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[5:24] we have we can use one that's right I'd

[5:27] like to call to or City conect city

[5:30] council committee meeting for Monday May

[5:32] 6 2024 the first thing on the item on

[5:34] the agenda is a

[5:36] presentation for the adoption of the Al

[5:39] and crane streets complete Street study

[5:41] uh Mr

[5:44] W thank

[5:46] you

[5:48] um as you see on your screens the uh

[5:51] City's connected receive funding through

[5:53] a linkage study program linkage studies

[5:56] are administered by the capital region

[5:58] Transportation Council Council formerly

[6:00] known as the Capital District

[6:02] transportation committee uh they went

[6:04] through a rebranding due to some

[6:05] confusion with the cbta so um linkage

[6:09] studies are um ideas federally funded

[6:12] where the idea is to do a study and to

[6:16] see um the merits of a project and to

[6:18] try to flush out a project prior to

[6:20] going actually for any kind of federal

[6:22] funding

[6:30] to hit

[6:42] this there we go so before this we had a

[6:44] project team uh project team was cap

[6:47] region Transportation Council the uh

[6:50] city is connected Alex fire Rec for team

[6:51] fromo syvia uh myself and uh even

[6:54] Christen de when she was here we had a

[6:56] design team with fuss and O'Neal landard

[6:58] Studios Mutual design great Manning

[7:00] engineering and then we had a study

[7:02] advisory committee study advisory

[7:03] committee is is very important um as

[7:06] they're usually made up of of the

[7:08] stakeholders and the investors in the

[7:10] area um they are essentially that bridge

[7:13] between the public necessarily and the

[7:16] city staff uh so we had a meeting with

[7:18] the study advisory committee as well um

[7:21] to a brief agenda overview with the

[7:23] existing conditions Al Street Crane

[7:24] Street christler remain have

[7:27] Concepts um I'll show you the study area

[7:29] probably have came before so the study

[7:31] area you see here is Albany Street from

[7:35] verer Avenue to Brandy line Crane Street

[7:37] from Broadway up to O strander Norwood

[7:41] uh Chrysler Avenue and Maine as you see

[7:44] uh so most St primar on Pleasant but

[7:47] then there is that Corridor and

[7:50] Hamilton um so what is a complete Street uh is where we no longer

[7:56] just think of a roadway as a place for

[7:58] vehicles so a roadway is a place for

[8:02] pedestrians Vehicles bicyclists dog

[8:04] walkers it is a people place for people

[8:06] to sit it should be inviting it should

[8:08] be safe um complete Street studies um

[8:11] really came around in the last decade um

[8:13] if you've seen intersections that were

[8:15] built in the 80s usually that was before

[8:17] complete streets that's why a lot of

[8:19] things that were built in the 70s and '

[8:20] 80s come out very cold a lot of concrete

[8:22] not a lot of those complete streets

[8:24] thing elements in it last complete

[8:26] streets study that we did was the

[8:28] linkage study for right in Maine and we

[8:31] are implementing that now so you know

[8:33] this is something that we are familiar

[8:35] with um safety assessment so working

[8:38] with the SPD we did uh you know safety

[8:40] assessment of crashes in the areas so

[8:42] you see the the left figure that is the Crane Street Corridor and the upper

