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[2:53] conect city council committee meeting

[2:55] for Monday June 17th 2024 we're going to

[2:58] start off with two presentations this

[3:00] time I'd like to turn up the commission

[3:01] for

[3:05] Ferrari thank you council president uh

[3:08] city council mayor uh we would like to

[3:10] start uh tonight with uh uh a review of

[3:13] the audit uh we have uh John tski from

[3:16] kuak and Company are Auditors of the who

[3:19] audited the city's connected financials

[3:21] uh for 2023 and uh uh we're going to

[3:24] have John come up and explain the audit

[3:26] and what he's done and uh how everything

[3:29] looks and hopefully

[3:30] uh uh you guys can have some questions

[3:32] as you go along okay I'm going to turn

[3:34] it over to John

[3:38] John uh I just wanted to start off by

[3:40] saying thank you to um the mayor city

[3:42] council and um everybody who helped us

[3:44] out during the audit um really

[3:45] appreciate everything they did to help

[3:47] us complete the audit um we have a great

[3:49] staff here very well qualified uh really

[3:51] good people and we really appreciate

[3:53] everything that they did for us um so

[3:55] our ultimate responsibility for the

[3:57] audit is to be able to issue an opinion

[3:59] on your fin statements as to whether

[4:01] they're materially stated and whether

[4:02] they're in compliance with generally

[4:03] accepted accounting principles otherwise

[4:05] known as Gap so our audit takes place in

[4:08] three main phases um the first is our

[4:10] pre- audit phase which takes place in

[4:12] December so during this time what we do

[4:14] is we review your internal control

[4:16] processes um we test those internal

[4:18] control processes we perform variance

[4:20] and budget analysis uh review council

[4:23] meeting minutes and complete our

[4:25] internal risk assessment

[4:26] procedures um the next is our audit

[4:28] fieldwork phase this takes place in

[4:30] mid-march uh we use this information

[4:33] gathered um to develop our audit

[4:34] procedures our audit programs test

[4:37] account balances um to U verify if they

[4:40] appear materially stated the third is

[4:42] our reporting phase where we review the

[4:44] financial statements prepared by your

[4:45] senior accountant and um report on the

[4:48] final results so the financial

[4:50] statements that you have in front of you

[4:52] are a 77 page document overall it's

[4:54] comprised of several major parts the

[4:56] first major part is going to be the

[4:58] Management's discussion analysis on

[5:00] pages 1 through 7 adds are required un

[5:03] audited section financial statements so

[5:05] what this does is it summarizes the

[5:07] operating results and other financial

[5:09] highlights of the year if you're

[5:11] unfamiliar with the financial statements

[5:12] this is an excellent read uh Pages 8

[5:15] through 10 that's your independent AUD

[5:17] report where we issue an opinion on your

[5:19] financial statements

[5:21] um it is important to note that your

[5:24] financial statements are on the fund

[5:26] level only fund and account group level

[5:28] only exclusive up a non-current

[5:30] governmental asset account group we are

[5:33] pleased to say that we

[5:34] have we have once again issued an

[5:37] unmodified opinion on your financial

[5:39] statements the highest insurance we can

[5:41] give you consider a clean report we have

[5:43] no report issu with no F so Pages 11

[5:46] through 13 these are your governmental

[5:48] fund balance sheets and statements of

[5:50] revenues expenditures and changes in

[5:52] fund balance approximated operating

[5:55] results for the year end of December

[5:56] 31st

[5:57] 2023 general fund balance was unchanged

[6:00] due to the ARA loss Revenue water fund

[6:02] had a surplus of

[6:04] 323,000 sewer fund had a surplus of

[6:08] 136,000 recreation fund had a surplus of

[6:11] 4,000 a special grants and revenue fund

[6:13] surplus of

[6:15] 13,000 and your capital projects had a

[6:17] surplus of 26 million uh due to the

[6:20] proceeds from Sero Bond issuance and

[6:21] band

[6:22] redemptions so highlights of the 2023

[6:25] general fund activity these are all

[6:26] approximated figures prior your taxing

[6:29] Ed F below Expectations by 772 th000

[6:33] casino revenue exceeded expectations by

