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[11:32] well of course the Schenectady city

[11:34] council committee meeting for Monday

[11:36] August 7th 2023 the first committee is

[11:39] finance

[11:40] thank you I would like to call the

[11:42] finance Community department on the

[11:43] course item is the give Financial year

[11:45] 2023 2024 Grant award assistantship

[11:55] good evening

[11:57] I am here to request the acceptance of

[12:00] the give

[12:01] 2023-2024 Grant award this will be the

[12:04] 10th year that we've receive the funding

[12:06] the total funding amount for the city of

[12:08] Schenectady is 481

[12:10] 687 dollars

[12:14] any questions

[12:15] comments go ahead please and so the

[12:18] total brand of 1.2 million part of it's

[12:21] going to be shared by the police it's

[12:23] the police department D.A probation and

[12:26] Sheriff as well yes ma'am

[12:29] I I wasn't used to seeing the sheriff on

[12:31] the GitHub yes we the sheriff's been on

[12:33] there for a small amount 30 or 40 000 I

[12:36] think

[12:37] any other questions

[12:42] all right thank you the next item is The

[12:45] Grand Tour Community hiring panel

[12:47] research and evaluation

[12:49] some food

[12:50] so this is a new Grant fraternity for us

[12:52] with the amount of forty nine thousand

[12:54] nine hundred and seventy seven dollars

[12:56] given by DCJS in partnership with the

[12:58] Flynn Institute to conduct research on

[13:01] our new community hiring panel that we

[13:03] instituted a few years ago they want to

[13:06] know kind of the history of it and what

[13:08] difference it is making if any so the

[13:10] other agencies can duplicate it around

[13:12] the state

[13:21] so all this money would go to Finn

[13:23] Institute we would accept it and then

[13:25] we'd pay them out as they work on it and

[13:27] they would conduct a uh the research

[13:29] provide a formal report that would be

[13:31] made public as well all right thank you

[13:33] any other questions

[13:36] so all if you ever the next item is

[13:39] discussion passport

[13:43] thanks to Williams

[13:44] thank you so I wanted to bring this item

[13:46] up for just a discussion to understand

[13:48] if it's been an issue that's been

[13:50] identified among some of the other

[13:51] council members but also with the mayor

[13:53] I was actually brought forward to me by

[13:55] a resident who's sitting in the room

[13:57] tonight ran into a bit of an issue with

[14:00] getting conflicting information when

[14:01] parking in the last parking lot now

[14:03] after bringing conversations with Mr

[14:05] colon recognizing that there's a

[14:07] difference between parking issues Within

[14:09] These private Lots but also within the

[14:11] city I thought that that would be an

[14:13] important

[14:14] talking points I understand whether or not these types of

[14:19] applications and the persons that

[14:21] individuals are being directed to speak

[14:22] to so this resident had an issue

[14:25] reference one of the lot members and

[14:27] they told them completely information

[14:28] which ultimately resulted in them

[14:30] getting a ticket and as I imagine you've

[14:34] all also recognized with some of the

[14:36] kiosks that are located in our downtown

[14:37] areas I've experienced issues myself

[14:40] with the coins not being received or the

[14:43] dim Lighting on some of the receptacles

[14:45] is

[14:47] cope for my Able Body eyes so I can

[14:49] imagine for members of our age Community

[14:52] I want to make sure that we're not

[14:54] putting in place barriers that are

[14:56] inhibiting people from patronizing some

[14:58] of our local small businesses that are

[15:01] relying on this foot traffic and I think

[15:03] anything that is cumbersome or putting

[15:06] in place restrictions to that is an

[15:09] issue so I would like to just open it up

[15:12] for conversation I know for myself I

[15:14] would absolutely like to see whether we

[15:16] can update all of our kiosks to

[15:18] incorporate having cash I know for

[15:20] myself

[15:21] I there's another point in my in my

[15:24] day-to-day that I'm carrying quarters

[15:26] and I don't even know how feasible it is

[15:28] for you to go to a local Deli or corner

[15:31] store and get quarters so I think that

[15:33] alone kind of warrants us to pause and

[15:35] then ask that as we're Expediting this

[15:38] technological Revolution within

[15:40] Schenectady making sure that if one is

[15:43] meeting our intended outcomes but also

[15:45] two not leave them behind in each

[15:47] Community which is so important and

[15:49] vital to our just long-term longevity

[15:57] so um I can add to that that I have

[16:00] encountered where the kiosks are not

[16:02] working

[16:03] and they I didn't want to use the credit

[16:05] card because that's your option I don't

[16:07] want to download another app on my phone

[16:10] um and so it wouldn't take the quarters

[16:12] and what I ended up doing was actually

[16:14] taking a picture of it and showing

[16:16] because I didn't get a ticket I showed

[16:17] the picture it's like it's blocked it

[16:19] won't work

[16:21] um so you know that's what I did in that

[16:23] instance but in other institutions I

[16:24] found the ticket because it just didn't

[16:26] work

[16:27] um so

[16:29] I I think that we need to do something

[16:31] because there are people who don't

[16:32] cannot Avail themselves to the app or

[16:34] choose not to

[16:36] um

[16:37] and they're not always working sometimes

[16:39] they're out of order they're not working

[16:41] I don't know what how it works when

[16:43] people aren't using

[16:45] um their credit cards or we there's

[16:48] nothing even honored that I can see to

[16:49] report if there's a problem so um I did

[16:52] ask Mr Williams if he had spoken to the

[16:54] chief of the police about this and if

[16:56] they he had any input so I didn't have

[16:59] the opportunity to speak to Chief

[17:00] Clifford I don't like speaking on behalf

[17:02] of individuals but in our brief

[17:04] conversation he mentioned that he's also

[17:06] uh had personal issues with the system

[17:08] himself so I don't think that's in an

[17:11] area of concession I think it's more or

[17:13] less how do we put in place the

[17:14] appropriate solution uh definitely uh

[17:18] adding apps to my phone is not nothing

[17:19] it's not it's nothing that I am

[17:21] uncomfortable with as a up-and-coming 33

[17:25] year old but making sure that I'm not

[17:27] answering only for my vantage point

[17:29] because you always say how you see the

[17:31] situation is based on where you sit but

[17:34] definitely recognizing that hey is there

[17:37] an opportunity for us to

[17:39] revisit

[17:40] these parking kiosks to see if there's

[17:43] the ability to upgrade our current

[17:44] devices

[17:46] or can we just have designated roads

[17:48] that are solely metered or how do we

[17:52] just provide more additional education

[17:54] to visitors and also residents just

[17:57] identifying through signage here's how

[17:59] you properly download the app if you

[18:01] have any issues here's a real-time

[18:03] person you can speak to to help walk you

[18:05] through some of your concerns and it's

[18:07] not just pushing someone to another

[18:08] operator who's not available

[18:15] no one else has ever happened any other comments on this so I would

[18:20] like to know and I guess this is the

[18:22] question for the mayor our

[18:24] there like two generations of the

[18:26] parking meetings I don't mean the older ones but it was quarters only but

