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All right, here we go.
Where's our crew?
Here's Dorine.
You want water, please? John, you want
That's good.
[Applause]
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These are the other cities.
You're going to be
this good summary.
your name off
the end. Give me until the end of the
year.
I don't know if somebody actually
a lot of things been happening.
Not tonight.
One minute.
We can still follow.
Okay, time to follow. Okay,
stick around.
I'd like to call to order the Skodki
City Council committee meeting for
Monday, June 16th, 2025.
I know we have a very full room here and
maybe some of you have never been here
for a process before. So, I'd like you
to know that there is no comment from
the public tonight. Um, and if you have
to need feel like you need to have
conversation, we'd actually take you in
the hallway because the room is so
crowded that people want to be able to
hear what what said around the table. Um
but and we do have time before we get to
that piece of the agenda. So we're going
to begin with a presentation of our
annual audit and I'd ask Mr. Gamma to
please come forward.
Good evening council. Looks like we have
a full house today. Everybody wants to
hear about the 2024 city audit. Yes.
I have John Talasi here from Kuzac and
CPA. He'll be reviewing all the key
points. John, you want to take it from
here?
Okay. Uh, thank you all for having me
here tonight. I want to start out by
saying thank you to the mayor and city
council for having me here tonight and
also to your entire team that helps us
out during the audit. We really
appreciate everything that they do.
Special uh thanks to Liz Nelson who's
our main point of contact during the
audit as well team. Uh they do a great
job during the audit and we'll thank for
everything that they do. Um so our
ultimate responsibility during the audit
is to issue an opinion on your financial
statements as to whether they're
materially stated and whether they're in
compliance with accepted accounting
principles otherwise known as GAP. So
our audit takes place in three main
phases. So our first main phase pre-
audit phase which takes place in
December. Uh what we're doing during
this phase we're reviewing your internal
control processes testing those internal
control processes performing variance
and budget analysis. We review the city
council meeting minutes and we complete
our internal risk assessment. Uh the
next major phase of our audit takes
place in mid-March. Um, we use the
information we gather during the pre-
audit phase and we develop our audit
programs, test account balances to
verify if they're materially stated. The
third phase of our audit is the
reporting phase where we review the
financial statements prepared by your
senior accountant and we report on the
final results. So the draft financial
statements that you have in front of you
are a 78page document overall. Uh,
they're comprised of several major
parts. So the first major part is going
to be your management discussion and
analysis. This is a required un audited
section of your financial statements
which they highlight the summary I'm
sorry they highlight the summary of
operating results and other financial
highlights. Um if you're unfamiliar with
the financial statements is a good read
overall. Pages 8 through 10. This is
your independent auditors report. We
issue our opinion on the financial
statements.
It is important to note that your
financial statements are on the fund and
account group level only uh exclusive of
the non-current governmental asset
account group. We are pleased to say
that we have once again been able to
issue an unmodified opinion on your
financial statements. So this is the
highest level of assurance that we can
give you. It's considered a clean
report. We had no reportable issues and
no funding.
Pages 11 through 13. These are your
governmental fund balance sheets and
statements of revenues, expenditures,
and changes in fund balance.
No.
Oh, okay. Sorry. So your approximated
operating results for the year end of
December 31st, 2024. General fund fund
amounts were unchanged due to AR loss
revenue. Water fund had a deficit of
759,000.
Sword fund had a surplus of 3.7 million.
Recreation fund surplus of 168,000.
Special grants and revenue had a surplus
of 17,000. Capital projects had a
deficit of 10 million due to
expenditures of the capital projects
funded with bond proceeds. So highlights
of your 2024 general fund activity and
approximated figures. Prior year tax
collections exceeded expectations by
952,000.
Casino revenue exceeded expectations by
287,000.
The property sales fell below
expectations by 2.3 million. Sales tax
revenue exceeded your expectations by
1.8 billion. Insurance recoveries
exceeded expectations by 1.5 million.
Adult use cannabis revenues were a total
of $683,000. Those exceeded expectations
by 383,000.
City also received $1.2 2 million in
unbudgeted AIM funds during the year on
federal ARPA funds that were utilized
during the year were $18.5 million 4.6
million of which were utilized to give
the general fund ARPA offset loss for so
overall we feel that management does a
good job with their reserves fund
balance in the general fund is $18.9
million with $6.6 $6 million of
restricted funds at the end of the year.
So details of the restricted and
assigned fund balance can be found on
page 53 of your financial statements.
Band borrowings during the year have
been increased by $10 million to fund
capital projects.
There was an overall decrease of $9.9
million in the city's net pension
liability for underfunded ERS and PFRS.
balance at the end of the year was a
liability of $7.1 million for ERS and a
liability of $35.7 million for PFRS. Uh
during 2024, the city also elected
additional benefits under section 384E,
the New York State Retirement Law, which
is allowing them to amvertise the past
service costs for the next 10 years.
This was an increase to your net
long-term debt of $7.1 million. Total
OPED liability is decreased by $51
million to $243 million. these uh Gazsby
statements 68 and 75 require that these
items the net pension liability and also
the OPED liability are recorded on your
financial statements. These are for lack
of a better term considered paper
liabilities are recorded be they are um
required to be reported on your
financial statements but they don't
affect any of the um you know current
operating resource. Page 14 this is your
custodial fund as required by Gazby
statement 84. The footnotes of the
financial statements can be found on
pages 16 through 59. Uh what these do is
they detail the significant accounting
policies of the city and also your zero
account balances on basic financial
statements. Pages 60 through 66 these
are the required supplemental financial
information includes the budget actual
reports PRS and PFRS pension assets or
liabilities and also the overhead
details and the ratios. Pages 67 through
78. This is your federal single audit.
Since the city expended more than
$750,000 in federal funding, we are
required to have what's called a federal
single audit. We are required to rotate
major high-risisk programs every three
years. Uh this year we selected the lead
hazard mitigation grant, Department of
Transportation grants and also the ARPA
funding. We noted no material weaknesses
or significant deficiencies within these
uh grants. We feel the city has good
internal controls over your federal
grant reporting and compliance as well.
uh the remaining ARPA funds that the
city has required to be expended by
December 31st, 2024 or obligated and
dispersed by December 31st, 2026. City
has obligated these funds as of December
31st, 2024.
So from an overall accounting and
control standpoint, we feel the city's
doing a great job overall. Some great
people on your team. Uh controls are
well, they're operating as designed. Uh
we also do issue what's called post
governance letter at the end of the
audit. It's a require communication the
end audit if there was any issues or
concerns during the audit. We did have
one comment in that letter um which
regarding old MVP receivables and the
collection process of those. There was a
recommendation made for that which was a
repeating comment from previous years as
well. And the only remaining item that
we have here in audit is to complete a
form SFSAC with the Federal Census
Bureau. Um this is a required form that
has to be submitted to them uploading
all the information for the federal
single audit. um that will be done after
the audit is formally accepted and we
can uh complete that process. So as I
said the audit went very well overall
very pleased with the results. So I'd be
happy to take any questions on the audit
process or members as well.
So we often hear during budget season uh
discussions around how much and should
we tap into the general fund balance.
