[0:01] foreign

[0:24] [Music]

[0:28] thank you

[0:34] [Music]

[1:10] foreign

[1:28] [Music]

[1:41] thank you

[1:47] [Music]

[2:25] foreign

[2:28] [Music]

[3:46] foreign

[3:49] [Music]

[4:34] foreign

[4:43] [Music]

[4:55] foreign

[5:02] [Music]

[5:32] foreign

[5:35] [Music]

[6:53] thank you

[7:04] [Music]

[7:29] thank you

[7:42] foreign

[7:58] [Music]

[8:29] foreign

[8:42] [Music]

[9:03] thank you

[9:04] [Music]

[9:21] foreign

[9:23] [Music]

[10:11] thank you

[10:19] [Music]

[10:36] foreign

[10:45] meeting for Monday June 5th 2023 the

[10:50] first uh

[10:52] committee is finance

[10:55] don't see Mr Flora oh okay

[11:02] there he is

[11:05] thank you I want to call the finance

[11:08] committee's Arda and the first item in

[11:10] the presentation of the 2022 audit

[11:12] acceptance Mr Ferrari

[11:14] good afternoon Madam president city

[11:16] council mayor we heard today we have a

[11:19] presentation from one of the partners

[11:21] and owners of kuzak and Company or

[11:23] independent Auditors for the cities

[11:25] connecting who audited our books this

[11:27] year he's going to do a presentation and

[11:29] I have right for me uh the financial

[11:31] statements right here last year I sent

[11:34] it to you early and then you guys all

[11:36] forgot to bring them so this time I

[11:37] bring It Forward

[11:39] John I'm going to pass these out and

[11:41] then you will speak

[11:43] okay

[12:05] thank you

[12:22] some reading material for tonight

[12:25] all right well uh thank you all for

[12:27] having me here tonight just wanted to

[12:29] start off by saying thank you to Tony to

[12:31] the rest of their staff at the city here

[12:33] about South turn the audit especially

[12:35] towards Nelson who was our primary point

[12:37] of contact during the audit

[12:39] um our ultimate responsibilities during

[12:40] the audit is to be able to issue an

[12:42] opinion on your financial statements as

[12:44] to whether they're materially stated and

[12:45] whether they're in compliance with

[12:46] General accepted accounting principles

[12:48] otherwise known as CAD so our audit

[12:51] takes place in three main phases the

[12:52] first uh main phase of our audit is the

[12:54] pre-order phase which takes place in

[12:57] December so during this time what we're

[12:58] doing is we're reviewing your internal

[13:00] Patrol processes we're testing those

[13:02] internal control processes we perform

[13:04] variants of budget analysis we review

[13:06] the city council meeting minutes and we

[13:08] also include our internal risk

[13:10] assessment procedures

[13:12] uh the next is our audit field work

[13:14] phase which takes place in December we

[13:16] use the information gathered during our

[13:18] pre-order phase to develop our audit

[13:20] programs and verify that your account

[13:22] balances appeared materially stated and

[13:25] the third and final main phase of our

[13:26] audit is the reporting phase this is

[13:28] where we review the financial statements

[13:30] that are prepared by our senior

[13:31] accountant and we report on the final

[13:33] results

[13:34] so the financial statements that you

[13:35] have in front of you these are a seven

[13:37] to six page documents overall and

[13:39] they're broken up into several major

[13:40] parts so the first major part of your

[13:43] financial statements on page one through

[13:44] seven this is the Management's

[13:46] discussion and Analysis this is a

[13:48] required on audited section of your

[13:51] financial statements it summarizes your

[13:53] operating results and also your other

[13:54] financial statement highlights pages

[13:57] eight through ten this is your

[13:59] independent honors report this is where

[14:01] we issue our opinion on financial

[14:03] statements I am pleased to say that we

[14:05] have once again issued an unmodified

[14:07] opinion on your finish statements so

[14:09] this is considered the highest level of

[14:10] insurance that we can give you it's

[14:12] considered a clean report we have no

[14:14] reportable findings or interior issues

[14:16] one important thing to note about your

[14:18] financial statements is that these are

[14:20] on the fun level and account group basis

[14:23] only exclusive of the non-current

[14:25] governmental asset accounts so these are

[14:27] not full Gabby 34 compliance statements

[14:30] they're on the fun level only so we're

[14:32] issuing our opinion on one level

[14:34] uh Pages 11 through 13 these are your

[14:37] governmental fund balance sheets and

[14:39] statements of Revenue expenditures and

[14:41] changes in fund balance approximated

[14:43] operating results for the year ending

[14:45] 1230 122. the general fund had a surplus

[14:48] of 2.6 million dollars water fund at a

[14:51] deficiency of one million dollars the

[14:54] steward fund has Surplus 14 000

[14:56] Recreation fund surplus of 248 000

[14:59] special grants and revenue funds surplus

[15:02] of 23 000 and capital projects had a

[15:05] surplus of 2.5 million which was

[15:07] primarily because of your proceeds from

[15:08] serial Bond issuance and band reductions

[15:12] so the main contributing factors to the

[15:14] general fund Surplus and these are

[15:15] approximated sales tax revenue exceeded

[15:18] your budget by 2.3 million dollars

[15:20] Casino revenues exceeds expectations 800

[15:24] 000. prior year of taxing collections

