[0:00] foreign

[0:01] [Music]

[0:13] meeting for Monday August 21st 2023

[0:17] first committee it's Finance Mr Mutual

[0:20] thank you I'd like to follow the finance

[0:22] committee to order at the foresight of

[0:24] this update 20 23 24 Action Plan

[0:28] application

[0:31] episodes

[0:42] I'm here for the

[0:45] 23-24 annual action plan uh to allocate

[0:49] 2 million 102

[0:52] 000.44 through the development block

[0:55] grant funds and 187 000 and three

[0:59] dollars to an emergency solution Grant

[1:01] funds and finally 1 million

[1:14] yeah I wanted to ask a question about

[1:16] the programming that it's supposed to

[1:18] take place in Jerry Royale

[1:21] as well but we allocate money today can

[1:24] you speak to that that was forward last

[1:27] year you know this is where the future

[1:28] going forward and then it took place in

[1:30] March report and they deal with Willie D

[1:32] he's sending me videos of polls so if

[1:35] they did not have programming and a jury

[1:37] reveal but they did have a different

[1:39] department thank you

[1:42] any other questions

[1:45] second all in favor all right thank you

[1:48] the next item is

[1:51] compliance policy Mr Ferrari

[1:56] foreign

[2:13] just recently we're about to close on

[2:16] the EFC loans for uh the race car

[2:19] treating plant and uh

[2:21] North Ferry Street Pump Station and one

[2:23] of the requirements of from New York

[2:26] state is for us to have a

[2:29] by adjusting uh post Assurance

[2:31] compliance policy which I had thought

[2:34] that our procedure policy was the same

[2:36] according to our bond Council there was

[2:39] it so we got together with our Obama

[2:40] Council of her and I we hammered out a

[2:44] post issuance compliance and policy

[2:47] which is uh within your books there this uh policy uh is uh issued and uh is

[2:54] for uh you know tax tax exempt or tax

[2:57] advantage bases in this part of the uh

[3:01] Internal Revenue code 1986. so this

[3:04] would help the city is connecting put us

[3:05] in you know complete compliance with

[3:07] that

[3:08] so we're asking the city council adopt

[3:11] that policy

[3:13] any questions

[3:16] may have one more show

[3:18] second all in favor

[3:19] thank you very much the next item is

[3:23] increasing the maximum income for New

[3:25] York real property tax exemption Mr

[3:28] Williams thank you uh so in 2022 the New

[3:31] York State descent and assembly passing

[3:33] Amendment

[3:34] adjusting the maximum amount for

[3:37] individuals needing this criteria based

[3:40] on some information that I received I

[3:42] noticed that within the city we have not

[3:43] adjusted that income statute since 2009

[3:46] I think based on some of the

[3:50] quality of life they should be

[3:52] recognized nationally I think that is a

[3:54] big

[3:55] Gap that is now placed at our

[3:58] responsibility to adjust these threat

[4:00] for these individuals within our

[4:01] community so with us today we do have

[4:03] Miss McElroy who I imagine this is more

[4:06] for the background income provides some

[4:08] better context to the council but based

[4:11] on myself I would definitely like to see

[4:13] this maximized and I definitely when we

[4:15] talk about vulnerable or populations of

[4:19] that are disadvantaged I think it's our

[4:20] responsibility as a city to make sure we

[4:22] present sufficient resources to assist

[4:24] them and uh without further ado

[4:29] let's go

[4:34] um

[4:35] part of this

[4:37] happened because of covet so for the

[4:39] last couple of years we haven't been

[4:41] um the state gave us the opportunity to

[4:44] extend the exemption for folks so that

[4:46] they didn't have to come in and file

[4:47] their paperwork so we look at two years

[4:50] back income so we're talking about the

[4:53] last time we actually looked at folks

[4:55] income was 2018 so that this year was

[4:58] the first year we had to do that again

[4:59] and what happened was increases there

[5:02] was a big increase in Social Security

[5:03] for a lot of folks in 2021 so now

[5:07] looking at this year we would have

[5:08] looked at the 2021 income

[5:11] and it kicked a lot of people off the

[5:13] exemption because if you've seen the

[5:15] sliding scale that's in the city code

[5:17] there's just a very very small amount

[5:20] could kick somebody off of having this

[5:22] exemption or even we've had people go

[5:24] from having 50 exemption to having no

[5:26] exemption at all and that's a big deal

[5:29] if you're on fixed income a lot of

[5:31] people don't

[5:32] you know they don't they don't plan for

[5:33] that they don't know that that's going

[5:34] to happen so we haven't raised this the sliding scale at all since 2009 last