Looking at page two where you're talking
about the measures of strength. Can you
just expand on that? We've been on the
council for four years. So there's
understanding more of what goes into
what's the specific section that you
have? Uh so is the general fund
continued and yeah so that would be in
the management's discussion and
analysis. So what they're doing is
highlighting the specific strengths of
the city of the overall fund balance the
ability or you know the need to use the
fund balance or the need not to. So what
we're seeing is that the city does not
have to dip into their fund balance
significantly to to fund operations. So
you're finding external sources whether
that be property tax revenue or sewer
charges the specific funds and the
individual funds are self sustaining
within themselves. So they're being a
they're able to generate a good enough
money to cover operations over time. Now
follow question is there a percentage
that uh delineates like that excellent
rating that you said um before staying
in this threshold is preferred for this
optimal rating? I don't think so. I
think it's an overall just a general
feel from your budgeting standpoint. So,
how much money do we need? Do we foresee
future projects to use? You know, is
there something coming up down the
pipeline? Significant capital projects,
significant improvements about to
happen, what's going on within the city
that we need to plan for. And I think
the city does a really great job in
identifying those items and putting
money aside for those items as well.
Thank you, sir.
I did have a question regarding the
economic factors since this is a city
report. Um I noticed that we're also
talking about the county being the
fourth growing the fourth fastest
growing. So do you have any um data on
how fast the city is growing within city
you mentioned the county? Um we don't
have any data in there. So the
management discussion analysis is not an
audited section. It's a required part of
your financial statements. Um but it's
not an audited part of your financial
statements. So while we do perform
limited procedures over that we're not
essentially verifying the accuracy
unless you're really out of line. So
ultimately that's something that your
team has put together and say here's
some of the highlights that we have
overall. So you could definitely expand
on that if you wanted to if you wanted
to add some additional information or
you know that's really your section
that's management's opening section and
say you know here's all the highlights
the significant things that happened to
us here the good bad things we foresee
in the future as well. And I also read
the part where it said about the um and
we know that we don't we're not in
charge of the pilots and we don't create
um you know we don't decide on those but
does the audit taking look at how the
pilot impacts our overall budget? Um we
don't from the audit standpoint. So it's
more of dealing with materiality. So
we're dealing with material issues. So
is it a material item? Is it something
that is the pilot paid? Is that
receivable? We have to verify the
accuracy of that amount that's
outstanding. So we're looking to verify
the accuracy of the assets, the
liabilities, and any of the the equity
items as well. So ultimately, we're not
looking at the specific contracts for
the pilots, but we are looking to see if
the amounts which you're saying are
paid, you know, if they're not paid, why
are they not paid? So we're kind of
going through that process as well.
I have a question on the uh the water,
the sewer, and the recreational fund.
the um the increase in the fund balance
for the water 8.5%
the sewer 30.55%
and the recreational fund 12.4%.
Can you expand on that a little as to
why it's it's good that it increase but
then why for those why the extended of
those numbers? Well, I think there was
there's a few different scenarios that
happened during the year. Um so
specifically in the sewer fund um there
was an overall you know a significant
surplus within the surf fund but that
was primarily based on a few one-time
items. So these were past charges rate
changes other adjustments that happened
during the year. There was also
increases in rates in the sur rates as
you know so that helped to fuel that as
well. But ultimately I think it was you
know we're taking that money putting it
aside within the reserves within those
funds. So if there's projects down the
road that are um you know we know are
going to happen city setting aside that
money to make sure that those projects
can be ultimately funded without using
current resources. So we're setting the
money aside currently for future
projects as well. But to answer your
question fully why those percentages are
going up primarily because of surpluses
and good overall management of the
expenditures. You get money coming in
going out.
Any other questions?
So, so the final item will be once you
approve the financial statements, I'll
send the management representation
letter over to Derek, have that signed
and then we'll finalize the statements
as well.
Thank you. Great. Thank you for having
me.
Are we moving to adopt any need a motion
to adopt the budget specifically or
adopt the budget? I'll let you take your
bet, Mr. Finance.
So, yeah. So, we'll um we'll move a
motion to adopt the u the 2024 audit
statement.
Second. All in favor? I. Thank you.
Um I'd like to open health and
recreation. We have one item on the
agenda this evening and that is a
discussion of um some really exciting uh
new programs that are going to happen uh
four programs that are going to happen
this summer. Um and I'd like to ask um
Mr. MCO and our guest Heather Sen to
come up and and tell us a little bit
more about that program.
Thank you, Mayor. from the resident
council. We came here tonight with
Heather Sen from the United Way. Uh
Heather approached me back in March
about some programs that she would like
to bring into the park in conjunction
with our summer programs. So, we met
what two or three times about them. We
discussed they have a really great
program lined up for us this summer.
They're going to come into all our
parks. And I don't want to steal
Heather's thunder because she worked
really hard at this.
Um thank you everyone and thank you
Council Patrick for inviting me to to
share this information out with everyone
tonight. Um, so we uh I'm I'm coming to
you with uh from the United Way of the
greater capital region, but also a
member of the summer mills collaborative
across eight counties and skinnity is a
really special county for us here in the
collaborative. Um so as Bill mentioned,
we approached um him earlier this this
year to talk about like how can we
collaborate specifically around summer
nutrition programs for kids. Um, several
of our partners run some of the meals
programs and several of our partners
also run activities for kids during
summer months. So, how could we maximize
these great resources for kids and
families and work together? Um, and so,
Bill was sharing about um all of the
great activities going on in the parks
and so we saw it as a natural kind of
connection point. So this summer we will
be um offering summer meal block parties
uh four times throughout the summer at
our four signature parks here in in
Skinnctity. So um they will be on
Tuesdays, so every other Tuesday this
month. And I brought the schedule here
with me to share out um with you all
tonight. Um and we'll be alternating
between um lunch times and um evening
hours so that we can kind of try to see
what works best for families uh
throughout the summer. Um so these uh
block parties will feature the summer
meals um sites and all of our summer
meals partners will be there. There will
be fun activities for kids and families.
Um there will be food for the entire
family. Uh there will be u a lot of
community partners. We have 15 community
partners assembled uh in these in these
block parties that will be sharing out
resources and programs for kids and
families throughout the summer. Um and
so we're really excited to be able to
offer this this summer and it's all
free. Um you don't have to sign up. you
just show up and enjoy the the evening
or the afternoon with us. Um, and we
really hope that you can help us get the
word out so that we can have as many
families participate as possible this
summer. Again, we're trying to maximize
um great resources for kids and families
uh that are happening in our community
and highlight the wonderful um programs
happening in the park, too. So, it's a
natural connection point and we're
really excited to partner.
Does anybody have any questions or
comments? And I know Heather brought
some um flyers for all of us as well
that she can she can handle. Anybody
have any questions or
Oh, sorry. I'm like looking around. Will
this work um with uh uh the meals on
wheels, the children lunches through
Sycamore. Um Yeah. Yes. Right. Um so
Sycamore collaborative is running the
summer meals program. Um the school
district is running the farm to family
meals program and they are also um going
to be at the same summer meal sites as
well. So there'll be multiple ways to
feed kids to feed their whole family to
feed any community member that that
comes to to these programs. So yes,
Sycamore is providing the the meals.
Yep.
And the school district is providing the
lunches for they're they're basically
making the lunches for for
will the will there be any um anything
for uh residents to take home any canned
goods any fresh fruit vegetables
something like that be there as well?
Yes. So, the farm to family meals
program is basically operating like a uh
um a green market, right? Um and so
they'll be at several sites throughout
the city this summer. And I did not
bring their schedule because they're
just finalizing it, but it will be
available soon. And so, basically, you
just show up and um that you can
basically fill a bag full of fresh
produce, milk, eggs, proteins. Um and it
will change throughout the summer. So,
as new vegetables are being harvested,
they'll be on the truck. Um, and then
you know, basically it's a it's a four
choice. So if there's something that you
don't like, you don't have to take it.