[6:36] 54,000 property sales fell below

[6:39] Expectations by 1.7 million uh sales tax

[6:42] revenue exceeded expectations by 2.3

[6:45] million insurance recoveries these

[6:47] exceed Expectations by $753,000

[6:50] adult use cannabis revenue for the year

[6:52] was

[6:53] $531,000 for new Revenue source for 2023

[6:56] Street opening permits these fell below

[6:58] expectation 700 188,000 and the federal

[7:01] arpa funds that were utilized $8.9

[7:03] million for the year 6.5 million of

[7:06] which was used for the loss Revenue

[7:08] calculation um overall we feel that

[7:10] management does a really good job with

[7:11] your reserves uh general fund balance is

[7:14] $18.9 million for the year ended 6.5

[7:17] million of that is restricted funds and

[7:20] the detail for these account balances is

[7:22] on pages 52 and 53 notes of financial

[7:25] statements band borrowings increased by

[7:27] 5.7 million to fund projects your New

[7:31] York State EFC borrowings $28 million

[7:33] converted to Long Ser

[7:41] con there was an increase of $48 million

[7:44] in the city's net pension liability this

[7:45] is for underfunded ERS and PFS balance a

[7:49] year end was a liability of 9.9 million

[7:51] for ERS and a liability of 42.9 million

[7:54] for pfrs total oped liability other

[7:57] post-employment benefits it's increased

[7:59] by $43 million to $294 million these

[8:03] valuations are due to gby savings 68 and

[8:06] 75 which require the acral of pension

[8:08] assets and liabilities and the other

[8:10] post employment benefits on actu

[8:13] valuations custodial fund is required by

[8:15] G state4 this includes the property

[8:18] taxes which are collected for other

[8:19] governments not yet remitted Pages 16

[8:22] through 58 of your financials these are

[8:24] the footnotes of your financial

[8:25] statements if you're not comfortable

[8:26] with the face of the financial

[8:27] statements or you wanted more detail as

[8:29] a significant account balances or

[8:31] material account balances in the face of

[8:32] the financial statements the notes are a

[8:34] very good read overall Pages 66 through

[8:37] 77 this is your federal signal audit

[8:40] since the city expended more than

[8:42] $750,000 in federal funding you are

[8:44] required to have it's called the federal

[8:45] single audit um Federal expenditures for

[8:48] the year were $29 million overall so as

[8:51] part of this Federal audit what we're

[8:52] required to do is uh rotate your major

[8:54] programs every 3 years major programs

[8:57] for this year with a Community

[8:58] Development block rant

[9:00] uh the home Grant and also the Arta

[9:01] funds as well um your art funds are

[9:04] required to be obligated uh for

[9:06] expenditure by December 31st 2024 and

[9:09] must be expanded by December 31st 2026

[9:12] there are currently $31 million um still

[9:14] remaining of your AR funds to be spent

[9:17] um from the overall accounting and

[9:18] control standpoint we feel like your

[9:20] staff does a really great job a really

[9:22] great team here a lot of strong people

[9:24] um they were very helpful during the

[9:26] audit um if there was any questions at

[9:28] this point you know audit process that

[9:30] was just a brief overview of the

[9:31] financial highlights the questions on

[9:33] the audit process or the audit in

[9:35] general financial statements um I'd be

[9:37] happy to take at this point could you

[9:39] just go over a again about the liability

[9:40] that you talked about the 9.9 million

[9:42] liability increase sure the um

[9:45] underfunded ERS and pfrs so those

[9:47] evaluations are so ERS and pfrs are

[9:51] under gas saer number 68 the state has

[9:53] an actal evaluation done and what they

[9:55] do is they have to report to us whether

[9:57] we have if they're in an asset sit

[9:59] situation or a liability situation for

[10:01] overfunding or underfunding both of

[10:03] those um pension systems are underfunded

[10:06] which essentially means that they have a

[10:07] liability that that is allocated on a

[10:10] pro-rated basis to each municipality

[10:12] that's part of that system so in theory

[10:15] as of 123123 should those systems fail

[10:18] in theory the city would owe 9.9 million

[10:21] for ERS and 42.9 million for police and

[10:23] fire we know that would never happen

