[Music]
connect city council committee meeting
for Monday June 17 2024 we going to
start off with two presentations and
this time I'd like to turn over the
commissioner for
Ferrari thank you council president uh
city council mayor uh we like to start
uh tonight with uh u a review of the
audit uh we have John Kowski from kuak
and Company Auditors of the who audited
the city's conected financials uh for
20123 and uh uh we're going to have John
come up and explain the audit and what
he's done and uh how everything looks
and hopefully uh uh you guys can have
some questions as you go along okay I'm
going to turn it over to John
John uh I just wanted to start off by
saying thank you to um the mayor city
council and um everybody who help us out
during the audit um really appreciate
everything they did to help us complete
the audit um we have great staff here
very well qualified uh really good
people and really appreciate everything
that they did for us um so our ultimate
responsibility for the audit is to to be
able to issue an opinion in your
financial statements as to whether
they're materially stated and whether
they're in compliance with generally
accepted accounting principles otherwise
known as Gap so our audit takes place in
three main phases um the first is our
pre- audit phase which takes place in
December so during this time what we do
is we review your internal control
processes um we test those internal
control processes we perform variance
and budget analysis uh review council
meeting minutes and complete our
internal risk assessment
procedures um the next next is our audit
field workk phase this takes place in
mid March uh we use this information
gathered um to develop our audit
procedures our audit programs test
account balances um to U verify if they
appear materially stated the third is
our reporting phase where we review the
financial statements prepared by your
senior accountant and um report on the
final results so the financial
statements that you have in front of you
our 77 page document overall it's
comprised of several major parts the
first major part is going to be the
Management's discussion analysis on
pages 1 through 7 thises a required un
audited section of financial statements
so what this does is it summarizes the
operating results and other financial
highlights of the year if you're
unfamiliar with the financial statements
this is an excellent read uh Pages 8
through 10 that's your independent 's
report where we issue an opinion on your
financial statements
um it is important to note that your
financial statements are on the fund
level only fund and account grp level
only exclusive of the non-current
governmental asset account group we are
pleased to say that we
have we have once again issued
unmodified opinion on your financial
statements the highest L insurance we
can give you it's considered a clean
report we have no report of issu with no
CL so Pages 11 through 13 these are your
governmental fund balance sheets and
statements of revenues expenditures and
changes in fund balance approximated
operating results for the year end of
December 31st 2023 general fund balance
was unchanged due to the ARA loss
Revenue water fund had a surplus of
323,000 sewer fund had a surplus of
136,000 recreation fund had a surplus of
4,000 a special grants and revenue fund
surplus of
13,000 and your capital projects had a
surplus of 26 million uh due to the
proceeds from seral Bond issuance and
band redemptions so highlights of the
2023 general fund activity and these are
all approxim figures uh prior year tax
Le collected F below Expectations by 772
th000 casino revenue exceeded
expectations by
54,000 property sales fell below
Expectations by 1.7 million uh sales tax
revenue exceeded expectations by 2.3
million insurance recoveries these
exceeded expectations by 753 th000 uh
don't use cannabis revenue for the year
was
$531,000 for new Revenue source for 2023
Street opening permits these fell below
expectations
78,000 and the federal arpa funds that
were utilized $8.9 million for the year
6.5 million of which was used for the
loss Revenue
calculation um overall we feel that
management does a really good job with
your reserves uh general fund balance is
$18.9 million a year ended 6.5 million
of that is restricted funds and the
detail for these account balances is on
pages 52 and 53 the notes of financial
statements band borrowings increased by
5.7 million to fund capital projects
your New York State EFC borrowings $28
million converted to long-term
serons there was an increase of $48
million in the city's net pension
liability this is for underfunded ERS
and pfrs balance of year end was a
liability of 9.9 million from ERS and a
liability of 42.9 million for pfrs total
opad liability other post employment
benefits this increased by $43 million
to $294 million these valuations are due
to gby savings 68 and 75 which require
the acral of pension assets and
liabilities and the other post
employment benefits on actual valuations
custodial fund is required by gas State
M 4 this includes the property taxes
which are collected for other
governments not yet remitted Pages 16
through 58 of your financials these are
the foot notes of your financial
statements if you're not comfortable
with the face of the financial
statements or you wanted more detail as
a significant account balances or
material account balances on the face of
the financial statements the notes are a
very good read overall Pages 66 through
77 this is your federal single audit
since the city expended more than
$750,000 of federal funding you are
required to have it's called a federal
single audit um Federal expenditures for
the year were $29 million overall so as
part of this Federal audit what we're
require to do is uh rotate your major
programs every 3 years major programs
for this year the Community Development
block grant uh the home Grant and also
the ARA funds as well um your ARA funds
are required to be obligated uh for
expenditure by December 31st 2024 and
must be expended by December 31st 2026
there are currently $31 million um still
remaining of your AR funds to be spent
um from an overall accounting and
control standpoint we feel like your
staff does a really great job a really
great team here a lot of strong people
um they were very helpful during the
audit um if there was any questions at
this point you know on the audit process
that was just a brief overview of the
financial highlights and questions on
the audit process or the audit in
general financi statements i' be happy
to take at this point could you just go
over again about the liability that you
talked about 9.9 million liability
increase sure for the um underfunded ERS
and PFS so those evaluations are so ERS
and PFS are under gaser number 68 the
state has an actal evaluation done and
what they do is they have to report to
us whether whether we have if they're in
an asset situation or a liability
situation for over funding or
underfunding both of those um pension
systems are underfunded which
essentially means that they have a
liability that that is allocated on a
prated basis to each municipality that's
part of that system so in theory as of
123123 should those systems fail in
theory the city would owe 9.9 million
for R and 42.9 million for place in fire
we know that would never happen there
safeguards in place but gby statement 68
does require that that is placed on in
the long-term Deb fund as a
life and that's the same with gas St 75
for the other post employment benefit
benefits that's a liability as well
that's going on an Actuarial basis so
the actuary provides a report that says
you know this is your projected
liability based on our our inputs and
outputs into into this calculation at
that given time so I know those numbers
seem really massive you know n it's kind
of scared up some but they the lack of
term can be considered paper liabilities
where they're not going to be funded
they cannot be funded but ultimately
those are valuations that have to be put
onto St thank you so question you said
uh that part of the federal audit
process that you have to rotate three
major programs what do you mean by that
so every so your major programs are any
programs that are over $750,000 or meet
certain risk criteria so if that AUD if
that program was audited in the previous
year it was over 7 50 we had findings we
then have to audit that program again so
every third year so essentially like um
like your Le Grant you spend more than
$750,000 a year that Grant this year but
I audited that program last year without
any material there was no findings no
significant efficiency so I did not have
to once again audit it this year as well
the arpa program is so large that we
consider a higher risk from our
standpoints our internal risk assessment
says this is a brand new program very
high dollar amount we're going to audit
it every year in regards of what we can
or cannot do so I that's kind of from
our our our side what we're doing our
risk assment that program
okay so I had a question and I imagine
your report gets more detailed uh just
wanted to confirm you said Pages 52 and
53 give that assessment of the balances
uh and I imagine that gets into uh how
our rating as a city is
outlined I'm sorry your rating or I
think there's like a like a the bond
rating so the bond rating is discussed
in the Management's discussion and
Analysis the details of the actual fund
balance with all the different funds
that's going to be on pages 52 and 53 so
you can see how much is restricted what
it's restricted for if there's
incumbrances details of all those
different
balances um you mentioned um the arpa um
loss Revenue $8 million that was set
aside and we only use
$6 million does that mean that we have
$2 million available we're using it 24
now yeah well I was going say there was
even more than that so it was I think
Tony I think it was $1 million in total
but we use six six a change this year
and then the rest of it is budget for
next
year anyone else
no we said the audit went very well
thank you all for having me here tonight
and if there's any questions you know
afterward after you're done here if you
think of anything just um get my contact
information to Tony or Derek and can
take care of thank you thank than you
thank
you okay um excuse me um we've been
talking about this for um a while and uh
about doing a quarterly financial report
so that we don't see a similar situation
is we did last we get to the budget we
kind of have an idea where we were
financially and how things are going so
M Ferrari is here
today just kind of go over it um where
we are with our
Revenue EXC are you going to vote to
adopt please for the audit to accept the
audit accept the audit yes but um but
let's just do that under government
office because I usually do it in a
committee so let's do it there
you want me to go ahead or you yeah
we'll do that in government Ops I'd like
to present D who's going to present our
first quarter uh
uh details for you
dere thank you so we're just going to
review the first quar report for the
fiscal year
2024 uh I'd like to start with the
general fund um start off on a positive
note uh the city's connect uh did
increase its rating from an A to an A+
after completion of the official
statement and interview with our S&P
experts um from operational standpoint
uh based on the original adopted budget
through March 2024 the city has attained
40% of its projected general fund
revenue and expending 22% of projected
general fund expenditures uh during the
same period of 2023 the city had
attained 41% of projected revenue and