If there's something that you like a
little bit more than something else, you
can take a little bit more of that as
well. And who are your partners? Who are
our partners? Um, so the city is a
partner. Um, the the county is
definitely a partner. The school
district, Sycamore Collaborative, create
community studios. Um, New York
Folklore. We're really excited this
summer. The Panaffrican Orchestra is
joining us at the block parties. It'll
be an invitation to kids to join and and
participate. Um the Children's Museum of
Saratoga is a partner. Um the Green
Market's a partner. Coral Cornell
Cooperative Extension, Food Pantries,
Capital Region Vegan Network, the
Skinctity County Food Council, Square
River Center, lots of partners, and
there's always room for more. So if
there are other organizations that want
to get involved, we'd love to have them
come and join them. So it's it's
somewhat of a resource fair as well as
um the meal the meal program. Please
support me. So you mentioned a little
bit about the blocks. Can you expand on
that in terms of what's going to happen?
I heard about the entertainment, but I
know that in the past the summer, excuse
me, the school district has had a summer
enrichment program. Yes. So that's
educational. And is this including any
of that or is that not something that's
going to happen this year? Um so for the
enrichment program, I know that some of
the kids will be coming to the park. It
it'll be during certain days the school
district will bring us kids to various
parks where we're going to be staffing
with the youth program. Um, we haven't
really finalized that yet, but we're
just waiting for schools to get done
with and finalize what they're going to
be bringing the kids to us. That'll be
Hillers, Central Park, Jerry Burell, and
Steinways.
And then for the activities during the
block parties, a lot of our partners are
bringing uh STEM based activities. So,
for example, create community studios.
We'll be doing a lot of art um based
activities. The children's museum has a
lot of fun and naturebased activities as
does the Skhair River Center. So,
they're all um a lot of the activities
are hands-on and it's a way to engage
the whole family, the whole community.
Um and it's and then um there will be
fun things for kids to take away as well
um in addition to to the meals that will
be provided. Thank you, Mr. Crowley. So,
I just want to highlight the fact that
on the fresh produce truck or school
district though that is connected to
city school district kind of led
initiative, they're always looking for
people to just kind of jump on the truck
and help distribute some of their fresh
produce, you know. So if anyone's
interested in that, please reach out to myself or anyone else
connecting the city school district.
Uh did that include I know we spoke
about the donor of the free food for
families. Yes. Yeah. So one of our um
community partners came forward uh and
they have said that they would really
like to sponsor meals for adults um
because one of the limitations of the
summer meals program is it's only for um
youth 18 and younger. Um and so uh we
wanted to make sure at the block parties
at the very least we could feed everyone
who shows up. And so we have a donor
that um it is the good sheeperd Lutheran
church. They are sponsoring meals for
anyone that comes to the block parties.
And so we'll have special meals for the
block parties. You can think like
cookouts, things like that. The school
district will be making those meals for us. Um and we'll be able to serve
anyone who comes. And so we're really
excited this this year to be able to
offer that. We're really thankful to
Libya Lutheran Church for for their
generous um donation to be able to do
that.
Would you just mention the kickoff?
Absolutely. So to kick off this summer
um a Sycamore Collaborative is
organizing on June 30th from 12:00 to 3
at Jerry Burell Park. Um a kickoff
celebration. You know, it's kind of the
start of summer. It's the start of
summer meals and the start of all these
great programs happening around the
city. Um so we will be at Jerry Burell
Park. Um it'll be a ceremony of of sorts
around 12:30. Um and then it'll just be,
you know, a run really fun time with the
community. So again, we hope you can
join us for that, too. Um there'll be
all of these partners that I talked
about earlier assembled. Um and and
we're really excited to to start another
summer uh with kids and families in in
the community. That's great. Anything
else from any comments or questions?
Okay. Thank you so much. You want to we
can hand those out? Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I'm sorry. Oh. Oh, sorry. Um, is there
anything else to come before Health and
Recreation? And if not, I'd look for a
motion to adjurnn
from Health and Recreation. Okay. So,
move. Second.
Okay. All in favor? I. Thank you. Sorry.
No worries. Okay. I'd like to call the
court to order government operations. We
have one item on the agenda today and
that is a discussion around uh Skenctity
opting into the good cause eviction. Um
so as council members know, we have had
we've been visited by people at the rail
at our last uh uh council meetings um
talking about the importance of housing
and housing stabilization. uh in the
city of Skenctity. Um good cause
eviction um has been uh opted in um by
our neighbors over in Albany to try to
increase housing stabiliz stabilization
for families for our most vulnerable
populations. Um and so I wanted to bring
that for to the council um to give you
an opportunity for us to kind of have an
open thought exchange around why this
order would not be a good idea for us to
do.
Any questions on that?
So, absolutely provide my uh feedback. I
would say just taking the optics of the
room. It's definitely a uh
I can tell there's a lot of emotion. Um
and it's unfortunate how the
conversation I think has manifested. uh
just in us presenting this one
discussion topic to the city where it
seems as though we're putting one side
against the other tenants against
landlords and sincerely from my uh
experience with getting myself smart on
this topic and hearing a lot of the
feedback and comments from the rail and
also in the conversations candidly that
I've had with people from both sides
definitely I'm still learning myself but
the reason why I support good cause
eviction is because of the protections
in place for tenants and I say that
within a framework of information that
I've received over the last few days in
preparation for this conversation um
predominantly has a um higher majority
of renters and I think that is something
that is non-debatable and we all
understand and respect that. Um, the
reason why I support this is because of
the work that my wife does as a social
worker, but also hearing about the the
resounding impacts of having unstable
housing. And as we entertain
conversations around this table talking
about the living conditions within the
city of Skenctity, uh housing is
absolutely an apparent uh survival need.
And I think it's arguably uh a necessity
uh to require safe, affordable, and
adequate housing for individuals. Um,
as I look at why I think the the core
tenants of good cause eviction resonate
most with me, it's because of the
protections and um
the legal recourse that it presents to
tenants. And I think as we have this
conversation at the table, I look
forward to hearing where the rest of the
council stands. Um but sincerely looking
at the last information that was
compiled from our 2020 to 2024 um HUD
analysis uh just reading from this
caption and I can pass this information
around. It identified housing problems
as housing cost burdens, severe housing
cost burden, substandard housing
overcrowding and severe overcrowding.
and it highlights uh that 53.3% of the
city's connected renters experience
housing problems and 33.3% experienced
severe housing problems. And as we've
attempted to have discussions at this
table about rent stabilization, which
was met with an overwhelming resentment
from individuals in this room, I think
it's important to ask why are we so
opposed to having this conversation that
we all can recognize is important? Is
housing a luxury or is it a need? And
how do we ensure that these protections
that are put in place for tenants do not
come at the overwhelming expense of
landlords? However, this sincerely is a
rebalancing of power for tenants and I'm
being explicit in that. I do not think
that is of a a negative sentiment to get
around.
I look forward to having conversations
throughout the week with some of our
landlords to better understand their
opinions and and sentiments around the
topic. Um, but sincerely what I've read
and I ask everyone to actually read the
law and not interpret it from secondhand
accounts. In my understanding of the
law, it provides landlords the ability
to still evict evictable people. It
still provides landlords the ability to
control their properties. However, there
are stipulations in place to ensure that is not coming at the overwhelming
expense of tenants who at this point are
living day to day, week to week, month
to month without knowing whether they
have uh long-term tenency regardless of
how they uphold the standards for that
uh residency resident or dwelling. Um so
I'm just one comment as of right now,
but I always present myself as being
objective. Um, but what I've seen so far
leads me to be in support of this. Now,
whether we pass anything out of this
committee, I think is a long shot. So,
as the conversation morphs, I just want
to remind people that um, sincerely we
are here to ensure that we empower all
members of our community. Um, but I do
think it is important to put a
heightened emphasis on our tenants with
renters being a majority and the city's
faculty. Thank you, Mr. Williams.