[10:25] there's safeguards in place but gby

[10:27] statement 68 does require that that is

[10:29] plac on in the long-term dead fund as a

[10:32] life and that's the same with G State 75

[10:35] for the other post employment benefit

[10:37] benefit that's a liability as well

[10:39] that's done on an Actuarial basis so the

[10:41] actuary provides a report that says you

[10:44] know this is your projected liability

[10:46] based on our our inputs and outputs into

[10:49] into this calculation at that given time

[10:51] so I know those numbers seem really

[10:54] massive you know and it's kind of scared

[10:55] up some they for lack of a better term

[10:58] can be considered paper liability ities

[10:59] where they're not going to be funded

[11:01] they cannot be funded but ultimately

[11:03] those are viations that have to be put

[11:05] on to the STS thank you so question you

[11:09] said uh that part of the federal AIT

[11:12] process that you have to rotate three

[11:14] major programs what do you mean by that

[11:16] so every so your major programs are any

[11:19] programs that are over $750,000 or meet

[11:21] certain risk criteria so that AUD if

[11:24] that program was audited in the previous

[11:25] year it was over 750 we had findings we

[11:28] then have to AIT that program again so

[11:31] every third year so essentially like um

[11:34] like your lead Grant you spend more than

[11:35] $750,000 on your Le Grant this year but

[11:38] I audited that program last year without

[11:40] any material there was no findings no

[11:42] significant efficiency so I did not have

[11:44] to once again audit it this year as well

[11:46] the arpa program is so large that we

[11:49] consider a higher risk from our

[11:51] standpoints our internal risk assessment

[11:52] says this is brand new program very high

[11:55] dollar amount we're going to audit it

[11:56] every year IR regardless of what we can

[11:58] or cannot do so that's that's kind of

[12:00] from our our our side what we're doing

[12:02] for our risk assessment that program

[12:09] okay so I had a question and I imagine

[12:12] your report it gets more detailed U just

[12:14] wanted to confirm you said Pages 52 and

[12:17] 53 give that assessment of the balances

[12:19] uh I imagine that gets into uh how our

[12:22] rating is a c is

[12:24] outline I'm sorry you're reading or I

[12:28] think there's like a a like a the bond

[12:30] rating so the bond rating is discussed

[12:32] in the Management's discussion and

[12:34] Analysis the details of the actual fund

[12:37] balance with all the different funds

[12:38] that's going to be on pages 52 and 53 so

[12:40] you can see how much is restricted what

[12:42] it's restricted for if there's

[12:43] incumbrances details of all those

[12:46] different balances thank

[12:50] you um you mentioned um the arpa um loss

[12:54] Revenue $8 million that was set aside

[12:56] and we only used um $6 million does that

[12:59] mean that we have $2 million available

[13:02] using 24 now yeah well I was going to

[13:05] say was even more than that so was I

[13:07] think

[13:08] Tony I think it was $11 million in total

[13:12] but we use six six and change this year

[13:14] and then the rest of it is budg

[13:21] for anyone

[13:24] else you said the audit went very well

[13:27] thank you all for having me here tonight

[13:28] and if there's any questions you know

[13:30] afterward after you're done here if you

[13:31] think of anything just um give my

[13:33] contact information ton or D and can

[13:35] take care

[13:36] of thank you

[13:46] than okay um excuse me um we've been

[13:49] talking about this for um a while and uh

[13:53] about doing a quarterly financial report

[13:55] so that we don't see a similar situation

[13:58] as we did last year we get to the budget

[13:59] we kind of have an idea where we were

[14:01] financially and how things are going so

[14:03] Mr Ferrari is here

[14:06] today we just kind of go over it um

[14:09] where we are with our

[14:10] Revenue excuse me are you going to vote

[14:14] to adopt please oh yeah for the audit to

[14:16] accept the audit to accept the audit yes

[14:19] but um but let's just do that under

[14:21] government office because I usually do

[14:22] it in a committee so let's do it

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[14:25] there all right you want me to go ahead