[18:29] the newer kiosks are there

[18:31] ones that are newer than the ones like

[18:33] they're right out in front of me selling

[18:37] oh well

[18:42] so glad you're here I used to be in

[18:44] charge of the future

[18:47] so there are two generations

[18:51] um the new generations I believe it was

[18:52] last year we upgraded at Mathis Chris is

[18:55] 10 or 15 of them um some new silver

[18:57] panels and two I'm assuming those are

[18:59] the ones that are better lighted than

[19:00] the other ones uh the other ones are the

[19:03] original that have been working

[19:04] regularly daily we get a report in our

[19:08] parking division that says what kievps

[19:10] are working and which kiosks are not

[19:11] working and the reason for it and that

[19:13] usually one of our parking guys goes out

[19:15] and fixes them so this morning we ran a

[19:17] report and of the 45 kiosks we had one

[19:20] that has been dead since June 19th that

[19:23] they're working on and then we had six

[19:25] other ones that alerted us status one

[19:28] that will not accept money because it's

[19:29] full and the other ones are three of

[19:33] them need the batteries replaced soon

[19:34] because they're about to die uh one of

[19:37] them was a paper feed error and another

[19:39] one was a coin unit error so those came

[19:42] in between August 4th and this morning

[19:45] and then they usually fix the morning

[19:47] Monday through Friday and then the uh

[19:49] one of the parking Vision members come

[19:50] in they'll fix them and then they'll get

[19:52] a new report ramp

[19:56] so out of the 45 there's only

[19:59] um seven that aren't working properly

[20:01] well actually it's not really seven

[20:02] because one of them just needs to be

[20:04] emptied with its money is that yes

[20:06] there's one that shows a percent of max

[20:08] amount of coins has been reached that

[20:10] was as of the fourth at 2 40 in the

[20:12] afternoon and so and the parking people

[20:15] are able to go out on the same very same

[20:17] day and fix them because of this report

[20:19] is that yeah so usually they run this

[20:21] report in the morning

[20:22] um the supervisor comes in so they I

[20:24] don't think she runs it in the afternoon

[20:25] every morning Monday through Friday when

[20:27] she comes in she wants to report and

[20:28] then they'll try to fix whatever the

[20:30] issue is

[20:32] I guess then what happened with the one

[20:34] that has an injunction since June 19th

[20:36] what's the problem it says communication

[20:39] failure failure total error so that's

[20:41] down in The Stockade I do not know what

[20:44] that is but I can certainly look into it

[20:46] tomorrow morning

[20:47] I do not know what the uh I think the

[20:49] communication failure was similar to

[20:51] what we were having two years ago when I

[20:53] was in traffic we had six or seven of

[20:54] them that kept on causing issues over

[20:56] and over again and that's when the

[20:57] engineers helped us replace the I think

[21:00] 10 or 15 units for the new the doors and

[21:03] guts on them and so that report include

[21:06] all of the newer New Generation yeah

[21:09] doing an old ESPN I can leave this video

[21:11] if you'd like

[21:15] um another question just in terms of so

[21:17] in terms of complaints that you receive

[21:19] has that how have you found the

[21:21] complaints in terms of these machines

[21:24] versus the

[21:26] so I just I asked the traffic Lieutenant

[21:29] today um ourselves on the agenda if the

[21:31] complaints have been up and they said

[21:32] that they have preceding reducing

[21:34] complaints they haven't received as many

[21:36] usually it is people have errors on

[21:37] using the machines

[21:39] um not the machines themselves but

[21:40] actually trying to figure out how to use

[21:42] the machines

[21:45] equipment

[21:46] to cross-check against

[21:49] a federation yeah so we cannot know it

[21:53] right now that the traffic I'm sorry the

[21:55] parking enforcement officers when they

[21:57] go down there they are starting not to

[21:58] issue tickets when they when they're not

[22:01] functioning

[22:02] so there's usually one officer that

[22:05] works downtown in this area and that's

[22:07] where the most the kiosks are and he

[22:08] does not do tickets when they're

[22:10] malfunctioning

[22:14] go ahead please is there a number that

[22:16] the community can contact if they're

