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[9:14] thank you

[9:17] call to order the Schenectady city

[9:19] council committee meeting for Monday

[9:21] March 20th 23 2023 we have the first

[9:25] committee is finance Mr metaveran thank

[9:28] you good evening everyone I would like

[9:29] to call the finance committee to order

[9:31] the first sizes 23 budget amendment for

[9:34] IPs positions

[9:44] okay

[9:52] what's everybody tonight

[10:02] okay so what I would like this uh

[10:05] propose

[10:06] uh currently we have three ladies in the

[10:10] office first staff

[10:12] very busy office

[10:14] and we asked them to do a lot and we're

[10:17] asking them more and more every week

[10:19] So currently we have

[10:21] one that it's a ips4

[10:25] one person is a principal account Clerk

[10:28] and the third is an informational

[10:30] statistical Clerk

[10:32] they all have different duties and

[10:34] they're all compensated at different

[10:36] levels

[10:38] what I found in the office the office

[10:41] works very well ladies and gentle office

[10:43] work sharing it all together and they

[10:46] share a lot of the same responsibilities

[10:48] even though that is now what her job

[10:51] titles are

[10:52] in the last month and a half maybe

[10:55] closer to two months we've applied for

[10:58] two grants we're going to be looking at

[11:00] a third print that is on one person

[11:02] that's the person that is the

[11:04] information and statistics Clerk

[11:09] she's responsible for a friend she's a

[11:11] new member to our team but when that

[11:14] happens

[11:15] especially now these two grants were

[11:17] came pretty close together and it was

[11:20] all hands on deck while she was doing

[11:22] that other people were doing some of her

[11:25] duties

[11:26] so the point is they're all sharing in

[11:28] the duties

[11:30] about a month ago we had two members at

[11:32] the same time had to take some medical

[11:34] leave there after two weeks so all

[11:38] the running of the office fell on one

[11:40] particular person and she was doing

[11:42] payroll and she was doing

[11:45] everything so it is very important that

[11:48] they're all trained at the same level so

[11:50] it's my proposal that they will all be

[11:53] at the same level brought to true that

[11:56] are not PS4 they'd be brought up to that

[11:58] level

[11:59] and it will have an impact of

[12:02] approximately six thousand dollars this

[12:05] budget

[12:06] but we have money in the budget to pay

[12:09] for that we're going to take the money

[12:11] that uh they're put aside for the

[12:14] assistant G which is not happening until

[12:17] at least until the exam has been

[12:20] corrected we don't expect that to happen

[12:22] till maybe June that year it is

[12:25] so we are saving money from that from

[12:29] that line so it won't have a financial

[12:31] impact

[12:33] and uh

[12:34] one other thing that's driving me to do

[12:37] this is our senior person in the office

[12:40] is going to be looking at retirement in

[12:43] the next two to three years so it

[12:45] becomes very important to make sure that

[12:48] people that we have are going to be

[12:50] ready to pick

[12:56] any questions concerns

[13:01] just say that it seems like this is an

[13:04] effort to make a pretty efficient

[13:06] Department even more efficient I

[13:07] appreciate your dedication yeah thank

[13:10] you

[13:12] sorry you're saying that makes sense

[13:13] yeah

[13:17] I try not to admit that any problems

[13:20] well done thank you thank you

[13:24] sir all right thank you thank you thank

[13:28] you thanks Chief the next item is a

[13:31] presentation of the 2023 2024 proposed

[13:34] heart annual Club actress

[13:39] foreign

[13:48] it's just going to reflect some of the

[13:50] things that I'm going to talk about here

[13:53] um so we put together we put in our PL

[13:56] late January we got proposals back for

[13:58] our annual

[14:00] um HUD funding which is the Community

[14:02] Development block grant the emergency

[14:04] Solutions Grant and the homes

[14:06] initiatives program so there's three

[14:08] different

[14:09] pots of money that we each year get

[14:13] requests for proposals for and put

[14:15] together a budget based on our goals and

[14:17] our five-year Consolidated plan

[14:20] um so the annual action plan outlines

[14:23] the proposed allocations for these

[14:24] activities and it's for the federal

[14:27] fiscal year of 2023 to 2024. so with

[14:30] that being said we don't have our final

[14:33] allocation yet from HUD it's always

[14:36] around the same it's based on a formula

[14:39] we have our deadline on May 15th to

[14:43] submit our plan to HUD so we want to

[14:45] make sure we do that although we don't

[14:47] know the final number so you might

[14:48] remember from last year things changed

[14:50] slightly we tried to round down this

[14:53] time just to make sure that hopefully

[14:55] make sure that there isn't a decrease

[14:56] like we had last year with the CBG

[14:58] funding

[15:00] um so the allocations and the use of the

[15:02] funds are based on the national object

[15:04] objectives it's to benefit while

[15:06] moderate income persons to Aid in the

[15:09] prevention or elimination of slugs or

[15:11] blight or to meet Community Development

[15:13] needs having a particular urgency so all

[15:15] of our funding has to meet those three

[15:17] categories and then we have three goals

[15:19] that are outlined in our Consolidated

[15:21] plan with the overall outcome of the

[15:24] city of Schenectady neighborhoods

[15:26] thriving vibrant communities where

[15:28] residents and businesses are afforded

[15:29] viable opportunities to improve their

[15:32] quality of life so the three main goals

[15:34] in our Consolidated plan which are

[15:37] probably maybe familiar with but just to

