[0:38] Good evening everyone and welcome to the
Troy City Council. It is 6:30
[0:43] and it is
uh
[0:46] I'd like to call this public hearing
to order.
[0:50] I
would ask first that you please join me
[0:52] in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:59] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[1:04] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:10] justice for all.
[1:17] » Clerk, would you please call the roll?
>> Council member De Lorenzo?
[1:21] » Present.
>> Council member Scrubber?
[1:23] » Present.
>> Council member Spain McLaren?
[1:25] » Present.
>> Council member Mackey?
[1:26] » Present.
>> Council member Favreau?
[1:28] » Present.
>> Council member Campbell Cohen?
[1:30] » Present.
>> Council President Steel?
[1:32] » Also present.
>> All members are present.
[1:35] » Thank you.
>> Council President, I move that the
[1:38] council resolve itself into a committee
of the whole for the purpose of
[1:41] conducting a public hearing.
>> Clerk, would you please read the notice?
[1:46] » Regarding proposed local law amending
the charter of the city of Troy by
[1:50] repealing and replacing section C-40
public emergencies to align it with the
[1:55] state of New York Executive Law, Article
2-B regarding emergency declarations.
[2:04] » The public hearing regarding local law
number four is now open.
[2:08] Uh the rules of the chair are
similar to the rules that we've followed
[2:14] for the two previous public hearings.
Um
[2:18] we would ask that you come forward, give
your name, place of residence. Please
[2:23] keep your remarks
to no longer than 5 minutes.
[2:27] And I would uh invite folks to come
forward.
[2:47] » Good evening, council members. My name
is Frankie and I'm a resident of Troy.
[2:51] I'm here again to express my full
support for local law number four, and I
[2:56] want to thank you one more time for
preserving the public's right to speak
[2:59] freely on this topic despite the mayor's
attempt to silence our voices.
[3:04] In my previous comments on local law
number four, I lamented all the time,
[3:09] energy, and resources that have been
squandered on Mayor Montello's
[3:13] fabricated emergency while Troy
residents face the real-life crisis of
[3:18] economic insecurity.
I highlighted actual emergencies like
[3:23] the struggle of ordinary citizens to
afford food, housing, transportation,
[3:28] and medical care.
But since the last time I spoke, we now
[3:33] know much more about those real-life
emergencies.
[3:37] On July 23rd, New York State Comptroller
Tom DiNapoli released a report on
[3:42] homelessness that showed a stunning 55%
year-over-year increase in homelessness
[3:50] in the city of Troy and Rensselaer
County combined, the third highest
[3:54] increase in the entire state. In my
opinion, that is a real public
[3:59] emergency.
At the recent 2026 State of Hunger
[4:03] Summit in Troy, the Regional Food Bank
had one clear message. Food insecurity,
[4:10] especially among children, is on the
rise.
[4:13] According to their data, roughly one in
six kids don't know where they're going
[4:18] to get their next meal.
I don't know about you, but that also
[4:23] seems like a real public emergency to
me.
[4:28] So, homelessness in our area is
increasing at an astonishing rate.
[4:32] Regional Food Banks are struggling to
meet unprecedented demand. Children in
[4:38] our community are going hungry. And yet,
no public emergency has been declared
[4:44] for any of that.
I personally think these critical issues
[4:49] should be our city's top priority.
Unfortunately, the mayor appears to
[4:55] think the most urgent issue in Troy is
to bypass the council and pay an
[5:00] exploitative data broker 160,000
taxpayer dollars to surveil private
[5:07] citizens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
And even though she paid that data
[5:13] broker over 4 months ago, the mayor has
chosen to keep this supposed public
[5:18] safety emergency in place, which in
effect puts it at the very top of her
[5:23] priority list.
I can't begin to fathom the
[5:27] justification for that, but I'm hoping
that the council's Article 78 lawsuit
[5:32] will provide us all with some insight.
In the meantime, I ask you please get
[5:39] local law number four passed so we can
stop focusing on the mayor's fake
[5:44] emergencies and get back to the business
of serving the thousands of Troy
[5:48] residents, our friends and neighbors,
who are facing real-life emergencies
[5:53] every single day.
Please seal the deal on this law, close
[5:58] the loopholes, and let's turn our
collective attention to finding real
[6:02] solutions to the very real problems that
are plaguing our community.
[6:08] Thank you for taking time to hear my
comments. It's appreciated as always.
[6:12] » Thank you, Frankie.
[6:26] » Good evening, Council. My name is
Callisto. I live right down on Fulton
[6:30] Street. And thank you for all of your
hard work on this issue that the public
[6:34] clearly cares a lot about.
Our governing institutions function at
[6:38] their best when their participating
bodies have their power restricted by a
[6:42] system of checks and balances, and when
those participating bodies and
[6:46] individuals are engaging with the system
in a good faith effort.
[6:50] Certain circumstances, like natural
disasters or other emergencies, require
[6:55] the system of checks and balances to be
relaxed to allow the executive to
[6:59] navigate nimbly in the interest in
preserving lives and property. We all
[7:03] recognize that there are good reasons
for carve-outs to exist, which
[7:07] circumvent some aspects of our system as
written.
[7:10] The world is complicated, and our
institutions should be fluid.
[7:14] An issue arises when that second thing
about participating bodies or
[7:18] individuals acting in good faith doesn't
happen. Our mayor has repeatedly shown
[7:23] that she cannot be entrusted with the
responsibility of stewarding
[7:26] boundary-pushing executive power through
her abuse of the law, which allows her
[7:31] currently to declare a state of
emergency basically on a whim.
[7:34] She has declared, I believe, eight state
of emergencies in the past 2 and 1/2
[7:38] years, with at least three of those
instances being to specifically
[7:42] circumvent the uh legislative process
which the city council is supposed to
[7:46] govern. Uh this most recently happened
with the flood cameras contract which
[7:50] was as plain of an instance of executive
overreach and executive abuse as I can
[7:55] imagine.
Um so I fully support local law number
[7:58] four and thank you for continuing to
take input uh uh continue to take input
[8:02] on these matters. We really appreciate
it. Thank you.
