City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, October 2, 2001 Present: Commissioner of Finance, Michael Lenz Commissioner of Public Works, Thomas McTygue Commissioner of Public Safety, Thomas Curley Commissioner of Accounts, Bernard Mirling Absent: Mayor Kenneth Klotz Staff Present: City Attorney Jeffrey Wait Deputy Commissioner Bruce Brown Deputy Commissioner Robert King Deputy Commissioner Carol Kennedy Also Present: Supervisor Phil Klein Supervisor Anthony Scirocco PUBLIC HEARING Local Law #6 2001 Taxi Ordinance Commissioner Michael Lenz opened the public hearing at 6:30 PM. He said that Commissioner Ben Mirling is bringing this issue before the City Council. Commissioner Mirling said that he would like to call on Lou Schneider for an opening presentation on the taxi law. Lou Schneider said he is representing the Taxi Committee Chairman Bob Kelly who could not be present because his brother was killed in the World Trade Center disaster. Lou Schneider reported on how the taxi committee evolved and described the conditions that led to its formation. He said that the committee included senior citizens, high school and college students, business managers, and ordinary residents as well as representatives from the insurance and the legal professions. He stated that Commissioner Mirling gave the committee three guidelines 1) Streamline the fare structure to make it easier to decipher 2) Be fair and 3) Keep safety as the ultimate objective. He said the meetings were open to the public and owners of taxi companies received personal invitations to the meetings. He said that the committee routinely elicited and considered input from the owners in any important decisions. He said that the committee studied the ordinance and discovered that as written, the existing ordinance created some degree of liability for the City. in that when processing applications, the Accounts Department was certifying the competency of both driver and vehicle. He said the committee learned that the necessary legal safeguards were constrained since background checks were legally limited. Page 1 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Mr. Schneider explained that after canvassing other similar communities, it became apparent that with some legislative changes, requiring fingerprinting could reduce the probability of licensing inappropriate drivers. He said that this would give the Commissioner of Accounts access to a more thorough criminal history and background of each potential taxi driver. He also explained that when fingerprinting is required, New York State law deems it necessary to create a local law instead of an ordinance. He stated that some of the changes instigated by the committee include a requirement for taxi shields in all cabs; no smoking in taxis; a discount for senior citizens; specific language concerning quantities of luggage and groceries and related charges; allowable fees for requesting taxis to wait and for additional passengers. He said the new law also incorporates a share-riding clause indicating that no taxicab shall carry any person other than the passenger first engaging the taxi without his or her consent. He said that the committee is confident that the safety and welfare of both the passengers and the drivers has been significantly enhanced. He thanked Nancy Wagner for taking minutes, extensive research and keeping the committee focused. Commissioner Lenz asked for input from members of the audience. Larry Cooper, President and owner of Saratoga Taxi and George's Ballston Taxi said he has two items he would like to address about the proposed new law. One item is the share-riding. He said that in Saratoga Springs, the Taxi companies operate a "Share-ride system" and it has always been done this way. He said the taxis are not metered and in the very least, if someone wanted a taxi all to themselves, there should be some adjustment made for the fact that a vehicle is now being hired for door to door transportation for their own personal use. Mr. Cooper explained that the underlying financial stability of a lot of taxi companies is a share ride system. He said that there are two things that may occur with this new stipulation on Share riding. He said one aspect is that without compensating the driver and the owner for that personal use of the vehicle, one might encounter discrimination in the line up of fares. In that the person seeking his own cab for his own use might be put down the list. Mr. Cooper said he does not think this section does anyone, passengers, owners, drivers, any favors and he sincerely wishes that a closer look be taken at this section. He said that the drivers are worried and concerned about the potentially serious negative financial impact that this clause may have on their livelihood. Larry Cooper said the other item that concerns him is 215-15, the Marking of Taxicabs. He said that in sub paragraph C which is a modification of the clause in the present ordinance. He said that the purpose of the ordinance is for identification and since Commissioner Mirling has sole discretion over the choice of colors, he is afraid of some possible partiality. He said that maybe having all taxis be the same color with different markings, top lights, and so forth, making everyone equal on the playing field would be a better approach. He said the side lettering on the sides of cabs has always been identifiable between the different companies. He said he is worried about the expense associated with having to re-paint the fleet or re-lettering, about $350 to $400 per car. He is worried about the financial impact of this requirement. He asked since it is only to Page 2 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 identify the car to the person who called the taxi, if it is truly necessary to repaint all of the cars a distinctive color. He would like the City Council to give this section serious consideration also, especially regarding its financial impact upon the owners, its necessity and what the requirement accomplishes. He asked if, at the very least if it is determined that this is the way it is, there at least be a phase in period like the eighteen month phase in of the shields in the proposed new law. For example, could this be phased in when the car is replaced, or when it comes up for renewal. John Chase of Greenfield New York said he drives cab for Saratoga Taxi. He said in reference to the “Shared Rides” that the drivers and owners split 50-50 now, and drivers pay for the gasoline. He said that if they take away doubling up rides it hurts the driver. He said that now, for every ten dollars he takes in, he pays an average of one dollars worth of gas. He said if he is not allowed to double or triple up the riders, he will end up paying an average of $2.50 worth of gas for every ten dollars he gets. He said he works for a living and the work he does is tough; no one wants to handle anyone after two in the morning on a Friday night. He mentioned the zones and indicated the zoning map saying that one could go from zone four on one side of town to zone four on the other side of town for six dollars according to the proposed new rates. He said currently being able to double up zones, to go from Saratoga Lake (Zone 4) to Geyser Crest (Zone 4) is $8.25 and with the proposed rates, a driver will lose $2.25. He said that that amount of money may not sound like much, but it is, especially with gasoline at one dollar and