[14:28] or you yeah we'll do that in government

[14:30] house I'd like to present DK who's going

[14:34] to present our first quarter uh

[14:38] uh details for you

[14:41] Derek thank you so we're just going to

[14:45] review the first quar report for the

[14:46] fiscal year

[14:48] 2024 uh I'd like to start with the

[14:50] general fund um start off on a positive

[14:52] note uh the city's connect uh did

[14:55] increase its rated from an A to an A

[14:57] plus after completion of the official

[14:58] state statement and interview with our

[15:00] S&P experts um from operational

[15:04] standpoint uh based on the original

[15:06] adopted budget through March 2024 the

[15:08] city has attained 40% of its projected

[15:10] general fund revenue and expending 22%

[15:13] of projected general fund expenditures

[15:15] uh during the same period of 2023 the

[15:17] city had attained 41% of projected

[15:19] revenue and expended 23% of its

[15:21] projected

[15:22] expenditures um some of the budget

[15:25] concerns for the general fund are in

[15:26] certies in health insurance costs

[15:29] um there's 11% increase from 2023 to

[15:33] 2024 this is in the same period from

[15:35] January through March uh vehicle repair

[15:38] budget um has increased by

[15:41] 68% uh compared to

[15:43] 2023 um tipping fees increased by

[15:47] 107% uh compared to 2023 the waste

[15:50] recycling per DM salary increased by

[15:54] 28% um Public Safety overtime costs um

[15:58] respective the PD has increased by 5%

[16:01] compared to 2023 and again this is from

[16:04] January to March of 2024 the far

[16:07] requirement increased by 16% during the

[16:09] same time period um there's only one

[16:13] meeting contract which has not been

[16:15] settled which is on tonight's agenda uh

[16:18] the PBA uh for

[16:20] 2024 um the golf fund uh from an

[16:24] operational standpoint based on the

[16:25] original adopted budget through March 24

[16:27] the city has attained 2% projected golf

[16:29] fund revenue and expended 7% of its

[16:32] projected golf fund expenditures through

[16:34] the same period 2023 and seven correct

[16:38] correct 2% for Revenue 7% for the

[16:41] expenditures 2024 uh compared to 2023

[16:44] the city attain 2% projected revenue and

[16:47] expend 20% of its projected excuse me

[16:51] projected

[16:52] expenditures uh the expenditures for

[16:54] 2023 are due to higher typ type Capital

[16:58] Reserves expenditures compared to the

[17:00] same period in 2024 the length of the

[17:02] season will um definitely um influence

[17:05] the financial outcome of the golf fund

[17:07] um as of now there are no budget

[17:09] concerns in

[17:12] 2024 the water fund uh from an

[17:15] operational standpoint activities in the

[17:17] water fund are closely tracking those of

[17:19] 2023 raising no budget concerns at the

[17:21] present time based on an original

[17:24] adopted budget through March 2024 the

[17:25] city has obtained 58% of its projected

[17:28] Revenue spend 20% of projected

[17:30] expenditures through the same period of

[17:32] 2023 the city has attained 67% of the

[17:35] projected revenue and expending 19% of

[17:38] his projected

[17:39] expenditures the revenues are down in

[17:41] 2024 due to the timing of issuing uh n

[17:45] Uno water

[17:46] bill uh which is uh approximately

[17:51] $648,000 the expenses are up in 2024 due

[17:54] to early use of water repair line of

[17:58] approximately 455,000 in

[18:01] 2024 the sewer fund from an operational

[18:04] standpoint based on operational adopted

[18:06] budget through March 2024 the city has

[18:09] attained 63% of its projected sewer fund

[18:12] revenue and expended 16% of its

[18:14] projected sewer fund expenditures

[18:16] throughing the same time period of 2023

[18:19] the city has attained 62% of projected

[18:21] revenue and expended 18% of the

[18:23] projected proes use of type Capital

[18:25] reserves is much higher at this point in

[18:27] 2024 than the same in 2023 by

[18:30] approximately

[18:32] 66,000 so the finance department will

[18:34] continue to monitor the numbers and

[18:36] Report City Council on a quarterly basis

[18:38] um are there any questions at this

[18:43] point um thank you for the breakdown

[18:47] looking for clarification you said the

[18:48] vehicle repair increased uh are you able

[18:51] to differentiate between like reing

[18:53] maintenance and then just

[18:55] acents uh the vehicle pair parts and

[18:58] bringing to uh uh Gad shop to get the

[19:02] repair um I think most of that is do the

[19:04] inflation the parts supply and demand um

[19:07] so we're definitely seeing that

[19:08] everything's

[19:11] up so just you're you're not you're

[19:14] suggesting that's probably just because

[19:16] the increase of pars not necessarily

[19:17] like more vehicles are breaking down or

[19:19] there's an increase of things like that

[19:21] it could be potentially B of Aging Fleet

[19:24] and um you know just supply and demand

[19:27] and then as We Know with the cost ofair

[19:30] and you know getting those uh pars

[19:34] from um you also said there was 11%

