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[1:58] he
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[2:28] e
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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