Schenectady City Council Meeting, August 26, 2024

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[0:00] [Music]
[1:46] [Applause]
[1:46] [Music]
[2:30] I
[2:32] [Music]
[4:25] I'd like to call the city Caucus meeting
[4:26] to order for Monday August 26 20
[4:30] 24 we have 10 items for original
[4:32] consideration if the clerk would please
[4:34] read item number one item number one for
[4:37] original consideration a resolution
[4:38] calling for a public hearing for the
[4:40] close out of cdbg cares act funding for
[4:43] and response to Corona virus through
[4:46] increased Wi-Fi connectivity and in
[4:48] underserved areas creation of
[4:51] community in information Port portal
[4:54] using public Wi-Fi and the launching of
[4:56] StayWell teleah Health monitoring pilot
[4:58] program discussed in committee with
[5:00] objection on consent item number two for original
[5:04] consideration a resolution amending
[5:05] resolution 2022 214 regarding American
[5:09] Rescue plan act Project
[5:11] funding discussed in committee without
[5:13] objection on consent item number three for original
[5:17] consideration a resolution authorizing
[5:19] the sale of a vacant lot at 115 Victory
[5:21] Avenue for
[5:22] $2,000 discussed in committee with
[5:24] objection on consent item number four for original
[5:28] consideration a resolution off
[5:29] authorizing the sale of vacant lot at
[5:31] 845 Oakwood Avenue for
[5:33] $2,500 discussed in committee with
[5:35] objection and on consent item number
[5:37] five item number five for original
[5:39] consideration a resolution authorizing
[5:40] the sale of 905 Francis Avenue for
[5:43] $70,000 discussed in committee without
[5:46] objection on consent item number six for original
[5:49] consideration a resolution authorizing
[5:51] the sale of 1044 helderberg Avenue for
[5:53] $90,900
[5:55] discussed in committee without objection
[5:57] on consent item number seven item number
[6:00] seven for original consideration a
[6:01] resolution authorizing the sale of 1142
[6:03] Cutler Street for
[6:05] $26,500
[6:07] discussed in committee with objection on
[6:10] consent item number eight item number
[6:12] eight for original consideration the
[6:14] resolution authorizing the sale of 1210
[6:16] First Avenue for
[6:17] $50,000 discussed in committee with an
[6:20] objection on consent item number nine under contract and
[6:24] suppli a resolution awarding the bid and
[6:25] contract for this connected City Hall
[6:27] Clock Tower restoration to Midstate
[6:29] Industries Ltd in the amount of
[6:33] $58,000 discussed in committee without
[6:35] objection on consent item number 10 item
[6:38] number 10 under contract and Supply a
[6:39] resolution awarding bid and contract for
[6:41] this connected City Hall ventilation
[6:43] replacement EC to S SW Burke electric
[6:46] LLC in the amount of $39,375
[6:50] discussed in committee without objection
[6:52] and on consent if there's nothing more
[6:54] to come before the city council caucus
[6:56] I'll ask for motion to adjourn move by
[6:58] Mr Williams
[7:00] second by Mr mudin all those in favor I
[7:03] we are adjourned I'd like to call the
[7:05] city council meeting to order for Monday
[7:07] August 26
[7:09] 2024 and I'd like to call on Pastor Gan
[7:11] Nicole of duy Amy Zion church for the
[7:20] invocation let us bow our heads
[7:30] God as we come to this meeting tonight
[7:32] we take a moment of
[7:37] silence
[7:39] recognizing that we serve those who have
[7:43] a voice and those who have yet to find
[7:45] their voice God we pray for all in this
[7:48] community those who have been to City
[7:52] Council meetings and those have yet to
[7:53] come those who will learn of it God and
[7:56] will take part and take their civic duty
[7:58] and come Lord I pray tonight for every
[8:00] council member and for the mayor I pray
[8:03] for all the staff and those who work in
[8:05] this building God lord I pray uh tonight
[8:08] that as the business of the city Goes
[8:10] Forth that you will guide lead and
[8:12] direct that all things will be done in
[8:15] the best interest of all residents
[8:17] throughout the city Lord we thank you
[8:19] for keeping us safe throughout the city
[8:20] we pray for our young people as they
