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[10:23] before the start of the meeting I'd like

[10:25] to turn the floor over to Mayor McCarthy

[10:26] for a presentation to the Red Cross

[10:37] mayor thank you Madame President i' Des

[10:40] uh Mr Dobson from the Red Cross our golf

[10:44] professional Matt daily and fire chief

[10:46] Marino to join me inside the rail but uh

[10:51] every year since I've been mayor we've

[10:52] run a little raffle at the golf course

[10:55] as uh it opens up and we have been able

[10:59] to donate the money to the American Red

[11:01] Cross to their Disaster Relief Fund and

[11:05] uh it's unfortunate when we have to

[11:07] reach out to you but we are just so

[11:09] fortunate to have you as a fair and

[11:12] consistent partner to step up when uh

[11:15] unfortunate

[11:16] circumstances happen to uh individuals

[11:19] and families within skincity and this

[11:22] year the uh Red Cross has stepped up to

[11:25] assist 36 families so far this year and

[11:30] 116 individuals and so I'm uh pleased to

[11:34] be able to present to you uh a check the

[11:39] team at the golf course and with our

[11:40] fire department for uh

[11:44] $1,875 to make a a small donation to the

[11:48] great work that you do and just on

[11:50] behalf of the city I want to extend a

[11:52] formal thank you and we do appreciate

[11:55] the everything you

[11:57] do

[12:00] thank you mayor um yeah this is always

[12:02] such a great event every year um it's

[12:05] the start of summer when when the mayor

[12:07] takes his first swing I think you might

[12:08] adopt it this year I'm

[12:10] not but I've seen I've seen some good wax uh in the past um and it's

[12:16] always nice to see the the high school

[12:18] kids come and and hit a few too that

[12:19] it's just a great event um sometimes

[12:21] it's cloudy and sometimes it's warm but

[12:24] anyway uh the Red Cross is always

[12:26] grateful for uh donations like this uh

[12:28] in our work with the with the fire

[12:29] department the These funds will

[12:31] definitely go towards our Disaster

[12:32] Relief Fund for conc County residents so

[12:35] thank

[12:37] you and if if anybody wanted to make an

[12:42] additional donation to the Red Cross the

[12:45] you can go to redcross.org and when you

[12:47] go there there's a big donate button you

[12:49] can designate it to disaster relief or

[12:51] wherever you want is there a tea time

[12:54] available tomorrow there's plenty of tea

[12:56] times yep we appreciate all the players

[12:58] who who uh so generously donated to this

[13:01] great event um and it's definitely our

[13:04] pleasure to be able to present this

[13:05] check every year to them they like the

[13:06] mayor said they do a tremendous job for

[13:08] the city and uh we're just so happy to

[13:10] be able to contribute something back to

[13:12] them so thank you very much Derek and to

[13:14] your organization for everything and to

[13:16] Mayor McCarthy for actually bringing

[13:18] this to our attention he was the one who

[13:20] kind of was The Mastermind behind

[13:21] bringing this every year so we're going

[13:23] to just continue to do this every year

[13:24] and try to raise as much as we

[13:27] can Chief Mar I can't say enough of what

[13:31] uh the Red Cross does um they're there

[13:35] when people need him the most 2 in the

[13:38] morning we have a fire we have two

[13:40] families three families or whatever it

[13:42] is we make a phone call and within a

[13:45] very short period of time the Red Cross

[13:47] is there they ask no questions uh other

[13:50] than where are they and what can we do

[13:52] to help so I have a a a special place in

[13:57] my heart for them and they do great work

[14:00] but here's a good thing October's fire

[14:03] safety month it's a great time to think

[14:07] if we have smoke detectors in everyone's

[14:09] house and we have carbon monoxide

[14:12] detectors in everyone's house maybe we

[14:14] have to call the Red Cross less so

[14:16] that'd be a great

[14:18] thing

[14:20] May thank you Madame

[14:27] President

[14:32] I'd like to call the city Caucus meeting

[14:33] to order for Tuesday October 10th

[14:37] 2023 we have 15 items for original

[14:39] consider consideration if the clerk

[14:41] would please read item number

[14:43] one sorry uh public hearing number one

[14:47] the 2024 operating budget and capital

[14:50] budget for the city of SKC thank you

[14:52] public hearing number two public hearing

[14:54] number two amending 24818 of the city

[14:58] code to designate J Street from liberary

[15:00] Street to Union Street a two-way street

[15:03] thank you now we have now we have 15

[15:04] items for original consideration if the

[15:06] clerk would please read item number one for original

[15:09] consideration a resolution authorizing

[15:11] the city to enter into an agreement with

[15:12] the New York State Governor's Traffic

[15:14] Safety Committee Department of Motor

[15:16] Vehicles for funding under the police

[15:17] traffic Services Program campaign

[15:20] discuss the committee without objection

[15:21] on

[15:25] consent item number two for original

[15:27] consideration a resolution authorizing

[15:29] the city to enter into an agreement with

[15:30] the New York state division of Homeland

[15:32] Security and emergency services to

[15:34] secure grant funding discussing

[15:36] committee without objection consent item

[15:38] number three item number three for

[15:40] original consideration a resolution

[15:41] authorizing the city to enter into a

[15:43] contract with the New York state

[15:45] division of criminal justices to secure

[15:47] law enforcement equipment grant funding

[15:50] discuss the committee with objection on

[15:51] consent item number four item number

[15:53] four for original consideration a

[15:55] resolution authorizing the city to enter

[15:56] into a contract with New York State

[15:58] office of Addiction Services and

[16:00] supports to receive opioid settlement

[16:02] funds discussed in committee with

[16:04] objection and on consent item number

[16:06] five item number five for original

[16:07] consideration a resolution authorizing

[16:09] the city to enter into a contract with

[16:10] New York State Department of Agriculture

[16:12] and markets for funding for city of

[16:15] conected animal shelter renovation

[16:17] discuss in committee without objection

[16:19] on consent item number six item number

[16:22] six for original consideration a

[16:23] resolution authorizing the sale of a