[22:18] running into any issues or have any

[22:19] concerns so Monday through Friday nine

[22:21] to five or eight to four I'm sorry we

[22:23] have our Traffic Division which

[22:25] unfortunately I do not have that phone

[22:26] number off top of my head

[22:28] either be on our website and it's also

[22:30] on the kiosks I believe in the tickets

[22:33] if they unfortunately receive one when

[22:34] they should be coach foot yes it's the

[22:36] uh eight to four Monday through Friday

[22:38] there's somebody live there that can

[22:39] answer their questions

[22:43] in this follow-up discussion um would

[22:46] you be able to provide or suggest the

[22:48] differentiations between both of those

[22:49] generations and then is there any

[22:51] projected plans to fully upgrade to the

[22:53] second generation of remote models I can

[22:56] get with engineering and see if they

[22:57] have

[23:01] thank you

[23:09] uh yeah so I've been working with SPD

[23:11] since we got the kiosk report

[23:18] um we did operate I can get a quote to

[23:20] see what it would be to upgrade

[23:22] remaining kiosks because I know the new

[23:23] upgraded screens

[23:25] more vibrant and colorful I just wanted

[23:27] to also address the cash issue I will

[23:30] ask about that but at the time of these

[23:33] the issue with the caches in order to

[23:35] take bills it is in power issue it

[23:40] of energy to take bills for you to

[23:42] disperse the bills so we didn't do that

[23:45] because in order to do that they want

[23:47] them to actually be hardwired so right

[23:49] now they're solar powered so we move

[23:51] them around we actually have both of

[23:53] them every couple of years we see what's

[23:55] making money we move them around

[23:57] and they're just mounted into the

[23:59] sidewalks but if they require power

[24:01] that's a whole other animal that we

[24:04] really weren't prepared for so coins are

[24:07] easy because it's just a tumbler you

[24:08] know it records it credit cards actually

[24:11] use very little power you know you slide

[24:13] it it just it sends a message to the

[24:15] modem and then that goes out what the

[24:19] readers for money that that's a whole

[24:22] other thing that's why they said that if

[24:23] you want solar we don't know so many businesses now

[24:27] we're going cashless you know blowing

[24:29] this back everything's going cashless

[24:31] and I'd also say that the app has been

[24:34] really successful you know we are

[24:36] partnered with Metroplex with the app

[24:37] that actually we kind of have a we have

[24:39] an agreement with them to use it and it

[24:41] has been very successful even Mike Fahey

[24:43] our traffic enforcement officer out

[24:46] there he's seen the app as being very

[24:47] successful he thought he'd get a lot

[24:49] more pushback a lot of people are using

[24:51] it but I do also understand that even

[24:52] people such as my hand

[24:55] have talked to me about the difficulties

[24:57] in the app and they don't want to use it

[24:58] and you know they just want to come down

[25:01] and do it with some Kettle so I I hear

[25:03] it as well but you know I'll look at it

[25:06] upgrade it and see what that would be to

[25:07] see that the newer screens I do think

[25:09] sometimes people struggle seeing them

[25:11] you know I think people prefer to almost

[25:13] be hired but they're Ada so that if

[25:16] you're in a wheelchair you can see them

[25:17] whereas if you were six feet tall you're

[25:20] kind of doing this which is also tough

[25:22] but a parent wheelchair it has to be at

[25:23] that bike so that you're not

[25:26] the information is yeah we do sometimes

[25:28] have issues with communication failures

[25:29] things like that but lately we've been

[25:32] on a good Street for a few operation

[25:36] what is that is that okay good I'll get

[25:38] a quote for you we're doing our capital

[25:40] budget right now I can just kind of roll

[25:42] that in so we can talk about what it is

[25:43] and which ones we could upgrade if we're

[25:45] just talking about downtown too we've

[25:47] been doing selective upgrades to upgrade

[25:49] certain ones and ones that get the most

[25:51] because really we have some that get

[25:53] very high generating revenue and then we

[25:55] have some that are really low generating

[25:57] Revenue so we're trying to put the money

[25:59] into the ones that generate Revenue

[26:01] foreign

[26:13] [Music]