[8:05] » Thank you, Kalista.
[8:27] » All right, one sec to get my phone up.
Okay.
[8:32] Uh I'm Francis. Uh sweet. I'm in D6.
Um
[8:38] I support local law number four. I think
that it's high time that we get that
[8:43] passed. Um I know
since she vetoed even this public
[8:48] hearing that she's inevitably uh
Carmella is going to veto the law
[8:54] itself, but
I know that you guys have the strength
[8:59] and power to override that, so we'll be
I'll be here for all of those meetings
[9:06] » [laughter]
>> and supporting.
[9:08] Um I just wanted to point out some
discrepancies in
[9:14] in what the the mayor has said in the
past versus her actions now. Um
[9:21] she
[9:24] has absolutely usurped the power of the
legislative body as the executive.
[9:31] When she was council president
she argued in favor of more power and
[9:37] oversight to the legislative body. But
now that she's executive, that's been
[9:41] flipped on its head.
Um, Flock is not an emergency.
[9:47] Uh,
when Madden declared a state of
[9:50] emergency and she was up in arms about
this,
[9:53] that it was taking away power from the
legislative body,
[9:57] that was about necessary for life water
supply.
[10:02] This is about a fun toy that Troy PD
wants.
[10:06] It's not the same. This is not an
emergency.
[10:11] And she needs to not be able to do this.
Any mayor needs to not be able to do
[10:16] this in the future.
When she was City Council President, she
[10:21] sent a statement to Madden
criticizing him for what she said was,
[10:26] quote, "An attempt to usurp the powers
of the legislative branch that is
[10:30] appalling and oversteps the coequal
branches of government." I think that
[10:35] perfectly is a perfect example of what
she has done. So, I support this local
[10:40] law and I hope you pass it and pass it
again. Thank you.
[10:46] » Thank you, Francis.
[11:01] » Hello, everyone. Name is Briana
Harrington. I'm in District 4, 10th
[11:05] Street.
Yeah, just want to reiterate what
[11:08] everyone's been saying.
Um,
[11:10] I support Local Law number 4.
Um, appreciate it being uh in existence
[11:16] to begin with. Definitely a long time
coming with a lot of the um abuses of
[11:23] power that have been going on
consistently.
[11:26] Uh, I wouldn't be surprised if Mayor
Montello actually declared a state of
[11:31] emergency about this local law number
four.
[11:34] Uh, so we'll just keep that in the back
of our heads because, you know, she
[11:39] loves to throw that around. Um,
once again, as we all know, Flock
[11:45] it's a tool.
It is a tool that is made by a very
[11:50] un-reputable company, as we've seen time
and time and time again, that we've
[11:53] discussed time and time again.
Um, many communities all over the
[11:57] country are canceling their contracts,
as we know.
[12:01] And so, this definitely, um, does not
deserve any sort of state of emergency
[12:07] or any sort of, um,
you know, uh, payment without, uh,
[12:14] permission. So, again, thank you.
>> Thank you, Briana.
[12:31] Does anyone else wish to address the
council as part of the public hearing?
[12:41] Well, I want to thank all of you for
your comments.
[12:45] They were
heard.
[12:48] Um,
and at this point,
[12:52] I would entertain a motion to adjourn
the public hearing.
[12:54] » Motion.
>> Second.
[12:56] » Council member McLaren with a second by
council member Favreau. All in
[13:00] » favor?
>> I.
[13:01] » Opposed?
We are adjourned.
[15:24] » Mhm.
[28:49] » Mhm.
[30:36] » Good evening, everyone.
Welcome to the Troy City Council. It is
[30:41] 7:00. It is also the
regular meeting regular August meeting
[30:47] of the council.
Previously at our public hearing, we
[30:52] pledged allegiance and we called the
roll. At this point in the evening, I
[30:56] would ask that if anyone has any
comments on the agendas,
[31:02] uh which are at the back of the
chambers,
[31:05] uh you're welcome to come forward. This
this public forum is on agenda items
[31:11] only.
There will be a public forum at the end
[31:14] of the meeting on any item,
but at this point of the evening, it is
[31:18] just agenda items.
Does anyone wish to address
[31:23] us on the three resolutions
and one ordinance?
[31:33] Seeing none, we'll move right along with
our agenda.
[31:36] Ordinances. Ordinance 32.
>> Ordinance 32, an ordinance amending the
[31:41] 2026 General Fund Budget, Council
President Steel, at the request of the
[31:45] administration.
>> Is there a motion?
[31:48] » Motion.
>> Council member McKee.
[31:50] » Second.
>> By seconded by Council member Struber.
[31:54] Discussion on the ordinance.
[31:58] All in favor?
>> Aye.
[32:00] » Opposed?
>> Seven ayes, zero nays, the ordinance
[32:04] passes.
>> Moving on to resolutions. Resolution 77.
[32:09] » Resolution 77, a resolution accepting a
grant from the New York State Division
[32:13] of Criminal Justice Services under the
Give Initiative and authorizing the
[32:17] mayor to enter into a contract and
execute documents related to the grant
[32:21] on behalf of the city. Council President
Steel, at the request of the
[32:24] administration.
>> Is there a motion?
[32:27] » Motion.
>> Council member McLaren, second?
[32:30] » Second.
>> Council member McKee seconds.
[32:33] Discussion on the resolution.
[32:37] All in favor?
>> Aye.
[32:39] » Opposed?
>> Seven ayes, zero nays, the resolution
[32:43] passes.
>> I just want to clarify for those who may
[32:47] be wondering why this is moving along so
quickly. All of these items were
[32:51] discussed thoroughly previously in our
committee meetings.
[32:56] So, we're moving along
rapidly, I guess. Resolution 70A.
[33:02] » Resolution 78, a resolution accepting a
state and municipalities SAM grant in
[33:07] the amount of $125,000
from the New York State Dormitory
[33:11] Authority DASNY and authorizing the
mayor to enter into a grant disbursement
[33:16] agreement GDA and execute documents
related to the grant on behalf of the
[33:20] city. Council President Steel at the
request of the administration.
[33:24] » Is there a motion?
>> Motion.
