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[0:28] yeah

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[1:28] yeah

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[1:58] yeah

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[3:28] he

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[3:58] yeah

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[4:58] yeah

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[6:28] a

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[7:59] he call to order this connected city

[8:00] council committee meeting for Monday

[8:02] February 5th

[8:04] 2024 and the first committee is finance

[8:06] Mr M there thank you madam president

[8:10] call to order finance committee and

[8:12] first item is an intergovernmental

[8:14] cooperation

[8:18] agreement good evening good evening uh

[8:21] we're looking to inter to agreement with

[8:23] the S County Probation Department to

[8:25] accept $40,000 of their give grant

[8:27] funding to

[8:29] add it to our give grant funding to be

[8:31] used towards our anti-violence

[8:33] coordinator that we have working for us

[8:35] currently it's the amount of

[8:37] $40,000 no matching no this match and

[8:41] this These funds were actually included

[8:43] in my original budget request for

[8:45] revenue and I put it together originally

[8:47] so this would uh round out the total

[8:49] revenue any

[8:52] questions may have a motion Mo second all in favor all right

[8:58] I next item is the grant award better

[9:02] cities for pets Chief yes uh this is

[9:06] award from Mars pet care and Civic

[9:07] Design Center in the amount of $20,000

[9:10] with an additional $2,000 available are

[9:13] for Consulting support these would go

[9:16] towards create the program the scti pets

[9:18] are Family 2 assistance program for

[9:20] residents within the city if anyone has

[9:22] any specific questions on the program

[9:24] itself I Lieutenant Dalton who drafted

[9:26] up the program if you don't mind us give

[9:28] us an update real

[9:30] prly so the uh Grant we became a better

[9:34] cities for Pet City uh certified last

[9:37] year may McCarthy asked me to look into

[9:39] a grant opportunity for uh for this

[9:43] grant that was going to be awarded

[9:44] there's just a certain number of cities

[9:45] in the United States that are going to

[9:46] get it so I looked at past programs and

[9:49] some needs of the city and people in our

[9:51] community and came up with this program

[9:54] um submitted it with the help of

[9:55] Michelle Davis and my ACO Elizabeth book

[9:59] and we came up with this program we were

[10:01] selected to win the Grant and uh it's

[10:05] aim of the grant is to establish the

[10:08] program which will help uh Indigent

[10:10] people or people experience crisis with

[10:13] pets um help them keep their pets so if

[10:16] somebody has a house fire and they don't

[10:18] have food they need medical issues with

[10:22] the with the animal they need uh help

[10:25] with uh crates and and uh supplies and

[10:27] stuff like this this gives an Avenue for

[10:29] us to help them out there's also

[10:34] um so there's also some other help in

[10:36] here that wasn't previously available

[10:38] through the city code for uh help with

[10:40] dog licensing rabies vaccinations vet

[10:43] costs and other uh housing and housing

[10:46] supply issues so basically this gives us

[10:49] a way to help people in crisis with

[10:51] their

[10:52] [Music]

[10:53] animals uh this is primarily for City

[10:56] residents this is only for City res

[11:00] any other questions does this apply to

[11:02] dog

[11:06] ciz by you're

[11:08] good

[11:10] than that's all right we'll beat

[11:13] you um does this apply to dogs cats and

[11:16] there other animals that need to be

[11:17] licensed with the city does that matter

[11:20] have any we only license dogs so that

[11:23] wouldn't matter if their pets

[11:25] are we'll just send them into the

[11:27] clerk's office so they can get license

[11:29] the next if for the purpose of Licensing

[11:31] it only would apply to dogs but for the

[11:34] medical food housing and supplies um it

[11:37] doesn't matter what the pet is we'll be

[11:38] able to help with

[11:40] that so was there some conversation it's

[11:43] sort of like um what's going along with

[11:45] what M man said about at least

[11:47] registering other animals so in case

[11:49] there's an emergency a fire or something

[11:51] they know that the animals there is that

[11:53] going be a a part of or something that

[11:56] you plan on doing no that's not part of

[12:00] but okay I thought that was something

[12:01] that we were talking M

[12:03] President we are doing that as a part of

[12:06] a discussion with local company in terms

[12:09] of upgrading our licensing process and

[12:13] automating it allow better record

[12:15] keeping with that and while it's

[12:19] primarily focusing on

[12:21] dogs the option would be there is what

[12:24] we're exploring that'll come back to the

[12:26] city council for final decision but the

[12:29] option would be for uh an individual

[12:32] family to register a pet so that if

[12:35] there was a fire or some other event

[12:37] there that a responder would know that

[12:40] there's cats uh some other animal in the

[12:44] building and and could act accordingly

[12:47] but it wouldn't be licensing but it

[12:48] would just be again a

[12:50] registry thank

[12:52] you I was just going to add um I I

[12:55] should specify this isn't only for

[12:57] people who have uh problem with a fire

[13:00] it's for for any crisis situation so it

[13:02] could be domestic violence it could be

[13:04] homelessness that is uh being

[13:06] experienced or addiction issues where

[13:09] somebody needs to uh they lose their

[13:11] house because of that or they have to go

[13:12] to rehab or something like that there's

[13:14] a variety of circumstances people could

[13:16] apply

[13:17] for and is this is this a yearly this is

[13:21] a yearly Grant so we have to apply for a

[13:23] year if we run out of

[13:25] funds I believe this is a two-year Grant

[13:28] and uh

[13:29] we have to recertify with better cities

[13:31] every two years thank you um I'd just

[13:34] like to thank you and and Animal control

[13:36] officer Liz and Michelle Davis for uh

[13:39] working on this Grant and getting it the

[13:42] mayor help out a little

[13:44] bit and may Gary McCarthy I'd like to

[13:47] thank Gary Gary McCarthy as we all know

[13:50] uh our pets become part of our family

[13:52] and our life and especially when you're

[13:54] in crisis um you definitely want to keep

[13:56] them with you so thank you very much

[13:59] thank Lieutenant dton put it together

[14:01] we're the only city in New York state

[14:02] that has this designation for Mars and

[14:05] so that they're looking forward of

[14:07] working with us not only through this

[14:08] grant but the licensing program and some

[14:11] are just general interaction to make the

[14:13] community more pet

[14:15] friendly thank you is there a timeline

[14:18] to hold these

[14:19] bets I'm sorry

[14:22] timeline to hold

[14:24] them if somebody gets in Crisis crisis

[14:27] how long you hold

[14:30] uh it's going to depend on every

[14:31] circumstance because you know we can't

[14:34] predict the actual needs um there would

[14:36] be a timeline where uh what would apply

[14:39] to if there hous that Mohawk Hudson

[14:42] which would be $120 in shelter

[14:45] assistance for Mohawk Hudson which would

[14:48] be uh 3

[14:50] days any other

[14:53] questions see may have a motion Mo

[14:56] second second all favor thank you thank you thank

[15:04] you the next item is a 2024 capital

[15:07] budget reappropriation thato upgrade Mr

[15:13] Ferrari council president Council mayor

[15:17] um the 2024 capital budget part of it uh

[15:21] that was passed included $200,000 for uh

[15:24] it equipment and servers um well we told

[15:29] by the IT department is that there's a a

[15:31] definite and early need to to get these

[15:33] servers uh uh the storage units and the

[15:37] upgrades of the network uh switches as

[15:39] early as possible now as we go through

[15:41] the process of getting the uh Capital

[15:44] project going uh we would not receive

[15:47] the money until May of 2024 whereas we

[15:50] like to put in uh invoices and start

[15:52] purchasing um this equipment now so that

[15:55] we have it in a timely miror uh this is

[15:58] something that that we've done in the

[15:59] past uh mostly with the garbage trucks

[16:01] where what we like to do is borrow the

[16:03] use the money from our fund balance up

[16:05] until we receive our uh uh loan money uh

[16:09] from the ban or bond that we're about to

[16:11] take once we receive that money in may

[16:13] we will reimburse the uh fund balance uh

[16:17] in that amount to make it

[16:19] even so what we're looking to do is move in start allocating the money as

[16:24] soon as possible so we can start the

[16:26] purchase of uh the storage units uh the

[16:29] recovery upgrades and the servers and

[16:32] the

[16:35] switches question any questions see on

[16:39] may have a motion second thank you very

[16:41] much all in favor I thank you thank you

[16:44] and it thanks you

[16:45] too thanks the next item is the call for

[16:49] public hearing the Central Park sidewalk

[16:51] Improvement

[16:52] project um just an update last Monday we

[16:55] had a wonderful meeting with had several

[16:57] of the homeowners in Central Parkway and

[17:00] they pretty much give us an okay to move

[17:02] forward with a sidewalk project um

[17:05] something that has been many years in

[17:07] the waiting for and it's finally going

[17:09] to happen so I'm going to ask U Mr wng

[17:11] just to give us a brief update you on

[17:15] the project and the PA

[17:20] forwards hello so as many of you were

[17:23] aware uh cuz a lot of you were in

[17:25] attendance we had a public meeting for

[17:28] Central Parkway for sidewalks uh a

[17:30] Monday ago and the outcome of that

[17:33] meeting was that the residents of the

[17:35] street unanimously with the residents

[17:37] who were in attendance unanimously

[17:39] supported the idea of maintaining the

[17:41] character of the street as it is uh and

[17:44] leaving the street essentially uh how it

[17:48] is constructed today which is with no

[17:50] parking on the roadway it was explain

[17:52] that to uh accommodate parking on the

[17:55] roadway to code uh to make the lanes

[17:58] wider we would be losing uh a majority

[18:01] of the mature trees within the envelope

[18:03] of the roadway and this was deemed uh

[18:06] not acceptable to those in attendance so

[18:09] what we will be doing is I have uh some

[18:11] information we revised our typical

[18:13] sections and the concept and we will be

[18:16] making that available as materials for

[18:18] the public hearing and we will see uh I

[18:21] think we will also be mailing out that

[18:23] to all of the residents on the street so

[18:25] that they uh even those who weren't in

[18:27] attendance can see what is being

[18:29] proposed for the roadway and then um

[18:31] hopefully if there are any objections or

[18:33] support they will come to the public

[18:35] hearing then from that point from the

[18:37] public hearing on uh we'll take that as

[18:40] a notice to proceed with the design and

[18:42] then move forward with the design of the

[18:44] project um the schedule that I roughly

[18:46] gave was that it'll take us uh probably

[18:49] a month to do the design of it since

[18:51] it's going to be a little simpler with

[18:54] it being inside uh of the roadway that's

[18:56] existing and then we're looking to bid

[18:58] in April with construction in the

[19:05] summer go ahead um definitely thank you

[19:07] for putting on uh the event Mr M as well

[19:11] um I was asking with the mailers that

[19:13] were going to go out to the households

[19:14] do we certify mail just because I want

[19:16] to ensure how do we concern confirm

[19:20] receipt okay we could certify mail yes

[19:23] we'll do mailing also we'll do um hand

[19:25] deliver because the organizer who is

[19:28] guing us along this they will also be

[19:30] integral and helping us make sure

[19:31] everybody has a copy of the new version

[19:34] that we're moving

[19:37] forward and I'm sorry you said

[19:39] construction begin plan oh oh probably

[19:40] in the summer I would say sometime

[19:42] probably in August okay thank you an

[19:45] estimated to be like 3 months out three

[19:48] months out to complete the job yeah yeah

[19:50] I would say 60 days you will see the

[19:52] majority of the work but 90 would be a

[19:54] good window so we want to make sure that

[19:55] it's done this year but if we can if we

[19:57] can get it out and April that should

[19:59] give us a big enough time frame and like

[20:00] I explained at the meeting uh the

[20:02] project is fairly straightforward um the

[20:05] thing that we're just going to have to

[20:06] uh research is work with John on we are

[20:09] going to look to upgrade the lighting on

[20:10] the roadway there was a desire for that

[20:12] so we're going to uh look at the

[20:15] decorative white poles and where a meter

[20:17] would go things like

[20:19] that yeah I think that's that came up of

[20:22] the discussion is to make sure that we

[20:24] are following your guideline your

[20:25] timeline sorry to make sure that we have

[20:27] call for the public hearing and not and

[20:30] any impede your U mov yeah no this is as expedited as you can have it

[20:34] to call for public hearing the week

[20:36] after the meeting can't get faster than

[20:39] that so it's good any other questions

[20:41] comments I just yeah I just want to say

[20:43] it was nice to attend that and I just

[20:45] think anytime we're providing the

[20:47] citizens with an opportunity to really

[20:49] weigh in on uh you know what the

[20:51] neighborhood is going to look like I

[20:52] think this is a clear win for that so

[20:54] thank you for your work and thank you uh

[20:56] Mr M for that as well thank everyone for

[20:59] participating and help us along the way

[21:01] it's not it's not one or two person was

[21:03] pushing is all of us so may I have a

[21:06] motion to move forward calling for

[21:07] public hearing second all in favor thank

[21:11] you the next item is international broad

[21:15] Electrical Workers Local 236

[21:23] [Music]

[21:25] agreements oh sorry

[21:28] sounds good to

[21:32] me took a

[21:35] while say off to you just going give us

[21:37] a brief of this

[21:39] agreement

[21:42] summarize executive session it's

[21:44] contract right isn't the contract these

[21:46] have yeah sorry sorry these have to do

[21:48] with contract

[21:50] so we should we should take these into

[21:52] executive

[21:53] session uh you could if you have uh

[21:57] specific issues

[21:58] there if Council has specific questions

[22:02] I can answer them or want to go into

[22:04] executive session we have been provided

[22:07] the uh terms and

[22:09] conditions we

[22:12] should yeah CU they yeah please okay so

[22:16] for the three three item item five six

[22:18] and seven we'll go um move those into

[22:20] executive

[22:22] session and then we'll move for the next

[22:24] item number eight B Hill property lease

[22:27] agreement Miss bfield thank you um so

[22:31] I'm bringing this forward U the city

[22:33] owns a property which it rents out on

[22:35] Bev Hill and um and it's it it's where

[22:39] the um the municipal water reservoir is run from and so you it's on btown LOA