expended 23% of its projected
expenditures um some of the budget
concerns for the general fund are in
certies health insurance cost um there's
11% increase from 2023 to 2024 this is
in the same period from January through
March uh vehicle repair budget um has
increased by
68% uh compared to
2023 um tipping fees increased by
107% uh compared to 2023 the waste
recycling perm salary increased by
28% um Public Safety overtime cost
um respectively the PD has increased by
5% compared to 2023 and again this is
from January to March of 2024 the fire
department increased by 16% during the
same time period um there's only one
meeting contract which has not been
settled which is on tonight's agenda uh
the PBA uh for
2024 um the golf fund uh from an
operational standpoint based on the
original adopted budget through March
24th the city has obained 2% of
projected golf fund revenue and expended
7% of its projected golf fund
expenditures through the same
period two and seven correct correct 2%
for Revenue 7% for the expenditures 2024
uh compared to 2023 the city attained 2%
projected revenue and expended 20% of
its projected excuse me projected
expenditures uh the expenditures for
2023 are due to higher typ type Capital
reserves expenditures compared to the
same period in 2024 the length of the
season will um definitely um influence
the financial outcome of the golf fund
um right as of now there are no budget
conserns in
2024 the water fund uh from an
operational standpoint activities in the
water fund are closely tracking those of
2023 raising no budget concerns at the
present time based on an original
adopted budget through March 2024 the
city has obtained 58% % of his projected
Revenue spended 28% of projected
expenditures through the same period of
2023 the city has attained 67% of his
projected revenue and expending 19% of
his projected
expenditures the revenues are down in
2024 due to the time of issuing uh NIS
Uno water
bill uh which is uh approximately
$648,000 the expenses are up in 2024 due
to early use of water repair line of
approximately 455,000 in
2024 the sewer fund from an operational
standpoint based on an operational
adopted budget through March 2024 the
city has obtained 63% of the projected
sewer fund Revenue expended 16% of its
projected sewer fund expenditures
through the same time period of 2023 the
city has attained 62% of its projected
Revenue expended 18% of its projected
expenditures use of type Capital
reserves is much higher at this point in
2024 then the same period in 2023 by
approximately
66,000 so the finance department will
continue to monitor the numbers and
Report City Council on a quarterly basis
um are there any questions at this
point um thank you for the breakdown
looking for clarification you said the
vehicle repair increase uh are you able
to differentiate between like rou
maintenance and then just
acents uh the vehicle pairs parts and
bringing it to um uh broad shop to get
the repair um I think most of that is do
the inflation the parts supply and
demand um so we're definitely seeing
that
up so just your you're not you're
suggesting that's probably just because
the increase of Parts not necessarily
like more vehicles are breaking down or
there's an increase of things like that
could be potentially B of Aging Fleet
and um you know just Supply and and then
as we know inflation with the cost of
pair and you know getting those uh parks
that
from um you also said there was 11%
increase in for our healthcare costs
yeah yes um well that's compared to
2023 um it's going up um we I think we
showed you guys in the past and the
council wanted to cut um I that's
approximately a million dollars at one
point but um it's just you know the way
the market is
point I think can speak more towards
that on the health side uh during the co
period from 2020 to 2023 actually uh
because of the co outbreak our our uh uh
fees for uh Health had steady and
actually gone down but as as uh 2023
emerged especially at the last uh
quarter the last half you know people
started going back to the doctors we had
a lot more babies and starting to say we
have a lot more people getting sicker um
and than you know than we we we wish to
uh in 2024 we saw that uh last quarter
of 2023 move increasing as you can see
11% more more people are going to the
doctors more people are getting
treatments and more people are getting
uh work done so uh uh the the price of
uh the price has G on up but you know I
I always like to say that uh because we
have such a great uh uh health benefit
here at this concy you know we're proud
that our workers are are covered so well
so it's it's it's give it costs more
money but you know we're giving a really
good product to our our
employees so you have a 2023 completed
year and now this year at this point in
time what areas or line um expenses that
we should be concerned of that we may I
think I mentioned a bunch of them I
think those are definitely you you a
look out for um we could do another that
sorry top three top three um health
insurance is definitely one of them um
you know with the overtime cost possibly
PB and uh PD and fire department um you
know the council did cut uh from this
past budget year
um you know this first quarter is really
hard to tell at this point we'll have a
better idea in the second and third
quarter where we're going to sit um so I
think about a month or so we'll have
another discussion uh for a second
quarter have more updated numbers
thanks um in terms of the vehicle
repairs um 68% increase do you think
that that might have been um lessened
had we been able to vote in our last
budget about going to the um going
internal with our vehicle repairs which
I think was what you guys had presented
to us in the budget but was rejected by
the council I I thought that we if I
recall correctly went through Oh I
thought we um went through yeah I think
think it took a while be work on in our
in our group now okay but we did keep
that guy on overnight okay Sor that's
also an increase but we're also thinking
one work
time cuz I thought you said something
about sending the vehicles out just just
now when you're talking to I was I no I
I was asking is is it due to the
increase of cost of price part we do
both we do both Miss Patrick
okay but to her point I thought that was
going to kind of uh that was supposed to
cut our our cost as opposed to as now
doesn't seem like it necessarily yeah I
think like I said it took a while to get
someone in that position oh I don't
think we're really seeing the fruits of
the labor yet so okay maybe in the
second third quarter we'll actually see
you know that decrease
okay thank you Mr waves uh I know kind
of referencing our last budget cycle I
know a point of contention or just an
area of a lot of discussion was around
the uh uh overtime budget related to the
police department and fire department um
I don't know if it's related but I do
see both uh Chief Clifford and chief
Marina here in in tonight I don't know
if either are available but I would love
to hear from their respect if there's
been any uh alteration in their
responses to Public Safety which was uh
a comment or series of comments I heard
frequently from the community I know as
you mentioned this is just the first
quarter but there's a question that I
will be asking throughout the year just
has there been any uh admin or altered
responses due to the uh or due to the
way we budgeted over time that makes
sense I'm not sure if the Chiefs are
ready to present there's time for that
and maybe they'll come in next commit
cycle to discuss that forther with
you did did you hear the question did
you hear the
comment I can speak in
general come
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on I know your fingers on the PST of
this all the time so I know your fingers
on the PST of this all the time
so you want to understand the
question U so just to repeat myself um
throughout my conversations I've heard
and also it was a comment that was
consistently repeated that any uh
adjustments that were made to the
recommended budgeted lines for overtime
would have a negative effect to your
ability to respond to events throughout
the
community so my question is have you had
to alter your response due to the um to
what money was allocated to over time no
not at this
point uh we have minimum Staffing of 20
uh we put 20 on the street every day we
answer every call that comes in uh like
normal and the money is there now to pay
for all the overtime what happens in the
third and fourth quarter is yet to be
seen that's why I was so passionate and
adamant for that figure that we
presented um as a the first
quarter
the amounts that we were looking at we
were right on target for that amount
that we
requested uh now if we remain at that
we'll see we're definitely not going the
other
way
you similar response um I think it's
fair to say that the first qu for the
police department is always the least
expensive for us seems like uh weather
is usually Cooperative from the first of
the year until uh you know April May and
uh we we do a lot less proactively more
responsive so we really didn't you know
we we we we really didn't do much
different than we normally do um but we
do expect that with the summer months
upon us now we have more that will be
busier we'll be putting more assets out
there as the certain holidays come
around Fourth of July so we will expect
it to be probably a higher percentage
than the first quarter for our overtime
spending thank
you any other
questions okay thank you very much and U
we'll see you for the second quarter
absolutely I'm sorry no just mooving
your glasses around yeah oh mayor the
uh just
the the uh try light my word choice uh
last year's budget process was somewhat
of a debacle said trying to avoid that
this type of information has always been
provided to the council we had generally
made public comments at the adoption of
the budget we would go back and look to
change the code in the charter where
today it reads that the mayor submits it
by October 1st the council adopted by
November 1st uh there were some opinions
granted that there were
no impact or effect of not adopting a
budget uh I've made some staff
adjustments to uh reflect that prior
opinion but thought the council was in
the mindset to put something on the
ballot to clear that up so that if a
budget is not adopted by November 1st
you adopt either uh the mayor's proposed
budget last year's budget some
contingency budget but to take the
ambigu out of the whole process and that
uh you waited for that the action of the
council we are coming up to a point
where the timelines to put forward
resolutions that will go on the ballot
for this
November uh there's still time where we
can do that but I would assume the
council is going to act on that in some
fashion we can Pi up the discussion at
the next committee meeting thank
you oh I'm sorry Mr
yeah my my only response to that would
be I I would disagree in that I would
categorize that as a debacle I think it
offered a lot of areas of improvement
and a lot of learning opportunities for
the council I would agree with that if
we allowed it collectively to repeat
again in our 2024 or 2025 conversations
but I definitely agree um Mr Mayor I
think cleaning up some of those um
lesser cleared areas specifically with
regards to whether a budget is adopted I
I definitely can agree that having more
finer language to to alleviate our
interpretations only helps ensure that a
budget is passed in time and manner for
the
city and that's one of the reasons I was
hoping I was asking that we had do this