[33:26] » Councilmember DiLorenzo, second?
>> Second.
[33:29] » Councilmember McLaren.
Discussion on the resolution.
[33:36] All in favor?
>> Aye.
[33:37] » Opposed?
>> Seven ayes, zero nays, the resolution
[33:41] passes.
>> Resolution 81.
[33:45] » Resolution 81, a resolution to
commemorate the 30-year career and
[33:48] contributions of the band Super 400 to
the Troy community by designating the
[33:53] portion of Rensselaer Street west of
River Street as Super 400 Way. Council
[33:57] President Steel, Councilmember Struber
at the request of the administration.
[34:01] » Is there a motion?
>> Motion.
[34:03] » Councilmember Favreau,
>> Second.
[34:05] » Councilmember Struber seconds.
Discussion on the resolution.
[34:10] We're we're going to be making a special
presentation just following this. All in
[34:14] favor?
>> Aye.
[34:16] » Opposed?
>> Seven ayes, zero nays, the resolution
[34:19] passes.
>> I would uh ask the members of the the
[34:23] band and
uh
[34:26] their followers to please come forward.
[34:56] » I'm going to go ahead and
>> Okay. All right.
[34:58] » All right. I'm going to go ahead and
>> Come on out.
[35:02] » I think.
>> Hi everyone.
[35:04] » Hello.
>> Hey guys.
[35:08] » The balance is
Move over so they can get you all in
[35:12] nicely. Some here, some here.
>> They're great.
[35:16] » Move over there. See you.
All right. We
[35:20] We have a special guest and I want to
thank the council president. I want to
[35:24] thank the council. I know we have a lot
of followers who are standing behind us.
[35:30] Meet Super 400 folks. Come on. Let's
give them a shout, man.
[35:38] So
this iconic
[35:42] local band
and they plan to hopefully do a little
[35:46] song tonight, I'm told. No, I'm kidding.
I won't
[35:49] I won't put you on the spot like that,
but I got to tell you, man.
[35:53] These guys, they're in the capital
region Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
[35:59] Congratulations.
They've been around for over 30 years
[36:04] and you know, I asked them, so why
Rensselaer Street and I didn't realize
[36:10] it was the spot of your first gig, which
is so so cool.
[36:17] They've been around for over 30 years.
You have touched so many people's lives,
[36:22] not just through music, Um, but we all
know
[36:27] uh, that Joe Mealy
um, has a very special fundraiser for a
[36:32] son and I know all of you help lead the
charge with Joe and I'd love to hear you
[36:38] talk about that, but suicide prevention
and mental health awareness and you
[36:44] know, this band is a huge part of
getting the word out for mental health
[36:50] awareness and we can't thank you more
than enough from the bottom of our our
[36:55] hearts. So, thank you for that.
>> Thank you.
[36:57] » And Carmella, can I also say a a
personal
[37:00] » Oh, we'll we'll let you guys talk. All
right.
[37:03] » the suicide prevention. Please. They've
raised
[37:05] » No, here.
>> They have helped my family raise at the
[37:08] Dustin Mealy Memorial Concert over
$200,000
[37:12] for mental health initiatives supporting
American Foundation for Suicide
[37:17] Prevention,
uh, NAMI and Catholic Charities.
[37:21] Uh,
you know, which has provided many
[37:24] programs and we've tried to make it as
local as possible and I want to tell
[37:29] them how much I appreciate them.
There's lots of other charities they've
[37:33] supported over the last 30 years.
Uh, you know, but I'll let you
[37:38] » Go for it. Please.
>> But thank you. Thank you. Can't tell you
[37:41] how much that has has done for this
community, how much it's done for mental
[37:45] health awareness. When you have a band
like this that plays year after year,
[37:50] it's not just their time for the
concert. They also perform as Super 400,
[37:56] but they also allow us to have guest
musicians um,
[38:00] and do backing for those bands. That
takes time for them to rehearse and they
[38:06] graciously do it and I can't tell you
how much I appreciate it.
[38:10] » Thank you.
Thank you.
[38:14] Thank you.
[38:17] » And you know, I know many of us and many
of the council um, are very connected
[38:24] not just to your music, but to your
causes. Joe Mealy
[38:29] is a neighbor of many of ours over by
Fair Park, and
[38:34] it's it's just something that the
community comes out for not just
[38:39] annually,
but all throughout the year for Joe and
[38:43] his family.
I know Joe will be at the dedication,
[38:48] and we'll let's hope snow and give them
a heads-up for the actual dedication
[38:53] ceremony for the sign where we're
dedicating the street to Super 400 Way.
[39:01] You know, on a real positive note, I I
must tell you. So, I had a real short
[39:06] stint with a band. They asked me to
sing.
[39:11] And, you know, you you just hit the nail
on the head. The work that went into
[39:17] that one song
literally took weeks upon weeks, evening
[39:24] upon evening to get it right. And we
were down at Billy's downtown. I don't
[39:30] know if you know, like that's where Oh,
yeah. So, Donnas is there now.
[39:35] And Billy's from the East Side moved
downtown. And so, long story short with
[39:40] the Baker brothers and a couple of other
police officers, I sang a song. But the
[39:46] practice that went into that. So, to
stay together for 30 years and practice
[39:53] like that and and work to that level and
have that commitment really says a lot
[40:00] about all of you. So, I can only imagine
the challenges, the obstacles, but just
[40:05] that reward to see people smile, to see
people enjoy music. And, you know, folks
[40:12] should know we were talking about
American Theater before we walked in,
[40:17] and you never know super 400 might be
one of those live bands at American
[40:22] theater when it opens in February.
Woohoo as not only
[40:29] a
a movie theater but also live
[40:33] entertainment place things to that
nature. So thank you super 400 for all
[40:39] the impact that you've had here in Troy
in the capital region. Once we dedicate
[40:45] that sign and it's really going to be
amazing. So we posted on social media
[40:50] and like friends from high school, you
know, which is only I think like 15 20
[40:56] years ago for me. Haha. But friends from
high school were messaging me and
[41:01] they're like, "Oh my gosh, super 400.
They're such a great band."