forty cents per gallon. He commented that the way the gasoline surcharge is set up to start when gasoline is one dollar and seventy five cents per gallon and then the fares can only be increased one nickel, does not help the driver whatsoever. He said that if he asks every customer is they want to share a ride, every customer will tell him they do not want to share the ride. He said if there are six people at the Skidmore College Campus calling to make a train, and the first caller is asked if they want to share a ride and they say no, then it would not be possible to get enough cabs up there between both companies to take each one to the train in separate taxis, because it is usually at the busiest part of the day. He said that this means it has to be decided which person makes their train and which will not. He said that the rule would ultimately hurt the customer. He said the company is getting banged up with the new law, but not nearly as badly as the drivers. He said he would appreciate a little thought on this, but that this law is apparently the best that the committee could do without someone on the panel who has driven a cab. He urged the council and the taxi committee to give more consideration to the drivers. Eugene Fallick said he is from Saratoga Springs and works for Saratoga Taxi. He said that he appreciates what the taxi committee tried to do but that they should be thinking more about the public. He said the public depends on these taxicabs to go grocery shopping, to Doctor’s appointments, to go to dialysis treatments, and so on. He said without the ability to do share riding, the taxis will not be able to service these people. He asked how he is to tell someone in Corinth that if they do not want to share a ride, they will not be able to make their dialysis appointment. He said that one thing the committee should have looked into, which they failed to is the fact that some of the bars Page 3 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 over-serve some of their customers, then throw them out the door into a taxi, and this can lead to dangerous incidents like the one this past summer. Mr. Fallick said some of what the committee did is good but they need to go deeper, and share riding will not work. He said that so the dispatchers do not have cars running all over town with one passenger, the cars is worked in a route, in order. He said for example, a driver might be picking up a call on Jefferson Street, then are asked to pick up a call on Lincoln Avenue at the same time. He said that if this law passes and he has to inconvenience a customer, he is going to suggest to that person to call City Hall. John Lewis, owner and operator of J.J.’s Taxi said he is against the “share ride” clause. He said that his insurance is high and he cannot make money carrying one passenger at a time. He said he is against any clause that says a driver can't refuse to carry a passenger. He said he thinks that drug testing should be required for an owner or driver’s license, as well as fingerprinting. He said that he believes some drivers may be on drugs and should be drug tested just like a school bus driver is. He said it should be a law that all taxi drivers in New York State must submit to a drug test because they drive children around. Brett Peek from Saratoga Springs, President of Capitaland Taxi said he thought this law would be rubber-stamped, but he realizes that there are issues with the law, especially the Share Ride option clause. He said he was up at the Saratoga Springs Capitaland dispatch office this morning and being early in the month, it was very busy. He said that today he was short a couple of drivers. He said that there should be something within the ordinance that indicates that share riding can be done without the discretion of the first passenger if it is at a busy time, the company is short of riders; or if there is an emergency situation with one of the potential passengers; a time when there is no other way to do the rides than using a shared ride system. Mr. Peek said most of the ordinances in the other Cities where he has a taxi business have similar clauses. He said that usually on the first, or the fifteenth or when something special is going on in town, passengers usually do not object to sharing a taxi. He said the way his company works is that when someone calls for a cab, the dispatcher asks them whether they want to share a ride and if they say no, that person gets put down the order giving priority to the passengers who are willing to ride with other people. He said that in theory it sounds like a good idea to include this clause but it might be hard on the driver, especially since things seem to cost so much these days. He said pertaining to the marking of the taxicabs, he does not think there is any favoritism regarding one taxi company over another about which colors they use. He said he prefers that each company have a different color because he wants his customers to be able to distinguish his company from the others, and he wants the Police to know which company is which and he wants to be noticed as a distinct company over someone else. He said every community where he has his taxi business mandates that each company has its own color. He said his company is yellow in all of its areas except in Schenectady where it is white because a company there before Capitaland was already using yellow. He said that he wants the caller to know that he is getting into the cab of the company he called. Page 4 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Patricia Nacy from Saratoga Lake said that she has taken taxis, especially when she lived and worked in Albany and was never asked if she wanted to share her cab. She said that the main issue seems to be safety, and if that is the case why does it matter what color the cab is or whether the passenger has to ride with other passengers. She said that regardless if there were complaints, what about the ones that are happy and the fact that no one seems to hear from those people should be taken into consideration. Commissioner McTygue asked if someone was going to address some of the concerns. Commissioner Mirling asked if anyone on the committee wanted to share how they interpreted the issues and why they reached the conclusions they did. Lou Schneider said the committee looked very closely at the Share Ride situation and they had many complaints that an individual needed to go to a doctor’s appointment and did not get there on time due to having to share the taxi. He said that there are many people who will complain to people on the street but they will not complain to the commission. He said that although the rule states that the first passenger engaging the taxi has a right to not share the ride, most do share, but it depends upon how close they are calling their shots to get somewhere on time. Commissioner McTygue asked for clarification that if someone is picked up on Union Avenue to go to work at the Hospital and someone else needs to be picked up on East Avenue to go to a Doctor’s appointment on Church Street they could share a ride if the passenger on Union Avenue agrees. Lou Schneider says they can share a ride, for the passenger, the primary factor against sharing rides is time. Commissioner Curley asked what the reasoning was behind not giving favoritism to the driver for the concerns they had; what was the rationale behind not allowing multiples, the sharing