process so that we're once we get to the
um where we have to actually look at the
the overall budget we will have had
discussions throughout and have a better
idea of where we were so we will have
the back and forth and
um long elongated prolonged um budget
process that we had last year so we can
put that forward to have discussion at
the next committee meeting thank
you okay go ahead I like the call
government operations we have two items
on the agenda actually do the audit and
we put three items on the agenda right
so first I what we'll
do we to accept the
audit so second all those in favor I
our next agenda item is going to be ret
Dr Kelly tolin of other clinical
psychologist and that his chief
M um so working with the police
department the fire department has been
in the process of establishing our home
peer
support team as a matter of fact we're
joining the police department time with
their team they're doing a fantastic job
uh and we are modeling our team after
theirs and we'll be working closely with
them part of our pair support team is
bringing on a clinical psychologist and
we are uh asking to approve a contract
with Dr Kelly tolin who's the same
psychologist that the police work
with uh her contract calls for a
$1,400 uh retainer fee every
month uh we'll be modifying our original
proposal of a year contract to 6 months
and um there was some questions that the
uh uh council president had asked I have
answered to so the background of our the
reason why we want our prer support team
is because of the increase in mental
health challenges that First Responders
are facing and in the legislative
request I listed some of those they're
actually pretty troubling uh to the
point where we just dealt with two
issues uh about 10 days ago of people
that really needed some intervention so
due to the work our people do and the
stress that comes with that the amount
of time that our people are working um
we're seeing more and more challenges so
it is extremely important that we have a
team and with the team we need the
clinical psychologist so that's why I'm
here to ask for the approval of the
contract Chief um the compensation of
section three page um section three um
$1,400 with retainer and they not to
exceed
$1,000 for additional service so that's
like 4 hours is that enough
on top of the $1,400 so the 1,400 is uh
her retainer and all the services she'll
provide you see that on exhibited that
additional
$250 a uh an hour that would be in the
event of
some acute
event and I don't want to get specific
but if something happened and she was
called in because of the share
uh severity of it that would be what she
would be charging for that event it
wouldn't be for oneon-one for oneon-one
uh sessions she' be charging she'd be
invoicing the insurance so this would
be in the event of something
happen I
specific so I think what we're seeing um
in society right now is that there's a
renewal of the social contract for
institutions including school districts
um First Responders things like that
nature and I think that this is
definitely in line um with
that that's probably a contract that
wasn't necessarily negotiated we just
had to respond to because there's a
different level of need here so I think
that that's a important step to take a
proactive step to take it's something
that we can probably um
unfortunately uh will likely be utilize
one way or another so I I I appreciate
that F and full support of that
any other questions or comments on that
um just a comment do we have the same
PSA for the police department do we have
the same PS for the police department
I'm not sure it's exactly but
conceptually it's the same it's um the
police department it's 2,000 overall and
then 225 for
incidents um I just want to make sure
that we have uh up to- date signed
contract um that but that's that's the
difference there he so it was modeled as
the chief said off of the police
department my um I just wanted to ask
Chief so are we going to be um this
state in in that we have in our
information say June 1st so we're going
to be changing that to July 1st July 1st
yeah okay and I'll speak with court
Council tomorrow about uh making it a
six month as opposed to a year right so
to keep it in line with how we do our um
our budget and then we'll do it again in
the beginning of the year correct well
at the end of the year at the beginning
of the year and cor Council wanted one
phrase in
the resolution so we'll make sure that
gets in there also oh it was just
regarding legislative request sorry that
was just regarding the legislative
request okay we'll we'll put together
the final
contract Mr thank you hi um so you said
you said something about you'd be
working with the team who else is on the
team you have any well right now we're
putting together our team working with
Dr toin and just to be fully transparent
Dr Tobin's been working with us probably
the last 2 months and has not been uh
compensated nor she asking to be
compensated I just state that to show
you the character of Dr tolin she is not
in this for the money like I said to her
today you're not building a mansion
anywhere she's in it because she
believes it and she does wonderful work
she's already Council a couple of our
people
um so
will be starting in July what was your
question
oh other type of profession St whatever
you going to put on a team to help so
some other departments have modeled
their team uh through
seniority um you know taken into
consideration what the contract States
here we're doing it basically on a
volunteer basis our people will not be
compensated there are people that are
drawn to this and they'll be vetted by
Dr toin and those members of the SK
Police Department team to make sure
there'd be a good thing so we we don't
have names to give you at this point but
we'll have that soon we're in the
process very nice thank
you so is Dr Toby is this a private
practice or is she does she have a group
practice and the reason I'm asking that
is because if for some reason she's on
vacation she's she's not feeling well or
whatever is there someone that that when
help is needed that there's still
someone that um is available to the uh
members she's a private practice but she
works closely with the police
department's peer support te so they're
involved uh they work as a group so if
she was not available there'd be people
from the police department's team and
and not everybody that has an issue goes
to Dr Tolman the whole concept of peer
support is to talk to a peer to work
with a peer okay and what we like about
it uh I'd like to say it was my idea was
it Chief Cliffords um that there could
be times where a member of the police
department would feel more comfortable
speaking to someone outside the police
department be a firefighter and vice
versa so I did like that
concept whole ideas getting people to
help they need absolutely necessary yes
thank you
there a
motion second all those in
favor thank
you he the next item on our agenda is PV
M agreement mayor McCarthy can I U just
interject uh that we recommend that uh
this conversation happen in executive
session because it deals with Collective
negotiations um even though it's like
ass signed document that's been made
public there may be you know how did how
did they get to this particular place
depend on the question question how they
get get this document so executive
session
yes most point for the
session recess we're going to recess
we're going to recess uh government
operations and then we'll bring that
back when to yeah because yeah okay okay
so operations
move
second all those in favor one got you
okay call to order the finance committee
and the forite is Grant to law
enforcement
technology good evening
uh the first one up is the Lech which is
law enforcement technology Grant uh the
New York state division of Criminal
Justice Services has awarded the city's
connec Police Department
$1,569
494 to purchase hardware and software
that supports the Department's
technology needs and there are no
mention funds funds
required any questions about that one
questions handsome go ahead please what
what type of Technology you need do they
are they specific parameters they they
attach to that do you have something in
mind I don't have the specifics per se
but
um perhaps uh Information Technology
whether it's regarding U body cameras
oring our videos or laptops and
computers uh so that's sort of generic
category by
Nature if you have more specific I
thought there was a specific focus on
this application cheap yeah
uh for this for this grant we had
actually uh designate what our area of
Interest was so like the lieutenant
mentioned we put in there for some
surveillance cameras laptop computers
and we also put in for license plate
readers uh for
drones um to expand our fiber network uh
up uh you know through some parts of the
city and video management software for
all the cameras that we have through
throughout the city so so so so that's
that's that's what we are awarded for
the next step after accepting the grant
will be to uh actually do the homework
on the site which uh which vendor we
will go with each for each uh each
category Chief you thank you so so you
said drones in addition to the other
program that you have with the two
drones I think the other one is and this
would be these would be
additional nope uh this is uh what we've
already you've already approved which is
uh through Brink we have funding down to
pay for that whole the
contract Chief you mention a list vit
here are you planning to upgrade the
server at the same time or are you going
to use um
iCloud we're going to use the cloud okay
any other
questions see now may have a motion to
move this item so second all in favor
the next item is the intergovernmental
cooperation agreement
yes so AC is give here the city's
connected police department has received
grant funding under the gun involved
violence elimination which again is the
gri partnership for the fiscal year of
2014 2015 the award is granted by New
York state to the Department of firal
justic Services the Grant application is
a partnership between SK Police
Department the skan District Attorney's
Office skan county probation department
and the skan county sheriff's the total
Grant reward for all of the entities is
$1,200
773 with the skincity police department
receiving
$3,495 question on
this go ahead please and so is all of
our going um be so this is the budget
here like you've given us the budget
down
okay thank you any other questions
seeing none we have a motion to move
this item so move second all in favor I
I thank you thank you any other business
for finance we have a motion to so move
second all in favor I thank you I'd like
to call Health and Recreation to order
um we have one item on the agenda um
which should be a discussion of the new
Central par swimming pool um just to
hear a little bit more about um fees
hours security and any other issues that
folks had uh wanted to discuss regarding
the pool um so I just wanted to open
that discussion up I didn't know if we
had already a fee structure or have
started to consider that um the pool
looks fabulous I don't know if anyone
else has gone up to see it uh it's going
to open later this week um
obviously you know we want to make sure
that it stays as beautiful as it is uh
currently uh so to me that brings up
some security issues so I just wanted to
a little bit more about what might be
planned for um these items and whether
anybody else had some other items to
discuss are there fees fees collected at
this time and no no have we I'm sorry
considered the possibility of attaching