[8:47] right that that red and uh blue line is

[8:49] Albany Street so you see it was a high

[8:51] segment of crashes 20% of injury right

[8:54] angle uh and then they had the BCE

[8:56] crashes uh greater number on Aly Street

[8:58] which is 14 key um and you know we like

[9:01] to say that these corridors these are commercial corridors in the

[9:04] neighborhoods and we are seeing

[9:06] investments into them so you see the

[9:08] library um we have the new depal housing

[9:10] project Mosaic Apartments uh so there

[9:12] are things happening on all of these

[9:14] areas these are commercial corers um and

[9:17] one of the things that we're trying to

[9:18] break out of like we like to call it is

[9:20] this vicious vicious circle of Po

[9:22] walking and driving commission so if you

[9:24] see up here you know everything has to

[9:27] work together to really make it an

[9:29] impact if you have no curbs then you

[9:31] have people who Park up on the sidewalks

[9:34] then you have people that don't walk on

[9:35] the sidewalk so they may walk in the

[9:37] road uh if you don't have the street

[9:39] trees and you have what visually

[9:41] perceived is a wide Corridor so parking

[9:45] uh you know not parking but speeds may

[9:47] go up so you know these are some uh

[9:49] sample conditions along the corridor of

[9:51] what we have and then you know this is

[9:53] the impacts we're saying unsafe walking

[9:56] uh lack of shade really unsightly you

[9:59] know that's one of the things that we

[10:00] get is that you know some of our street

[10:01] corridors are unsightly a lot of

[10:04] increased speeds uh and you know promote

[10:06] speeding crashs and uh and bicyclist

[10:09] don't like it as much so one of the

[10:11] biggest things that we always do and I

[10:12] think SCCY really stands out when we do

[10:14] our projects is our community engagement

[10:17] um we really strive with Community

[10:19] engagement a lot of shetes um there was

[10:22] even more information in this

[10:23] presentation which I kind of took out

[10:25] because I wanted to make this you know a

[10:26] quicker presentation and all the

[10:28] information is within the report itself

[10:30] but these are just some samples of what

[10:31] we did we do a lot with interaction

[10:34] putting stickers on boards trying to see

[10:37] um what people really want to see out of

[10:39] the community and out of the project so

[10:42] you know how we have our public Outreach

[10:43] we did a lot of public Outreach things

[10:45] we did meetings in both Hamilton Hill

[10:48] and Mount Pleasant we did not pick one

[10:49] location and say come to this we wanted

[10:51] to make sure that we had locations in

[10:53] both neighborhoods so we met at the

[10:55] library we also met at Community

[10:56] Ministries on all street so we went

[10:58] there we also had our stakeholder

[11:00] meetings there which were valuable um

[11:03] and then additionally we conducted like

[11:06] we talked about the more Focus

[11:07] stakeholders meetings and the

[11:09] stakeholders were with um neighborhood leaders and uh like it says

[11:14] Emergency Services we met with both the

[11:16] police and the fire department we met

[11:17] with the CDTA we've had meetings with

[11:19] the school district so we really wanted

[11:21] to make sure that we engage with

[11:23] everyone in this project um there you

[11:25] see a picture of morrice you know he was

[11:27] out with the development tent you know

[11:28] we're really trying to get to people one

[11:30] of the things that we have to do is we

[11:32] have to find you you know we set up

[11:34] these tents on the corridors and we go

[11:36] right to you and we try to engage with

[11:38] you just because we know that it's

[11:40] difficult for people to understand and

[11:41] coming to us so you see that here

[11:44] collaborating with youth uh we work with

[11:46] youth and we help hand out Flyers Flyers

[11:48] try to drive you to the website when you

[11:50] get to the website try to get some

[11:51] interaction from them uh to fill out

[11:53] some of our survey about what they'd

[11:55] like to see um this is another uh sh on

[11:58] Albany Street where we were just trying

[11:59] to get people who were on Albany Street

[12:01] to go through and and tell us what they

[12:03] thought of their Concepts um and then we

[12:07] have uh this was the one another one on

[12:09] Crane Street where we have this was out

[12:10] in front of the library where we're

[12:12] still trying to get people to put down

[12:14] their ideas uh and see what this

[12:17] Corridor could

[12:19] be so uh I will say go into the design

[12:22] recommendations I will say one of the

[12:24] outcomes uh that I will say with Albany

[12:26] Street in particular was Al Street a lot

[12:29] of people on that road felt that Albany

[12:31] Street was the backyard of State Street

[12:34] that State Street was the front the

[12:37] facades the businesses and a lot of Aly

[12:40] Street was just the rear end and the

[12:42] access and the parking so we did we did

[12:44] try to take note of that so we have our

[12:47] design representations uh like I said

[12:50] before and all the graphical uh

[12:51] information all the backup to this

[12:54] there's you know numerous appendices and

[12:55] things that can be found in the report

[12:57] itself so the first road that we start

[12:59] with is Aly Street I apologize for the

[13:01] size because we just did it but I'll

[13:03] just kind of summarize here that let

[13:06] again a lot of people just felt like Al

[13:08] Street wasn't focused um here what we

[13:10] have is we're going to start on beater

[13:12] and we're just going to work our way up

[13:13] to Brandy Wine so if you can see uh on

[13:16] the right one of the things that we're

[13:17] looking to implement was what's called a

[13:19] climbing Lane for bicycles so we don't

[13:22] have a lot of real estate on Albany

[13:23] Street so coming down Albany Street

[13:26] keeping up with traffic and feeling

[13:28] comfortable go is fine but going up

[13:30] Albany Street where you're probably a

[13:31] little bit more struggling as opposed to

[13:33] a car to get up that grade we proposed a

[13:36] climbing Lane which you can see on the

[13:38] bottom right climbing Lane goes all the

[13:40] way from verer up to Craig Street uh you

[13:42] can see another example here and at

[13:44] Craig street we would then transition to

[13:46] our Craig Street Corridor where we're

[13:47] going to have our cycle track and more

[13:49] bike infrastructure uh and then

[13:51] something like this we did meet with the

[13:52] owner of Newest Lunch because Newest

[13:54] Lunch is one of the highest volume

[13:56] turnover of parking and we talked to him

[13:58] about how we try widen and not impact

[14:00] his uh his parking so he was a active

[14:03] par participant in this um one of the

[14:06] things too you'll see is a theme as we

[14:07] go is a lot of trees curb and sidewalk

[14:10] um that's just a theme throughout that

[14:12] having as much trees curb and sidewalk

[14:14] as

[14:15] possible um so here you see Albany

[14:17] Street going up to Craig you still see

[14:19] the climbing Lane strike parking another

[14:21] thing you're going to see a lot of is

[14:23] striped parking um the striped parking

[14:26] gives that visual cue that the lane

[14:28] isn't twice as wide as it needs to be

[14:30] the strike parking shows that this is

[14:32] the lane and this is the parking and to

[14:34] try to really visually neck you down um

[14:37] then you have the next segment which is

[14:38] Craig the hin and you see there's not

[14:40] too much going on here it's just more

[14:43] streetcape trying to widen the parking

[14:46] you can see one of the things that we

[14:48] fight on all of these is the utility

[14:50] poles you can see these unique little

[14:51] bump outs it's a concept I'm sure that

[14:54] I'd have to talk to Paul about something

[14:55] like that because of the you know

[14:57] uniqueness of having that but trying to

[15:00] move utility poles and utility poles on

[15:02] all these corridors are you know they

[15:04] are a hindrance especially look of the

[15:06] wires and things like that and how they

[15:07] also affect you from actually planting

[15:09] trees um then when we get up to stuben uh anyone's familiar with the

[15:15] corridor stuen is kind of a transitional

[15:18] Street on Albany uh stuen down uh to

[15:23] verer it's more of your mixed use

[15:25] commercial Corridor you have a lot of

[15:27] businesses and things going on but

[15:29] stuen to Brandy Wine it is mostly