[5:41] year the state gave local

[5:46] municipalities the opportunity to pick

[5:48] her up we gave municipalities the

[5:50] opportunity to do a local law in order

[5:52] to increase the sliding scale I'm not

[5:55] sure that it's

[5:56] the best idea for us to go all the way

[5:58] to to 50 000 as the the

[6:02] um I mean it gives us the opportunity to

[6:04] do that but that's a pretty big

[6:06] um chunk of people I think that would be

[6:08] included in it it may affect the city

[6:11] financially but there's got to be some

[6:13] Midway Point um that we can you know

[6:16] that we can find so that those people

[6:18] that were kicked off because of an

[6:21] increase in Social Security might be

[6:23] able to then take advantage of the

[6:25] exemption again

[6:27] I'm not sure if there's any questions

[6:28] I'm more than happy to answer

[6:31] so just like um overall

[6:33] I'm probably a good question to answer

[6:35] that do you have any idea of what what

[6:37] city did go to America you know

[6:41] do you know what that impact my

[6:44] reflective saving dollars

[6:46] um it's it's hard to say because of

[6:49] um because we don't know what Phil's

[6:50] income is you know it's they have to if

[6:52] this is an exemption that has to be

[6:54] renewed every year and they have to

[6:56] provide us with their federal income tax

[6:58] return and we calculate income a little

[7:01] differently than the IRS does so it's

[7:03] not just the bottom line number

[7:06] but so in that way it's hard to predict

[7:09] I would say you know if we went to the

[7:12] maximum amount of 50 000 that would add

[7:14] a lot more people than than had been

[7:16] able to take advantage of it before but

[7:19] if you found some number that you know

[7:22] there may be a way I'm not sure how

[7:24] other municipalities have done this some

[7:26] have adopted this and some haven't

[7:28] so I can talk to some other assessors

[7:31] accessory if there was a way that they

[7:32] were able to

[7:33] somehow hedge of that as to you know

[7:36] where to set that limit but it I know we

[7:41] did lose a lot of people and I know

[7:42] there were a lot of people that

[7:45] it drops significantly so that say they

[7:47] had 50 well a lot of you know people I

[7:49] saw had 10 or 15 percent and even that

[7:53] is a lot to you know it's a lot in taxes

[7:55] to not be prepared to have to um

[7:58] cover I guess so there may be some ways to do

[8:03] it to get a better idea I'm just not

[8:06] quite sure

[8:10] thank you Mr chairman

[8:12] appreciate Mr Williams the council has

[8:16] to look at at least making sure it's

[8:18] keeping up with inflation and not only

[8:20] talks about people who are in this place

[8:22] does

[8:24] normal increments that will happen

[8:25] within Social Security or other income

[8:29] that they may have had my understanding

[8:31] is that some of those upper limits were

[8:33] really designed for places on Long

[8:36] Island

[8:37] Westchester County New York City where

[8:40] you have

[8:42] higher levels of just overall affluence

[8:45] so that

[8:47] it might not be totally applicable to

[8:49] Schenectady but again it's one of those

[8:53] things where as well comes out it's hard

[8:56] to know what the exact number you're

[8:58] going to bring in so by doing

[9:03] what's appropriate to

[9:06] hold people harmless and provide some

[9:08] benefit is there you don't want to shift

[9:10] it so you precipitate a tax increase

[9:13] across the board for everybody else but

[9:16] how do you again

[9:20] general rule uses to adjust it for

[9:23] inflation it would take a little bit of

[9:25] some number and

[9:27] we have a little bit of time because

[9:29] whatever the council does in this

[9:32] wouldn't take effect until

[9:35] 2024 until it'll be in the next actual

[9:40] year for collecting taxes

[9:43] but I'm sorry I think there's definitely

[9:46] ways I I was thinking that we could take

[9:49] a look at the folks who have actually

[9:50] lost the exemption just to see because

[9:52] it's really we'd have to pull every file

[9:54] one by one and look at the income tax

[9:57] returns and the people who which is not

[9:59] a it's not a big deal I mean it's

[10:01] something we can absolutely do we can

[10:03] get a sense of you know what's the

[10:06] percentage that would make sense to go

[10:08] off for some of those people who were

[10:10] solidly in the program before

[10:12] um

[10:13] because of an increase in Social

[10:14] Security they might have gotten bummed

[10:16] off of it

[10:20] so if we wanted to take some action what

[10:22] would it require in terms you said you

[10:24] mentioned local law so we had to change

[10:28] local law yeah we'd have to update this

[10:30] Andrew mentioned that we'd have to do

[10:32] our public hearing

[10:34] currently it's codified in the city code

[10:36] at section 234-1

[10:39] so if we would be amending that it would

[10:42] have to be a call for a public hearing

[10:45] and then the council would have to pick

[10:47] afternoon to amendments in the code

[10:49] so my suggestion the council is inclined

[10:52] to do that take a look at that section I

[10:54] can email it out tomorrow to the city

[10:56] clerk and she can pass it along with

[10:58] public council members that section of

[11:00] the code to see how it's currently

[11:02] written see what the scheme is the

[11:04] exceptions because there are some

[11:05] exceptions uh baked within that section

[11:08] of the code so you can take a look at it

[11:10] and see what changes if any and how you

[11:13] may want it to be structured

[11:17] do you think um because it seems like

[11:21] this won't be taking me off it wouldn't

[11:24] be inactive right away so

[11:26] what's a reasonable amount of time you

[11:28] think that maybe uh

[11:30] kind of pull those individual files to

[11:32] try to give us a better idea

[11:34] um so we're not you know

[11:36] um you know I mean we've got we've got

[11:38] lots of honestly we don't send our

[11:40] renewal notices out until October over

[11:42] and applications are not due back into

[11:45] March 1st of next year so it you know I

[11:47] mean it's there's there's lots of time

[11:49] to be able to do this it's just a matter

[11:51] of like how soon you all you know this

[11:54] is something that when we send out our

[11:56] notices to people for Renewal or yeah we

[12:00] can put something in the newspaper in

[12:01] October around the time that we send

[12:03] that so that it you know it would prompt

[12:06] people to then come in in something you

[12:08] know with their income if something's

[12:09] changed so you know maybe some time

[12:12] between now and

[12:14] October

[12:17] we could certainly pull files and take a

[12:20] look it's just a matter of figuring out

[12:21] who didn't get the exemption this year

[12:23] and had it last year

[12:25] entirely easy to do with our systems

[12:30] so who didn't get it last year to this

[12:33] year but they're raising the limit

[12:35] there'd be a lot more that would apply

[12:38] right yeah it's not I don't know that

[12:40] for a fact but I mean it would make

[12:43] sense

[12:44] that follows and I agree with Mr

[12:46] Williams I mean you know it needs to be

[12:49] looked at but then listening to the

[12:50] mayor absolutely yes we don't want to

[12:52] cost

[12:53] every taxpayer and increase so agreed

[12:57] yeah

[13:01] so I I will start working on that

[13:03] tomorrow we'll start pulling files and

[13:05] taking all good stuff and

[13:07] figure out you know there's what what

[13:09] might be a decent amount to raise it so

[13:13] that you're not opening it down before

[13:14] everybody but at the same time you're

[13:17] being able to pull people back into it

[13:19] who had already been you know used

[13:22] budgeting for having their taxes

[13:28] cool

[13:29] um so Mr Williams is is that this is

[13:32] just seniors and disabled would

[13:34] low-income or veterans or anything fall

[13:37] into that bill I don't know

[13:40] yeah no it's just this just covers um so

[13:43] this sliding scale and the income limit

[13:45] just covers for the RP 467 which is for

[13:48] folks who are over 65 and fall below

[13:51] that income and then the disabled thank

[13:54] you so disable them low income is what

[13:57] sure goes hand in hand veterans are

[13:59] there other categories of inceptions

[14:02] yes veterans we don't look we only the

[14:04] only thing we look at for veterans is

[14:06] they're discharge papers they don't it

[14:08] doesn't incoming online thank you

[14:15] just having this brought back and you

[14:17] said how much time do you think you need

[14:19] to get that information that's it we'll

[14:21] take a couple of weeks now and I'll let

[14:23] you know when we have a pretty good

[14:24] looking list we'll try to look at

[14:26] everybody if we pull we pull all the

[14:28] files and people who didn't get the

[14:30] exemptions this year

[14:32] um

[14:34] those folders it's just a matter of

[14:37] making sure we put that data down in the

[14:41] paper so you guys can see it so I'd say

[14:43] without burning her office uh definitely

[14:45] looking at their four weeks

[14:47] just like those four weeks

[14:51] and Mr Coleen you're going to email that

[14:53] section of the

[14:55] bus yes

[14:57] all right so we're friends back in four

[15:00] weeks

[15:03] thank you thank you to everyone thank

[15:05] you any other businesses for finance

[15:08] second all in favor thank you I'd like

[15:12] to call to order City development of

[15:14] planning we have eight items on the

[15:15] agenda uh the first is discussion of the

[15:18] city's annual ms4 request for 2023.