fees to
non-residents it's been informal
discussion you know some of the joining
communities have more restricted access
for their facilities some charge fees uh
the city has not done it and uh some of
us were approaching IT staffing level
more of an open mind uh to new facility
it really looks very impressive uh the
weather is also going to be slightly
warmer than we'd probably like so I
assume the utilization in the first days
is going to uh T some of the limits to
handle it and then we'll just see how it
goes uh from that uh in terms of the
actual hours and Staffing but some of
the fees other access issues are still
the PRI of the city council and uh not
like for the Central Park pool but the
uh rest of the pools in the city or some
of the other uh facilities that we
offer oh who's next I'm sorry Mr yeah I
was going to say yes it does look
beautiful and I think that um really
proud of this project I I would say um
sustainability of of the project is
going to be really key so I guess you
know what would be ideal for me and I'm
saying this without you know really any
um information to support at this time
to the m point we're going to there is
going to be a level of kind of seeing
how things are going and then being
responsive to what we see but um I you
know my initial ad would be not the
charged residents of the city but people
who don't live here who are coming here
to you know to be there' be some small
feed there that's probably not and I
know that happens in other
municipalities um the only thought thing
would be I know it cost the city uh
something to enforce those fees and like
all like so I'll just you know look at
that cost benefit piece there but that's
what I
would be comfortable
with okay Mr
so um do
we has the parks department come up with
anything that they've even considering
um what those fees might be who would be
charged um is one of my questions and
the other part is there signage that you
know rules of the pool essentially is
that all in place for this weekend I
hope so you don't know I haven't been up
to look at they tell me to signage just
up uh
and uh apparently we don't charge
anything Mr Farley's Point uh there is a
cost in terms of collecting it and some
of our neighboring communities are far
more restrictive in terms of access to
their
facilities and so we we'll consider
what's what's reasonable for us to do
but I have to agree that um to charge
residents I don't yeah people can you
know um cuz people are really looking
forward to it and that they're not
looking forward to like being stopped at
the gate for a dollar whatever it's
going to be yeah I was I actually also
would support not charging residents I
just wasn't sure if we were going to
have a non-resident a non-resident fee
but I like the idea of you know opening
and see how things go um in terms of
Staffing are we all set with the
lifeguards and all that we will be by
the time we open
okay okay and then Mr tutoral yes um
so residents absolutely children free um
no charge um how do they prove they're a
resident folks don't have a license and
maybe they don't have a um an ID but we
looking for the for the Youth to provide
a student ID um to get in because they
might have one from school so what
happens um Saturday the gates open
and well it's up to the C yeah we have
generally used student IDs from the
school district in past summers for
access to Central Park Pool and the
other facilities assume that that's
going to continue okay City the past has
had a
recreation ID that was uh used for the
tennis courts the golf course and other
facilities that had uh shifted so that
uh even though there's fee structures on
the books for the tennis courts those
are not collected uh the golf course set
up is where there is a fee structure
that is uh 100% enforced that becomes a
self- sustaining entity mhm we used to
get a a photo at the place in Central
Park where the AL um we used to be able
to get a resident photo there for for
the golf course and other things that we
were participating in city um so say um
you know a young child shows up with
their mom and their mom doesn't have
anything this weekend can they bring the
niok bill I just thinking I sometimes
you bring that to um to the golf course
to
prove you're a resident you know a bill
so I just you know want to make sure
everyone that's entitled to get in there
to swim this weekend and get in to swim
so well but this weekend we're not
asking anybody for anything right is
that correct
okay the having said that the Boys and
Girls Club is going to use the same
procedures that they used last year in
Central Park where they still have to uh
validate the number of people who are
actually in the pool area because that
dictates how many lifeguards we have to
have on duty so they have collected the
student ID or some counting procedure as
people come into the facility and that
will still be used just as it was uh in
Prior years but we're not looking to
restrict anybody in terms of their
access other than there may be a
quantity
issue we would limit people because the
capacity has been exceeded to match with
lifeguards that makes
sense Mr Williams but I'd also like to
comment so to miss uh D Toro's Point
like of how do you manage that fee
structure and the collection of it I
don't know if I agree well I don't agree
but have
he doesn't agree either I love that
quote my train of thought with the Fe
structures um uh excuse me so one with
the with the Fe structures um
wow
my
best no someone else has a question
maybe it'll come back maybe it'll come
back to you question Mr M yeah the hours
of operation currently what are the
hours for the pools that we have
currently in the contract I believe
until 12:30 to 6:30 12:30 to
6:30 they do some s these in the morning
before that so couldn't be be open on a
restricted
basis Central fire are we talking about
Central I think he's ready oh so oh
sorry one second Mr Williams so 12:30 to
6:30 for the current pool that we have
so we're now looking to have the
same time slot for the Central Park Pool
we're looking more of early
morning no those are the public hours
there's some swim lessons that they give
scheduled before the op the general
public and in terms of security um we're
talking about um cameras and enfor
security is that will be available
yes okay um Mr Williams are you yep okay
so say I wanted to also just have a
reminder and correct me if I'm wrong Mr
Mayor uh the emphasis with using a
considerable amount of the or dollars to
create a new resource was to help with
the exploding maintenance fees to where
it currently was in effect
CR say that again where the Central Park
Pool currently was it was just uh
difficult a resource to manage just due
to the the the Aging filtration system
uh and among other issues whether it
being closely uh near the the some of
the animals that live around there so
wanting to re uh move it should help
with controlling some of those
maintenance and and preventive
maintenance costs in theory to some
degree we basically had no filtration
system on the original pool it was
refilled every day it's our ability to
generate uh very large quantities of
high quality water at a very low
price uh
so some of that uh will be reduced but
this pool by its nature where you're
recirculating the water you do have
filtration systems better controls there
will be uh more of a maintenance issue
in terms of people
monitoring uh the systems
and uh again there will be some upkeep
on those systems to maintain the high
quality of water and uh the overall
character of the
facility I think um one thing I just
want to add just from going up there a
few times this past week um remember
that part of the project also had to do
with the lighting and the roadway and
parking access um it looks like there's
about 36 additional parking spots I I
was trying to count them as I was
walking so I didn't get an exact number
but um the lighting is going to really I
just feel very significantly um increase
some safety um at night time in that
part of the that I mean this is just me
anecdotally saying but I mean it looks
really great so I encourage folks to go
up there uh and check that out but I
just it's it's world class and me
there's no doubt when you see it and so
I just really I'm hoping that whatever
we can do security wise um will you know
help keep the the buildings the bath
house is just fabulous looking um I
won't be here tomorrow I mean everyone
knows that there is a it's tomorrow
morning I believe is the uh ribbon
cutting um so I hope that folks can get
up there uh for that as well
Mr Williams so I'd say two points one Mr
Mayor if you wouldn't mind speaking I've
heard myself I imagine it's the same for
the council members people have walked
up definitely uh laed at the new
facility that's going to be there and
like that's only parking there so I know
this is the first phase of the
reconfiguration of the park but then
second I wanted to just point out I know
there have been ongoing conversations
now about security I think part of it is
also challenging the community there are
often times comments of this this is why
we can't have nice things and I want to
ensure that there's also an equal
responsibility placed on our community
residents of we can continue to make
these Investments not only in our
Renovations of properties throughout the
building but also making sure that the
city is and remains economically viable
but if we are are chasing ourselves with
having additional costs such as
vandalism uh that makes it difficult to
continue these types of efforts so I
know that there are preventive ways to
go about that I E surance camp
and also with maybe increased police uh
um patrols throughout the area but but I
want to ensure to Mr um Farley's Point
let's let's see how it is and then
respond rather than putting in place
some safeguards that might not
necessarily be
needed yeah I think I think that's what
the mayor was um indicating in his
opening remarks that that would be what
we would be trying to do so I appreciate
Mr Carly and Mr William's following up
on that Mr
um and I'd like to up to you of course
your committee bring it back in two
weeks and think about how we're you know
my biggest concern is is is Mom or Dad
can't bring
me I'm Grandma's from out of town and
now she you know she so it's up to the
council you know to work on to decide on
how we're going to move forward with a
fe structure and and things like that
actually the free structure part of it
should really come out of the its
administrative function so they it's
like with the golf course they we don't
create the fees they come to us they
create the fees and then we say you know
yes or no so really it would be the
parks department we don't really have
the capacity to do that it would really
need to be the folks who work here on a
you know daily basis and you know
obviously we can provide suggestions but
creating the feast and all of that is
something that would it's administrative
function and how it's done with all the
other parts with the lifeguards with all
that
great other question well the end result
is solely the proog of the city council
so you know one example for this
swimming pool is it is now designed for
competitive swimming events
yeah those type of things may increase
our staffing costs or monitoring it so
do you want to have those free for City
students uh would there be a fee for for
any group that's coming in doing a
competitive swimming event uh do we only
charge people outside of the city so
there
are things there again in terms of a
policy decision solely the PRI of the