[15:32] residential multifam homes and that's

[15:35] where you're seeing a lot of parking on

[15:36] the sidewalk and a lot of the the

[15:39] quality of the neighborhood just isn't

[15:41] up to up to task because of you know

[15:43] some of these things that we're talking

[15:44] about so you if you can see that we're

[15:45] really trying to focus on establishing

[15:47] that straight curved line planting grass

[15:50] trees and really trying to reestablish

[15:52] the sidewalk on Aly street so then as we

[15:55] move to um Crane Street Crane Street we

[15:59] tried and we talked about you know

[16:00] Craner same thing big hill going all the

[16:02] way up not enough real estate to put in

[16:04] something like a climbing Lane but still

[16:06] to put in there the the parking area

[16:10] striping and some Street trees and and

[16:14] Landscaping um and as you see as we go

[16:16] up that's really the focus on this

[16:18] Corridor is to just better Define the

[16:20] curve lines the parking lanes and and

[16:23] try to add those Street trees into the

[16:25] corridor so it is a business Corridor um

[16:28] we did work work with Metroplex on this

[16:30] Corridor as we get out because they are

[16:32] always involved in our in our commercial

[16:34] and business districts but not too many

[16:37] substantial changes to Crane Street uh

[16:40] as you go now this portion here you'll

[16:42] see the intersection the intersection is

[16:44] actually part of the project that we're

[16:46] actively pursuing right now which is to

[16:48] improve the crane price to main

[16:51] intersection that project is underd

[16:53] design and that was funded partially

[16:55] through a Sam Grant from Santa Barbara's

[16:58] office so what you see in the upper

[16:59] right corner that or some configuration

[17:02] of that is actually taking place because

[17:04] that is probably the most important

[17:07] Lynch pin in all of this is to make sure

[17:09] we get that intersection safe because it

[17:11] is a very unique and I wouldn't say a

[17:14] great intersection in the city um next

[17:17] we

[17:18] have I'm sorry

[17:20] crane we on crane again this is just

[17:23] continuing up with the same so I just

[17:26] kind of interest of time so so price Avenue was an interesting one that

[17:30] we're hoping to do sooner than later if

[17:32] anyone's familiar with Chrysler Avenue is a very odd Street

[17:35] between Norwood and Crane Street it is a

[17:38] two-way road that is extremely narrow um

[17:41] we met with the fire department the

[17:43] police department and the school

[17:45] district and we are looking to make

[17:47] Chrysler Avenue one way from the

[17:50] intersection crane to norw um and that

[17:53] would allow us you see you see how tight

[17:55] that top visual is with the two vehicles

[17:57] in the parking we we are looking to keep

[18:00] the width uh do a better job defining it

[18:03] stripe parking and have it one way uh

[18:05] out of the intersection not into the

[18:08] intersection um that does work that was

[18:10] the preferable way for emergency

[18:12] services because they're mostly coming

[18:14] from the intersection in so they don't

[18:17] have to loop around they can actually go

[18:18] and then the Bus Loop um luckily they

[18:21] have uh both Maple and norw they can Loop it okay around there so we

[18:25] did meet with the school district's bus

[18:27] because this is the area that they're

[18:29] looking to turn into the Freshman

[18:30] Academy so we wanted to be with them but

[18:33] when it comes to recommendations this is

[18:35] one that is higher on the list and also

[18:38] with a lower cost because you know we

[18:40] can make it one way with just an act of

[18:42] legislation uh and some

[18:44] signs um similar with Main Avenue Main

[18:47] Avenue this is a kind of a hold over

[18:50] from the Craig main study but we really

[18:52] wanted to look into this one more Main

[18:54] Avenue we have two concepts uh that we

[18:57] haven't decided on what's going to I

[18:58] just want to also say that what we're

[19:00] doing today is it's a study it's a

[19:04] grouping of ideas and guidelines to go

[19:06] forward this is not a commitment of

[19:09] funding this is not anything that you

[19:11] know there would still be design and all

[19:12] so on Main Avenue we couldn't really

[19:14] make a decision on which way to go so we

[19:17] left both in so you see here we call

[19:19] this option three on Main Avenue which

[19:21] was to um narrow the road a little bit

[19:25] eliminate the on street parking between

[19:26] where you see Crane and will it add some

[19:28] Street trees uh and then on the op will

[19:31] at the forest where there was some

[19:33] parking they Remain the parking but they

[19:35] still try to widen it so we can get the

[19:37] street trees we can see the unique

[19:38] little bump out for the utility poles so

[19:42] on this one you know the pedestrians are

[19:44] on the sidewalk and everyone else shares

[19:47] the road on the other option that we had

[19:49] uh option two you can see that the trees

[19:53] are removed but we have more of a shared

[19:55] path uh trying to allow a spot for

[19:57] bicycles um we were trying to do

[20:00] something where we could have a oneway

[20:02] with bicycles in the roadway with a

[20:03] shared Lane but it got very complex uh

[20:07] because then the other way was to send

[20:08] them on to Forest Road Forest Road is a

[20:10] very busy road um with the bridge

[20:12] traffic and everything we weren't

[20:13] comfortable sending them there so we

[20:15] were trying to find the best way to

[20:16] connect Craig Street where Mount

[20:19] Pleasant and pleas Valley Elementary

[20:21] School are to the corridor so this was

[20:24] one of the options that we have here was

[20:25] to just narrow the road and try to widen

[20:28] the sidewalk as much as possible to get

[20:30] some of that space for bicycles so

[20:32] that's why with this one there's the the

[20:34] two options um implementation like I

[20:37] said this is It's a study it's something

[20:40] that we wanted to do we feel that crane

[20:43] Albany and and cray we really feel that

[20:45] this was uh an area that we wanted to

[20:47] focus on that's why we've investing so

[20:49] much time and resources into the area um

[20:52] what we have right here I know it's hard

[20:53] to read this is our implementation chart

[20:56] um it has rough cost figures the ISS is is that you know cost figures are

[21:01] okay today but by the time these things

[21:03] are implemented they're you know they're

[21:04] old um we are looking to do like I said

[21:08] cryor Avenue uh when we do part of the

[21:10] crane main intersection however if you

[21:12] can look cost for things like Albany

[21:15] Street you're you're over $7 million

[21:17] because Albany Street I mean it's a long

[21:20] Corridor it's commercial Corridor Albany

[21:22] Street is very long Crane Street

[21:23] similarly it's probably three4 size $5

[21:26] million so um the priority ation that we

[21:29] said is we really wanted to focus on

[21:30] Maine and Chrysler we think that those

[21:32] have the most overlap between all the

[21:34] projects and they also are one of the

[21:36] lower cost and then move into kind of

[21:40] discussing what we want to do with

[21:41] Albany and Crane Street however I would

[21:46] say that there isn't at this Venture and

[21:48] this you know a an application or

[21:50] anything that we have to go forward with

[21:52] it um it's just it's kind of just an

[21:56] idea of what we could do uh when

[21:58] necessary and some of the things that we

[22:00] talked about too were um you know local

[22:03] funding uh you know me and the team here

[22:05] were pretty good at finding funding

[22:07] sources so we usually get together but

[22:09] you know not to not to say Craig Street

[22:12] did take us a while to put together what

[22:14] they call the funding quilt for that

[22:16] project and it end up being a it's going

[22:18] to be about a $10 million project when

[22:20] it's all said and done the dot just uh

[22:22] added some more money to it to fix the

[22:24] bridge more it's their Bridge we're

[22:26] going to help fix it they're going to

[22:27] pay for it um so there's a lot in there

[22:31] and then we have the idea of you know

[22:33] maintenance uh snow pling maintenance

[22:35] tree maintenance you know trying to make

[22:37] sure we put the right things in place in

[22:39] the right areas uh when we get there um

[22:42] you I would love to see less utility

[22:44] lines and more trees but that's just not what we have sometimes in the city