[8:22] prepare to go back to school Lord we
[8:24] pray that you would keep them safe
[8:25] through the school year and we thank you
[8:26] for keeping them safe throughout the
[8:27] summer months Lord I pray tonight um for
[8:31] all those who will speak all those who
[8:33] will govern Lord I pray that you would
[8:35] do this in all things in the matchless
[8:37] and Powerful name of Jesus we do pray
[8:39] amen amen I'd like to call on Greg
[8:42] Davenport a former city employee to lead
[8:45] us in the Pledge of Allegiance i al to
[8:49] the flag United States am and
[8:55] the one nation God indivisible with liy
[9:01] and justice for all thank
[9:09] you if the clerk could please complete
[9:12] the roll call Mr Toro Mr Farley here Mr
[9:16] manini here Mr muan pres Miss Patrick
[9:20] here Mr Williams Miss Porterfield
[9:24] here uh at this time I ask for approval
[9:27] of the minutes of August 12th 202 4
[9:30] moved by Miss
[9:32] Patrick second by Mr Mancini all in
[9:34] favor I if the clerk could please read
[9:38] any Communications and petitions
[9:40] Communications presented to the city
[9:42] council for Monday August 26 2024 under
[9:45] official there were none under General
[9:47] there were none and under petitions
[9:48] there were none thank you this time I'd
[9:51] ask I'd like to call on council members
[9:53] for any committee
[9:56] reports go ahead Mr Toro
[10:01] thank you so I just like to give the the
[10:03] uh Council and uh those listening a
[10:06] little update on the crane Street um
[10:09] water main break that happened on August
[10:11] 12th so um it was reported on the 16
[10:14] Hunter block of Crane Street our city
[10:16] Crews quickly responded diverted the
[10:18] water shut down any adjoining lines and
[10:22] uh because of the location and the
[10:24] severity of the Break um we hired in
[10:26] Carver companies to look work along with
[10:28] us so that that's all been uh maintained
[10:31] and completed and uh the business that
[10:33] was affected is uh has water back to it
[10:37] again um last Friday we all received an
[10:40] email regarding a um 7day shutdown on
[10:46] Albany Street between South Brandy Wine
[10:48] and South M uh South Elm Street due to a
[10:52] um Wastewater sore line breakage so
[10:55] after visiting the site on Friday and
[10:57] then again today and speaking with Scott
[11:00] the situation is is basically still
[11:02] being addressed uh what happened was
[11:05] last year uh that section of Albany
[11:08] Street needed some repaving because of
[11:10] humps in the road and of course the city
[11:12] did their due diligence and set the
[11:14] camera truck down into the into the
[11:16] sewer line and there were no breaks and
[11:18] everything was fine um the uh the uh
[11:22] company that we hired out to did the
[11:24] repair and there was a break reported on
[11:27] Friday um at this time we've hired in
[11:30] again Carver companies to uh assist with
[11:32] the repair of a large blowout in the
[11:36] line um I know there are currently no
[11:39] residents or businesses being affected
[11:41] by this um and it's expected to be
[11:44] completed repair by Friday August 30th
[11:49] um again I'd like to reiterate the the
[11:51] fact that the city store division
[11:53] consists of 43 full-time employees and
[11:56] is responsible for maintaining over 320
[11:59] miles of sanitary and storm Source
[12:01] throughout the city as well as the 247
[12:04] operation of the city's Water Resource
[12:06] and recovery facility
[12:10] wrrf and i' just like to say that I I'm
[12:12] always grateful to all of our City's
[12:15] employees and every department for the
[12:17] diligent work that they perform whether
[12:19] it be days nights weekends good weather
[12:22] bad weather their unwavering unwavering
[12:25] commitment to our city does not go
[12:27] unnoticed and I thank them for their
[12:29] hard work dedication and the countless
[12:31] hours that they all put in to ensure our
[12:34] city runs smoothly and
[12:36] efficiently their efforts make a
[12:38] significant difference here in the city
[12:40] and they are always greatly appreciated
[12:42] thank
[12:43] you thank you Miss
[12:46] Patrick yes just want to say that the