[15:22] Chris Long

[15:25] you're not this one

[15:30] hello again uh yes uh Chris Wallen he's

[15:33] not available to come today uh but he

[15:35] left me

[15:39] uh with Emma sport I'm really not

[15:42] prepared to have a discussion but just

[15:43] let me tell you what it's a little bit

[15:45] about the ms4 is the municipal's uh

[15:48] separate storm sore system ms4 fluores's

[15:53] and what that is is that and the misfied

[15:56] electricity is Schenectady

[15:57] um our storm server system is not

[16:00] connected with our sanitary system

[16:01] through separate systems and we'll with

[16:04] this uh report does that we've sent to

[16:07] the state uh let us let the state know

[16:09] that all our

[16:12] sanatory storm serves were inspected and

[16:14] they're all efficient and they're in

[16:16] good shape

[16:17] so that's basically what that is when

[16:20] Chris Wallen returns uh from uh wherever

[16:23] he is he'll be he'll be sending this to

[16:25] the state

[16:27] to find to have it filed

[16:33] is this a discussion or we need to pass

[16:36] something oh you need to pass

[16:39] yeah and you said a discussion is I'm

[16:42] not really able to discuss it uh I think

[16:45] you just want to let you know that the

[16:46] report was complete uh you have a copy

[16:49] of the report and you need this is a

[16:50] report you send it to the state

[16:52] do you know when it's due to the states

[16:54] uh it's I this is a a month or two later

[16:58] than usual but it's due to the same uh

[16:59] where are we now on at the end of

[17:01] September so we have an opportunity

[17:04] um to hear any questions to have this

[17:07] year

[17:09] so he said it's not due until the end of

[17:12] September for sure that's cool are you

[17:15] sure that no I'm not 100 sure I was I

[17:17] was told the end of the month I don't

[17:19] know I'm sure it was ended this month or

[17:21] under September the month of September

[17:24] power

[17:37] if you have any questions

[17:40] um then I would suggest emailing them

[17:42] both to Mr Wallen and to the clerk so

[17:43] everybody

[17:45] um can see the questions and then if for

[17:48] some reason a question comes up with it

[17:49] doesn't move forward you can pull it but

[17:51] otherwise all right very good thank you

[17:54] very much because I appreciate that and

[17:56] thank you

[17:57] second all in favor

[18:01] okay uh award bin contract for

[18:04] transportation transfer you selection

[18:06] yes is that you as well yeah uh I'm

[18:10] taking Paul's Place uh we just had a bid

[18:13] for our annual sludge right now we are

[18:15] paying 250 for 215 per ton which we can

[18:19] do about 10 000 tons annually we had a

[18:22] recent bid our lowest bid came in at

[18:24] 155s and this is supposed this is going

[18:27] to be starting uh as soon as possible I

[18:30] think the contract's a faction if you

[18:32] get that in the other bids came in at

[18:33] over 179 179 even above so I think we

[18:38] made it out good

[18:51] and then

[18:53] a bit and extracted down to 255 the

[18:57] overall costs have been dramatically

[18:59] increasing

[19:00] for

[19:01] disposal of the sludge wastewater

[19:04] treatment and strength do we know mayor

[19:08] what those into where the interim amount

[19:09] was before

[19:11] they in the amount she talked about like

[19:13] the 215 versus the 155

[19:20] 80 a ton it's under 100 so it was a

[19:31] Market a price

[19:33] you compare to other

[19:35] municipalities that's a competitive

[19:39] number okay it's not anything that

[19:42] I like to bring into you but that's the

[19:45] reality of

[19:46] people today

[19:50] if any questions

[19:53] and I could be mistaken by

[19:56] thoughts

[19:58] um

[20:00] it was mentioning something uh on the

[20:04] network I'm going to keep this calls for

[20:05] us to purchase some things with the city

[20:08] do you remember what I'm talking about

[20:10] right I think he has been talking about

[20:12] the digesters

[20:15] other things which are major in

[20:17] capitalism

[20:19] enables to produce some of the overall

[20:22] costs but there was some projected cost

[20:25] savings over a period of time that they

[20:27] would be actually paid for themselves

[20:29] but yeah and I was switching up those

[20:30] numbers now I just think of something

[20:32] but you know obviously one of the things

[20:34] is that you know the cost of building

[20:37] some of the things that we're talking

[20:38] about is in the tens of millions of

[20:40] dollars and that is that is just the

[20:42] estimated price we don't know if we

[20:44] dropped a bit that's going to be so

[20:48] but it's something we're having the back

[20:50] of our mind for digesters and dryers

[20:54] we're talking future future alcohol

[20:57] constitutions you know months years I

[21:00] would say years I cannot say multi-year

[21:02] under takeoffs

[21:04] we're talking tens of millions of

[21:06] dollars

[21:08] [Applause]