[15:39] highlight the expanding housing

[15:41] opportunities which is the first

[15:43] priority the expanding of Economic and

[15:45] Workforce Development priorities

[15:48] as the second and the third is the

[15:50] strengthening of local neighborhoods so

[15:52] all the projects that we've done relate

[15:54] to these three goals in meeting the

[15:56] outcomes that were identified in the

[15:58] Consolidated plan

[15:59] the anticipated available funding for

[16:02] this year for the Community Development

[16:03] block grant is around 2 million for the

[16:07] Emergency Solutions Grant 190 000 and

[16:10] for the home investment Partnerships is

[16:13] 1.15 million

[16:16] and with the home investment

[16:18] Partnerships that's in our Consortium so

[16:21] we work with the city of Troy in the

[16:23] town of colony and we we basically split

[16:26] that allocation between our three

[16:28] communities for the overall outcomes

[16:32] um so I I won't go through line by line

[16:35] um in what's in the the current proposed

[16:39] budget um we do have a 30-day public

[16:41] comment period that begins tomorrow and

[16:44] it'll run through April 21st we also

[16:46] have a schedule of public hearing for

[16:48] the general um city council meeting on

[16:50] Monday April 10th so there's

[16:53] um time to submit comments

[16:56] um on this plan and to have time to

[16:58] review it further let us know any

[16:59] questions if you have questions about

[17:01] certain projects um definitely let us

[17:04] know

[17:05] um we I'll even back up sorry for a

[17:08] second

[17:09] um I just wanted to outline that in the

[17:11] public service category

[17:13] um this is the area where we're always

[17:16] um we always struggle because we have a

[17:18] public service cap we can only use 15 of

[17:22] the annual allocation of cdbg funds for

[17:24] what are called public services and this

[17:27] is what we get most of our applications

[17:28] for

[17:30] um so it always becomes a struggle of of

[17:32] how to incorporate applications in the

[17:36] plan and still stay under that 15

[17:38] percent cap so you can see some of the

[17:41] projects outlined and includes some of

[17:43] the bigger ones are like the Boys and

[17:45] Girls Club of Schenectady who fund

[17:47] recreation in the parks in addition to

[17:50] the youth Coalition which is a

[17:54] collaborative of around 16 organizations

[17:57] 12 to 16 depending on who's

[18:00] participating but that they have kind of

[18:03] collaborated to put in one application

[18:06] that's more of a coordinated effort so

[18:08] we've seen success with that over the

[18:10] last couple of years and we have

[18:11] proposed to fund this again in addition

[18:13] to the other items that are outlined

[18:16] there

[18:18] um

[18:20] and this is just showing the the public

[18:23] service exemptions from organizations

[18:25] that are operating within our

[18:29] neighborhood revitalization strategy

[18:31] area

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[18:36] um

[18:37] and then this is the Public Works

[18:39] outlining that and then our

[18:42] Administration funds that go towards the

[18:45] operation and monitoring of all these

[18:47] programs

[18:49] um so as I mentioned we have a 30-day

[18:51] public comment period which starts

[18:52] tomorrow goes for a month you can submit

[18:55] written comments to the email outlined

[18:57] and then also the public hearing will be

[19:00] on April 10th um in room 209 at 7 pm

[19:06] and is there any immediate questions

[19:10] um I I could

[19:13] I will say there are a couple new

[19:15] programs that we have in the budget

[19:18] which I was going to just highlight

[19:20] quickly because we haven't funded them

[19:22] before one of them is from Wildwood it's

[19:26] an application from Wildwood they have a

[19:28] home for five individuals that have

[19:30] developmental disabilities and this this

[19:33] application is really to just do some

[19:35] Capital Improvements on their building

[19:37] so that they can

[19:40] um you know they can ensure that the The

[19:42] Residency is up to code and everything

[19:44] is taken care of

[19:46] um I think that was the main new one the

[19:49] other new application that we propose

[19:52] funding for is for the him the Hindu

[19:54] temple youth programming so this is

[19:57] related to the renovation that's

[19:58] happening for the guidance Community

[20:00] Center and they're requesting some cdbg

[20:02] funds to expand on programming at this

[20:06] Center which I think is currently under

[20:07] construction however they did indicate

[20:10] that they'd be able to use their

[20:11] existing facility which is the the

[20:14] temple I believe Dan correct to start

[20:18] some of this before their the Community

[20:20] Center opens

[20:22] um so those are the main highlights

[20:24] those were the main two that were that

[20:25] we organizations we had not found them

[20:27] before

[20:31] any questions comments

[20:35] so we'll need a motion so call for

[20:37] Republic hearing

[20:38] I'm gonna move it second solid paperwork

[20:41] all right thank you uh

[20:44] the next item is authorized

[20:47] authorization for the mayor to answer an

[20:49] agreement with a Schenectady inner city

[20:51] Ministry

[20:52] HBO

[20:55] yeah so this is in relation to

[20:58] um the next two requests on the first

[21:00] for second the second for Schenectady

[21:02] Foundation

[21:03] um this is after

[21:05] um discussion around the 950 000 that

[21:09] was allocated for arpa funding

[21:12] um for the overall food Council

[21:14] initiative

[21:15] um so this first resolution is

[21:19] um is basically relating to sitcom's

[21:21] request that was part of that overall

[21:23] strategy and um it's it's allocating 350

[21:28] 000 of the funding I'm too sick of to