of rides as standard procedure. Lou Schneider said that committee did not discriminate against the drivers, its concern at that time was the public because there was lots of complaints. He said everyone on the committee approved it and thought it was the way to go. John Chase asked how many people on the committee or on the council had ever driven taxi or had spent lots of time riding in taxis. Gail Capobianco 15 Kaatskill Way said that the committee invited the taxi companies for their input concerning the Shared Ride issue, and every owner had the right to comments or make suggestions pertaining to that and all of the issues. The meetings were held as open forums. John Chase said that if the driver asks any passenger whether they want to share a ride, the majority of them will say no. Richard Madarassy of Saratoga Lake said that he spoke adamantly against any interference with shared rides. Phil Diamond of 29 Waterview Drive said that the committee debated extensively over this issue and the rationale of the committee’s ultimate decision was twofold: a person getting into a cab that was asked to share a ride with someone going in a similar direction would most likely say yes, and they would say no if asked to share a ride with a person Page 5 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 going in the opposite direction, or far away. He said that the committee thought this was fair. He said that someone paying a reasonable fare from one zone to another zone should have the right to have the cab to themselves. Commissioner Curley asked if any consideration was given to charging a higher rate to an individual that wanted to have a ride by themselves because in today’s society, one pays a higher rate for a private room in a hospital because they want privacy. He asked if there was any consideration given to a rate structure that would give credence to that kind of philosophy. Mr. Diamond responded that he did not think the committee talked about it that much but it was mentioned. He said that the committee decided that charging more to a person who wanted the cab to himself was tantamount to persuading them not to have the cab to themselves. Commissioner Curley said that one concern he would have is if there is a cab company or cab operator that is marginal the City may wind up losing that cab company because they cannot make a decent profit. He said that that aspect should be a concern of the council because it can’t provide an adequate cab service to the City. He said that it is a possibility and that he heard allusions to that tonight. Phil Diamond said that the committee tried to temper that with a raise in the fares, and a raise in various aspects of fares like waiting. There was ensuing heated discussion as to whether taxis are public transportation or private transportation. Juan Martinez from North Broadway in Saratoga Springs said that public transportation is buses, trains, airplanes, entities that receive State and/or Federal subsidy. Phil Diamond explained that public transportation has designated routes and the individual using that means of transportation has to respect those routes and use them to get to their destiny. Brett Peek said that the committee reviewed many things and the company owners were asked their opinions accordingly. He said that as fares go that the fares as they are set in the new law are based on a shared ride system. He said that to go to zone four from zone four, which takes twenty minutes, is not worth six dollars in the year 2001 when his insurance rates are $6600 per unit. He said that should be at lease a ten to twelve dollar fare. He said he made up zones and presented his map to the committee and added zones together and dropped two dollars but the committee went into a closed workshop to and determined that it was too hard to figure out so they lowered the fares from his proposal and decreased the amount of zones. He said that these committees think of New York City regarding taxicabs, but they do not realize that New York City is a car-less society. He said that New York City has eight million people, and it is cheaper to be in a cab everyday down in there. He said that a cab driver there gets an average of seventy to eighty calls per shift so they can afford to drive one person around, and their meters are set up so the drivers get both time and mileage. He said that here it needs to be taken into account that the companies and drivers have to make their money during track season and the bad days in winter. Brett said that in order Page 6 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 to live with these proposed fares a share riding system is essential. He said that some people have a misconception that drivers are picking someone up on one side of town then going across town to get someone else. He said that the dispatchers line the calls up so when a driver gets them, they are in the same direction in order to make the most efficient use of the vehicle, and the most amount of profit for the driver and the company. The more money the company makes, the more money the drivers make. He said the committee did not take into account that in this City, most of the cab business is built on bars, Medicaid and welfare. He said that most people that have appointments tell the dispatcher when they call and the dispatcher tries to accommodate that request. Commissioner Lenz closed the Public Hearing at 7:12 PM. CALL TO ORDER: Commissioner Michael Lenz called the meeting to order on behalf of Mayor Klotz at 7:17 PM. Commissioner Lenz said that before beginning the Mayor’s agenda, he would like to move up to the beginning of the meeting the item four on the Accounts agenda, local law number six. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Thomas McTygue seconded to approve Local Law #6 2001, a local law to amend Chapter 215 of the Code of the City of Saratoga Springs entitled “Taxicabs.” Commissioner Mirling said he is disappointed because these meetings went on for one year. He said they were announced in the newspapers and the meetings were open to all members of the public. He said there were no closed meetings at any time. He said that Taxicab Companies received personal invitations to attend these meetings. Commissioner Mirling said that ordinarily when one puts together a committee to address an issue like this, one does not include on the committee people who do that job simply because that creates a conflict of interest. He said for example, on some of the other City commissions and Boards, if something comes up that relates to something that a member of that Board does for a living, they excuse themselves and they do not discuss that issue. He said, so ordinarily the way one determines the kinds of information discussed tonight is by having the people who are in that business come forward and provide the information so that the committee gives it the fullest consideration. He said that what he is hearing here tonight is, with some exceptions particularly Mr. Peek who attended all of the committee meetings, representatives of the cab companies didn’t show up. They waited until the committee spent all that time putting something together, then they showed up and objected. He said he thinks that it would have been much better to have had these issues brought to the committee early on so they would have had a full hearing and full discussion with all the information that might come forward from the cab companies. Page 7 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 He said that given what he has heard this evening, he is going to ask to have this tabled. He said that the committee will come back and revisit this particular issue and once again invite the cab owners, cab drivers and people associated with the taxi industry to meet with the committee and see if a solution can be hammered out that meets the needs of the cab companies, but also addresses the concerns the committee was looking at. He said this is a balancing act; when you create such a commission, you don’t just give the company everything they want, nor do you just look at what seems to be in the public good to the point of destroying the cab companies’ business. He said it is a balancing act, how can the committee come to come to some consensus, something that works for everybody, protects everyone’s interest and most importantly, to ensure that we have safe clean cabs for the people who ride in taxis in Saratoga Springs. Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to table the motion to approve Local Law #6, 2001 entitled “Taxicabs”. Ayes all MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Commissioner Lenz said that it is his understanding that Mayor Klotz returned home from the hospital yesterday and he is one step closer to being back to work at City Hall. He said that the Mayor was anxious to leave the hospital and finally got the go-ahead, and is well on his way to recovery. Commissioner Lenz conveyed the City Council’s best wishes to Mayor Klotz. Proclamations Commissioner Lenz read the first of three proclamations: PROCLAMATION (01-171) City Of Saratoga Springs WHEREAS, the population of our planet stands today at 6.1 billion and increases by another billion people every 13 years, and WHEREAS, it is estimated that by the year 2050 two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, imposing unprecedented pressures on city infrastructures, and WHEREAS, while the cultural and religious beliefs of all people must be respected, it remains important to inform our citizens of the need to keep the world’s population at a level consistent with available resources. Rapid and unstable growth in population can cause severe and lasting problems health, sanitation, and environmental problems, and WHEREAS, for the past 16 years the Population Institute, an organization of public officials across the United States, has conducted an annual awareness campaign focusing on world population, NOW, THEREFORE, I, KENNETH KLOTZ, Mayor of the City of Saratoga Springs, do hereby proclaim the week of October 21-27, 2001 as WORLD POPULATION AWARENESS WEEK and urge all citizens to become informed and aware of the importance of a Page 8 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 stable world population. Dated: October 2, 2001 Kenneth Klotz, Mayor Commissioner Lenz said of the second proclamation that everyone in the room who know this gentleman are happy to award this proclamation. He said he will read the brief introduction and present the proclamation to Ardis Hughes who is present, and there may be a few people in the audience who may want to say a few words. He asked Ardis Hughes to come forward and read the proclamation as follows: PROCLAMATION (01-172) WHEREAS, Ardis Hughes, a regular visitor to the City of Saratoga Springs, has for many years delighted our residents and visitors alike with his outstanding paintings of our city’s historic buildings, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hughes’ talent and personality have won him many friends in Saratoga Springs. He has become for us a familiar figure, seated outdoors before his easel, quietly and patiently preserving another part of our architectural history, and WHEREAS, this January Mr. Hughes will celebrate his 90th birthday, NOW THEREFORE, I KENNETH KLOTZ, Mayor of the City of Saratoga Springs, am pleased to extend best wishes to Mr. Hughes, and to convey to him the appreciation and friendship of the people of our community. Dated: October 2, 2001 Kenneth Klotz, Mayor Commissioner Lenz said to Ardis that for all of the people that he has touched, the City Council would like to present this proclamation to him. (The City Council members posed for a picture with Ardis Hughes.) Commissioner Lenz called upon the President of the Adirondack Trust Company, Charles Wait to comment. Charles Wait said that when he first stumbled upon Ardis Hughes on Broadway he had no idea how extensive it would be. He said he liked his artwork so much that they had to build a branch every year so he could paint it. He said that Ardis has done a wonderful job painting all of their buildings and anyone who would like to see the work can stop in the bank because it is all hung. Dennis deJonghe said that his children have grown up watching Mr. Hughes paint on Broadway every summer. He is a very humble and very talented man, and to really sum up his artwork, he shared a story that Mr. Hughes was in Dennis deJonghe’s shop showing him the beautiful paintings he had made while on a trip to Belgium. Mr. deJonghe said he offered to buy one of the pictures and Ardis Hughes responded saying that they are not for sale because they are a photo album since he does not have a camera. Peter Tulin said he joins the City Council and the Supervisors in wishing the Mayor a speedy recovery. He said that as he watched the Council meeting tonight he was struck by the continuity of legacy, for example, Commissioner Lenz works with his father in the same trade; Commissioner McTygue, following his father’s footsteps; City Attorney Wait following in his father’s footsteps. He said he noticed the mural on the wall of the Page 9 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 City Council room that was painted by Hudson Armstrong in 1970. He said he has known Ardis Hughes for many years and the great paintings by Ardis Hughes of the beautiful buildings of Saratoga Springs have been left as his legacy for we Saratogians and the generations of Saratogians to come to enjoy, and we should never take these gifts for granted. The owner of an art gallery on Phila Street said that Ardis Hughes is one of the few artists she shows in her gallery. She said that many tourists come into her shop to purchase a piece of Saratoga that the work of Ardis Hughes represents. She said Ardis is a famous artist and Saratoga is fortunate to have him living among us. She said that Ardis went to school and learned how to draw and know it. She said he is remarkable and he is actually a famous artist. PROCLAMATION (01-173) City of Saratoga Springs WHEREAS, the State of New York has always recognized the importance of the continuous review and improvement of public education, and WHEREAS, New York’s local school boards work with our schools, our teachers, and our s6tudents to develop essential programs and courses that will prepare our young people for the challenges of the future, and WHEREAS, school board members devote countless hours of their time each year to the betterment of our educational system. Their experience, knowledge, and public spirit provide an invaluable community resource, NOW THEREFORE, I, Kenneth Klotz, Mayor of the City of Saratoga Springs, am pleased to announce that school board members will be honored throughout New York State during the week of October 22 through 26, 2001 and to proclaim that week as SCHOOL BOARD RECOGNITION WEEK In the City of Saratoga Springs Dated: October 2, 2001 Recreation: Approval Skidmore Gym for Lacrosse Program (01-174) Linda Terricola, Recreation Director, said that in lieu of losing the use of the Lake Avenue Armory as a facility for Lacrosse, the Recreation needs to have another facility to use for this program. She said that using Skidmore College this year is a one-time deal, and it is not going to happen after this year. She said that the contract needs City Council approval. Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded that the City enter into a contract with Skidmore College for the use of their gymnasium for the City’s indoors coed lacrosse program. He said that the program will operate from October through February. Ayes all Page 10 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Recreation: Approval Teen Center Program (01-175) Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to request City Council approval for $1,500 for the Y’s Teen Center Program. He said that this is a routine, annual item and this allocation is in the Recreation budget. Ayes all Recreation: Approval Senior Citizens Program (01-176) Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to approve the expenditure of $5,400 for the Senior Citizens recreation program. He said that this is a routine item, again with the allocation appropriated in the Recreation budget. Ayes all Presentation of Historic Preservation Plan Commissioner Lenz said that Dennis deJonghe, the Chairman of the Historic Preservation Plan Committee is here tonight to make a presentation. Mr. deJonghe said he is here tonight to present the final plan of the Historic Preservation of Saratoga Springs. He said that in February the Mayor created an Historic Preservation Plan Committee with ten members representing the Preservation Foundation, the Historic Society, the urban Heritage Program, and the Chamber Tourism Bureau, downtown business associates, and developers. He said that the committee was charged with preparing a citywide comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan. He explained that the City obtained $15,000 from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and retained a consultant, Neil Larson and Associates, who assisted the committee with the preparation of the plan. Dennis deJonghe said the committee has worked for the past eight months to produce this plan. He said that there are similar plans in communities across the country, but what makes this one unique is that he believes this is the first such comprehensive preservation plan produced by a local community in New York State. He said that they had a lot of public outreach to develop and prepare this Plan. He said in April, the committee did one-on-one interviews with over twenty community leaders; in May they held focus group sessions with builders and developers, another focus group with preservationists, historians, and another with business leaders and representatives from Tourism Bureaus. He said in June the committee held a daylong public “open house” at the public library. He said that the committee met nine times and allowed the press and the public to comment on their work. He said that the various drafts of the plan, as well as all of their meeting notes have been posted on the City Hall web site. He said that this plan sets forth a suggested work program for historic preservation activities in the next ten years. He said it is comprehensive and deals with education, economic development and regulatory issues. He said it is a very ambitious program, but it allows response to opportunities. He said that the committee has set priorities, and the plan identifies over 125 specific actions that should or could occur over the next ten years. He explained that the plan identifies which Page 11 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 organizations should be involved in those actions and provides a rough estimate of how much the activities might cost. He said the plan seeks cooperation between the public, non-profit and private sectors. Mr. DeJonghe said that in the next month, the committee will be presenting this Plan in detail to the following organizations: Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation Historic Society Urban Heritage Program Open Space Project Chamber of Commerce Convention and Tourism Bureau. He said that the committee is going to ask each of these groups to review and then endorse the Plan. He said that in November, the committee would like to come back to the City Council and ask them to adopt this Plan as a policy guide for future historic preservation activities. He said that as you review this document, please contact him or any other member of the Committee if there are any questions or comments. Commissioner Lenz thanked Dennis deJonghe for his presentation and said that the City Council will be reviewing the plan and it is his understanding that Mayor Klotz is bring this back in November at a future City Council meeting for another discussion. Reschedule City Council Meeting November 6 to 7th Commissioner Lenz said that the next item on the Mayor’s agenda is to re-schedule the City Council meeting from November 6, which is Election Day to November 7th. He asked if a motion was necessary, and the City Attorney said a motion was not needed. Commissioner Lenz asked and the rest of the council members agreed to the change of meeting date. Authorization for Sale of 85 Beekman Street (01-177) Commissioner Lenz called upon Brad Birge, the Director of Community Development to speak on this issue. Brad said that they are finishing up a process here. He said that the property has been rehabbed and an applicant has been selected to purchase the property as provided within the program guidelines. He explained that in order to complete the transaction and close on the property, City Council authorization is requested to formally approve the sale of the property and to authorize the mayor to sign all necessary documents to complete the process. Commissioner Lenz said that it is his understanding that from the purchase price, the City must refund Community Development. Brad Birge said that $46, 700 of Federal funds were used towards this process, and from the sale of this property the money will go back into Community Development line item to be used for similar projects in the future. Page 12 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Commissioner Lenz said there is about $24,000 remaining that will go back into the contingency fund which was used to help start the process. Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to authorize the Mayor to sign all necessary documents to close on 85 Beekman Street and the funds to be transferred into the particular accounts, Community Development, with the balance to go back to the contingency fund. Ayes all Authorization for Mayor to sign Subordination Agreement for 12 South Franklin Street (01-178) Brad Birge said that there has been a request from one of the property owners of a house on South Franklin Street. He said that housing was created with subsidy from the Federal Government and donated land from the City. The applicant, property owner, is looking to refinance for several reasons and since the City has a lien on that property for in essence a ten-year term for forty thousand dollars, she is simply looking for the new finance company to subordinate that clause, similar to how it was for the original mortgage. Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas McTygue seconded to authorize the Mayor to sign a subordination agreement for twelve South Franklin Street. Ayes all Easement Request: Palmetto/26 Henry Street (01-179) Commissioner Lenz called upon the Assistant City Attorney to explain this. Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo said that this is one of the easements that come up from time to time when an individual discovers that a small portion of their property actually encroaches onto a City right-of-way. He said that the particular distance in this case is approximately five (5) feet. He said the property owners are Nicholas and Madeline Palmetto and the property involved is 26 Henry Street. He explained that it is a concrete ledge and an overhanging roof that together encroaches for a total of about five feet over Henry Street. He said that as easements go, it is on the small side. Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the easement request for 26 Henry Street for Nicholas and Madeline Palmetto. Ayes all Resolution and Quit Claim Deed – Gaslight Apartments Property (01-180) Commissioner Lenz called upon Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo to explain this issue. Tony Izzo said that this item involves a very old covenant in a 1971 deed between the then Saratoga Springs Urban Renewal Agency and the company that bought Gaslight Apartments. He said that the attorney of the present owner contacted him and called his attention to the old covenant. He indicated that for the pending sale of the property to go through, he requests that the City release the current property owner from complying with this covenant. Tony Izzo said that it is his understanding that the conditions of the covenant have been long since complied with, and he has discussed the matter with Brad Birge whose office retains some of the remaining Urban Renewal records. He said that there appears to be no reason, legal or practical for the City to retain all or any part of that covenant. Page 13 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Tony Izzo said that in deference to the property owner’s request, he drafted a resolution for the City Council to release the terms of that covenant. He said that the seller’s attorney Robert Wakeman of the firm of Cooper, Erving, Savage, Nolan & Heller has drafted a Quit Claim Deed for the City to sign also releasing the terms of that old covenant. Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to accept the resolution and the Quit-Claim deed releasing the property owners from the old covenant. Ayes all ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Approval of the September 18, 2001 City Council Minutes Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the minutes of the September 18, 2001 City Council meeting. Commissioner Lenz said that there is one item needing clarification, an amendment that must be made on page 16 where the motion should read, "Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to take $54,000 from the City's surplus..."and not $325,000 as written. Ayes all. Award of Bid: Woodlawn Reservoir Fencing (01-181) Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Michael Lenz seconded to award the bid for the Woodlawn Reservoir Fencing to AFSCO Fence of Latham, New York in the amount not to exceed $21,150 which includes a 5% contingency. Ayes all Award of Bid: Sale of Used Vehicles (01-182) Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the award the bids on the following items for the sale of used vehicles: 94 Chevrolet to Ed Loya's Auto Parts for $501.52 89 Chevrolet to Ed Loya's Auto Parts for $301.52 89 Ford to Ed Loya's Auto Parts for $301.52. 97 Ford to Stu Maguire Equipment for $859.90 88 Dodge to Ed Loya's Auto Parts for $401.52 95 Chevrolet to Ed Loya's Auto Parts for $501.52 All of these were awarded to the highest bidder on each item. Ayes all. Vote: Local Law #6, Chapter 215, Taxicabs This was moved up on the agenda. See first item after Call to Order. Public "Thank You" to Local Participants of the Saratoga County Archives Project Page 14 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Commissioner Mirling said that throughout August, visitors and residents of Saratoga Springs had the opportunity to view photo boards depicting various aspects of the history of our City as part of the Saratoga County archives project entitled "The Way We Were". Commissioner Mirling said he would like to thank City Historian Martha Stonequist for her hard work on this project. He said he would also like to thank the individuals who displayed photo boards at their businesses and agencies, including: Mark Baker City Center Harry Dutcher Public Library Dee Sarno Saratoga County Arts Council Ray O'Connor Saratoga National Bank Maryanne Barker Bailey's Cafe Tim Mabee Adirondack Trust Company Charles Wait Adirondack Trust company Roger Goldsmith Saratoga Crafter's Gallery Mike Peter Urban Heritage Area Denise McDonald Urban Heritage Area Mayor Ken Klotz City Hall Linda Benton City Hall Commissioner Mirling thanked all of these individuals for their participation and interest in this interesting project. Commissioner of Deeds Commissioner Mirling announced the appointment of Brandi Calderon and Judy Parks as Commissioners of Deeds, each for a term of two years. City Hall Safety Committee (Appointments) (01-183) Commissioner Mirling announced that the City Hall Safety Committee met today for the first time. He announced appointments to the committee as Jim Cornick, Bob Cogan, and Michael Biss from Public Safety; Tony Fisher, Bill McTygue, and Bruce Brown from Public Works; Paul Male from the Mayor's Department; Linda Curley from Finance Office and Cindy May and Carol Kennedy representing the Department of Accounts. He said the committee will meet once a month to address concerns that directly impact annual insurance premiums. Approve Change of Civil Service Position Title: City Council Coordinator (01-184) Commissioner Mirling said that it was brought to his attention by the Civil Service Commission that in order to change the title of a Civil Service position, City Council approval is needed. Therefore, Commissioner Bernard Mirling moved and Commissioner Thomas McTygue seconded to request City Council approval to change the position title of "Secretary to the City Council" to that of "City Council Coordinator". Commissioner Mirling said that this is the first step in the process. The Civil Service Commissioner must subsequently approve the title and revised job specifications. Commissioner Lenz said that usually when titles are changed, approval Page 15 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 from the Civil Service Commission is obtained first, so he wondered if Council approval necessary before the Civil Service Commission approves it. Commissioner Mirling said that this is the information given to his office. He said when this was submitted to them, Civil service said that City Council approval was needed for this title change. Commissioner Lenz said that then it goes back to the Civil Service Commission where it is contingent upon them to approve it and move forward in the process. Commissioner Mirling said that the position description and job specs have been done, the title is being approved, and he is following the proper steps in this procedure. Ayes all FINANCE DEPARTMENT Approve Payrolls Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the