[15:26] these exceeded expectations by 3.1

[15:28] million

[15:29] Insurance recoveries exceed Expectations

[15:31] by nine or forty thousand mortgage tax

[15:34] revenues these exceeded your

[15:35] expectations by 560 000 and your federal

[15:38] Arco funds that were utilized during the

[15:40] year 2.3 million

[15:42] overall we feel that management does a

[15:44] very good job managing your reserves

[15:46] overall fund balance in the general fund

[15:49] eighteen point nine million dollars in

[15:51] 2020. 6.4 million dollars of that was

[15:54] restricted uh the details of your

[15:57] restricted and assigned fund balances

[15:58] these are on pages 51 to 52 with the

[16:00] notion status

[16:02] your band borrowings decreased by 461

[16:05] 000 during the year primarily for a

[16:08] principal repayment and conversion of

[16:09] cereal bonds uh New York State EFC

[16:12] borrowings these increased by 2.4

[16:14] million

[16:15] uh serial Bond debt decreased by 1.1

[16:18] million for a repayment and refundment

[16:22] uh we're going to finish savings as well

[16:24] you will see a decrease of 9.4 million

[16:27] dollars in the city in the city net

[16:28] pension liability for the underfunded

[16:30] ERS and pfrs doing gas for statement 68

[16:33] or required to put these items into your

[16:36] financial statements at their actual

[16:38] evaluations

[16:39] balance of end of the year 4.3 million

[16:42] dollar liability for police and fire

[16:44] retirement

[16:45] ERS was actually the asset of 3.6

[16:47] million dollars per year to 2022. Total

[16:50] liability this is your other

[16:52] post-employment benefits decreased by 65

[16:54] million dollars to a 261 million dollar

[16:57] liability overall on page 14 that's your

[17:01] custodial fund this is required by

[17:02] Jasmine statement 84. this reports the

[17:05] property taxes by other governments to

[17:08] die every minute

[17:09] Pages 16-58 these are the no serial

[17:12] financial statements I wasn't going to

[17:13] go into any major detail on disease but

[17:15] if you're not comfortable with the face

[17:17] of financial statements or financial

[17:18] statements in general notes are a very

[17:20] good read highlight the significant

[17:22] accounting policies of the city and also

[17:23] the material account balances that

[17:25] appear on the face of the college

[17:26] students

[17:27] pages 59-65 is your required

[17:31] supplemental financial information

[17:32] budget actual reports ERS and pfrs

[17:36] pension asset liability detail and also

[17:38] the full Tech detail and related ratios

[17:41] on pages 66 through 76 this is the

[17:45] federal single audit since the city

[17:47] expanded awarded 750 000 in federal

[17:49] funding during the year you are required

[17:51] to have What's called the federal single

[17:52] audit

[17:54] um total thorough expenditures for the

[17:56] year with 14.1 million dollars we are

[17:59] required to rotate our major program

[18:00] selected every third year so this year

[18:03] the major programs are allotted where

[18:05] your Community Development block grant

[18:07] and also our funds we noted no material

[18:10] weaknesses and no significant

[18:11] deficiencies within the same audit we

[18:13] were also able to issue an unmodified

[18:15] opinion on your single audit it's a very

[18:18] good report clean with no Finance no

[18:19] reportable issues

[18:21] your Arbor funds are required to be

[18:23] obligated by December 31st 2024 and

[18:26] expanded by December 31st 2026 currently

[18:30] the city at year in 2022 was 49 million

[18:33] dollars we're going to spend in our

[18:34] point that must be obligated and

[18:37] inappropriated by that time period so

[18:40] the general fund Surplus and operation

[18:42] shows the city has has continued to

[18:45] improve so from an accounting standpoint

[18:46] it felt that the conventional patrols

[18:48] were very good and the city is uh the

[18:50] cities accounting information is

[18:52] reliable

[18:53] uh one additional item that you will see

[18:55] in the pack that you have is our post

[18:57] governance letter this is considered our

[18:59] management letter or require

[19:01] communication at the end of the audit we

[19:03] did have one recommendation during the

[19:05] year and this has to do with your

[19:06] Municipal voucher bills they're

[19:08] outstanding your previous years we feel

[19:10] that these are being reported properly

[19:12] of the financial statements but we do

[19:13] have some other items that we give

[19:15] recommendation to um either consider

[19:18] writing these off the rest of

[19:19] collections or you know some find some

[19:21] other means either collect these items

[19:23] or just allow them accounting staff to

[19:25] get these books

[19:27] uh the only remaining item that we have

[19:29] for the audit is the federal census form

[19:31] it's from sfsac it's required to be

[19:34] fired filed with the federal government

[19:36] that report to your federal funds that

[19:39] were expended and bought in during the

[19:40] same allotted so that's the last

[19:43] remaining item that we have for the

[19:44] audit if there's any questions on the

[19:46] audit process in general and what kind

[19:48] of what we're getting kind of quick but

[19:50] um if there's any questions I can take

[19:51] them at this point on the audit results

[19:54] or the odd process in general

[19:55] [Music]