[12:48] health and Recreation committee met
[12:50] again uh a week ago uh August 19th um
[12:54] and continues to uh come up with
[12:56] thoughts about uh pool fees and pool
[12:59] rules of course n nothing would go into
[13:01] effect until the 2025 season with our
[13:04] pools um but it was uh great to have
[13:07] another meeting and we will still be
[13:08] having at least one more meeting and
[13:10] also looking for recommendations from
[13:12] City staff uh thank you thank
[13:18] you this time we'll have privilege of
[13:20] the floor related to the legislative
[13:23] agenda and I have two people signed up
[13:25] to
[13:27] speak first P first person is Pastor
[13:30] Nicole John
[13:40] Simone and
[13:43] Emily um I just wanted um to say I I
[13:48] stand here tonight to say thank you um
[13:50] when I first came to connected as the
[13:54] pastor of dor Memorial 5 years ago now
[13:57] almost 6 years ago um I was amazed with
[14:00] the amount of Outreach and Community
[14:03] work that the members were able to do
[14:06] with such little resources I mean
[14:08] putting their own money together um
[14:11] giving their clothes to people when they
[14:13] needed clothes feeding people and things
[14:15] like that and I just want to thank uh
[14:17] city council I want to thank the mayor I
[14:19] want to thank you for helping us to
[14:21] expand that that now we'll be able to
[14:24] help even more people and so I want to
[14:26] thank you for that support and I want to
[14:28] invite you to be with us on this journey
[14:31] um and I know I send emails out you know
[14:33] whenever we have events and things like
[14:35] that you're always welcome to come
[14:37] you're welcome to come as the work
[14:38] starts on the building on everything
[14:41] that we do because um we want you to see
[14:44] this as it unfolds and we're excited to
[14:47] be able to do this and I thank the
[14:49] members of dor Memorial that are here
[14:51] tonight um just to show that we are
[14:53] appreciative and that um you're we're
[14:57] going to show that this was this was a
[14:59] good thing so that's what we wanted to
[15:01] say thank you thank
[15:06] you Lois
[15:16] Mitchell good
[15:18] evening I really uh wanted to step
[15:20] forward on behalf of my church and the
[15:24] fact that I live in skincity uh to thank
[15:27] the city council and committees for the
[15:30] effort they have made to be supportive
[15:33] of our foundation's effort in the
[15:35] Hamilton Hill
[15:37] Community um as our pastor just said our
[15:40] church has been in this community for
[15:43] 187 years and we have always reached out
[15:47] to the members of our community in need
[15:50] this opportunity that these funds are
[15:53] providing will allow us to be even more
[15:56] available to the members of our
[15:58] community community in need I especially
[16:01] want to remind us all of the difficulty
[16:04] we all came through with the pandemic
[16:07] our community in particular was hard hit
[16:10] as were many other communities of color
[16:12] in this state but we held together we
[16:16] held clinics we held vaccination
[16:19] programs just what we always do at Durie
[16:23] and with these new funds that are coming
[16:25] to us both from the city and the county
[16:28] we hope we will be able to do so much
[16:31] more so I just wanted to come forward
[16:33] and thank you for the effort of
[16:35] supporting us in this thank
[16:38] you thank
[16:39] you I have no one else signed up to
[16:42] speak so I declare the public comment on
[16:44] the legislative agenda
[16:46] closed this time we'll ask for approval
[16:48] of the uh legislative consent agenda
[16:52] move by Mr M Baron second by Mr Williams
[16:55] all those in favor I
[16:59] now we will entertain business um
[17:01] privilege of the floor regarding General
[17:03] City business and I have two people
[17:05] signed up to
[17:07] speak Shane
[17:14] wadell good evening common Council and
[17:18] mayor
[17:18] McCarthy I think you guys know at this
[17:21] point what our proposal is I think we've
[17:23] called or
[17:25] emailed uh all of you and spoke so I'm
[17:27] going to keep I'm going to make this
[17:28] short and sweet um what started as a