So, um, I'm definitely I'm looking
forward to hear feedback from other
council members, but I think it's as we
talk about what good cause of action is,
it's equally important to talk about
what it's not. Um, and so again, to Miss
Williams, it's important to read the
legislation, this is not um a law saying
that you cannot evict people from um
your property if they're there and
they're not paying to stay there. you
know, I would not support anything
knowing that your uh the landlord has an
obligation to uh take care of the
property and pay for the property. I
wouldn't support anything that would
allow someone to stay in your property
without making payments or someone
that's damaging your property or
violating your lease. Um I think that
the reality is I know that the reality
is that there are a good amount of our
people that live in the city of
Connecticut. I think it's 7,590
evictions since March of 2020. It's like
a lot of people are being asked to leave
their homes for reasons um that uh are
not good reasons. And this is uprooting
families. Um this I remember during the
pandemic and I didn't make the
connection until I started doing a
little bit of research here. um working
in the school district, working with
families who were housing insecure
during the p pandemic. Those are the
people that were the most vulnerable. Um
those are the people who were um
contracting COVID at a much higher rate
than counterparts. And so and as well as
not just the um
let's find
so not only was uh impacting our most
vulnerable population in that way also
realizing you know we were talking
earlier about the meals that were
getting delivered to people. um a lot of
people who were in the greatest of need
to get some of those food and meals
delivered to them were were living in
really substandard housing that was
unsafe housing that left them not only
you know susceptible to co 19 due to
people being evicted and the families
having to kind of double up in shared
spaces um and really close quarters
there are also u u you know really the
people that are living in housing
conditions that are just unsafe and that
is just compiling upon one another. So,
there's a lot of different reasons why I
support good cause fiction. Um, and I do
so uh pretty explicitly and very uh and
after really researching the issue and and recognizing that there are some
pretty key uh misunderstandings, if you
will, that are being communicated out to
the public around this. Um, and I would
love to, you know, use today as a way to
kind of just debunk some of those
things. So, again, if someone is not
paying their rent, they can be evicted.
If somebody is damaging your property,
they can be evicted. um and if someone
is breaking your lease, they can be
evicted. So again, this is not something
that we're just, you know, allowing
people to stay in someone's property
without paying their rent. However, um
all of our rights come with a community
responsibility and ownership of of of
the property, no different than
ownership of of of your vehicle or
ownership of, you know, anything that
you own. There are community
responsibilities um that come with that
ownership. You can't just operate your
vehicle any way you see fit because
there's uh lives of other people at
risk. You can't op, you know, you own
your garbage. You we talk a lot about
the garbage. We can't just It's my
garbage. I own it. I could just put it
out any day I want. It's mine. I can
just put it out there. Well, it is
technically your garbage. You do own it.
You can you know you you it technically
could do that. However, you know that
the city doesn't allow you to do so
because we understand how one person's
actions even over things that they own
can interact and can impact uh the
larger community. So, that's why I
support uh cause eviction and um
hopefully um I'll be able to hear from
my other council members on what their
ideas or thoughts are on this. So, I
open the floor. Thank you, Mr. Williams.
Sorry. So, I've also been doing some
research um and it's such, you know,
it's not something that's easily uh
understood. I guess I'm coming down um
against root cause eviction. Um I think
that we have to be protecting our
tenants as well as our landlords. Think
one of the things is that um I worry
that we'll have some landlords who might
want to be um who are fearful of this um
passing who might rush to try to sell
their properties um maybe for less than
what their properties are worth. I think
it would have implications for our tax
base overall um if that if that was to
happen. Um I know that SCAP um this the
connecting community action program is
uh also not in favor of good cause
eviction. Um they feel that I think um
that
landlords need ways to sort of
reasonably
um help their help their tenants. First
of all, I want to back up and say that
again when I think about our landlords,
for the most part, I think that um here
in Skenctity, a lot of our landlords are
not folks that um you know are carrying
huge amounts of properties with them. I
think most of them are probably
bluecollar immigrant uh population. Um
and I think that this would you know
this would really affect them. um not
being able to raise uh the rent more
than 5% for example might not be able to
cover some of the costs as the cost of
living has increased um you know more
than that I think I think that would be
bad for the landlords in that sense as
well I think SCAP uh seems to be against
good cause eviction um because they want
to make sure that the folks that are living in bad conditions don't
have to live in bad conditions for a
really long sustainable period of time.
We have to remember that our court
system here has I think three justices
that would be uh handling these cases.
There's only certain days of the month
um that they handle the cases. So it
could be that because every case would
have to get adjudicated through the
court system, um we might find that
people are um
you know that the landlords are needing
to go without rent for 8 n 10 months um
because the the court system is going to
get so backed up um trying to adjudicate
every single uh case as opposed to cases
that just have to do with um you know
bed bugs or um someort or living
condition that that would exist. Um
trying to look at all of my notes here.
Um
those are the primary the primary um
reasons. I mean I think the tax base is
really something that we have a
responsibility as city council to really
be paying attention to. We know that um
we might be facing a budget again going
into the 2026 budget year that's going
to be a tough one for us. Um, so I think
that if we have things that are going to
negatively affect the the tax base that
that's not a good idea. Um, that's
pretty much uh everything that I have
been thinking about and reading about.
Thank you. Thank you. Um I I just so
quickly as far as just to address some
of the things you said as far as people
being rushed to sell like landlords
being rushed to sell their property once
again um a landlord who is rushing to
sell the property because the city is
saying that you must provide a certain
standard of living um for people who
live in your property. Um I don't think
that that's the type of landlord um who
uh I would be necessarily concerned
about leaving the city. Um, honestly,
people are living in in in in subcar
conditions. Um, you do have a obligation
to address that. And I think that it's
very low I think it's a very low
expectation to have for a landlord to
make sure that people tenants that are
living in her house are living um in conditions that are minimally safe.
So, as far as the court system goes, I
don't see how back up the court system.
Um, I think right now anytime you're
trying to convict a tenant, you need to
take the court anyway. Like that's that
that's the process. Um, I if I think
about and I don't have the numbers for
Albany right in front of me, but Alany
um I believe it was Albert Hudson has a
very uh the court system had I think it
was 30% less people um that were that
these cases were going to court since
enacting this. So to your point, I think
it it does pretty much the opposite of
that, but that is definitely something
um I can understand why that would be a
concern, but I think that this actually
does the opposite of that.
Yes. So um definitely I wanted to to
make sure to I think it's been framed
well that this is not against the
landlords, but is putting in place some
protections for tenants. Um, you know, I
think one of the reasons that this came
about is because of the level of
homelessness and also the high rent that
we happen to have in our in our
community at this point in time. Um, and
it went over the reasons for evictions.
I've heard from landlords as well as
tenants about their positioning on it.
And um with ju just paraphrasing mostly
from what I hear from landlords is that
they feel like we are going we are
basically deciding for them how much the
rent they can charge and how they that
they cannot put people out and that is
not the case. You still have reasonable
ways to to evict people. I won't call it
putting them out to evict people for
non-payment of rent is what I've heard
from a lot of landlords that people
aren't paying their rent. Well good
cause eviction if you're not paying your
rent you still get evicted. It doesn't
matter. um that's not one you can't say
I want to say and I'm not going to pay
my rent and I I understand that um also
from a lot of landlords that did happen
during co so this that that is um put
away from that's no longer a um concern
and after this law was passed though I
do believe that there should be
limitation on rent increases I have to
say that I've heard of some of the rents
that people are paying in in some of the
neighborhoods and it's really well
beyond what the median income is of our
of the city of Skenkity and so we have
to to do something so that people are
able to live.