counsil the policy yes but like the fees
I don't know how we would you know or
even how to how to like do like with the
boys and girls club they came up with
the process of how people um show ID and
and how to do um and get get in so
because we hired them to uh to do that
so I would think I don't know there's um
I know there's not a Parks director
right now but I'm assuming there's other
staff that would still be able to um you
know provide us with some guide guidance
on where we start with this I I think
that's a good suggestion um especially
when we start talking about tournaments
um and what will happen because again
it's definitely set up for that um as
well so
that would be outstanding if we if we
could have 10 minutes I'd go wouldn't be
a be in
one so can we ask that um we get a
recommendation sure um around some of
these policies just like the tennis um
although it's not being enforced but it
will
be I think you all know how I feel about
the tennis uh fees so um yeah I think
that and the same with the golf I mean
we do get that presented to us um for
discussion and and approval so um is
that something that we
can okay thank you um Mr Farley just
what a good problem to have that we
having in this beautiful asset in the
middle of our city that's going to bring
people um to see how amazing our city is
so I just say it's good it's a good
problem to have I look forward to
working with the council to help figure
it out some good stuff I agree I agree
thank you is there any other business to
come for health and Recreation
okay i' look for a motion to adjourn Mo
so um
second second okay all in favor I all
thank you thank you I'd like to call the
order City development and planning we
have 14 items on the agenda the first
item is to issue the issuance of re
revocable permit number
685 to social Hospitality Group Mr wall
uh AP I left my packet on my desk so I'm
just going to go through from memory on
all these so the 685 social on state
that was a permit that was brought to
you previously about two sessions ago
however there were some discrepancies
between the applicant the insurance and
the property owner so we were working
with the property owner on making sure
that all what's that no I I'm wor about
this um and so now the applicant is the
owner and the names are the similar uh
as it's going to be on the insurance
which was the issue so we should be okay
with the issu of this per
now any
questions second all in favor I thank
you item number two the award and bid in
contract for the sment lake wall
restoration yep um this was a project
that is uh an ARA funded project as well
as a Sam Grant funded project um it is
for the restoration of the historic wall
at Park um the project was scoped
uniquely where the city will be
purchasing and providing the materials
and the contract is essentially for
labor only um so the idea is this uh the
company Jaan construction out of New
York um City they will be coming up and
Performing essentially masonry only work
to repoint um modify the wall repair the
wall and install pre-cast concrete caps
the city will purchase the pre-cast
concrete caps and then the uh needed
mortar and uh grout for the for the
project we did meet with them on site uh
we did call five references because we
weren't familiar with them and um they
seemed like they they had their act
together they have worked for other
state agencies um they are working in
almany right now um it's a small
family-owned company uh they are an MB
company and they're looking forward to
doing work in the city uh we actually
took them into account a couple areas to
look at other projects in the city
because to have uh Masons is something
that is a skill that we we're looking
for for this kind of stuff so we're
comfortable awarding it the price was
competitive
and we'll see and this money is already
in the ARA line for this
project um Mr well can you just tell us
a little bit about the timeline for this
work well the timeline they are ready to
go because they're labor only so what
we're doing right now is I'm working
with Sarah and purchasing on the caps
but we were were concerned about was the
costs we didn't want to order 420 caps
and then this number come in out of
budget and then we have caps and no
labor so uh we wanted to try to get it
so we have this number we already had
the quotes from a local company that
specializes in pre-cast and we don't
need 420 caps tomorrow we just need them
to start making the Caps so Sarah's
already contacted their person uh
earlier last later last week about
getting in the caps and then the other
materials are common shell materials so
right now we're just waiting on the
caps but I I don't have a schedule we're
hoping fall I don't think this is a
project you want to do in the dead of
the summer because you know you're
exposed you're out and uh I don't I
don't think you know you want to do
something more 100 but if we can get
some of the caps on we're going to store
the Caps uh right next to C and's yard
there uh in stamus and then just start
picking away at the and working forward
they anticipate once they start it's
going to be around probably I think a 6
week projects for okay so
thank any other
questions a motion so second all in
favor I item number three award and bid
and award bidden contract for the north
Fairy Street Pump Station exterior so
this is another uh arpa funed project so
as you're aware we have a new North
fairy Pump Station uh that is put the
existing or the previous North FY Pump
Station uh as essentially abandoned City
facility the building is historically
significant and there was money approved
to make sure that it does not get into a
state of disrepair um the building is
okay presently but it's not great so
what the funding for this building is
essentially seal the envelope we're
going to be doing the windows similar
that we did at City Hall removing the
windows restoring the windows replacing
any Rock uh reglazing the glass putting
them back we're going to be replacing
the roof um the reason for the roof is
that the roof right now has over a dozen
penetrations for
various Vents and systems to come
through because it was a pump house we
have the vent we're going to remove all
of those vents fill in where we can with
uh concrete and steel and masonry and
then do one flat roof with no
penetrations so that will really seal
the roof off a lot better to go to the
parit we're going to remove all of the
stucco from the building cuz if you look
at the building the building is a series
of Patchwork cuz stule was put on in
various years so we're going to remove
all of the stucco down to the block and
then redo the stucco paint the building
so it'll look from the outside like a
preserved building the inside is a
different story but from the outside
it'll be weather tight and preserved and
I know that the Stockade Association is
working on lining up funding to try to
address the interior of the building but
this money is for the exterior of the
building have we already done some work
on this and started this process anywh
all in the exterior no not not to M out
Paul might have years ago but to M out
no it's just
it's there it's just a building and once
again is one of the tricky situations
that we're trying to work with Stockade
is the reason that we built a new
building where one of the many reasons
was is that that building was determined
to not be um cost effective to flood
proof because it is in the flood plane
so we built a new building that is flood
resilient um so this is fine and I know
that we haven't had any issues there but
making significant investments into the
building will be a complex subject going
forward because that is why we abandoned
the
building okay any any questions all
right motion some second all in favor I
thank you and uh the fourth item is city
council to assume role of Seeker lead
Agency for the mobile haror I have a
quick I'll try to make a brief this
presentation to just show you where we
are with this because it's part of the
process okay sure
okay so I don't know how many of you are
aware of this project I'm sure you're
all aware of in some part of you but it
is a rather older project um that was
done preo and it is something that we
have been pushing along slow and
steadily since then du of all the
development really at Mohawk Harbor so
um just to go through I I'll be quicker
than this but we're going to I'm
presenting it here I'm hoping to catch
some publicity from possibly the the
paper just to get it out there what
we're doing we're going to have a public
meeting next week at the Landing which
is an official public meeting uh and
then hopefully from there you know we'll
get some input and then we're just going
to move forward with the process um of
the project so the overview is um the
city received CFA Grant in 2019
for the creation of a dot gameway in
Plaza with path so it says um the idea
was to create an access point to the
river I don't know if many people
realize it but even though we are a
river front Community we do not have any
docks or points of access to the river
other than the parks so it's kind of
unique when you go to other uh Riverside
communities they usually have docks and
we do not um there was a talk um several
years ago um about putting a dock in
Riverside Park but uh the ended up being
controversial people didn't want the
idea of a DOT down there so this is a
DOT with an Upland Plaza and I will'll
get into the location a little bit right
here you'll see the location is we have
uh an arena we have the future hotel
which is improved um parking lot would
be here parking lot Arena and then that
is our Plaza and those are our docks and
that is the RPI research facility so as
I'll get into in a little bit there's a
reason for all the delay um the project
2016 we put in some access 20 20 we got
the grants with the skincity match of
15% um that's typical on these kind of
projects you know 80 155s City released
to design an RFP in 2021 after Co
working with MJ and what's called
waterfront Solutions so MJ is
essentially handling all the Civil work
and then Waterfront Solutions is
handling the dot work they're a DOT
company they also did the harbor for G
um did a bath metric survey that is a
survey of the riverbed uh 2022 the
project was paused and that was we we
rushed we got to a point and then it was
Aquatic Center it was like okay where's
the Aquatic Center going to go and it
was never mind not an aquatic center
arena it's like okay where's the arena
going to go so we actually had a spot uh
picked out and and in South there I can
show you where we actually were going to
put the the docks here MH um and we had
a plan laid out and then the arena came
forward and it was weight and so we
didn't want to move it anymore so we
waited until planning approval and
everything was set with the arena and
then we found a nice little spot in the
middle the Nic thing about this location
is that we are by a turnaround we're by
parking the glassy group has said that
that would be public parking they will
allow people during the day to park
there uh you know not event
notwithstanding but you know there
probably won't be event 24/7 and we are
directly adjacent to the ALCO Heritage
Trail so this will both be a overlook on
the trail and the landing and we'll have
parking and a drop off um you know be
honest this has to be publicly
accessible and probably get into that
but people who know the area I do not
see this going to be a full access dock
for recreational purposes the reason
being is at the gang way the gang way is
going to be quite long to get down from