[21:31] carry out the goals that they've

[21:32] identified in their application I

[21:35] believe they included a couple of

[21:37] updates

[21:38] um in the memo that they provided and

[21:42] um it is in collaboration with the food

[21:44] Council we have Bob Pro here from the

[21:46] Schenectady Foundation to discuss some

[21:49] of the goals and um Outlook of that of

[21:52] that initiative moving forward

[21:55] but yes this request is specific for the

[21:58] 350 of the Arca funding to Schenectady

[22:01] Anderson Industries

[22:03] any questions comments

[22:09] yes please please if you'd like to come

[22:12] up Amari and just say a couple words or

[22:14] if anybody has specific questions we

[22:16] have Reverend I I'm sorry I didn't even

[22:18] with your mask

[22:21] um

[22:25] thank you

[22:26] um

[22:27] just to highlight what I hope you read

[22:30] on the uh on the memo we have at the

[22:33] continued some of the work that we have

[22:35] with the proposed and the funding would

[22:37] go along with sustain it for three years

[22:40] as you know for many uh not for property

[22:41] organizations the the challenges funding

[22:44] to get the appropriate staff and the

[22:45] appropriate resources to get it going

[22:47] three years of funding which is what

[22:48] we're proposing we did 350 000 would get

[22:52] us a significant amount of time to get

[22:54] the product ongoing but also work on the

[22:56] long-term sustainability of the project

[22:58] what I also want to highlight

[23:01] um I see that some of you might have

[23:02] Black and Whites

[23:03] um copies of the of the proposal there

[23:06] have been several

[23:07] um and the updates to to the work and

[23:09] not only that we're already working in

[23:11] 14 locations the eights of the city

[23:13] neighborhoods which is an increase at

[23:15] the uh from six of this uh the real

[23:17] proposed neighborhoods into eight of

[23:19] these neighborhoods

[23:20] um the community composting program

[23:23] which was a significant part of the

[23:24] original plan we have partnered and we

[23:27] are currently working on the our first

[23:30] Avenue

[23:31] Farm which is owned at Dubai by the city

[23:34] in creating a smaller scale but

[23:37] sustainable and and

[23:39] um and a movable

[23:42] um composite of the project with the

[23:43] swollen water organization in the county

[23:46] already working on on that is far more

[23:49] in the sustainable it will get community

[23:53] um uh impact in in the kind of

[23:55] composable work that we want to work

[23:57] through so that's at the ongoing and we

[24:00] have been able to do that outside of

[24:02] this um of this product and of course

[24:04] again we have included Union Street in

[24:06] the sake in the communities that we are

[24:08] impacting so you know we thank you for

[24:11] the consideration of this work and look

[24:13] forward to the ongoing and the work that

[24:15] we're trying to do around food access

[24:17] and partnering with a city hall in this

[24:20] work

[24:21] thank you any questions

[24:27] I just want to comment that you know

[24:29] being familiar with the work that um

[24:31] organizations are doing and I'm really

[24:34] impressed with the ability that you guys

[24:36] have been able to scale I'm really kind

[24:38] of doing more with less so I think that

[24:40] you know anytime we have opportunity to

[24:41] support that very important work we

[24:43] should do so that's why

[24:47] and I will add that I think adding the

[24:50] two neighborhoods of Union Street and

[24:51] Stockade I appreciate that and I um you

[24:56] know the farm to school uh curriculum

[24:57] development project that the school

[24:59] district is doing

[25:00] um supporting that in this way I think

[25:02] is is very important and then also the

[25:05] fact that you're collaborating with the

[25:06] YW on the other on the other project as

[25:09] well I appreciate those those

[25:10] Partnerships

[25:13] go ahead please I had a quick question I

[25:16] apologize the phone I'm speaking out of

[25:19] turn the monies need to be allocated by

[25:20] 2024 and spent by 2026 will there be any

[25:23] issues with it being three years

[25:29] but yes yes the money will have to be

[25:32] spent by the end of 2026 in our contract

[25:34] will reflect that and when we work

[25:36] numbers to make sure that that happens

[25:38] absolutely

[25:40] in history

[25:42] any other comments seeing them we have a

[25:45] motion

[25:47] seconds exactly all in favor bye thank

[25:50] you thank you

[25:52] the next item is authorization for the

[25:54] mayor to enter an agreement with the

[25:55] Schenectady Foundation utilizing our

[25:57] first funding that's the end

[26:02] like this so this is in in connections

[26:06] to the last request this is

[26:08] um the 600 000 that is proposed to go to

[26:10] the Schenectady Foundation which would

[26:12] be in direct support of the food Council

[26:14] you may have gotten a memo I sent around

[26:17] earlier it was just confirming the

[26:19] amount from SUNY Schenectady and their

[26:21] needs for the food related items that

[26:24] would also be part of this and I would

[26:26] like to invite Baba to just talk a

[26:28] little bit about the next steps for the

[26:30] council and how the funding will do to

[26:33] us

[26:37] Schenectady Foundation I want to thank

[26:41] my colleague Murray who all worked at

[26:44] the Supreme and you know this is very

[26:47] collaborative community and that is one

[26:50] of the reasons why we think uh we can do

[26:53] work differently here than in

[26:57] communities and given that we're seeing

[27:01] this widespread issues particularly

[27:03] visible since covid of food insecurity

[27:09] we can respond in an emergency Manner

[27:12] and we have been

[27:14] we also believe that there's a way to

