportunity

[1:14:39] um so um yeah I'd like to see that

[1:14:41] information to make sure that it's a fit

[1:14:44] um for our city and that the city

[1:14:46] residents or something that that they

[1:14:48] will be buying as well so

[1:14:51] thank you

[1:14:51] it's important thing is that um that

[1:14:54] kind of a plan would that be coming from

[1:14:56] the vendor or would that be coming from

[1:14:57] the

[1:14:58] mayor and his team honestly I think how

[1:15:01] I understood was you would enter in a

[1:15:03] contract negotiations this city would

[1:15:06] say well we don't want to camp here yeah

[1:15:09] we might want to hear and working hand

[1:15:11] in hand with the vendor so I'm not even

[1:15:13] sure I understand what you're saying but

[1:15:16] not not even sure that's even possible

[1:15:18] without there being some sort of

[1:15:20] negotiation to happen

[1:15:22] all right

[1:15:25] so yeah

[1:15:27] so I would generally expect that that

[1:15:31] those conversations happen and what I

[1:15:33] wouldn't want to do is say it said you

[1:15:35] know if we agreed that we're going to

[1:15:37] get 40 uh something cans and then uh

[1:15:41] we're looking at the proposed placement

[1:15:43] of those cans up now you know there

[1:15:46] isn't enough real estate to do that

[1:15:49] um in a way that uh is effective and now

[1:15:52] we're looking at all possibly these six

[1:15:56] or seven cans you know won't go for uh

[1:15:59] population online or won't happen that

[1:16:02] way and then we have and then and then

[1:16:04] maybe this just isn't the fit for us or

[1:16:06] other than that's what I was proposing

[1:16:08] um again this is something that I happen

[1:16:10] to

[1:16:11] um agree and support

[1:16:14] um and

[1:16:16] that's why I'm the question that I'm

[1:16:18] asking I think is pretty is it is a

[1:16:21] question around how do we make sure that

[1:16:23] we have all the information clear so

[1:16:24] when we do this thing that I think is a

[1:16:26] good idea it's done in the best possible

[1:16:28] manner

[1:16:29] yeah trying to demonstrate how we so the

[1:16:31] Kelly school was the final ability to

[1:16:34] reject garbage can placement

[1:16:37] so

[1:16:39] slippers that's not that's not what I'm

[1:16:41] saying what I'm saying is we definitely

[1:16:43] want garbage cans is this the best

[1:16:45] choice and you know that's what I'm

[1:16:48] saying so we clearly want garbage cans

[1:16:51] uh many communities including mine

[1:16:54] put garbage cans all over the city so we

[1:16:56] know there's a need for it doesn't mean

[1:16:57] that every um everything is an absolute

[1:17:00] fit so can we take a look at what that

[1:17:02] looks like that's what I'm saying

[1:17:06] I guess then what would your proposal be

[1:17:08] otherwise so that we could look into

[1:17:11] this what you brought forward was for us

[1:17:13] to consider this and what I'm asking you

[1:17:15] for is to ask the folks who brought

[1:17:18] forward what their plan would look like

[1:17:20] for our city based on the size of the

[1:17:22] city the high traffic areas

[1:17:24] and if you would like to for another

[1:17:26] vendor to come forward I'm sure that we

[1:17:27] can look into that and have that happen

[1:17:29] as well I understand what you're saying

[1:17:31] what I was asking is what other proposal

[1:17:34] do you have because right now this is

[1:17:36] all we really have if you have something

[1:17:38] else then we can look into this

[1:17:40] um and to expect them to come in and say

[1:17:43] we're going to put garbage cans here and

[1:17:45] here without the negotiation just isn't

[1:17:48] going to happen properly now I'll check

[1:17:50] and ask but I'm just asking you what

[1:17:53] proposal or plan do you have so then

[1:17:55] maybe I can look into that and see if

[1:17:57] there's something else well if there's

[1:17:59] other vendors and generally speaking

[1:18:01] when there's this kind of thing that

[1:18:02] happens there are three people that can

[1:18:03] take a look at so and this is not as I'm

[1:18:06] sure that this is not something that's a Soulful Soul person you know that does