[16:25] vacant lot at 836 Davis Terrace for

[16:27] $2,000

[16:29] discuss in committee without objection

[16:31] and on consent item number seven item

[16:33] number seven for original consideration

[16:35] resolution authorizing the sale of 913

[16:37] Francis Avenue for

[16:39] $50,000 discussed in committee with

[16:41] objection and on consent item number

[16:43] eight item number eight for original

[16:45] consideration a resolution authorizing

[16:46] the sale of 921 Congress Street for

[16:49] $5,000 discussed in committee without

[16:52] objection and on consent item number

[16:53] nine item number nine for original

[16:55] consideration resolution authoring

[16:57] authorizing the sale of 3323 McDonald

[17:00] Avenue for

[17:01] $40,000 discussed in committee with

[17:03] objection and on consent item number 10 for original

[17:07] consideration a resolution authorizing

[17:08] settlement of a lawsuit captioned

[17:10] Michelle Sanchez at alv city of SKC at

[17:15] Al discussed in committee with objection

[17:17] on consent item number 11 item number 11

[17:20] for aigital consideration a resolution

[17:22] recognizing October as domestic violence

[17:24] awareness month this item will be taken

[17:26] out of order and presented by council

[17:27] member Patrick

[17:29] item number 12 item number 12 for

[17:31] original consideration a resolution

[17:33] recognizing rabina budoo as misconnected

[17:35] in Miss USA New York Pageant this item

[17:38] also will be taken out of um out of

[17:40] order and presented by council member

[17:42] Williams item number 13 item number 13

[17:45] for original consideration a resolution

[17:47] recognizing connec hardware and electric

[17:49] on their 100th anniversary this item

[17:52] would be presented at a later date

[17:53] discussed in committee without objection

[17:54] and on consent item number 14 item

[17:57] number 14 for original cons

[17:58] consideration a resolution recognizing

[17:59] Hearts Family Cleaners this item will be

[18:02] presented at a later date discussed in

[18:04] committee without objection on consent

[18:06] item number 15 item number 15 for

[18:08] original consideration a resolution

[18:10] recognizing Italian American heritage

[18:12] month this item will be presented at a

[18:14] later date discussed in committee

[18:16] without objection and on

[18:20] consent I have no uh further um excuse

[18:23] me nothing more to come before the city

[18:24] council cus motion to adjourn move by Mr

[18:27] M and second Miss Patrick all in favor

[18:30] we're adjourned we have two out of order

[18:35] resolutions resolution excuse me agenda

[18:38] item number

[18:41] 11 a resolution

[18:44] recognizing of the YWCA during domestic

[18:47] violence month Miss Patrick yes may I

[18:49] have the floor please

[18:53] Madam I'm

[18:57] sorry oh recognizing October is yes a

[19:00] domestic violence

[19:02] month oh I'm sorry yes we have no one

[19:05] here and I forgot so there's no one here

[19:07] to do our um invocation so we will just

[19:10] all stand for a moment of

[19:27] silence

[19:31] thank you at this time I ask Miss Carla

[19:32] pagee to lead in The Pledge of

[19:42] Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the

[19:45] flag of the United States of America and

[19:49] to the Republic for which it stands one

[19:53] nation under God indivisible with

[19:57] liberty

[19:58] and justice for

[20:01] all thank

[20:04] you that's what happens in my life when

[20:06] I don't pray

[20:07] first I'd like to ask the clerk to

[20:10] please complete the roll

[20:11] call Mr

[20:13] M Mr Toro here Mr Farley is absent Mr

[20:20] Williams Miss patri here Mr palamini M

[20:24] pfield present okay at this time we have

[20:28] resolution recognizing October's

[20:29] domestic violent violence month and I'd

[20:31] like to call on council member Patrick

[20:33] to please present this

[20:35] resolution thank you may I have the

[20:37] floor please Madam president you have

[20:38] the floor thank you and may I ask Kim

[20:41] ceciliano from the executive director of

[20:44] the YWCA of Northeastern New York to

[20:46] come and join

[20:54] me before I read this I just want to you

[20:57] know compliment the YW on the amazing

[21:00] work that you do uh for so many people

[21:02] in our in our community um and

[21:05] especially you know October is domestic

[21:07] violence Awareness Month um whereas when

[21:10] a family member is abused it can have

[21:13] long-term damaging effects on the victim

[21:15] that may also leave a mark on family

[21:18] friends and the community and whereas

[21:21] domestic violence is recognized as a

[21:23] pattern of coercive tactics which can

[21:25] include physical psychological sexual

[21:28] economic digital and emotional abuse

[21:31] perpetrated by one person against an

[21:34] adult intimate partner with the goal of

[21:36] establishing and maintaining power and

[21:38] control over the

[21:41] victim and whereas the problem of

[21:43] domestic violence is not confined to any

[21:45] group or groups of people but crosses

[21:48] all economic racial gender educational

[21:51] religious and societal barriers and is

[21:53] sustained by societal

[21:55] indifference and whereas victims should

[21:58] have helped to find the compassion

[22:00] comfort and healing they need and

[22:02] domestic abusers should be punished to

[22:03] the full extent of the law and whereas

[22:06] the city encourages domestic violence

[22:08] victims and their families to seek

[22:10] assistance from appropriate victim

[22:11] Services organizations and the New York

[22:14] State domestic violence hotline 1-800

[22:17] 942

[22:21] 6906 1 800 942

[22:24] 6906 and whereas the city is committed

[22:27] to increas inreasing public awareness of

[22:29] domestic violence and its prevalence and

[22:31] to eliminating it through prevention and

[22:33] education all things that you do so well

[22:35] at the YWCA now therefore be it resolved

[22:39] that the Mayor Gary R McCarthy and the

[22:41] city council do hereby pause in their

[22:43] deliberations to call on all Americans

[22:46] to recognize October as domestic

[22:48] violence Awareness Month in the city of

[22:51] skinc may I may I um get a motion for

[22:54] this I need a second

[22:56] please second by Mr Williams all those

[22:59] in favor I I okay thank you the motion's

[23:02] passed congratulations can I speak yes I

[23:04] want

[23:05] you thank

[23:09] you

[23:11] appreciate well since you've given me

[23:13] the