[27:16] kind of take it up a notch and be more

[27:19] thoughtful and thinking the long term as

[27:22] to how do we fix the system and that takes

[27:28] everyone sitting in the room together to

[27:30] discuss and when I say

[27:33] who that all is we've already started

[27:36] forming the council we've we've had two

[27:38] meetings it's still it's formative

[27:41] stages so it's not a full Council yet

[27:43] but we've been outlining uh the issues

[27:47] we're going to start on one is equity

[27:50] and access is at the top of the list for

[27:53] this year to take a look at the other

[27:55] one is just looking more broadly at the

[27:57] food system which involves Farmers

[27:59] Distributors providers retailers they

[28:02] are all part of the system too and then

[28:05] the third area we're looking at is in

[28:09] communication

[28:11] uh public information getting the public

[28:14] to understand and be more aware of what

[28:16] the real issues are why we have this

[28:19] these issues and engaging residents and

[28:22] telling stories

[28:23] and that's one of the most significant

[28:25] pieces of this we do believe and you

[28:27] don't buy into the idea of creating this

[28:30] food Council understanding that the

[28:33] solutions are usually with the people

[28:35] who are closest to the problem

[28:37] and so we will have residents at the

[28:40] table we will do one of the the first

[28:43] things we're doing is um organizing uh

[28:46] Outreach and focus groups sitting down

[28:48] with residents in neighborhood

[28:49] association meetings and listening to

[28:52] their stories about what are their what

[28:55] why do they think that their

[28:56] neighborhood has problems accessing

[28:59] healthy food so we are we've started

[29:02] this

[29:03] when we receive our funding uh if we're

[29:07] so blessed to then this just gives us an

[29:10] injection to be able to hire somebody on

[29:13] a part-time basis who's on this every

[29:15] day

[29:17] right who's on this issue so that it's

[29:19] not drifting from meeting to meeting to

[29:22] meeting and no we have to get on this

[29:24] and we have to put a priority I should

[29:27] also say that this uh since we put this

[29:29] together this plan has been augmented by

[29:32] uh Schenectady County Public Health

[29:34] Services uh and Cornell Cooperative

[29:36] Extension which are providing a um a

[29:40] graduate level fellow

[29:42] who will be with us nearly full time to

[29:46] do the research and pull the partners

[29:49] together so we we will have a whole team

[29:51] for the next several years working on

[29:55] food security trying to make every

[29:57] resident of the city food secure and we

[30:01] welcome the city's role in a place at

[30:05] the table in that process as well so

[30:06] that's just kind of an update on where

[30:08] we are now

[30:11] any questions comments

[30:14] things

[30:15] go ahead please

[30:17] um I appreciate that we're having this

[30:18] conversation because I think it would

[30:20] have been you know I I mean we talked

[30:22] about this a long time ago and um being

[30:24] able to have um our two speakers here

[30:27] and you uh to kind of um give us an

[30:30] overall picture of this I think is very

[30:32] helpful and

[30:34] um I know that I had a brief

[30:36] conversation with Mr Caro about it um

[30:38] back when we first started talking about

[30:40] the project

[30:42] um but I I'm glad that we're having it

[30:44] now

[30:45] um I wish we had had it back then

[30:48] um I think that

[30:50] um I I appreciate very much this

[30:52] long-term plan

[30:54] um I

[30:56] um

[30:57] I think that that chance for the council

[31:01] the food Council to be looking at the um

[31:05] systemic

[31:06] you know underlying causes of food

[31:08] insecurity is just so important because

[31:10] I think you know Ms detores and my

[31:14] experience just doing this one month uh

[31:17] food drive that we did we certainly

[31:19] gained a lot of knowledge

[31:22] um by being in touch with so many

[31:23] different food pantries

[31:25] um and those I think the group of people

[31:28] that came together as volunteers during

[31:30] that process really felt strongly that

[31:32] there is this opportunity to be able to

[31:36] and food insecurity in Schenectady and

[31:39] we would like to see that happen so

[31:41] um I'm you know really supportive of

[31:43] this project and

[31:46] um can't wait to see all the outcomes

[31:50] no I just want to well thank you for

[31:52] bringing forward I want to thank Mr Caro

[31:54] I appreciate the fact that you're

[31:55] bringing people that are impacted by

[31:57] this to the table because I think that I

[32:00] know for a fact that that's most

[32:01] important when we're doing the work that

[32:03] we're not just doing it from the

[32:04] top-down approach but people who are

[32:06] impacted can bring things and give ideas

[32:07] that we probably would have never

[32:09] thought of so appreciate the

[32:10] inclusiveness of that

[32:12] yeah and then just to highlight again

[32:14] since I think 450 000 of the requested

[32:17] 600 goes directly will go directly

[32:20] towards you know actually implementing

[32:23] the things that come out of the food

[32:25] Council so that's you know it's it's

[32:27] identifying the issues and then it's

[32:29] also having some resources to implement

[32:31] changes

[32:32] um directly so I just want to amplify

[32:35] the fact that you um are focusing again

[32:38] on equity and access I think that's so

[32:40] important

[32:41] um often people kind of just say that

[32:43] but don't do that so to have that

[32:45] embedded in a priority on what's really

[32:47] important so I want to just kind of

[32:48] highlight that and I hope other people

[32:50] that are watching and see this because

[32:51] that kind of leads into the next one