the shore to the water and across the
street by the lighthouse if you're
familiar with the area it's the easiest
launch in the area there's nothing
easier that you park you launch it's 10
ft you don't go down the gameway so I
think that for people wanting to see the
river and be involved and be by the
water and fishing and all that but I
really don't think that people will
kayak and hip their kayaks down and
things like that unless it's for the
novelty of it because it is it is a
slope um so the project the one stage
like we said is the plaza which we're
calling the plaza or the landing it's
small 5,000 ft it will have lights it
will have signs benches we are looking
at very uh attractive welcome this
connec because you have to understand
that this is going to be now a new
entrance way for the city this is going
to be a Gateway we are looking at you
know people who are called the Loopers
who come from all around the country
this is going to be allowing them to
stop and go to SKC so we really want to
make sure that we have a nice anchored
site here that shows you where they are
also we are talking with a Riverfront
Cruise company that does small
Riverfront cruises of 40 people on boats
you know we limited by the locks so they
would come in so this this is something
that's important we're trying to make
sure that we're working and we're also
incorporating this into our drri WF
finding because that also is going to
connect to downtown so there's a lot of
irons in the fire with this this will
have water and this will have sanitary
we are not getting into fuel fueling is
a whole other animal we're going to
allow the yacht club in places like that
to handle fuel uh parking we say we'll
be at the um there's a better idea you
see the passenger drop off the trail and
then the um the area itself we are going
to have a Elric
going to a large Transformer we'll try
to landscape that make it as pretty as
possible these are some of the things
that we were looking at you know just to
say venges that we are actually moving
away from the arch but they took a
picture of it we are moving away from
the arch style um one of the things to
point out is uh this one right here uh
I've been to marinas before uh with my
family and that is something that we are
going to have to talk about and discuss
going forward is what is public access
what is not Public Access I'm proposing
that the docks are publicly available
from a time to a time and that it is
posted and that after a certain time it
could be sun down most likely uh the
gate is locked and if you have a boat
there you're have a code because one of
the things that you're going to see is
if you actually look at the river
sometimes you will see million dollar
boats multi-million dollar boats and we
want to make it a safe environment that
someone he feels and the voting
Community is a very tight Community
especially with internet social media
forums uh we really are looking for it's
open it's signed it's a public amenity
and the sunlight come on down and then
at night time you know what we're going
to close it off you don't want people
you know down on the docks it is a
little tough to see we are going to have
cameras and security we're are working
at getting a dock management company but
I just don't want you to think that is
something that we're looking at is U and
it's very common at commercial marine
with this type of b um so the project
just say it's two projects it's two
contracts that's what we're saying it's
a dock and it's a plaza so they're Ed
differently they'll have to be
progressed differently so we've already
talked with the permitting we've got a
lot of the permitting done this is the
sear portion we're now going to reach
out to all the involved agencies and
talk to them about making sure that
they're okay with it we have a stamp
plans uh right now we're just going
through all of the finals on it with the
doc company um and and then we'll be
done with seeker and then hopefully we
issue a declaration later this year and
then we're out to bid like it says in
August we look in August we're going to
have a lot of manufacturing time because
these are custom very large docks uh and
then as it shows doc delivery and Doc
construction of next year we are one of
the things just to also point out is we
are struggling right now with schedule
and when docs go in and when they
wouldn't go in we are looking at if we
can get docks in in this June July time
frame it might make it worth it to put
them in next year the arena will be
substantially complete we're going to be
working inside but we do not want to put
docks in towards the end of the season
because it's a lot of work to put them
in you're using them for 3 weeks then we
close so the timing of it is fluid of
when we're really going to get it in uh
the plaza similarly Plaza a lot of this
is going to be uh driven by the arena
which is adjacent CU we don't want to
build a plaza and have a construction
site around it like to do and the hotel
hasn't even started yet so we have
bi-weekly coordination meetings with
gesi and the hotel and these are the
things that we're tracking so right now
it's a similar path but this doesn't
have as long as the lead time is
constructing of a dock uh and then I
guess in conclusion I guess is just want
to get out there that we're going to
have a public meeting Wednesday the 26th
4:30 at the Landing Hotel we chose the
Landing Hotel because we were looking
for a place on site somewhere we're
trying to get people inv well the
problem with a project like this is It's
essentially for transient people um you
know the people that will be using the
facility the most are not residents uh
residents will use it for fishing and
things like that but we do want to hear
from people so we're looking at having a
public meeting uh on 4:30 uh at the
landing and then um like I said I think
it's a great project it has a lot of
fingers into everything else um and I'm
looking forward to getting people's
comments
on I the other thing that is is
expandable um 360 ft is what we can
afford today if we find that the amenity
is used and utilized we'll have to look
at expanding uh the do you can't expand
it uh to the north of
the
so
questions I think it's a terrific
project I mean I think it's something
that we've been waiting for you know in
terms of the initial design of the
entire Mohawk Harbor and um I'm excited
I'm very excited about it so looking
forward to seeing its completion and
there might be people in the apartments
down there that might want some of the
dog space that are residents in other Y
and so we were going to have the meeting
in the harbor house but we thought if we
had it there it would be too convenient
and we would overwhelm their community
room so um our our partner our friends
at gassie and Metroplex we're arranging
the the uh the hotel which has a larger
space for us to be able to use and this
is really going to be a partnership
project unique to what we've ever done
because the the city will be the owner
of the Docks but we already have a
memorandum of understanding with the
with the gesi group to help you know
operate the docks we're going to have to
store the docks these docks cannot be
out in the winter time they'll be
floated and stored uh within the harbor
we're believing um you know we have uh
the Dr that we're working on I can said
Danielle's here for you know show the
support of Metroplex uh with these
projects and uh I we really think that
it could be a great way to just promote
the city to the Waterfront Community
because we're just very uniquely we're
uniquely positioned on both the river
and the bike path and this is the river
and the bike path together
so
great s are you anticipating any
concerns from the public um I not I I
really don't
have because of the way everything came
together uh the original plan like I
showed you when we were a little more
the parking was a little farther away
the path was a little longer things were
a little bit but with the the new spot
where we are with the drop off in the
parking and the way it kind of
integrates into the site I I I really
think it's a it's a win I really like it
um I don't see what people would I
haven't figured out what people would
push back on then other than they don't
want big boats but you know they're not
they're not too noisy and they're in the
river so I and this is a commercial area
there's not you know that's not a
condominium it's not an apartment
building it's a hotel um so I I think I
think it will be
positive well thank you you answer my
question was not own it we said yes so
this is just for right now for secret
purposes you know for sending out the
letters and all that we'd like the the
city to declare a lead Agency on this
project and then we're going to move
forward with our uh determination and
reaching out to all the interested
parties so I just wanted to kind of loop
you guys into everything give the
information
thank you for that any
questions I a motion so move second all
those in favor you
Mr all right item number five vapon
smoke shop uh zoning ordinance Miss
barash okay it's okay uh mad president
I'll take I'll take this um in your
package this past week you've got a
revised uh uh uh ordinance um the
comments came back orar to the uh
General Municipal law from the county uh
Planning Commission with their comments
and uh there were uh uh which are
highlighted in in the package I gave you
in red um and that
uh they just had a couple of questions
really minor minor revisions to the
overall text of the of the proposed
ordinance
um the uh minor edits and comments of
the proes ordinance were attached the
red the Reds uh were the items that were
deleted the yellow items are the ones
that were they suggested language um
they had a couple of questions in the
definition section um was added what was
included in there is some uh medical
marijuana and another marijuana uh
definition they said it's not not in the
rest of the the code the reason those
were put in there in case you ever want
to build off of this particular section
of the code regarding cannabis
operations so those definitions are
already in there and that's how come
it's not referenced in there but in case
you ever want to build off of it
definitions are already included and
then the last part of this the last page
uh dealing with the uh ammonization
um oversight on my part that language
came from our City Zoning code dealing
with adult establishments um that that
reference wasn't deleted it should have
been was deleted um regarding the issue
of amortization I know there was some
discussion on this on this the last time
and what it means is that if you adopt
this ordinance you the the vape shops
that are in those areas that you've
declared them not to be
legal um would have one year to wrap up
their business now if they wish to
extend past that one year then they
would have to go to the zoning board of
appeals to prevent uh financial
information as to why this would be a
hardship and they they can't abide by
that onee uh deadline so there's an
appeal process through the zoning board
of appeals that language is is from as I
indicated from our zoning code dealing
with both businesses so that same type
of appeal process is already in our code
and is just placed into this uh section
regarding Vapes shops smoke shops Etc in
the alternative if you just wanted to
not get into that and and just have
these establishments stay past that one
year then they'd become a legal
non-conforming use what does that mean
they can stay as long as they're
continuing an operation as a vape shop