[22:46] I've provided all of you with the last

[22:48] agreement which was in

[22:50] 2015 and we haven't raised the rent from

[22:53] $500 since 2015 so um since

[22:58] uh it's going revenue is like going to

[23:00] be top of our list this year um I

[23:02] brought this forward so we can really

[23:04] consider increasing this rent uh $500

[23:06] for rent is not even close to in line

[23:08] with what people are paying today uh

[23:11] almost any place so I'm bringing this

[23:13] forward so we can have a discussion

[23:14] around increasing um that that rent

[23:18] after 9 years probably something that

[23:20] should have been done yearly but it

[23:22] wasn't so um I think we should take into

[23:27] consideration what the RS are these days

[23:29] and they're anywhere between $1,100 and

[23:33] $1,500 um so I think we should as a

[23:35] council um consider increasing the rent

[23:38] on this

[23:42] property goad please well I guess I'd

[23:44] want to know you know how much you

[23:46] wanted to increase it by but also uh I'm

[23:50] thinking that we probably have some sort

[23:51] of agreement with the employee that is

[23:53] in the home so we have to figure that

[23:56] out into the context of it as well in

[23:58] terms of that person's salary or it

[24:01] probably has been a benefit of the job

[24:03] so I mean you know to change it um would

[24:07] affect that as well so um I'm not sure

[24:10] if it's a benefit of job I do know that

[24:12] we pay also pay the National Grid so um

[24:14] that's a part of it as well so it's just

[24:16] the last 500 is all that that the

[24:18] individual is paying so um if we need to

[24:21] take a look at their um their contract

[24:23] as in terms of an employee we certainly

[24:25] can do that but um definitely after 9

[24:29] years $500 in 2024 is a very quite

[24:32] reasonable

[24:34] rent go ahead please and then to your

[24:37] point U Miss Patrick I don't think we

[24:38] need to reset the market with regards

[24:40] like raising the rent but definitely I

[24:42] can uh see Miss porterfield's point of

[24:44] having rents at that um at that

[24:46] threshold for a considerable amount of

[24:48] time truly renting is an issue

[24:50] throughout the city so I definitely

[24:51] think we are beyond the timeline to just

[24:54] reevaluate and again I do not think we

[24:56] need to increase it substantial um

[24:59] amount but definitely I think it is

[25:01] beyond the point of consideration to at

[25:03] least increase it

[25:06] somewhat go ahead you have okay yeah I I

[25:10] would like to I think I spoke on this

[25:12] before that um I've looked lots of

[25:14] places where um human board or housing

[25:16] is a benefit and a consideration of the

[25:19] job that that that was held um I'd like

[25:22] to know what it you know if there's

[25:24] anything in the contract um for this

[25:26] individual who who resides here um and

[25:30] if there's not I would like to put

[25:31] something maybe into the contract I

[25:33] don't know how we would do that stating

[25:34] that this would be a benefit and of the

[25:38] uh position that

[25:42] this Mr go ahead please sorry I was

[25:46] going to ask yeah no I was just um

[25:48] wondering and this is probably a point

[25:50] of clarity for me as well if we're

[25:51] talking about a particular individual

[25:53] and employee and the benefits um isn't

[25:56] that something that we should be

[25:57] discussing EXA your session or not I

[26:00] think we should because it's going to

[26:02] get deeper and as we discuss here in

[26:05] public about a specific

[26:08] employee so I am suggesting that we um

[26:11] take it into executive session okay

[26:14] absolutely and we can ask the may have

[26:15] for more update on the individual and if

[26:18] there's any person found sorry an

[26:20] agreement in their contract and the

[26:25] contract is this part of the contract

[26:27] May

[26:29] with this

[26:30] person I'm not sure what contract you're

[26:33] asking about um there are council

[26:34] members who seem to think that as part

[26:36] of this employees um employment this is

[26:39] part of what they're

[26:41] guaranteed there is substantial other

[26:44] activities that the employee does that

[26:46] have not been narrated as part of the

[26:48] discussion tonight would reflect the

[26:50] overall

[26:51] value that

[26:53] [Applause]

[26:56] arrangement I think we should but 9

[26:58] years is a significant amount of time

[27:00] and and over those 9 years we have um

[27:02] increased the individual salary so it's

[27:04] not like we're not increasing their

[27:06] salary but we now we're trying to

[27:07] increase their rent so I think it's a a

[27:08] worthwh

[27:11] conversation so we'll move this into

[27:13] executive session finance committee uh

[27:16] we'll have four items for the executive

[27:19] session St know what item we have a

[27:22] motion to recess Mo second all in favor

[27:26] thank you

[27:35] okay have to call order government Ops

[27:37] so um we have four agenda items the

[27:39] first agenda is mwv Project updates

[27:42] contract compliance and that's Mr

[27:44] M thank you uh sir um just up this this

[27:49] is something that we have been doing for

[27:50] some time Dred for a year or two and

[27:53] we're ask our perative action officer um

[27:57] to give us an update of where we are in

[27:59] terms of U project compliance in terms

[28:01] of

[28:02] mwbe and if we what is our goal and our

[28:06] aim aims and objectives in terms of

[28:09] achieving U the mwb requirement so I ask

[28:13] you just give us a brief up

[28:22] there good evening good afternoon thank

[28:24] you for the opportunity um yeah just in

[28:28] uh in summary just in a brief uh update

[28:31] uh 23 has been a rather um challenging

[28:34] year when it comes to you know just

[28:36] doing business and anything in general

[28:38] but in terms of our mwbe compliance um

[28:42] our goals uh is basically uh 30% unless

[28:46] we're overridden by uh you know state

[28:48] agency or federal agency 15% for

[28:51] minority 15% for for women um during 23

[28:56] we had uh 15 projects that was uh that

[29:00] we were monitoring and tracking and our

[29:02] overall goals on those that we reached

[29:04] was

[29:05] 189% for the W M wbe combined and then

[29:09] for the MBE by itself was 5% so uh you

[29:13] know we got a ways to go our program

[29:16] itself is good but you know it's it's

[29:18] time for you know enhancement and moving

[29:20] forward and bringing in some things and

[29:23] tools to make it work um so so you know

[29:27] there there's a lot there so that's

[29:28] pretty much where we are we're pretty

[29:30] much in line with most uh agencies

[29:33] around the the region anything pretty

[29:37] much out of New York City we're pretty

[29:38] much in that ballpark in terms of where

[29:40] they are so so we've had a lot to uh to

[29:44] do that

[29:45] also because of the funding that we have

[29:48] we've been focusing on the section three

[29:50] component as well and we've had a lot of

[29:53] good success in terms of the lead

[29:55] program and getting section three

[29:58] uh contractors involved and we're

[30:00] fortunate in that regard because all of

[30:02] the contractors that participate in that

[30:04] program are section three and all of the

[30:06] workers with the exception of two

[30:08] workers are sex residents so so we have

[30:11] a good um response and a good robust

[30:14] program there but again we have an issue

[30:18] with capacity getting more firms out

[30:21] here to participate and building up the

[30:23] capacity and you know things along those

[30:24] lines so that's where we're um you focus

[30:27] it on to try to you know make that

[30:30] happen any questions concerns yeah so um

[30:34] I I have two questions actually um

[30:36] compared to our past years he said I um

[30:40] are we seeing any Improvement first and

[30:42] foremost yes to answer your question yes

[30:45] there's definitely Improvement um

[30:46] there's definitely uh momentum to moving

[30:48] the bar in a direction where it needs to

[30:50] be B but there's there's two things that

[30:53] we have to do here one is we have to

[30:56] encourage and uh entice more people to

[31:00] bid on opportunities uh and we have to

[31:03] encourage and uh entice the prime

[31:06] contractors to be more um outgoing in

[31:10] terms of reaching out and you know

[31:11] making that happen now terms of you know

[31:14] what the law requires and the good VAP

[31:16] efforts and all that stuff you know

[31:17] they're there but there's room to be

[31:20] made where we can really make a

[31:22] significant difference by one building

[31:24] the capacity of the furnit we're trying

[31:26] to bring on board bringing more

[31:27] companies into the fold and introducing

[31:30] opportunities and the third

[31:32] thing that this body can do I think is

[31:37] when you look at things specifically to

[31:38] the uh the street payment program now

[31:41] that's hist start we been on the low

[31:43] side 3% 2% or whatever but it's

[31:45] historically there because it's very

[31:47] limited store and historically the

[31:50] programs are put out in one big contract

[31:52] so for example you got the pav and the

[31:54] sidewalks and all that stuff to go

[31:56] together so you got one contractor that

[31:58] gets that so it's you limit the pool of

[32:01] firms that can participate in that space

[32:04] so one thing that could be considered is

[32:07] maybe on on a project like that is

[32:09] breaking the scope down in other words

[32:11] you know debundling some of these things

[32:13] so you can have more of an opportunity

[32:15] for some of the smaller firms to you

[32:17] know compete with and you know and what

[32:19] I mean by that specifically is do we

[32:21] have to have the sidewalks and the pav

[32:24] everything all in one can we break out

[32:26] the sidewalks something or can we you

[32:28] know do you know can we do something

[32:30] more creative so that you can de de

[32:32] bundle you know these pieces so that

[32:34] folks can have a little bit more

[32:36] opportunity to um you know participate

[32:39] in that

[32:40] space so just

[32:43] so I imagine that the reason why we

[32:46] bundle it might be maybe some cost

[32:47] savings or something like that but

[32:49] you're saying that by kinding to

[32:51] debundling that if you will it'll give

[32:52] more our minority women owned businesses

[32:56] uh who might I have the capacity of the

[32:58] low larger scale but where they can be

[33:00] more competitive they would have an

[33:02] opportunity okay thank you like Carl

[33:07] second question I oh well my other

[33:10] question I'm

[33:11] sorry my other he actually answered my

[33:13] other question

[33:15] so so my question was going to be I

[33:17] don't know if it's appropriate I know

[33:18] Chris was here Mr W um how realistic is

[33:21] it and I guess that question is for the council um to Deb bundle it I know