[32:53] we're talking about telling that story

[32:55] you know being witnessing what the city

[32:58] and the county did

[33:00] um during the pandemic you know kind of

[33:01] really removing some red tape but

[33:03] collaborating with people was probably

[33:05] some of the best work I've ever seen um

[33:08] coming out of our city in our County so

[33:10] I think now collecting that data almost

[33:14] can create uh you know kind of this is a

[33:16] best practice for other municipalities

[33:18] to see what we're doing here so I think

[33:20] that that's also really important so I

[33:22] just want to say I really appreciate the

[33:23] equity

[33:24] um lens that you're using and actually

[33:25] doing I'm just saying and recording that

[33:28] information so thank you for that thank

[33:30] you

[33:33] and just similarly with this contact who

[33:36] would just make sure that the contract

[33:37] end date is within time that's correct

[33:39] okay thank you I

[33:42] think it's important for the public to

[33:45] understand as well that the Schenectady

[33:46] Foundation is also putting in

[33:49] um a big chunk of money 1.5 million

[33:52] dollars into this initiative so it's not

[33:54] just that the city

[33:56] um is supporting this but there's um

[33:58] money from the foundation other

[34:00] foundations as well as other product

[34:02] donations that are going into this

[34:04] effort so I appreciate that as well um

[34:15] thank you

[34:18] the next item is authorization for the

[34:20] mayor to enter an agreement with a

[34:22] Schenectady Hindu temple and community

[34:24] service

[34:26] okay so this is really just a correction

[34:29] um we had a resolution that authorized

[34:31] the mayor to enter an agreement with

[34:32] this community guidance Community Center

[34:34] for fifty thousand dollars to convert 12

[34:37] 18 6th Avenue to a community center

[34:39] um it has been determined that the

[34:42] Guyanese Community Center is not yet a

[34:44] 501c3

[34:45] um so we can't enter an agreement um

[34:48] with with that specific entity under

[34:50] that title

[34:52] um however the building is currently

[34:54] owned by the Schenectady Hindu temple

[34:55] and community services and we are just

[34:59] um requesting the authorization for the

[35:01] mayor to enter an agreement with the

[35:03] Schenectady Hindu temple and community

[35:04] services for the fifty thousand dollars

[35:07] to implement the um the changes for the

[35:11] community center so it's just really a

[35:12] name we couldn't enter the agreement

[35:15] under that name we needed to use the

[35:18] name that had an active 501c3

[35:23] questions comments

[35:27] seeing none may have a motion um

[35:30] thank you

[35:35] the next item is the 2023 negative

[35:38] exploration Sweeper for Capital project

[35:40] Mr Ferrari thank you it's been a while

[35:43] yeah

[35:45] how was your vacation thank you by the

[35:49] president city council we're here

[35:51] tonight uh actually the next three

[35:53] resolutions in Aurora deal with uh

[35:55] bonding and banning of the funds of the

[35:58] capital projects uh the first one we

[36:00] want to talk about is the negative

[36:02] declaration because the city is the lead

[36:04] agency and you know we're about to

[36:07] borrow you know 12 12.6 million dollars

[36:10] and uh it's been determined with the

[36:13] issue of these bonds that there will not

[36:15] be as significant or adverse effect on

[36:18] the environment so this is a something

[36:21] that we'd like to have the city council

[36:23] signed as lead agencies I gave all the

[36:26] paperwork for you to read through it

[36:29] thank you

[36:31] is there anything missing

[36:41] and go to the next one because it

[36:44] actually deals with the 2023 uh capital

[36:48] projects which where you just did the

[36:50] negative uh Declaration on as you recall

[36:53] this is the city's connect I've already

[36:55] passed uh in the 2023 budget the capital

[36:58] uh capital projects uh and it was

[37:01] determined through that that we need to

[37:03] borrow

[37:04] 12.4 million dollars and change but as

[37:08] we go through a boring process there's a

[37:10] cost of issuance of 168 000 so total

[37:14] amount of that we need to be borrowing

[37:16] was a 12 million 639 841 dollars

[37:21] uh like you said this is has already

[37:24] been approved in the capital projects

[37:26] during the budget process we've been

[37:28] working with our fiscal advisors and and

[37:31] our bond Council and we're determining

[37:34] that the this band uh for the first year

[37:37] is going to be issued around 3.5 to 3.65

[37:40] uh we're trying to rush it before things

[37:43] get even worse but the banks we think

[37:46] we'll be able to handle this right now

[37:48] so that's that's what we're shooting for

[37:51] questions coming in may I have a motion

[37:54] I'm moving all in favor uh the third one is to uh what we're trying

[38:01] to do here is that as you recall the

[38:03] 2022 we borrowed the capital project

[38:06] money we use the bond anticipation

[38:09] though and what we want to do for 2023

[38:11] is to actually uh make this note make it

[38:14] a permanent financing for the next 21

[38:16] years

[38:17] again with our fiscal advisors and our

[38:19] bond councils we determined that we want

[38:23] to firmly uh borrow the amount which I

[38:27] think it was in the back of the of this

[38:29] legislation 6 million 985 778 uh we're anticipating between 3.75 and 4

[38:38] and that's that's why we're we're like a

[38:41] month ahead here trying to get it over

[38:43] but because of the banking situations

[38:53] thank you

[39:03] sort of like to call disorder the Public

[39:05] Safety Committee we have one item on the

[39:06] agenda tonight it's gonna be a call with

[39:08] hard of hearing for school bus stop arms