[26:21] sometimes we forget to do like continued

[26:24] audits so I think as we look to continue

[26:26] to improve on the city schenectady's

[26:28] recent developments I think this is an

[26:30] area that we should definitely look into

[26:32] to make sure that we have continued to

[26:35] identify as some of these concerns to

[26:37] make sure every member in our community

[26:38] feels right

[26:43] any other questions so would you like to

[26:46] follow up with us or you I can get the

[26:48] information back from AC Whipple and Mr

[26:51] salon and I can come back to the concert

[26:53] okay

[26:56] thank you thank you thank you thank you

[27:00] the next item is Paulo artwork contract

[27:02] and let's Super Auto

[27:08] foreign

[27:11] city council mayor again we're talking

[27:15] for Arco as our last meeting we

[27:17] discussed about sending letters which we

[27:19] did I sent out letters and emails uh and really uh I think we woke some

[27:25] people up because we've got a lot of

[27:26] responses the only people who did not

[27:28] respond to us was Cocoa house the

[27:30] Kiwanis Club uh the habitat and the

[27:34] Empowerment Center but a habitat just

[27:36] contacted me uh recently they says you

[27:39] know because of the all the new uh

[27:40] employees and stuff you know they're

[27:42] just a little slow to responding but

[27:44] we're an ethical habitat they type in

[27:47] today today we just signed another

[27:50] contract our contract with Sikkim uh

[27:53] Schenectady Foundation is going to be

[27:54] right behind them we're really close to

[27:58] the contract for Schenectady uh Green

[28:00] Market uh C and uh

[28:05] just lost my train of thought here but

[28:09] uh like he says the letter that we sent

[28:11] out uh we asked them to uh in fact

[28:14] should I would you guys like a copy of

[28:16] it yeah yeah

[28:20] so I'm just gonna take it fast out so

[28:22] where we asked them to send a letter uh

[28:26] by August 16th uh just to put us in the

[28:29] process of where there are and where we

[28:31] want to go I asked them too is to let us

[28:35] know uh thank you

[28:37] let us know if there's any changes or

[28:41] problems that they're having or if

[28:43] to let us know so that we can continue

[28:46] with this process going forward

[28:50] well I thought I thought the letter was

[28:52] very successful going out because we did

[28:54] get such a good response

[29:00] anybody have any other questions about

[29:02] Arthur yes yes

[29:06] did we get a response from the

[29:07] environment

[29:09] uh

[29:10] the aquatics not after I sent this thing

[29:13] out but we got the response a week

[29:15] before where to ask you once again to

[29:18] reconsider funding them

[29:20] which I think we spoke about last time

[29:34] I had them look back at their

[29:37] application because you know they were

[29:38] saying oh no we when we applied we said

[29:40] we were going to do this I asked them to

[29:42] re-revaluate their what they saw in

[29:45] their application and call me back which

[29:47] they will do but I I know that they had

[29:49] done other work in you know with the air

[29:52] ducts which was part of the thing that

[29:54] says you know let let me know where that

[29:56] where you are with that and how far

[29:57] they're gone with that because it would

[29:58] have I think it would have fell into

[30:00] that time period which they said they're

[30:02] going to start the project

[30:06] um we have uh bids are going out for

[30:09] Miracle on Craig Street and maybe by the

[30:12] end this month or the beginning of

[30:13] September they're doing we have the

[30:15] Hamilton art centers get ready to uh us

[30:18] we're going to run the bid out for that

[30:19] uh we just spoke with the boys and girls

[30:22] club during the week and they uh they didn't realize they had to go

[30:28] out the bidding but he says no you have

[30:29] to go out today so so we got that

[30:32] working uh I again

[30:36] we can't find this contact information

[30:38] for Kiwanis Club so you guys on the

[30:40] Qantas Club please let us know I think I

[30:43] was supposed to let you know that I I

[30:45] will try okay yeah okay tomorrow

[30:50] yeah that's right in the meantime you

[30:52] got picnics on the blanket

[30:54] uh

[30:59] All In All In All I thought the response

[31:01] was very well uh with the Harbor House

[31:04] with the YWCA they're going to come and

[31:07] meet with us to let us know I also asked

[31:10] the Miracle on Craig and Hamilton to

[31:13] maybe come in and present

[31:15] to to the council and stuff uh you know

[31:18] going forward or what you know we'll

[31:21] it looks like for them and their project

[31:24] so what is the Harbor House it's

[31:26] actually come and do uh we're going to

[31:29] come and discuss the numbers you know

[31:31] they're coming to actually to meet with

[31:33] us at you know and financing to see what

[31:36] the numbers are

[31:38] because I believe uh they're very close

[31:40] to getting their commitment and I and I

[31:44] think maybe they might ask for the

[31:46] extension so that they can get that to

[31:48] fulfill the Gap is this the meeting on

[31:50] the 24th that you're talking about uh I

[31:52] don't I don't know

[31:53] well I know I don't know how many

[31:55] meetings there are yeah okay maybe

[31:58] that's the one

[31:59] is that the one

[32:14] yeah

[32:15] so at this point in time we um we're

[32:18] giving people until the 16th to respond

[32:21] yeah and then by then by our next

[32:23] committee meeting we will know it's from

[32:26] everyone but sure yeah we should know

[32:29] but like I said got people moving and

[32:31] you know we're getting responses and

[32:33] they're starting to talk to us more so

[32:34] it must not not enough and actually too

[32:37] the other big thing that happened is you

[32:39] know uh

[32:40] we've learned who's in charge now

[32:43] because there's really some

[32:44] organizations went through two or three

[32:46] different uh people Boys and Girls Club

[32:48] you know the the gentleman Scott just

[32:50] started a couple uh at the end of April

[32:52] May you know he wasn't even you know uh

[32:55] blank said he didn't know that he had

[32:57] these things out so we're working on

[32:59] that but they already they got

[33:00] information in and uh the pre uh the

[33:03] previous uh paperwork and so we're all

[33:05] working on that to move forward so it's

[33:08] a big question you know I think they were surprised