[19:37] increase in for our healthcare costs

[19:40] yeah yes um well that's compared to

[19:43] 2023 um it's going up um we I think we

[19:47] showed you guys in the past and the

[19:50] council wanted to cut um and was

[19:52] approximately a million dollarss at one

[19:54] point but um it's just you know the way

[19:56] the market is at this point um

[19:59] FY can speak more towards

[20:04] that on the health side uh during the co

[20:07] period from 2020 to 2023 actually uh

[20:11] because of the the co outbreak our our

[20:14] uh uh fees for uh Health had steady and

[20:19] actually gone down but as as uh 2023

[20:22] emerged especially at the last uh

[20:25] quarter the last half you know people

[20:27] started going back to the doctors we

[20:28] have a lot more babies and I'm sorry to

[20:31] say we have a lot more people getting

[20:33] sicker um and than you know than we we

[20:37] we wish to uh in 2024 we saw that uh

[20:40] last quarter of 2023 move increasing as

[20:44] you can see at 11% more more people are

[20:46] going to the doctors more people are

[20:48] getting treatments and more people are

[20:50] getting uh work done so uh uh the the

[20:55] price of uh the price has gone up but

[20:57] you know I I always like to say that uh

[21:00] because we have such a great uh uh

[21:02] health benefit here at this concy you

[21:04] know we're proud that our workers are

[21:06] our C so well so it's it's it's to give

[21:08] it costs more money but you know we're

[21:10] giving a really good product to our our

[21:19] employees so we have a 2023 completed

[21:23] year and now this year at this point in

[21:25] time what areas are lying on expenses

[21:30] that we should be concerned of that we

[21:31] may I think I mentioned a bunch of them

[21:33] I think those are definitely you know

[21:35] you have a look out for um they could do

[21:38] another that sorry top three top three

[21:42] um health insurance is definitely one of

[21:44] them um you know with the overtime cost

[21:48] possibly PB and uh PD and fire

[21:51] department um you know the council did

[21:54] cut uh from this past budet year um you

[21:57] know this first quarter is really hard

[21:59] to tell at this point we'll have a

[22:00] better idea in the second and third

[22:02] quarter where we're going to sit um so I

[22:05] think about a month or so we'll have

[22:06] another discussion uh for a second quar

[22:09] more updated numbers thanks a

[22:12] lot um in terms of the vehicle repairs

[22:14] um 68% increase do you think that that

[22:17] might have been um lessened had we been

[22:20] able to vote in our last budget about

[22:22] going to the um going internal with our

[22:26] vehicle repairs which I think was what

[22:28] you guys had presented to us in the

[22:30] budget but was rejected by the council I

[22:33] I thought that we through if I recall

[22:35] correctly went through yes oh I thought

[22:37] we

[22:39] um I think I think it took a

[22:43] while in our in our group now okay but

[22:46] we did keep that guy on overnight okay

[22:50] that's also an increase but we're also

[22:51] thinking work time okay cuz I thought

[22:55] you said something about sending the

[22:56] vehicles out just just now talking to I

[22:59] was I no I I was asking is is it due to

[23:03] the increase of cost of price Parts what

[23:06] I saying we do both we do both Miss

[23:08] Patrick

[23:11] okay but but to her point I thought that

[23:14] was going to kind of uh that was

[23:16] supposed to cut our our cost as opposed

[23:19] to but now doesn't seem like it

[23:21] necessarily yeah I think like I said it

[23:23] took a while to get someone in that

[23:25] position so I don't think we're really

[23:27] seeing the fruits of yet okay maybe in

[23:30] the second third quarter we'll actually

[23:31] see you know that decrease

[23:36] okay thank you Mr waves uh I know kind

[23:39] of referencing our last budget cycle I

[23:41] know a point of contention or just an

[23:43] area of a lot of discussion was around

[23:44] the uh uh overtime budget related to the

[23:47] police department and fire department um

[23:49] I don't know if it's related but I do

[23:51] see both uh Chief Clifford and chief up

[23:53] here and in tonight I don't know if

[23:55] either are available but I would love to

[23:57] hear from their respect if there's been

[24:00] any uh alteration in their responses to

[24:03] Public Safety which was uh a comment or

[24:05] series of comments I heard frequently

[24:07] from the community I know as you

[24:08] mentioned this is just the first quarter

[24:10] but there's a question that I will be

[24:12] asking throughout the year just has

[24:13] there been any uh administ or altered

[24:17] responses due to the uh or due to the

[24:21] way we budgeted over time sure I'm not

[24:24] sure if the Chiefs are ready to present

[24:27] this time for that and I maybe they'll

[24:29] come in next committee cycle to discuss

[24:31] that further with you me did did you

[24:33] hear the question did you hear the

[24:39] comment I can speak in general

[24:42] ter come

[24:43] [Music]