[17:32] small slice of hope for us to honor her grandmother and their grandmother
[17:37] and and my father-in-law's mother
[17:40] and uh my children's Grand great
[17:43] grandmother
[17:45] um has turned into a movement and we've
[17:48] got a ton of support we started two
[17:51] weeks ago the the guidelines for our
[17:54] proposal stated that we had 180 days to
[17:57] get a 500 signature minimum we got 688
[18:01] in two
[18:02] weeks uh I'd like to present them to the
[18:05] clerk at this time if possible to record
[18:10] them um so I I also want to thank all of
[18:14] you we spoke to deanii somehow we missed
[18:16] you on the sheet and I apologize that
[18:18] wasn't an intentional slight uh and
[18:22] everybody that's taken the time to
[18:23] respond to our emails or or our calls I
[18:26] want to thank you um we really just want
[18:29] to see marleene Hill I want to stress I
[18:32] just I do want to stress a point and
[18:34] then I'm going to
[18:35] close this proposal is not uh about
[18:38] anything else but but honoring marleene
[18:41] Hill for her contributions to a
[18:43] community for over 50 years that's it
[18:45] it's not about a business specifically
[18:48] there's obviously a business that tied
[18:50] her to that area for a long time but
[18:53] this is about her and her contributions
[18:55] to the community and we got hundreds of
[18:58] signatures from the northern Corridor of
[19:00] Union going from the bottom all the way
[19:03] up to basically the NIS uni border and
[19:06] that's the community that's going to
[19:08] look at that sign if it goes up and
[19:10] they're the ones that want to see it and
[19:12] we hope that you
[19:13] people you council members and the mayor
[19:16] we hope you guys do the right thing and uh help us honor her the way she
[19:20] should be honored so with that I thank
[19:22] you for your time and God bless you
[19:25] guys thank you
[19:29] Frank
[19:38] Wicks after after the attacks of October
[19:41] 7th our president our country really
[19:44] felt the need for
[19:45] solidarity so our president uh got an
[19:48] Air Force One Flew Over to Israel hugged
[19:51] the uh prime
[19:53] minister uh pronounced himself to be a
[19:55] proud
[19:56] Zionist uh whatever that means what
[19:59] means uh uh Israel ought to be uh a
[20:03] parthe eally pure offer their weapons
[20:06] and and in
[20:08] support uh President also
[20:11] noted uh what's been conveyed much is
[20:14] the uh uh Hamas beheading
[20:18] babies the record of that on October
[20:21] 11th he the president say he saw
[20:24] pictures of terrorists beheading
[20:26] children uh November 16 16 I saw
[20:31] pictures of cutting baby heads off to
[20:33] burn December 12th beheading infants
[20:36] completely inhuman none of this ever
[20:39] happened how do we know it never
[20:42] happened every Israeli baby and Shout is
[20:45] accounted
[20:46] for so that's never happened it's a lie
[20:50] but how many people believe
[20:52] it
[20:55] uh so so what what what has happened
[20:59] is it's not a lie is Israel has used
[21:03] their weapons to kill about 20,000 women
[21:06] and
[21:10] children
[21:12] uh we have the no corpse and body parts
[21:15] to prove
[21:16] it
[21:17] uh the president can't do anything
[21:20] conquerors can't do anything the jobs
[21:22] depend upon no no conveying the lies
[21:26] whether they believe it or not they God
[21:29] believes uh Israel wants no ceasefire
[21:33] why don't they want a
[21:35] ceasefire uh they their their endgame is
[21:39] total cleansing of the entire land
[21:42] territory from The River To The Sea
[21:45] Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea
[21:48] every day that every day without a Seas
[21:50] fire is another opportunity to kill more
[21:53] Palestinians and seize
[21:55] land uh
[21:59] so we we offer we suggested a a ceas
[22:03] fire to the resolution to the uh City no
[22:07] city council here I guess we thank them
[22:10] for giving it some consideration even
[22:13] though it hasn't happened uh it should
[22:16] be uh it should continue to be
[22:18] considered uh it probably won't result
[22:21] in a ceasefire but it will show that
[22:24] goingn cares
[22:29] thank
[22:30] you I have no one else signed up to