but if they vacate it then whoever came
in would not it's not zoned for that
particular
use so if you want you know it can be
the language there can be changed in
which it will become a legal
non-conforming use for after one year um
or on the alternative you know keep that
language
regarding mization in there uh for for
uh for it so it's really up to you but
it's it's your option I know there was
concern discussion last time so I just
want to flex that a little a little
bit so I I I do have a concern about you
know after a year saying you have to
prove that you're financially you need
to stay here so um I essentially think
that's that's that's an opportunity for
us to put people out the business where
they currently are if they're there
legally so um I I have concern about
that and I think that I'm just to have
them stay with the um um
then allowing them to be there and not
have to come before the zoning board
every year is is the way that I would
prefer that we approach this particular
um uh situation with these
establishments but obviously input from
the other council
members I mean the language we could use
I mean if we want if you wanted to go
down that route and delete that
particular portion it would be that all
such facilities or establishments la
actually operating open to the public on
the date of the adoption of this
particular order shall be permitted to
continue as a legal non-conforming use
and all others will be declared unlawful
prohibited so and our zone of law deals
with non-performing uses and what if
they're discontinued
it it would if there's a discontinuance
if it's not continuous operating then it
would revert to it would be a
non-conforming use the new outfit
understood Mr Willams So to that point
is the non-conforming use extended to
the business or to the business owner
meaning if the business no it's the
business the B
jobs or I meant to to like a singular
business it's the type of business
that's gone in
there it's it's the type of business and
and and and the definition the
definition section covers all that so I
I know it's it would be the type of
business it's thank
you so suggestion is to keep the current
language that we have we're not putting
them out to business just they would
have to move after the year in approve
the approved area that is zoned for this
so I think there is opportunity for them
to kind of like work until they are
ready to move into the approv area
and that is z for for Fen smoke
shops so I think what that comes into to
play here is how many vape shops are
there how much room is there in these um
in these approved areas because we have
a there's a distance right they have to
stay apart so if we're limiting the area
and within that area we're limiting the
proximity that could impact businesses
if there's enough businesses like then
we run out of space what happens to
those individuals so those you know are
are also part of my concerns because if
we do that then essentially somebody
would have may have to go at business
so well they're allowed to for a year
extension they would have to they would
be allowed to operate from one year from
the from the when you adopt this
ordinance
say July 15th or whatever one year they
can continue after that one year if they
wish to remain in business um a form
would need to be developed for them to
go before the zon board of appeals for
them to demonstrate financial hardship
as as to why they should be allowed to
operate for a period of time after the
end of the after the after that uh
one-ear period in their current position
in their current
position well last count there were 39
smoke shops um in the city plus we know
that more have developed and popped up
and um don't have proper um you know
aren aren't properly documented on the
books to even operate so I noticed one
the other day with with the windows were
all sealed up and it's got a big sign in
in the window 8m but it's the dragons or
it's a smoke shop but anyway um so I I'm
in in in agreeance with to leaving it
that you know they'd have to come before
the board of appeals to uh keep their
position uh if they can prove it's a
hardship but other than that as far as
um we we don't need six in one block um
so I I do like you know how things are
going to be um stated in the moratorium
I'm I'm sorry I'm off for small business
I'm a small business but um you know we
have we have a lot of Youth out there um
that are walking by these smoke shops
and and I'm just not in favor of them um
there's more than enough places that
they'll be able to establish their
business I don't know if there's nor
enough places I don't know if we've done
with the if we moved all 39 to this to
what's El to what's would be available
um to what we're zoning it for I don't
know that there's enough places so I I
do have that concern about someone not
being able to I
don't not being able to um to continue
with their business whether it's a
business that I approve or not that's
not really why I'm here it's it's if
it's a legal business and they're you
know it's something that they can
legally do then I don't uh I I don't
that we I think that we should just go
with leg and non-conforming that's
that's how I see
this Mr the last time of we discussed
this we were talking about the 40% um
allow
for
yeah yes there was no comment from the
the the County planning on that amount
and uh that 40% we the 40% is still in
right um
because they have not met yet they that
the city planning at City Planning they
were not able to take that take that
off
[Music]
so and um I think Mr Mr ran said if they
because they didn't have anything
official and I asked for something
official they didn't have anything so
they won't take it up until the next
meeting and if they do then it's
certainly something that we could amend
they came up with a specific
um percentage and the reason why they
came up with that specific percentage me
if they could come up with a percentage
they could bring it before you as a as
as a transmitt and saying that the their
number is whatever and then you would
have the opportunity to amend the
ordinance if you so desire at that
point yes I I think president P field
and I even we agreed on the fact that
you know whatever they want to put in
their shop or or you know the % was you
know we didn't have an issue with with
them you know keeping that at 40% um you
know they have a shop they can sell
everything legally in there whatever
they want and whoever's going into the
shop is going in there for a specific
reason anyway um for products and so I
don't think there was an issue with the
percentage of of the space inside the
building what they could
sell yes so
they were suggesting the members from
the zoning
board plan commission
25% no they never gave a number the the
other localities had gone down to 20 20
25% that was just as a as a reference
point but I don't think we did not get a
hard number from the uh City Planet
commission correct So currently it's 40
it's 40% in a draft other display area
yes Mr Williams so I think I'm just
being transparent with my thoughts as
everyone else has been uh I I I find
myself citing more with Miss Doro and I
understand that they're going to be in
consequences of like our actions where
39 is a rather large number um I think
we only have hesitation with the
non-conformances and then correct me if
I'm wrong it would only apply to
individuals that were in that quote
unquote good standing so if you had
individuals that weren't uh putting in
place like the proper marketing for
square footage like I would no it it
would be anybody could put in put in
request to the zoning board of appeals
because it's looking at dollars and
cents proof as to whether or not they're
uh you know they put they put in a
substantial Financial expend
related to the nonconformity and that
that the the closing down would would
would have would have a financial impact
upon them so it's a continuation you
could essentially have businesses
continuing on without making any
adjustments I don't understand the
question well we're highlighting wanting
to adjust the behavior so I applied for
a
non-conformance to not have to like
alter like where my business is
yeah you would what no what you're
saying to the zon board of appeals I'm
at this
street the the deadline has come down I
have in I I've invested x amount of
dollars into this therefore I feel that
if I should expend more I should the
deadline should not apply to me and that
that way I should stay
longer because it's impacting me
financially
did no I was going to ask add to that so
when you stay longer in ter is there a
time to recuit there it would be it
would be it would really depend on a
Case by case basis of how much they put
in how long they've been there dollars
and cents proof provided to the zonian
board of appeals so this point like they
can go on for another year it would all
depend all depends yeah it all depends
and it would be the prior to the
non-conformity the non-conformity is one
year in other words those individuals
that that put into their put the
business in
really um since we've had the uh The
Vape Shop moratorium since uh March it
would be you see that it would be a
longer period of time so a longer period
of time
it would be indicate that they would
have more return on their investment
because the non-conformity would occur
July
15th but presumably they've been were in
had their business there prior to when
you except it's had the moratorium put
in place back in March the legal
businesses right
so that seems to be the only sticking
point are we
moving are we I'm happy to move
this are we moving in tonight y yeah
we're ready to we already have I mean as
amended it can go forward and put a new
language in the red language deleted the
yellow just so you know um so our we're
you I know they are they're not in color
so you don't know what language is being
deleted which language I read it read
it's it's bracketed well
Sor it's bracketed it's highlighted may
not
be yeah
yes Mr M so I I'm in favor of keeping
the language that is point here and let
these business come back before the
zoning board um to kind of like discuss
their financial um you know at a plus or
minus and and board would allow them to
extend give them an EXT extension to
continue the business until they can uh
their expenditure because the sole
purpose of us is to centralize these
business in approv zoning area so if we
were to say it'll change it back but it
doesn't serve any purpose so we're doing
here right I agre the so Focus was to to
to uh to centralize them in one
area uh that's you know we kind of tried
to do that a while back with the um what
with those adult shop and I that that
turned out to be a problem I don't know
if you remember that you would probably
be the only one that would um
so um so and and we were also if I
remember correctly one of the main
reasons for this was
to start to kind of um take a look at
businesses that are operating on with
not they're not uh operating in
compliance with what the you know City's
rules and expectations are and and this
moratorium was to kind of stop the from
popping up all over the place where we
can manage what was in front of us right
so that okay right um and and with that
so mayor in terms of the enforcement and
for those that are legal versus illegal
do we have any type of update on the on
of the 39 is what M Toro says but I I
kind of think your number is
[Music]
low uh seen an updated listly
enforcement we can put put that together
and we have it two weeks to get it out
to you by the end of the week the
beginning of next
week the other thing for me um and I
