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[10:38] Schenectady city council committee to

[10:40] order for Monday May 1st 2023 and the

[10:43] first committee is Public Safety device

[10:46] called Safety Committee to order we have

[10:48] one item on the agenda for tonight that

[10:50] is the renewal of Mohawk Ambulance

[10:51] Service contract and I'll be discussed

[10:53] by Chief Marina

[11:01] especially

[11:03] good evening everyone

[11:06] uh here this evening to present a

[11:09] contract from Mohawk Ambulance Service

[11:10] is one that is uh one we've had for over

[11:14] 20 years if not longer it renewed 73

[11:17] years

[11:18] the only difference in this contract as

[11:21] opposed to the previous one that we're

[11:23] operating under

[11:24] I believe it's in uh point 17.

[11:28] in the previous contract said that

[11:31] neither party could get out of the

[11:33] contract with a 60-day written notice

[11:35] and that has been changed to a 90-day

[11:38] written notice no other changes

[11:43] attention any questions or concerns from

[11:45] the console okay presentation so second

[11:48] all the favorites uh

[11:52] are there any other items that are

[11:54] called for the Public Safety Committee

[11:56] hanging out with your piece of emotional

[11:57] Journey second

[12:00] all those papers today

[12:03] thank you I would like to call the

[12:06] finance Community to order the course

[12:07] item is adopting in 2023 2024 Hub annual

[12:11] election plan

[12:13] if public hearing was called an April

[12:15] returns and we had a certainly come

[12:17] interior which is over

[12:19] SDS

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[12:25] would you like to just come into