[22:32] speak so I declare the public comment of
[22:34] City business
[22:36] closed at this time any miscellaneous
[22:38] business of the city council Mr
[22:44] Williams thank you uh before I begin I'd
[22:46] like to thank everyone that came out and
[22:47] spoke tonight uh it's definitely your
[22:49] right and privilege uh to come before us
[22:51] and to present any issues or ongoing
[22:53] business in the city uh and it's one
[22:55] that I don't take lightly uh I wanted to
[22:57] take a moment to announce
[22:59] uh there's some sponsors for an upcoming
[23:01] event I'd like to thank the sky Police
[23:03] Department Sky fire department the sky
[23:05] foundation and the SK city school
[23:07] district for all partnering together to
[23:09] offer dollar haircuts to all Sky City
[23:12] youth uh under the ages of uh 18 so
[23:15] School AED uh youth I'd like to thank uh
[23:18] some barber shops uh for participating
[23:20] uh so cuts and blinds high-profile and
[23:22] Union Street Barber Shop uh and I also
[23:25] want to take a moment to thank uh just
[23:27] some shared thought Partners throughout
[23:28] this entire process U Marian Porterfield
[23:31] deanii Farley Johan Matthews and uh
[23:33] Kenneth Brooks uh definitely this was a
[23:35] collaborative effort and also I want to
[23:37] make sure we highlight that there will
[23:39] be uh food and entertainment uh hosted
[23:41] by kitchen love in DJ
[23:43] 550 so upcoming events for the days um
[23:47] anyone that's listening in September 1st
[23:50] you can get a dollar haircut at cuts and
[23:52] blends from 12: to 5: September 2nd you
[23:56] can go to high-profile barber shop from 10: to 3:00 p.m. and on September
[24:00] 3rd at Union Street Barber Shop you can
[24:03] get a haircut from 10: to 300 p.m. as
[24:06] well uh so very excited uh in similar
[24:09] fashion to Reverend John saone uh
[24:11] definitely congratulations to the
[24:13] students for going to an upcoming school
[24:15] year I know for some of you School seems
[24:16] like a daunting task uh but very much uh
[24:19] you never stop learning I can say that
[24:21] uh confidently as as someone in their
[24:23] 30s uh it is a process that continues on
[24:26] throughout your life uh but definitely
[24:28] understanding importance of starting the
[24:29] school year off right and hopefully with
[24:31] a fresh cut so if you have some time uh
[24:33] please stop by uh and enjoy uh meeting
[24:36] some of the sponsorship teams and
[24:37] understanding that skanky truly is a
[24:39] community that cares and uh enjoy uh
[24:42] just the sponsorship of these prominent
[24:44] organizations within our city so again
[24:46] thank you to the sky Police Department
[24:48] Sky fire department uh Sky foundation
[24:51] and skti city school district for
[24:52] stepping up thank you Miss Patrick yes I
[24:57] just wanted to um read reate that we
[24:59] still continue the council is still
[25:00] looking at uh various uh things related
[25:04] to Traffic Safety and that conversation
[25:05] will continue we've had some
[25:07] presentations by City staff uh and we
[25:09] will be discussing that again uh at our
[25:12] committee meeting on Monday as well and
[25:14] then I also wanted to of course wish
[25:16] everyone a a happy labor day uh thank
[25:20] especially all of our uh union members
[25:23] uh Labor Day is a a day to to to
[25:26] celebrate all the work um especially
[25:27] done by our by union members um and uh I
[25:31] hope everybody enjoys a day off on Labor
[25:34] Day as well
[25:36] thanks Mr
[25:39] Farley thank you thank you madam
[25:41] president I just want to uh first of all
[25:43] thank everyone that came out today to
[25:44] speak um and those who are here your
[25:46] presence has felt me uh appreciate it
[25:48] greatly um as been said the school year
[25:51] is starting up um and that means we have
[25:54] a lot of exciting kids excited kids
[25:56] going to be walking I just again kind of
[25:58] to piggyback on what uh council member
[26:00] Patrick was talking about is just that
[26:02] um we want to just be safe morning
[26:04] routines will look a little different so
[26:06] through that adjustment period just make