[19:57] thank you

[19:59] any questions

[20:07] all right we're just getting a chance I

[20:09] am having a chance we just got it so I

[20:10] have any questions for you right now no

[20:12] that's okay

[20:13] um so Mary what happened to you last

[20:15] year is going to do the summary of the

[20:16] operating results that that might be

[20:17] helpful to you what I can do is also

[20:19] send that again you know two or 50 cents

[20:21] the entire city council I haven't take a

[20:23] look at it and we're gonna go with age

[20:25] you in going through the financial

[20:26] statements to you know the major

[20:28] highlights essentially the cloaking yeah

[20:31] all right thank you very much

[20:34] oh

[20:46] uh the finance department where I

[20:49] requesting to pass this tonight except

[20:51] the audit if you don't mind

[20:54] that way we have certain nutrients

[20:57] moving forward clearly has any questions

[21:00] do the summary and be able to get you

[21:03] and the answer is during the next week

[21:06] if there are points that come up that

[21:08] people want detailed info

[21:11] further explanations and the reason for

[21:14] this is that we have this time limit to

[21:16] send things to different parts of

[21:18] government and we have certain number of

[21:20] ways right that our audit has to be

[21:22] complete and accepted by that's why

[21:25] we're asking to move it along forward

[21:27] so we can hit make all our dates for all

[21:30] our agencies

[21:31] hey John goodness Tony scribes so we do

[21:34] have we do have a limited amount of time

[21:36] from the end of our audit so the

[21:38] substantial completion of our field work

[21:39] until the finalization of the audience

[21:42] is financial statement so I think there

[21:44] is still some time to go over results

[21:46] and if there's any questions I think

[21:48] that's you know that could be

[21:49] appropriate if that's

[21:52] um

[21:53] [Music]