[33:25] you're basically highlighting some cost

[33:27] savings is there a specific reason uh

[33:30] could we get a followup from Mr W

[33:32] afterwards because if it is um a an

[33:36] option using that as an example it's

[33:38] very much something that we're going to

[33:39] be addressing in the coming months I

[33:41] think we should position ourselves to be

[33:43] able to open up those opportunities for

[33:45] some of our um NWS as your suggestion

[33:48] yeah absolutely and and the other thing

[33:50] that makes that uh particularly Merit at

[33:53] this particular juncture we've been

[33:55] working with the Empire State

[33:56] development you know technical

[33:58] assistance and we've been doing this to

[33:59] build the pool of firms out here and

[34:02] capacity so so part of our technical

[34:05] assistance realm is we'll helping firm

[34:07] prepare for they have access to bonding

[34:10] which which is a requirement and also

[34:12] the access to Capital but the technical

[34:15] assistance component goes in there you

[34:17] have to you know build them up to that

[34:19] level in other words the state they they

[34:21] have you know funding out there to

[34:23] support these types of programs and our

[34:25] street program is certainly part of that

[34:27] but they have to be prepared you know

[34:30] for this so you got to build them up you

[34:32] know to that level so some of the things

[34:34] that we've been doing in our program has

[34:36] been the technical assistance piece in

[34:38] terms of bringing firms to you know to

[34:40] the table uh building them up helping

[34:43] the get started um doing workshops in

[34:46] terms of of bidding uh going after

[34:49] project how to build relationship we

[34:51] spent a lot of time trying to introduce

[34:53] firms to like the cow hands of the world

[34:56] the carers of the world you know the

[34:58] empires of the world so it can be done

[35:01] we just have to convince you know the

[35:02] companies you know to do it and I give

[35:05] you a specific example of why this is

[35:06] relevant uh to us so a couple years ago

[35:10] Empire they won the Pagan project and we

[35:13] were able to get a single person hired

[35:17] by them to introduce them to the

[35:18] construction industry the same

[35:19] conversation we talking about doing so

[35:21] we got him in there and you know now

[35:24] he's been in there for 4 years or

[35:26] whatever but gradually move forward with

[35:28] the education process technical

[35:30] assistance through what we been doing

[35:32] with

[35:33] this H Community College for example we

[35:37] have another program that we work with

[35:38] the county offering people uh CDL

[35:41] driver's licenses so he got his CDL

[35:44] license last year um he's continued to

[35:47] work with Empire today now this year he

[35:49] just got his uh Class A U C device and I

[35:53] here a position to purchase uh one of

[35:55] our homes here in in the city so that

[35:58] justes give you a little bit of an idea

[36:00] of what we can do to plant the seeds you

[36:02] know to move forward you know in this uh

[36:05] in this

[36:06] Arena just just to add to that we don't

[36:09] mind U with question we have an mwb

[36:11] policy in place that we adopted U about

[36:13] two years ago and I think it's coming up

[36:16] this year for review bag so that's

[36:17] something we have bundled into the

[36:19] policy so we can when we revisit the

[36:21] policy we can able to extract that um

[36:24] separated the Cil so pleas still that

[36:28] thank you so thank you for this document

[36:30] I look forward to reading it um you know

[36:33] following the meeting um but just a

[36:36] couple of questions just in a quick

[36:37] review here but um in terms of these

[36:40] various training programs for example

[36:42] like the genarian cleaning program

[36:44] construction management Etc um how many

[36:47] folks do we have currently are those

[36:49] programs running now and how many

[36:52] students okay do we have um okay so with

[36:55] the um the Jor Pro that's something that

[36:58] just started this year so that was a

[37:00] unique opportunity that came about

[37:01] because when we talk about this public

[37:03] private partnership so we work with the

[37:05] City Mission and and Mike as well as go

[37:08] New York you as a private sector um so

[37:11] an opportunity to come that to take take

[37:14] an opportunity to get people into the

[37:16] cleaning U business so so that was the

[37:19] focus so we identifi three uh firms here

[37:22] locally you know MB mwbe and section 3

[37:25] company to to to come in and participate

[37:28] in this so out of that you had three

[37:30] companies that had an opportunity to

[37:32] work in this you know in this in this

[37:34] space and then today we have 12 people

[37:37] that have been hired to work so they're

[37:40] over here on proper State Street and

[37:42] then there's another one that's up INR

[37:45] so there's 12 people just in that uh

[37:47] that space there and and on this confess

[37:50] skills

[37:51] side um this year we've done three

[37:54] cohorts I think we had like 80 four

[37:57] people appli um you know they went

[38:00] through the process then we had 53 54

[38:03] that was actually enrolled and I think

[38:06] 33 completed the

[38:08] program so so this was an opportunity

[38:11] again these folks are working here

[38:13] locally some are working like up at the

[38:15] El school you know we got two or three

[38:17] of them up there you have one or two out

[38:19] of some of the older cohorts that went

[38:21] on to start their own you know little

[38:23] companies and uh so again we're trying

[38:26] to help them and assist them any way we

[38:28] can in terms of building capacity uh

[38:30] access to bonding and just being a uh an

[38:32] advocate for them so so I see my primary

[38:36] role as more like an advocate uh for you

[38:39] know the small business person that's

[38:40] trying to get on and and also the worker

[38:42] is trying to you know create the jobs

[38:44] and that's that's really where you know

[38:47] it it is and if we serious about really

[38:49] trying to make a difference it's one

[38:51] thing to say okay we have opportunities

[38:53] and you got 30% you got to go out there

[38:55] and get it but you don't get them tools

[38:57] and the support to you know to get there

[39:00] and then it really doesn't happen or

[39:02] it's very very short lived of people

[39:04] disappointed and and and we have to go

[39:06] get the message out there and be we try

[39:08] to have like honest conversations with

[39:09] folks but I get it all the time about I

[39:13] didn't see nobody working on this

[39:14] project I don't see nobody working on

[39:16] that up straight because they they

[39:17] didn't get it and U but yeah I to tell

[39:21] me I was I was like it's a game of

[39:23] numbers like 15 3 and one so for every

[39:25] opportunity you got to be going after 15

[39:27] three makes sense and you'll get but if

[39:29] you just going after just that one thing

[39:32] that one time then you don't get it and

[39:33] then everybody is the the enemy we out

[39:36] here every day trying to create

[39:38] opportunities open up doors uh build

[39:41] relationships collaborate with people

[39:43] and and most of our time is spent on a

[39:45] collaborative basis so we work with a

[39:46] lot of people a lot of agency Sun connec

[39:50] col be a tremendous resource and uh you

[39:54] know it's just making it work and a lot

[39:57] of resources here in the house so so

[39:59] there's a lot that goes into this this

[40:02] super not just a one shoot B all type of

[40:04] thing and people come in with all type

[40:06] of challenges you know you know be

[40:09] honest with you I I mean serious

[40:11] challenges so so sometime all they

[40:14] wanted somebody to listen to just to say

[40:15] hi and just know that we care you know

[40:17] something simple as that um sometime

[40:20] when we went through the gra program

[40:22] last year we had probably like over 20

[40:24] something businesses last year alone

[40:27] that got Grant so we gave like $200,000

[40:30] about so that that amount made a

[40:33] tremendous life cheesy difference to a

[40:35] lot of small companies so so we should

[40:37] be proud of what we're doing with these

[40:38] small businesses um we launched a small

[40:42] business award for what we had you know

[40:44] just basically recognized small business

[40:45] we had over 200 people that attended

[40:48] that event and and to this day people

[40:50] still talking about it and planning for

[40:52] next year and what what can we do and um

[40:55] you know so there a lot lot of

[40:56] excitement around here to do different

[40:58] things and and the last part of that is

[41:02] partnership with the school district um

[41:04] and how that relates to developing a

[41:06] pipeline to the to the workforce here CU

[41:09] if I'm looking at a 7 I'm saying 4 years

[41:11] or so that might be the person walking

[41:13] through these doors so what can we do to

[41:15] introduce to the public service why

[41:18] can't we have a mogam with young people

[41:20] coming around leave come to the council

[41:23] see what the city council does what to

[41:25] the mayor's office working all

[41:26] department so we have the opportunity we

[41:28] have the resources here and I think

[41:31] people are interested in it but we have

[41:34] to you know change our culture in terms

[41:37] of how we want to approach it how we

[41:38] make it feel like it's welcome and it's

[41:39] opportunity done in to make a difference

[41:42] so that's what we're trying to we're

[41:44] trying to

[41:45] do yeah looking at this report here on

[41:48] page two the

[41:50] subcontractors um the last subcontract

[41:52] that listed on this report um is

[41:55] carrying 8%

[41:57] MW can you highlight why is that

[41:59] happening looking at the others are 15

[42:02] 26% yeah the two with the A and the 3%

[42:05] those are primary the street M so you

[42:07] know a car and C so so you know it's just the the nature of the be it's

[42:15] tough to get folks into that space and

[42:17] we're trying to make it happen but the

[42:19] reality is is you know we we meet with

[42:22] them before the bid we meet with them

[42:24] doing the process doing the ad process

[42:26] and we do everything we can to merge

[42:28] them together and we do everything you

[42:31] know that we can to make it happen but

[42:33] at the end of the day this is what you

[42:35] end up with you know you know these two

[42:37] companies just happen they own the truck

[42:38] C they own the quir they you know they

[42:40] own everything so that's what I mean by

[42:43] if we want to seriously look at this

[42:45] think about debundling this thing you

[42:46] know so you can create opportunities and

[42:49] in one area that I looked at

[42:51] specifically to this was okay we're not

[42:53] going to get into the game going this

[42:55] route why can't we build a company why

[42:58] can't we encourage companies to partner

[43:00] up in a joint venture or something and

[43:02] we give them the resources and the tools

[43:04] to prepare themselves for the next level

[43:06] for example why can't we do like what

[43:08] they did out in Buffalo or something

[43:10] where you took a company and they got

[43:12] together they and they were able to get

[43:13] a milling machine so now you got a

[43:15] trucking company that's been working

[43:17] here and getting the crumb now they can

[43:18] go after the Milling part of that

[43:20] contract and stand a better opportunity

[43:23] but the reason why those two numbers are

[43:25] 8 to3 that's real

[43:26] what we're dealing with

[43:29] so do you have another question and

[43:31] that's fine I'm willing to continue to

[43:33] work with you revisiting policy and we

[43:36] can bring it forward to the council for

[43:38] to review it and move forward with any

[43:40] changes that we might have just one at

[43:42] the beginning you mentioned that um

[43:44] 2023 was a challenging year what are you

[43:47] going to take from that as you move into

[43:48] 2024 to remove those obstacles well I

[43:51] think uh the big thing is is is really

[43:54] staying focused parent down to there a

[43:56] couple it that we can deal with because

[43:58] you know in 22 you know earlier we

[44:01] thought we could conquer the world but

[44:03] the reality is is not going to happen so

[44:07] I'm pring down to do what I can in my

[44:09] space the best that I can do to um you

[44:13] know you know be honest with folks and

[44:15] you know transparent and and keeping it

[44:17] real having a real conversation but I

[44:19] think when you look at the reason why

[44:22] I'm so excited and think about the

[44:23] promising opportunities that's coming

[44:25] when you look at the people that's

[44:26] coming through the door and the lives

[44:28] that we're really changing and the

[44:30] little letters and notes that I get from

[44:32] people that's that's Greatful you know

[44:34] for the efforts you know it makes a

[44:36] difference that's what we the sty to

[44:39] move forward and you know keep it moving

[44:42] and also I think you know about pairing

[44:44] it down and and just becoming very very

[44:47] intentional about the direction that we

[44:49] really want to go and the message that

[44:50] we're trying to put out there I think

[44:52] we're on a a great track to make a

[44:54] difference um I participate and

[44:56] collaborate with a lot of people um you

[44:59] know that's been a way this happened I

[45:01] collaborate with the state I sit you

[45:04] know on small business um panel once a

[45:06] month to talk about issue what the

[45:08] reserv what other location doing and

[45:10] what can we be doing the viability of

[45:13] this that so so we spent a lot of time

[45:15] with a lot of Partners collaborating to

[45:17] make U these type of things happen so I

[45:20] bring that home here and you know put

[45:23] for that information and to open up to

[45:26] make a difference so so I know that

[45:30] there's you know there's a state there's

[45:32] a regulation and then I think you refer

[45:34] to earlier as what was known as like the

[45:35] good faith effort of these firms that

[45:37] they need to do this and um it seems to

[45:41] be that the good faith effort um uh even

[45:44] if these if they're being made they're

[45:47] not really getting the result that we

[45:49] would like to do um outside of the

[45:52] bundling some of the projects um when we

[45:54] were bringing in these larger firms

[45:56] um uh you know are they expressing a

[46:00] commitment to this work are they

[46:02] expressing I mean they companies and

[46:04] they're in to make profit so we need to

[46:05] be honest about that but I'm saying like

[46:07] are we you know really encouraging them

[46:10] or or having a really uh explicit

[46:14] conversation around our commitment to

[46:15] this and and and do you see some

[46:17] alignment or do you still seeing that

[46:18] that's pretty far apart no it's not it's a process so so to that end I think

[46:25] they're not jumping up and down to make

[46:27] this happen they're doing what's what's

[46:29] required required so and I give you an

[46:31] example when come back to the to the a

[46:33] again I'll get a page you know stack of

[46:36] paper just stick on a good F what they

[46:38] do they go and print out the entire

[46:40] directory from Empire State direct you

[46:42] know from the state now that's crazy but

[46:46] that's what they do you know so who's

[46:48] going to thumb through 100 pages to try

[46:50] to find a single person that do whatever

[46:52] and then they don't break the scope down

[46:54] or they don't break the codes down what

[46:55] whatever so if you're a small guy you have to spend 8 hours a day just

[47:00] trying to decode some of these numbers

[47:02] in there so that you can even get to the

[47:04] point of putting in a bit so we have to

[47:07] build a capacity up in terms of helping

[47:08] folks get prepared to get into that

[47:11] space we have to encourage these smaller

[47:13] firms why can't they look into like

[47:15] mental project relationship but that's

[47:17] the next thing that we're working on now

[47:19] what was that mental prot relationship

[47:21] so that's where a company a smaller

[47:23] company would pair up with the you know

[47:26] majority firm that will basically keep

[47:27] in the roads and also open up

[47:29] opportunities for them and then by

[47:31] having a formal relationship or formal

[47:34] agreement you know they would have

[47:36] opportunities for the smaller forun to

[47:38] you know get smaller some of the smaller

[47:40] contracts they may have and you build

[47:41] relationship that's going to go you know

[47:44] four or five years and six years but

[47:46] also part of that learning process is we

[47:49] have to let I I cuz it's not all on that

[47:52] side it's over here too but they have to

[47:54] you know submit this a bid if the bid

[47:57] date is June 21st at 11:00 you can't

[48:00] come yelling to me July 1st why I'm not

[48:02] on it when they start but that's what

[48:04] happens a lot you

[48:07] know to add to that Miss uh party we did

[48:10] remove the the those words good Fai

[48:12] effort in our in theb policy because we

[48:14] find that some people just they're not

[48:16] making the effort to to ACH achieve the

[48:19] percentage so that we change to Gold

[48:22] instead of good F effort so they have to

[48:25] show

[48:26] the reason why they can't achieve the

[48:28] percentage exactly and you control that

[48:31] pretty much in terms of they have to

[48:33] something the people work and things

[48:35] like that to show cause yeah yeah we

[48:37] work with them on that and and we're not

[48:39] opposed to working with them and and

[48:41] understanding reality I mean we do

[48:42] understand we don't have capacity here

[48:44] to take on full 30% but we are building

[48:47] more firm building the capacity of the

[48:49] ones that we have and encouraging joint

[48:51] venturing and partnering things like

[48:52] that which ultimately means that we're

[48:54] going to be creating jobs while

[48:57] connected support so on that completing

[49:00] jobs because you told us before that 84

[49:03] people enrolled and 33 completed um but

[49:06] didn't say how many people actually got

[49:08] employment do you know that number I I

[49:10] do know that like three El Avenue and exp you know can I get this data

[49:15] from the career counselor so they track

[49:17] all the data for us so they they do all

[49:19] the intake and they do all the

[49:21] monitoring uh followup but I don't I

[49:23] don't know exactly how many is we except

[49:26] for those three that's up here out of

[49:28] this particular country because I mean

[49:30] that really sells the program people

[49:32] actually became important so that would

[49:33] be absolutely absolutely good dat to

[49:35] have absolutely you know and part of

[49:37] that is the challenge is when when

[49:40] people finish you know if the agreement

[49:41] is you're supposed to check in every

[49:43] month let us know what's happening you

[49:44] work know any issues whatever but they

[49:47] don't they don't follow through that so

[49:48] they have a tough time just getting the

[49:50] data so we don't know unless somebody

[49:52] has an issue or they get back to us or

[49:54] something like that

[50:02] sorry what what kind of Outreach do you

[50:06] do to try to get folks I mean are we

[50:08] advertising in the Z are we what what do we do to try to promote these

[50:13] that we have these opportunities yeah

[50:15] well we work with Ser so we do a

[50:17] newsletter monthly you know that that

[50:20] goes out so so we have a very robust um

[50:24] means there and and very very responsive

[50:27] and also we work with you know

[50:28] organizations so we try to collaborate

[50:30] with anybody that we can so you know

[50:33] work with our partners and getting the

[50:34] work out and just talking to people and

[50:37] you know that's how we're you know we're

[50:38] able to do it and I I think that's an

[50:41] area that we can um you know get more

[50:43] robust on so you know maybe get know

[50:45] some of the other um social media means

[50:49] to you know make it happen but um we

[50:53] have a a good um groundwork there we you

[50:57] know we got a good foot started and

[50:58] we've been very very fortunate because

[51:01] you know we just have to have I haveen

[51:03] to have a lot of support around me I got

[51:05] syvia that's that's tremendous with you

[51:07] know doing the stuff got Jamie you know

[51:09] over the college so that's how these

[51:11] things happen you know you know I may

[51:14] know you know who to talk to or how to

[51:16] have a conversation with but they really

[51:18] are the ones that you know drive this

[51:21] bus so we want to you know update you

[51:23] know we can you know invest more in

[51:25] getting me more out the messaging and

[51:27] you know doing more programs and and

[51:29] building on what we we're trying to do

[51:32] thank

[51:33] you any other questions or

[51:36] concern no I just want to thank you for

[51:38] putting this report together for us as

[51:41] usual I'll will try to engage your

[51:43] office more um you know rather waiting

[51:45] for a year let's do this maybe every um

[51:48] 6 months give us an update and then we

[51:51] can revisit the MW policy revision that

[51:54] your

[51:56] all right thank you again thank you Mr

[51:57] gner and next we have appointments to

[51:59] the Downtown special assessment District

[52:01] board and that mayor

[52:03] McCarthy thank you Mr chairman and put

[52:07] names forward uh for the council's

[52:11] consideration joining the dsic I think

[52:16] individuals are all

[52:19] here there any specific questions or

[52:22] comments on any of

[52:23] them ask for in favorable

[52:28] consideration I don't think those are

[52:30] they being

[52:34] appointed but they've already

[52:40] beened I'll move

[52:42] this second all in favor I was asking for a

[52:50] second

[52:54] hi

[52:56] okay thirdly we're going to uh move on

[52:58] to the appointment of res board resident

[53:00] residency board yeah I'd like to pull

[53:02] this for two weeks um individual that I

[53:04] wanted to bring forward um was not quite

[53:06] ready okay we didn't receive the resume

[53:08] as what I should say okay all right so

[53:11] uh next item agenda item is appointment

[53:14] to the ethics board yes um I brought

[53:16] this forward because we right now we

[53:18] have four people on the ethics board and

[53:22] um there was an opportunity if the other

[53:24] uh vcy didn't get filled for the council

[53:26] to fill it I wanted to bring forward um

[53:28] Mr Marne who resume to sit on the ethics

[53:32] board he in full disclosure was a former

[53:35] employee had an interest in sitting on

[53:36] the board when he was here but could not

[53:38] because there was always already an

[53:39] employee on the board and um I know the

[53:42] board has had trouble meeting and

[53:44] creating getting a forum excuse me a

[53:47] quorum and and right now the chair is

[53:49] going to be out for a while so that's

[53:51] going to even create more of a problem

[53:52] because there's um because he's you know

[53:55] he's he's unable to to be able to serve

[53:57] for a while so um I just wanted to bring

[54:00] this forward to um have the council

[54:02] consider um Mr Marne for a seat on the

[54:05] ethics

[54:07] board any questions concerns comments

[54:09] around that is this is this a council

[54:13] appointment if the if the mayor doesn't

[54:15] um is then within 30 days as the council

[54:18] could that's what it says in the code

[54:20] and we they're having a problem and we

[54:22] didn't get that fourth fifth person for

[54:24] the ethics board

[54:27] Mr CH I'm sorry can you repeat that yes

[54:30] I can that the the code says that the if

[54:32] within 30 days there's not when the

[54:34] board is convened and they they don't um

[54:37] there's opening that the council can put

[54:39] it

[54:41] Forward

[54:43] okay yes 30 days of when I'm sorry I'm just missing well actually the code