[23:14] floor I will certainly take a moment to

[23:17] um give you some information and maybe

[23:20] some stats and to thank all of you so

[23:24] ycca nor Eastern New York is grateful

[23:26] for the support of our local government Mayor Gary McCarthy Madame

[23:29] President Porterfield and city council

[23:31] member Carmel Patrick along with the

[23:33] rest of the city council members and

[23:35] recognizing October as National Domestic

[23:37] Violence awareness month as well as for

[23:40] your support of survivors and the yws

[23:43] comprehensive domestic violence services

[23:45] with this recognition of the important

[23:47] work done by so many resilient and

[23:49] incredible survivors the amazing people

[23:51] who work with them giving of their

[23:53] passion and purpose to strengthen those

[23:55] who have gone through this and the

[23:56] domestic violence program such such as

[23:58] the yws empowerment healing and Wellness

[24:00] Center I urge all citizens in this great

[24:03] City and Beyond to actively participate

[24:05] in the scheduled upcoming activities and

[24:08] programs sponsored by the YW and other

[24:10] community organizations to work toward

[24:12] the elimination of intimate partner

[24:14] violence please see our Facebook page

[24:17] and website for more info the YW has

[24:19] been in this connec community for 135

[24:23] Years starting today 2023 in 1976 though

[24:28] a Grassroots movement began at the YW

[24:30] and the connec Human Services planning

[24:32] Council formed a community task force to

[24:34] talk about the needs of battered women

[24:36] as they were referred to back then in

[24:39] February of 1979 the Mary Hill shelter

[24:42] was opened the first of its kind in

[24:44] Upstate New York after only a year it

[24:46] almost closed due to lack of funding but

[24:48] we persevered and in 1985 we expanded

[24:51] serving 14 survivors to 20 survivors and

[24:54] in 1989 again a fire thought to be

[24:57] started by a perpetrator destroyed the

[24:59] Mary Hill House Shelter we then moved to

[25:01] mlen Street in 1992 a DV task force

[25:04] Coalition is formed with the YW as lead

[25:07] and week without violent and take back the night begins we move our

[25:11] shelter one more time before purchasing

[25:13] our current shelter location called the

[25:15] empowerment healing and Wellness Center

[25:17] our services include advocacy in the

[25:19] courts Partnerships with many area

[25:21] agencies to support survivors all over

[25:24] the city and Beyond economic empowerment

[25:26] programming Drive employment training

[25:29] clinical Counseling Services Patty's

[25:31] place which is located at syum a program

[25:33] for sex workers that provides daily

[25:35] basic needs and a $1 million rapid

[25:38] rehousing program that helps survivors

[25:40] get safe affordable housing addition in

[25:42] addition to advocacy at the local and

[25:44] state levels to support funding domestic

[25:46] violence programming efforts we also

[25:48] work CL closely with youth supporting

[25:50] teen Dating Violence programming having

[25:52] recently received a $500,000 grant that

[25:55] will start in January 2024 to to date we

[25:58] have assisted over 50,000 individuals

[26:01] and so until Justice Just is the YWCA

[26:05] will continue its work here in this

[26:07] community to support every victim in

[26:09] becoming and feeling that they are now a

[26:11] survivor thank you

[26:20] again thank you thank

[26:25] you our next out of order res resolution

[26:27] is the resolution recognizing Rubina

[26:29] bedu as misconnected in the missusa New

[26:32] York pageant and I call on council

[26:34] member Williams to present this

[26:36] resolution may I have the floor you have

[26:38] the floor I'd like to invite rabina and

[26:39] her family if they' wish to come on this

[26:41] side of the

[26:50] aisle hope you can come right over

[26:56] here so before I begin I would like to

[26:59] just say it's always a pleasure uh to uh

[27:01] appreciate the accomplishments of one of

[27:02] sk's own uh so without further Ado this

[27:05] is a resolution recognizing Rubina Badu

[27:08] as misconnect in the Miss United States

[27:10] of America New York pageant whereas Rina

[27:13] Badu participated in one of the largest

[27:15] pageants in the world in the most

[27:16] competitive State Miss New York uh USA

[27:19] which took place August 4th through

[27:21] August 6 2023 and whereas the Miss New

[27:24] York USA pageant seeks young women from

[27:26] diverse backgrounds

[27:28] who not only are who are not only

[27:30] beautiful uh but intelligent and willing

[27:31] to share their hearts and Minds as being

[27:33] ambassadors to our state and nation and

[27:36] whereas the globally recognized pageant

[27:37] platform celebrates the unique beauty of

[27:39] women across cultures intelligence

[27:42] empowerment to help them raise their

[27:44] voice and speak their minds it is a

[27:46] platform with new challenges and

[27:47] opportunities for an outcome that can go

[27:49] beyond the wildest dreams and whereas

[27:52] rabina was scouted in a Dress Shop Right

[27:54] In skty by a beauty pageant coach and

[27:56] judge she entered the pageant went on

[27:59] through interviews and was selected to

[28:01] take part in the missusa New York

[28:03] competition representing SKC and whereas

[28:06] rabina has a master's in Business

[28:08] Administration she is also incredibly

[28:10] artistic having done ballet and

[28:12] Bollywood dancing acting modeling

[28:14] singing and playing the harmonia ruina

[28:18] also gives many hours of community

[28:20] service she loves to volunteer to give

[28:22] back to her community her motto is To

[28:24] always improve and keep moving forward

[28:26] and whereas says that being in the

[28:28] pageant was an extremely exciting and

[28:30] beautiful experience that made her

[28:32] realize that she needs to do uh excuse

[28:36] me that her realized what she needs to

[28:39] do to be the the absolute best version

[28:41] of herself now therefore be it resolved

[28:43] that the connected city council and

[28:45] Mayor Gary R McCarthy do hereby pause in

[28:47] their deliberations to recognize and

[28:49] congratulate rabina as Miss concy and

[28:52] thank her for representing our city in

[28:54] the missusa pageant and wish her much

[28:56] success and her future endeavors I'd

[28:58] like to move the resolution I need a

[29:00] second second by Mr muant all those in

[29:02] favor I motion passes

[29:05] [Applause]