[33:11] that you know we're calling to call and

[33:14] writing and emailing them so we're

[33:16] trying to hit all uh trying to hit all

[33:17] the Avenues

[33:20] good

[33:21] so I just want to make sure we don't

[33:23] gloss over the I guess the status of the

[33:25] Aquatic Center just because it is one of

[33:27] the public products that I've noticed

[33:30] um has there been a formal response from

[33:32] the council or are they waiting for us

[33:34] to perform the respond and caveat were

[33:37] you able to determine whether we are

[33:39] even able to have that discussion to

[33:42] start some funds outside of the city I

[33:43] do not know if you guys have finally

[33:45] sent anything to them but not not that I

[33:48] know of them and we would we wouldn't as

[33:50] a council from from them everything

[33:52] would come through the city okay so so

[33:55] are you saying that the council would

[33:57] not formally tell them that they're not

[34:00] eligible we wouldn't we would make that

[34:01] decision and then later we have people

[34:03] would make that yes we would make the

[34:04] decision and then whatever came in

[34:05] writing would come through all right so

[34:07] I'll go contact again tomorrow I'll say

[34:10] something out today

[34:14] or email anyways

[34:17] double check yeah and the same thing

[34:19] that we recommend they get one

[34:21] absolutely

[34:22] so I mean

[34:24] I don't know when you really need to

[34:25] have that discussion again about how the

[34:27] money whether the money could be spent

[34:29] outside the city as we've already come

[34:31] to the conclusion that that cannot

[34:32] happen

[34:34] do we come to the conclusion it was not

[34:36] part of our game plan

[34:46] go ahead please I don't think that it's

[34:49] formally that we can't spend the money

[34:51] outside that's going to be a constant

[34:53] decision I would think I don't I think

[34:54] that what you indicated was that it

[34:56] wasn't necessarily part of the Opera

[34:58] regulations that we couldn't spend the

[35:00] money outside the city it's really a

[35:02] judgment call on our part that we have

[35:04] to decide well I'll double check it

[35:07] um but I'm not really 100 sure but I

[35:10] would say that what our rules are what

[35:13] we how we enter how we decided to do it

[35:16] was within the city you know

[35:23] that um

[35:25] they were there were people at the

[35:29] applications that were outside the city

[35:30] and so that was like immediately they

[35:33] weren't even consider it so that's what

[35:35] they did at the beginning of the

[35:36] application

[35:37] so we went to work on that because it

[35:39] was that internal kind of thing that

[35:41] happened I'm sorry we would not have

[35:44] known that it was part of the internal

[35:46] process that the office went to went

[35:48] through before we saw it right so if

[35:50] that so in this case if they made the

[35:53] decision already to be out and Rotterdam

[35:54] they would have never made it to this

[35:56] table because they were outside so

[35:59] um it's just now that things have

[36:01] changed and now they are out of Sun City

[36:03] so how does that work

[36:10] since we have those rules in place we've

[36:12] had them in place I think it would be

[36:15] appropriate for us to resend that money

[36:18] and

[36:19] make a motion

[36:21] in that uh

[36:31] so yeah

[36:34] is that we're doing right now are we

[36:36] waiting for the not that are we waiting

[36:38] for them to come through with the letter

[36:39] to tell us whatever they may make that

[36:41] decision on their own

[36:43] um

[37:02] Patrick to fund the Aquatic Center but

[37:06] it's unfortunate that it went out of the

[37:09] city line and I don't

[37:16] foreign

[37:24] well I think that um I'll support what

[37:26] the majority of the council

[37:28] sports but I do think that there will be

[37:32] an economic impact to the city of

[37:34] Schenectady because I don't think that

[37:36] the hotels and the restaurants outside

[37:40] um you know basically less than a mile

[37:42] outside of the city we'll be able to

[37:44] handle the crowds that will be coming

[37:46] into the Aquatic Center but I will

[37:48] support

[37:49] majority of the council and I wasn't

[37:52] sure if anything ever happened in terms

[37:53] of talking to the county about an

[37:56] increase

[37:57] receiving an increase in the bed tax

[37:59] which is what part of our contingency

[38:01] was originally on the Aquatic Center as

[38:04] well I don't know you know whether that

[38:06] occurred as well

[38:07] so as far as the economic impact goes

[38:10] it's going to be muted anyway because

[38:11] they're still being a lot of them will

[38:13] be using our hotels we'll still get that

[38:15] same percentage without giving them the

[38:16] money secondly we could use that two and

[38:19] a half million to fund various projects

[38:21] in the city which will Garner people to

[38:24] come in our hotels and our restaurants

[38:26] travel baseball is a multi-million

[38:29] dollar industry if we update our B and C

[38:31] diamonds as well as the Babe Ruth field

[38:33] we would have a facility that nobody in

[38:36] the northeast or maybe the Atlantic

[38:38] coast except for the South could

[38:41] come up with there's the hockey arena

[38:44] possibly which

[38:47] could as well bring in millions of

[38:49] dollars so we're talking about

[38:51] percentage of money that we're getting

[38:52] from the county you know two and a half

[38:54] million dollars the return on investment

[38:57] for that would be quite large so we can

[38:59] use that in the city and do the projects

[39:02] so I think the economic impact outside

[39:05] the city is is moving I definitely see I

[39:09] mean I think we have infrastructure

[39:10] needs for example uh that that money can be used for so I totally right

[39:17] just drop Eastern Avenue yeah yeah they

[39:20] will be useful

[39:21] I definitely understand that um

[39:32] all right

[39:33] so I think the majority is a

[39:37] to not fund it

[39:39] yeah yes all in favor

[39:42] aye thank you okay so we formally uh

[39:45] listen that uh

[39:48] um any other questions for AI go

[39:51] oh do we send a formal letter to them

[39:53] through from your office or from the

[39:56] company well the original Department

[40:00] my question is

[40:02] originally

[40:03] where their letter sends out saying that

[40:05] you will funded this money is that how

[40:07] that works yes yes

[40:11] I couldn't hear you oh originally that