[54:47] says 30 days when the board is um

[54:49] created but so this board was

[54:53] reconvened I can't remember last year

[54:56] for in order to um look at

[54:59] some concerns that were brought forth

[55:01] against a council member that were

[55:02] convene and since that time there's

[55:03] still been that that last opening has

[55:05] been there so it's well over 30 days so

[55:06] it's well over 30 days

[55:11] okay any thoughts comments on

[55:15] this I'll entertain a motion so move

[55:18] second all those in favor I passes at this time I would like to

[55:25] close out government operations so Mo

[55:27] second all those in favor I we I'd like

[55:31] to cour to aitor Public Safety Committee

[55:33] we have one item on the agenda tonight

[55:34] that is to discuss the amendment to the

[55:36] city code Chapter 93 uh section three

[55:39] which specifically speaks about term

[55:40] limits holdovers and vacancies um before

[55:43] I ask Mr Keith St John to speak about um

[55:46] how this is felt as a member of the

[55:48] board I can definitely my time on the

[55:50] board as chair a few years ago uh

[55:53] definitely um vac concerns have been

[55:56] existing for a long period of time and

[55:58] that is one of the singular reasons that

[56:01] could prevent the council from or

[56:02] prevent the board excuse me from doing

[56:04] the work of reviewing the complaints uh

[56:06] so we are not at a crisis Point yet

[56:09] however we are at a point where we need

[56:10] to act hence having this brought on um I

[56:13] know with adjusting the code it requires

[56:15] a call for public hearing and as you can

[56:17] see the weeks start to add up so then if

[56:19] the council or excuse me if the board is

[56:21] then put in a position where they're not

[56:23] able to have quum then we are starting

[56:25] to have complaints pile up that aren't

[56:27] reviewed in a timely manner uh so Mr St

[56:30] John would you mind

[56:32] briefly just highlighting of some of the

[56:35] you've already told my joke so there's

[56:37] not more much more for me to add but I'm

[56:40] here really not only as a board member

[56:42] and thank you for those of you who

[56:43] helped me get there uh but in Denine

[56:46] Peter's absence she's the chair but

[56:49] currently on vacation and we'll be back

[56:50] later this week so I and perhaps another

[56:53] yes uh J hul is here from the board uh

[56:56] you've really summed it up well and by

[56:59] the last item on your agenda you're very

[57:02] familiar with the problems that are

[57:03] caused when a when a body is not either

[57:06] fully

[57:07] impanel uh or when uh the membership for

[57:10] whatever reason one of many uh don't

[57:13] meet in sufficient numbers so that

[57:15] there's a quarum that's what uh the

[57:18] current problem is facing the board and

[57:20] it will only get worse the longer it

[57:22] takes to find a remedy to that problem

[57:26] thank you Mr St John uh any questions or

[57:28] concerns from the

[57:29] councel uh hearing

[57:32] none yes so my uh proposition is and

[57:37] very much it came from opinions from

[57:39] Miss uh Porterfield and also um Mr who

[57:42] is the chair uh rather than removing

[57:44] organizations from having representation

[57:46] on the board uh the consideration was to

[57:48] add a 30-day stipulation so already

[57:51] before memb term is set to expire 60

[57:54] days prior to that an announcement is

[57:55] sent to the organization we are

[57:57] proposing to add an additional 30 days

[57:59] and after that point if a member or an

[58:02] alternate has not been selected from the

[58:04] organization that the opportunity then

[58:06] falls to the council to nominate someone

[58:08] at large uh and then also I wanted to

[58:11] use this opportunity to add in language

[58:13] for organizations to submit alternates

[58:15] uh now this is an individual that would

[58:17] not have any voting power as long as

[58:19] their primary was there however having a

[58:21] second person already vetted through the

[58:22] process completely streamlines having

[58:25] find a replacement

[58:26] theref I actually happen to think the

[58:28] current code provides provides for

[58:31] standby and those persons are the

[58:33] equivalent is I readed have an alternate

[58:36] can't vote medine until their primary is

[58:42] absent need to call for public hearing

[58:45] these

[58:46] changes any other questions patri oh no

[58:49] I was going to make the motion to second

[58:52] no

[58:53] sorry

[58:55] your scenario by which you would uh have

[58:58] the appointment go directly to the

[59:00] council believe that would have to go to

[59:02] the voters you can't we today I'm the

[59:05] appointing authority even though it

[59:07] comes from the groups going forward

[59:10] can't the can't reduce the authority of

[59:12] an elected official during their term of

[59:14] office so if you P that back so that I'm

[59:18] still part of the process you can move

[59:20] forward a public hearing and amend the

[59:21] code otherwise you would have to put it

[59:23] on the ballot for a formal vote November

[59:27] so you're saying the appointments would

[59:28] have to come from you if after the 30

[59:30] days to bring to the council

[59:36] yes were you sorry were you looking

[59:38] change that rision where the appointment

[59:42] come from it says it would go to the

[59:45] city council so it takes the mayor out

[59:47] of it I'm saying you can't do

[59:51] that so under the and all all the

[59:54] appointments under the current code um

[59:56] come from the mayor's office the names

[59:59] go to the mayor right I and supposed to

[1:00:01] be they're supposed to submit two names

[1:00:03] to me I'm supposed to pick one send it

[1:00:05] to the council we've made it more of a

[1:00:09] informal agreement where the names come

[1:00:11] in us there's two one is the primary

[1:00:14] designate one is the alternate so again

[1:00:17] it was trying to keep uh individuals in

[1:00:20] the pipeline to be able to have the

[1:00:22] board do its actual work

[1:00:25] so I would say with that information

[1:00:26] thank you Mr Mayor I would say as long

[1:00:28] as you are still open to receiving uh

[1:00:30] nominations from anyone which I believe

[1:00:31] you are y I have no issue with that uh

[1:00:35] so if we make a motion to have the

[1:00:37] public hearing yes make a motion to call

[1:00:40] the public hearing yes

[1:00:42] um sorry

[1:00:44] um I propose that the council uh wait

[1:00:47] one cycle so that we can propose the

[1:00:49] legislation that you can review it prior

[1:00:51] to having the public hearing okay that's

[1:00:53] fine yeah

[1:00:55] that's so we're going to keep this or

[1:00:58] added to the agenda for two

[1:01:00] weeks thank you whether there any other

[1:01:03] items that a follow Public Safety

[1:01:04] hearing have motion the only other thing

[1:01:06] that is where're we have a set

[1:01:10] of uh Community groups that were uh the

[1:01:14] focus when this legislation was

[1:01:17] drafted again I believe it's still a

[1:01:19] good group people may want to think over

[1:01:23] the next two weeks is there

[1:01:25] other organizations in the community

[1:01:27] that have shifted other areas of

[1:01:29] responsibility that you might want to

[1:01:31] have uh either as formal groups or ones

[1:01:35] that we would reach out informally in

[1:01:38] terms of recruiting membership for the

[1:01:40] board and I would say to that point um I

[1:01:43] want to be careful uh in how I speak to

[1:01:46] the members of the board um we were

[1:01:49] trying to sort of stop the issue from

[1:01:52] occurring and then allowing them what

[1:01:54] with a fuller board to then recommend um

[1:01:57] any additional measures for us to review

[1:02:00] at a later date so try not to overstep

[1:02:03] or I don't think we can for the

[1:02:06] council so we can adjust the code as we

[1:02:08] see fit but with respect to how this

[1:02:10] plays out for their uh interactions I

[1:02:13] would caution against over responding

[1:02:16] over over what I'm sorry over responding

[1:02:19] so allowing them the opportunity to

[1:02:21] expand or Rec to recognize where they

[1:02:24] believe additional organizations are

[1:02:26] necessary I think for so long we have

[1:02:28] not had a full board or they have not

[1:02:31] functioned with a full board

[1:02:33] so the

[1:02:35] uh Le the historic district commission

[1:02:39] requires me to send out a notice

[1:02:42] to predefined group MH if they send in

[1:02:47] names supposed to give those the First

[1:02:49] Act of consideration if they don't send

[1:02:51] any in then I can reach out and put

[1:02:57] names together which then come to the

[1:02:59] city council for confirmation that model

[1:03:02] may still be the better one so that you

[1:03:06] pointed out Carl we and sometimes people

[1:03:09] get it in timely sometimes they don't if

[1:03:12] uh we have a list of organizations we

[1:03:14] want to make sure they know there's a

[1:03:16] vacancy coming up uh there's the ability

[1:03:18] to serve and if they want to put

[1:03:20] somebody in that's fine if they don't

[1:03:23] we're going to do recruitment

[1:03:27] independent

[1:03:28] agree any other questions or

[1:03:31] comments so if they don't put in a name

[1:03:34] would we still be I I think I'm glad

[1:03:37] that we're waiting because there's a lot

[1:03:38] of questions herec because I just want

[1:03:41] to make sure I'm hearing you the right

[1:03:42] way so let's say it's um the Human

[1:03:45] Rights Commission doesn't put in a name

[1:03:48] would you still

[1:03:49] be looking for someone that's within the

[1:03:52] you know that was a bad example

[1:03:54] uh within the SKC United neighborhoods

[1:03:57] in other words would you still be

[1:03:58] looking for someone from that group or

[1:04:00] would you just say

[1:04:02] okay you know now they've sort of given

[1:04:04] up their opportunities so we can get

[1:04:06] anyone from the

[1:04:08] community or are we still need thinkig

[1:04:10] about the reality in these things you

[1:04:12] get widely variant times for recruitment

[1:04:15] sometimes you get levels of activity you

[1:04:17] got people coming forward and of course

[1:04:19] you have a list you hope they're going

[1:04:22] to put forth names but the reality is

[1:04:26] sometimes you can't get them to serve

[1:04:27] and you have to reach Beyond those

[1:04:30] organizational structures and then to

[1:04:32] that point sometimes we're dealing with

[1:04:33] organizations that aren't meeting on a

[1:04:35] monthly basis so then that lengthens the

[1:04:37] timeline so I think rather than

[1:04:39] expunging or adding uh I think this

[1:04:41] allows us to select an individual with

[1:04:44] the mayor uh for a term cycle which is

[1:04:46] two years and then after that point the

[1:04:48] opportunity for the organization to find

[1:04:50] a replacement is still present okay

[1:04:53] thank you

[1:04:54] all right so can I have a motion

[1:04:56] to proceed with the public hearing

[1:05:01] no bring back bring

[1:05:05] back all right if uh with that being

[1:05:07] said are there any other items that come

[1:05:09] before Public Safety Committee hearing

[1:05:11] on can motion to adjourn so move second

[1:05:13] all in

[1:05:15] favor I'd like to call the order City

[1:05:17] development and planning we have 11

[1:05:18] items on the agenda um Miss Carver has

[1:05:22] asked if we can move her up she does

[1:05:24] have a a daycare thing that she needs to

[1:05:26] take care so um so if you don't mind

[1:05:29] we'll move her to the top of the agenda

[1:05:30] to just give us the update on on

[1:05:38] Ara yeah and everyone should have it

[1:05:40] printed

[1:05:41] out good

[1:05:43] evening um I'm going to provide a high

[1:05:46] level update for you tonight on arpa um

[1:05:50] since we last met um coko house and DC

[1:05:53] and Hamilton Hill infi project they are

[1:05:56] currently pending a draft contract to be

[1:05:59] reviewed um by the mayor and Corporation

[1:06:02] Council Electric City Co-Op um has

[1:06:05] submitted 99% of their pre-contractual

[1:06:08] documents to meet their deadline for the

[1:06:10] extension of March 12th um we are still

[1:06:13] waiting for pre-contract pre-contract

[1:06:16] documents for the YMCA Harbor House as

[1:06:19] well some of the updates that I have for

[1:06:22] you tonight is is the miracle and great

[1:06:25] project um as last spoken we know that

[1:06:27] is not happening that is currently in

[1:06:30] the hands of Corporation Council the

[1:06:32] notice of default was sent and pending

[1:06:34] transfer

[1:06:37] title we received um also on hold at

[1:06:41] this time is the empowerment in dor

[1:06:44] Center that project is on hold um we

[1:06:47] received several request for additional

[1:06:49] um arpa funding um the first one to be

[1:06:52] discussed tonight is the Bethesda house

[1:06:54] Bethesda request an additional funding

[1:06:56] amount which the letter formal letter

[1:06:58] was sent to city council for review with

[1:07:00] supporting documents they ask for

[1:07:05] 400,000 the

[1:07:08] YMCA again another formal request was

[1:07:11] received they are asking for

[1:07:14] 100,000 that is to support the Black and

[1:07:18] Latino Achievers program and based on

[1:07:20] the letter um the supporting letter and

[1:07:23] for request they sent they currently

[1:07:25] have 62 young people in the program from

[1:07:27] SKC and they anticipate that number to

[1:07:29] double on this calendar year question um

[1:07:33] did this group submit an application the

[1:07:36] YMCA did not submit an application all

[1:07:38] right thank

[1:07:40] you and last but not least Miss Carver

[1:07:43] um how much money did they request

[1:07:46] 100,000 thank

[1:07:51] you sorry thank you and last but not

[1:07:54] least will be the YWCA they are

[1:07:57] requesting additional ARA funding um for

[1:08:00] 1.5

[1:08:02] million they currently have been

[1:08:04] allotted

[1:08:06] $750,000 and that was going that is

[1:08:09] being used to build 54 units of new

[1:08:12] construction um the 1.5 and additional

[1:08:15] funding that they are requesting is for

[1:08:17] construction and substantial

[1:08:18] Rehabilitation to their current 42 unit

[1:08:22] um housing structure on was

[1:08:25] and that concludes my arpa

[1:08:28] updates is this this the group that came

[1:08:30] they came before us before and that time

[1:08:32] wasn't it asked 850,000

[1:08:34] was right H this is um bethesa no y w on

[1:08:40] the back of the sheet the YW yeah I

[1:08:42] thought it was um when they came for

[1:08:44] additional funding was initial that was

[1:08:45] what during our credit session it was

[1:08:47] 850,000 when they sent the formal letter

[1:08:50] of request they asking

[1:08:52] for one point

[1:08:54] okay thank

[1:09:00] you but but Bethesda house weren't they

[1:09:04] I thought that their um request for

[1:09:06] additional funds was for 200,000 not our

[1:09:09] last meeting councilwoman I had misspoke

[1:09:12] ah okay it was 400,000 thank

[1:09:17] [Music]

[1:09:20] you and I do have another question so

[1:09:24] for for example um the Durer um

[1:09:28] Empowerment Center with with the city um

[1:09:32] so on hold how long are we going to keep

[1:09:36] things on hold for example because when do we get to the point where we say