[29:18] congratulations good evening everyone I

[29:21] am very proud to represent my City's

[29:23] connectivty in the missusa New York

[29:26] Pageant this pageant has has helped me

[29:27] to re to really think about the deeper

[29:30] meanings of life and it has helped to

[29:33] improve myself and become a better

[29:36] person I I call the city of skty my home

[29:40] and this will always be my home I would

[29:43] like to thank the mayor of skty Gary

[29:45] McCarthy and also Junior hitla John moan

[29:50] and Maran Porterfield and also everyone

[29:53] else that was involved thank you so much

[29:56] for this resolution welcome thank

[30:02] you

[30:04] junior junior move them that way in over

[30:07] that area if you want to take a group

[30:09] picture you can move them in that

[30:10] area yeah that way you can get

[30:26] it

[30:54] thank you again

[30:56] congratulations

[31:05] oh I want you

[31:10] that

[31:26] oh

[31:56] sure

[32:26] minut

[32:56] there

[32:58] and thank you audience for your

[32:59] Indulgence it's not every day that we

[33:01] have or even every year that we have

[33:03] someone represent us in the Miss USA

[33:05] pageant so thank you for your for

[33:07] indulging

[33:08] that we have two public hearings this

[33:11] evening and a reminder we've extended

[33:13] the public hearing comment for the

[33:15] public hearing portion to four minutes I

[33:17] also ask that each person respectively

[33:20] um comment only on the public hearing

[33:25] subject public hearing number one is

[33:27] regarding the 2024 operating budget and

[33:30] capital and operating budget and capital

[33:32] budget for the city of

[33:34] skincity and I have seven people signed

[33:37] up to speak a reminder this public

[33:39] hearing is only on the proposed budget

[33:42] and no underfunding sources just what's

[33:44] in the proposed

[33:47] budget the first person I have to sign

[33:49] up to speak is Karen M

[33:55] Ambrose

[33:59] thank you um I'm Karen Ambrose I'm here

[34:03] to express support for the Central Park

[34:05] casino building restoration in the city

[34:08] budget the building has been vacant and

[34:10] boarded up for a number of years there's

[34:12] a proposal on the table to renovate it

[34:14] primarily for use as an Environmental

[34:17] Education Center for youths and

[34:19] secondarily as a resource to support the

[34:21] commu the park community in general I

[34:24] think this is a great idea and would

[34:26] like to C funds allocated in the city

[34:29] budget for this purpose thank you thank

[34:34] you next person to speak is Thomas

[34:43] Ambrose yes I'm Thomas Ambrose I live on

[34:46] Central Parkway in SKC um I really thank

[34:49] you for this opportunity to speak in

[34:51] support of the budget item for the uh

[34:53] Central Park Environmental Center um I

[34:56] think it's a really important project um

[34:58] for a lot of reasons that I won't

[35:00] reiterate because I think other people

[35:02] will do a much better job but with the

[35:05] state having provided funding um I think

[35:08] it's really appropriate for the city to

[35:11] appropriate funds to see this project to

[35:14] completion um and as a city resident I

[35:17] wholeheartedly support that allocation

[35:20] and thank you for its

[35:21] consideration thank

[35:24] you Miss Carla page

[35:39] good evening

[35:40] mayor city council president and City

[35:44] Council Members my name is Carla page

[35:47] and I'm here to uh give you some

[35:50] feelings about some things that are

[35:52] going on in this area that um I'm

[35:55] just I I just want to just put it out

[35:58] here to the council Excuse Me Miss Paige

[36:01] I have to just clarify this is only

[36:03] about the budget okay so I guess I won't

[36:06] be speaking tonight well no we can put

[36:08] you on for uh City business which is uh

[36:10] later in the meeting all right well then

[36:12] do that call me back absolutely will

[36:14] thank

[36:17] you thank you you're quite welcome art

[36:25] Clayman

[36:33] uh hi everyone uh I'm art

[36:36] Clayman uh until recently I spent five

[36:40] uh years as a board member and program

[36:43] director for Eos the environmental

[36:46] Clearing House of

[36:48] skty um and for much of that time I

[36:51] tried to get the organization which is

[36:53] located out in Nuna and is to be h is

[36:57] kind of old and kind of white uh to do

[37:00] more with the city and involve itself

[37:02] more in the city and uh to that end uh I

[37:07] developed a program uh along with the

[37:10] County Youth Bureau one year and the

[37:12] city school district for two years uh to

[37:16] do summer enrichment programs in Central

[37:18] Park so we had kids taking water samples

[37:21] from iroy Lake and looking uh at uh

[37:25] those samples under a micros scope in