I look at it like this. If you're a
landlord and you want to have a steady
tenant, if your rent is at a place where
they can afford it and they're not
having to get evicted every so often,
then we should if the rent is a place
where you can keep your tenant
continuously. And I would think as a
landlord and I've spoken to landlords
who agree that I want to have a tenant
that stays with me for months if not
years. And so um therefore you're not
you're lose landlords lose money because
they have to if they're evicting people
that means your property is not rented.
That means that then if there's damage
to your property then your property has
to be fixed up. So you're still losing
money. So, and the landlord landlords
I've been speaking with, it's like we
would love to have landlords. We would
love to have tenants who are long-term
and um keeping the rent as a reasonable
amount would definitely do that. Um and
land right now, as I said, is the
balance of power between the landlords
and the tenants. And um just want to
state for me personally and I would say
probably for all the city council, we're
not against landlords, but we are trying
to find a way that tenants can stay in
their homes who are following all of the
rules who are not creating nuisances who
um and that landlords are also then um
repairing their reason um doing
reasonable repairs to their to their
property. So um in looking in doing the
research that I did, I saw that
sometimes u Mr. the corporation council
um um that
small small landlords are defined a
certain way in New York City they're
defined one way which would not be the
same here so my question actually is for
you in in if we were considering this
would we be in the position of dealing
of deciding what a small landlord would
look like right I mean uh madam
president I mean the the law says 10
units or or less less across the state
of New York. Um, cities such as Albany
that you mentioned earlier is one in the
state, one or less. So, the the statute
says 10 or less across New York State
localities have been stating one or
uh no more than one unit anywhere in the
state of New York. So, it there's two
things that the opting into this
legislation. One is how many you know
how do how what's the definition of
small landlord
the state definition
10 or less or you know anywhere in
between one or 10 and then the fair
market uh the uh the FMR percentage
which is also at the discretion of
locality
FMR
is the fair market rent 245 is the state the state rate 245%
of the rent right which in this county
according I'm getting this information
from the New York State Department of
Housing and Community Renewal April uh of this year's report on two
page uh the FMR 245 for let's say a
onebedroom I'm just picking out the
figure. One bedroom is $2.45 is uh
$3,014.
Four bedroomedroom it goes up to $4,829.
But that is the county and not the city
because yeah, it's it's done it's done
at the county level. So I mean that
changes that changes the numbers. That's
the numbers that we go by. So if we're
as we enter this discussion, we need to
look within the city because the county
we have parts of our county that are
more wealthy than and more affluent than
the city of Skenctity. So, is there a
way for us to really determine that or
get that from either um from the um from
the controllers's office or from the New
York State Attorney General's office who
also has um you know given the uh
information on what good cause eviction
looks like because I think it's
important that we look if we're talking
about the city that we look at the city
numbers.
Understood. But the fair market rate as
defined as as the department of
community the state agency far fair
market rent is determined by the US
department of housing and urban
development by county. So it's it's by
county. So there's no way to get the
city information. I don't know if
there's but I'm just saying the fair
market rate is 245. Now, if you want to
go above 245
of fair market rate, for example, the
city of Albany is at 345. The city of
Rochester there is at 245, which is what
is set in the statute. Um, that's up to
you what you all need to, you know,
determine. So, but the the fall back is
fair market rate by the by the county.
Well, I I would I'd like to look into
and have us look into what it is for the
city. It just makes sense that we can't
have this this larger conversation about
the county when we're really only and
our only jurisdiction is within the
city. I believe the city of Albany did
based on the city too. I don't think
that they I believe that's how they got
um
Yeah. So, I'd say just to make sure
we're clear about the community that
we're advocating for. If we're talking
specifically about renters, we're
talking about a medium household income
of $44,000, which is not a lot of money.
And and one of the points I wanted to
just respond to Miss Patrick uh
understanding that our landlords might
reflect a certain demographic not
comparable to other municipalities that
have enacted this in addition to the
small land the small landlord
definition. Owner occupied uh dwellings
are exempt as well. So there are
considerations for different uh
conditions. Um but sincerely just posing
a rhetorical question um we often talk
in extremes. So, if you have a renter
who is promoting illegal activity or is
not paying their um their their rent or
disregarded their lease now and in good
cause eviction standards, they could be
evicted. That is something that exists
right now today. But on the opposite, if
you have a landlord that is openly not
um maintaining their property at the the
uh appropriate conditions and you have a
tenant who uses the mechanisms in place
today to highlight that egregious
behavior, they are susceptible to
retaliation and retribution
for for for saying and advocating for
the lifestyle and well-being of
themselves and often times other
generations within their household. Um,
and if we're continuing to highlight
just who this this community or who this
most inadvertently impacts, um, I do not
know the cost of having to remove and refined housing within uh, the city
of Ski, but providing a tenant 30, 60,
90 days,
it is difficult to impossible.
Um, so again, I think this is
rebalancing the power in a way that is
appropriately done. Um and again there
are considerations for for both sides
all aspects but if we are trying to
improve uh and ensure that there is u
adequate housing I think from the
conversation that we've been having the
majority of our tenants in the city of
Connecticut would not rise to alarming
or or having to force uh landlords to
require eviction access. This is how do
we make sure that these protections
exist for everyone
there. Yeah. Thank you. As we um discuss
this option here, we should be mindful
of COVID 19. There are some landlord who
have never recovered from COVID 19. Some
of them are thousands of dollars.
They're also and why there you know some
people took advantage of the co 19
situation. I'm not I'm not against
tenants. I'm not against landlord. But
there are good tenants. They're bad
tenants. They are good landlords.
They're bad landlords. So, let's be
mindful of what we do here in terms of
the economic impact that's going to
happen in the city. We hate to see what
happened during CO when people were not
paying. Landlord were out of money. We
foreclosed on many of the properties
them and we're going to have them back
and we're going to put them on the
market and we're going to sell them in
couple months here. But let's be mindful
of that. What we need to do is also make
sure to drive that educational component
to educate tenants, educate landlord
what their needs are, what their
responsibility on both side are in terms
of tenant and landlord. So they work
together. We have an agency like SCAP
who is saying that they not they're
against opting in this for this option.
There are a lot of reason why they might
want to do that but uh we need to find
out why you know get to the bottom of
why they want to do because they force
our knowledge they're dealing with the
situation every day and they are putting
people in in houses. So those are things
that we need to address and in terms of
rental fees going up. Yes, it's
happening across the city. Why? Because
we have been raising taxes. We have been
raising um water sew and garbage. So
those costs eventually as we mentioned
will trickle down to the tenant and this
is what we we're seeing here. So we need
to address all of that as we move
forward. Let us not let's be careful of
not putting tenants against landlord and
landlords against tenants. Let's make
sure whatever we're doing here works
best for our city and as we try and the
economic impact and ensure that we have
adequate housing for our tenant. Yes,
we're having um almost all the
apartments that are rented are are
inspected by code enforcement for rental
certificate. So they are a standard and
I know for a fact that there is a
there's an aggressive approach approach
from code enforcement to make sure these
apartment are code compliance
before they rented and if they're not if
they're rented without certificate
rental certificates they cannot evict.
is my understanding that you can't do
eviction until you have a rental
certificate. So there there is a play
there that um we have to be careful what
we're doing. Yes, the apartment is
rented. The apartment is in code
compliance. They're renting. Let's think
about the educational part to make sure
that we educate both the landlord and
the tenant of how they need to treat
others.