[1:18:10] that so if you want to bring two others

[1:18:12] which is reasonable we'll get look at

[1:18:14] all three of them and see which makes

[1:18:15] the most sense for the city well if you

[1:18:17] have something with your questions to

[1:18:19] Miss Michael please pass along on the

[1:18:21] plan

[1:18:22] thank you

[1:18:26] Mr Clark yeah I just

[1:18:29] think that we have to look at this that

[1:18:32] um two things can be true here people

[1:18:34] okay and everything doesn't have to be

[1:18:36] you know uh

[1:18:38] power struggle and I think that

[1:18:41] um

[1:18:41] what we're ended up doing right now is

[1:18:43] that I think it's a pretty reasonable

[1:18:46] question and so two things can be true

[1:18:49] it's a reasonable request to see like

[1:18:51] what this might look like in the city

[1:18:53] before we you know move forward and

[1:18:55] enter into a contract and we can still

[1:18:57] support the initiative because we think

[1:18:58] it's a good idea we are more than

[1:19:00] capable of doing that um collectively as

[1:19:02] a buyer so let's my comment it really is

[1:19:06] let's focus our energy there that's what

[1:19:08] we need to be doing no one's disagreeing

[1:19:10] with the on that Mr Farley she missed

[1:19:12] Porterfield indicated that there were

[1:19:14] some other proposals or plans and all I

[1:19:17] was asking for is that you know let us

[1:19:18] know and maybe we can look into it

[1:19:20] that's all that was said it wasn't

[1:19:22] anything about trying not to

[1:19:25] bring forward a plan of where cans might

[1:19:27] go it was there was a comment made about

[1:19:30] other plans so if there's something else

[1:19:33] out there or other proposals let us know

[1:19:36] so that we can try to work on that

[1:19:38] that's all of us right I I understood

[1:19:41] the question to be around the plan

[1:19:43] that's existing in front of us that's

[1:19:45] our understood it but in that energy and

[1:19:48] in that Spirit pretty pretty solid

[1:19:50] reasonable question and does not mean

[1:19:52] that um that there's an opposition to

[1:19:55] the plan so

[1:19:56] and I didn't say there were other

[1:19:57] proposal I simply asked for a outline of

[1:20:00] what this one would look like so just to

[1:20:01] make sure we're 100 clear you did bring

[1:20:03] up the point that there could be others

[1:20:04] and if we want to bring up others in we

[1:20:07] certainly can do that as well it was not

[1:20:08] an objection plan just what it's going

[1:20:10] to look like

[1:20:12] so we can bring that back I'll make sure

[1:20:14] I have my questions

[1:20:15] um most forward to Ms Michael so that

[1:20:17] they can be answered by this vendor and

[1:20:20] um and perhaps if there's other vendors

[1:20:22] who may want to have an interest in them

[1:20:24] and then we can bring this back um this

[1:20:26] problem would you like it back in two

[1:20:27] weeks yes

[1:20:28] then we'll bring it back in two weeks

[1:20:32] the next item is discussion of

[1:20:34] Abandonment and sale of a large Street

[1:20:36] Mr Brown

[1:20:49] thank you

[1:20:55] this discussion item is about the

[1:20:57] abandonment and the sale of large Street is a small Street that's

[1:21:01] located between 633 and 651 Lansing

[1:21:04] Street we in the past have received

[1:21:08] multiple complaints regarding people

[1:21:10] attempting to dump trash on the land

[1:21:12] that we own that is at the end of large

[1:21:14] Street

[1:21:15] and our city staff has addressed it

[1:21:17] multiple times the owners at 60 33

[1:21:21] Lancing Street as well as the owners at

[1:21:23] 651 Lansing Street have approached the

[1:21:26] city about potentially purchasing it in

[1:21:29] order for that to occur we would have to

[1:21:31] abandon that in order to create it as a

[1:21:33] partial to sell