[41:06] So we're just so proud of you. We have a
proclamation which I'll read in a few
[41:10] minutes, but I know the council
president couple councilmembers want to
[41:15] say a couple words. So congratulations.
>> Thank you. Thank you, mayor. I'll do
[41:20] everyone a
a service and not sing. I can tell you
[41:24] that right now.
But you know, this is what makes Troy so
[41:28] very special is groups
like Super 400 who go above and beyond
[41:34] and for that the council is very very
grateful
[41:39] as I know many other folks are. But I'd
like to turn the mic over to district
[41:45] two councilmember Strubing.
>> Thank you. And thank you, Super 400. Uh
[41:53] I get to see all of you guys pretty
often at the Ale House and around town
[41:58] and I'm just so grateful that you do
what you do. I was introduced to Super
[42:02] 400 the first time back in 2023.
I was at the Eddies Awards. And so were
[42:07] you.
Uh
[42:09] they won an Eddie that year. Um
and it your music is
[42:15] easy listening, but also
it opens up the community. It brings
[42:20] people together, and that's one of the
reasons that bands like yours are so
[42:23] incredible to have locally. So, thank
you for everything you do for continuing
[42:28] this for 30 years plus, and I hope to
see many more of your shows.
[42:35] » All right. Without further ado,
Council President Lion, the City
[42:41] Council, would like to read this.
Let me Never needed these until uh
[42:48] years ago.
So, whereas in February of 1996, Joe
[42:53] Daley, Lori Friday, and Kenny Hauman
first played together in a rented
[42:59] rehearsal space at the former Van Heusen
and Jacob's and Company Collar and Cuff
[43:04] Factory on River Street, and became
known as Super 400 after that initial
[43:10] jam session ended.
And whereas Super 400 continued
[43:15] rehearsing at the former factory while
building a reputation as an
[43:19] extraordinary live band, and continued
writing and performing for the next
[43:25] three decades,
growing their fan base not just in the
[43:29] capital region, across the United
States, Europe, and Canada, releasing
[43:35] five studio albums.
Super 400 in 1998, Last the Message in
[43:41] 2004,
Three and the Beast in 2007,
[43:46] Sweet Fist in 2009, and Spirit in the
Sound in 2026,
[43:53] this year.
And whereas throughout their career, the
[43:57] members of Super 400 have also worked as
studio and live session musicians in the
[44:02] US and UK, written soundtracks for top
television shows, toward the northeast
[44:09] as the backing band for future Grammy
winner Mike Ferris, frequently played
[44:14] local music stages, hopefully American
Theater,
[44:18] uh collaborating with area musicians on
a variety of projects, and appeared on
[44:23] national television. And whereas Super
400's first live album, Live 05, was
[44:30] partially recorded where else? The Ale
House, one of the best wings in the
[44:35] capital region.
And their second live album,
[44:39] 2024's Live from Troy, New York, was
recorded where else? Across the street
[44:45] at The Hangar on the Hudson.
Uh from The Ale House across the street
[44:50] with both venues located on River Street
as one block north of the band's
[44:54] original factory rehearsal space. And
whereas in 2011,
[45:00] Lori suffered serious injuries in an
automobile accident and was unable to
[45:05] tour. So, she and Kenny co-founded the
Troy Music Academy with Graham Tichy,
[45:11] where for the last 15 years,
they have helped to grow and celebrate
[45:16] the local arts community by teaching
students of all ages. And whereas the
[45:22] band's been recognized for their
accomplishments with Super 400 Day in
[45:26] Troy, first declared on February 25th,
2006 by then Mayor Harry Tutunjian, and
[45:34] again declared on January 19th, 2024 by
your current Mayor Carmella Mantello,
[45:40] and by being inducted in the Capital
Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame
[45:46] in 2022.
And whereas the members of Super 400
[45:50] have performed at countless local
benefit concerts over the years with a
[45:55] long-time connection to the annual
Dustin Mealy Memorial concert at Brown's
[46:02] Revolution, and during every live
performance they always proudly proclaim
[46:08] that they are from Troy, New York.
And whereas the westernmost end of
[46:13] Rensselaer Street runs along the north
side of the former Van Zandt Jacobs and
[46:17] company collar and cuff factory, the
place where Super 400 began its musical
[46:23] journey and one block from where they
recorded both of their live albums. And
[46:28] whereas the city of Troy desires to
recognize and honor members of our
[46:33] community who have made extraordinary
contributions to the development of the
[46:39] arts and sciences and to the culture of
the city as a whole. Now, therefore, be
[46:44] it resolved that in recognition and
appreciation of the musical achievements
[46:49] of this quintessentially
Troy band, Rensselaer Street west of
[46:55] River Street shall bear the honorary
designation of Super 400 Way
[47:01] with an official dedication ceremony to
take place in the near future.
[47:06] Be it finally resolved
that this honorary designation
[47:10] designation shall serve as a lasting
municipal tribute to Super 400. Be it
[47:16] finally resolved again that the city of
Troy on behalf of its 50,000 plus
[47:22] residents extends our sincere gratitude
to the members of Super 400 for all the
[47:29] years of the great musical entertainment
and we wish you well, congratulations,
[47:36] and many more years ahead. Super 400
Way.
[47:44] There you go, sir.
And we would love to hear from Super
[47:48] 400. Let's hear it, folks. Let's hear
it.
[47:57] » Um it's hard to know what to say really.
That That was a great piece of reading
[48:01] there.
[48:03] Um, really all we ever wanted to do
was
[48:07] to just make music together. And um, the
fact that people started getting into
[48:12] our sound
was just something that it was like
[48:16] icing on the cake for us. And um,
you know, regarding the benefits and
[48:20] things
it's really the least that we can do. If
[48:23] we have a a gift that we can share our
music and it'll turn people on to the
[48:28] arts and a beautiful way of seeing the
world, then
[48:31] we're happy to do that. And um,
hopefully we'll just do it until our
[48:36] hands won't let us do it anymore.
[48:43] » I just want to thank you guys. It means
a lot to us. I mean, just
[48:47] we're just a band, you know what I mean?
We do the best we can.