So I guess um the responsible matter. U
so in terms of SCAP um I've only heard
here that Scap's against it. I
personally would like to see because
that's just who I am what Scap has to
say about this in their reasons that
they um they are against I would love to
have have seen that you know if that was
information that could have been before
us tonight but I'd like to see that and
in terms of co co was I mean I agree
with people being put out because they
didn't pay the rent that's just you know
you you should pay your rent if you have
the ability to pay your rent you should
pay your rent so I don't think co is now
and I know that people were impacted by
co um so this is not that and um so when
people now if you don't pay your rent
you get to you go to court you get
evicted if you are damaging people's
properties that I spoke with the
landlord as recent as early this morning
if you're um damaging property you you
get you know they can put you out if
you're doing something illegal in their
property you can you know you can get
evicted so there are um things in place
that also protect landlords this is just
not only about making sure that tenants
are treated fairly there are parts of
this are in And let me also say, I don't
know if everyone that's in this room,
which whichever side of it that you're
on, if you haven't read the legislation,
if you haven't read the law, I suggest
that you do that and it may it may
change your positioning on things. But I
always encourage people that if you know
there's a subject that you're passionate
about one way or the other, that you
really make sure that what you're um
what your understanding of it is your
understanding of it, not another
person's understanding or interpretation
of it. So, I um I agree that we
definitely need to as we're moving
forward consider both the landlord and
the tenants, but we definitely we've
talked about this a lot about the
increase of um of increase of rents. And
so, I guess in that case, when we're
doing our budget, we'll be talking about
the other increases that we do that will
be impacting tenants and then therefore,
excuse me, impacting landlords and
therefore trickling down to tenants.
Thank you. I just want to highlight that
in the in the legislation as it is right
now as it is right now a landlord uh
increasing uh the rent based on taxes
and fees from the city is allowable. So
again, um I would just
encourage people to look at the
legislation and then maybe point out if
you're a landlord and you're reading it
from that perspective, go through the
legislation and maybe identify something
that that's within the legislation that
goes against a practice that you're
having now. And I would and I would uh
make the probably unsafe assumption that
if you were to do that, you'd recognize
that
the legislation as it uh at the level of
the tax right now is supporting you
being a a good landlord and uh supplying
people with a a safe, reasonable place
to live. I I I would imagine that
there's some people who might be
speaking against this right now, but if
they looked at their practices and their
practices might align with the
legislation as it stands right now. So
again, I would just encourage people to
do so. Mr. Williams, uh, is there an
important clarification to Mr. Muniver?
I find that you're often opponent of
codeman. So I imagine if Mr. Princey's
listening, hearing an accolade given to
his organization would be really
wellreceived. Can you just clarify?
You're saying you are confident and I
would ask how confident in code
enforcement's abilities to adequately
make it around the entire city to ensure
that every rental property is up to
appropriate standards. Let let me
correct you on that. I'm not against
code enforcement. I'm against the way
how they conduct business. Okay? So, let
me clarify that to you. I'm not against
code enforcement and we are very
supportive of the program, but I would
like to see a a level playing field when
they go out there to do inspection and
to apply the code evenly. And when they
don't do that, I have a problem with
that.
And I have come they're they're doing
good work, no doubt about it. But they
have some officers who does not apply
the code evenly. And I expect them when
they go out and do their rental
inspection which is a must in order to
rent apartment that they will make sure
that the apartment is in code compliance
before they issue the rental certificate
and to proceed with that because most of
the agency like I would say section 8 or
DSS will require rental certificate and
the court require rental certificate now
in terms of the according to
so just further you saying from your
opinion you feel that that is done to
optimal standards throughout the entire
say just yes or no. Let's not go down
with this brother. Okay, we're here to
discuss according here. You're not we're
not discuss it with me here. Okay.
Let's let's let's let's be sensitive
here. So, excuse me. Pardon me. So, uh
no audience no audience participation.
Thank you. Okay, Mr. Chairman just the stat you know for the statute under what we're talking about it it
does refer to the county shall refer to
the county so the benchmark of you know
if 245 or the market rate is in the
statute as to the county. So that's the benchmark that you have to be aware
of. That's the measuring point that's in
the statute and that the division of
community and housing renewal uh uses
when they publish the reports.
If the council, you know, the two things
as I indicated before that the council
has
discretion in and oped into this law is
one the percentage of fair market value.
The statute says 245 and I gave you the
figures there and the how to define the uh small landlord under the under
that. This has to be done by local law
which is a lot more complicated and you
know drawn out process than ordinance
and definitely a resolution. Um there's
got to be you know at least one public
hearing uh the municipal home rule law
section 20 because we have a chief
executive officer as a mayor as the
mayor um allows him to have a public
hearing before he reviews the ordinance
under certain timelines.
The council can certainly always call
for a public hearing on its own. Um but
um the d the draft of the legislation
opting in would would need to have and
the council would have to come to an
agreement or the committee would have to
come to an agreement whether it wants
how it defines small landlord and
whether it wishes to go above the FMR of
245%
as is indicated by the statute. So I
just want to it's it's a local law
process. So there's at least one public
hearing u before the chief executive. If the council wants to have its own and
it can and there's certain time time
frames involved and because of the next
committee cycle I don't think we have
our next committee cycle until early
July. So I'm just throwing logistics out
there, you know, for for you to
consider.
Appreciate that. Um Mr. Mr. Tur
everybody's Yeah. Sure. Okay. So, just a
few things. So, um participating in
neighborhood association meetings for
years. Um this going to almost every
slick uh meeting for years. So, I do
hear the the the sides of both. Um I do
want to say that you know small
landlords should be our small
businesses. A lot of them are there
because this is uh additional rental or
additional uh income to their job that
they have or they're actually creating
some um generational wealth for their
families moving into other generations.
Um these individuals uh these landlords
um you know 10 units and under are there
because
it's their livelihood. Um, so we want to
make sure that they're able to have a
small business in the city as well as
anyone else having a small business in
the city. Um, just a few things. I I've
read the law. I've been hearing about
the law um for many years uh starts down
in in in the city uh with 10 units and
over. Um, but here what they're also uh
considering as a um here is seasonal
rentals. I don't know. any of you guys
have read that as far as um what they're
considering small small businesses.
Okay. Uh seasonal rentals, any type of
um uh anything really coming in as far
as um you know people renting out their
homes. All right. So those things all
come into effect. Um I think uh this
CURA which is center for urban and
regional affairs um they do important
research as far as economic analysis on
what what what it's going to do to our
economy and we've spent how many years
growing our economy um building building
a skinnity that we're all proud of. So
those are all things that come into play
that we really need to be we need to be
aware of. Um I will agree with Mr.
Mudaron on you know, you know, we need
to raise taxes and we said right along
that this would trickle down to the
tenants. Each and every one of us uh
heard that here, but it's it's not fair
that the landlord should have to lose
money owning a rental property and
that's what's happening to a lot of
them. As far as our tax base, um if
these properties are can't be
maintained,
um they lose value, which goes against
our our um it could shrink the property
values uh and reduce the overall tax
revenues to our city, and we don't want
that. Um, you know, I hear, you know, a
lot of, uh, landlords might want to sell
their properties, uh, right away opening
up the door for individuals, you know,
larger corporations or businesses to
come in, absentee landlords from
wherever, out of state, downstate,
upstate. um and not being able to um
with who don't have the same values that
most of our small landlords here in the
city do who really care about uh the
individuals that they're renting to um
making the uh proper repairs and
maintenance on these buildings. So
again, I mean, I'm definitely looking at
the overall um you know, and I think all
of us struggle to pay taxes, to buy
food, um you know, to pay rent, to make
a car payment, you know, things things
are things are not good. So at this
point, um again, I I be in favor of our
small landlords who are small business
owners trying to promote um a good
thing. And another thing I'd like to say
is um small property owners are actually
part of the solution for fair and equit
equitable housing. And if you think
about it, you know, you got a two
family, three family um you're you're
actually taking people in who need to be
taken in from the city and and and
living in in good conditions. So they're
part of the solution. Um and that's
about Thank you, Mr. Terrell. I want to
agree with a lot of what you said. I
believe that um that you're correct um
as far as uh small landlords and the uh
and how they contribute to our local
economy. I guess where my question is
would be what in the legislation um
would make you brought the point around
um the properties not being maintained?