[1:09:41] okay well maybe we could use the money

[1:09:43] in a different way didn't know if there

[1:09:45] was any discussion about that for that

[1:09:47] one I I'll speak in particular the um

[1:09:50] jury submit an application individually

[1:09:53] the EMP powerment submitted application

[1:09:55] individually but at some point they were

[1:09:58] put together um I'm assuming in the

[1:10:00] department of development I know that

[1:10:01] was pre pre pre you so at this point in

[1:10:04] time du as my understanding is wanting

[1:10:07] to move forward however because the

[1:10:09] Empowerment Center is not um positioned

[1:10:11] financially to move forward then that

[1:10:13] holds up that project as

[1:10:16] well and if I may add D's original

[1:10:20] application was for

[1:10:22] construction when merg this application

[1:10:25] and is now for

[1:10:29] programming so I guess the question to

[1:10:31] me becomes I don't know where the

[1:10:32] Empowerment Center I think this is going

[1:10:33] these are going to be longer

[1:10:34] conversations I don't know where the

[1:10:36] Empowerment Center is and do we leave

[1:10:38] Dory there because if if we leave Dory

[1:10:40] there and then um the Empowerment Center

[1:10:43] doesn't happen for whatever reason

[1:10:46] because there is a a huge funding Gap is

[1:10:48] my understanding than what happens to

[1:10:50] the other project

[1:10:52] so

[1:10:56] yes Mr Williams um I know um Mr Toro

[1:10:59] raised it during our last meeting of the

[1:11:01] conversation us not extending any

[1:11:03] additional um uh I want to say stays but

[1:11:07] theum that we use

[1:11:09] um not allowing any more postponements

[1:11:13] ex extensions um is there a timeline in

[1:11:17] your mind based on your familiarity with

[1:11:19] these projects when that date is going

[1:11:21] to have to be something where we start

[1:11:23] to miss Patrick's Point Rec cooping back

[1:11:26] some of these allotments well the last

[1:11:28] extensions that we have currently right

[1:11:30] now on file are March 12th so I would

[1:11:33] say anytime after March

[1:11:35] 12th

[1:11:40] okay I just have a general question on

[1:11:42] the YWCA asking for 100,000 um in our

[1:11:46] current budget we set aside

[1:11:48] $150,000 for a you program can we have

[1:11:52] them work

[1:11:54] with the mayor's office the school

[1:11:55] district and tap into this $150,000 have

[1:11:59] it under one

[1:12:01] umbrella what program is that YC ym ym

[1:12:06] for 100000 y yes sorry yes okay cuz we

[1:12:11] have $150,000 in the budget here so

[1:12:14] instead of spreading it why not bring

[1:12:15] them together and work along with the

[1:12:18] mayor the school

[1:12:20] district and you know I I'm just

[1:12:25] because I'm do not have budget in front

[1:12:27] of me I think the uh work with the

[1:12:29] school district was more around youth

[1:12:31] employment yes so I think I don't know

[1:12:33] that that would be I think that's a good

[1:12:34] idea but I don't know if they'll

[1:12:35] necessarily align than Patrick um that

[1:12:39] program has been around for a long time

[1:12:40] I was on the initial uh committee that

[1:12:43] set it up and it's they work with the

[1:12:46] school district but not really um it is

[1:12:49] a w it is a Capital District YMCA

[1:12:51] program so it's not not the same as uh

[1:12:55] the Youth Employment Program that we've

[1:12:56] had it's a wonderful program um with

[1:13:00] many graduates who have gone on to

[1:13:01] college um it's it's just a great

[1:13:04] program but but a question are we going

[1:13:06] to be utilizing the entire 150,000 maybe

[1:13:08] we take a portion of that you know

[1:13:11] consider that is I'm trying that on the

[1:13:12] table they're asking for 60 I think

[1:13:15] 100,000 oh 100 we could look at that

[1:13:18] again to see if there is some overlap or

[1:13:22] because I think in the last year there

[1:13:23] were some um savings from the last

[1:13:26] program yeah I think we can look at so

[1:13:27] we can look at that as a cable domain

[1:13:29] and see if we can tap in and give them

[1:13:31] some U funding through the 150 mhm and

[1:13:34] then I think after March 12th we

[1:13:37] may be able to revisit other funds I

[1:13:40] just want to bring that to

[1:13:43] that okay so yes Mr Toro thank you um

[1:13:48] how much are for money out there which

[1:13:52] hasn't been

[1:13:54] that is a finance

[1:13:59] [Music]

[1:14:02] question Mr Mr Ferrari did supplies with

[1:14:05] a report actually during um budget

[1:14:07] season so it should be we probably pull

[1:14:09] up in emails and actually send it to you

[1:14:11] because we did get that from him how

[1:14:13] much money was unallocated not unspent

[1:14:15] but unallocated uhhuh yeah so um we

[1:14:20] really I think um we need to actually

[1:14:22] take a deep look at these before

[1:14:25] we making decisions and I would suggest

[1:14:28] we put that on for um two weeks um we

[1:14:31] could conceivably call a special meeting

[1:14:34] and meet only to discuss arpa if the

[1:14:35] council's open to it since we definitely

[1:14:37] have these that we need to discuss so

[1:14:40] that's something that we could also um

[1:14:42] and just make that eting just about the

[1:14:44] AR of money because we really need to

[1:14:46] start closing the door um I don't know

[1:14:48] if that's the best term I use and we

[1:14:49] need really start wrapping this

[1:14:52] up so so yes Mr Williams I do remember

[1:14:55] those conversations being rather lengthy

[1:14:57] and then if we're going to give each

[1:14:58] project the needed time and attention I

[1:15:00] think especially meeting makes

[1:15:06] sense so we can um um ask M mik to send

[1:15:11] out um when you're we're available for

[1:15:13] that and then we can come up and have a

[1:15:15] special meeting and it will be announced

[1:15:16] and public will be able to listen or

[1:15:18] even come I look forward to

[1:15:22] it thank you very much Miss

[1:15:25] haror okay um returning to the agenda uh

[1:15:29] the first item is to authorize the mayor

[1:15:31] or his designity to enter into easement

[1:15:33] and maintenance agreement Mr Wallen he's

[1:15:40] back thank

[1:15:42] you so uh I'd like to acknowledge Phil

[1:15:45] more from the room uh

[1:15:47] is uh you know the uh director of

[1:15:50] procress theater 432 State Street as you

[1:15:52] know uh or as you may or may not be

[1:15:54] aware Proctor Ceder runs both a heating

[1:15:57] and cooling plant and a future

[1:15:59] electricity generation Coen plant at the

[1:16:02] facility adjacent to Proctors um the

[1:16:05] heating and cooling lines are currently

[1:16:07] in the roadway uh they are between the

[1:16:09] buildings uh this would be an easement

[1:16:12] that would encapsulate those existing

[1:16:14] lines as well as encumber new lines to

[1:16:17] um be for the power between the two

[1:16:20] facilities Phil I didn't know if you

[1:16:21] wanted to talk any at the project if you

[1:16:23] were comfortable with me covering it I

[1:16:26] have a few of these These are quite old

[1:16:28] but they're the best I have to

[1:16:30] share okay I thought he might it is

[1:16:34] very interesting because yes we have a

[1:16:38] thermal lines running across the street

[1:16:40] to Center City as well as to the H in

[1:16:43] and the Parker in um and we are now

[1:16:47] adding electric to it the electric is

[1:16:50] cogenerated meaning that all all the

[1:16:53] waste heat on the engine that will make

[1:16:55] electricity will be used to support the

[1:16:58] heating and cooling system so we'll be

[1:17:00] in the neighborhood of 85 to 95%

[1:17:03] efficient most of the grids about 45%

[1:17:06] efficient so it's a huge reduction in

[1:17:10] carbon output for the neighborhood and

[1:17:12] for connec and at the same time means

[1:17:15] that the Y and the City Center

[1:17:17] properties and the CVS and Proctors are

[1:17:22] available has Emergency Shelters could

[1:17:25] there be a flood a storm something that

[1:17:28] requires the grid to be down forces the

[1:17:30] grid to be down will be able to operate

[1:17:33] independently um there's only one other

[1:17:35] one like this in New York state so it's

[1:17:39] pretty remarkable that it can happen it

[1:17:41] was delayed during Co quite a bit so

[1:17:45] what you're looking at is a very old set

[1:17:47] of working documents but it came back

[1:17:50] after Co and now we're looking at it

[1:17:52] being oper AAL by March of

[1:17:56] 25 so this is an extension beyond what

[1:17:58] you had in Co during Co um we've always

[1:18:03] had the hot and cold water 18 years

[1:18:04] we've been running hot and cold water

[1:18:06] underground uh this is adding

[1:18:08] electricity to that and putting a line

[1:18:11] right next to the existing thermal hot

[1:18:14] cold water lines um it's making it a

[1:18:16] bigger footprint but also extending the

[1:18:19] easement to be one is one one easement

[1:18:21] rather than two or three

[1:18:23] oh

[1:18:26] okay any other

[1:18:29] questions yes Miss Patrick no I was

[1:18:31] going to

[1:18:33] make well I was going to just say

[1:18:35] something moving it but I have to say

[1:18:37] because for 18 years I thought this was

[1:18:38] an incredibly Visionary project that

[1:18:41] occurred um so I compliment you on

[1:18:43] expanding it now and um thank you for doing it all these years so I will

[1:18:49] make the motion before you do that sorry

[1:18:52] you got me start sorry no I I just I I

[1:18:55] want to highlight especially uh I I

[1:18:57] think in my own experience incity when

[1:18:59] we were going through the pandemic

[1:19:01] Proctors um like a lot of places you

[1:19:04] know kind of had to had to close their

[1:19:06] normal operational doors but acted as um

[1:19:09] a community help for young people in

[1:19:10] need of some inperson instruction and I

[1:19:13] think that so that just kind of speaks

[1:19:14] to kind of the the the spirit of what

[1:19:16] we're trying to do here in case of that

[1:19:18] so I was a Valu partner and I appreciate

[1:19:21] that and I do is well so now okay

[1:19:25] now in second all those in favor thank

[1:19:28] you thank you Mr wall thank you thank

[1:19:30] you Mr Morris uh next item is uh to V

[1:19:34] contract uh for the city of connected

[1:19:36] tennis sport improvements if so as

[1:19:39] you're aware the city of SKC houses a

[1:19:42] large Tennis complex in Central Park

[1:19:44] home the 17 courts the facility is used

[1:19:47] uh as the USDA Regional hub for their

[1:19:50] summer tournament schedule the condition

[1:19:53] of the courts however will not allow us

[1:19:55] to hold the USA events uh I've been

[1:19:57] working with the USA in 15 love for

[1:19:59] about a year now on putting together

[1:20:01] this program that we have here of

[1:20:03] improvements uh we actually had an

[1:20:05] engineer come up from the USA out of

[1:20:07] Long Island Flushing Meadows do an

[1:20:09] evaluation we had cha sports do a second

[1:20:11] evaluation um and what we're looking to

[1:20:13] do is put this work out which is the

[1:20:17] preservation of the lower 10 courts and

[1:20:20] the what we would call the refurbishment

[1:20:23] of the upper Seven Courts um so

[1:20:27] preservation is we essentially going to

[1:20:28] coat seal uh and paint the upper ones

[1:20:32] will be milled uh fabric paved then

[1:20:35] coated sealed in paint so uh at the

[1:20:38] conclusion of that we will have 17

[1:20:40] functioning courts um one of the things

[1:20:43] I just want to point out which is we

[1:20:44] have an expedited schedule we're trying

[1:20:46] to get this work completed by June in

[1:20:49] order to meet the USA schedule uh the

[1:20:52] contractor Carver construction who was

[1:20:53] the loan bidder they were the um loan

[1:20:56] bidder and successful completer of our

[1:20:59] pickle ball complex and uh Fair viiew

[1:21:02] tennis courts in the bellw neighborhood

[1:21:04] which came out uh great um so we have H

[1:21:07] confidence in the group The other thing

[1:21:09] is that the amount here that we're

[1:21:11] showing 671 is above the budgeted amount

[1:21:15] um I am working with the USA on an

[1:21:17] agreement uh and the agreement is a

[1:21:20] partnership where they will hopefully if

[1:21:22] we can come to terms be able to cover

[1:21:24] this cost to do a more of a a

[1:21:27] cooperation uh in terms of uh it would

[1:21:30] tie the investment of the courts that

[1:21:32] they make to the term of the lease um we

[1:21:35] just got it because they went through it

[1:21:37] and our lot of partment reviewing it now

[1:21:40] spoke with the mayor a little bit about

[1:21:41] it uh uh our director of parks with Dean

[1:21:44] and we're just working through the

[1:21:45] details but we really want to get this

[1:21:48] work awarded if we have to change it we

[1:21:50] can but the agreement should be coming

[1:21:53] next cycle because that's what we're

[1:21:55] setting up

[1:21:56] for any yes M Patrick so am I hearing

[1:21:59] you that you're because I was going to

[1:22:01] ask if we could as I always do whether

[1:22:04] we could bring in more revenue from uh

[1:22:07] the

[1:22:08] USA uh in terms of using the courts um

[1:22:12] but so what are you actually saying that

[1:22:14] they're willing or you're going to be

[1:22:15] talking to them about paying us the

[1:22:17] $671,000 is that what I the balance

[1:22:21] there's a balance we have we allocated a

[1:22:24] half a million uh and we have4 475,000

[1:22:28] remaining that balance uh they have they

[1:22:31] have already received approval from USA

[1:22:34] Regional uh however we just want to make

[1:22:36] sure we're all so I don't want to get

[1:22:38] into it too much in detail but we're

[1:22:40] confident that we'll be able to come to

[1:22:41] an agreement to to make this project

[1:22:43] happen if not

[1:22:48] more yeah all right any other we're just

[1:22:51] confident we can get it done by June too

[1:22:53] that's pretty L it is it is uh but

[1:22:56] that's what we're going to and I I think having the usda's backing I mean

[1:23:00] the big thing is Carver will be able to

[1:23:02] get the paving done the issue is it is

[1:23:04] uh you know once you pave it has to sit

[1:23:06] for 3 weeks so we have to hurry up and

[1:23:08] wait so we're going to have to hurry up

[1:23:10] get in there and pave and wait for all

[1:23:12] the oils to dissipate because we cannot

[1:23:14] coat fresh asphalt cuz it will get a

[1:23:16] little slick and and gooey so we're

[1:23:19] going to try to get in there Paving

[1:23:20] usually starts sometime in April so

[1:23:22] we're going to try to get in there right

[1:23:24] when we can to do the work good job yes

[1:23:26] Mr Williams so um I I think it's never a

[1:23:29] safe assumption to think that everyone

[1:23:31] has access to the internet so while this

[1:23:33] construction is going to be going on I

[1:23:34] believe that's ideal tennis playing time

[1:23:36] I don't play tennis is there any way I

[1:23:37] think it's probably better better

[1:23:39] question position for the uh Parks uh

[1:23:42] director but putting out like just

[1:23:44] flyers or notifications just informing

[1:23:46] the local neighborhood uh residents that

[1:23:48] utilize these parks of other options

[1:23:50] throughout the city yeah I can work with

[1:23:53] uh Willie on that thank you any other

[1:23:56] questions or comments

[1:23:58] no second all in favor thank you the

[1:24:02] next item on the agenda is the award be

[1:24:04] the contract for the construction of

[1:24:05] teaching greenhouse building for the

[1:24:07] Central Park Greenhouse facility y so

[1:24:12] the friends of the greenhouse have been

[1:24:13] very successful uh in receiving funding

[1:24:16] from various sources uh this particular

[1:24:19] Grant was received from Phil st's office

[1:24:21] it is a Sam Grant in the amount of

[1:24:24] $125,000 um the use of the Sam Grant is

[1:24:27] to take down an existing dilapidated

[1:24:30] greenhouse and to construct what they're

[1:24:31] calling a teaching Greenhouse teaching

[1:24:33] Greenhouse will be able to hold classes

[1:24:36] um and be used as morval Educational

[1:24:39] Center um they're looking at this to be

[1:24:41] one of the focal points in the facility

[1:24:43] we put out this bid in cooperation with

[1:24:45] them we received three bids the low bid

[1:24:47] was ma shaer construction ma shaer

[1:24:50] construction has um been the successful

[1:24:53] will bidder on two previous projects at

[1:24:55] the greenhouse their composting toilet

[1:24:57] and their storage shed as well as they

[1:25:00] also constructed our Golf Course

[1:25:02] Maintenance building and our fire

[1:25:04] Services uh emergency facility um so

[1:25:06] we've done five previous projects with

[1:25:08] them and have no issues uh with their

[1:25:11] construction to date um they have a good

[1:25:13] relationship with the friends of the

[1:25:14] greenhouse and everyone's excited to

[1:25:16] move forward with the project there is a

[1:25:18] budget discrepancy however I'm planning

[1:25:21] on covering it with allocated funds from

[1:25:23] our facility improvements um it is a

[1:25:25] city facility so I I don't think that is outside of anything given that