[22:48] um and they do get in the way of trying

[22:50] to you know have a

[22:52] more green and wash landscape when we

[22:55] get into our commercial corridors I

[22:57] always know that I would love to see you

[22:58] know Eastern Avenue with less lines you

[23:01] know and less and less power lines and

[23:03] things like that so this is a quick

[23:06] 15min recap uh if anybody has any

[23:08] questions now I could I could take them

[23:10] over what what we're talking about so um

[23:12] first of all I want to thank you and the

[23:13] team that you been working with I know

[23:15] this has been year project that's G

[23:17] years for all the work and it's um I'm

[23:19] happy to see it's finally coming to um

[23:22] for fruition and I also um want to thank

[23:24] you for making sure that the community

[23:26] was is was engaged I think that's huge

[23:28] part of making sure what the end result

[23:30] is is something that the community you

[23:32] know supports and it just works the

[23:34] people's lives and I think that the the

[23:36] team being you know with mutual design

[23:38] and Jo how and everyone coming uh from

[23:41] the Craig Street project really has a a

[23:43] field for how to engage with the

[23:44] community and I really think from that

[23:47] the SKC has been doing a really cutting

[23:50] Ed's job of really trying to engage

[23:51] people and do something different you

[23:53] know uh and that that even showed for

[23:54] Craig Street where we had a uh public

[23:57] meeting there and we had you know the

[23:58] involvement there you're trying to pull

[24:00] people from the community and uh and

[24:02] we're we're making we're making a good

[24:04] effort with it but you know and these

[24:05] are these are good good results and good

[24:07] conversations absolutely I attended a

[24:09] few of the meetings so you did get a a

[24:10] good Bo out um I just wanted to quickly

[24:13] ask so the timeline is that we will

[24:17] start so the timeline

[24:20] is I guess it's it's indecisive in a way

[24:24] there are overlap in here so the the

[24:27] intersection we had funding for

[24:29] previously it was kind of a Lynch pin

[24:30] the intersection so we're going to work

[24:32] on that the reason that we were waiting

[24:34] on the intersection to start this was

[24:38] that we wanted some of the

[24:39] recommendations to be done and approved

[24:42] before we really started so for instance

[24:45] if we're going to redesign the crane

[24:47] Chrysler intersection and we're going to

[24:50] implement what's recommended here which

[24:52] is a one way of chry order the

[24:54] intersection gets designed to make sure

[24:56] that it has a configur for a one way

[24:59] that we tell the engineers that upon the

[25:01] completion of this project price will be

[25:02] one way if the council were to say you

[25:04] know what we're not comfortable with one

[25:06] way we like to keep it two-way then I go

[25:08] in that direction um so that's why we

[25:11] kind of were waiting for this point to

[25:13] get to the next point so we've kind of

[25:14] been in a sit and wait perspective uh

[25:16] Main Street we were really hoping that

[25:18] this study would find a way to make Main

[25:20] Street one way and Forest one way but

[25:23] the more we got into it it was just very

[25:26] complex to do it um so that we were

[25:28] trying these other options so Maine is

[25:30] probably going to be the most difficult

[25:31] decision of them all but it should not

[25:34] affect the intersection because I

[25:36] believe it's going to be two-way either way we do

[25:39] it

[25:42] questions uh so regarding the Chrysler

[25:45] one lane uh with one side of parking do

[25:47] you or can you speak to whether there'll

[25:49] be a stronger on safety or parking CU I

[25:51] know definitely having both sides it's

[25:54] very tight and it's dangerous at times

[25:57] but making this I think will improve

[25:59] just those conditions especially for the

[26:01] workers both

[26:03] sides you can't park on both sides now I

[26:05] believe I think you w because it's it's

[26:09] you can we're not going to change the

[26:11] side of the parking we're just going to

[26:13] disallow to because if we were saying if

[26:16] a school bus were to go down that road

[26:17] and you're coming the other way you have

[26:19] to drive up on the sidewalk you have to

[26:21] get out of the way because the lanes are

[26:22] just too narrow and it's unfortunate how

[26:25] the development I'm not familiar with it

[26:26] but when you're coming down chry from

[26:29] say reram or Altimont Avenue it's

[26:32] appropriately with when you hit Norwood

[26:34] it's a hard transition to you know you

[26:37] lose about 8 ft of Lane width and so it

[26:40] will be a um what were we trying to say

[26:43] a transition for the for the

[26:44] neighborhood but I just you know talking

[26:46] everyone and seeing it we think it's a

[26:48] smarter move and what we'll probably end

[26:50] up doing is making sure that anything we

[26:52] do with the intersection does not

[26:54] preclude us from ever changing it either

[26:57] going the other way you know you can see

[26:59] that um for instance you know I've

[27:01] gotten a lot of questions about Franklin

[27:03] Street right outside and Franklin and

[27:06] Clinton people have asked why is there a

[27:08] signal facing the wrong way if this is a

[27:11] one-way Street well part of the dri was

[27:14] a study to make sure that we know what

[27:16] we're doing around this area and I did

[27:18] not want to build a brand new $200,000

[27:21] signal that was not capable of of doing

[27:23] that um so similar to this is we're

[27:25] going to make sure that you know modern

[27:27] controllers everything's going to be new

[27:29] that we can do that but um we we do

[27:32] think that that's the best way to go

[27:33] right now just given the width of

[27:37] price Miss I noticed that there was

[27:40] someone from the school district

[27:42] involved in the on the committee I was

[27:44] just wondering you know what they think

[27:45] of the whole peace up by Pleasant Valley

[27:48] and

[27:50] Forest so the school district um I I've

[27:54] learned a lot about school district

[27:55] lately in some of the meetings because

[27:57] I've been involved with their

[27:57] infrastructure structure meetings and a

[27:59] couple of these um under uh you know Joe

[28:03] deao who I grew up with and you know and

[28:06] some of the me we've talked to we've

[28:07] been talking about I've met some of

[28:08] their principles and some of their

[28:09] administrators and it seems to be that

[28:13] postco um transportation is not the same

[28:17] that it was preo there is a lot more

[28:19] drop offs and then this is a trend

[28:21] probably Nationwide and it's leading to

[28:23] a lot more confusion um so for instance

[28:26] one of the things that came up during

[28:27] this study when we talked about one way

[28:29] was not necessarily price for one way it

[28:31] was um the school the roads around the

[28:34] school particularly when you're talking

[28:36] about forest and how we can manage it

[28:39] because of the amount of conflict areas

[28:41] that happened parents dropping kids off

[28:43] both ways cars stopping um there were

[28:46] some neighbors who brought up the

[28:47] concerns about traffic in those areas

[28:49] because of it so it was a different look

[28:52] similarly um I'm just to tell you this

[28:55] is the best example of how things are

[28:57] changing prior to co we did a federal

[29:00] aid project on gildin Avenue gildin

[29:02] Avenue there's an elementary school at

[29:04] the end of gild Avenue um Name Escapes

[29:06] me right now um they had zero

[29:09] involvement and zero issues with the

[29:11] complete streets project that we did

[29:13] they said it's great we look forward to

[29:15] the road being paved thank you very much

[29:18] now postco um the city in cooperation

[29:22] with the crtc in the town of roddam is

[29:24] doing a second study because roddam

[29:26] wants to improv Curry Road and the

[29:28] school district reached out to me and

[29:29] said we want to be involved we have a

[29:31] lot of issues going on on the road with

[29:33] drop offs so same quor same studies

[29:37] different time frame different reaction

[29:40] so we are looking at possibly teaming up

[29:43] on some kind of a traffic study um to do

[29:46] it because they weren't as concerned

[29:48] with the one way as they were forest and

[29:51] some of their drop off areas and uh so

[29:54] that's something that was that that was

[29:56] something that we took out of this and

[29:57] they are now now actually participating

[29:59] in the uh reram study with the city with

[30:02] crtc

[30:05] so there was one did you say that there

[30:07] would be no on street parking on will

[30:09] Street was there one street that there's certain blocks that are narrower

[30:13] so the first block of Willet I don't

[30:15] believe we had

[30:17] any so if you see here the first block

[30:20] Clos us to the bank there was we looked

[30:23] like we're trying to eliminate and make

[30:24] the sidewalks a little wider to include

[30:26] those trees and then as you get back

[30:28] more into the neighborhoods we would the tough thing about Main Avenue is

[30:32] honestly that no one I don't believe no

[30:35] one really lives on Main Avenue everyone

[30:37] lives off the Main Avenue and parks on

[30:39] Main Avenue the houses are actually

[30:41] facing all the perpendicular streets for

[30:43] the most part um so it's kind of an

[30:46] interesting street but people still are

[30:47] utilizing it for parking taking off stre

[30:50] parking away it is a is is an issue cuz

[30:53] that's what we were looking to do if we

[30:54] were going to put a bike lane we're

[30:56] going to put some kind of infrastructure

[30:57] something has to go which is either

[30:59] going to be a bike lane I mean the

[31:01] parking lane or a driving lane so are

[31:03] you talking about all Main Avenue

[31:04] because if you start main like a Forest

[31:07] Road there are definitely houses where

[31:08] people live there this houses on the ho houses on the whole lake there are