[1:21:35] one of the owners at 633 Lansing Street

[1:21:39] would need a portion of that land if it

[1:21:42] were to be parceled off in order to

[1:21:43] access his garages and the other owner

[1:21:46] would like to use the additional space

[1:21:48] to provide parking for the tenants at

[1:21:50] that location at 651 Lansing

[1:21:53] any questions

[1:21:54] Mr Golden sorry I just want to add a

[1:21:57] little bit more to this um you know I

[1:21:58] had a chance to meet with the owners

[1:22:00] with Mr Brown uh this is one of those

[1:22:02] there's nothing really to move today

[1:22:04] it's just discussion item

[1:22:05] um because we can't even start the

[1:22:07] abandonment process until we have a

[1:22:09] survey these owners have agreed to pay

[1:22:12] all the costs to the city for you know

[1:22:15] preparing the

[1:22:17] um the survey which is going to run them

[1:22:19] you know over a thousand dollars I'm

[1:22:21] going to guess just based on the size of

[1:22:24] this area of Street in the city would be

[1:22:26] potentially abandoning they would also

[1:22:29] agreed to

[1:22:30] all costs related to recording any

[1:22:33] documents which would be Deeds they will

[1:22:37] pay for that so they're going to be on

[1:22:39] the hook for all the costs out of pocket

[1:22:42] the issue that they had was they wanted

[1:22:45] before they wanted to go pay for a

[1:22:46] survey to start this process and then

[1:22:48] bring it to the council later on they

[1:22:50] wanted to know if the council was

[1:22:52] supportive of this of this by this mini

[1:22:55] project

[1:22:56] I will say the Straight is not in the

[1:23:00] best of shape I did we didn't have a

[1:23:01] chance to talk to Mr Wallen about it

[1:23:03] it's a very small street there's really nothing fronting

[1:23:06] um you know this brought this street uh

[1:23:09] it's really the sides of both of these

[1:23:10] properties as Mr Brown indicated the

[1:23:13] cost to repave this area would be I

[1:23:16] think Mr Wallen indicated upwards of two

[1:23:18] hundred thousand dollars just for that

[1:23:21] little tiny piece which nobody really

[1:23:22] benefits from and as Mr Brown indicated

[1:23:25] there's a considerable amount a

[1:23:26] considerable amount of dumping dumping

[1:23:28] going on there and the city has put

[1:23:30] these cement blockades to prevent The

[1:23:33] Dumping going on there so the the

[1:23:36] request today is just to get informal

[1:23:38] support to go ahead with this

[1:23:40] abandonment and this project to

[1:23:42] eventually allow these Property Owners

[1:23:45] to buy what would be abandoned by

[1:23:48] dividing it in half

[1:23:50] thank you

[1:23:51] discussion from council members and

[1:23:55] get in favor against

[1:23:57] support

[1:23:59] is there anyone in the objection that we

[1:24:01] would support this request

[1:24:05] okay thank you

[1:24:08] all right thank you uh the final item on

[1:24:12] this on the city development planning is

[1:24:14] sale of 35 moisten Street a vacant lot

[1:24:16] which would be an executive session

[1:24:20] so at this time I ask for a motion to

[1:24:22] adjourn City development planning so

[1:24:24] moved I mean I'm sorry reset so second

[1:24:27] all in favor

[1:24:30] so um I'd like to open claims

[1:24:34] um there are three items on the agenda

[1:24:36] for claims

[1:24:37] um all three of these items need to be

[1:24:39] discussed in executive session before we

[1:24:41] go on Executive session I have something

[1:24:43] I'd like to bring forward for claims

[1:24:46] oh okay

[1:24:47] um

[1:24:48] typically we do Personnel issues and

[1:24:51] claims

[1:24:53] um

[1:24:53] there's been serious allegations against

[1:24:56] Mr Farley we know that

[1:24:58] it's incumbent upon us as a body we have

[1:25:03] an issue of serious allegations against

[1:25:07] one of our members