[39:11] safety camera local dog I'll be

[39:13] presented by a message uh good evening

[39:15] so um a few weeks ago we had the people

[39:18] come in and explain about the um our

[39:21] school bus camera and how much do it

[39:24] first of all it would create Revenue

[39:26] they already went to the school district

[39:28] to make sure the school district had

[39:29] buy-in on this particular

[39:31] project and the school district did have

[39:34] buy-in but in order for us to do it

[39:35] first of all there has to be a local law

[39:38] created in order to do the local law we

[39:40] have to have the public hearings do that

[39:42] so this right now is to um just to call

[39:45] for that public hearing

[39:59] all right close to order student

[40:01] development and planning we have eight

[40:03] items on the agenda the first is to

[40:06] authorize the issuance of performance

[40:08] number 675 to the boys Italian deli

[40:12] oh

[40:14] Mr Wong is we'll be right down a little

[40:16] bit oh okay

[40:30] all right well we're waiting for him we

[40:32] are going to skip to item number four

[40:35] uh which is um asking for a ceremony resolution to honor a vet most

[40:41] of us may remember Jim Wilson who passed

[40:44] away and this um the Saturday they are

[40:46] going to be actually honoring him so our

[40:49] resolution will come because the

[40:50] information came so late we will not get

[40:52] this in time but I did want to still do

[40:54] a resolution uh honoring him

[40:58] any questions last second all's in favor

[41:03] okay Mr Wallen

[41:04] I'll be waiting for you thank you

[41:07] besides not to waste time and pass

[41:09] something no I'm sorry I forgot my

[41:11] paperwork oh okay first one

[41:16] yes number one all right on the

[41:18] revocable permit um this is the joyous

[41:20] on vanbrinken they are reopening

[41:23] um it used to be the Joya now is the

[41:26] joyous and they need a new sign new

[41:29] insurance they have submitted it the

[41:31] sign is essentially the same sign other

[41:32] than the apostrophe on the same Mount so

[41:36] I don't see any issue

[41:52] coming year

[41:54] um Seasons hopefully going to open in

[41:56] April depending on what the weather does

[41:58] for going forward

[42:00] um this year we are getting a new Fleet

[42:03] of electric vehicles as we're getting a

[42:06] new Fleet we thought it was a good time

[42:08] to increase our fees for parts as we

[42:11] usually have a little bit of a strategy

[42:12] where we try not to do increases every

[42:14] year we try to be strategic with what we

[42:16] do so we held off doing any kind of

[42:18] increases because our fleet was at the

[42:20] end of his service life now this is a

[42:22] brand new Fleet Factory uh Road premium

[42:25] carts with the lithium they're going to

[42:26] have a new GPS system in them uh the

[42:29] charging cables are back and all that

[42:30] and it is you know cost the city the

[42:33] golf course really money to make those

[42:35] improvements so we're recommending a one

[42:37] dollar increase for nine and a two

[42:40] dollars increase for 18 holes and we're

[42:43] still within uh you know Regional

[42:45] competitiveness

[42:46] change uh is on the back

[42:49] um it was an error from last year for

[42:51] the assistant Pro it was the same rate

[42:53] as the pro we actually charge the city

[42:56] makes a little less off of that because

[42:58] the pro actually makes it a little less

[42:59] so that was a correction that Matt asked

[43:02] I made and he apologizes for not being

[43:04] here at a personal issue

[43:07] and so there's just really um

[43:10] there's gonna be a lot of changes no I

[43:12] decided I try to highlight and then this

[43:15] is also with the Rhythm so that these

[43:16] are the rates for next year so I try to

[43:18] make sure that every year we have a good

[43:20] track record of what the rates are for

[43:21] this year so it's really just amounts to

[43:23] um four changes that are being made so

[43:25] if Abraham had an option before uh look

[43:27] at it and see the motion for me it's

[43:30] like a follow us in favor all right

[43:31] thank you

[43:33] and item number three to authorize the

[43:35] mayor to insert into supplemental

[43:37] agreement number two in the New York

[43:38] State Department of Transportation for

[43:40] Broadway Mill and Phil 4th Street yep so

[43:43] the Broadway project uh is in a similar

[43:46] state to the PSAT project was the

[43:47] project around City Hall we are

[43:50] substantially complete with the projects

[43:52] but as you'll see the signals are not

[43:54] 100 complete there's some components

[43:56] that are not done this is caused by

[43:58] supply chain shortages the supply chain

[44:01] shortages have led to uh longer

[44:04] inspection costs walking time so we have

[44:06] that in here as well as there were some

[44:08] quantity differences where we actually

[44:10] put a little bit more Paving down we

[44:12] altered some drainage structures we did

[44:14] some CTE inspection and cleaning and we

[44:17] reached out to the dot uh I sent them a

[44:19] letter about this and they agreed to

[44:21] reimburse the city as part of the

[44:23] project cost for 95 80 Federal 50 state

[44:27] and to do that we have to have a

[44:30] supplemental agreement with them to

[44:31] change the amounts both for them and

[44:35] then we change them with Finance once we

[44:36] have the resolution so really no

[44:39] negative distance over two hundred

[44:41] thousand dollars of of Aid to go towards

[44:44] the project

[44:46] and the cities um

[44:48] City's portion is the city's portion I

[44:50] don't have that right for this right uh

[44:52] the city's portion of it would be it's five percent of 250 000 so roughly

[44:59] six yeah

[45:02] 60 000 over 20 yeah just to make sure

[45:06] 65 yeah 250.