[31:15] houses there okay the density is not

[31:17] anywhere greatest but but there're

[31:19] definitely so that's what we're going to

[31:21] leave we're going to proposing the leave

[31:24] parking oh okay but just this one block

[31:27] like what you can't see on this one

[31:29] particular block is that there is like a

[31:32] very large parking lot for trusco right

[31:34] there and you know we were talking about

[31:36] how we can you know manage that um but

[31:38] that block then when you do the next one

[31:40] is you're into on street parking so I

[31:43] know with Trustco they had issues with

[31:44] people parking in their lot so that

[31:46] would definitely be a conversation we

[31:47] have if we eliminate the

[31:51] parking anyone

[31:53] else so at this point in time um you're

[31:55] asking for us us to to actually adopt

[31:57] the correct that's the the final step in

[32:00] the study is for us to actually close it

[32:01] with the crtc is to have the city

[32:04] council adopt the study and that way it

[32:06] would be essentially approved that the

[32:08] information here is accurate as approved

[32:12] okay so we would um actually take this

[32:14] up in City development planning unless

[32:16] someone has any some input or questions

[32:18] or

[32:19] concerns right we'll take it up in City

[32:21] development plan for the actual

[32:23] adoption thank you Mr wall thank you

[32:31] uh the next committee is Public Safety

[32:33] First committee is Public Safety so I'd

[32:35] like to call the word of the Public

[32:36] Safety Committee we have three items on

[32:38] the agenda tonight the first of which is

[32:39] the grant award for law enforcement

[32:41] equipment and officer Wellness

[32:52] uh good

[32:56] afternoon on of the city of s Police

[32:59] Department we're asking and hoping that

[33:02] you will accept two grants that were

[33:04] awarded to us first is a technical team

[33:07] Grant from New York state division uh

[33:10] excuse me New York state division

[33:11] Criminal Justice Services they have

[33:13] awarded us

[33:15] $75,000 to purchase equipment in support

[33:17] the Department's counterterrorism

[33:20] meths and there is no matching fund

[33:23] required for that

[33:25] one thank you question or comments he

[33:29] none have a motion so

[33:32] second second all those in favor hi on

[33:36] to the second agenda item it's a grant

[33:38] award the Tactical Team Grant

[33:40] prr I'm sorry I've got it in reverse the

[33:43] first one I spoke of was the Tactical

[33:45] Team Grant so the second one that's my

[33:47] apolog going to be for the law

[33:49] enforcement and Equipment of Officer

[33:51] around us no so that one is also by the

[33:54] New York state division Criminal Justice

[33:56] Services they have of the city uh SP

[33:59] Police Department $70,000 to support the

[34:01] department office of wellness program by

[34:04] making improvements in the gym and again

[34:06] there are no matching funds required for

[34:08] that thank you any questions or comments

[34:11] on motion I'll move it second all in

[34:14] favor Hi and then last item is going to

[34:17] be the appointment

[34:22] ofate thanks the last agenda item is

[34:25] going to be the appointment of Harin

[34:26] Andre the civilian police police review

[34:30] board thank you Mr chairman uh

[34:33] recommendation of the municipal Housing

[34:35] Authority board submitted to the council

[34:38] appreciate your favor

[34:39] consideration any questions or comments

[34:42] May none may have a motion so second all

[34:45] those in favor and then before we

[34:47] adjourn I know during our last council

[34:49] meeting uh the league of wom voters

[34:50] spoke about their nomy I didn't know if

[34:52] there was a formal update regarding

[34:56] that uh hear other items unless there are any

[35:02] other items before Public Safety may

[35:04] have motion to adjourn so move second

[35:06] all in favor hi we are thank you I'd

[35:10] like to call the finance committee to

[35:11] order on the fourth item is a grant

[35:13] award Financial year 2021 cyber security

[35:16] grant

[35:18] program Mr may can take

[35:23] us yes this is an

[35:25] award uh

[35:31] this which one this one

[35:41] is it's pretty this this

[35:46] 50,000 yes this is actually the second

[35:50] one of these that we've

[35:52] gotten and uh G thean and the team

[35:57] implementing that some of that has been

[35:59] some of the uh online testing that's put

[36:03] out for people uh to review appropriate

[36:07] protocols for you get a phone call you

[36:09] get an email you get other uh contacts

[36:13] uh we also do testing through that to

[36:17] send things out to see what people's

[36:20] reaction is hopefully training people to

[36:23] just be ever Vigilant and they

[36:28] other components of that that I wouldn't

[36:30] discuss in a public session if the

[36:33] council wants further details we can get

[36:35] into that or have ban come in in a other

[36:38] time and do a more detailed

[36:42] update and you got a questions seeing n

[36:46] i i just comment that I think those

[36:47] trainings are really good and I've

[36:49] learned a lot um by doing those

[36:51] trainings so I think it's you know I'm thrilled that we get a chance to

[36:56] participate in those as well

[36:59] any other comment saying none may have a

[37:01] motion to move this item forward so

[37:03] moved second all in favor I I the next

[37:07] item is a restore New York round eight

[37:08] Grant application we had a public

[37:10] hearing on the 22nd of April and I will

[37:14] hand us over to Mayor McCarthy for an

[37:16] update uh again this is

[37:19] uh one where we've been fairly

[37:22] successful in these grants and now just

[37:24] looking for a resolution in support from

[37:27] the

[37:29] Council questions comment seeing none

[37:33] you have a motion to move this item

[37:34] forward so moved second all in favor I I

[37:38] any other business for finance may have

[37:40] a motion to adjourn so moved second all

[37:43] in favor I Mr you took the order government oh