[22:14] additional time to go over this uh send

[22:17] questions back to me if there's any

[22:18] concerns as you're going through the

[22:20] audit

[22:21] um

[22:25] the overall I feel that they're in very

[22:27] good shape I feel that you know the

[22:28] numbers in there are they're very clean

[22:30] it's a very good report

[22:32] um so I don't think there's anything to

[22:34] preclude you from accepting them tonight

[22:35] but if you if you wanted that additional

[22:37] time

[22:39] okay any other comments

[22:44] can you come in yeah I well I would once

[22:47] I'm looking more I mean this is the

[22:49] first I've seen I'm and nothing I don't

[22:51] believe you

[22:53] but the given you said the fact that

[22:55] it's just timeline if not then we could

[22:57] have passed it and then you know if I

[22:58] had any questions anytime but if you

[23:00] think there's

[23:01] um no I absolutely think it could pass I

[23:03] think you could pass it tonight if

[23:04] you're two weeks after that that's what

[23:06] it is so you know I know I'm kind of

[23:08] going back and forth with different

[23:10] things so there's a time I would be more

[23:11] of like you're reading another one oh

[23:13] you know everybody

[23:16] process that moves it to full Council a

[23:19] week from now so if you hold it two

[23:21] weeks it would actually be a three weeks

[23:24] that's that's why we're asking and if

[23:27] there's anything in between that time

[23:28] period you could handle that yeah I

[23:31] don't anticipate any material changes so

[23:33] I would be looking more for material

[23:35] changes large changes in numbers that

[23:37] would substantial

[24:04] all in favor thank you thank you very

[24:07] much

[24:10] the next item is contract

[24:15] let's Porterfield

[24:17] uh yes so I asked Mr Ferrari to give us

[24:21] to follow where we are with The Arc of

[24:23] contacts in terms of what has been

[24:26] signed looked at the door

[24:27] what's where we are the steps to those

[24:31] that have an answer

[24:33] again hello everybody uh I I think it

[24:36] was two or three weeks ago that I think

[24:38] it made the middle of May there's really

[24:40] has not things have not changed since

[24:43] the middle of May but we do have three

[24:45] contracts in place

[24:47] for the YWCA of capital needs the

[24:49] Bethesda house uh Carey's house and a

[24:52] safe Inc for critical needs we have

[24:55] three in place and we have a

[24:58] three off uh in the pipeline we have

[25:00] this connecting Foundation we have the

[25:02] bcni and the Hamilton art centers with

[25:06] the planet is that we're having we you

[25:08] know we just lost what you know one of

[25:10] our main guys Dan Gray who moved on and

[25:13] so I'm in the process of taking it over

[25:15] uh and what the plan is to do is uh by

[25:19] starting in the next couple days and

[25:21] during the week I'm actually going to be

[25:23] emailing calling and working with all

[25:26] the all the agencies and companies that

[25:29] we've had given the grants through to

[25:31] see where they are because we did uh ask

[25:34] them to deliver us some pre uh

[25:36] pre-contract uh

[25:38] reports so I'm going to contact them

[25:41] we're going to see where they are with

[25:43] that and then I'll have a gig I'll be

[25:46] able to personally give you a better

[25:47] idea where we are with that uh you know

[25:50] we're looking we're looking at uh you

[25:52] know time's running out I mean we have

[25:54] some things in August and then in

[25:57] September by September all our

[25:59] contingencies are are going to be more

[26:02] often going away I just one of the

[26:04] things that I've noticed as I was

[26:06] looking through everything is uh you

[26:08] know we're starting to get a lot of

[26:09] these organizations are getting uh

[26:11] prices on what the projects that they

[26:14] you're doing and as you know as we're

[26:16] going through this with our the city

[26:18] projects the cost of actually doubled

[26:21] so one of the things we're going to have

[26:23] to think about is

[26:25] are we going to be able to afford to pay

[26:27] these agencies when they come in and

[26:29] they didn't get funded enough so that's

[26:31] something I just want to just keep them

[26:33] back in mind of something that we need

[26:35] to do or how we're going to do it going

[26:38] forward

[26:39] Kristen would you like to add anything

[26:41] [Music]

[26:44] any any questions

[26:47] you wanted to add you wanted to know how

[26:49] much we spend is so we spent so far

[26:51] right so far as we spent about 4 million

[26:54] I got that number right here

[27:08] so far we've spent four million

[27:12] 9793.96 and the bounce uh that we have

[27:16] left in harpa that's free and clear I

[27:19] mean without

[27:20] any you know concerning if every project

[27:23] goes through we have

[27:25] 792 768.52

[27:29] [Music]

[27:37] a couple of weeks ago when you were

[27:40] talking about

[27:41] um that you the government might be

[27:43] talking about unexpended funds correct

[27:45] so can you is have you heard anything

[27:46] more can you stop uh and as you know

[27:49] they just recently passed the debt

[27:51] ceiling limit and one of the main things

[27:53] out of that up to the last day they were

[27:55] going to call back funds uh I think at

[27:58] the final the you know as we're reading

[28:00] the past Congress was not it does not

[28:03] include touch any of the Earth but I I'm

[28:07] thinking going forward you know that's

[28:09] something that's going to come back

[28:12] again so I just that is the reason why I

[28:14] want to contact all the agencies I want

[28:16] to get our you know try to get all our

[28:18] money in a row I want to get it all uh invested and I wanted to all work for

[28:23] us

[28:24] okay thank you

[28:28] I know you're mentioning providing us an

[28:30] update from your emails calls and just

[28:34] in general what can we expect

[28:36] like I said I'm going to start this week

[28:38] uh and uh I figure it's going to take me

[28:40] at least two weeks to get through

[28:42] everybody so I don't want to I'm going

[28:44] to get it all done so I can report back

[28:46] I don't want to like do half and then

[28:47] come back in the Poor Dad so maybe maybe

[28:50] buy the next console media we'll have

[28:52] that ready I'm sorry that's my goal

[28:54] thank you and again a lot of these

[28:57] agencies uh they're reluctant to uh to

[29:00] talk about or get this stuff to it so

[29:02] hopefully I can get to everybody yeah

[29:05] thank you any other questions

[29:08] thank you thank you for your detail well

[29:10] thank you very much oh we're gonna

[29:12] happen would you like to have it back in

[29:14] two weeks okay yeah

[29:18] motion to return so

[29:21] all in favor all right thank you Council

[29:24] Holy City development and planning we

[29:26] have 17 items on the agenda the first

[29:29] item is ceremony resolution for flying

[29:32] neighborhood for Flag Day Miss Patrick

[29:34] yes June 14th is Friday

[29:37] um we've been doing this resolution for

[29:38] the last several years and um hopefully

[29:41] if this passes through we're gonna have

[29:44] someone from the county uh the new

[29:46] executive director of the county

[29:48] Veterans Affairs is going to come in

[29:51] except the resolution in a couple of

[29:52] weeks

[29:54] I move this second all's in favor

[29:58] next item number two is cerebellum

[30:00] resolution recognizing the celebration

[30:02] of Juneteenth so we all know um

[30:04] Juneteenth we'll be celebrating here in

[30:05] the city of Schenectady

[30:07] um starting the weekend I believe of

[30:09] this it's on the first days on the 16th

[30:10] so I'm just asking that we have a

[30:12] ceremony resolution to present at the

[30:14] event that will be held in Central Park

[30:15] on that weekend

[30:16] [Music]

[30:18] okay all those in favor aye

[30:22] and the third one is a ceremony

[30:25] resolution recognizing Sergeant Robert

[30:27] Becker who as you know has worked with

[30:29] the Vets Organization for a long time he

[30:32] is not in good health but they are doing

[30:35] it they are honor doing him for honor of

[30:37] that so we'd like for the city council

[30:39] to have a resolution there

[30:41] hi

[30:44] okay item number four secret

[30:46] determination uh Hamilton Health

[30:47] rezoning to R2 to family residential

[30:50] public hearings was on 522. hi Mr hi

[30:54] good evening everybody

[30:56] um this request is related to the rezone

[30:58] that we brought a few weeks back

[31:01] um for Hamilton Hill and rezoning the R1

[31:05] area to R2 so the first item would be to

[31:09] for the council to adopt a negative

[31:11] decoration declaration for Seeker this

[31:13] is a determination of non-significance

[31:17] any questions

[31:20] a little bit

[31:23] a second all those in favor bye hey I am

[31:28] number five resulting organ coordinates

[31:30] for Hamilton resulting our two two

[31:33] family District the public hearing was

[31:34] on 5 22.