[45:10] it's been at the uh 17500

[45:12] no excuse me no I take it back this

[45:15] times around 12.50

[45:17] 1250.

[45:20] yeah yeah so that's that's our share

[45:23] that's the five percent so we've been

[45:25] I've come to the you know we've done

[45:27] this quite a bit of a lot of projects

[45:28] just want to make sure yep any questions

[45:34] oh my apologies for being late

[45:37] um thank you Mr Waller

[45:39] item number five ceremony resolution for

[45:42] Saint adapters 120th anniversary Mr

[45:44] palomini saying adelbert is celebrating

[45:48] their 120th anniversary and having a big

[45:50] celebration so uh that'd be appropriate

[45:53] to recognition

[46:13] it was scheduled for March 11 they had

[46:16] to postpone it and it's now April the

[46:18] 4th after Schenectady Hindu temple

[46:20] summer Crossing resolution okay so first

[46:22] April 4th 1pm okay

[46:25] have any questions

[46:27] entertain a motion I'll move it second

[46:30] all is in favor

[46:33] item number seven created outdoor

[46:35] garbage collection bins Mr Pauline yes

[46:38] this is uh about the garbage cans to put

[46:41] around the city with creative outdoor

[46:44] again they will supply bins that have

[46:49] ads on them certain percentage that

[46:51] comes to the city anywhere from 10 to 15

[46:53] 000 in annual revenue you get a

[46:56] recycling bin as well as a garbage bin

[46:59] and um

[47:01] asking that the Merit be allowed we

[47:04] authorize this for the mayor to go into

[47:07] negotiations with creative outdoor

[47:11] questions comments

[47:17] we discussed this I think we were held

[47:20] up because they were asking me Salah

[47:22] made to meet with the uh the union

[47:25] representative to discuss some concerns

[47:27] they had about who's going to pick up

[47:28] the garbage and things like that

[47:30] May is not here so I'm not sure who has

[47:32] that information I have been meeting

[47:33] with held and those concerns

[47:36] Mr Colton's raising his hands

[47:39] um I can speak to that the mayor did

[47:42] meet with local 1037 I was president Mr

[47:45] Lafont was present members of the union

[47:47] and their business agent were present

[47:50] they didn't raise any significant

[47:53] concerns related to the pickup of

[47:55] garbage they recognize that they already

[47:57] pick up garbage from the city trash cans

[47:59] at certain corners and they realize

[48:01] that's within the scope of their work

[48:04] okay but they were concerned about this

[48:06] company picking up the garbage this

[48:08] company is not going to be picking up

[48:10] the garbage has always been proposed

[48:11] when that gentleman had come in to speak

[48:13] about it that question came up

[48:16] um and I think at the all indications

[48:18] and this would be part of the contract

[48:19] would be that city employees will be

[48:22] picking up the garbage

[48:24] thank you

[48:26] and certainly the city council and

[48:28] authorizing a resolution can create that

[48:30] limit on the authorization you know

[48:33] including terms like they do with other

[48:35] with the council bills of other things

[48:36] saying you know um with the condition

[48:39] that City employs in a collect the waste

[48:42] thank you Mr farmer yeah I just want to

[48:46] again discuss support for this program

[48:47] it sounds like a really good program I

[48:49] think that there's been a lot of efforts

[48:51] from our city government as well as our

[48:54] residents to reduce litter so I think

[48:56] this is a great way to do that

[48:58] um

[49:00] I guess the only thing that I'd like to

[49:01] share is I think that um you know is

[49:04] there a way to do this without replacing

[49:06] the garbage cans that we have right now

[49:09] I just think that that should we should

[49:10] just I believe we should go ahead and

[49:12] move forward and feel supportive I just

[49:13] think that we should replace the

[49:15] existing ones I think we should just add

[49:17] um uh these uh canisters here so

[49:20] therefore you know it's just a easier

[49:23] way and we're able to reduce litter I

[49:25] don't I don't know if we want to like

[49:27] roll back any of the work that's already

[49:28] been done I think that we should

[49:31] the progress

[49:33] [Music]