[37:50] okay call to order government Ops on the

[37:52] first item is um discussion amending

[37:54] section 161 regarding residential policy

[37:57] ways M thank you Mr chairman again

[38:02] uh here went through some of the

[38:05] scenarios we're looking at uh again have

[38:09] to come back to the council for some of

[38:11] the decisions in terms of size a

[38:14] container some modifications in terms of

[38:18] what we're going to collect and then

[38:20] also uh possible variances in the fee

[38:24] structure so I don't know if uh

[38:26] anybody's

[38:28] any input from residents or uh ideas

[38:33] that you may have but again we uh remain

[38:36] open and it's a dynamic process as we uh

[38:39] move forward to refine what's in the

[38:41] code and uh we have a practical and cost

[38:45] effective

[38:47] implementation uh the modifications our

[38:50] waste

[38:51] collection you said we have one or no I

[38:54] said as we have one it's still open and

[38:57] Dynamic

[39:01] process any discussions we're holding

[39:03] this for two more weeks is that correct

[39:07] all yeah I'm not I'm not ready to move

[39:10] forward on the specific proposal it's

[39:13] still ongoing disc discussion correct

[39:16] okay so are we at some point at some

[39:18] point we're going to I mean we can

[39:20] gather information like anecdotally from

[39:22] people but are we at some point going to

[39:25] pull together um some public forum

[39:27] whether it be the neighborhood

[39:28] associations or or specifically for this

[39:32] so that we can kind of get um some input

[39:35] from the community and um

[39:38] additionally we are with the in terms of

[39:42] public notice I know that we are essent

[39:45] already we we're starting to um find

[39:47] people what's already in the code that

[39:49] we if we put your garbage out to early

[39:51] we're already doing that uh I think we

[39:53] really public um having some public

[39:56] service announcements are

[39:58] ke to making sure that this is

[39:59] successful so I think we need to like

[40:02] have that again some still to narrow it

[40:04] down and use the example of the size of

[40:08] the container so we've talked about

[40:11] different size uh garbage cans whether

[40:13] you do uh certain size plastic bags

[40:17] clear bags uh opaque bags uh some of

[40:21] that we have to come together I think

[40:24] conceptually and say we're going to talk

[40:26] about a 32 gallon garbage can and when

[40:30] we go out people are going to say yes oh

[40:32] that's great or

[40:34] no we want a bigger one we want a

[40:37] smaller one and it's to have that uh

[40:41] outline in place Mr O'Brien has uh gone

[40:45] through and outline some potential

[40:47] modifications to the code that was

[40:50] circulated a

[40:51] ccil uh the last cycle cycle before and

[40:56] uh

[40:58] can uh look forward to working in a

[41:01] collective manner as we bring it all

[41:03] together but as you point out the public

[41:07] education is key to it it is and I I

[41:12] just want to make sure we don't lose s

[41:13] of the whole jackpot thing which is

[41:15] really what got us here yes and that we

[41:17] make sure that we are addressing that in

[41:19] some way as opposed to you know like

[41:22] spreading it all out because I don't

[41:24] think that'll do away with the jackpots

[41:26] or what major piles of trash so in case

[41:30] you don't understand that that term is

[41:32] for the major piles of trash they're out

[41:35] on a contined

[41:37] basis thank you Mr any go ahead please

[41:41] so I definitely had time to go through

[41:42] more in depth and I appreciate the

[41:44] volunteering this information I think my

[41:46] biggest Focus areas where what's the

[41:48] additional uh work hours look like for

[41:51] code enforcement who are ready appears

[41:53] as they're replacing some lost

[41:55] experience I imagine they're best

[41:57] intentions in mind but definitely this

[41:59] added element I imagine is going to to

[42:02] have burden on on their role and

[42:04] responsibilities um I think to your

[42:06] point of identifying what that ideal

[42:08] trash can looks like I think it's uh

[42:11] seeing if the city is in a position to

[42:13] help subsidize or if there's any

[42:14] opportunity to help some of our renters

[42:16] where I can say myself as a homeowner I

[42:18] invested in trash cans because I think I

[42:20] understood the importance was making

[42:22] sure I had uh reliable receptacles but

[42:25] I've heard of trash canes being taken uh

[42:27] so I I think it's understanding that

[42:29] reality for some of our city members um

[42:32] and then also I I want to just point out

[42:35] I thought that excess solidly stickers

[42:36] was a really nice way to offer residents

[42:40] an opportunity to just have that ability

[42:42] to put out that excess um in advance but

[42:45] making it more available outside of the

[42:46] city FKS office so I don't know if we're

[42:48] able to tag in with local libraries or

[42:51] if we're able to have a partnership with

[42:53] some of our local groceries just where

[42:55] people frequently go I think some to Mr

[42:57] W's point of being in the community but

[43:00] also being engaging I think it's going

[43:02] to be important simar to that public um

[43:05] volunteering of information making sure

[43:07] that we don't just rely on the community

[43:08] come to us but we truly have to make

[43:10] sure we're going to

[43:12] them I agree with you completely on that

[43:15] for the ease of

[43:18] access makes the

[43:20] implementation uh that much smoother so

[43:23] it's doing the education and you can't

[43:26] say we're going to have a sticker system

[43:28] everybody agrees to it and then the

[43:29] stickers aren't

[43:31] available you know so

[43:33] it's and again the general uh consensus

[43:38] when we had meetings is that we would do

[43:41] a period of soft or transitional

[43:45] implementation so that uh if we went to

[43:49] a a

[43:51] rigid number for the size of the