[1:25:08] there needs to be an investigation and

[1:25:12] as our council president calling on you

[1:25:15] to call for an investigation so Mr

[1:25:18] Farley can have his name cleared and

[1:25:20] then there's nothing pointing over his

[1:25:22] head or if there's something found

[1:25:25] that's determined there's something

[1:25:27] either unethical or illegal then that

[1:25:30] can be addressed

[1:25:32] but I think it's very important for us

[1:25:34] to be transparent in this body to make

[1:25:37] sure that we have this addressed and I'm

[1:25:38] calling on you as our council president

[1:25:40] to call for an investigation

[1:25:43] so I'm not sure which what you're

[1:25:44] talking about specifically but let me

[1:25:46] say this let me say that in terms of the

[1:25:49] Consulting contract

[1:25:51] that was entered into the school

[1:25:52] district was very clear that there was

[1:25:54] nothing illegal it was not against the

[1:25:56] policy they were 100 clear when he um

[1:26:00] when he they signed him hired him as an

[1:26:02] employee that he already has a

[1:26:03] Consulting contract there was nothing

[1:26:05] illegal there so there's and and in

[1:26:08] addition to that it's already been

[1:26:09] referred to the State Board of Education

[1:26:11] who will look into it and if there's

[1:26:13] anything illegal it's up to them to make

[1:26:15] that decision so that process has

[1:26:16] already taken place

[1:26:17] all right but this we don't have ethics

[1:26:20] bot yes we do have a board at least

[1:26:22] Ethics Committee on this Council we have

[1:26:25] one in the city in the city yes well

[1:26:28] then I'm asking you to call for an

[1:26:30] investigation have the Ethics Committee

[1:26:32] look into it that way Mr Farley can at

[1:26:35] least have his name cleared and we can

[1:26:37] move forward because we are getting

[1:26:39] questions on this and you know it's

[1:26:43] something that should be looked into and

[1:26:45] while it is a school of board matter

[1:26:47] it's not

[1:26:48] a school issue it's not a no-show job

[1:26:52] situation this is public money and then

[1:26:54] there's some other issues with perhaps

[1:26:57] taxation issues that's something that is

[1:27:01] an Ethics issue and it should be looked

[1:27:03] into and again if Mr Farley's got no

[1:27:07] issue with this then he should have his

[1:27:09] he deserves to have his name cleared and

[1:27:11] I think that would need to be a request

[1:27:12] for Mr Farley and let's just also keep

[1:27:14] in mind that these things took place

[1:27:16] before Mr Farley was seated as this

[1:27:19] council at this Council so that's not

[1:27:22] these are not things that took place as

[1:27:24] a councilman

[1:27:26] excuse me let me just stop right here

[1:27:28] you started this by saying it's a

[1:27:30] personal issue it should be discussed in

[1:27:33] claim or in executive sessions however

[1:27:38] not in claims there's no claim against

[1:27:39] Mr Farley by anyone I said we usually do

[1:27:43] Personnel matters in clients but yet you

[1:27:45] want to discuss this particular one in

[1:27:47] public

[1:27:48] I didn't ask for it to be discussed in

[1:27:50] uh exactly Obsession I said it should be

[1:27:53] disgusting claims no one's discussing

[1:27:56] whether he's illegal unethical or not

[1:27:59] we're just calling for an investigation

[1:28:02] of whether he has done something or not

[1:28:05] done something there's a huge issue

[1:28:07] difference there okay so just a couple

[1:28:11] questions because I think that this is

[1:28:12] definitely

[1:28:14] um clearly something that um is a tad

[1:28:16] bizarre that you introduced that at this

[1:28:18] juncture of our standing committee

[1:28:20] meeting um I think that that's pretty

[1:28:22] telling us to follow me however