[49:44] so I think um that as long as the you

[49:48] know I I

[49:49] recognize that Mr Lafond and and his

[49:53] office I mean if there's garbage cans

[49:54] that need to be replaced because they're

[49:55] damaged or in bad shape but um basically

[49:58] if we're adding to the without having to

[50:01] spend any money on them I think it's a

[50:02] really smart idea and

[50:05] um certainly we hear over and over and over uh that this is a huge

[50:10] issue

[50:12] um so

[50:13] you know the more the more garbage cans

[50:15] the better because and especially since

[50:17] we're not having to outlay any resources

[50:25] so in addition to Abby what's out there

[50:27] by I do know in the north side

[50:30] um they had some new cans last year and

[50:31] so wherever they're going to leave those

[50:33] cans alone but there are a lot of cans

[50:35] in the city that do need replacing and

[50:37] this will be recycling alongside of uh

[50:40] trash so

[50:41] um it you know I always look for a

[50:43] recycle bin and I can't find anyone you

[50:46] know not too many in the city so this

[50:48] would just be a good good situation all

[50:50] right so I think just because

[50:52] um the problem about the trash cans

[50:54] because in the um in the LR it says

[50:56] replaced old trash cans

[50:58] um so just one yeah just to make sure

[51:01] that we um

[51:02] we are not replaced because people there

[51:05] was a project that went on and several

[51:06] neighborhoods said you know you need

[51:08] trash can so ideally as I understand

[51:10] this they will be in high visible areas

[51:12] any anyway so the other trash cans are

[51:15] there can maybe move further into the

[51:17] neighborhood

[51:18] um I would also recommend that we

[51:21] contact be in contact with the the

[51:23] groups that already did the trash cans

[51:25] that are currently there as we do this

[51:26] and maybe whenever we have to reposition

[51:28] some of those older trash cans and Bob

[51:30] Carroll could probably tell us who to

[51:32] get in touch with because they um the

[51:34] finicky Foundation was the ones that

[51:36] actually funded all of those projects so

[51:38] they would know who the contact people

[51:40] are but just and a lot of those trash

[51:42] cans are in really great shape and we

[51:43] paid a lot of money they the Schenectady

[51:45] Foundation paid a lot of money for that

[51:46] so keeping with keeping those and not

[51:49] getting rid of them I think it's hugely

[51:50] important here

[51:52] I did um had an opportunity or review

[51:55] the um the presentation once again so

[51:58] just want to clear the recycling is that

[52:00] only going to be a municipal property

[52:02] that's what the presentation said right

[52:04] so

[52:07] they're all it's one unit it's just one

[52:09] big yeah and we can choose all recycling

[52:12] or or trash to recycling

[52:15] thank you in a beach

[52:19] and I think I know in the last minute

[52:21] you said that they um in terms of

[52:22] placement they would contact they would

[52:24] be in touch with the city council in

[52:26] terms of where the public the mayor and

[52:28] then the city council can certainly have

[52:30] their input as well and again I would

[52:32] recommend that we have inputs in the

[52:34] neighborhood groups that already you

[52:36] know are invested in this process and

[52:38] have been invested in this process so we

[52:39] don't exclude and move things around

[52:41] without the people in the neighborhood

[52:43] so I think that's important as well I

[52:45] think that we really it I I think it's

[52:48] not necessarily high visibility areas I

[52:50] think it's traffic areas and high areas

[52:53] where there's I think we've identified

[52:55] and can identify areas where there is a

[52:58] lot of litter

[52:59] um I I think that these are going to

[53:01] probably mostly end up on those

[53:03] corridors where we have

[53:06] um business activity like State Street

[53:08] and Eastern and of Broadway and Frank

[53:11] van Rankin I mean I think those are

[53:14] probably going to be the areas where um

[53:16] we'd be looking because of the

[53:17] advertising component

[53:19] um I would think yes if I was trying to

[53:22] get the advertisers I would probably

[53:24] look to the businesses that are going to

[53:26] be surrounding the areas where these

[53:29] garbage cans might be placed so

[53:32] um yeah so I think

[53:35] there's certainly I think that again um

[53:37] the email that we got from the resident

[53:39] that outlined those very

[53:41] um heavily littered areas is going to be

[53:44] a really and of course our office of

[53:46] General Services is going to know

[53:47] immediately

[53:49] um where that volume of litter and trash

[53:53] is

[53:54] so I I think they did say high

[53:56] visibility as well they really want

[53:57] because people want their business is

[53:59] seen so which makes sense so um you know

[54:02] we have the issue regarding the

[54:06] um whether there was concern from the

[54:07] Union Address and making sure that the

[54:09] neighborhoods have their um you know

[54:11] have an input into you know where the

[54:13] other candle that we don't throw the old

[54:14] cans I you know those are the concerns

[54:16] that we want to make sure that we

[54:18] address as we move forward with this

[54:20] is there anything else that I

[54:22] didn't I'll move in a second all those

[54:25] in favor

[54:26] um okay

[54:30] uh the next item will be an executive

[54:32] session so I'd ask for a motion to reset

[54:37] all this in favor

[54:52] what's up

[54:54] government operations we have three

[54:57] arguments on the agenda the first is

[54:58] that because

[55:04] I recommend that these three items in

[55:07] undergovernment operations uh go into

[55:09] executive session uh pursuant to section

[55:13] 105.1 e of public officers laws that

[55:15] relates to Collective negotiations

[55:42] um we have one item on the claims agenda

[55:45] um and that item also would be something

[55:47] that we'd need to go into executive

[55:48] session for

[55:50] um so I'll look for a motion uh to go

[55:52] into well I guess do I recess my

[55:55] committee to or just going to Executive

[55:56] sessions go into executive session first

[55:58] and then research yeah

[56:01] the small openness and executive session

[56:04] and then we can go back to the other day

[56:05] okay all right great so

[56:09] all in favor

[56:12] okay so now we're in executive session

[56:15] oh one member of the public

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, March 20, 2023

Transcript