[43:55] container the might be a year time frame

[43:59] where we would you know we' recommend

[44:01] people have a certain size but allow

[44:04] them the opportunity to uh kind of

[44:08] depreciate their

[44:10] existing

[44:13] uh uh trash can and purchase a new

[44:18] one thank you any y go ahead um I just

[44:22] want to say that you know with the new

[44:24] trash and and and when we roll it out

[44:25] softly and it goes on yesterday I was at

[44:28] a big chain store and I was buying

[44:30] things and I remember when we weren't

[44:32] going to get bags any longer and I said

[44:34] to myself how are we going to deal with

[44:35] this but in the Walmart everybody's got

[44:37] their own bags and they're taking them

[44:39] out and they're whatever so I guess it

[44:41] just comes with time and and we'll be

[44:43] able to to work through it like we did

[44:46] with

[44:49] bags any other comments okay so we have

[44:53] the back the next item is Step 4.2 o c

[44:58] for transmission line

[45:00] Mayar this is National Grid is asking

[45:03] for a easement their upgrading from

[45:06] their high voltage lines they have a

[45:09] major transmission line that is

[45:11] immediately adjacent to uh one of the

[45:15] parcels property that we own in the town

[45:17] of reram so they're looking for an

[45:20] easement to come onto our property a

[45:23] little bit this is the site that we have

[45:28] entered into

[45:29] a uh potential

[45:32] sale for a solar site uh it's been held

[45:38] up because reran put a moratorium in

[45:41] place uh they had originally offered one

[45:45] number and gone back to them and they've

[45:48] upped that by about

[45:51] 20% uh so I think we're at the best

[45:54] number and I believe that this will will

[45:57] actually increase the value of our

[45:59] property in roddam because having this

[46:03] transmission line there and they also

[46:06] have a major substation that is

[46:10] uh can't immediately adjacent to it or

[46:13] slightly skewed from what our property

[46:16] is and for all practical purposes this

[46:19] is unbuildable property in the town of

[46:23] reram go ahead please so the 61 $ is

[46:28] once or every year

[46:34] once any other

[46:36] questions seeing none as a motion to

[46:39] move this item

[46:41] forward second all in favor I I any

[46:45] other business or government

[46:47] operation seeing none ask motion to

[46:51] adjoin so Mo second all in favor I like to to order City development and

[46:58] planning uh the first item on the agenda

[47:00] is to authorize the amendment of a rable

[47:03] commit 682 for social on state for a

[47:06] sign that's going to will overhang the

[47:07] cities right away at 4:47 State Street

[47:10] Mr

[47:16] W thank you um this is more of a

[47:19] modification to an existing rocal permit

[47:23] um there was an issue with the owner's

[47:25] name with their insurance

[47:27] as it outlines that the what does it say

[47:30] here it just didn't match so they had to

[47:32] change it soal on State uh so that we

[47:34] could actually issue the permit so this

[47:37] is a modification to permit

[47:39] 682 uh to who the issuer is

[47:42] okay any questions

[47:45] com move this second all those in favor

[47:49] I uh the second item is to authorize

[47:52] issuance of reval permit 683 to MX MTX

[47:56] group the sign the overhang C right away

[47:58] at 400 State Street this is a sign at

[48:01] 400 State Street for a new tenant MTX

[48:04] group uh it will overhang the side

[48:07] doorway that is up the block from the

[48:10] bowai cinema main entrance um this sign

[48:13] just to let you know is almost a pair

[48:16] with the next sign so if you were to

[48:18] look at the rendering that's there the

[48:21] two signs both are to be located above

[48:24] the door at 400 State Street

[48:28] so this is the first for MTX group

[48:32] okay questions comments motion so moved

[48:36] second all those in

[48:37] favor item number three auth authorize

[48:41] the issuance of reval permit 684 to Mau

[48:46] Q for assignment overhanging cities

[48:47] right away at 400 State straight so this

[48:50] is a second sign m q uh will also be

[48:53] utilizing the same door on 400 State

[48:55] Street this sign will be set up uh

[48:57] adjacent to the other

[49:00] sign com motion

[49:04] so second all in favor I item number

[49:09] four award contract connected police

[49:11] locker and toilet room

[49:13] renovation toal amount 5

[49:17] 57145 Mr W so uh this is a um facilities

[49:24] project uh anyone who has been to the

[49:26] police station knows that the existing

[49:27] locker and bathroom facilities have not

[49:29] been improved uh since the original

[49:32] construction of that building um the

[49:34] facilities are worn with regard to the

[49:39] women's facilities they are inadequate

[49:42] and the station does not have any gender

[49:45] neutral areas um in it it is a men's

[49:49] room it is a women's room it is not have

[49:51] any facilities for anyone who does not

[49:53] identify as one of the other um so this

[49:56] uh working with the architect and the

[49:58] chief and the the PD uh we came up with

[50:01] this concept essentially just renovating

[50:04] uh the existing men's uh bathroom

[50:06] facilities and showers um all the work

[50:08] is essentially taking place in the same

[50:10] footprint we are constructing a new uh

[50:13] gender neutral uh area with locker rooms

[50:16] and handicap accessible showers uh

[50:18] taking some space out of what was used

[50:20] as a kind of a break room uh so we'll be

[50:23] doing that and then we will be expanding

[50:26] the women's um shower and locker room

[50:29] facility into uh the adjacent men's room

[50:32] and utility room um to make a larger

[50:35] facility for the women that is more

[50:37] appropriate uh and and up to up to the

[50:41] standards that we like to think the

[50:42] police and all of our emergency fire

[50:44] live to so uh it's a good project as you

[50:46] see there's only three um mechanical

[50:49] electrical and plumbing we did not get a