[40:13] we send letters out to each um

[40:16] organization to say that this is what

[40:18] they were awarded based on whatever

[40:20] contingencies is that how that went I

[40:22] don't think we sent letters of telling

[40:24] people they have the award the

[40:26] resolutions were

[40:30] fantastic were made available to the

[40:32] group

[40:33] s council members have individual

[40:35] conversations with different groups

[40:37] telling you that it was generally will

[40:39] cover in the Press is

[40:42] this board

[40:43] so there's no correspondence of the new

[40:46] government development with directly

[40:47] with them

[40:51] I I agreements

[40:55] when we were asking for the

[40:57] documentation and putting contracts

[40:59] together but was there a specific letter

[41:02] saying you've been awarded X dollars I

[41:06] don't know

[41:10] would we need to um

[41:13] to do formal resolutions yeah

[41:23] it was an appropriation of funds for a

[41:30] particular project rather than a

[41:32] resolution authorizing a contract so the

[41:35] council can pass the resolution and if

[41:38] you're going to look to reappropriate

[41:39] the funds at some point revoking the

[41:41] appropriation of funds specific to this

[41:44] project

[41:47] thank you okay thank you very much thank

[41:49] you

[41:53] so is that the resolution

[41:57] um

[41:58] we'll be moving to revoke the

[42:01] appropriation of funds to the Aquatic

[42:03] Center pursuant to the resolution

[42:06] identified as 2022-214

[42:25] to revoke the appropriation of funds

[42:28] specific to the Aquatic Center for

[42:31] 2022-214

[42:35] do you need are you asking

[42:38] if we can do that let's just do that

[42:40] right now

[42:41] um

[42:44] thank you

[42:50] any other business local Finance

[42:52] second all in favor

[42:54] aye thank you thank you I'd like to call

[42:57] to order City development and planning

[42:59] there are seven items on the agenda

[43:01] first item to authorize the issuance a

[43:05] remote permit number 677 through Kirby's

[43:08] burgers for slime with accent lighting

[43:12] Mr wallan

[43:17] thank you this is a revocable permit on

[43:20] pedestrian J Street about a block away

[43:22] from here for a restaurant called

[43:24] Kirby's Burgers Herbies Burgers I did

[43:26] some little quick research on it they

[43:27] have four locations in the Capital

[43:29] District this will be their fifth they

[43:32] were not aware of this process they

[43:35] thought site plan approval was the

[43:36] permit so the awning is actually up if

[43:38] you go down J Street the sign is not but

[43:42] the awning is so they have a very large

[43:45] pinkish yellow trimmed awning out there

[43:48] which was hard to miss for us to walk by

[43:50] you know does that have a permit and did

[43:53] some contacting of them and they didn't

[43:55] have a problem coming in for it but they

[43:56] weren't aware I don't have any

[43:58] information on the restaurant itself

[44:00] opening and things like that but

[44:01] development has looked at this the

[44:03] awning uh is similar to the awnings that

[44:05] are on there and the sign will look that

[44:07] there will go with this guy with a fun

[44:09] face so looking forward to having a

[44:12] quick burger and Fry place on the street

[44:18] questions any questions

[44:23] item number two award-based contract

[44:26] with the connecting Municipal Golf

[44:27] Course irrigation system installation so

[44:30] this is an Arco project the funding was

[44:32] approved during the initial round of

[44:34] applications uh 3.5 million dollars for

[44:37] the replacement of the original manual

[44:39] single row irrigation system

[44:41] so this was designed several years ago

[44:44] we put it out to bid updated it put it

[44:46] out the and we received two bids

[44:48] from two of the larger more qualified in

[44:52] this area so we have George way company

[44:54] and National lawn sprinklers if you look

[44:57] the bids are very close both bids were

[45:00] also under budget so what we are looking

[45:03] to do is award base bid one and

[45:06] Alternate bid one together

[45:09] and move forward with the pride

[45:12] any questions

[45:14] no one has the general question of when

[45:19] it's amazing I was prepared for

[45:22] questions

[45:24] we had the meeting with them before this

[45:26] and it looks like they will be able to

[45:28] fit Us in April 1st of next year which

[45:32] is ideal we thought we might be April

[45:34] 1st of 2025. so with this award we are

[45:38] going to

[45:39] start doing what's called shot drawing

[45:41] approvals in order for the package Pump

[45:43] Station which is you know the pump

[45:45] station pushes the water that has a six

[45:48] month leap time so that's why this

[45:51] timing is good we are going to approve

[45:53] we're going to get that thing ordered

[45:54] and hopefully everybody's going to be

[45:57] ready to go April 1st so very exciting

[46:00] to have something like that ready for

[46:02] the summer early you usually need water

[46:04] Maybe

[46:06] oh

[46:08] I guess you'll let me go from here

[46:11] all right

[46:13] oh I'll move it oh we did it already

[46:17] Okay so thank you thank you thank you

[46:20] item number three is a ceremonial

[46:23] resolution recognizing like business

[46:25] month which is August so we just wanted

[46:28] to be able to

[46:29] um have a couple of businesses maybe the

[46:31] city come in and to recognize that

[46:34] hi

[46:39] an exciting discussion of the zoning

[46:41] cannabis shops

[46:43] um

[46:45] I just wanted to kind of get an update

[46:47] are we where we are with that

[46:49] I believe Mr Marnie has

[46:53] talked to some folks in development I

[46:56] know you know obviously I was out for a

[46:58] couple weeks and I know he I think may

[47:00] have been in a contract with some of the

[47:01] city council people during that time

[47:04] Scott's potential for what the zoning

[47:07] would look like

[47:09] um

[47:09] I'll have to check with Mr Marty

[47:11] tomorrow I didn't see any directive that

[47:15] the council was looking for us to draft

[47:16] anything certainly because this would be

[47:19] something legislative coming from the

[47:21] city council the input from the council

[47:24] which would obviously be significant in

[47:26] passing something

[47:28] happy to talk to Mr Mony tomorrow

[47:30] schedule a time for us to sit down and

[47:35] get into the the meet and so to speak of a draft I think having a draft before