[12:27] anything new that happens in the year as

[12:30] well uh we didn't receive any written

[12:31] public comments um for the annual action

[12:34] plan so we're just looking to move it

[12:36] forward for adoption as proposed

[12:39] any questions comments

[12:47] thank you one more item for you no sorry

[12:51] this is a reminder for public hearing to

[12:53] amend the 2022 2023 annual action plan

[12:56] public hearing a schedule for May 8th

[13:00] that's next week Monday

[13:02] any comment on that or this is just a

[13:04] reminder just a reminder

[13:07] thank you any other businesses for

[13:10] finance

[13:11] may have a motion to adjourn second all

[13:14] in favor bye thank you I'd like to call

[13:16] the waters to development and planning

[13:18] we have 12 items on the agenda uh the

[13:21] first oh first there's a call for public

[13:24] hearing for Hamilton Hill resorting Miss

[13:26] DIA

[13:27] yes so um we are requesting to rezone an

[13:31] area of Hamilton Hill from R1 to R2 and

[13:35] this is the land that's between Hamilton

[13:37] Street Schenectady Street Strong Street

[13:39] and parts of Summit Ave and bumper

[13:42] Street

[13:43] um so the area is currently zoned as R1

[13:45] but it contrasts what's with what's

[13:47] physically present

[13:49] um in the zone so a majority of the

[13:52] housing is actually two family

[13:53] structures so the the R1 zoning kind of

[13:57] prohibits

[13:59] um development in the area and the ReUse

[14:01] of the structures there given the

[14:03] limitation of a two-family structure

[14:05] having to be a single family home

[14:08] um so I think this was done back in 2007

[14:11] um and we've just seen the impact of

[14:14] that you can see in the map I don't know

[14:16] if it's in color but the the R1 area is

[14:20] basically surrounded by R2 zoning so

[14:22] it's really only those couple of blocks

[14:24] that are R1 and over time we've just

[14:27] seen the impacts of that and the

[14:28] limitations with how the properties can

[14:31] be used how we can look at reinvestment

[14:33] in the neighborhood working with our

[14:34] nonprofits and other partners in just

[14:38] the general revitalization of Hamilton

[14:40] Hills so this has been something that's

[14:41] been discussed for a long time and we're

[14:44] finally bringing it forward and we're

[14:46] looking forward to the future of of the

[14:50] property there when we kind of match the

[14:53] zoning to what the structures of housing

[14:56] currently are

[14:59] I was just going to say so the first

[15:01] thing would be to call for the public

[15:02] hearing for the reasoning of the R1

[15:05] single family zone between Hamilton

[15:06] Street and Strong Street

[15:08] any questions

[15:11] sorry Mr Williams

[15:14] um like parking or any uh increases in

[15:19] vehicles in those areas it would be

[15:21] pretty similar to again what's

[15:23] surrounding

[15:25] um and we don't see really any issues

[15:27] with with parking

[15:28] um there's actually some data that

[15:30] supports that 40 of households don't own

[15:33] a vehicle so they're actually taking

[15:34] public transit and walking and biking

[15:36] and things of that nature thank you

[15:39] all right I'll move it just a second

[15:42] all right thank you uh okay Mr lead

[15:46] agencies for the um Seeker in opening a

[15:48] 30-day comment period for the Hillary

[15:50] zoning

[15:51] yep so related to that item this is just

[15:53] the city council declaring um the intent

[15:55] to act as a lead Agency for the Seeker

[15:58] review

[15:59] um and the call for the public hearing

[16:01] to determine the environmental

[16:03] significance of the project

[16:05] are there any questions

[16:07] stay in motion so second how was the

[16:10] paper all right and item number three

[16:12] referral of the Hamilton Hill zoning

[16:14] changes to the Planning Commission

[16:16] yes um referring this zoning Amendment

[16:19] proposal to the Planning Commission for

[16:20] a recommendation it would be on the May

[16:24] 17th agenda for this month's Planning

[16:26] Commission meeting

[16:28] are there any questions

[16:35] item number four authorize the mayor or

[16:38] his Destiny to enter into an agreement

[16:39] with the New York State Department of

[16:41] Transportation for Franklin Street cycle

[16:43] tracks and your Schenectady Franklin

[16:44] Street do not Terrace the J Street Mr

[16:47] Wallen thank you uh so the city of

[16:51] Schenectady received federal aid money

[16:52] to study and install a cycle track or

[16:55] something not Terrace and Clinton Street

[16:57] directly behind me Jason City Hall we

[17:01] have an agreement with cha this is an

[17:03] agreement with the dot so that we can be

[17:05] reimbursed up to 95 of the costs

[17:07] associated with the design

[17:10] other questions

[17:16] and number five award-winning contract

[17:19] for the Congress Street retaining wall

[17:21] replacement

[17:23] sure

[17:25] um Congress Street adjacent to the

[17:27] Dunkin Donuts in the former Bike Shop

[17:29] which is now a essentially a kitchen

[17:32] renovations store the wall there is

[17:36] failing and has been braced we've been

[17:39] working with the new property owner on

[17:41] it we have a temporary easement to enter

[17:43] and a permanent easement as the

[17:45] retaining wall is going to extend out

[17:47] farther onto their property probably

[17:49] approximately five feet from where it is

[17:51] now we solicited received four bids the

[17:54] low bid was reichenberg Contracting we

[17:56] have worked with rifenberg before

[17:58] rifenberg did a lot of work on Erie

[17:59] Boulevard previously we haven't worked

[18:01] with them recently but

[18:03] the price is uh under our budget and I

[18:06] have no reason to believe it won't be

[18:07] able to perform the work are there any

[18:10] questions

[18:11] take motion so second all those in favor

[18:15] item number 60 would be in contact for

[18:18] the Forest Road intersection Improvement

[18:21] so this is two intersections on Forest

[18:24] Road we did a project similarly on

[18:26] Forest and Francis last year where it's

[18:29] essentially a road diet project we'll be

[18:32] removing the existing two small

[18:34] landscape circles narrowing the

[18:36] intersections and installing crosswalks

[18:40] this is essentially also to complement

[18:43] our Craig Street Mount Pleasant Brook

[18:45] that we're doing some of our linkage

[18:46] studies

[18:47] we had three bids we're going to be

[18:50] looking at doing the the base bit and

[18:52] Alternate one alternate one is the pave

[18:54] the corridor one we've done we had an

[18:57] alternate two for curbing however given

[19:00] the cost and the lead time associated

[19:01] with curb

[19:03] to just do alternates uh the Basin

[19:06] alternate

[19:08] any questions