[31:36] um same reason and this is just

[31:38] um recommendation for the city council

[31:40] to pass the ordinance to change the

[31:42] zoning District of 27 Acres from our one

[31:44] single family

[31:46] um to our two two family

[31:48] are there any questions

[31:50] second all those in favor

[31:55] item number six 23 20 23 2024 Hub

[32:00] continual care definition of white wmca

[32:04] Yep this request is related to our the

[32:07] annual funding that we received from HUD

[32:09] for the Continuum of Care Project in

[32:11] partnership with the Capital District

[32:12] YMCA so this is to provide permanent

[32:15] housing and supportive services to

[32:17] homeless people with disabilities and

[32:19] their families

[32:20] um and so we are just requesting the

[32:22] city council to approve the annual HUD

[32:24] COC contract for the YMCA allocation and

[32:27] authorize to enter a contract with the

[32:30] YMCA for this purpose

[32:33] or any questions

[32:34] second all those in favor

[32:39] item number seven demolition of 715

[32:42] ranking Avenue

[32:44] yes so um this this project we're

[32:48] excited to discuss the 715 Rankin Ave

[32:51] it's a blade Warehouse that is

[32:53] non-conforming with the current zoning

[32:55] District which is our one single family

[32:57] so this property has been listed for

[32:59] sale since 2021 we've never gotten an

[33:01] offer that was a viable you know use for the property

[33:07] um it's been vacant for many years and

[33:09] working with our partners at the land

[33:11] bank and Habitat for Humanity we're

[33:14] looking to demolish the structure and

[33:16] partnership with the land bank and then

[33:17] Habitat for Humanity is looking to

[33:20] subdivide into three lots to build three

[33:23] um single-family homes for the

[33:25] neighborhood so this is something that

[33:27] we're really excited about to have a use

[33:29] here and to provide just a better use in

[33:32] the neighborhood which is the R1 single

[33:34] family District so we do have our

[33:37] partners here if anybody has further

[33:38] questions

[33:39] um but the first request is just for the

[33:42] demolition of

[33:44] um of the building which would be done

[33:46] by by our partners at the land bank are

[33:49] there any questions

[33:52] it's a great opportunity second

[33:57] all those in paper

[33:59] okay and number eight sales 715 Rankin

[34:03] Avenue so once the demolition is

[34:05] completed

[34:06] um this would be to authorize the sale

[34:08] of 715 rank into Habitat for Humanity in

[34:11] the amount of three thousand dollars

[34:13] [Music]

[34:24] item number nine is for the sale of 1012

[34:27] Eastern Avenue

[34:29] thank you you're welcome uh 1012 Eastern

[34:32] Avenue the city is on since August of

[34:34] 2017.