[48:50] Um, we love the city.
So, um, you know, thank you so much for
[48:54] everyone for
doing something special for us.
[48:59] » [clears throat]
[49:04] » Me?
>> All right, I
[49:07] » Introduce, please. Sorry.
>> I didn't really plan to say anything. My
[49:10] name's Jim Meany. I've been
friends with the band for
[49:15] uh, 20 years or so. Um,
and so far this ceremony's been almost
[49:20] as long as a Super 400 show, if you got
to see one.
[49:24] So, I'll try to keep it quick.
Um, thank you so much to the city of
[49:28] Troy for doing this for the band. Um,
I'm so proud of them. I love you guys so
[49:34] much. And I really appreciate the title
Super 400 Way. It could have been Super
[49:40] 400 Street or Super 400 Drive,
but I like I like the sound of Super 400
[49:47] Way because it kind of makes me reflect
on the way
[49:51] that these three move through life.
And when you learn about what they've
[49:55] done over the past 30 years and what
they've been through,
[49:59] the resilience, the love they have for
each other and for this community,
[50:05] it reminds me so much of Troy. I'm not
from Troy, but I spent a bit of time in
[50:09] Troy some years ago and I know
how it feels here.
[50:14] And
people hold their friends tight and they
[50:17] love each other.
And
[50:20] when things get hard, they just
keep their heads straight and keep
[50:24] looking forward.
And this band just
[50:28] is the epitome of that. So, Super 400
Way is the Troy way to me as an outsider
[50:35] looking in. And um I'm so proud of you
all and I'm so grateful to the city of
[50:39] Troy. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[50:44] Let's give it up, Super 400 Way, Troy
grit. That's what you represent. Troy
[50:50] grit. Thank you. Thank you.
[51:18] All right, how about on three? Super 400
Way.
[51:21] » Here we go. 1 2 3.
>> Super 400 Way.
[53:38] » Thank you all.
[54:06] » As our celebrities depart,
I want to invite anyone who wishes to
[54:13] address the council on any item to
please come forward. We ask that you
[54:17] give your name and place of residence.
And try to stay within a few minutes,
[54:24] you know.
I'm sorry, Jim.
[54:29] It is Oh.
>> Hello.
[54:32] I need that. Jim Mouts here, District 5.
[54:38] Oh, thank you. I am
a homeowner,
[54:42] taxpayer,
voter.
[54:46] Uh I turned 70 today, so as you can
imagine, I'm in a kind of state of shock
[54:51] here, okay?
>> Happy birthday.
[54:53] » Well, thank you. I You know,
I'm not thinking that I got any wiser,
[55:00] but I'm not thinking I got any more
senile.
[55:04] But what I don't believe,
and I don't prescribe to,
[55:09] is that the Flock safety devices were
what made Troy's crime rate go down.
[55:16] My feeling is
that it may have been
[55:21] fully or nearly fully staffing the
police department.
[55:25] You know, I think that might have
something to do with it.
[55:29] And I also
have trouble
[55:33] dealing with
Troy's government being dysfunctional,
[55:39] where we don't recognize the difference
between the executive branch and the
[55:44] legislature branch.
I think the legis- the council
[55:50] sets the policy and the mayor, the
executive,
[55:55] is deemed to
enforce that policy.
[56:00] So,
my feeling that we need to get our
[56:06] emergency procedures in line with New
York State,
[56:11] we do not want
this sort of authoritarian
[56:15] thing to happen where the mayor can say,
"Hey,
[56:20] I'm going to declare the state of
emergency and do what I want."
[56:25] So, that's all I have to say. It's
quick. It's easy.
[56:28] » Well, thank you very much.
>> Enjoy the rest of your birthday, Jim.
[56:31] Thank you.
>> I'm going to Francis and Frankie tell me
[56:33] they're going to take care of me. So,
>> Okay, very good.
[56:42] » A little bit shorter than you.
Um my name is Sylva Menard. Good
[56:47] evening, council members. Uh thank you
for taking the time to be here on a
[56:50] regular basis this year and next year.
Uh last week I tried to close my street
[56:55] for one day to finish a masonry repair
and I got a different answer from every
[57:00] department I asked, including one from
the police telling me to do the very
[57:04] thing that several days later code later
said I had no right to do.
[57:08] Every person I dealt with was very
courteous. The problem is that the city
[57:12] seems to have no permit for what I was
asking and we send those employees out
[57:17] to enforce a rule that has never been
written down.
[57:20] They were set up to fail and so was I.
I hired Andrew Bakalakis to repoint the
[57:25] peak of my building four and five
stories up and that took an 86-foot
[57:29] lift. Andrew worked for 3 weeks on the
east side of that wall without closing
[57:33] the street once, and we needed one day
to close the street for the west side.
[57:38] The width of the street, a tree, and a
large stroop stoop directly opposite my
[57:42] house meant that we could not set the
lift up on the other side to allow
[57:46] traffic to pass underneath.
We didn't run out of time. We ran out of
[57:50] people who could tell us what the
process was.
[57:52] Andrew was in conversation with the city
for over a month and pulled two
[57:56] successive barricade permits. He never
hid what the job required. When the lift
[58:00] was delivered, it took hours to walk
that machine into position. With traffic
[58:05] backed up mid-block shortly into this
process, the police stopped. They told
[58:09] us we had a barricade permit and that
with it we should we had to close the
[58:12] street at the beginning of the block so
drivers wouldn't get stuck halfway up.
[58:17] So, the police told us to close the
street and they cited that barricade
[58:20] permit we were holding.
Scheduling no parking signs weeks later
[58:24] for the west side of that north wall,
where we did need to close the street,
[58:29] Paula at DPW dispatch told Andrew,
"You've got a barricade permit. The only
[58:33] thing you need to do is provide your own
blockade and sign." Andrew asked,
[58:37] "Really? That's it?"
He asked again, "Are you sure?" And he
[58:41] was told yes twice more. I don't think
Paula was careless. She answered
[58:46] confidently three times because nobody
ever gave her anything that says
[58:49] otherwise.
