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» Heat. Heat.
Hey, hey.
I'd like to call to order this
connectivity caucus meeting for Monday,
April 27th.
We have one public hearing
for consideration. M the clerk could
please read.
>> Public hearing number one, amending
section 9-6 of the Skenctity City Code
to increase the membership of the
Downtown Special Assessment District
Board from 9 to 15 members and to amend
such membership qualifications.
>> We have eight items for original
consideration. If the deputy clerk can
please read item number one. Item number
one for original consideration, a
resolution authorizing the mayor to
accept $338,433
in statewide targeted reductions and
inmate partner violence initiatives
drive award monies for the Skenctity
Police Department.
>> Discussing committee with non-consent
item number two.
>> Item number two for original
consideration, a resolution supporting
the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
New York Scenic Byway nomination and
corridor management plan adoption.
Discuss in committee without objection
on consent. This item will be presented
towards the end of the meeting. They are
currently arriving slightly delayed by
Mr. Chairs. Item number three.
>> Item number three for original
consideration. A resolution authorizing
the sale of 901 Ontario Street as a
redemption after foreclosure.
>> Discuss with in committee without
objection on consent. Item number four.
>> Item number four for original
consideration. A resolution authorizing
the settlement of a lawsuit by Andre
Porter. Discussing committee without
objection non-consent. Item number five.
>> Item number five, under contract and
supply, a resolution accepting the bid
and awarding the contract for J Street
Connector to Carver Construction
Incorporated in the total amount of
3,874,174.
» Discussing committee without objection
on consent. Item number six. Item number
six, under contracting supply, a
resolution awarding the bid and contract
for the 2026 Skinnctity Chips Paving
Program to Kalinan Industries
Incorporated in the total amount of
3,146
thou,89.90.
» Discussing committee without objection
on consent. Item number seven.
>> Item number seven under contract and
supply. A resolution accepting the bid
and awarding the contract for the
Skenctity Police Department generator
replacement to SN SW Burke Electric LLC
in the total amount of $339,000.
>> Discuss in committee without objection
on consent. And item number eight.
>> Item number eight, under contract and
supply, a resolution accepting the bid
and awarding the contract for crack
ceiling of select city streets 2026 to
City Mark Striping LLC in the amount of
$183,750.
» Discussing committee without objection
on consent. There are no further items
to come before the city caucus. May I
have a motion to adjurnn? Moved by Mr.
Toro, seconded by Mr. Chairs. All those
in favor I we are journed.
I'd like to call to order this Ski City
Council meeting for Monday, April 27th.
I will be reading a um
I'll be reading a pledge followed by or
I'll be reading the invocation followed
by Mr. Murder um providing the pledge of
allegiance. Will everyone please stand?
Dear heavenly father, we come before you
this evening with humility and with a
shared commitment to serve the people of
Skencti. We ask for your guidance as we
carry out the responsibilities entrusted
to us. And we thank you for the
opportunity to work on behalf of our
community. Grant us wisdom in our
decisions, clarity in our discussions,
and the ability to listen with open
minds and respectful hearts. Help us to
lead with integrity, compassion, and a
focus on the greater good, especially
for those in our city who are most in
need. May your peace guide this council,
strengthen our collaboration, and
support our efforts to build a safer,
stronger, and more united sanctity. Be
with our residents, our families, and
all those we serve. Amen.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
» If the clerk can please take the role.
>> Mr. Chairs,
>> present.
>> Mr. Toro,
>> Mr. Angger,
>> Mr. Muar
>> present.
>> Miss Patrick is absent. Miss Wiggins
>> present.
>> Mr. Williams
>> present.
» We have one public hearing for this
evening. We have one individual signed
up to speak. I would like to remind the
community that you have four minutes to
speak.
Mr. Orlando Huntley,
I haven't been here in a while. Uh this
is general. I can speak generally. Uh
this is related to the public hearing.
I'll be back for the general one.
So, we have no one signed up to speak
for the public hearing. I will declare
comment closed.
I will ask for approval of the minutes
from Monday, April 13th. Moved by Mr.