The spirit of the legislation is
actually to ensure that properties are
maintained. Um, so I'm wondering what
part of the legislation would encourage
our properties to be not maintained?
Like what like where do you see that
making that connection at? Well, I think
if if you know landlords decide, you
know, they can't um they can't raise the
rent, you know, to something that they
want, they have to pay the taxes, they
can't afford to make um
improvements to the they can't afford to
make improvements to the property, um,
and then they sell the property. So, um
the individuals coming in are just not
going to make the repairs and that's
going to make for um the individual
tenants who are moving in and still
living there because also through this legislation is uh leases. There
always has to be a lease now. So, the tenant always maintains a lease and
now the the new landlord's not going to
do anything and now the tenants stuck in
a a situation where where things are
unsafe for them. So there there it's
just a whole
Yeah. No, I was saying needs a lot of
discussion and a lot of review and a lot
of analysis. Sure. I guess I just like
to highlight that it that's not how the
legislation works. So, but I so there's being good concerns are being
raised at the table and I want to be um
intentional about considering those
things and I think we all should but I
really want to make the distinction
between what we say versus what we mean.
Um and what the legislation um how I
understand it is
ensuring that people have a place to live, a safe
place to live. Um there's exemptions
available for small landlords based on
what our corporation council was talking
about. That would be the perview of the
council, which I think is something that
we that we definitely have to consider.
But I but when we get into um scenarios
around like landlords not being able to
maintain their property um and things
like that, there's nothing in the
legislation that prohibits that from
happening. In fact, it it encourages
that to happen. Um when we talk about
neighborhood stabilization, one of the
things that people think about the most
when they purchase a home or property
someplace is the school district. And I
don't know if you guys know, but our,
you know, our school district has been
um working to increase our graduation
rate. But if you look at a student that
is um stays in Skenctity City School
District from K to 12, do you know that
the graduation rate is over something
like 95%.
So what that is what that data point
will tell you is that when you have
families that are not in transit, you
know, that are not transient families
that are not, you know, kind of
suffering from subpar living conditions
and are able to have stable housing, not
only does it provide those neighborhood
stabilization for that particular
family, but it also makes our city a
more desirable place for people to
purchase a home, which therefore will
benefit the local economy. So that's
something that we have to acknowledge as
well.
I was just going to point of
clarification. The legislation as it
currently written, it allows for
significant improvements. So I think
what you're probably highlighting is
that needs to be justifiable. Um you
can't just say tomorrow I'm raising my
rent by $100. It just ensures that there
are considerations in place to how and
why are you doing that? And again that
is to empower tenants so that they are
uh just um there's a less account for
rent or price. Um but sincerely and I
mean this with all consideration I think
everyone well I know everyone at this
table has a certain amount of power or
influence and I would really want to
hear from the mayor in this regard. uh
sincerely uh Skenctity, we're only as
good as our planning and understanding
the long-term strategic focus of the
city, I think, helps us ensure that our
actions remain in tune with your uh
vision and authority for the city.
Certainly,
thank you. Uh I would only ask that the
council be consistent
that uh Mr. Mavir's representation that
we have a rental certificate program in
place. It's generally recognized fairly
comprehensive program that ensures safe
and decent housing.
We have tried for the last three years
to get state enabling legislation, home
rule legislation to make the eviction
process contingent upon
participation in the rental certificate
program. That legislation did not pass
until last week. So, it's passed the
Senate in the assembly and will go
forward to the governor now and would
ask that soon the council does a
resolution in support of that. I intend
to advocate the governor's office to ask
for her to sign that. But that
option is actually going to be more
restrictive and more resultsoriented in
some of the things that you're
considering. that is a two family house.
I don't care it's owned by one person or
whatever. If it doesn't meet the rental
certificate program criteria and have a
valid thing, they cannot go into small
claims courts and start an eviction
proceeding.
And I would ask and we've tried that for
three years. That legislation is going
forward now. uh we have the option to
actually put it in place and incorporate
it in the overall delivery of housing
within the city and to let that uh be
kind of the cornerstone of what we're
doing going forward.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I I I agree with
you um as far as uh that legislation and
I believe that that legislation is
really in line with the legislation that
we're um discussing here today. Um, so I
don't believe that it has to be an
either or situation, but it should be a
yes and situation. I would also speak to
the fact around like we're using the
term kind of um returning a level of
power to tenants. Um, quite honestly, I
don't I don't see it that way. I don't
see that it it's providing um any power
as much as is it protection. Um, and I
think the distinction is important
because um, as we talk about shifting
power, that's something that we could
shift from a landlord, shift to a
tenant. Really, what we're saying is
protection is the right term I I would
frame it as because it's protecting
people's livelihood. And that's a very
different thing than saying, I'm giving
you power over a person that owns this
property. But saying I'm going to
protect you and your livelihood, I think
is is um is more in line with um was
more in spirit of the legislation um as
it's written right now. And again, you
have people that will um speak against
this um and I'm willing to hear their
thoughts um and definitely willing to
consider um their points of views. But I
would again stress before you speak
against it, if you are a landlord, look
at the properties that you own. Look at
how you engage with your tenants
currently. And if your practices are
outside of some of the things that are
written in this legislation, well then I
think that there's there's some um maybe
some considerations that you need to
make yourself. But I would imagine um to
the mayor's point that we are setting a
standard here in the city of Skenctity
that most of you are already meeting if
not exceeding. But there are people that
are not. So, we cannot afford to paint
landlords with a a broad brush and say
every landlord um presents like this and
provides this level of quality housing
to people because all you have to do is
take a walk up the street and you'll
know that that's not true.
Mr. Williams, so I say in my final
comments, I would just ask that uh I
think as a country we've lost the
ability to have debates without being so
uh hardly positioned where we're
unwavering or unmoving. Uh so I look
forward to having conversations with
individuals from both sides of this
conversation quite literally in this
room. Um and I just ask that we
challenge ourselves that engage
different perspectives and also welcome
differences and opinions. I think that
is something that I prided our city on
being able to do and I look forward to
practicing that not just with this topic
but many others throughout the rest of
my career. Thank you Mr. Williams. So um
just appear we're going to be moving
forward with the hook this evening. So,
um I think a lot has been said and
everyone's been here to hear and I do
want us um to to speak to the fact that
there was some a mention made about
investors. We already have a lot of
people who live outside our city who are
invested and own property. So, I don't
um see this as as changing that dynamic.