So, then Friday, July 31st, Andrew
[58:53] walked to the fire station to tell them
the street would be closed and we moved
[58:56] the lift in before 7:00 a.m. Nobody had
mentioned another process. The no
[59:00] parking signs were up. DPW knew what the
plan was. And here's what we were told
[59:05] after that in one day. At 11:00 a.m.,
TBD and Chip from code arrived and they
[59:10] had no idea why the street was closed.
Chip told us, "You can't close the
[59:14] street without a 911 dispatch
notification and you can't put the sign
[59:17] north of the O'Neal parking entrance.
Please remember that. I've got photos."
[59:22] Andrew, my son Avi, and I then walked
down to code on Chip's advice.
[59:26] Andrew at code called fire and what came
back was, "The Chief says that road can
[59:31] never be closed. We require it open as
the main thoroughfare."
[59:35] Not not today. The answer was never.
But that road was closed for the lift
[59:40] positioning at the request of the fire
police. It was closed all day on August
[59:44] 4th for National Grid. It's been closed
repeatedly over the last couple years
[59:48] for King's Landing 2 construction and
other construction on our block.
[59:51] I'm not going to argue traffic
engineering with anyone in this room.
[59:55] I'm telling you that never turned out to
mean not for me.
[59:59] So Avi and I watched the fire station
having discussed this and we spoke with
[1:00:03] Chief Salucci. We told him the work left
was only 4 to 6 hours and his answer,
[1:00:07] he'd spoken with he called Jared the
assistant chief. He called Andrew at
[1:00:13] Code and their answer he came back and
he said, "You have to go through Code.
[1:00:17] I'm sorry you won't be able to do it
today. Everyone needs to be notified in
[1:00:21] advance for planning fire and police."
So it can be closed with notice and
[1:00:25] that's the opposite of what we've been
told 20 minutes earlier at Code. So we
[1:00:28] go back to Code.
Uh
[1:00:31] fire chief had told us there's a permit.
We show up, there is no permit. Billy
[1:00:36] French told us you email building
permits, but Joe Maz approves these
[1:00:39] himself. He needs written sign off from
fire and police. It goes through the
[1:00:42] city clerk and there's no way that it
gets approved by Tuesday. So at this
[1:00:47] point we're up to five people maybe,
four departments, one day and not one of
[1:00:51] them could hand me a piece of paper.
Andrew, my mason, he threw up his hands.
[1:00:56] That lift had cost me $5,000 for a
1-month rental so we could get this work
[1:01:00] done and the month was running out on
August 4th. He wasn't going to rent it
[1:01:05] for another week on speculation of
trying to get the street closing permit.
[1:01:10] So at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 4th,
instead of finishing the job, that 86-ft
[1:01:15] lift was removed. It was massive.
And Skyworks done him a smaller lift,
[1:01:21] but it wasn't big enough and we didn't
get another one until
[1:01:25] this morning.
Um, there was another deadline blown and
[1:01:29] another rental. That was the third
vehicle that showed up this morning.
[1:01:33] So, by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday of this
week, the day that we were told a
[1:01:37] closure could not possibly be arranged,
we had National Grid on the south end
[1:01:43] and the north end of the block and
shortly thereafter I have photo and
[1:01:47] video from 1:00 p.m. showing that that
street was closed all afternoon.
[1:01:55] Their barricade actually sat exactly
where ours had been on July 31st, last
[1:02:00] Friday.
Um, it was north of O'Neill's entrance
[1:02:04] where it was invisible from Federal, the
place that I had been told was
[1:02:07] prohibited. There was no detour, no
flagger, there were no cars turning
[1:02:12] There were actually cars coming up
Federal
[1:02:16] turning in and having to turn around
right in front of the construction area,
[1:02:19] King's Landing.
There was no notice to neighbors and all
[1:02:23] of those things that I just described to
you were described to me as a hard
[1:02:27] requirement for street closure.
And I understand your utility may notify
[1:02:32] the city rather than ask its permission
to close the street. I'm not challenging
[1:02:36] that. My point is narrower. The street
can close, it has closed, it closed this
[1:02:42] week multiple days in a row and traffic
managed and the safety measures I were
[1:02:46] told were mandatory were nowhere on
that.
[1:02:50] So, I started looking for the process
myself. The city has two instruments and
[1:02:54] I needed a third. According to code,
fire,
[1:02:58] uh, a barricade permit is too little. It
lets you occupy the curb, it doesn't put
[1:03:03] fire and police in the loop. I wrote
this earlier this week.
[1:03:07] I since
actually got a copy of the permit and
[1:03:11] I'm going to read that now.
Um,
[1:03:17] see reverse side for restrictions and
regulations. Description of work
[1:03:21] barricade permit for a lift /
scaffolding to be placed in the city
[1:03:24] right of way.
Work in city right of way. If it is
[1:03:29] necessary to restrict pedestrian or
vehicle vehicular traffic in the
[1:03:32] sidewalk or street areas, proper
barricades must be erected to warn
[1:03:37] traffic and to reroute it safely. A
minimum width of 4 ft must be maintained
[1:03:42] for pedestrian traffic, and if
pedestrians are forced to walk in the
[1:03:45] street, adequate are to be erected in
the street to define that walkway.
[1:03:50] So the things that I was told, which
were
[1:03:55] detour, flagger, cars turning around,
notification to fire and police, none of
[1:04:01] those are listed on that permit, but the
permit talks about street closure.
[1:04:06] So
the other document that's there
[1:04:11] on the city website as far as permits,
cuz I was told the barricade permit was
[1:04:15] not the correct permit,
is a six-page special event permit.
[1:04:21] Um to repair the wall of my own
building, I would have to declare my
[1:04:25] masonry work an event, name it, check a
box, is it a parade, a festival, a block
[1:04:29] party, a film shoot, estimate the crowd
size, say if it's rain or shine, and
[1:04:35] then submit a background check with my
social security number and 10 years of
[1:04:38] addresses.