[34:36] um it's located in a two-family or two

[34:38] district and it is a private class super

[34:41] as well we are looking to sell this

[34:44] property to Habitat for Humanity who

[34:46] will convert it to a single family unit

[34:47] which will also be rehabbed and then

[34:51] as well in the amount of one thousand

[34:54] five hundred dollars

[34:57] any questions a little bit second I have

[35:00] a question I was just wondering why um

[35:03] we we had the um

[35:05] the announcement of this before it came

[35:06] before the council

[35:08] it was a press conference last week and

[35:11] then we hadn't gone through this process

[35:12] yet

[35:15] just messaging the deal that is being

[35:17] put in place

[35:21] so that particular this particular

[35:23] property originally had a resolution for

[35:25] sales to credit or Community Land Trust

[35:27] for the purposes also for uh owner

[35:30] occupied since the merger of bcni we did

[35:34] change around some of our projects and

[35:36] so when habitat did I mentioned that

[35:38] they had interest in using doing this

[35:39] particular project it was something that

[35:42] we presented to the mayor in order to

[35:44] you know talk about the successes of

[35:46] this new project I think quality I'm not

[35:48] a question that process but it's just

[35:49] that we had the announcement before it

[35:51] actually went through the council so

[35:54] all right thank you thank you any any

[35:57] other questions

[36:02] it's a different one okay no it's the

[36:05] same one but uh second all those in

[36:07] favor

[36:10] all right item number 10 to authorize

[36:12] the issuance of a reloadable permit

[36:14] number 675 to 101 State Street

[36:18] so well

[36:22] I'm going to attempt to go digital so oh

[36:26] all right so uh revocable permit uh for

[36:30] uh 101 State Street which was the old

[36:32] Campbell house but I think it is the

[36:34] current Campbell house but that's what

[36:35] it's known as uh the two signs that are

[36:38] there for uh are for a tattoo parlor in

[36:40] an art shop they both went through

[36:43] planning or meet with planting purple

[36:46] other questions

[36:49] second all those in favor

[36:53] excuse me and number 11 authorized the

[36:56] mayor or his Destiny to enter a joint

[36:58] agreement with Metroplex

[37:02] for the North Center Street

[37:04] reconstruction

[37:06] so last cycle came forward was North

[37:09] Center Street award uh I said that in

[37:12] that time that we were booking a partner

[37:14] with Metroplex on this project for what

[37:16] we typically do in business areas with

[37:18] sidewalk work

[37:19] and now they have passed into their

[37:22] board we have a grant agreement in place

[37:23] so now we're looking to accept the grant

[37:26] agreement authorize the mayor to sign

[37:28] the grammator

[37:30] and David looking for Metroplex is here

[37:32] to run any questions so you said

[37:34] something about sidewalk so they're

[37:36] doing the entire sidewalk in front of

[37:37] them

[37:38] this project is going to be uh semi a

[37:41] complete streets project we are going to

[37:42] be doing curb and sidewalk

[37:45] um however

[37:46] you know sidewalks are a controversial

[37:48] thing so to speak and you know for our

[37:51] residents we usually want our residents

[37:52] to do a petition and then pay for them

[37:55] out of pocket so uh you know

[37:58] conversations with Metroplex have came

[38:00] to be that you know for the most

[38:02] Equitable and fair of things for all

[38:03] residents is that if we're going to do a

[38:05] downtown business development and

[38:07] sidewalks are involved that the city

[38:09] would do curbing roadway we're doing

[38:11] drainage on this project all the things

[38:13] that we would expect the city to do but

[38:15] then when it comes to sidewalks which we

[38:17] some mostly put on the residents

[38:19] Metroplex offers us these Grant

[38:21] agreements this is very similar to what

[38:22] we did on South Church Street where

[38:24] Metroplex in the city did that project

[38:26] as well so that

[38:28] um that we kind of have this Equity so

[38:29] that we can say that we're you know

[38:30] talking out of both sides of our mouths

[38:32] when it comes to oh it's always downtown

[38:33] it's always development so we have a

[38:35] Development Authority we're partnering

[38:37] with them to get you know projects done

[38:39] like this which I think has been very

[38:40] successful

[38:41] okay any other questions how about this

[38:44] second all's in favor

[38:46] um I'm number 12 award-winning contract

[38:50] for the 2023 Schenectady chips Paving

[38:53] program yeah no this one

[38:55] um I noticed that the backup did not

[38:57] transfer and I'm not sure why

[39:00] so I printed out back up for this for

[39:03] everyone

[39:06] pass it around

[39:08] um actually

[39:10] uh

[39:19] sure so I'll give you a minute to look

[39:22] but we did get several bids for the pro

[39:25] for the project

[39:26] um and the bids were competitive

[39:29] um

[39:42] the numbers were uh fairly competitive

[39:45] and they were within our estimate

[39:47] um this is a program that we fund uh

[39:50] solely with our state money which is

[39:52] Chip's money we get several allocations

[39:54] which we actually accepted I think the

[39:57] last cycle those were the chips paper

[39:59] potholes uh State Route touring money

[40:03] then we have emergency winner recovery

[40:05] money so we accepted roughly four

[40:07] million dollars from the state we also

[40:09] had a little bit of a surplus we also

[40:11] Bond some money but we're not going to

[40:12] try to use that right now so we are

[40:16] looking to authorize the base bid and

[40:18] Alternate one alternate one is the

[40:21] paving at the wastewater treatment plant

[40:22] or our water recovery facility we've

[40:25] seen a lot of construction in that

[40:27] facility and commissioner will fund

[40:29] asked that we add that to payment

[40:31] program to pave the area now that the

[40:33] construction has been completed

[40:37] other questions

[40:41] I'll second it all those in favor

[40:45] okay excuse me item number 13 uh we've

[40:49] been contacted North College Street

[40:51] Rehabilitation Newcastle Community

[40:55] so this one I apologize some of the

[40:58] backup that I wanted did not make it as

[41:00] well because I just did not have time to

[41:02] get it to you so I understand

[41:05] uh I we'll just talk about it first this

[41:08] is the for College Street sidewalk

[41:10] Assessment program

[41:12] um so we went forward and we you know

[41:16] worked with the property owners put

[41:17] together

[41:19] um

[41:19] the bin package this one will get a

[41:21] little bit different we actually have

[41:22] each individual property owner with our

[41:25] own little piece of drawing in there we

[41:27] haven't done that before just to try to

[41:30] make it more easy for people to digest

[41:32] and then under the new program what

[41:35] we're going to be doing is taking their

[41:36] own near feet of Frontage plus their

[41:38] lead walks and adding that together and

[41:41] then multiplying that by the 55 dollars

[41:43] per foot that was approved and that will

[41:46] be the no number that is assessed that

[41:49] is what did not make it I actually have

[41:51] it I just

[41:53] did not put it in that was my fault I am

[41:57] going to distribute that and try to work

[41:59] with Diane Runkle who's been leading it

[42:01] on the street in some of the

[42:02] neighborhood residents that we're

[42:03] working on to kind of show them what the

[42:05] cost would be

[42:06] um I kind of I'm kind of in a gray area

[42:08] here how we want to move forward with

[42:10] this though do we want to have them

[42:13] approve anything or are we moving

[42:14] forward with it and the assumption that

[42:16] everyone's going to pay because they did

[42:18] the petition I just want to make sure

[42:20] that we're in step with our next point

[42:23] of this because this is something that

[42:24] they're going to be assessed the cost

[42:25] and they haven't seen the cost yet

[42:29] hmm

[42:30] so should we update them on the cost

[42:32] again

[42:33] is it a mailer is it I guess that's what

[42:37] how many houses or how many families you

[42:40] know

[42:40] how many people are we talking about

[42:42] there's roughly 20 on each side there's

[42:43] an apartment unit there a large one um

[42:46] you know there are some changes that

[42:47] people view but I'd say right around 40

[42:49] but again under the new rules where it's

[42:52] going to be the fixed cost per foot it's

[42:55] not like there should be big surprises

[42:57] or people or

[43:06] the residents in this neighborhood all

[43:09] were expecting no assistance

[43:12] um and the fees were quite High when we

[43:16] were talking with them

[43:17] um now that it's a set price at 55.