And um and in terms of and I don't want
the fear mongering to be out there that
like if we if we move this forward then
all of a sudden we're just going to have
all these vacant properties. I think
that's a we don't want to, you know, we
really want to talk in specifics and I
think that's just the level of
fearongering that we really don't want
to do that people are going to rush to
sell their properties and we should
continue to have this conversation and
yes, mayor, that legislation did pass
and I I must um say thank you to the
clerk's office because for three years
straight they worked on it and Miss
Michael followed up on that continually
so we finally were able to get that
through. Uh so I think we need to take
into consideration uh this new
legislation and al when I talk about the
new legislation that's coming forward
I'm talking about um that has to do with
rental certificates and also take into
consideration what we're talking about
here with um the good cause eviction law
and have that conversation and make it
and come to a decision of how we want to
move forward. But that mean would mean
that all council members would also, you
know, we just look at all of this. We
could do it collectively, individually,
but we just definitely need to have that
conversation and and where we're going
to finally end up on this. I think a lot
of positive things have been said here
today and that we have an opportunity to
make a difference in the lives of our
tenants as well as our landlords. And so
Mr. Farley has brought this forward. So
I'm going to have to ask I'm going to
ask you how uh you would like to move
forward. Those are my thoughts. Sure.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam
President. So, what I how I would like
to move forward is um I wanted to bring
this up as a discussion piece today. I
know that due to the fact that this is
somewhat emotionally charged and there
is a lot of information and a lot of
misinformation floating out there, I
want to give all my colleagues the
opportunity to kind of delve deep into
um uh the legislation as it currently
stands, talk with uh people of the city
um and then come back to the table. I
will be bringing this back to the table.
um at that point I will be bringing it
back as a item to vote and trying to
vote it out of vote it out of committee
at that time. Um I also just want to
highlight the fact that this is um
something that has been in the process
for years and years and at the state
level there were major concessions that
were given in order to get this to a
place where it's passable. Um, so this
isn't something that came from kind of,
you know, just one side of the aisle and
people just said, "Okay, this is what
we're doing." There was a lot of
concessions and negotiations to get this
to a place where it was passable at the
state level. Um, so, um, those
considerations have been made and I, you
know, we'll continue to make those, um,
at our local level. So, uh, with that,
I'll be bringing it back hopefully for a
vote next cycle.
So,
that I guess I will accept a Motion to
adjourn government operation.
So second. All those in favor? I we
Okay.
Excuse
me. The meeting's not over. So, we'd ask
you to finish your conversation in the
hallway.
I know.
Thank you.
away from the door.
I don't think we can close it though.
Can we close?
Okay. All right.
You can close it.
Can't lock
it on. No.
Would you tell? Yes. You can close the
door as long as it's not locked.
Are you leaving, Mr. Toro? Oh, I I I was
I'm sorry.
Okay. I'd like to order call or city
development planning.
We have nine items on the agenda. The
first one is to award the bid and
contract for the Franklin Street cycle
track to Harbor Construction. Mr.
Wallen, can you close it all the way
down? Derek, did I close the
Thank you.
All right. Uh, what we have in front of
us is the award bidding contract
construction for the Franklin Street
cycle track. This is a federal aid
project that's been in the design
development for a couple of years. Uh it
continues the expansion of the Central
Park Veil Trail connector from Vale Park
down Franklin Street to Clinton Street
right behind us. Um it is a separate
cycle track which means that it'll be a
separated area for bicycles only uh
separate from pedestrians, separate from
vehicles. Um kind of unique in the city.
I think it'll be the only one at the
time. Um, and I think even when Craig
Street's done, this will actually be a
little bit different than that because
it'll be completely separated by curb
area. Um, and if you know Franklin
Street, Franklin Street is quite wide.
Um, it's two block road essentially.
That's two-way. So, we have some area
there to use. Um, there will be no
parking. There is no parking allowed
currently on the Double Tree side. So,
that will remain. And then the island
will get a little narrower as you get
down to um the next block where the
parking lot is for the school district
and the church. Uh and we'll have
parking on both sides.
This is a federal project, so it's 95%
reimbursement to the city. The local
share is paid for with our CHIPS
funding. How many are we having funding
for that? CHIPS funding is approved in
the state budget. So we do have that.
Thanks. Are there any questions? Um, Mr.
Williams. Oh, sorry. So, we've been
hearing a lot of uh comments around uh
the bikability of the city of Santi. So,
I imagine there's going to be a lot of
residents that are thrilled with this.
Can you just talk around um how this is
incorporated into projects at least in
size because you have said that there
are just a lot of considerations that go
into place uh to increase or to um
include white lines. Sure. So this is a
specific focus of a project because our primary focus in the city is
expanding the central park veil trail
connector. So uh on one end of it which
is the bail end we have this project
which is going to bring it to Clinton
Street. The next step is going to be
working with the green market on how we
are going to get it down the last block
of Franklin Street then in front of city
hall to where it actually connects to
Jay and Union which is the Empire State
Trail. It's an on-road portion, but it's
still the Empire State Trail. Uh, at the
same time, you will work uh we are
working on a design for federal aid
project on the opposite end of the park,
which is going to go from the uh Central
Park environmental education or
connecting environmental education
center, the former casino building, all
the way to State Street down Fair
Avenue. So, those are essentially the
two book ends of it. Um, and then once
we have those two, those are our
off-road trail. That's really what the
focus is to provide it. So the the goal
is going to be that someone can go from
State Street and Fair all the way on a
essentially dedicated path all the way
to the Empire State Trail at Jay and
Union. So, um, this project gets us
closer. That project gets us much
closer. And then we have that last
couple of blocks which are going to be
tough. And that's where working with the
farmers market is going to be important
because they like to use the area around
city hall essentially like a parking
lot. And having a large parking lot
surrounding city hall is good to park
trucks and vendors, but it is not
advantageous for bicycles and
pedestrians. So, we have to kind of work
together on that one as we go. Thank
you. Question.
So, first of all, this this sounds cool.
Question is, so this is does this
um for bikes as well or just bicycles?
Cuz I know that we're going to face and
that's more of a something that we're
going to have to discuss in city
legislation is what what we want. Um
we've actually discussed it on Craig
Street a little bit um about posting it
for possibly a speed limit because uh
the Craig Street is going to link Albony
Street with the school district and it's
going to be an off you know off-road
cycle track and what we're we are having
conversations about the nervousness of
having bicycles or or pedestrians in
that area and then having people with
even if they're you know electric they
can still go 35 miles an hour on these
areas and that we don't have any way to
enforce it. So, we are trying to talk
about if we can put a speed limit or
something on there because there are
different types of ebikes. There are
ebikes that are meant for exercise with
an electric assist, right? So, if you
wanted to go up a hill and it's just too
much, it'll help you. And there are
ebikes that are essentially small
motorcycles. And those are much much
different than an ebike that's an
electric system. So, it's something that
we have to discuss as a as a city on
what we want to do for the regulations
that and I assume that we're going to
have all types of vehicles using these
areas. Um, this is also going to have a
bike signal which is unique. So, you're
actually going to go up to the bike path
and have your own signal bike on it to
tell you when to cross. So, I mean, this
is where and this is where things are
going right now with the bikes. Craig
Street will also have that with the
head.
Anyone else? Motion on the table saw.
Second it.
No, she didn't make a motion yet because
he had a question. So, his question came
first. Now we need I'll make the motion.
Second. All those in favor? I Thank you.
Um the next item on the agenda is just
to review the redirection of a portion
of Chrysler Avenue from a two-way street
to a one-way street from the
intersection of Craig and Main Streets.
Um public hearing was held on June 9th.
We had I think we had four speakers
and
most people were in favor of it.
So this time we need to to move it out
of the committee. So, is there are there
any questions or any further discussion
on this?
I move this second. All those in favor?
I. Thank you.
All right. Um
the next item, item number three, is a
reminder of the weight limit posting on
Kings Road. There will be a public
hearing on June 23rd, 2025.
Uh the final items are all property
sales which will be done in executive
session. So at this point in time, I'd
ask for a motion to recess. Some move
second. All those in favor? We're
recessed. So I'd like to call the order
of the Queens Committee. We have three
items on the agenda tonight. All of
which need to be discussed in executive
session. So I may have a motion to end
executive session. I will second. All
those in favor? I executive session.
Members of the public will have to
leave.