Chairs, seconded by Mr. Ingert. All
those in favor?
>> I.
If the clerk can please read any
communications and petitions.
» Communications presented to the city
council for Monday, April 27, 2026.
Under official from the mayor, a list of
appointments dated April 27, 2026. Under
General from Taylor Spencer, a letter
urging expanding
urging expanded tree planting and green
space efforts, citing environmental and
e equity benefits and encouraging the
city to strengthen and invest in urban
forestry initiatives. Under petitions,
there were none.
» I'd like to call on any council members
for their committee reports.
Hearing none, uh, this will now be
privilege of the floor concerning
matters of the legislative agenda. We
have no one signed up to speak, so I'll
declare public comment closed.
I will now ask for approval of the
legislative consent agenda moved by Mr.
Toro, second by Mr. Mudin. All those in
favor? I.
>> We will now have privilege of the floor
concerning matters of city business. We
have three individuals signed up to
speak. I would like to remind the
community that you have three minutes to
speak. First of which is Denise Wells.
» Hello.
Um, so I wrote some stuff. I wrote it
down because I I'm not good with memory.
So I'm just going to read.
Um, my name is Denise and I live on
Eastern A in Skenctity. I'm here because
there's a serious safety issue on that
street and it's being ignored. There's a
park where children play, but the
reality is drivers are treating it like
a road that's a highway. Um, they're
speeding, they're reckless, and nothing
is stopping them.
Um, this is not a hypothetical
situation. Um, on April 6th of n uh
2025, a drunk driver came down that
street and totaled my parked vehicle in
front of that park. So the danger is
already proven that is this is not a
warning sign. This is a pattern and
right now there are no real measures to
place forcing drivers to slow down. So I
have to ask are we waiting for a child
to get hit before something is done
because that's exactly what it feels
like. Um we know the risk. We've seen
the damage and yet nothing has changed.
Signs are not enough. We're hoping
people will do the right thing. That's
not enough. We need physical measures
that force behavior to change. Um
something like a speed bump or traffic
calming, something uh real because right
now res residents like me are left
dealing with the fear and the
consequences that are not acceptable. So
I'm asking for action not later, not
after another accident, but now. Thank
you.
>> Thank you,
Dr. Peter Kemer.
Evening. I'm with the Veil Project, but
I'm not here for the Veil Project. I'm
here to back up Denise. We've had
several outreaches there in that park,
six outreaches. It is well used by
children. It is poorly signed. It is uh
it uh it is uh has been built on top of
two properties were taken down. So, it
is poorly marked. Number one. Number
two, uh it is uh frequented by children,
especially in warm weather because of
the splash splash weather, but uh since
um Elmer Avenue school has been closed,
it's no longer our school zone. So
drivers whiz by there, uh because they
have to slow down up when as they
approach Brandy Wine and Mlen. Uh we've
seen them speed by there. I just don't
want a tragedy to happen to highlight
the issue. Um,
no one pays attention to the 25-hour
decreased speed limit and um, we just we
I am advocating with Denise who uh is
part of us for speed bumps and signage
of some description. The tribute park
sign is very small. It is uh you could
go right by it. You have to look for it
to know it's there, but children know
where it's there and drivers do not. And
that's the issue. So, we're gonna have
need increased signage, but speed bumps,
which are not costly, would protect the
children that frequent this park and
they do enjoy the park. And thank you
for your time. And u we will be back on
other agenda items. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. I would ask for you both to
just stay until at the conclusion of the
meeting. I imagine a number of council
members would like to get up and ask you
some further couch questions.
» And Mr. Alando Hunley.
» Hello. My name is Orlando Otis Hunley
and I'm a resident of Skenctity. And a
wise person told me the other day that
you're a hero in Skenctity if you can
bring in a table of four um to one of
our restaurants or if you can bring
people into any of our small businesses.