[24:51] on I know your fingers on the post of

[24:53] this all the time so I know your fingers

[24:55] on the post of this all the time so so

[24:58] you want to understand the

[25:00] question U so just to repeat myself um

[25:04] throughout my conversations I've heard

[25:06] and also it was a comment that was

[25:08] consistently repeated that any uh

[25:10] adjustments that were made to the

[25:12] recommended budgeted lines for overtime

[25:14] would have a negative effect to your

[25:16] ability to respond to events throughout

[25:18] the

[25:19] community so my question is have you had

[25:22] to alter your response due to the um due

[25:26] to what money was allocated to over no

[25:29] not at this

[25:30] point uh we have minimum Staffing of 20

[25:35] uh we put 20 on the street every day we

[25:38] answer every call that comes in uh like

[25:41] normal and the money is there now to pay

[25:44] for all the overturn what happens in the

[25:47] third and fourth quarter is yet to be

[25:49] seen that's why I was so passionate and

[25:51] adamant for that figure that we

[25:54] presented um as of the first quarter

[26:00] the amounts that we were looking at we

[26:03] were right on target for that amount

[26:06] that we

[26:07] requested uh now if we remain at that

[26:11] we'll see we're definitely not going the

[26:13] other

[26:14] way

[26:21] Chief simar response um I think it's

[26:25] fair to say that the first quarter for

[26:26] the police department is always be least

[26:28] expensive for us seems like uh weather

[26:31] is usually Cooperative from the first of

[26:33] the year until uh you know April May and

[26:37] uh we we do a lot less proactively more

[26:40] responsive so we really didn't you know

[26:43] we we we really didn't do much different

[26:46] than we normally do um but we do expect

[26:48] that with the summer months upon us uh

[26:51] we have more that will be busier we'll

[26:53] be putting more assets out there as the

[26:55] certain holidays come around like 4th of

[26:57] July so so we will expect it to be

[27:00] probably a higher percentage than first

[27:02] quarter for our overtime spending thank

[27:04] you

[27:07] aome any other

[27:10] questions okay um thank you very much

[27:13] and U we'll see you for the second

[27:15] quarter absolutely I'm sorry no I just

[27:17] moov your glasses around yeah oh mayor

[27:20] the

[27:21] uh

[27:24] just be uh trying to be polite my word

[27:27] choice uh last year's budget process was

[27:30] somewhat of a debacle said trying to

[27:33] avoid that this type of information has

[27:35] always been provided to the council we

[27:38] had generally made public comments at

[27:41] the adoption of the budget that we would

[27:42] go back and look to change the code in

[27:45] the charter where today it reads that

[27:48] the mayor submits it by October 1st the

[27:50] council adopts it by November first uh

[27:53] there were some opinions granted that

[27:55] there were no impact or effect of not

[28:01] adopting a

[28:02] budget uh I've made some staff

[28:04] adjustments to uh reflect that prior

[28:07] opinion but thought the council was on

[28:10] the mindset to put something on the

[28:12] ballot to clear that up so that if a

[28:16] budget is not adopted by November 1st

[28:19] you adopt either uh the mayor's proposed

[28:23] budget last year's budget some

[28:25] contingency budget but to take the ambig

[28:28] do it out of the whole process and that

[28:31] uh I've waited for that the action of

[28:34] the council we are coming up to a point

[28:37] where the timelines to put forward

[28:40] resolutions that would go on the ballot

[28:42] for this November uh there's still time

[28:45] where we can do that but I would assume

[28:47] the council is going to act on that in

[28:49] some fashion we can pick up the

[28:51] discussion at the next committee meeting

[28:53] thank

[28:54] you oh I'm sorry Mr yeah my my only resp

[28:58] response to that would be I I would

[29:00] disagree in that I would categorize that

[29:01] as a debacle I think it offered a lot of

[29:03] areas of improvement and a lot of

[29:05] learning opportunities for the council I

[29:07] would agree with that if we allowed it

[29:08] collectively to repeat again in our 2024

[29:11] or 2025 conversations but I definitely

[29:14] agree um Mr Mayor I think cleaning up

[29:16] some of those um lesser cleared areas

[29:19] specifically with regards to whether a

[29:21] budget is adopted I I definitely can

[29:23] agree that having more finer language to

[29:27] alleviate our interpretations only helps