[43:21] they're thrilled that they're actually

[43:22] getting some sort of assistance from the

[43:25] city

[43:26] um yeah I think we move forward I think

[43:29] it's important to tell them what their

[43:31] exact costs are whether they're let it

[43:34] but I think it's also important to move

[43:36] forward because this has been several

[43:38] years in the making and I think they're

[43:41] very much looking for that

[43:45] it's making me

[43:48] that's what I usually do

[44:05] they're not they're aware of the 55 but

[44:07] they're not aware of the actual like I

[44:09] haven't given them the document I have

[44:11] the document but I was waiting for the

[44:12] bids and I have not distributed it and

[44:15] I've kind of got a lot of pots on the

[44:17] fire here and I just did not get to that

[44:19] step yet before this one but they know

[44:20] what they're possibly basically they do

[44:22] not know at this time because I haven't

[44:24] distributed that sheet it's an Excel

[44:26] spreadsheet similar to camp in Ardsley

[44:28] Road I've created it it was meant to be

[44:30] in here but it didn't make it into here

[44:32] and then I was going to distribute it

[44:33] okay but they do know that the 55 they

[44:35] know that they just don't know correct

[44:39] they will estimate their footage but and

[44:42] chair the one area the council still has

[44:46] to decide on is what we offer the

[44:49] residence is upon completion of this the

[44:52] homeowner can pay the full bill so

[44:54] uh with the tax bill at the end of the

[44:58] year or enter into a financing mechanism

[45:03] over some period of time which is still

[45:06] at the discretion of the council so that

[45:08] you're going to have to decide uh it's

[45:10] going to be 10 years is it 15 years

[45:13] uh so there may be some comments from

[45:16] the residents that they want a shorter

[45:19] period they want a longer period

[45:24] and I did speak with commissioner

[45:26] Ferrari we have known 10 years

[45:30] right but we haven't talked about by

[45:33] extending it to a minimum 15 maybe

[45:34] because the life of the concrete is

[45:36] longer than 15. all right so we'll need

[45:38] to take that up Mr motivara so yeah I

[45:40] have to agree in terms of modifying them

[45:42] so they actually have a way around the

[45:44] real cause

[45:46] um 10 years we have actually given 10

[45:48] years to be out of two four three

[45:50] projects I suggest I mean we do the same

[45:54] 10 years and they can come in and pay

[45:56] off you know before that your time oh

[45:58] yes we need to notify that okay despite

[46:00] the fact because it's 55 let them know

[46:03] the exact positive 55 a week

[46:17] so it is time to

[46:19] um we need a motion to move it forward

[46:21] so second all those in favor

[46:25] uh item number 14 award-bidden contract

[46:27] for the Central Park a diamond lighting

[46:30] okay this was a harpa allocation 500 000

[46:34] to install

[46:36] Collegiate level lighting at the a

[46:38] diamond as most of you probably recall

[46:40] we used to have lightning on the a

[46:42] diamond it was outdated non-functioning

[46:46] lighting we've decided to upgrade it and

[46:49] we have engaged with cha sports and

[46:52] recreation they put together a bid

[46:54] package which we put out the bid was

[46:56] higher than the arpa funding 716

[46:59] thousand dollars we did get three bids

[47:01] two of the bids were quite uh close one

[47:05] of the bidders was the pool electrician

[47:08] who wanted to bid it and they were

[47:09] actually the second bidder so stilson

[47:11] does the majority of electrical work in

[47:13] the area like this that usually do

[47:14] signals and things like this and the

[47:16] third bit I would guess is almost like a

[47:18] fishing attempt if you're going to pay

[47:19] me terrific I'll do the work but you

[47:22] know you can see that number

[47:24] um

[47:25] we don't think that this is a you know

[47:28] this is the market price number we think

[47:30] the only way to save money over

[47:33] something like this was to be to

[47:35] redesign and go to a high school level

[47:37] of lighting however we think that that

[47:40] limits us because if we are Collegiate

[47:42] level that opens us up to what we have

[47:45] now which is Brian Stratton it offers us

[47:47] a Sienna Union College who we've you

[47:49] know with with like at one point

[47:51] discussed coming back so

[47:53] um we do have a capital fund that we set

[47:56] up uh for facility work that has enough

[47:59] capacity to cover the balance

[48:01] so if you're okay with it we'd like to

[48:03] move forward with this

[48:05] question

[48:07] all those in favor bye