But I wasn't bringing a crowd. I was
[1:04:41] asking for the opposite of the of a
crowd. I wanted a quiet empty street for
[1:04:45] one day so a machine could work and
nobody would get hurt. So what appears
[1:04:49] to sit between a barricade permit and a
special event permit application does
[1:04:54] not exist, and that seems to be why I
got five answers. Chip was right that
[1:04:58] fire and police need to know. We
actually walked over to to the fire
[1:05:02] department and notified them that the
street was closing for the day.
[1:05:06] Um and the chief was right that advanced
notice matters.
[1:05:10] Everyone I spoke to was right about what
the city needs, but not one of them had
[1:05:13] a form to deliver it. So, I'm asking for
four things, and all four things help
[1:05:17] the people behind the counter as much as
they help me or the next property owner.
[1:05:22] One, create the missing form. A
construction street closure permit
[1:05:26] between the barricade permit and the
special event permit. Unless the
[1:05:30] barricade permit is adequate and I was
not getting accurate information, but
[1:05:34] maybe people don't know.
Um so, that special that different
[1:05:40] permit could put fire and police on
notice in writing, which this barricade
[1:05:45] permit does not do. Um it would you
know, pull off the other aspects, no
[1:05:52] crowd size, no background check. Um and
section 270-20b
[1:05:59] already gives the traffic engineer
authority to close the streets and set
[1:06:02] the barricades. So, two put printed
copies of this additional permit next to
[1:06:06] the barricade permits and online. Nobody
should have to know to ask. Three, give
[1:06:11] DPW the answer in writing. Policy should
never have been in the position of
[1:06:14] guessing. Four, decide whether the
safety requirements are real. I was told
[1:06:19] a detour or a flagger plus notice to
neighbors are mandatory, and four days
[1:06:22] later my block was closed with none of
them. And in years of construction on my
[1:06:26] street, I've never once been notified of
a street closure.
[1:06:29] If those measures keep people safe, they
should apply to any closure. If they
[1:06:33] don't, no resident should be turned away
for lacking them. Either way, write it
[1:06:37] down so no employee has to improvise it
at a curb. And I would appreciate a
[1:06:41] written answer telling me what the
correct process actually was on July
[1:06:44] 31st. I still don't know, and I don't
think the people I asked did either.
[1:06:49] And I just want to note that my mason
called on Tuesday multiple times, and he
[1:06:54] called again on Wednesday. He got no
response from DPW this week about
[1:06:59] getting the no parking signs up for
today for when our equipment was
[1:07:04] delivered. And that has never happened
before.
[1:07:08] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Silva.
[1:07:16] » That's insane.
[1:07:20] » Does anyone else wish to address the
council on any item?
[1:07:31] » My name's Leo Leo Carroll.
Um
[1:07:35] I've lived in Troy
uh pretty much my whole life.
[1:07:40] And uh the only thing I'm looking for is
to put a little light in the city of
[1:07:45] Troy.
I've been fighting this fight for well
[1:07:48] over a year.
I come home. I live between Burden and
[1:07:55] 22nd.
I come home every night and that
[1:08:03] » [clears throat]
>> After fighting this for a while
[1:08:07] and having Emma Quinn follow up on it
with Channel 6
[1:08:12] um I finally got a little result. And
the mayor promised to have lights back
[1:08:18] on Hoosick Street within 2 weeks.
2 weeks went by, nothing ever happened.
[1:08:26] 3 weeks went by and finally in front of
my neighbor's house one light was
[1:08:33] replaced.
And down short of 15th Street one light
[1:08:39] was replaced.
So, two lights out of 15 lights that
[1:08:45] don't appear on Hoosick Street where
poles should be.
[1:08:52] To get any reaction, what I did
was put a sign up in front of my house.
[1:08:59] That sign is still there now and I
change it every month.
[1:09:04] It started out 6 months. It's now up to
10 months.
[1:09:10] Having the one light out in front of my
neighbor's house
[1:09:14] was pretty good. At least we had
something to see up there. Hasn't
[1:09:18] rectified the rest of the the street at
all.
[1:09:22] The rectification
for the rest of the street where the
[1:09:25] wires were shown where they took
pictures of, which has looked ugly all
[1:09:31] these years,
finally they did something.
[1:09:36] They created a wooden box,
painted green,
[1:09:41] to cover up where the wires are.
>> My goodness.
[1:09:45] » Now, if you go up Who's It Street now,
you will see all those little green
[1:09:50] boxes. However, they are not in the
place where they were put to cover the
[1:09:56] wires. Kids come along, kick them.
>> Sure.
[1:10:00] » They get hit by cars.
But I was a little happy
[1:10:04] that they put that one light up in front
of my neighbor's house. Not the other
[1:10:10] one, but that one light.
[1:10:14] A week ago Sunday, the bell rings at
3:00 in the morning at my house.
[1:10:20] I don't know what what's happened now.
I look out and there are two police cars
[1:10:24] in front of my house.
So, I come down, I open the door. The
[1:10:29] policeman says, "Your Ring camera does
it pick up Who's It Street?" I said,
[1:10:34] "Well, no, I can't have it pick up Who's
It Street because it'll be going off all
[1:10:38] the time with the traffic going by. I
only pick it up as to when they hit my
[1:10:42] sidewalk."
I said, "What do you want to know that
[1:10:45] for?" He said, "A vehicle just took down
the light in front of your neighbor's
[1:10:51] house."
Now, this was
[1:10:55] maybe a month and a half and we have
that light up.
[1:10:59] That's what the front of my house looks
like. That's just the way it is.
[1:11:04] » What is that?
>> It's just lace, that's it.
[1:11:05] » So, I'm kind of at a loss here.
We want to be a well I I think we want
[1:11:11] to be a welcoming city.
When you come in and go up I don't know
[1:11:16] has anybody driven up Hoosick Street at
night?
[1:11:20] » It's dark.
>> you talk to National Grid. National Grid
[1:11:23] says, "I'm sorry, we can't do anything
about this. The city owns those lights."
[1:11:30] Now
just common sense.
[1:11:33] They say that poles get knocked down.
Okay.
[1:11:36] They say sometimes they have to do curb
cuts. You don't have to do a curb cut
[1:11:40] unless that wire rots. If that wire
rots, then you got to do a curb cut. So,
[1:11:45] if you knock down a pole, if you get a
new pole up pretty fast
[1:11:49] you got no problem.