[29:29] ensure that a budget is passed in timely

[29:31] manner for the

[29:32] city and um that's one of the reasons I

[29:35] was hoping I was asking that we had do

[29:36] this process so that we're once we get

[29:38] to the um where we have to actually look

[29:40] at the the overall budget we will have

[29:42] had discussions throughout and have a

[29:44] better idea of where we were so we will

[29:46] have the back and forth and

[29:50] um long elongated prolonged um budget

[29:54] process that we had last year so we can

[29:57] put that forward to have discussion at

[29:59] the next committee meeting thank

[30:02] you okay go ahead I like the col

[30:06] government operations we have two items

[30:07] on the agenda actually the audit and I

[30:11] we put three items on the agenda right

[30:13] so first I what we'll

[30:17] do we to accept our

[30:21] audit so second all those in favor

[30:26] I all right next agenda item is going to

[30:30] be ring Dr Kelly tolin of other clinical

[30:32] psychologist and is Chief

[30:40] War good

[30:42] evening um so working with the Police

[30:45] Department fire department has been in

[30:47] the process of establishing our home

[30:50] peer

[30:51] support team as a matter of fact we're

[30:55] joining the police department um with

[30:57] their te they're doing a fantastic job

[31:00] uh and we are modeling our team after

[31:04] theirs and we'll be working closely with

[31:05] them part of our par support team is

[31:08] bringing on a clinical psychologist and

[31:11] we are uh asking to approved a contract

[31:15] with Dr Kelly toin who's the same

[31:18] psychologist at the police work

[31:20] with uh her contract calls for a

[31:25] $1,400 uh retainer fee every month

[31:29] uh we'll be modifying our original

[31:31] proposal of a year contract to 6 months

[31:35] and um there was some questions that the

[31:40] uh uh council president had asked I have

[31:44] answer to so the background of our the

[31:48] reason why we want our prayer support

[31:49] team is because of the increase in

[31:53] mental health challenges that First

[31:55] Responders are are facing and in the

[31:59] legislative request I listed some of

[32:01] those they're actually pretty trouble uh

[32:04] to the point where we just dealt with

[32:06] two issues uh about 10 days ago of

[32:10] people that really needed some

[32:12] intervention so due to the work our

[32:15] people do and the stress that comes with

[32:18] that and the amount of time that our

[32:20] people are working um we're seeing more

[32:23] and more challenges so it is extremely

[32:28] important that we have a team and with

[32:30] the team we need the clinical

[32:32] psychologist so that's why I'm here to

[32:34] ask for the approval of the

[32:39] contract Chief um the compensation of

[32:42] section three page um section three um

[32:47] $1,400 with retainer and that not to

[32:50] exceed

[32:52] $1,000 for additional service so that's

[32:54] like 4 hours is that enough

[32:58] on top of the $1,400 so the $400 is uh

[33:03] her retainer and all the services she'll

[33:06] provide you see that on exhibit a that

[33:09] additional

[33:11] $250 a u an hour that would be in the

[33:15] event of

[33:16] some acute

[33:18] event and I don't want to get specific

[33:21] but it something happened and she was

[33:23] called in because of the sheer uh severe

[33:28] that that would be what she would be

[33:30] charging for that event it wouldn't be

[33:32] for oneon-one for oneon-one

[33:35] uh sessions she' be charging she'd be

[33:39] invoicing the insurance so this would

[33:43] be in the event of something

[33:46] happen

[33:49] specific so I think what we're seeing um

[33:52] in society right now is that there's a

[33:55] renewal of the social contractor

[33:57] institutions including school districts

[34:00] um First Responders things like that

[34:01] nature and I think that this is

[34:03] definitely in line um with

[34:06] that that's probably a contract that

[34:08] wasn't necessarily negotiated we just

[34:10] had to respond to because there's a

[34:11] different level of need here so I think

[34:13] that that's a important step to take a

[34:15] proactive step to take it's something

[34:17] that we can probably um

[34:19] unfortunately uh will likely we utilize

[34:22] one way or another so I I I appreciate

[34:24] that F and full support of that any

[34:26] other questions or comments on that um

[34:29] just a comment do we have the same PSA

[34:31] for the police department do we have the

[34:33] same PSA for the police department I'm

[34:35] not sure it's exactly but conceptually