[48:10] item number 15 award bitten contract for

[48:12] the Michigan Avenue ball field uh

[48:14] baseball field wall okay this um is a

[48:18] project that is a conglomerate project

[48:20] it is both arpa and a little bit of

[48:24] thriving neighborhoods done with the

[48:25] Schenectady foundation so this was

[48:28] originally uh put in for the you know

[48:30] arpa with a little bit of that which is

[48:32] that the Schenectady Foundation has

[48:34] awarded them some money to when we are

[48:36] done with this project and creating this

[48:38] level area off of Norwood they will come

[48:41] in and put picnic tables or Pavilion as

[48:43] a gathering space for the Little League

[48:45] we did it as a base bid with an adult

[48:48] but we decided to go with the base bin

[48:50] because it's a it's you know we're a

[48:52] municipality so things get a little bit

[48:53] more than you pay for if you were doing

[48:55] it privately but we do see the Merit in

[48:57] this the wall will be about chest high

[49:00] for 100 feet long Norwood Avenue it'll

[49:02] allow them to level out the top it'll

[49:04] have a decorative fence and they're

[49:05] going to look to like I said grade the

[49:07] top of it and then put some of the

[49:09] numbers in recognition of previous ball

[49:11] players that have played there in Maloy

[49:15] we've worked with them before they've

[49:17] been a great contractor we got several

[49:19] bits so we're comfortable moving forward

[49:22] are there any questions uh well the

[49:24] second I wasn't there

[49:25] um

[49:28] item number 16 discussion waiver of

[49:30] apprenticeship requirement for the gulf

[49:33] irrigation installation Contracting so

[49:36] uh I'm in a position now where we are

[49:39] designed and ready to move forward with

[49:40] the bid package for the uh scooties golf

[49:44] course the issue that we are running

[49:46] into is a conflict of we would like to

[49:50] we have in our bid spec qualifications uh you have to have done

[49:55] this in the past we like someone that

[49:58] has done Golf Course irrigation for five

[50:00] years who's installed you know a minimum

[50:03] of five irrigation systems in the past

[50:05] and the issue we have is that this is

[50:09] specialty work on the contractors that

[50:11] we're hoping bid one is in New York

[50:14] state one is in Pennsylvania one is in

[50:16] Nebraska those are the three main

[50:18] players for it the work does not

[50:21] necessarily fit into a common trade I

[50:24] did talk with the New York State

[50:26] Department of Labor they said that there

[50:29] is irrigation mentioned under

[50:32] um specialty craft and laborers however

[50:34] in that definition which I I should have

[50:36] brought to show you it's under

[50:38] Landscaping so it's in the building

[50:41] section so essentially you know building

[50:43] parking lot grass bushes landscaping and

[50:48] then it says under their irrigation this

[50:50] in my interpretation is not that this is

[50:54] a golf course irrigation it has data low

[50:56] voltage communication since it's low

[50:58] voltage communication it does not

[51:00] require an electrician that would have

[51:03] if if it had required an electrician we

[51:05] wouldn't have then we could have used an

[51:07] electrician this is low voltage lines

[51:09] the system is actually going to be it's not even comparable to the system

[51:14] that we have now each head will be

[51:16] individually programmed so we can put

[51:18] water on the course at any point it's

[51:20] all linked to a computer software

[51:22] backend program

[51:24] um it'd be amazing if we had it in now

[51:26] because the course is dry and we're

[51:29] having issues keeping the course green

[51:31] right now with our manual system but

[51:34] that is what I wanted to talk with you

[51:36] about is that we haven't required we

[51:39] haven't done this much but we haven't

[51:40] had many specialty projects like this so

[51:44] kind of wanted an open divertic

[51:46] discussion around this

[51:51] um I'll second it all those in favor aye

[51:56] thank you thank you

[51:59] uh item number 17 a sale of 2315 van

[52:03] Rankin Avenue

[52:04] and that would be an executive session

[52:06] okay

[52:08] so at this time ask for a motion to

[52:11] recess it's in developmental planning so

[52:14] it's like a all those in favor bye

[52:25] um next up is claims we have one item on

[52:27] the agenda and it too needs to be in

[52:30] executive session so I'll look for a

[52:32] motion to go into executive sessions

[52:34] okay

[52:36] um man I'll second it all in favor

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, June 5, 2023

Transcript