[1:28:24] um you say that that you know the

[1:28:28] question around ethics and transparency

[1:28:29] all information that has been talked

[1:28:32] about this is all public information I

[1:28:34] don't think that you can get more

[1:28:36] transparent than that

[1:28:38] um and I I just again I find it kind of

[1:28:41] odd that you would uh trying to

[1:28:43] interject this into this phase of our

[1:28:45] committee meeting and you're saying that

[1:28:47] we

[1:28:48] language you just used a couple minutes

[1:28:49] ago was that we are calling for an

[1:28:52] investigation and I would like to say I

[1:28:55] oh

[1:28:56] your I'll fix what I said I I just would

[1:29:00] like to would like to be clear about

[1:29:02] that um

[1:29:04] uh president porterfield's point the

[1:29:06] school district themselves was pretty

[1:29:08] clear that you know that this was

[1:29:10] nothing that uh that's even alleged

[1:29:14] um was illegal and I personally did not

[1:29:16] violate any standing policy that um that

[1:29:19] was uh on the books in the school

[1:29:21] district so with these things being said

[1:29:24] um what enterpack means that you know

[1:29:26] there's a there's an element to uh

[1:29:29] Chicago grandstanding almost

[1:29:30] criminalized

[1:29:32] um well there is there is so you're

[1:29:35] saying so Salon clear you're saying that

[1:29:37] there is no element no not from you

[1:29:42] right that's what you're saying right

[1:29:43] because you can speak to yourself I'm

[1:29:44] speaking of it myself so I will continue

[1:29:45] on my point so there is an element of of

[1:29:49] that that we've seen um from the GOP you

[1:29:51] know we're in a strong effort to try to

[1:29:53] criminalize uh myself and others you

[1:29:56] know around very significant things

[1:29:58] since I've been in this seat uh you know

[1:30:00] there has been claims uh but uh

[1:30:04] hate meal to me my colleagues I've been

[1:30:07] uh accused of being I think I was a I'm

[1:30:11] gonna make sure I go through the whole

[1:30:12] family I was a drug dealer

[1:30:14] um someone that would hurt children

[1:30:17] then now

[1:30:19] of defrauding that these type of things

[1:30:23] is exactly to my early point is what you

[1:30:25] call criminalization and it is all

[1:30:28] political theater and

[1:30:31] I just think that it's pretty rich

[1:30:34] um from considering the sources um I you

[1:30:37] know you know all color people are

[1:30:40] criminals and I think that we really

[1:30:42] need to deal with the issues in the

[1:30:45] appropriate way of introducing this at

[1:30:47] this time again is another way to try to

[1:30:51] spin up a news story

[1:30:55] speaking Spanish story but the people's

[1:30:59] connected me didn't collect me for a

[1:31:01] positive story or a negative story that

[1:31:04] elected me because of my 20 years over

[1:31:06] 20 years of consistent leadership and

[1:31:09] dedication to my community and that's

[1:31:12] not something that is really going to

[1:31:14] change based on the criminalization of

[1:31:17] myself or any other people on this so

[1:31:20] with that I appreciate um your concern

[1:31:23] to clear my name is that's how you're

[1:31:25] framing I'm not really sure

[1:31:27] um but I again I think it it not only is

[1:31:30] it bizarre but it's equally bizarre as

[1:31:33] it is really unsettling and the tension

[1:31:36] is not lost on me and I don't think

[1:31:38] anybody else was witnessing this in this

[1:31:39] moment thank you

[1:31:41] so this is not bizarre because we

[1:31:44] usually do Personnel matters during this

[1:31:46] time and claims and quite frankly when

[1:31:50] there's

[1:31:51] public money in play whether we're

[1:31:54] talking about paying taxes or school

[1:31:57] money which is public both local federal

[1:32:01] and state

[1:32:02] and there's serious accusations and