[21:12] a second all the favor all right thank

[21:15] you very much all right thank you Mr

[21:16] Ferrari

[21:18] the next item on the agenda is a

[21:20] reminder about the six-month moratorium

[21:22] on the submission processing of building

[21:25] permits for certificates of advocacy for

[21:27] smoke shops vape shops and tobacco and

[21:30] baby consumption businesses uh the

[21:32] public hearing was on August 17th

[21:38] seven August 7 sorry

[21:40] um so we did have people come to public

[21:42] hearing

[21:44] um the tobacco-free uh Coalition I think

[21:47] with the speakers and based on the

[21:51] comments that they made and the comments

[21:53] that were made by others that I believe

[21:54] they invited they were under the

[21:56] impression that what this would do is

[21:58] choose for us to close

[22:01] um current shops that are open so I I

[22:05] didn't get a chance to speak to Mr I

[22:08] wanted to to explain that that's not

[22:10] what this moratorium is about

[22:11] so I think they had that you know so

[22:13] other than that

[22:15] there were no other speakers that came

[22:17] to um

[22:18] to speak on about this

[22:21] so at this point in time we as the

[22:23] council have to

[22:25] decide whether we'll move forward with

[22:27] this and then also Mr Holden can you

[22:30] explain further what would need to

[22:32] happen to the council take steps sure

[22:35] obviously Mr Hardy's been working quite

[22:38] a bit

[22:39] um

[22:40] specific questions if the council is

[22:43] inclined to move ahead with this it

[22:45] needs to be referred to

[22:46] the County Planning is there any

[22:50] commission levels is the planning

[22:52] department if you like Mr Marney to

[22:55] answer specific questions about next

[22:57] steps is obviously here

[23:02] any questions anyone no okay all right

[23:06] yes I'd like to hear you know moving

[23:08] forward

[23:09] I'd like to hear moving forward what we

[23:12] would need to do for Mr Martin okay Mr

[23:14] Martin do you have questions

[23:14] specifically just generally okay

[23:23] well so uh in order to move forward uh

[23:26] the law doesn't require a referral of

[23:28] the moratorium at the County Planning

[23:29] agency uh so we would need a motion at

[23:33] least council meeting to do that and to

[23:37] resolve to move I saw

[23:39] we would then send it over in the chair

[23:41] of the middle County Planning Commission

[23:42] during the County Planning agency is a

[23:44] great Yellen

[23:45] they they can be the period I think of

[23:48] up to 30 days to review the moratorium

[23:50] and when they send back their findings

[23:53] support the moratorium they can go back

[23:55] to council for both to adopt it if they

[23:58] do not support it and still can go back

[23:59] to the council to adopt it but we will

[24:01] require a super majority

[24:06] thank you

[24:10] any other questions

[24:16] and so I would guess I know we discussed

[24:20] this a lot so in terms of the

[24:22] enforcement that the mayor and the staff

[24:24] is part of you doing

[24:25] and we're glad to get one of these on

[24:28] the mayor with regards to the updates so

[24:31] hopefully uh this weekend we can get an

[24:34] update sometime this week that's where

[24:36] they are in terms of the continued

[24:39] reinforcement of the NCAA Center

[24:50] any of the

[24:52] council members get complaints or

[24:55] inquiries from the public or questions

[24:57] that are raised feel free to foreign

[25:11] I mean enforcement is obviously the

[25:14] route that we're going but if we put a

[25:16] moratorium on there then we obviously

[25:18] know if illegal ones for popping up

[25:19] within the city because if they're

[25:21] popping up you know they're not supposed

[25:22] to be at that point so that could

[25:24] actually helps Naim and his whole crew

[25:26] kind of Code Enforcement you know

[25:29] realize that

[25:31] um again people in the neighborhoods and

[25:32] I'd be happy to send them on to

[25:35] um to the mayor to Naim about um

[25:38] foreign within a block again when they

[25:42] with the council came to speak on Monday

[25:47] I was the tobacco Council I was you know

[25:52] I got the impression that they were

[25:54] definitely concerned with the smoke

[25:56] shops and The Vaping but also with

[25:58] cigarette sales being so close to

[26:00] schools and things which is something

[26:02] you know every their store has or

[26:05] something like that so that that's a

[26:07] separate issue I think but

[26:09] um you know again with the vaping out

[26:10] there and our youth being so

[26:13] vulnerable to the fancy glitches and

[26:16] smoke flavors and things like that I

[26:19] think we need to be really conscious of

[26:22] especially maybe illegal ones popping up

[26:24] not asking for proper ID obviously for

[26:27] the top so I think I think the

[26:28] moratorium is something that we could do

[26:31] something a positive way to go and I

[26:34] also feel that if we worked efficiently

[26:37] with the moratorium then it wouldn't

[26:39] even last six months we'll just get in

[26:41] there and enforcement can do the job

[26:42] make sure everything you know we have

[26:44] some zoning in place

[26:46] and you know for smoke and vape shops so

[26:50] obviously not near near the schools or

[26:53] something that we need to look at

[26:54] definitely not like the marijuana more

[26:57] you know zoning but we need to be

[26:59] conscious of where we're putting them

[27:00] and where they're popping up

[27:02] the way I feel

[27:10] so at this point in time

[27:13] there's enforcement going on there

[27:15] you're setting people out on a regular

[27:17] weekly whatever basis and so could you

[27:20] just what enforcement looks like is it