[37:27] the Pavilion which we use as a base uh

[37:30] running around doing leaf identification

[37:33] learning how to use a compass uh fishing

[37:36] and learning about uh composting and

[37:39] recycling with the good people at the

[37:42] greenhouse uh so anyway one day nearly

[37:47] two years ago I was walking in the park

[37:50] and ran into my friend Tom carry and we

[37:52] were looking at that building the vacant

[37:55] casino building and say what the hell

[37:57] can we do with that building and I said

[38:00] let's move uh eos's headquarters over

[38:03] there and turn it into an environmental

[38:06] center uh so uh that was the The Genesis

[38:10] of this whole idea and along the way we

[38:13] picked up some wonderful Partners in the

[38:16] scari River Center which is doing a lot

[38:18] of things uh that EOS uh that I dreamed

[38:21] about EOS doing and they're doing

[38:23] already uh and Community fathers and

[38:26] another worthy

[38:28] organization um and uh so it developed

[38:31] into something much more and uh I'm also

[38:34] currently the president of a bike

[38:36] advocacy group called cycles connty and

[38:39] vice president of the bike rescue which

[38:42] uh fixes bikes for the community to keep

[38:45] them out of landfills and primarily our

[38:47] real goal is to teach kids how to fix

[38:50] their own bikes so um the very

[38:53] generously sized basement of the uh

[38:56] casino building would fit with our

[38:59] mission there and allow us to relocate

[39:01] from where we are now kind of out of the

[39:04] way on Watt Street and uh in the megaan

[39:07] tow houses to a more central location in

[39:10] Central Park where it could be a hub for

[39:12] bicycling and bike activities along with

[39:15] our environmental Mission uh so I think

[39:18] it would be really great if the uh if

[39:21] the council could uh provide the

[39:24] additional third uh that's needed after

[39:27] assemblyman Santa Barbara came up with

[39:30] nearly two-thirds of the money that's

[39:33] needed and uh I urge you to do that

[39:36] thank you very much thank

[39:39] you Tom

[39:48] Cary hi good evening Council uh

[39:51] president Porterfield mayor McCarthy

[39:52] council members I'm Tom carry uh with

[39:55] the Upper Union neighborhood association

[39:57] I want to first thank mayor McCarthy for

[39:59] including funding uh for the rehab of

[40:01] the casino building in the budget and

[40:04] I'm here tonight to ask the council to

[40:06] support that item in the budget um and I

[40:10] know many of you have already supported

[40:12] it um I have a little information

[40:20] brochure um uh as you know the

[40:23] building's been vacant for many years uh

[40:25] and it's not only and eyesore but it's actually become a danger um last

[40:30] December several of us spoke before the

[40:32] council to ask you to do something about

[40:34] the building I'm glad to see that that's

[40:36] led to this uh but since then

[40:38] unfortunately it's been broken into at

[40:40] least seven times where we've had to

[40:42] call the police and have the parks uh

[40:44] Department um you know pick repair it

[40:48] and and seal it back up and I want to

[40:50] thank the police for responding quickly

[40:52] each time and the park staff for their

[40:54] work to uh been very diligent it uh I

[40:57] think they finally got it to the point

[40:59] where it's going to be very difficult

[41:00] for anybody else to break in but that

[41:02] just shows that it's a it's an ongoing

[41:04] problem uh as um uh some of the previous

[41:08] speakers said we've formed a partnership

[41:11] with uh um Community fathers

[41:13] Incorporated the environmental Clearing

[41:14] Houses concy and scoary River Center and

[41:17] developed a plan to uh for the ReUse of

[41:20] the building that that that brochure um

[41:22] that I just handed out uh uh summarized

[41:26] we're ready to help with fundraising and

[41:28] volunteer work to see this project

[41:30] through to the uh to completion um it

[41:33] will be a net zero facility dedicated to

[41:35] teaching local youth in our community

[41:37] about environmental issues affecting the

[41:40] community and we'll do this from an

[41:42] environmental justice perspective the

[41:45] center will be available yearround open

[41:47] most days of the year it'll be a hub for

[41:49] fieldwork in the park and Beyond it will

[41:51] be most importantly to me it will be a

[41:54] carbon neutral um building with onsite

[41:57] generation of all the energy needed to

[41:59] heat and power the building this means

[42:01] there'll be no cost to the city for um

[42:04] no utility costs um I hope the project

[42:07] will serve as a model uh for for other

[42:10] City operations every city facility

[42:12] should be Net Zero

[42:14] we the world just experienced the