[47:41] the council to look at and obviously

[47:43] running it through

[47:46] Departments of the city that would be

[47:48] impacted with enforcement would be

[47:49] necessary to have you know a discussion

[47:53] over a proposal an actual proposal

[47:58] so I thought that um

[48:00] that he was going to be working with the

[48:03] Department of development with that

[48:06] I there wasn't there was yes uh my

[48:09] understanding was

[48:10] um you know Mr Money wanted to talk to

[48:12] the development department I don't know

[48:14] what meetings if any have happened

[48:16] um over the you know since I've been

[48:18] back obviously you know

[48:20] um

[48:21] there's some change happening you know

[48:23] in the development there has been some

[48:25] change happening in the development

[48:26] department

[48:28] um so we want to make sure that you know

[48:29] the the people who you know um

[48:33] I think are the most expert in in

[48:36] drafting are around the table

[48:39] um and we obviously for the purposes of

[48:41] enforcement that's going to have to

[48:42] obviously involve descending officer as

[48:44] well

[48:48] okay just wanted to know where we are

[48:50] with it I know it's going to take a few

[48:51] months and my understanding mayor you

[48:53] could say the last meeting that there's

[48:54] already someone who had something

[48:56] already in the works so this isn't going

[48:58] to apply to them you know one may or may

[49:01] not really works and

[49:14] there's an ongoing review with that

[49:17] which is part of the general discussion

[49:20] to

[49:21] the ones that have decided that they

[49:23] haven't gone through

[49:25] these are the ones that these are

[49:27] different this is smoke shops we're

[49:29] talking about

[49:32] um oh this is their enforcement

[49:33] department

[49:35] part of it where that's not a clear line

[49:40] in terms of what some of these stores

[49:42] are doing

[49:44] so but at the last minute you said that

[49:46] there was already a business that had already started

[49:51] their process so this wasn't going to

[49:54] apply to them

[49:55] that would be my understanding somebody

[49:57] is in the works it depends where they

[50:00] are in the pipeline of getting approvals

[50:03] um you know I don't know of any I don't

[50:04] know of an application that is currently

[50:06] before any body of the city of

[50:10] Schenectady whether that's the bza or

[50:13] the Planning Commission I'm not aware of

[50:14] that because we don't do the intake of

[50:16] those applications but if there's an

[50:18] application that is pending they would

[50:21] be excluded from any zoning requirement

[50:26] potentially well they would have to

[50:29] comply with whatever the zoning will be

[50:30] currently currently right right they'd

[50:32] be pre-existing non-conforming if they

[50:35] get approvals and all that and then the

[50:36] council passes some you know zoning code

[50:40] changes that would say that where they

[50:43] currently are where they're supposed to

[50:44] be is now not an allowable use

[50:47] because I was I received a phone call

[50:50] that there's at least one other that

[50:52] they said they got their license from

[50:54] New York State I wanted to know the

[50:56] question was it was our Zoning for the

[50:58] city so I sent them to zoning because

[51:01] that's you know so and our office hasn't

[51:04] been in contact with that whoever it is

[51:08] that reached out to you so we haven't

[51:09] heard anything done that so I don't know

[51:10] where they are in the you know the the

[51:12] pipeline at the city level right I just

[51:15] learned a Photoshop Etc right did you

[51:17] have something to spell me no

[51:20] okay so I just you know just wanted to

[51:23] have an update and let us know where we

[51:24] were

[51:26] okay

[51:27] um

[51:29] it's okay separate from what I was

[51:31] originally going to ask but there was a

[51:33] discussion about putting an ant one and

[51:35] then two zoning

[51:37] um so when you go forward with that that

[51:39] please do look into that there is a

[51:41] zoning map online

[51:43] granted I colorblind so it's hard for me

[51:46] to differentiate the tweets the colors

[51:49] but it looks fairly substantial the M1

[51:52] and M2 zones um so I would appreciate

[51:56] that being part of the discussion and

[51:58] looked into

[52:00] anyone else

[52:02] okay thank you uh item number five

[52:05] discussion polylorian

[52:10] wings thank you so I just wanted to

[52:13] bring this up just as a quick heads up

[52:15] I've had really good conversations with

[52:17] the whole Glory from Buffalo a few

[52:19] months ago and I recently followed up

[52:22] with the poet laureate for the state of

[52:24] New York and I truly believe that this

[52:26] position has

[52:27] beneficial opportunities for our

[52:29] community with respect to literacy but