[27:22] does it mean they shut them down

[27:23] immediately does it mean what does

[27:24] enforcement look like

[27:26] they're cited and then trips to process

[27:29] depending on what they're cited for

[27:31] getting the

[27:34] General thing we use is to try and get

[27:36] people to be compliant so that they have

[27:39] to file for significant abuse or other

[27:43] things to do that

[27:45] some places are in

[27:49] widely variants in what their

[27:52] approaches to doing business some are

[27:55] generally compliant in some

[27:58] very creative in terms of how they

[28:01] approach opening a business

[28:07] so yesterday

[28:10] the last time we discussed is a few

[28:13] attention that I can recall exactly have

[28:17] come into terms of um

[28:20] well I was an overreach in terms of what

[28:23] we're doing or is it extreme or

[28:25] something like that you're going to

[28:26] mentioned it goes back to what that

[28:28] really meant more Korea are considered

[28:31] uh a drastic yeah so it's just and that's why there's

[28:36] such a process involved for us to

[28:38] implement it's not that it it shouldn't

[28:41] be a process for you guys to decide

[28:43] whether or not it's required here but it

[28:45] is drastic it does suspend a use from

[28:47] occurring within the city

[28:50] um uh and uh you know the whole purpose

[28:53] of it is to just preserve the status quo

[28:55] from the land use planning perspective

[28:57] for us to uh draft the new zoning

[29:00] regulations that would be required for

[29:03] those uses

[29:06] this could be current you who knows

[29:20] I mean what I would like to see is that

[29:23] we allow as I mentioned before a lot of

[29:25] the main artists team to proceed with

[29:27] the enforcement that is going on bring

[29:29] these businesses into compliance and if

[29:31] they can be complain then they will have

[29:33] to close it so I think that will take

[29:35] care of the problem that we have

[29:38] to make sure there's people in this

[29:39] business owners realize that they need

[29:41] to come in to the planning department

[29:43] the zoning department and obtain

[29:45] industry application and go through the

[29:48] process and apply the

[29:50] as everybody else

[29:52] so I think that we should allow the

[29:54] notice of violation that

[29:56] to take or take its course

[30:01] so mayor who wanted to do that um

[30:05] within like within two weeks we'll be

[30:07] able to have the information in terms of

[30:09] whatever code enforcement is currently

[30:11] working on so it's very proper within

[30:14] two weeks I should turn that off sorry

[30:16] would we be able to hear what code you

[30:19] know get an update on what Holden

[30:21] forcement is working on and where they

[30:22] are with the shops that are not in

[30:24] compliance

[30:27] yes I don't know if we would have all of

[30:30] them some of them

[30:32] the standard thing is

[30:35] over 30 days after we give them a notice

[30:39] in some people are

[30:42] very compliant they're apologetic they

[30:45] didn't do the paperwork other people and

[30:48] it's not only for

[30:50] what we're talking about tonight in

[30:53] terms of code enforcement in general

[30:55] with buildings people spend time and

[30:57] effort that always amazes me in terms of

[31:01] Defending a flawed position where

[31:03] they're not fixing up their house their

[31:06] net doing the appropriate paperwork

[31:09] and they will have excuses in the simple

[31:13] things in the

[31:16] initial administrative action to get

[31:19] people into compliance when they don't

[31:21] do that and we decided to take them to

[31:24] court and then it becomes a discretion

[31:27] and presiding judge some of the

[31:29] timelines that are in place people again

[31:32] will have creative scenarios that they

[31:36] will articulate to the court

[31:39] are not really designed to remediate the

[31:43] problem or into compliance but I guess

[31:45] we can give you an update

[31:47] whatever you would like I'm not sure it

[31:50] would be a complete one depending on the

[31:52] timeline of

[31:55] where we are with the different venues

[32:00] under two weeks or four weeks or you can

[32:04] have a special meeting

[32:08] is your hand up yeah okay because it

[32:11] seems like we're talking about

[32:13] two different approaches leading into

[32:16] different problems so my understanding

[32:18] that this moratorium would

[32:22] pause anyone you know

[32:25] to open up the smoke shop even if they

[32:28] were looking to come through the proper

[32:30] channels and do everything right so I

[32:33] just be clear about that but the um

[32:35] advantage to that might be too because

[32:38] we can kind of pause things while we

[32:41] work on the enforcement of people who

[32:43] are

[32:45] um not in compliance with with to

[32:48] business

[32:49] so

[32:51] but also on this tutorial mentioned

[32:53] around like existing smoke shops around

[32:56] their proximity to schools and

[32:58] neighborhoods being being concerned I

[33:01] thought you said that um

[33:03] I would like to see some zoning

[33:07] promoting you know not close to our you

[33:09] know we we have to take care of our

[33:10] youth yeah

[33:13] neighbors said that you could talk on

[33:15] the neighbors saying that two or three

[33:16] opened up but then right so we know

[33:18] about five six seven more I guess

[33:20] depending on their proximity so let's

[33:23] get some zoning in place so if

[33:25] for going where they are now moving

[33:28] forward

[33:30] I want all this I want businesses here I

[33:32] want businesses

[33:33] to succeed I want them to open up

[33:35] especially small amount of Pop shops

[33:37] it's vital to our community together