Why doesn't the city have a contract
[1:11:54] with somebody so that when it gets
knocked down they don't have 6 months to
[1:12:00] go through to get something to replace
that pole?
[1:12:04] I I just can't understand the operation
that way, okay?
[1:12:10] Um that's all I got to say. Please give
me some lights on Hoosick Street.
[1:12:15] » Thank you, Leo.
>> I shall.
[1:12:24] » I'm very sorry. I want to hand these to
the city clerk so they can be passed out
[1:12:28] to the council members.
[1:12:34] » Hello, Avi Minard, District 4. So, on
the Hoosick Street lack of lights and I
[1:12:40] mean they're already gone. They could be
moved to the other side of the sidewalk
[1:12:45] farther away from the street so that
they don't get knocked over by cars or
[1:12:49] they're less of a problem during
construction so that they don't need to
[1:12:52] be replaced as often.
Uh that's also a thing with the
[1:12:57] gosh
What's it? King and fifth or Jacob where
[1:13:02] there's the fire hydrant that's been
knocked over many times by cars
[1:13:07] and it's missing and it was previously
there.
[1:13:11] So those are just two things where they
if they could get inset into the
[1:13:15] sidewalk or
other places it might make it better.
[1:13:19] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Avi.
[1:13:24] » If I could have your undivided
attention.
[1:13:26] » Mhm.
>> Sure, Leo. Go ahead.
[1:13:29] » With that pole that was knocked down, I
come out with all my investigative
[1:13:33] skills the next day.
And I'm looking up and down the street
[1:13:38] and I look up the street
and it had to be a pretty good size
[1:13:42] vehicle to hit that pole, knock that
pole down, that pole had to go back up
[1:13:47] over the top of the vehicle, that
vehicle came into my wall and knocked my
[1:13:51] wall down and kept going.
So if you just look up my street now,
[1:13:57] you can see the oil or I don't know
whether it's something from the
[1:14:01] radiator, whatever, going up. So I walk
up and follow it.
[1:14:06] I go up three houses and it shows it
turning around
[1:14:10] and coming down Hoosick Street.
Now, I know there's been a lot of
[1:14:15] dispute regarding the Flock cameras in
the city of Troy. So I inquire, are
[1:14:20] there any Flock cameras on Hoosick
Street?
[1:14:23] Lo and behold, there's a Flock camera
just as you go on alternate Route 7. I
[1:14:29] think, "Beautiful. They got to be able
to take a picture of this car or truck
[1:14:36] with probably a missing front right
headlight all smashed in."
[1:14:41] So I inquire with the police department
and the police department says, "Yes, we
[1:14:46] do have a Flock camera on H Street. I
said, can you see any vehicle coming
[1:14:51] down without a missing headlight and
know what the vehicle is and of course
[1:14:56] pick up the license plate?
The flock cameras are
[1:15:01] crap at night.
[1:15:05] All you see is glare coming from the
headlight and you can't even make out
[1:15:10] the vehicle.
What the hell good is a flock camera for
[1:15:14] at night if you can't even make out the
vehicle license plate?
[1:15:18] That was my addendum.
>> Thank you, Leo.
[1:15:25] Very good. Very good.
[1:15:31] Does anyone else wish to address? It's
Leo's a hard act to follow, I I have to
[1:15:35] admit.
>> [laughter]
[1:15:40] » Well, seeing none, um before I close the
public forum,
[1:15:45] I would be remiss if I did not note
that tonight we were supposed to have
[1:15:50] had the second quarterly financial
reports.
[1:15:54] Um per section um
45-3
[1:15:59] of the code,
the second quarter report from the
[1:16:04] controller
is due July 31st.
[1:16:10] Um
we have not
[1:16:14] seen the report.
Um I gave the controller the courtesy
[1:16:20] well in advance, asked him would he be
would this be a good night, we'd hold a
[1:16:25] special finance meeting and we could as
you could see, we had a very short
[1:16:30] agenda. It would have been perfect. We
haven't even seen the report,
[1:16:36] much less
whether or not the controller has
[1:16:40] finished it,
whether or not he's ready to present.
[1:16:44] And the mayor, um, when I brought this
up, said, "Well,
[1:16:50] you know, the language in the code is
outdated."
[1:16:55] Well, I I want to remind the mayor
that in 2018,
[1:17:00] when she was council president,
that section was amended.
[1:17:05] And it was amended to insert those
specific dates
[1:17:10] to compel the controller
to report to the council
[1:17:16] on the finances of the city.
So,
[1:17:20] if they are outdated,
she must be outdated because 20 2018,
[1:17:27] uh, she was council president and
responsible for that legislation.
[1:17:32] Um, I have to say further
that it is the council's responsib- We
[1:17:38] have a fiduciary responsibility to the
citizens of Troy
[1:17:42] to monitor the finances. We adopt a city
budget,
[1:17:46] and throughout the year, we are to
monitor the expenditures
[1:17:51] of the city. We need to know,
have we
[1:17:55] overestimated revenues? Have we
underestimated? Have Are we over
[1:17:59] expending in a certain,
uh, item? Should we be adjusting, uh,
[1:18:04] budget transfers? You know, it's an
ongoing process, but we cannot do our
[1:18:09] job if we don't have the information.
So,
[1:18:15] I am being told
that we will see it
[1:18:19] on August 20th.
I've asked that we have it in advance
[1:18:24] because it's only fair that the council
can at least
[1:18:28] peruse it and look at it and become
familiar with it so they can ask
[1:18:33] intelligent questions.
I have received no guarantee that that
[1:18:39] will happen.
Um I think the citizens need to know
[1:18:42] what's going on here. And and so I I I
just had to share that tonight before we
[1:18:48] close the meeting.
[1:18:54] I would entertain a motion to adjourn.
>> Motion.
[1:18:57] » Second.
>> We have a co-motion by
[1:19:01] » [laughter]
>> Councilmember McLaren seconded by
[1:19:04] Councilmember Di Lorenzo. All in favor?
Opposed? We're adjourned.