And I think that's very true. Um and I
think with all the the space and
sunlight that we have at this point in
time, we're not using it enough. And
with the Eddies that took place last
night where we celebrated people from
across the Capitol region who came to
Skenctity um because this is where
everything is happening. You know, Troy
has a great music scene. Alby's coming
up, but Skenctity has some of the most
talented artists and some of possibly
the best locations to perform. And I
think this also wraps into how it's
becoming harder and harder for so many
of our neighborhoods to have the block
parties that they once were able to
have. and they're having to jump through
hoops at the festivals. And this is this
is not me saying it. People have come
here and said it before me. I hope you
all remember. Um,
but it it comes down to we should be
open to busking, you know, and allowing
artists to aid in marketing our city and
bringing people here because each of us,
everyone in Skenctity could be a hero by the terms of that wise man by
bringing four, five people. um with the technology that we all have at our
fingertips and us supporting our small
businesses, us creating these platforms
for our local artists. And it's not just
about create selecting
artists, you know, because that gets so
touchy and it's very weird. We need to
also enable the people who know the
artists in this community and who are
trusted and who have put in years and
kind of, you know, are getting the the
short end of the stick. Um, and then
also I mean I would like to second what
they're saying. Um, so many of our
neighborhoods have uh become highways
and a 25 mile speed limit doesn't stop
that. I think speed bumps would stop
that. And then also as someone who's
been hit by a car on Erie Boulevard and
to you know who. Uh, it's it's it's it's
getting just like too crazy. I mean I
believe by GE we have a pedestrian
bridge. Let's do let's throw a couple of
those up. Uh, I feel good. I feel good
about that. Thank you. Have a good
night, guys.
>> Thank you.
I have no one else signed up to speak,
so I'll declare public comment for
general city business closed.
At this time, I'll entertain any
miscellaneous business from the council.
Mr. Chairs,
uh, thank you, Council President
Williams. Just try to be quick. There's
so much that happened this month. Um, I
al also want to stop and we didn't get
to do it, but we talked about it after
our last committee that this was autism
awareness month. And uh, I just want to
bring that recognition to it that we are
continuing to work to make sure that we
have inclusion and acceptance all
throughout our community for those who
are on the autism spectrum. continue to
do the work to make sure that they have
opportunities afforded to them that make
sense that we can work with our people
who are differently abled and make sure
that we are bringing them into our
community um and guiding them along with
anything that we can possibly help. I
had the pleasure of being with uh
Assemblyman Santa Barbara over at the uh
youth and in Roderdam where we talked
with a multitude of community members
from Roderdam, city of Skenctity and
Scotia of how it's affected uh their
lives seeing the lack of opportunities
for their children, children they teach
and all throughout the community that
they care for. So, um, I continue to
push as we, you know, want to support
small businesses and we seen businesses
like Puzzles that were there that did
these good things to make sure that we
as a city continue to work to support
them. I want to thank everyone who, uh,
participated in the Hero 5K for autism
yesterday morning and ran. I was unable
to get there, but some of my team was
over there and was very excited to
support afterward. I was, excuse me,
unable to run in it. um but are very
happy to support and donate to be able
to make sure that we continue to move
those initiatives forward. I want to
draw attention to the Yumi and poetry
which this council voted on last month.
The festival is all this week,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and
Saturday. They have different days from
Lucid Voices and this connected poet
laurate Donis Richards uh will be
hosting different youth events, youth
workshops as well as a youth slam for
opportunity for our children in the
community to have uh their words heard.
Uh the spoken challenge was very I've
seen it done once before that he's done.
It's amazing to see what our youth have
to say in this community and it's very
insightful. So I encourage everyone to
one support our youth. Make sure that if
you have a child that is interested in
spoken word or any kind of form of
poetry that you bring them over to this
event. This is an opportunity to make
sure that they can show their skill and
their skill level, no matter what it is, appreciated by this councilman surely
as a teacher prior. I also want to give
a huge shout out to uh our mayor of
Woodlon. I don't know who you've seen,
but Mayor Nir Hill. Um got to meet
Superintendent Carlos Cotto last week
and he is the new elected mayor of
Woodlon Elementary School and he uh was
I was able to talk to a superintendent
and he called Carlos his best friend,
which I think is amazing. We have a
superintendent that has a best friend as
a mayor. He also said uh after talking
to teachers, his first order of business
is to make sure they have extra recess.