[1:25:30] the FR of the greenhouse essentially

[1:25:31] operates a city facility so um that that

[1:25:35] difference uh is what I'm going to make

[1:25:36] up with our how much is that um well

[1:25:39] it's the amount uh 1788 minus 125 so

[1:25:43] it's roughly 53,000 okay what's the

[1:25:46] timeline on this this um this is going

[1:25:49] to be in the spring yeah no this is

[1:25:51] something that we're going to move on

[1:25:52] quickly our city uh just to be clear we

[1:25:55] do we're doing the demolition we're

[1:25:57] doing the grading we're doing the

[1:25:59] plumbing we're doing the electrical so

[1:26:01] there is a savings um this is

[1:26:03] specifically for the concrete and the

[1:26:05] construction of the prefabricated

[1:26:08] Greenhouse any other questions

[1:26:11] comments all those in

[1:26:16] favor okay uh and number four it's uh

[1:26:19] authorize issuance of a re revocable per

[1:26:22] I can say that number 679 to the horse's

[1:26:25] Lounge so the horse's Lounge has been

[1:26:28] purchased and will be operated by uh the

[1:26:30] gentleman who I believe opens broken in Nuna uh they were looking to put the

[1:26:37] essentially the facility back the way it

[1:26:38] is and operated similarly to how it was

[1:26:41] which includes um keeping the sign or

[1:26:43] putting up a new similar sign the sign

[1:26:45] is 12 in into the right of way but

[1:26:49] because of that we still require a vable

[1:26:51] permit okay okay

[1:26:54] questions second all in

[1:26:57] favor thank you Mr W thank you

[1:26:59] appreciate it all right the next item on

[1:27:01] the agenda is uh mohul Harbor mayor

[1:27:04] McCarthy thank you uh mam president and

[1:27:07] a presentation prior cycle from metlex

[1:27:12] the blessie corporation uh colleg is

[1:27:16] here and uh this point looking for your

[1:27:19] formal approval of $2.5 million to allow

[1:27:23] that uh Event Center project to move

[1:27:27] forward

[1:27:32] discussion so I always have a lot of

[1:27:34] questions and I've had more so um and

[1:27:37] I've had um so some of these discussions

[1:27:40] with um Mr he's gone now Mr y

[1:27:45] so and and this is probably for him um I

[1:27:49] understand what the ask is um but my

[1:27:51] question at that time was what was the

[1:27:53] pilot going to be so that to me the

[1:27:55] payment and L of taxes to me is very

[1:27:57] important to this because it becomes

[1:28:00] more than 2.5 million it becomes

[1:28:02] whatever the pilot is so I would like to um to know what that

[1:28:11] is at the presentation I think sorry at

[1:28:14] the presentation I think it was a

[1:28:16] community center was it

[1:28:18] um as project I don't take the pilot of

[1:28:22] the trct for a community Cent non

[1:28:24] for-profit Mr this is not going to be a

[1:28:26] nonprofit this is a privately owned um

[1:28:28] organ not for-profit there wouldn't be a

[1:28:30] pilot be any revenue from it to begin

[1:28:32] right it's not a not for profit it's not

[1:28:35] it's a privately owned project I don't

[1:28:38] know did you want to speak to that you

[1:28:40] want me to speak to it I will I don't

[1:28:42] know the protocol oh yes if you I'm I

[1:28:45] was specifically asking about the pilot

[1:28:46] so would you uh yeah there will be a

[1:28:48] pilot typically these projects are sorry

[1:28:52] this is public the public hears s throat

[1:28:55] I'm sorry uh typically these projects

[1:28:58] are owned by counties cities metroplexes

[1:29:02] or authorities so this would be uh

[1:29:04] actually something similar so there

[1:29:05] would be pilot there would be nominal

[1:29:08] taxes generated the best for this on

[1:29:10] this project uh typically again like MVP

[1:29:15] center it's on by the county uh it's a

[1:29:17] non- taxable event this is one of the

[1:29:19] few that's owned Glenn Falls is owned by

[1:29:21] the city this is one of the few that

[1:29:22] would be because nobody else wanted to

[1:29:24] own it uh but along those lines uh this

[1:29:27] is a community service for us so there

[1:29:30] would be there would be a pilot uh the the benefits would be as well as uh

[1:29:36] the benefits of keeping Union College in

[1:29:37] place we've gone through this before I

[1:29:39] don't want to reiterate uh having a lot

[1:29:41] of U ability to host other events

[1:29:43] whether it's High School uh kids

[1:29:46] programs uh bring other uh smaller

[1:29:48] events to the community as well as

[1:29:50] actually bring people into into the

[1:29:52] harbor bring people into the casino

[1:29:54] which I know the casino is uh pays $2.6

[1:29:57] million a year to the county the city

[1:30:00] the more money that they could pay on

[1:30:02] their revenue the more taxes both the

[1:30:04] city and the county would get as well as

[1:30:06] bed tax sales tax Etc so that's the community benefit uh but

[1:30:11] these typically are not and in a perfect

[1:30:13] world we wouldn't own it either if Union

[1:30:15] College own it it would be uh non-

[1:30:18] taxable if the county owned it it would

[1:30:19] be non- taxable Metroplex owned it would

[1:30:23] uh we just put all this together

[1:30:25] hopefully with the with the state with

[1:30:27] the assembly with the county with

[1:30:29] Metroplex and hopefully the city that we

[1:30:31] could all collaborate and create

[1:30:32] something on a vacant piece of land

[1:30:34] right

[1:30:36] now so we don't know what the pilot

[1:30:38] would be at this

[1:30:39] moment uh the pilot would be nominal at

[1:30:42] best it would it would not be a

[1:30:43] significant amount of taxes at all so

[1:30:45] you so the project would not pay uh it

[1:30:48] would not pay other than some nominal

[1:30:50] fees but not not property taxes okay all

[1:30:53] right yes so I just simp so this project

[1:30:57] um um I know that before we had

[1:30:59] allocated uh 2.5 million to what was

[1:31:02] going to be the Aquatic Center um the

[1:31:04] reason why um I I speak for myself

[1:31:07] reason why it was really important to

[1:31:09] support that is because not only will

[1:31:11] they bring people to into the city

[1:31:13] obviously generate business but there's

[1:31:15] was really um an array of of of of you

[1:31:19] know youth programs and services that

[1:31:20] can be housed um out of that and I think

[1:31:23] that this project right here um has far

[1:31:27] greater capacity to reach our our

[1:31:30] community and especially as it relates

[1:31:32] to like Youth Sports programs and more

[1:31:35] um even in in the way of arts and

[1:31:37] entertainment um so I just kind of

[1:31:38] wanted to to kind of amplify that piece

[1:31:40] because that that's something that is

[1:31:41] really important I don't want to get

[1:31:43] lost in the conversation and one point

[1:31:46] of clarity to the Aquatic Center would

[1:31:47] have been uh have a pilot as well so

[1:31:50] they wouldn't have been a tax pay

[1:31:56] don't let that fall so um the other

[1:31:59] point I don't we the last time that we

[1:32:02] okay with this information we have in

[1:32:04] front of us here says that it's for um

[1:32:07] site prep is that

[1:32:10] correct I'm sorry I didn't hear recy

[1:32:13] reparation yes okay um in the document

[1:32:16] that we got from esdc the it said the

[1:32:19] cost for site trap was 1.5 mil almost

[1:32:23] 1.6 as opposed to but this ask is

[1:32:29] 2.5 good news and bad

[1:32:32] news the bad news is the site prep is

[1:32:35] significantly more than $3 million

[1:32:38] actually we got a uh actually a lot more

[1:32:40] than $4 million this will go towards a

[1:32:42] portion of it uh we just got to change

[1:32:44] our loan for pilings that are you got to

[1:32:47] change what change order for pilings we

[1:32:49] have to put piles in the ground as well

[1:32:52] as do additional uh Paving and and

[1:32:54] parking lots Etc the piles alone are

[1:32:56] north of $2.1 million that we're all not

[1:33:00] planning a gift that keeps on

[1:33:05] taking all right um

[1:33:08] so let's

[1:33:10] see right now has this project oh maybe

[1:33:13] did you stay

[1:33:15] here I I don't say I do have a little

[1:33:18] com from you all right um so

[1:33:22] has this work already begun because I I

[1:33:23] see there is some work that's started

[1:33:24] down there I just have to you know I

[1:33:25] drive by from time to time there's no

[1:33:27] work started no work started yet no okay

[1:33:29] so are you waiting for is all the

[1:33:31] funding in place uh depends on what you

[1:33:34] guys do tonight so all the other funding

[1:33:36] is 100% in place uh there is uh a uh a

[1:33:41] resolution needed at the county but they

[1:33:43] they're committed to to work with us on

[1:33:46] that so that's it would be the same

[1:33:48] timing as as you people uh but that

[1:33:51] would that would be be the last this

[1:33:52] would be the cherry on the cake for the

[1:33:54] Sunday would would this put us in a

[1:33:56] position to maybe recruit like a um

[1:34:00] semipro basketball team arena football

[1:34:03] or you know looking at the the answer is

[1:34:06] yes and no Arena Football were too small

[1:34:09] it is okay uh but uh and and I can't say

[1:34:12] because I've got a confidentiality but

[1:34:14] we've been approached by um a couple

[1:34:18] professional sports teams and going

[1:34:20] right across the board because there's

[1:34:21] also uh Rochester Syracuse UA they have

[1:34:25] soccer they have the crosses down and we don't want to compete with the

[1:34:29] MVP Center uh but we've had a variety of

[1:34:33] people reach out there's there's the

[1:34:36] answer is yes to the qu with the

[1:34:37] exception Arena Football we Arena

[1:34:39] Football they draw 10,000 people there

[1:34:42] this this is one that wouldn't be able

[1:34:43] to do that but the other is I just

[1:34:46] noticed Binghamton got for instance the

[1:34:48] uh New York State basketball

[1:34:49] championship since the two year bid I

[1:34:52] mean that's something that took from

[1:34:53] Glenn's Falls this would be an ideal

[1:34:55] situation it's centrally located it's

[1:34:56] got more hotel rooms so I think we can

[1:34:59] compete particularly on New York State

[1:35:02] whether it's volleyball whether it's

[1:35:03] gymnastics whether it's basketball

[1:35:06] whether it's hockey uh but the other

[1:35:08] thing too is we really want to make this is a this is a community this is

[1:35:12] something really we're doing this for

[1:35:14] the community as much as uh it's it's a

[1:35:17] for-profit we don't want to own this but

[1:35:20] it's the only way is going to get done

[1:35:23] like yeah some of the uses for the

[1:35:25] community like job fairs running job

[1:35:28] fairs there you you can expand right now

[1:35:31] the the the Event Center at the casino

[1:35:33] is very limited in terms of uh getting

[1:35:35] but I think and we we've had variety of

[1:35:37] meetings with uh discovers connec too I

[1:35:40] mean we're New York State a lot of

[1:35:43] conventions um have to stay in New York

[1:35:46] state a lot of them go to turningstone

[1:35:49] or to Rochester or Syracuse got the

[1:35:51] Turning Stone draws a huge amount I I

[1:35:54] drove by there last time they had a

[1:35:56] fireman's convention this is going to

[1:35:58] bring a lot of spending here and we can

[1:36:00] compete we're not going to compete with

[1:36:02] the capital Center that's that's what 20

[1:36:05] 30,000 square ft but we're going to be

[1:36:07] able to compete and bring people here

[1:36:09] Todd if it happens is so excited about

[1:36:13] uh being able to recruit we're going to

[1:36:16] be able to compete with the Saratoga

[1:36:17] we're going to be able to compete I mean

[1:36:19] this is the Glenn Falls this is a little

[1:36:21] data they a nice Community up there but

[1:36:23] I think we can we can bring in a lot of

[1:36:25] things this is so centrally located on

[1:36:26] the throughway so it's really but it's

[1:36:29] sports but it's also events that we can

[1:36:32] do trade shows uh conferences um we've

[1:36:35] had um I mean we had the uh national uh

[1:36:39] Canal conference a few years ago we

[1:36:42] didn't have enough room so those are

[1:36:45] things we can go after you can go after

[1:36:47] a lot of this the uh the trade unions we

[1:36:50] they can have their annual meeting here

[1:36:51] they they have them over at turning

[1:36:52] stone what is turning stone got they got

[1:36:54] golf courses but we've got a city uh

[1:36:57] we've got an airport here I'm originally

[1:36:59] from Roman New York there's nothing out

[1:37:01] there in Verona other than a beautiful

[1:37:03] big casino that doesn't pay

[1:37:07] taxes so I I I really I me out of all

[1:37:10] the things we've done and we've done a

[1:37:13] billion dollars worth of business in SKC

[1:37:17] County we just celebrated our 55th

[1:37:19] anniversary July Janu AR 30th in the

[1:37:22] capital region and we put our money

[1:37:24] where our mouth is and one thing the

[1:37:26] project this is a tough project it's a state it's the county it's

[1:37:30] Metroplex it's the assembly uh the

[1:37:34] governor Carl Hasty every everybody this

[1:37:36] is a need here we don't have it so uh I

[1:37:40] really I we've I'm a sked resident I

[1:37:44] live here I work here I play here the

[1:37:46] fact is that I think this is a missing

[1:37:48] component it's a vacant piece of

[1:37:49] property you've got I mean as I said

[1:37:52] before you could build Apartments there

[1:37:54] our apartments are full but I think this

[1:37:56] benefits the community more you've got

[1:37:58] the the dock that we work with the city

[1:38:00] and the Department of State on so you're

[1:38:02] going to get other other people coming

[1:38:04] on on the on the Harbor uh there's going

[1:38:06] to be boat rentals this year out there

[1:38:08] every year we add something and and and

[1:38:11] tying it into the bike trail and now

[1:38:12] you've got the loop that's going around

[1:38:14] the Metroplex is doing with Glenville

[1:38:17] boy when you look at our City compared

[1:38:20] to some of the others I'm not going to

[1:38:22] pick out them cuz it's public uh but the

[1:38:25] fact is that they asked they ask us to

[1:38:28] come in and talk to them about creating

[1:38:31] stuff in other cities in the capital

[1:38:33] region we connected born Brad here I

[1:38:36] wasn't born I was born in Rome but I've

[1:38:38] been here since 71 one other this is out

[1:38:41] there in left field but in the event

[1:38:44] there was some catastrophic event not

[1:38:46] wouldn't be a flood but ice storm or

[1:38:48] some others that we could maybe have

[1:38:50] here Center in part of our emergency

[1:38:53] planning where setting up bringing folks

[1:38:56] that well I think it's a great idea as

[1:38:58] long as you don't scrw up Union hockey

[1:38:59] games

[1:39:01] yeah but but no you know what think

[1:39:04] about it we were actually we talked to

[1:39:05] Philip about uh using Center City as why

[1:39:09] they are this is let's say you had a

[1:39:11] catastrophe and you could end up with or

[1:39:13] if you needed to to hand out supplies or

[1:39:16] emergency that type of stuff boy look at that we don't have that here not