[33:42] so and speaking about zoning I know that

[33:44] we're going to be looking at overall

[33:46] zoning we talk about the Zoning for

[33:48] cannabis with um

[33:50] it would be cannabis and similarly we

[33:52] use the word that strictly be cannabis

[33:54] and I guess what I'm really asking would

[33:56] smoke shops be captured in that zoning

[33:58] yes the way the statute

[34:00] from New York State came out with the

[34:03] regulations

[34:05] cannabis dispensaries retail

[34:08] is required to be treated similarly to as smoke shops vape shops

[34:13] tobacco retailers

[34:17] from the zoning standpoint they're going

[34:19] to be treated the same way

[34:24] but in terms of this moratorium then

[34:26] Canada shops would not be included so

[34:28] the way it was

[34:30] presented that's correct that was will

[34:34] need to request

[34:38] so as it stands the way I grew up in the

[34:42] moratorium it applies to smoke shops

[34:44] vape shops and tobacco consumption

[34:48] businesses

[34:50] and we've provided a specific language

[34:54] to address the fact that due to the

[34:56] preemption of a lot of the zoning

[34:58] regulations and licensing requirements

[35:00] by the state that will be the basis of

[35:03] the inclusion of the Cannabis shops

[35:11] however when we do the zoning

[35:14] the Cannabis Museum

[35:16] is part of those on the Amendments and

[35:19] the regular career requirements at least

[35:20] within the framework

[35:23] to regulate

[35:26] thank you

[35:30] so at this one time we have to decide

[35:33] whether we're moving forward with the

[35:34] moratorium and you hear the steps or

[35:36] whether we're what will be wanting to

[35:39] wait for to hear more about enforcement

[35:40] and so yeah I would like to wait for

[35:43] when the man come back comes back to two

[35:46] weeks for an updates on the noticeable

[35:49] where are we in terms of enforcing them

[35:53] at that time are we bringing back

[35:56] considering the moratorium is that what

[35:58] you ask them to bring back into lease no

[36:03] I'm asked in front of the

[36:05] regards to the enforcement

[36:08] hi what's up it's helpful you can do the

[36:12] referral and then still decide

[36:16] you know because of the time framework

[36:19] and then it's a 30-day forecast

[36:23] so

[36:25] did you hear that Mr YouTube Aaron can

[36:27] you repeat that please

[36:29] um to the extent it's helpful it's a 30-day review process with the

[36:32] county you can still refer it to the

[36:34] county and then decide not to perform

[36:36] the moratorium just because of the

[36:39] timelines involved with that uh

[36:48] who reviews it

[36:51] the reality it should be seven or eight

[36:53] weeks out where you can do anything

[36:55] so we need to

[36:56] formally both of the referrals send it

[36:58] to the county they've got 30 days they

[37:01] send it back to you you have a two-week

[37:04] cycle or three week cycle depending on

[37:06] where it comes up on the calendar but

[37:09] change any action and

[37:13] it's a nature of this there's going to

[37:14] be some discussion some people are like

[37:16] some elements of it some people aren't

[37:18] going to like some

[37:19] have to take their consideration for the

[37:22] final product the council

[37:29] Mr Golden and frankly whatever referral

[37:31] we make to the county they're going to

[37:33] provide feedback on the moratorium

[37:36] either you know yay or nay in terms of

[37:38] what what where they stand but there may

[37:40] be parts of that recommendation that

[37:43] comes from the county that deserves

[37:44] further discussion from the city council

[37:47] aspects that maybe haven't been

[37:49] addressed at our level but they're

[37:52] looking at at their world

[37:55] okay

[37:57] sounds like a long process

[38:01] so

[38:02] do you want to still hold it for the two

[38:04] weeks you're here with me yeah that's

[38:07] only for two weeks

[38:11] okay and let's just be clear we will

[38:13] bring it back into the weeks to make

[38:15] whether make a recommendation to you

[38:17] first to to with the moratorium that

[38:20] will be the discussion in two weeks

[38:26] okay

[38:27] thank you very much

[38:35] so with regards to the zoning we haven't

[38:39] discussed whether we're going to go

[38:40] towards districting or openness yet

[38:42] correct so is there a way for us to have

[38:44] that segment into the conversation we

[38:46] bring back

[38:47] I'm sorry

[38:53] so we haven't gotten to the conversation

[38:56] of whether it's going to go towards the

[38:58] line of districting or overlays oh

[39:00] there's a big difference districting

[39:02] overlays is there where you can add that

[39:03] component to when we bring this back

[39:05] because I imagine that's going to be a

[39:06] heavy discussion as well my

[39:09] recommendation would be it's a separate

[39:11] item outside of the moratorium I think

[39:14] it's obviously right for discussion for

[39:17] the next committee meeting obviously you

[39:20] know the law Department serves

[39:23] um you know obviously all the

[39:25] Departments of the city the mayor's

[39:27] office but also the city council

[39:29] so we are available to discuss you know

[39:33] your thoughts because you know you are

[39:36] the legislators so it's going to be a

[39:38] determination that's made by you in

[39:39] terms of how you want this to play out

[39:42] we want to be able to provide the legal

[39:44] support for you so we do recommend that

[39:46] you come talk to us obviously but my

[39:49] suggestion would be putting it on for

[39:51] the next committee meeting to discuss

[39:53] where the council people stand on how

[39:56] they want the zoning to be rolled out

[39:59] for this Mr Marney and I have spoken at