[42:17] hottest summer on record with floods all

[42:19] around us and the wildfires from Canada

[42:22] and I encourage you all as you review

[42:25] the budget and can make difficult

[42:27] funding decisions to keep the global

[42:29] climate emergency uh in your minds and how that affects us here in connecti

[42:35] and thank you all again thank

[42:38] you Kenneth

[42:43] Brooks uh good evening mayor council

[42:46] members

[42:48] president uh I just want to start off by

[42:50] saying thank you for giving me some time

[42:52] to speak uh ironically the last event

[42:56] that was or one of the last events that was held in that casino building

[43:00] happened to be my uh daughter's baby

[43:03] shower in

[43:04] 2012 so it was wonderful to to at the

[43:08] time it was just a blight building and

[43:10] it was you know going downhill and you

[43:12] know through some love and family we got

[43:15] in the building and we we had my

[43:16] daughter's baby shower um after that I

[43:21] don't really know too much or remember

[43:23] too much up the building besides you

[43:24] know going through Central Park and see

[43:26] seeing it being not utilized so uh

[43:29] through a partnership with EOS uh up

[43:32] Union

[43:33] Association uh scary River Center

[43:35] Community fathers and the City of

[43:36] skincity we plan on you know putting

[43:40] some use to that building making it uh

[43:42] environmental Educational Center so

[43:44] through Community fathers we we're we're

[43:46] doing a lot of different programs and

[43:48] one of our programs we partnered with

[43:50] the scary River Center we have our Urban

[43:52] environmental study team so uh in in the

[43:55] past last couple years we have been

[43:57] things have been moving a little bit

[43:58] slow lately because just me personally

[44:01] being so busy and you know just trying

[44:03] to put together what's needed to get the

[44:04] programs running but we've taken kids

[44:07] out to scare and we've taught them how

[44:08] to make maple syrup we taught them how

[44:10] to uh hike bike kayak water quality test

[44:14] and that site in Central Park will be a

[44:16] great place to do that that's in our own

[44:18] backyard so we don't have to travel to

[44:19] skary we're also down at the farmers

[44:22] market every Sunday with our uh

[44:24] Cornerstone Bakery project

[44:26] so uh oii which stands for occupation

[44:29] instead of incarceration we teach the

[44:30] youth how to make baked goods how to

[44:32] package them and then we take them to

[44:33] the farmers market and we sell them on

[44:35] Sundays so with that casino building uh

[44:39] my my fiance Tanica Smith she has a

[44:41] catering business called kitchen love

[44:42] we've done a lot of different community

[44:44] events in the Parks so uh utilizing her

[44:48] knowledge for you know remodeling the

[44:50] kitchen and making it you a us a a

[44:53] useful space for uh community events to

[44:57] happen so it's a beautiful view uh

[44:59] overlooking Central Park Lake and it you

[45:02] know food always brings people out and

[45:03] brings people together so when there's

[45:06] uh times in the winter time where the

[45:07] kids are out sledding and they're cold

[45:09] and want some hot chocolate or in the

[45:10] summer time where some people want to uh

[45:13] you know just have a snack and you know

[45:15] through all the programs and through the

[45:16] Partnerships with all the different uh

[45:18] organizations that are involved to just

[45:21] you know tie everybody in together and

[45:22] have something for them whether it's the

[45:25] kitchen

[45:26] whether it's you know the the the the

[45:28] knowledge from the scary River Center

[45:31] whether it's the people from eost that

[45:33] do their hiking and do do what they do

[45:35] in the uh upper neighborhood association

[45:37] which you know that's their neighborhood

[45:38] that they represent that Park so just

[45:41] utilizing the funds to make this

[45:44] partnership work it'll just be helpful

[45:46] for the city just bringing us all back

[45:48] together and uh bringing that building

[45:50] back to life thank you thank

[45:54] you

[45:57] Tena

[46:04] Smith mayor councel um what can I say

[46:08] the gentleman has said it all about why

[46:10] are we all bringing things together

[46:11] anytime that you see me somebody's going

[46:13] to eat some organization some event um

[46:17] that we participate in so I think the

[46:19] Central Park Casino as he said uh the

[46:21] last life it had was our baby shower 11

[46:24] years next Wednesday actually um I

[46:27] believe that um in doing so and

[46:29] including in the budget we'll put the

[46:31] icing on the cake for Central Park I

[46:33] think that it would be a great terms to revamp the neighborhood children um