[1:39:21] going to do in the Proctor is there

[1:39:22] seats there uh but those type of things

[1:39:25] I mean you know the sky's the liit in

[1:39:27] terms of some of the things you can

[1:39:28] really imine that we're just scraping

[1:39:30] the tip of the iceberg along those lines

[1:39:32] but this this connects this connects the

[1:39:34] public it connects the union it connects

[1:39:36] to the high schools it this is going to

[1:39:38] make something it's connected to your

[1:39:40] destination and if the Aquatic Center

[1:39:43] happens in uh in reram which I hope it

[1:39:45] does boy that's even more and it's going

[1:39:47] to they're going to play off each

[1:39:50] other

[1:39:52] Patrick I wouldn't want to see us miss

[1:39:54] this opportunity I think that we've

[1:39:56] spent you know the past what is it 15 or

[1:39:59] 20 years I guess um really making sure

[1:40:02] that we have built up our restaurants

[1:40:04] we've built up our hotels um this is

[1:40:07] just going to be another remarkable um

[1:40:10] asset that we will have to be able to

[1:40:12] sell our city to conferences to

[1:40:14] conventions the idea which we talked

[1:40:17] about at the last meeting in terms of

[1:40:19] the Youth Sports um um and the

[1:40:21] opportunity for um our our children to

[1:40:25] have this opportunity as well um I just

[1:40:28] not to mention the parking will be

[1:40:29] better than when we come to a union

[1:40:31] hockey game I'm just teasing there but I

[1:40:34] think that um if we were to say no to

[1:40:36] this if the city was if the city council

[1:40:38] was to say no we're not going to you

[1:40:40] know put funding through to to this

[1:40:42] through to this I I just think it would

[1:40:44] be um you know as if we had said no to

[1:40:47] the casino I mean I just think that

[1:40:49] we've been building building and

[1:40:51] building up our city and the

[1:40:53] opportunities for tourism um and

[1:40:55] attracting people here and I fully

[1:40:58] support the project and US funding it I

[1:41:00] really do think there's the payback is

[1:41:02] there though this is going to in terms

[1:41:04] of sales tax occupancy tax sure uh

[1:41:08] employment and it's going to just create

[1:41:10] the opportunity of again because we got

[1:41:13] to remember too the casino competes with

[1:41:16] Springfield there's going to be casinos

[1:41:17] in New York City we've got to make sure

[1:41:20] that we have this Revenue stream I mean

[1:41:22] we're getting $22.6 million a year which

[1:41:24] is a very nice Revenue stream in

[1:41:26] addition to $4 million in property taxes

[1:41:28] from the casino alone the gesi group

[1:41:31] entities including the casino pay over

[1:41:33] $20 million uh in city county and school

[1:41:36] taxes so we're putting our money where

[1:41:38] our mouth is but this is why as as a

[1:41:41] resident and somebody that's been in

[1:41:42] this Council before it was uh we've been

[1:41:46] there a long time but the fact is I I

[1:41:49] get goosebumps when I I walk through the

[1:41:51] casino and see the amount of employees

[1:41:55] and the lives we've

[1:41:56] changed it's big I mean in and and the

[1:41:59] casino raised their all union wages

[1:42:01] their wages went up over 40% over the

[1:42:04] last 3 years so you got people that

[1:42:06] don't leave there because they're never

[1:42:08] going to get their life their health

[1:42:10] insurance everything is good and and we

[1:42:12] do have I I I think we're a significant

[1:42:15] amount of connected residents and

[1:42:17] definitely I think we're close to 40% in

[1:42:19] not wnb either which is which is

[1:42:21] fantastic and it's really these people

[1:42:23] we've got day wers uh next next week is

[1:42:27] our 7th anniversary so lucky Lucky Seven

[1:42:31] but uh again if I didn't think it was

[1:42:33] that important I wouldn't have spend

[1:42:35] this much time this is something that

[1:42:37] originated uh Dr Harris know

[1:42:40] preco uh and it this this wasn't my idea

[1:42:44] I don't know if it was Dr Harris's idea

[1:42:47] it was it was somebody saying we got to

[1:42:49] find a solution for you and I was around

[1:42:51] in 1977 76 when the killes rink was

[1:42:55] built and parking look at what we're

[1:42:58] doing the we solve another problem with

[1:42:59] the neighborhoods I mean parking along

[1:43:02] you it is a crazy thing to have to go

[1:43:04] park and watch a hockey game it is I

[1:43:06] don't it it served its purpose then but

[1:43:09] you probably could never get that

[1:43:10] project approve on campus again because

[1:43:12] we don't have enough parking and God

[1:43:14] forbid we don't have a

[1:43:15] snowstorm so sorry to take up so much of

[1:43:17] your time no absolutely not um I wanted

[1:43:20] to just highlight your choice of words

[1:43:22] where you said a missing component and I

[1:43:23] think that was very intentional and I

[1:43:24] think accurately reflects the nature of

[1:43:27] this project uh definitely adding this

[1:43:29] type of resource uh to our community I

[1:43:31] think just bolsters uh the electric city

[1:43:34] um Mantra that is continuing to to exist

[1:43:37] a day in and day out um definitely with

[1:43:40] respect to that and try to be careful

[1:43:42] with touching on to like the school

[1:43:43] board and board of educations because we stay separate for a reason but there

[1:43:47] conversations of how do we or what our

[1:43:49] next superintendent looks like and and

[1:43:50] there were comments in the paper that

[1:43:52] highlighted that SKC City school

[1:43:53] districts are seen as uh catapults or or

[1:43:56] leaping PS and I don't think we need to

[1:43:58] I think our city is good enough and we

[1:44:00] do an excellent job with with what we

[1:44:02] offer to our community and I would love

[1:44:04] to think uh magnifying Miss Patrick's uh

[1:44:07] comments uh this is truly something that

[1:44:09] can last Generations it is and combining

[1:44:13] the the school district excuse me with

[1:44:16] Community College with what Union's done

[1:44:19] and their Outreach long before you were

[1:44:22] here Union was an island and you've done

[1:44:24] a great job Dr Harris in terms of

[1:44:26] integrating Union College and your

[1:44:28] students uh in our community and whether

[1:44:31] it's even doing the learn Escape program

[1:44:33] or the field hockey things I mean that's what we have to doing we can keep