[40:03] length about what we see how we see this

[40:06] unfolding but obviously our thoughts

[40:09] suggests that you're going to have to

[40:11] obviously at some point as you know city

[40:13] council people pass something that works

[40:17] so yeah so you're asking for this to be

[40:20] on in two weeks results

[40:21] okay we'll do that in the meantime if

[40:24] you don't mind I will come in get some

[40:26] clear some clarity in the Law Department

[40:28] to stop up and see you we welcome back

[40:29] let's see

[40:31] okay thank you

[40:33] follow up on arpa contracts Mr Ferrari

[40:39] ations

[40:47] thank you

[41:02] so

[41:06] um

[41:07] I sent everything to uh I had sent all

[41:12] the emails from all our participants in

[41:14] this arpa review to to all the council

[41:17] members and what I did is I I put the

[41:21] under the last column exactly you know

[41:24] uh you know what we have to look at

[41:27] I think as you know there's the two in

[41:31] particular at the cocoa house and Scat

[41:33] they're looking to change their uh

[41:35] original work

[41:39] uh items

[41:41] and there's a few like uh

[41:45] Miracle on Craig the electric city uh

[41:49] Co-op Hamilton art center and where's

[41:54] the other one and uh

[41:59] the YWCA which are going to probably

[42:02] need extensions

[42:05] we did two contracts this week Maurice

[42:09] Brown did a great job of helping get

[42:11] this through uh we're looking to do a

[42:14] few more next week too right or even

[42:16] this week maybe a couple through but

[42:18] we're going to bring them up to the

[42:20] water department to review uh we did get

[42:23] a good response for everyone and as

[42:25] you've seen what we've got uh my

[42:27] question is uh uh is there a committee

[42:30] that's going to review these to talk

[42:33] about the extensions to talk about the

[42:36] change in plans

[42:38] a change in funding or whatever and

[42:40] that's that's what I'm not

[42:42] sure okay

[42:45] um so everyone got the email

[42:49] members mayor about well I'm not sure

[42:51] what the councilman is about the various

[42:54] contracts I just want to be clear these

[42:57] are all of them this is everything these

[42:59] are not the cities connected anymore

[43:01] outside okay yeah all right so perfect

[43:04] okay that's what I wanted that's right

[43:05] try to make a smaller for you and I also

[43:08] wanted to put in what they did so that

[43:09] way you can review them and you can

[43:11] remember next time laughs

[43:15] um so you had an opportunity to review

[43:17] that Mr Ferrari made it clear that some

[43:19] people are asking for extensions which

[43:21] to me is reasonable as long as they can

[43:23] do within the time frame that we needed

[43:25] others are asking for change and two in

[43:28] particular right are asking for change

[43:30] and use of their funds correct so um

[43:34] this question really is for for well

[43:36] it's for us to discuss but what would

[43:38] that require Mr Colden in terms of their

[43:41] contracts

[43:42] so some of them don't have contracts we

[43:44] have those those have not been contract

[43:46] however there are Appropriations that

[43:48] have been made by the city council

[43:49] appropriating the money for very

[43:50] specific purposes as it applies to

[43:53] certain organizations certainly if the

[43:55] council's seeking to change the

[43:58] appropriation not in terms of who's the

[44:02] recipient but for the purpose

[44:05] the council can certainly make an

[44:08] amendment to what they previously

[44:11] authorized appropriation wise or because

[44:14] it was always going to come back I

[44:16] believe to the council because in some

[44:17] instances the council just appropriated

[44:19] the money but didn't authorize a

[44:21] contract yet

[44:22] when they authorize the contract

[44:27] um they could do so

[44:29] um and change what the purpose is for

[44:31] okay again we'd have to go back and I'd

[44:35] have to go back and take a look at all

[44:36] the resolutions there have been a couple

[44:37] that have been um

[44:39] uh amended to put in the time

[44:42] constraints that

[44:44] um you know how how long certain

[44:45] entities had to come up with the

[44:48] additional funding commitments uh we

[44:51] were giving a year at the time time for

[44:54] them to you know come up with their the

[44:57] commitments to constitutional to

[44:59] increase that time those were an outer

[45:01] activities

[45:12] wow

[45:17] okay

[45:18] um

[45:20] so it looks like

[45:22] in terms of the funding slowly that's

[45:24] something we would have to say yes or no

[45:26] um

[45:27] and I think in our discussions we also

[45:30] came up with

[45:31] what the contingencies would be so in

[45:34] terms of

[45:36] where you where you are in terms of the workload in the department of

[45:40] development

[45:42] um

[45:44] would you be able to in two weeks give

[45:47] us like

[45:49] because I think the council needs to

[45:50] look at everything that's being asked to

[45:52] them and so it asks council members to

[45:54] review everything that's being put

[45:55] before them so we can make one

[45:57] collective decision uh hopefully at one

[45:59] time I know that there were people that

[46:01] came forward that wanted a resolution

[46:02] and wanted us to you know pass this one

[46:04] and then that one

[46:06] um I'm not I don't think that's the best

[46:08] way to do this I think that we should

[46:10] try to do this the way we initially

[46:12] intended which was to look at all of the

[46:15] um all of the projects see how much

[46:17] money there is we know that we voted to

[46:19] we send 2.5 million for a project so

[46:22] that's going to change that and um so my question for you is not counting the