[19:09] clarification on same motion so second

[19:12] that was in favor

[19:15] number seven uh work bin contract for

[19:17] replacement Kings Road Bridge over cfcsx

[19:20] Amtrak this is a older project federal

[19:22] aid that we've been talking about the

[19:25] weight replacement of the king's Grove

[19:26] Bridge we went out to bid for this for a

[19:30] standard period of 30 days as required

[19:32] by state contracts we got four bids all

[19:35] from reputable contractors with oil

[19:37] being wind construction we have not

[19:39] previously worked with wind but they are

[19:41] local and they have done a lot of work

[19:42] in the area and with people that I work

[19:45] with consistently they have been

[19:47] recommended and their bid was sent to

[19:50] the dot for concurrence I will be

[19:51] getting that soon and then you'll end up

[19:55] seeing me come back with an agreement

[19:57] some more to Franklin Street to

[19:59] the funding for the reimbursement for

[20:02] the project so I will be back here again

[20:04] for this it is well within budget our

[20:07] budget for the project was somewhere in

[20:10] the six and a half million dollar range

[20:11] so they came in but that doesn't include

[20:13] we have construction inspection in here

[20:15] which

[20:17] is so a project came with a budget

[20:19] schedule wise we're putting it out now

[20:21] with the intention of getting all of our

[20:24] shop drawings which is our review

[20:26] process done getting our steel ordered

[20:28] and really starting the project next

[20:31] year first thing in the spring since the

[20:34] bridge is open it should be but what we

[20:37] don't want to do is we don't want to

[20:38] have a situation where we

[20:40] close the bridge and then have a winter

[20:43] shut down we want people working the

[20:45] entirety of the time as the bridge is

[20:47] closed because there is no detour The

[20:49] Detour Biz ad tour there is no partial

[20:52] closure of the bridge to do it so what

[20:55] we're looking at doing is I mean if the

[20:57] contractor says that they can get it

[20:58] done this year and we will welcome it

[21:00] but right now just given the lead time

[21:01] on materials we're thinking it'll be a

[21:04] spring to summer project straight

[21:07] through with no shutdowns in between

[21:10] nine questions

[21:15] okay item number eight uh word bin

[21:17] contract for the North Center North

[21:19] Center Street reconstruction yep

[21:22] um this is a smaller complete streets

[21:26] project that we're doing

[21:27] um North Center Street a little Jug

[21:29] Handle Street between union uh Union

[21:32] business district and the Little Italy

[21:33] business district

[21:35] um we closed a rail underpass there

[21:38] we've also seen some issues doing the

[21:40] flooding we have some sidewalk and some

[21:42] parking issues there's been some

[21:44] development in that area

[21:46] where the people there have asked us to

[21:49] look at that street

[21:50] Metroplex is actually I don't have that

[21:52] I just got commitment from them

[21:54] Metroplex is going to cover the cost of

[21:56] these sidewalks on the project so we are

[21:58] selling and mou with them for 114 000 of

[22:01] this cost and they wanted me to bring

[22:04] that up so I'm working on that right now

[22:05] with David Hogan camp and Ray Gun

[22:08] the bid was slightly over our estimate

[22:12] however the bids were so tight within

[22:15] 4000 of each other that it is what it is

[22:18] the market is is what it is and I don't

[22:20] feel a reason that we don't have

[22:21] anything that we can a Magic Bullet

[22:23] where we could say that we're going to

[22:25] you know lower these by substantial if

[22:27] we were to rebit it so Congress Street

[22:29] retaining wall came in a little low this

[22:30] came in a little high

[22:32] balances out

[22:35] any questions

[22:39] because I assume that's just a typo in

[22:42] the cover memo where the recommendation

[22:45] is to enter in a contract with wind

[22:48] construction service so it should be

[22:50] just counting Counting it's probably

[22:53] left over from the other resolution so

[22:55] where do you uh way down oh down here

[22:57] yep we'll change that for the council

[22:59] meeting thank you

[23:02] thanks mayor

[23:04] all right

[23:07] the correction a little bit second all

[23:10] those in favor

[23:11] um thank you thank you all right I think

[23:13] that's it thank you very much

[23:19] uh item nine on the agenda it was to

[23:21] authorize the abandonment of the portion

[23:23] of Amelia Street we did have a public

[23:25] hearing on the 24th we had one person

[23:27] that came to speak and I believe he's

[23:29] still in favor of that

[23:39] portion of a large Street in the public

[23:41] hearing again was held on April 24th no

[23:44] one came to speak

[23:46] salt into the motion

[23:48] a second all those in favor all right

[23:51] and item number 11 amending 2418 of the

[23:55] Schenectady city code to designate

[23:57] Fuller street from South Street to South

[24:00] Church Street to South Ferry Street and

[24:01] one-way Street and again the public

[24:03] hearing was held on April 24th and no

[24:05] one came to speak about that

[24:08] same motion so second

[24:11] paper does you have a question no thank

[24:15] you

[24:17] um there is the addition the next item

[24:18] is actually going to be for executive

[24:20] sessions so before that I would like to

[24:23] um

[24:23] thank you to ask

[24:26] this May's mental health month so we'd

[24:28] like to ask there would be a ceremonial

[24:30] resolution given to the local group um

[24:32] for that so I would need to ask the

[24:35] committee if they would entertain that

[24:38] so second all's in favor all right thank

[24:41] you and item number 12 for sale is the

[24:44] sale of 91 Division Street

[24:46] which is uh would have to be an

[24:48] executive session

[24:50] so at this time I asked for a motion to

[24:52] recess so moved sorry all those in favor

[24:55] um we're recessed

[24:59] um I'd like to call claims to order we

[25:02] have four items on the agenda um and all

[25:04] four would be uh things that we need to

[25:07] discuss in executive session so I would

[25:09] like to ask for something

[25:12] I'm sorry do you need to stay where they

[25:14] are yeah the four items I would

[25:18] recommend they go into executive session

[25:19] that has to do with ongoing litigation

[25:20] and or claims uh And discussing it in

[25:24] open section could impact and impair our

[25:28] ability to resolve these matters

[25:31] do you want me to read them out loud no

[25:33] okay

[25:34] so I'd like to get a motion to go into

[25:36] that recession

[25:39] um I'll second it all in favor okay

[25:54] [Music]

[26:07] foreign

[26:07] [Music]

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, May 1, 2023

Transcript