[1:44:36] these alumni in town too it's important

[1:44:40] but I think it's right we this is a

[1:44:42] facility that we can really work with uh

[1:44:44] the school district if they want to do

[1:44:46] things you connected to Community

[1:44:48] College if they need a graduation place

[1:44:50] yeah uh I mean take a look at sky the

[1:44:53] limit we're going to look for for

[1:44:55] members of the community on how to make

[1:44:57] this work we got to pay for itself but

[1:44:59] we're looking for people and ideas and

[1:45:01] Joe some of yours were good ideas as

[1:45:03] well Mr M yeah I just want to EO to add

[1:45:07] to Mr party talking about economic

[1:45:10] impact gener and going back to the

[1:45:13] casino um the only remaining city

[1:45:15] council member who voted for the casino

[1:45:17] and still here and at that time we talk

[1:45:19] about the EC impact the casino is going

[1:45:22] to bring to the city and over the year

[1:45:24] we have we have seen that and we

[1:45:25] continue to see the impact that the

[1:45:27] casino project brought to the

[1:45:30] city uh the business that follows that

[1:45:34] you know trickle down to into the

[1:45:35] neighborhood into the other part of the

[1:45:37] city and I think another project like

[1:45:40] this here will also trigger that same

[1:45:42] sort of um you know outcome so listen to

[1:45:46] all the comments things that um you know

[1:45:49] it's something that's

[1:45:51] we I would definitely support we move

[1:45:55] forward with u funding this um project

[1:45:58] because looking at the outcome from the

[1:46:00] casino look at what happened and look

[1:46:02] what continue to happening into the city

[1:46:04] because of the casino and the other

[1:46:06] projects and with this project this even

[1:46:08] center with a capacity of 3,500 seaing

[1:46:12] we're talking about the impact of hotels

[1:46:14] restaurant and all these other stuff

[1:46:17] that is going to trickle behind that

[1:46:19] when the center is they to accommodate

[1:46:21] all these emails I appreciate the kind

[1:46:24] words I'm s of losing my voice okay um

[1:46:27] so you talk a lot about oh you talk a

[1:46:30] lot about there's more oh you need water

[1:46:32] you talked a lot about um the benefits

[1:46:35] to the community so is there an

[1:46:36] opportunity for a written Community

[1:46:38] benefits agreement to make sure that um

[1:46:40] those things are in place of course

[1:46:44] so I that I for one think that's very

[1:46:48] important um I think we've got to be

[1:46:51] uh I you have I don't mean the agreement

[1:46:53] with the Union that's different no we

[1:46:54] got to be cognant of the use of Union

[1:46:56] and that's their teams and their players

[1:46:59] um practices Etc but no this is this is

[1:47:01] a Comm the community is investing in

[1:47:04] this St yeah governor hok and Carl H

[1:47:07] investing in it I hope you guys invest

[1:47:09] in it Angelo Santa bber is investing in

[1:47:11] it I mean the governor wants to would

[1:47:14] she told me that I'd love to come out

[1:47:16] and and have a groundbreaking with us I

[1:47:17] mean think about it they loves

[1:47:19] connecting we we are a poster child if

[1:47:22] you read this the the the the budget or

[1:47:25] the State of the State she talked about

[1:47:27] skty as a model on how to develop in the

[1:47:30] inner city we got to be proud of that I

[1:47:35] am so um I know I'm not the only one

[1:47:38] that talks about Community benefits

[1:47:40] agreement so does anyone have anything

[1:47:41] that they want to talk about what that

[1:47:43] would need to look like because well

[1:47:45] just because I think that we need and

[1:47:46] nobody's trying to step on the toes of

[1:47:47] Union just so you know um but but while

[1:47:50] we're talking about Union and not again

[1:47:52] to put you on the spot

[1:47:54] um you you talked about a pilot so would

[1:47:57] with Union also and I guess I should

[1:47:59] look at you when I say this would there

[1:48:00] also be getting a will be be getting a

[1:48:02] pilot from Union that we're not we don't

[1:48:05] currently no Union is not this has

[1:48:07] nothing to do with a pilot for Union

[1:48:10] okay

[1:48:13] so it's not owned by if Union owned it

[1:48:16] they would need a pilot

[1:48:18] anyway no well I'm just if there was

[1:48:20] like some pilot coming I can ask that

[1:48:23] absolutely good questions uh but the

[1:48:26] benefit of putting their students and

[1:48:29] fans outside the campus I me we can go

[1:48:33] down the checklist and there's I I I I

[1:48:37] don't know if I can come up with

[1:48:39] something bad about this project there's

[1:48:42] a lot of projects that that that are bad

[1:48:44] I can't find one in all honesty and I've

[1:48:45] been developing since 1981 it's

[1:48:49] connecting

[1:48:52] which one Mr Toro did you have a hand up

[1:48:54] as well yeah I Mr Toro thank you I'd

[1:48:57] just like to thank uh Mr buo for your

[1:49:00] investment here in the city for the many

[1:49:03] projects that you undertake

[1:49:05] um by putting some are better than

[1:49:10] others uh the revenue uh that we have

[1:49:14] from the casino and hopefully revenue

[1:49:16] from The Event Center will just continue

[1:49:18] to always make us grow and look better

[1:49:20] so I thank you for your efforts and your

[1:49:23] dedication and your Devotion to our city

[1:49:26] I appreciate it but the revenue comes

[1:49:27] from the hotels it comes to the office

[1:49:29] buildings it comes from the apartments

[1:49:31] and we we've got I mean probably about

[1:49:33] 400 people they're all sked residents

[1:49:35] now they work for you they live in the

[1:49:38] apartment oh they live in the apartment

[1:49:39] well of course they are they but think

[1:49:41] about it look at look those are all new

[1:49:43] people condo I I love we brought in a

[1:49:47] lot of new people uh a lot of people

[1:49:49] from the National Guard live there and

[1:49:51] you know it's nice to see them walking

[1:49:53] around with their with their uniforms

[1:49:55] and their they have three dominations

[1:49:57] each anyway sorry about that Mr you

[1:50:00] mentioned about Community agreement what

[1:50:02] are you looking forward in terms of um

[1:50:04] have this in the resolution or have them

[1:50:06] I

[1:50:09] agreement I think that it has to be

[1:50:11] separate in apart than the resolution

[1:50:13] yes Mr you

[1:50:15] a go ahead and we do we add that into

[1:50:19] the resolution that the funding is

[1:50:21] contingent

[1:50:22] upon or make that part of your Grant I

[1:50:25] mean that

[1:50:27] right I agree contract for the money

[1:50:30] contract resolution tends to be more

[1:50:33] generic the contract thank you and we we

[1:50:36] can have clawbacks if we don't live up

[1:50:37] to it too which is great oh we'll put

[1:50:39] that in there

[1:50:40] too I should open I shouldn't open my

[1:50:44] mouth I'm sorry goad Mr far no no no I I

[1:50:48] think that you know what the point I was

[1:50:50] going to raise is kind of an answer I

[1:50:52] think that you know people understanding

[1:50:53] that there's various ways that such a

[1:50:55] project will um you know increase you

[1:50:58] know the quality of life for people

[1:51:00] living the city is connec he kind of

[1:51:02] having those things laid out um in in an

[1:51:05] informa of agreement um can also you

[1:51:08] know sh off uh the confidence for the

[1:51:10] people so again I appreciate your

[1:51:12] flexibility we can collaborate thing too

[1:51:14] and guess what it's some of it's going

[1:51:16] to be a little big because we don't know

[1:51:17] what we don't know yet this is nobody's

[1:51:20] one of these before I think the last one

[1:51:22] built the last one that's actually overw

[1:51:24] too and it was U uh the state gave him a

[1:51:27] lot of money to do that

[1:51:28] one uh but ever around here GL fall cers

[1:51:32] the last thing brother that was long

[1:51:33] time ago excuse

[1:51:35] me so um we need um this is actually a

[1:51:40] question for the council we need to talk

[1:51:41] about what those what the people looking

[1:51:44] for in terms of the community agre I

[1:51:46] mean you brought up one in terms of

[1:51:47] could we use but we need to have that

[1:51:49] language in time for um for you to put

[1:51:52] together the resolution or

[1:51:54] no the resolution would be more generic

[1:51:57] the actual contract for the allocation

[1:52:00] of money is more specific okay so I

[1:52:03] definitely say we would need that um in

[1:52:06] order to to move forward and then and Mr

[1:52:10] um so those those storms those storms

[1:52:13] will be in the contract contract yes so

[1:52:15] we could move forward tonight yeah I

[1:52:17] know I understand that and Mr buo has

[1:52:21] generously said that we can put in if it

[1:52:23] doesn't happen they'll Rec clbs he said

[1:52:24] it I

[1:52:26] didn't um you listen to it can we add

[1:52:30] the special meeting I'm sorry can we add

[1:52:33] to the special

[1:52:34] meeting oh oh

[1:52:37] so Mr um Mr Williams is asking if we

[1:52:40] could have that discussion about what

[1:52:41] we'd want to see into the special

[1:52:42] meeting about the ARA so I'm open to

[1:52:45] that but we could definitely um move

[1:52:47] this tonight but we should have that

[1:52:48] conversation about what that means to

[1:52:49] look like that the language yes yes

[1:52:52] that's MH yeah I'm fine if there so I'm

[1:52:56] willing to move this I'll second it all

[1:52:59] in favor

[1:53:01] I all right you can you can

[1:53:04] go want leave your voice is bothering

[1:53:06] you so we're done thank you all I

[1:53:09] appreciate it's

[1:53:13] exciting all right um oh one more before

[1:53:17] there so discussion on the more and the

[1:53:20] ba shops yes Toro uh yes so uh this is a

[1:53:24] followup from the moratorium I put

[1:53:26] through in that I asked for in July of

[1:53:30] 200 uh 23 so there's been actually an

[1:53:34] uptick in um shops that have opened um

[1:53:38] within the city and I get uh increase in

[1:53:42] residents concern about 2 3 4 in a

[1:53:46] neighborhood um uh so we all know that

[1:53:49] uh flavored Vates and smokes are legal

[1:53:52] in New York state and the health

[1:53:54] department is doing their job with

[1:53:56] sanitarians that are going into these uh

[1:53:59] into these Stores um and Cora market and

[1:54:03] um doing a job as far as the illegal

[1:54:05] part of it I'd like to see a moratorium

[1:54:08] imposed for 6 months so we continue so

[1:54:11] we can continue working on uh the zoning

[1:54:14] of uh where where we'd like these shops

[1:54:16] to be

[1:54:17] placed um

[1:54:20] and uh continue with uh with our codes

[1:54:24] Department to go in and uh to see uh to

[1:54:27] make sure they're all compliant um out

[1:54:30] of the many um shops that uh our code

[1:54:34] department has visited since uh July of

[1:54:37] last year um the uh smoke and vape shots

[1:54:42] have not even uh followed through with

[1:54:44] any of the compliance so most of them uh

[1:54:47] on our list are still in violation so so

[1:54:50] um I would like to uh see if we can uh

[1:54:53] impose a moratorium for 6 months can you

[1:54:56] explain again what you said about the

[1:54:57] health department I don't see that here

[1:54:58] in in this writing no it's just I've

[1:55:00] been uh doing some followup uh with the

[1:55:02] health department um to make sure that

[1:55:05] um you know because like I say flavored

[1:55:07] uh smoke and Vapes are illegal Menthol

[1:55:10] and flavored Vapes and cigarettes are

[1:55:12] illegal in New York state so I followed

[1:55:14] up with the health department and they

[1:55:16] are on their part doing uh you know uh V

[1:55:20] uh imposing fines and violations on some

[1:55:23] of these places where they find them

[1:55:25] it's $100 a day for any uh flavored Vape

[1:55:29] that they find in a in a store and it

[1:55:31] can date back as long as it can be

[1:55:33] proved with like maybe sometimes even

[1:55:36] 3040 $50,000 in fines that are imposed

[1:55:39] so um so who gets the money County it's

[1:55:44] well it's the county dep County so

[1:55:50] anyway so so needs to get in on this

[1:55:53] yeah that is being that is being done

[1:55:55] and I'd like to just see that the

[1:55:57] moratorium is imposed for uh 6 months so

[1:56:00] again we can continue working on our

[1:56:02] zoning and uh just so my question um

[1:56:07] first is do we have a list of of the

[1:56:12] um ones like you said they're doing this

[1:56:14] is there a list of the ones in concy

[1:56:16] that we have do we have that oh joh send

[1:56:18] us one we

[1:56:20] that we in various stages well we we do

[1:56:22] I I and I have to apologize because I

[1:56:24] don't know the uh I forget the uh G the

[1:56:26] head of code now um but I did yes all

[1:56:29] right no I meant the list from the state

[1:56:31] you said the state's going in do we have

[1:56:32] a list from the state of on they've done

[1:56:33] its connecting no it's it's the county

[1:56:36] is I do not have a list of the county ones because it's a whole

[1:56:40] separate deal I mean that's for them

[1:56:42] being illegal they're not illegal to

[1:56:46] open they're just not in compliance

[1:56:48] right now and I and they're in different

[1:56:50] neighborhoods where a lot of the

[1:56:52] residents are complaining so I just want

[1:56:54] to take care of that part for us okay Mr

[1:56:58] you know I was just going to Echo that

[1:56:59] Soo I did follow um the from the mayor's

[1:57:02] um office and um everybody has a copy of

[1:57:05] it in terms of where they are in terms

[1:57:06] of their um enforcement enforcement and

[1:57:10] I think um I wish it can go faster but

[1:57:14] you know things happen and I heard that

[1:57:16] there also some um in the clerk's office

[1:57:19] there's some application in there also

[1:57:21] uh do we have like a count of how much

[1:57:23] do that so um so the the let me just be

[1:57:26] clear the applications in the clerk

[1:57:28] office are for cannabis

[1:57:30] licenses and um not for smoke shops uh

[1:57:33] we if we want to find out any smoke

[1:57:35] shops are in the pipeline that would

[1:57:36] have to come from the Department of

[1:57:38] development so and speaking about the

[1:57:40] Cannabis um there was 17 the last time I

[1:57:43] looked I don't know what if that number

[1:57:44] has

[1:57:45] increased 17 appli shs in the city yes

[1:57:50] but there's you know um but they can't

[1:57:53] just open like that they have to go

[1:57:54] through a whole process to the state of

[1:57:56] New York and all of that so um and when

[1:57:59] I looked only one person actually had a

[1:58:01] license they all filled out the

[1:58:02] paperwork because they're trying to hold

[1:58:03] their place but only one person actually

[1:58:06] had their license from the state of New

[1:58:07] York and the ones that I looked at but I

[1:58:09] was trying to hold their place but keep

[1:58:11] in mind that this that with um cannabis

[1:58:14] the office of cannabis management

[1:58:15] already put in some things that can

[1:58:17] can't you can't even though you we say

[1:58:18] 17

[1:58:19] they can't be within uh I think a thous

[1:58:21] a th000 ft of each other and all that so

[1:58:24] there are 17 right now applications of

[1:58:26] people

[1:58:28] are anticipating and hoping that they

[1:58:30] can open um Cannabis shops that but this

[1:58:32] is that's different than than the smoke

[1:58:34] shops which are currently open is there

[1:58:37] a limit on the Cannabis shops that the

[1:58:39] state gave

[1:58:42] us

[1:58:45] oh that

[1:58:47] impulse myal ran ran out about an hour

[1:58:51] ago

[1:58:52] Mr is is there a a limit on the amount

[1:58:56] of cannabis shops that can open you know

[1:58:59] that's a question actually I think for

[1:59:01] the office of cansas business management

[1:59:02] I don't so let me just just really

[1:59:04] quickly up to date we've been working on

[1:59:06] zoning I don't know where it is at this

[1:59:08] point in time where they can go um you

[1:59:11] know we've had a change in Corporation

[1:59:12] Council so I'm not sure where that is

[1:59:14] right now but one of the reasons we

[1:59:15] didn't do the moratorium before is we

[1:59:17] were moving ahead with uh enforcement

[1:59:20] and we were moving ahead with putting a

[1:59:22] zoning in place so that we could control

[1:59:25] that so at this point in time um the

[1:59:28] zoning

[1:59:29] is is not done yet okay the zoning

[1:59:33] moratorium has to be in place and then

[1:59:35] the zoning will follow behind it doesn't

[1:59:37] have to be but it could be it could be

[1:59:39] but Mor but you had to put the U the

[1:59:42] moratorium so you can work on the

[1:59:44] ordinance and then present that while

[1:59:48] your if you wait if you do the zoning

[1:59:51] afterwards it becomes a non-conforming

[1:59:53] use you don't have the ability to

[1:59:55] displace the business absent some

[1:59:58] financial compensation well then the let

[2:00:01] me just add Mr I'm sorry Mr Williams had

[2:00:03] his hand and then Mr M Mr Williams yes I

[2:00:06] would say the context in which we

[2:00:08] entered I think the council electing not

[2:00:09] to proceed with the moratorium was based

[2:00:11] on relying on or allowing enforcement to

[2:00:15] um reestablish itself within the city

[2:00:16] and I think to miss porterfield's Point

[2:00:18] since there's some staffing changes that

[2:00:21] process has been disrupted so I think it

[2:00:23] is um warranted Mr Toro to bring back

[2:00:26] this this uh item of re-evaluating

[2:00:29] proceeding with the moratorium and I

[2:00:31] think that again to to your point sir it

[2:00:33] allows us the opportunity to reevaluate

[2:00:36] and allows um our Corporation Council to

[2:00:38] um get herself acclimated with our

[2:00:40] zoning um so I think we left off with

[2:00:42] corridors um but again until that

[2:00:45] framework until that uh wording is

[2:00:48] established we are then allowing any any

[2:00:50] business to function at will so I think

[2:00:52] it's i i would support one Mr M yeah no

[2:00:57] I'm going through this um legislation

[2:00:59] here the legislative request and the

[2:01:02] proposal is for um 6 months MH is that

[2:01:06] too much of time to to get all pick up

[2:01:10] here stopped off and let move forward in

[2:01:13] terms of continue where the previous

[2:01:16] cooperation Council left uh would 3

[2:01:19] months be enough to to to get that sort

[2:01:22] out them back to us for

[2:01:24] approval um we we can try uh I mean we

[2:01:27] have to draft the legislation and it has

[2:01:29] to come before Council and there may be

[2:01:31] amendments so it may take more than 3

[2:01:35] months um go ahead Mr M more than three

[2:01:39] mons but is is there something already

[2:01:42] draft yes uh yeah we do have I think we

[2:01:44] do have a draft absolutely so I think 3

[2:01:47] months is 3 months that because there's

[2:01:49] a draft it just need to come back to us

[2:01:51] we review get back to you any changes

[2:01:53] and then move forward in a in a couple

[2:01:55] cycle So within a month time we can roll

[2:01:58] that for six

[2:02:01] weeks um I think Mr Tor had a hand up

[2:02:07] so and the other um legal part can be

[2:02:10] put on hold all the application right

[2:02:14] for the certificates of use yes we can

[2:02:16] put on hold for the yeah for the shops

[2:02:19] and everything else that hear so

[2:02:21] everything that was filed we just put

[2:02:22] stop the clock well even if it's already

[2:02:25] been filed

[2:02:29] yes have to look at each one what the

[2:02:32] status is might be some way administra

[2:02:35] we hold or whether we be acting in an

[2:02:37] arbitrary or capricious manner yeah

[2:02:40] that's why I wanted to address that

[2:02:42] because in this recomendation here it

[2:02:44] did ask for that the whole all

[2:02:46] application yes it specifically said um

[2:02:50] no new applications but no previously

[2:02:52] submitted applications shall be accepted

[2:02:54] or even processed so even though we're

[2:02:56] already submitted the application and

[2:02:58] we've accepted them you're asking that

[2:03:00] they not be processed is that what is

[2:03:02] that what ask I just want to make sure

[2:03:04] that the ask so just just follow on a

[2:03:07] legal standpoint I don't think we can do

[2:03:08] that but if you can just I have to take

[2:03:11] follow and get back to us on that and

[2:03:14] you know my I think I think we already

[2:03:16] have the draft 3 months is good time for

[2:03:19] us to to get it back on the Barner and

[2:03:22] let's move forward with it I'm in favor

[2:03:25] of us hold it for 3 months um and along

[2:03:29] with that if if if we if 3 months isn't

[2:03:32] we can always extend it that's correct

[2:03:34] that we don't get there in three months

[2:03:35] Mr Man was your hand up you just around

[2:03:39] Mr turo Mr turo yes so um I I would

[2:03:42] still like to push for the 6 months only

[2:03:44] because we we we did most of us did meet

[2:03:46] with development um and and uh kind of

[2:03:50] uh I put an overlay on where we would

[2:03:52] like to these uh shops developed with 17

[2:03:55] cannabis applications I I do separate in

[2:03:58] the part I I know it is but I'm going to

[2:04:00] speak on that for one moment thank you

[2:04:02] um with 17 cannabis applications it

[2:04:05] seems as though and and and I've done

[2:04:07] some research where these smoke and vape

[2:04:09] shops kind of hover around um if we just

[2:04:11] look on Upper Union Street there's four

[2:04:14] and then one up a little further in Nuna

[2:04:17] um so I I would just like

[2:04:19] again for us to take our time and

[2:04:21] consider where we want these smoke and

[2:04:23] vape shops to be popping up so again I

[2:04:26] would like to just push for the six

[2:04:28] months and coration Corporation Council

[2:04:31] has a yes you have

[2:04:34] something um Mr Mr Ryan oh so yeah we

[2:04:38] were saying that we can uh we can bring

[2:04:41] the uh the draft to you for the next

[2:04:44] legislative cycle so that you can review

[2:04:46] it um for the moror yes for the moror

[2:04:49] and then we can start reviewing the Zing

[2:04:55] all right Miss Patrick you have your

[2:04:56] hand up I just think I think there's a

[2:05:00] lot of a lot here um and so I would want

[2:05:03] to stick with the six months as well I

[2:05:05] mean I don't know if others are hearing

[2:05:07] the same numbers of complaints um but I

[2:05:11] definitely regularly hear complaints

[2:05:13] about the numbers of smoke shops and V

[2:05:15] vape shops that are popping up um so I

[2:05:19] think the six months is reasonable

[2:05:20] actually um but I do support this um

[2:05:25] hear what other people want to say but

[2:05:28] um I I would like to stick with the six

[2:05:30] months as well it just seems like

[2:05:32] there's a lot that we have to that we

[2:05:34] have to

[2:05:34] do I don't know well I would I would say

[2:05:37] that I want I would prefer to go with

[2:05:39] the three months if we need an extension

[2:05:40] do it because we already had the we

[2:05:43] we've been working on this for some time

[2:05:45] there was a lot of work done we went to

[2:05:47] meet so there's a lot of work that's

[2:05:49] that that Corporation Council is not

[2:05:50] going to have to do because it's already

[2:05:51] been done we already gave our input with

[2:05:53] the exception of course of our newest

[2:05:55] council member so and again if we go

[2:05:57] three months and we're able to make that

[2:05:59] deadline which I would hope that we can

[2:06:01] work through that and get that done then

[2:06:03] if we're not there then we have an

[2:06:04] opportunity for an extension I'm sorry

[2:06:06] Mr M yeah and the draft is already in

[2:06:08] place even they overlay the map the

[2:06:11] draft of the legislation is already in

[2:06:13] place it just need to to pick up the

[2:06:14] speed that we're left off and kind of

[2:06:16] put it together and bring it back to us

[2:06:18] which is kind of in agreement here in

[2:06:21] terms of that and three months is good I

[2:06:23] mean in the past I didn't support it

[2:06:25] because there was an enforcement code

[2:06:27] enforcement but we have change in

[2:06:28] staffing change in Staffing so I cannot

[2:06:32] stand on the fence and says well I'm not

[2:06:33] supporting it at this point of time

[2:06:35] because we need to give both Department

[2:06:37] time to bring it back to us with updated

[2:06:41] um

[2:06:42] narratives and so we do need to clarify

[2:06:45] whether or not it's um we can legally

[2:06:47] stop the application that are in process

[2:06:50] yeah follow

[2:06:51] up okay so and that will that be

[2:06:54] clarified then in the resolution whether

[2:06:55] because if we can't then it won't be a

[2:06:57] part of that we or could you just

[2:06:58] clarify with the council just um you can

[2:07:00] send it to miss mik and she'll send it

[2:07:02] out to all of us whether or not that can

[2:07:03] even be a part of the leg um the

[2:07:06] resolution that we put forward

[2:07:07] absolutely are there other questions

[2:07:11] concerns okay so at this point in time

[2:07:14] go ahead we'll move uh for three months

[2:07:18] moratorium for 3

[2:07:20] months contingent inability for

[2:07:23] applications correct that's correct yes

[2:07:25] than second all in favor I okay three

[2:07:31] months okay um did that so the last four

[2:07:35] items on the agenda are all property

[2:07:37] sales which have to be done in the

[2:07:39] executive session so all members of the

[2:07:41] public will have to

[2:07:47] leave

[2:07:50] he

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, February 5, 2024

Transcript