[34:38] it's the same it's um the police

[34:40] department it's 2,000 overall and then

[34:43] 225 for

[34:45] incidents um I just want to make sure

[34:48] that we have U up to date signed

[34:50] contract um we don't do that but that's

[34:53] that's the difference there he so it was

[34:55] modeled as the chief said off of the

[34:57] police dep

[34:58] Department my um I just wanted to ask

[35:00] Chief so are we going to be um this date

[35:03] in in that we have in our information

[35:04] say it's June 1st so we going to be

[35:05] changing that to July 1st July 1 yeah

[35:07] okay and I'll speak with court Council

[35:09] tomorrow about uh making it a six month

[35:12] as opposed to a year right so to keep it

[35:16] in line with how we do our um our budget

[35:18] and then we'll do it again in the

[35:19] beginning of the year correct well at

[35:21] the end of the year at the beginning of

[35:22] the year and cor Council wanted one

[35:24] phrase in the resolution so so we make

[35:28] sure that gets in there also oh it was

[35:30] just regarding legislative request sorry

[35:32] that was just regarding the legislative

[35:34] request okay we we'll put together the

[35:36] final

[35:40] contract thank you H um so you said you

[35:43] said something about You' be working

[35:45] with the team who else is on the team

[35:47] you

[35:48] haven't well right now we're putting

[35:50] together our team working with Dr toin

[35:52] and just to be fully transparent Dr

[35:55] Tobin's been working with us probably

[35:57] the last two months

[35:58] and has not been uh compensated nor she

[36:01] asking to be compensated I just state

[36:03] that to show you the character of Dr

[36:07] tolin she is not in this for the money

[36:11] like I said to her today you're not

[36:12] building a mansion any words she's in it

[36:15] because she believes it and she does

[36:17] wonderful work she's already counil a

[36:21] couple of our people

[36:23] um

[36:25] so we'll be starting in July what was

[36:29] your question oh who whe the type of

[36:32] professionals or staff or whatever you

[36:34] going to put on a team to help so some

[36:37] other departments have modeled their

[36:40] team uh through seniority um you know

[36:44] taking into

[36:45] consideration what the contract States

[36:49] here we're doing it basically on a

[36:51] volunteer basis our people will not be

[36:53] compensated there are people that are

[36:56] drawn to this

[36:58] and they'll be vetted by Dr toin and

[37:01] those members of the SK Police

[37:04] Department team to make sure there'd be

[37:06] a good thing so we we don't have names

[37:08] to give you at this point but we'll have

[37:12] that soon we're in the process very nice

[37:15] thank

[37:17] you so is Dr Toby is this a to uh

[37:21] actually do the homework on the site

[37:23] which uh which vendor we will go with

[37:25] each for each uh each category

[37:30] CH you thank you so so you said drones

[37:34] in addition to the other program that we

[37:36] have with the two drones I think the

[37:38] other one is and this would be these

[37:39] would be

[37:40] additional nope uh this is a what we've

[37:43] already you've already approved which is

[37:45] uh through Brink we have funding down

[37:47] and pay for that whole the

[37:50] contract Chief you mentioned a list vit

[37:53] here are you planning to upgrade the S

[37:55] at the same time or are you going to use

[37:57] um

[37:57] Cloud we're going to use the cloud okay

[38:01] any other

[38:03] questions see may have a motion to move

[38:06] this item so second all in favor the

[38:09] next item is the intergovernmental

[38:11] cooperation

[38:14] agreement yes so AC is give here the

[38:17] city's connected police department has

[38:19] received grant funding under the gun

[38:21] involved violence and elimination which

[38:24] again is the gri partnership for the

[38:26] fiscal year of 14 2015 the award is

[38:29] granted by New York state to the

[38:30] Department of Criminal justic Services

[38:32] the Grant application is a partnership

[38:34] between SK Police Department the SKC

[38:36] District Attorney's Office SKC County

[38:39] Probation Department and the skan county

[38:41] sheriff's the total Grant reward for all

[38:44] of the entities is $1,200

[38:47] 773 with the scity police department

[38:49] receiving 5

[38:56] $3,495 question on

[38:59] this go ahead please and so is all of

[39:02] ours going to um be so this is the

[39:04] budget here right you've given us the

[39:06] budg of house

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, June 17, 2024

Transcript