[46:38] high schools have everyone involved so I

[46:41] without saying any more because they

[46:43] must basically said it all I appreciate

[46:45] you and I thank you for consideration

[46:47] have a good night thank

[46:51] you I have no one else signed up to

[46:53] speak so I declare the public hearing

[46:55] number one cl closed these comments will

[46:57] be filed in the office of

[47:00] development public hearing number two

[47:02] amending 248 d8 of the city code to

[47:05] designate J Street from Liberty Street

[47:06] to Union Street a two way street I have

[47:09] no one signed up to speak so therefore I

[47:12] de close I declare the public comment

[47:14] hearing number two closed these com no

[47:16] well there are no

[47:17] comments as for approval of a minute

[47:19] September 25th

[47:21] 2023 moved by Miss move by Miss Patrick

[47:25] second by Mr mut all in

[47:29] favor the clerk could read any

[47:31] Communications and

[47:34] [Music]

[47:37] petitions Communications presented to

[47:40] city council for Tuesday October 10th

[47:42] 2023 under official from the mayor a

[47:45] list of appointments dated October 10th

[47:47] 2023 under General from PD Boris an

[47:50] email speaking of the construction of a

[47:52] building by redor development partners

[47:54] and asked if there will be any other

[47:56] demolitions to provide for parking lots

[47:59] another email from ronet tager with

[48:02] suggestions for cannabis retail

[48:04] dispensary zoning and under petitions

[48:06] there were none thank you call on City

[48:09] Council Members to provide committee

[48:13] reports time we'll have privilege of the

[48:15] floor related to the legislative agenda

[48:18] I have one person signed up to

[48:20] speak Janie

[48:24] or have some handouts here that I

[48:30] can good evening I'm Jeanie or I a

[48:33] longtime SKC County resident and program

[48:35] manager for Capital District tobacco

[48:37] free communities and my colleague Judy R

[48:40] me and I have been here the last couple

[48:42] of months um attending the city council

[48:44] meeting because we want to impress on

[48:46] you the importance of considering all

[48:48] the facts as you make decisions that

[48:50] will impact connec neighborhoods for

[48:52] years to come currently the zoning

[48:55] proposal addresses smoke and vape shops

[48:57] that primarily sell excuse me I'm sorry

[49:00] that's not on the legislative agenda is

[49:02] it on the city it's under City business

[49:04] oh I'm sorry it's okay do want me want

[49:05] me to sit down or you'll call back back

[49:07] up oh I'll call you back when it's time

[49:08] for City business all right thank

[49:13] you so I have no one else signed up

[49:16] speak for the legislative agenda declare

[49:18] this

[49:19] closed asking I'll ask the council for

[49:21] approval of the legislative consent

[49:23] agenda motion by Mr Williams second by

[49:26] Mr muchin all in favor

[49:29] I this time we'll have privilege of the

[49:32] floor regarding General City business

[49:34] and now I have two people signed up to

[49:36] speak Carla

[49:47] page just a reminder this portion is

[49:50] three

[49:54] minutes so my name is Carla page and I

[49:57] I'm here with a couple of concerns and

[49:59] there are concerns regarding the uh

[50:02] streets here and I know other people

[50:04] have made concerns about them but on

[50:07] Arley Road over by SKC high school when

[50:10] you come down Arley Road from the high

[50:13] school and then a lot of the young

[50:14] people do drive right at rugby it's

[50:17] really dangerous there we really need a

[50:20] traffic light there because the cars are

[50:23] parked on the street where you have to

[50:24] inch out out into the middle of the

[50:26] street to see whether or not to go left

[50:28] or to go right and even if you're coming

[50:31] from Union Street over to rugby it's the

[50:34] same thing it's

[50:36] dangerous please do something about that

[50:39] so lives can be saved a traffic light at

[50:42] Ardsley Road and Rugby Road please and

[50:45] my second concern is when you're on irie

[50:49] boulevar turning right or Eerie

[50:52] Boulevard turning left if you could have

[50:55] a mark That's like this the it's like

[50:59] a you know uh what is it uh like a a

[51:03] direction you know it's a yeah what's

[51:06] that called an arrow yeah an arrow

[51:10] that's what it is please put an arrow

[51:13] there it's dangerous a lot of times

[51:15] people I've been there trying to turn

[51:17] left or right cars are beeping behind me

[51:20] profanities and and obscene gestures are

[51:23] being done because the drivers are

[51:25] impatient and they they want to move and

[51:28] if somebody like myself who doesn't I'm

[51:31] cautious I just don't feel safe so

[51:34] please do something an arrow at Erie

[51:36] Boulevard and Union and a traffic light

[51:40] at Ardsley and rugby please thank you for letting me speak you're

[51:45] welcome thank

[51:50] you Genie

[51:54] or thank you get it right next time I

[51:57] come back okay um okay so I won't start

[52:00] at the beginning but um I just want to

[52:02] present to you you see the facts in

[52:03] front of you but I want to make sure

[52:06] that you consider all the facts that are

[52:08] going to impact concy neighborhoods for

[52:11] ears to come like I said currently the

[52:12] zoning proposal addresses smoke and vape

[52:14] shops that primarily sell tobacco and

[52:17] vape products but the tobacco marketing

[52:19] that influences youth to start smoking

[52:21] and that make it harder for smokers who