[1:32:05] people are calling us and saying what's

[1:32:08] the deal what's going on

[1:32:10] are there issues going on with Council

[1:32:13] money or not

[1:32:14] I don't know I personally don't think so

[1:32:18] um excuse me excuse me let me just

[1:32:20] interrupt you I'm not sure no I'm not

[1:32:22] sure what the council money means

[1:32:23] because we all get city council money in

[1:32:26] terms of the budget and that's what I'm

[1:32:28] talking about so in terms is this

[1:32:30] another allegation

[1:32:32] that's somebody okay so somebody did

[1:32:34] call and asked about that then no wait a

[1:32:37] minute Mr Farley was right I interrupted

[1:32:39] him and I let him speak and he was right

[1:32:42] I was wrong

[1:32:44] I'm not finished when I'm done you're

[1:32:46] able to speak all right and then we're

[1:32:48] going to end this conversation because

[1:32:51] um you know we as I said I am going to

[1:32:53] interrupt you here the school district

[1:32:55] is or someone has already said that this

[1:32:57] is being investigated by the state and

[1:32:59] State School Board

[1:33:00] that's it and if there's an

[1:33:02] investigation regarding taxes New York

[1:33:04] state tax department has a an arm that

[1:33:06] does that

[1:33:07] so then as the leader of the city

[1:33:09] council you're saying we should not ask

[1:33:12] for an investigation of one of our

[1:33:14] members of serious

[1:33:16] improprietary allegations of public

[1:33:18] funds I'm saying those investigations

[1:33:20] are taking place by the bodies that are

[1:33:22] involved ethics ethics is up to this

[1:33:26] Bible so you're either saying yes or no no

[1:33:29] I'm asking you and listen and I'm also

[1:33:33] investigation or even either answer yes

[1:33:36] or no my answer is awesome

[1:33:39] excuse me you don't you don't get to

[1:33:41] sell me yes or no I'm telling you why

[1:33:44] you do it all the time

[1:33:46] I think you do okay it doesn't well

[1:33:49] that's your opinion I'm telling you this

[1:33:51] that there's already been it's already

[1:33:52] been turned over to the State Board of

[1:33:55] Education it's New York State uh

[1:33:58] Department of Taxation Fields there

[1:33:59] needs to be investigation they will do

[1:34:01] that so then the answer to question to

[1:34:04] you from you that is

[1:34:06] the answer to your question is it's

[1:34:08] being investigated that is the answer to

[1:34:10] your question and I'm asking for this

[1:34:12] you as our library why do we need

[1:34:15] additional investigations if they're

[1:34:16] already being done because this is our

[1:34:18] body and we're the city government and

[1:34:21] people are asking questions what are you

[1:34:23] guys going to do about it and if we

[1:34:25] don't investigate ourselves in terms of

[1:34:28] public money then there's no

[1:34:30] accountability I disagree with that and

[1:34:33] you and you can answer the people that

[1:34:35] there are investigations taking place

[1:34:36] already so then your answer to my

[1:34:38] questions my answer to your question is

[1:34:40] no your investigations are taking place

[1:34:42] you will not put words in my mouth that

[1:34:43] is my answer because everybody can see

[1:34:46] what the answer is I think it's just

[1:34:48] important um for me at this point to

[1:34:51] just really

[1:34:52] um highlight the fact that

[1:34:55] these type of tactics are really really

[1:34:59] like morrising

[1:35:02] um and Mr probably mean when you

[1:35:04] introduce something into a conversation

[1:35:06] to say nope you know people are asking

[1:35:08] me about city council money and just and

[1:35:12] then to say oh you know all right you

[1:35:15] know is there something going on there I

[1:35:17] don't know that is again another dog

[1:35:20] whistle and you have been consistent um