guess I would ask this view mayor as
well if someone can map it out um if we
can have it map out where they currently
exist as
well we did that it's not updated I just
updated updated but we did get the map
well like you said there she said
there's more popping up and just um yeah
the neighborhoods that doing
so
okay so you're suggesting that we just
move ahead with it as it currently is
and let them um come before this Zing
for yes that is what I'm suggesting we
move as Sal and this this l
with the language that's currently
before us as and um mrri when would they
have to when would this from July 15th
until July 15th
2025 is whenever the you know it has to
pass the the council so and when the
mayor signs it and the resol as the
ordinance says this this ordinance take
shall take effect immediately so upon
the mayor's signature or 10 days
whatever that is pursuant to the code
that will be the of the year will will
start at that point okay and if for some
reason this obviously doesn't work out
we could always come back in absolutely
if you ever want to revisit it like any
ordinance you can always bring this back
if it's not not if you want to revisit
it at end of time you can put back on
and if you want to amend it there will
be another public hearing or you just
want to have a discussion on that
certainly it can always be
Revisited
okay that's
move and I'll
second so I will just make the statement
that um I will um support this however
if people come to us and say there's a
hardship then I would want this brought
be before this Council to be Revisited I
don't want to put a hardship on any
small businesses so with that c up all
in favor I I Madam CH uh M Madam
president that that could always be the
case if you want to revisit that
language in the last portion of the
ordinance along the discussion items
we've talked about earlier and just one
other item it's a it's a type two Seeker
action yes and I would just ask that
that also that resolution that what yes
it is is it on there it's
it's we have there's a Seeker resolution
yeah we'll have the SE it's right here
right page 159 page
159 the seek a resolution declaring is a
type two action
159 is the packet
yeah so you need that as to declare yes
it's a I'm saying it's not on the agenda
yeah that's what it said yes thank
you
okay okay so we U so the the next item
is to um
declare the adoption of the ordinance
creating section 264-1111 of the code um
is not subject to environmental review
of the state quality review act so we me
that resolution move it second all in
favor okay thank you thank you madam
president thank you mran and um just um
Mr ran have this and I have this quick
conversation when we were um at the
legislative conference about the um
incoming cannabis shops and that we
should at some point maybe even talk
about the um how that works in the
zoning of that as you can see we have
the new people's joint on State Street
that's the name of it I didn't make it
up
John um so and there's um I checked with
the Office of canonist Management and
there's at least three more that are
pending um and are prepared to come
within the city so um I don't know that
there's a limit on how many we can have
so that's a question so just so you know
that's a that's a question I'm going to
be asking the office management I don't
I couldn't find anywhere where there was
a limit on how many applications and
currently I can't remember the number
that we have but we have quite a few
applications that have come through the
clerk's office saying they they want to
be here and they've given the various
addresses where they want to be so um
I'll be following up on that and making
the council aware M president you want
to discuss that next time in two weeks
okay that would be
uh 131 of the Cannabis law
okay
thank all right thank you um the next
item is the discussion of rules of deor
during City Council meetings uh we came
up with these rules a while ago and I'm
not asking for anything to be um I'm not
asking any rules to be changed or
anything
but what I am would like to see is um we
put those out there but nowhere does it
state that once you sign up that you're
willing to abide by those rules so I
just wanted to add that
statement um so that there's some level
of enforcement of if that's the term you
want to use so they're right there
before you as they currently stand but
just adding number 17 and says by
signing up to speak that you agree to
adhere to the Corum of the council
meetings
so maybe add that to the sign up um
sheets well the sign up sheets already
have all of these on here but that
statement yes and just adding that to
what's Already Done Right mhm
yes yeah
I'm that's it for that so so we need to
move a motion for that I think we do so
move I'm sorry but then should it
includeed like specific language saying
if you don't like you're relinquishing
your ability to use this platform is
that what we're implying or is
that I'm sorry can you say that again
does it also need to include like
specific language that states you're not
adhering to this means that you're
relinquishing your ability to speak at
this point well I think number 16 kind
of um covered that that we'll remove I I
um I think we have to look a little
further into um whether or not we could
say that
specifically Mr you want
talk sure was there a question it was it
was regarding the the acknowledge the
acknowledgement or whether that it could
be uh uh whether you could enforce it to
the point where people so vacate their
or wave their ability to speak if we if
we if we said okay when you write when
you sign this you acknowledge you'll go
by these rules what Mr Williams was
asking is if we could add something that
says and if you don't then you really
relinquish your ability to be able to
have privilege of the
floorever I'm sorry is that what
you're well not forever but I mean for
the for meeting I mean essentially if
you have someone that disregards it what
happens they keep going well I think I
think Miss P I think Mr Charlie had his
hand up first so I don't know oh yeah no
I was just um just want to be really
careful like as we're adding I think
that that that's a fair suggestion say
like you know by signing this you're
acknowledging that that you're expected
to act Within These data parameters I
just um as far as like consequences if
you
will um we have to just be mindful you
know we don't want to discourage people
to you know after every time people come
up the sleep we always thank them for
their input um and I just want to make
sure that we encourage more of that and
just be mindful that's all I guess I
would say about like balancing that
on what people's
uh ability to come down and speak I
think is important
that's I'm comfortable yes M Gage um I
would request and recommend uh that we
do some legal review of that prior to
passing this
forward review that if they sign it that
there're adhering to it um yeah look at
into um the legalities of
that
okay could you let us know in two weeks
absolutely um and and I guess we need to
further discuss if we want to even
consider adding what Mr Williams has
suggested Miss Patrick I think um that
number I agree with you that number 16
covers um a consequence but um so I
think after Corporation C has the
opportunity to review um but I think
that does sort of State
consequences um and I think yeah I I
agree and I think that it's important
that we you know um let people know what
what the expectation is but um I am with
as Mr gley I'm kind of like want to be
careful of the over
policing yes Mr Farley cuz some I mean
cuz some of the language I mean even
though I think that you might have a
pretty clear well at least a uh we might
be able to build consensus around what
we think is vulgar or inflammatory you
know I think that something that you do
really well is if if people seem to be
Crossing that line you remind them and I
think that and what usually happens from
what I have my experience when someone
says something um that might be closely
getting ready to cross that line you
address them and then they uh are more
mindful in their words and and I think
that that's important because I think
that when we put something on paper
saying if you do this then this is the
consequence well maybe to some people
some of the things that they might be
saying might not be inflammatory and or
threaten right we might perceive them
differently so I like that at least
that kind of uh guard rail of you just
saying hey that's you're you know you're
getting close to this thing so I just
think that that's important too and I
think that that might have to be in some
langage as well because that is really
that might just be something that you do
as you know as a matter of practice and
not necessarily a matter of policy so I
know we're talking about policy
here well again I me I think that it
looks like five of us agreed to this um
not saying that we wouldn't ever change
our minds but um we we did vote for this
and you know it's it's pretty clear in
terms of the language that's that's
that's here and I agree that I think the
council president um as you did last
week for example you opened the meeting
really kind of reminding people about um
the public comment period um and then
did you know kind of um that's the word
I'm looking for Marshall uh the
discussion um so I think that that's I
think what you're saying as well that um
you know we do have that ability for the
council president um to
make an announcement and then you know
has the timer and has the ability to I
think you've you know many times have
said direct your comments here you have
you have different statements or the
council president has different
statements that that does sort of keep
the
conversation going within you know
appropriateness appropriate
guidelines so I'm I'm fine with just
saying that one if um once we um make
sure that it's legally um okay to do
yes Mr yeah Madam president just a
question when you know they would be
free to sign it or not sign it in other
words that would that impact them being
called or not yes with no name no I
can't call you so that would go for
their sign signing once you sign that's
the only that's how we know to call a
person up to speak and it also clearly
states that once the meeting's begun you
cannot um then um be you know be signed
up to speak so so your signature is what
gets you get your name called that's how
we but we don't have right now have them
signing this type of document no no it's
just the sign and Sheet the sign sheet
has this on it okay but it's not an
acknowledgement you're looking for for
wording where it says this acknowledges
you've read the above and BU as part of
this yes okay as as part of where what
we already have just the last thing to
say and signing that you agree to these
rules okay all right and of course as we
do with any changes we'll just make sure
that's clear to the public okay um when
they come okay mhm thank
you so we'll put bring this back well
you'll let us know in two weeks whether
it is or not we'll have the information
absolutely okay thank
you okay
um and the next item is just a reminder
regarding the Amendments of the zoning
ordinance relating to the Hamilton Hill
Redevelopment planning Redevelopment
plan also referred to as conect 340 and
the public hearing is going to be on the
24th
of um June so as just a
reminder the remainder of the items will
have to be done in the executive
session so I ask for a motion to go
second session
second all in
favor members of the public will have to
leave I
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