[52:23] want to quit to quit are not limited to

[52:26] these smoke and vape shops the location

[52:29] and density of all retailers that sell

[52:31] tobacco and vape products influence

[52:33] youth use and adult use we know this

[52:35] from research from the Surgeon General

[52:37] that says the greater your exposure to

[52:39] Tobacco advertising marketing promotion

[52:41] the more likely you are to start or

[52:43] continue tobacco use this means all 111

[52:47] licensed tobacco retailers in the city

[52:49] of connec including convenience stores

[52:51] gas stations discount and grocery stores

[52:53] that sell tobacco and bit products are

[52:56] influencing tobacco use in the city

[52:58] especially in the areas that are the

[53:00] most impacted by high tobacco use rate

[53:03] in fact young people are more likely to

[53:05] enter these types of stores rather than

[53:07] Standalone vapen smoke shops in August I

[53:10] brought to you a graph that shows that

[53:12] the zip codes with the highest poverty

[53:14] rates have the highest density of

[53:15] tobacco retailers today I brought you a

[53:18] summary that includes that graph but

[53:19] also how the number of tobacco retailers

[53:21] in your neighborhood matters to the

[53:23] health of our community members here's a

[53:25] quick summary of The Facts for young

[53:28] people the greater their exposure to

[53:30] Tobacco marketing the more likely they

[53:31] are to perceive tobacco products

[53:33] accessible normal and desirable and in

[53:36] turn the more likely they are to start

[53:38] using tobacco for current smokers the

[53:40] greater their exposure to Tobacco

[53:42] marketing the more likely they are to

[53:43] make impulse tobacco purchases smoke

[53:46] more cigarettes per day and find it

[53:48] harder to quit and tobacco products are

[53:51] not like any other consumer product

[53:53] tobacco kills up to half the users when

[53:56] used as directed and tobacco use is not

[53:59] just another habit or an activity it's

[54:02] an addiction that 70% of smokers say

[54:05] they want to break and no smoker I've

[54:07] talked to and I've talked to many want

[54:10] their children grandchild or any young

[54:12] person to ever start smoking or vaping

[54:15] it's because as we all know tobacco has

[54:17] a devastating impact on the smoker and

[54:20] their family and their friends to their

[54:22] physical and mental health and to their

[54:24] Lively hoods it's actually responsible

[54:27] for one in five deaths in the US so

[54:30] municipalities throughout the country in

[54:31] New York have taken steps to address

[54:33] this tobacco marketing issue because the

[54:35] oversaturation of tobacco advertising

[54:37] and promotion in low-income areas is

[54:39] widespread most recently the city of

[54:42] Syracuse passed legislation that limits

[54:44] the number of tobacco and B retailers in

[54:46] their City through licensing so whether

[54:48] through licensing or zoning communities

[54:50] have effectively reduced the impact of

[54:52] tobacco marketing now the suit of

[54:54] Syracuse took advantage of the free

[54:56] technical assistance available through

[54:57] the public health law Center which is

[54:59] funded by the New York State Department

[55:01] of Health to share their tobacco policy

[55:04] expertise that assistance is available

[55:06] to all New York municipalities including

[55:08] the city of skincity thank

[55:10] you thank

[55:12] you I have no one else signed up to

[55:14] speak so I declare the public comment of

[55:16] City business

[55:18] closed this time any miscellaneous

[55:20] business from our

[55:24] Council

[55:28] mayor thank you madam president uh

[55:32] always appreciate everyone coming out

[55:33] tonight uh a lot of talent here and uh

[55:37] can uh appreciate people who've taken an

[55:40] interest in supporting the

[55:41] transformation of the casino building in

[55:43] Central Park had the opportunity this

[55:46] weekend to go to Friendship Baptist

[55:49] Church their 104th anniversary

[55:53] celebration uh a long uh line of

[55:56] distinguished spiritual guidance

[55:59] provided by that church and at the same

[56:01] time uh bethl

[56:04] Northside opened their community room so

[56:07] it's the conversion of the uh St Anthony

[56:10] school and Van Franken Avenue uh Pastor

[56:14] uh Hudson has a great group there it's

[56:17] an exciting uh group of people and I

[56:21] just thank them for all the time and

[56:22] effort that they put in place to uh make

[56:26] that happen and look forward to working

[56:28] with them as we go forward thank you

[56:30] madam president thank you mayor and I

[56:33] just also want to thank everyone for

[56:34] coming out tonight to giving your

[56:36] comments on the budget and to you know

[56:38] make sure that you had your input into

[56:40] as we consider continue in our

[56:42] deliberations um as you know there will

[56:45] the budget hearings will continue there

[56:46] will be one on Thursday and then again

[56:49] on Friday um and then we'll move into

[56:52] our final deliberations next week so um

[56:55] and additionally if you have any

[56:56] comments by the on the budget you can

[56:58] also submit those in writing through the

[56:59] clerk's

[57:01] office nothing else to come before the

[57:03] council tonight I'll ask for a motion to

[57:06] adjourn move by Mr M and second by Mr

[57:09] Williams all those in favor I we are

[57:11] adjourned thank you good

[57:18] night

Schenectady City Council Meeting, October 10, 2023

Transcript