So, if this council can help him in
getting extra recess at Woodlon
Elementary School, that's something we
should be working on. [snorts] Last, I
want to bring quick attention to
National Library Week that was last week
and the Tater Trot that happened this
past Saturday, as well as the amazing
cleanups and thank you to our council
members that were able to get out,
council president, as well. Um, I was
able to join a litany of them all across
the city seeing how many amazing
cleanups happened all throughout here
and celebrating Earth Day and Earthfest
in the park at Central Park. Uh, Mayor
McCarthy was also at Earthfest and I
seen him at Goose Hill and I want to
give him a shout out for cleaning up and
being there as well. He's not here this
evening. Uh, but we were able to get a
lot of good work done through Bana and
all the community members and volunteers
that came out and Union College
athletics that supported this initiative
all throughout the city. And lastly, I'm
excited to say that we're able to
resolve several issues from the last
council meeting where members of the
community had reached out to us, came
here and talked to us and reached out to
me individually. I'm very excited we
were able to get some of those potholes
filled, some of those garbages, dumping
sites that we seen that we heard about
on Swan Street, over on Albany Street,
and down in Neras taken care of. I'm
glad that we were able to get that done.
I was able to report it. Please continue
to bring your concerns to this council.
Give us the opportunity to work on it. I
know I say all the time, I don't know
what I don't know. So, if there's an
issue, thank you for coming and bringing
it to our attention so we can get it
done for you. Thank you so much, Council
President Williams.
>> Thank you.
» Okay. So, uh thank you for everyone who
came out to speak. I'd first like to
address the matter of speeding.
Sincerely bringing that to our council's
attention is imperative to miss. What uh
council member uh chairs recently shared
is assuming not uh is very important. I
think we have a big city uh and
sincerely uh making sure that we work
collaboratively together and give each
other grace uh is important for us to do
the work equitably. So we do have a
number of measures at our behest but
sincerely that starts with first
bringing those problem problematic areas
towards us. Uh if you can recall last
year we passed uh an open legislative
item that allows our chief engineer to
be able to assess where uh speeding
tables can be put. uh we need to align
some budgetary funds to that because I
think we did make some uh uh removals to
ensure that the tax increases were
appropriate uh for our public. Uh but
sincerely there's nothing to say that we
cannot do a budget reappropriation to
ensure that we're able to meet some of
those concerns and not have a tragic
accident happen before that prompts a
response from the city. I would like to
also take a moment to just appreciate
some recent ceremonies. uh had the
pleasure along with uh councilman chairs
uh to be at the uh arbor day ceremony.
Mr. Toro I think it was council woman
Doro was there as well uh with uh Betsy
Henry from Retree connectity and to what
I wasn't aware of there we planted the
64th species of trees and they openly uh
asked for members of the community to
come and walk through that that space.
Uh it is very green, very peaceful and
it really provides a tranquil experience
within the city of Skenctity. I'd also
like to appreciate the combined effort
from Music Haven, the EighthP, and uh
many other supporters that saw a
successful Earthfest yesterday at
Central Park. Uh and as we as a
community and just a nation uh respond
to being more environmentally friendly,
promoting more sustainable solutions, it
is not an option. It is a requirement.
Sincerely, that investment is not just
for ourselves, but also for the next
generation to ensure that we leave them
with something. Um, and I'd also like to
congratulate the participants of our
Capitol Region Summer Classic, which was
the Special Olympic swim meet that was
held at Skeny High School. Uh, they
definitely swim better than I because I
cannot swim. But truly, I think it is
very uh appreciative and appropriate for
our community to collaborate with other
agencies to ensure that they can enjoy
the resources that we have within our
community. So, with that, I will ask for
a motion to adjurnn. Moved by Mr. Chair,
second by Mr. Min. All those in favor? I
we are endured. Enjoy the rest of your
evenings.
I was like Justin Stall.
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