[50:51] bid uh for the uh for the mechanical um

[50:55] we did reach out to some Mechanical

[50:57] Contractors they simply weren't aware it

[50:59] was out so it is out to bid right now um

[51:02] similar to what happened with the pool

[51:04] if we do not have a bid the second time

[51:06] that I will work with Sarah and try to

[51:09] negotiate with someone similar than we

[51:11] did with the pool but we think that we

[51:13] have some interested parties and we did

[51:15] have a meeting already about it and

[51:16] hopefully um we get it but these are for

[51:19] the mechanical electrical employment any

[51:22] questions comments I'll entertain a

[51:25] motion so second all those in favor I

[51:29] thank

[51:31] you next item on the agenda is a

[51:34] ceremonial resolution of disc connect

[51:36] the Heritage Foundation Mr Juro yes so

[51:40] may is on National Historic preservation

[51:42] month so um the uh Gloria nern and um

[51:48] folks will be at the uh our meeting next

[51:52] uh next Monday uh to uh to receive this

[51:55] resolution so

[51:58] questions comments I'll move it second

[52:00] all in favor I thank you next uh is a

[52:03] ceremony resolution recognizing teacher

[52:05] appreciation

[52:07] month U thank you um so this week marks

[52:10] the national uh teacher appreciation

[52:12] week I'm really excited to make a

[52:16] recommendation that we present and

[52:17] recognize Lisa Fagan as one of our great

[52:20] and very passionate Educators within the

[52:25] city questions comments a motion I'm

[52:29] mooving second all those in

[52:31] favor thank you item number seven is

[52:34] being pulled from the

[52:36] agenda item number eight would be a

[52:39] ceremonial resolution of recognizing

[52:41] Alisa adamac for her many years of

[52:43] service to the city of SK Le she uh as

[52:46] you know well she actually retired on

[52:48] April 20th it's hard to to pin her down

[52:51] to uh ask her and she's very excited

[52:53] about doing this so any questions or

[52:56] comments I'll move it second all those in favor I thank

[53:02] you and item number nine is review of

[53:06] the addition of section 2 26411 3 of

[53:10] disconnected city code regarding the

[53:11] regulation and location of smoke shop

[53:13] big shop cooka lounges and big

[53:15] consumption businesses public hearing

[53:17] was held on April 22nd uh Mr

[53:23] Raj um

[53:25] so we public hearing um we're looking

[53:29] for the council's input on the proposed

[53:33] legislation does the council have any um

[53:36] changes any

[53:46] thoughts no no changes from

[53:48] my okay so um the Planning

[53:52] Commission uh passed a resolution and it

[53:54] will be issuing a memo

[53:56] so um that will come next legislative

[54:00] cycle so perhaps um hold on this until

[54:04] next legislative cycle and then we

[54:06] consider it in conjunction with the memo

[54:08] from the Planning Commission from the

[54:10] county from the county from the City

[54:11] Planning Commission plan yeah all right

[54:15] we'll hold it for two we'll bring it

[54:16] back in two weeks Mr are we expecting

[54:19] any from the

[54:20] county I've not been uh told anything

[54:24] about the from the county so no

[54:26] I thought we didn't we have to go send

[54:28] this to the county I think did we not

[54:31] send this to the county for

[54:33] recommendation yes I think we did we did

[54:35] and they they responded didn't want

[54:37] anything didn't have

[54:39] anything it was up to us we have that

[54:42] then you'll have that for us as well

[54:44] that will be for next week I'll include

[54:46] that yes okay all right okay we'll bring

[54:50] that back in two weeks thank you very

[54:53] much um the next item the agenda is uh

[54:59] Mr um Mr Brown here but a correction to

[55:03] resolution 2024

[55:06] d89 which is amendment to schedule a of

[55:08] the co Cooperative agreement of with the

[55:10] city's

[55:12] connect I

[55:14] hear he

[55:18] comes good

[55:21] timing how you do

[55:23] that you don't have a you don't have any

[55:28] no this first one should

[55:30] be y it

[55:34] is so um the landbank cooperation

[55:38] agreement was passed in a previous

[55:40] resolution uh for an amendment to add

[55:42] some additional properties there was an

[55:45] error on there for the section block and

[55:47] lot number uh for two properties and

[55:49] then one of the properties just had um a

[55:54] correction that needed for the the

[55:56] property

[56:00] address

[56:15] yes legisla request that's specified on

[56:20] okay all right we got it all right just

[56:22] wanted to make sure that on the LR that

[56:24] we have the um yeah addresses that the

[56:27] SPL and correctl number we do so thank

[56:30] you we

[56:35] have no we this one so it's just this is

[56:40] the only one we have for this one right

[56:42] M yeah just that any other questions any

[56:44] question concerns no I'll move it second

[56:47] all in favor hi um are going to

[56:53] take so on the remainder the item done

[56:57] executive

[56:59] session oh I'm sorry thank you very much

[57:02] uh we do have to um adopt the um Au and

[57:05] CR Street study so that Mr W went over

[57:10] with us to adop the study

[57:12] some uh oh in this in this yes I'll

[57:16] second it sorry I forgot that we were

[57:18] moving it into this committee yes uh all

[57:21] those in favor I I thank you thank you

[57:24] right the remaining items will move in

[57:26] the regular session so I ask for to

[57:29] recess so move second all in

[57:34] favor like to call the order of the

[57:35] claims committee we have one item on the

[57:37] agenda tonight and that is discussion

[57:39] about Lo daily first the city of

[57:42] s needs to take to session so if I can

[57:45] have a motion

[57:47] ex and i' I'd also like to be able to um

[57:50] ask a question regarding personnel and

[57:51] executive

[57:53] session I have to say

[57:58] have a motion enter EXA session mov I'll

[58:01] second all in favor I

[58:08] [Music]

Schenectady City Council Committee, May 6, 2024

Transcript