[26:07] sure that you're given some Grace and
[26:09] remember I watched everyone's eyes light
[26:11] up as Pastor Nikki came in with her baby
[26:13] to remember that those those are
[26:15] somebody's babies outside you know um so
[26:17] just to be mindful of that um as in your
[26:22] travels thank you
[26:26] mayor thank you madam president follow
[26:28] to Mr Farley with the school year
[26:30] starting again we put in place a a bus
[26:34] safety program when a school bus stops
[26:37] and it turns its flashing lights on you
[26:40] have to stop we have all too many people
[26:43] who are driving by it in some of a
[26:46] really Reckless manners uh they have the
[26:50] cameras in place now they're documented
[26:52] and it's a $250 fine it's a lot easier
[26:56] if people would just comply you see a
[26:58] school bus come to a full and complete
[27:01] stop uh I also want to wish everyone a
[27:04] happy labor day coming up this weekend
[27:07] enjoy the holiday the weekend after that
[27:11] uh September 7th big day in SKC uh we
[27:14] have the Greek Fest the Little Italy
[27:16] Fest uh The Stockade art show the
[27:20] Caribbean fest in Central Park has
[27:22] turned out to be uh Mr M and it's the
[27:25] largest in the state we want people to
[27:27] uh maybe we'll keep that a secret but
[27:30] just don't tell anybody
[27:33] Jen uh but uh and we also the city does
[27:36] a health fair around City Hall that day
[27:39] so want people to come out enjoy it
[27:41] there's a lot of good activity uh
[27:43] hopefully you get to uh see some old
[27:46] friends meet some new friends and just
[27:48] enjoy the uh things that are happening
[27:50] in skty thank you madam president thank
[27:53] you so every people have covered most of
[27:56] what's going on uh coming up and you
[27:57] know we did have a great summer I have
[27:59] to say with so many activities with the
[28:01] 518 Unity cup so shout out to will Rivas
[28:04] and the police department and the fire
[28:05] department for uh organizing that
[28:07] throughout the summer and having young
[28:09] people having some and older people too
[28:11] having some place to go um I'd like to
[28:14] congratulate uh Pastor Vincent Teague on
[28:16] the uh day that he put together in
[28:18] Central Park for this past Saturday
[28:20] Vincent teag Community everybody's using
[28:23] the word community and I like that um
[28:25] Community Day it was great um and they
[28:27] honor people who were who have serving
[28:29] the community so it was a really nice
[28:31] day um we've talked about school and
[28:34] about the the cameras uh um excuse me
[28:36] the buses but I also want to just
[28:38] reiterate about the speeding as Miss
[28:40] Patrick talked about the children will
[28:42] be Crossing and sometimes they won't
[28:43] look from side to side so if we could
[28:45] keep in mind even though we haven't got
[28:47] gotten everything in place in terms of
[28:48] lowering the speed limit but use use
[28:50] caution please and um good sense in
[28:53] terms of um making sure that our young
[28:55] people and anyone is hurt by um a speed
[28:58] car as they cross the street I'd also
[29:01] like to offer condolences for in the
[29:03] passing of several people actually uh
[29:05] first of all Jim Conroy who was a member
[29:07] of this city council actually for six
[29:09] years many years ago but for six years
[29:12] he served here and also Alice green who
[29:15] was a person who labored in the field of
[29:18] social justice for many many years and
[29:20] there was a memorial to her this past
[29:21] week this past Friday many people turned
[29:24] out but just to honor the work that she
[29:26] did in this community and also
[29:28] condolences go out to the family of Gary
[29:30] Hughes our a fellow colleague at the
[29:33] Cy's in the County Legislature and the
[29:36] loss of his wife Susan so I just wanted
[29:38] to to mention that to know that um at
[29:40] least my my prayers and thoughts go out
[29:42] to all of those
[29:43] families with that I'll entertain a
[29:46] motion to
[29:47] adjourn move by Miss Patrick second by
[29:50] Mr Mancini all those in favor I we are
[29:53] adjourned have a good evening
[29:58] 25 minutes
[30:12] [Music]
[30:33] [Music]