[52:31] also providing other people the

[52:32] opportunity to use their voice to

[52:36] magnify just that some some issues or

[52:39] concerns and both a positive and I think

[52:42] just area of improvement way so I wanted

[52:44] to see if the council be open to me

[52:46] scheduling a presentation

[52:53] oh I would be open to that um I think

[52:57] that I did some research after I saw

[52:59] that this was back on the agenda and

[53:01] went to the academy of American poets to

[53:03] see

[53:05] you know the various things that they

[53:07] recommend around this and I know that

[53:10] the politorium in the city of Saratoga

[53:13] has been doing a lot of work I think

[53:15] it's I think it's kind of brings to

[53:19] brings attention to

[53:22] you know sort of in a ceremonial way

[53:24] that we care about the Arts in the city

[53:27] that we care about literacy I did notice

[53:30] that some of the um sometimes in

[53:33] municipalities that have public worries

[53:34] they're through the library system which

[53:37] is obviously in our in our area of a

[53:39] county

[53:41] um he's there's usually an application

[53:43] process

[53:44] and a committee

[53:46] so I you know we had some great people

[53:49] in town that might be able to be part of

[53:51] the selection committee if we move

[53:52] forward with it but it really needs to

[53:55] have like a meaningful role with the

[53:56] school district as well in terms of

[53:58] really trying to get into the schools

[54:00] and teach

[54:01] and Foster a love of poetry among youth

[54:05] of all ages so I think those are also

[54:07] places that you know I don't know if

[54:09] you've had conversations with the school

[54:11] district but

[54:12] um you know I can see them being

[54:14] involved as well

[54:16] yes this way and just for clarification

[54:19] this is not for someone who says I go to

[54:21] Haiku once

[54:22] again it's very much showing and ongoing

[54:26] history of being invested in this style

[54:30] of communication so I'm definitely

[54:32] looking forward to reaching out to the

[54:33] library and also the school district to

[54:35] see how we can work collaboratively to

[54:37] identify the right person

[54:40] and I definitely don't have any problems

[54:42] having them some someone coming to a

[54:44] presentation

[54:46] same here very supportive

[54:48] I personally think it'd be better placed

[54:50] up at the county level um

[54:52] as the body at large for all of us it

[54:57] would be they would be able to obviously

[55:00] wear the biggest piece of the county but

[55:02] that person would be able to participate

[55:05] in the school district locally but also

[55:07] the benefits some of the smaller areas

[55:09] around

[55:12] place at the county level

[55:16] s share them with us at County

[55:18] absolutely

[55:21] because as you said the city is the

[55:24] bigger piece of this so I would

[55:27] as long as we could I don't know that

[55:29] they necessarily if it had to be there

[55:31] if it could be here and they could you

[55:33] know the person could also do things

[55:34] throughout the county

[55:38] any other discussions around that

[55:44] so Mr Williams furniture

[55:47] okay

[56:05] um item number 60 uh authorized the

[56:07] abandonment of a portion of large

[56:09] streets thank you

[56:11] um another person I appreciate the

[56:14] council uh tabling the resolution at the

[56:17] last meeting

[56:18] um we already did a public hearing on

[56:20] this nothing's changing as it relates to

[56:22] that it was just that the what had to be

[56:25] passed as an ordinance not a resolution

[56:27] so looking to put it on for the next

[56:29] meeting as a as an ordinance it's going

[56:32] to really contain the same language

[56:34] identify when the public hearing was and

[56:37] move forward with the abandonment

[56:40] so we need to move this as an ordinance

[56:41] correct

[56:45] second all those in favor thank you

[56:50] item number seven is just the reminder

[56:52] of the public hearing for regarding the

[56:54] moratorium on smoke shops and vape shops

[56:57] and similar uses all that's there for

[57:00] you it refers to and the mayor provided

[57:03] some information about places that um

[57:06] code enforcement has already gone out

[57:07] and looked at so that ties into item

[57:11] number seven and public hearing will be

[57:13] on August 14th

[57:20] is there anything else to come before

[57:22] City development and planning

[57:24] Motion Picture second all is in favor

[57:27] bye thank you

[57:30] I'd like to call to order

[57:32] um claims

[57:35] and we have one item on the agenda

[57:38] um and we will need to discuss that item

[57:40] in the executive session so I'd like a

[57:42] motion to go into the executive session

[57:46] second all in favor

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, August 7, 2023

Transcript