[1:35:23] with your doll whistles and your you

[1:35:27] know really attempts to try to

[1:35:29] criminalize certain people

[1:35:31] um that are on the city council and I

[1:35:33] happen to be one of those people again

[1:35:36] our business of the city is what I would

[1:35:40] much rather be spacing our time on

[1:35:43] um not wasting our time on with this but

[1:35:45] really dedicating to that just like

[1:35:47] earlier Mr probably meaning when we're

[1:35:49] talking about

[1:35:50] garbage cans and trying to figure out

[1:35:53] where the place you know where the place

[1:35:55] them are and then and get a clear

[1:35:56] picture of that instead of accepting the

[1:35:59] fact like okay that's that's a

[1:36:01] reasonable question and let's do this we

[1:36:03] try to turn that into a power struggle

[1:36:05] you are clearly are an obstructionist

[1:36:07] and this is just you uh perpetuating

[1:36:10] that behavior and I really would

[1:36:12] appreciate um if you at least had the

[1:36:14] integrity and if they need to just say

[1:36:17] what's really on your mind stop trying

[1:36:18] to proud of the people called me and

[1:36:20] said and I don't know on this answer and

[1:36:22] just really be who you say you are but

[1:36:24] that's why people have their faith in me

[1:36:25] thank you you're welcome but the

[1:36:27] Integrity of this council is an aimed

[1:36:30] we're each of us you don't like it

[1:36:32] that's for you to dislike or not like

[1:36:35] you want to talk about obstructionists

[1:36:37] there's been nothing brought forward

[1:36:39] from many members of this Council but

[1:36:41] when they are they're consistently

[1:36:43] objected to and that is proven all you

[1:36:46] gotta do is watch the meetings there's

[1:36:48] been a literate proposal that's been all

[1:36:51] kinds of issues with uh specific stuff

[1:36:54] that really had nothing to do with the

[1:36:56] literate proposal itself there's been

[1:36:58] obstruction of other issues that we

[1:37:01] brought forward so we can talk about

[1:37:03] obstructionists or not but the fact is

[1:37:06] there were allegations made and they

[1:37:08] deserved some sort of hearing now

[1:37:11] whether or not they're true or not isn't

[1:37:15] for me to determine you to determine is

[1:37:18] for somebody else to determine that's

[1:37:20] why there would be an investigation and

[1:37:23] you want to talk about dog whistles

[1:37:24] you're the one that blows the dog

[1:37:26] whistles every time because it's

[1:37:29] distract and deflect from an issue of

[1:37:32] seriousness and that's what's going on

[1:37:34] here and continuously happens every time

[1:37:38] something happens there is a distract

[1:37:41] and deflect method

[1:37:43] so with that I'll be done Miss Miss

[1:37:46] Patrick do you want to move over the

[1:37:48] place I do yep so we have three items on

[1:37:51] the agenda

[1:37:52] um one

[1:37:54] um is Safeco Insurance

[1:37:56] ASO Jonathan Miller versus the city of

[1:37:59] Schenectady the next is ramen and Paulie

[1:38:01] versus city of Schenectady and the final

[1:38:03] one is Southside Development LLC versus

[1:38:06] city of Schenectady all three of these

[1:38:08] need to be addressed in executive

[1:38:11] session they all yes and the reason why

[1:38:13] you want to go to Executive session has

[1:38:16] to do with negotiating settlements of

[1:38:18] litigation which is an exception to the

[1:38:21] open meetings law the purposes of

[1:38:23] executive session thank you so I'd like

[1:38:25] to

[1:38:26] um call us to be able to go into

[1:38:29] executive session may I have a motion

[1:38:31] for that so

[1:38:33] um

[1:38:34] I need a second I'm sorry okay okay

[1:38:38] so we're going to go into the executive

[1:38:41] session

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, February 21, 2023

Transcript