[46:28] 2.5 million can you also tell us if and

[46:31] how much is up there I just I I knew

[46:34] you're more concerned with with the

[46:36] responses right so that's what I brought

[46:38] you today I did not I did not give you

[46:40] the No No financials but we we do that

[46:42] every every almost every week we do that

[46:44] yep

[46:46] horrible

[46:58] but while we have to get an update and

[47:01] then um talk about allocations

[47:05] so as you said I sent you any I sent you

[47:08] all that I had is there any anything

[47:10] else that more that you need did you

[47:12] want me to

[47:13] simplify

[47:15] and so that's what I was trying to do in

[47:17] the last column there right right

[47:20] um so you know have council members an

[47:22] opportunity to look at this thing are

[47:24] you in a position to really go through

[47:25] this today do you need the two weeks to

[47:27] review what's been sent to us I think

[47:29] you're going to probably need time to go

[47:30] oh okay there's a lot there was a lot

[47:32] there okay I don't know I I kind of

[47:35] tried to meet people a little bit yes Mr

[47:37] Farley so quick so quick question first

[47:39] of all I want to say thank you for the

[47:40] work that you're doing I know at one

[47:42] point there are certain people or

[47:43] certain agencies that were you kind of

[47:45] had to chase down and say hey that's a

[47:48] crime Shake That yep we got them all yep

[47:50] that's something I want to implement for

[47:52] that I appreciate the work that's being

[47:53] done there I was thinking um I thought

[47:56] at one point I thought the Boys and

[47:58] Girls Clubs generator I thought that the

[48:00] county provided ended up providing the

[48:02] funding for their generator I'm not sure

[48:03] and now they they rescinded it they

[48:06] didn't they didn't receive it yeah okay

[48:08] because I was trying to improve that

[48:11] point too

[48:13] yes I think we all try to get that but

[48:15] it did not happen it's good to be alive

[48:16] yes they were on the other end of the

[48:19] television yeah

[48:26] if you have yes so we have to look also

[48:29] when we come back in two weeks so that's

[48:30] also a good extension because some of

[48:32] these will

[48:34] definitely extensions yes September yeah

[48:37] so we have to discuss that please

[48:41] I just want to mention too uh uh the

[48:44] American Craig Street uh we have uh

[48:46] worked with tap tap it's going to

[48:48] actually go out and do the bids

[48:49] themselves and that they're having a

[48:51] walk through I think within the I think

[48:53] it's this Friday or next Friday and I'm

[48:55] absolutely sure uh for the contractors

[48:57] take a look and then they're going to

[48:59] move forward on the bid and that really

[49:01] that's why they're going to need

[49:02] extension because we'll find out you

[49:04] know what the bid numbers look like to

[49:06] see where we're going before we contract

[49:08] with them okay

[49:12] you know in terms of the the field that

[49:15] I asked him to to amend their location what are we going to do

[49:20] in terms of the application that was

[49:22] submitted for the specific project and

[49:24] now they are asking for something else

[49:26] that was not submitted in that

[49:28] application well so that's something

[49:29] that we need to look at because we did

[49:31] discuss it initially backwards already

[49:33] when one agency's requested changes and

[49:36] we talk about it a little bit so it's

[49:39] something that we need to address and

[49:40] look at any application and hopefully it

[49:42] is for the others who submitted

[49:45] there's two in particular that want to

[49:46] change you that's the cocoa house and uh

[49:48] scat yep so we're gonna have to take

[49:51] into consideration whether that's

[49:52] something that that we're open to but

[49:55] again Mr Ferrari has forwarded all of

[49:57] that information right yes and if you

[50:00] miss anything let me know I'll

[50:01] definitely

[50:03] give it to you right additionally if you

[50:06] um I know that Mr Sutherland when he was

[50:07] here sent us all copies of the

[50:09] applications of some place in your

[50:12] emails hopefully you have that if you

[50:15] wanted to be able to go back um and use

[50:17] this list to look at their original

[50:18] application and if you can't find it you

[50:20] need it we can think Mr Brown and I we

[50:23] can probably find it for you Maurice's

[50:25] black you can it's a lot better on

[50:27] computers to find it than I am so

[50:30] it was a great job

[50:35] so um

[50:37] sure okay I I know if you have any

[50:40] questions let me know that way I can

[50:41] work on that right okay all right so any

[50:44] other questions no thank you well done

[50:46] good job thank you all right thank you

[50:48] very much for all your work

[50:51] and keep it moving I do I do so mayor um

[50:54] I did send your email today can we

[50:56] consider bringing in a consultant to

[50:58] help us get this all done

[51:00] is that something I'm sorry bringing in

[51:03] we're getting it done we're doing some

[51:05] hiring and

[51:09] we're hiring to

[51:11] we're looking at hiring where hopefully

[51:14] everything works out for us we're going

[51:15] to fill some positions and bring people

[51:18] in uh with part of part of their

[51:20] positions might be doing that

[51:24] okay let us know more about that oh yeah

[51:26] okay and we should do as soon as

[51:28] possible I appreciate that thank you very much

[51:34] all right item number four in ordinance

[51:37] uh pursuant to section 101.

[51:40] abandoning section a portion of Larch

[51:42] Street

[51:43] we were as very close at the last

[51:45] council meeting yeah so under the city

[51:48] code we need 75

[51:51] approval to abandon uh City street we

[51:55] had five Council people present we

[51:58] needed six to vote in favor of it so

[52:01] bring it back to committee to send back

[52:03] to the council for consideration of that

[52:06] ordinance

[52:07] so we really don't need to take any

[52:09] action because we already moved it out

[52:10] of committee at this point yes yeah it's

[52:12] making sure everybody's aware of why

[52:14] it's going to go back

[52:16] um you know as far as I know there was

[52:18] no opposition

[52:20] um to the ordinance of the public or

[52:22] internally it's just a matter of uh

[52:24] voting it so if that's a council meeting

[52:27] our about six people then we're going to

[52:30] be in the same boat again

[52:35] okay the last three items I've been on

[52:38] the agenda are for executive session

[52:41] so I'll make a motion uh ask for a

[52:43] motion to do an executive session excuse

[52:45] me ask a motion too wait wait I have I'd

[52:49] like to ask promotions for reset so

[52:51] Claims can call off order so second

[52:53] all's in favor bye would you like to

[52:55] call the warrior claims committee we

[52:56] have one item on the agenda tonight

[52:58] it'll be discussed in detective session

[53:02] may you please have a motion to answer

[53:04] executives

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting 08 21 23 EDIT

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