payroll for 09/21/01 in the amount of $ 313,650.67 and for 09/28/01 in the amount of $ 345,476.05. Ayes all Approve Warrants Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to approve the following warrants: 1OCT01 – Warrant 2 – 39 General Fund $ 312,135.23 City Center Authority 28,564.02 Water Fund 57,507.68 Sewer Fund 7,428.32 Capital Projects Fund 80,726.02 Special Assessment District -0- Trust Fund -0- Debt Service 671.00 Community Development 7,376.06 Total Warrant $ 494,408.33 Ayes all MC010912 – WARRANT 2 – 6 General Fund $1,092,409.21 City Center Authority 4,442.33 Water Fund 8,153.48 Sewer Fund 434,216.33 Capital Project -0- Special Assessment District -0- Trust Fund -0- Debt Service 7,448.96 Community Development -0- Page 16 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Total Warrant $ 1,546,670.31 Ayes all Approve Budget Amendments (See Attached) Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the budget amendments as distributed. Ayes all Approve Budget Transfers (see attached) Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to approve the budget transfers as distributed. Ayes all Discussion: 2002 Budget: Commissioner Lenz said that yesterday the 2002 budget requests were due to his office and his office has started to enter the budget requests into the budget system. He said that he will report on the requests on October 15, 2001 per the City Charter. He said that on October 16 he will begin scheduling budget workshops and public hearings. He said that the City's 2002 budget must be adopted by November 30, 2001. He said that when they get the figures together on October 15, they will get those figures up on the City's website so that the public has a chance to look at it. He said he also wants to have a copy available at the Public Library for people to examine. He said this is the beginning of a process, not the final budget, simply his office taking requests from all City Departments. and basically presenting it back to the City Council as a starting point. Then the City Council works through the requests to ultimately adopt the final budget by November 30. Approve Payment by West Avenue Special Assessment District to the Jones Firm (01- 185) Upon the recommendation of the West Avenue Special Assessment District, Commissioner Michael Lenz moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to request City Council approval to pay the Jones firm at 68 West Avenue Saratoga Springs, New York, the amount of $5,267.50 for legal work relating to the creation of the district. He said the payment will be made by a transfer from contingency and reimbursed by the West Avenue Special Assessment District in 2002. He said he has an attachment, a letter from the board that says they want to pay Matt Jones for the work he has done since the formation of the board and they will make account of that in Special Assessment district payments in 2002 so that the City will be reimbursed. Ayes all DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Discussion and Vote Storm Water Culvert – Old Schuylerville Road (01-186) Commissioner McTygue said that this item is in reference to the water culvert pipe on the Old Schuylerville Road. He said that the existing concrete water culvert structure is failing on Old Schuylerville Road. He said that his department would like to do the Page 17 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 repair and replacement of that pipe before the end of the year. He said that they would like to remove the culvert and replace it with 80 lineal feet of corrugated metal pipe and also install, because of the construction and digging in the area, an additional 150 feet of ductile iron water line pipe which will go through the stream bed to the other side of the creek bed so it will not be necessary to go back and re-dig the site within a year or two. He said it only makes good sense to extend that waterline beyond the stream bed. He said the materials cost is $22,000, which includes $7,000 for the water pipe, and City workforces will perform the labor. Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded that the money for this storm water culvert project be taken out of the capital account that was originally earmarked for brick repair of City Hall. There is $74,000 in this Account number H-393-6954-54784-1028. Commissioner Lenz commented that he had sent a memo to make sure that this money could be taken out of that capital reserve fund which is specially earmarked for City-owned buildings, and it is his understanding that this can be done because it is within the guidelines of the statute that governs the capital reserve fund. Ayes all Discussion – Abandoned Properties in City Commissioner McTygue said he wanted to go over some of the abandoned properties that have been under discussion to keep the council up to date on the situation. Commissioner McTygue mentioned a property on Division Street that each month, June, July and August the property was going to be demolished but it has not been done. Commissioner Curley said that there is an asbestos problem on that property which has hindered the demolition. He said there is an asbestos abatement program that needs to be complied with before the building can be demolished. He said that so far, the utilities have been shut down, and the gas, water, sewer disconnected and they are working on the asbestos abatement program on that property. City Attorney Jeff Wait said that the asbestos program is stalled at the moment, and he recommends that the Department of Public Works find a contractor that can do both the demolition and the asbestos abatement work. Then, the City should proceed to take the building down. He said that the City Ordinance provides that if the property owners are put on notice and do not comply with that notice, which is basically this situation, then the Department of Public Works can either do the work themselves, or contract out for the work to be done. If they contract out, the contractor would have to be paid, but whatever that cost gets added with the property taxes and recouped in that fashion. He said that it might very well be that the property owner will follow through with the asbestos abatement and then the demolition can take place. He said that the asbestos abatement is holding up the demolition. He said that the City should begin to proceed in the direction of doing the work themselves. Commissioner Curley said it is his understanding that there is a contractor that can do both the asbestos abatement work and the demolition. Jeff Wait said that the last conversation he had indicated that the owner did not have a contractor for the asbestos work. He said that the landlord has been advised to proceed immediately to do this. Commissioner McTygue said this is why it is important to have public discussions and get this information in the record so the owners can't come back on the City saying they had no knowledge of the problem and the City just started to be firm on this. Page 18 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Commissioner Curley said that it is at the point in the process where action needs to be taken and the landlord needs to either proceed now with the process or allow the City to take over the process. Commissioner McTygue said that this is why he wants these discussions at the council table. He said that by the next City Council meeting if the property has not been cleared, they could begin to take formal action. He said this has been an abandoned piece of property for well over ten years and the City is at the point that serious action needs to be taken. Commissioner McTygue mentioned a piece of property on 65 Phila Street. Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo said that fines are being assessed against this property in the amount of one hundred dollars per day, and another hearing is scheduled for this Friday, October 5 as to whether or not those fines should be immediately increased to a thousand dollars per day. He said that this serves to get the property owner's attention considerably and it is believed that the owner is going to be taken action on that property in the very foreseeable future. Commissioner McTygue said that there is a safety hazard on this property and the City has been notified of a concern by some of the adjacent property owners, and the City would like to see action taken to correct this situation. Tony Izzo said that the code administrators took emergency action last Friday through immediate notification to the property owner's attorney that they were going to board up the property. He said that this is all the notice that is required by law, so that has been done. Commissioner McTygue said that some of the property owners involved have begun to be aware of the position the City is taking and have taken action themselves. He said for example, a property on Van Dam Street has been sold and the people are interested in doing some rehab on that property. He said that each City Council meeting the council will discuss some of these properties and get it on the record so no one can come back and say they weren't notified. He said that there are two major problems that the City has been dealing with. He said that a particular property on Caroline Street has been a problem for a number of years. Tony Izzo said that one of the difficulties is that some of the owners are absentee landlords and it is hard for them to find someone who is responsible enough to look after the property without being monitored. He said that the best way to deal with that, with the property being unsafe, is to mandate that the last known property owner be notified and if they fail to show up at the hearing, the property itself can be the subject of the hearing and the penalties can be levied against it. Commissioner McTygue said that regarding a parcel on the corner of Walworth and Church Streets where three weeks ago his department got the City's Code Enforcement Officers involved because of the garbage and trash on that property, and the Department of Public Works got authorization to go on the property, cleaned up the garbage and put together a billing process towards that property, and in that period of time, that property has been purchased with all back taxes has been paid on that property. Commissioner Curley said there have been several instances where these properties have been purchase contacts offered which is good because it means that a house will be put back in the shape it should be in the community and any back taxes are being paid. Page 19 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Commissioner McTygue said that adjacent property owners should not have to deal with those kind of situations with garbage, with property owners that could care less what the activity is on their property. He said that each City Council meeting they will discuss a few of these properties. Commissioner Curley said that he and Commissioner McTygue will get together to decide which properties will be discussed and he will be sure to have one of the Code Inspectors present at the next City Council meeting. Accept Streets – America Way and Balmain Court (01-187) Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to amend chapter 201, Section 201-1, Appendix A, Entitled Street Naming and Numbering, be amended to include in zone A the following public streets in zone A of the Interlaken PUD: America Way and Balmain Court. He said that acceptance of these streets is conditioned upon the developer posting for one year the required maintenance security bond, filing the deeds and paying all recording fees, all within two weeks after council action America Way is a public street that goes from Dyer Switch Road to Dyer Switch Road with addresses on the north side from 1 to 9 and the South side from two to 14 in zone A. Balmain Court is a public street that runs from America Way to the end with addresses on the north side from 1 to 9 and on the south side from 2 to 10. Ayes all Ratification of Pre-Approved Expenses: 1) Emergency B Kit-Water Plant (01-188) Upon the recommendation of the New York State Department of Health, Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded for ratification of previously approved expenditures done by memo for the Indian Springs Manufacturing Company for an Emergency Kit "B" in the amount of $1,625 which is used on the one-ton chlorine tanks at the Water Treatment Plant in case there is a leaky valve. He said that the money is in the water budget for this. Ayes all 2) Steel Chlorine Doors – Water Plant (01-189) Upon the recommendation of the New York State Health Department, Com missioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded for the ratification of a previously approved expenditure to Allerdice for double steel doors for the water plant in the amount of $3,338. He said that the money is in the water budget for this. Ayes all 3) Steel Tank – Sewer Cleaner (01-190) Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to ratify the previously approved expenditure to Super Products Company of Albany in the amount of $8,395 for a steel water tank for the City's sewer cleaner. He said this is for the replacement of the tank, the truck is in excellent condition but the Page 20 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 tank itself needs to be replaced. He said the money is in the sewer budget for this. Ayes all 4) Sprinkler Heads (01-191) Commissioner McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to ratify the previously approved expenditure to Northeast Fire Protection Systems of Burnt Hills in the amount of $1,424 for testing and replacement of fire sprinkler heads in City Hall. He said the money is in the City Hall Budget for this. Ayes all 5) Columns for Carousel (01-192) Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Thomas Curley seconded to ratify the previously approved expenditure to Zanetti Architectural Millwork Company of Middle Grove in the amount of $15,075 for columns for the Carousel Pavilion. He said the money is in the capital budget for this. Commissioner McTygue said that the Zanetti Architectural Millwork Company did the labor for all of this work. Ayes all 6) Heaters/Coolers in Casino (01-193) Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to ratify the previously approved expenditure to Eckert Mechanical Service Corp. of Albany in the amount of $8,340 to replace six heating/cooling units in the Casino Ballroom. He said that Eckert are the original installers of the system and they will be replacing six units this year and also six units next year. He said that the money is in the budget for this and the City will be receiving a rebate from New York State of approximately $350 for the changeover to these units. Ayes all Discussion – Sewer district Billing Commissioner McTygue said for the record, in reference to the Saratogian article on Saturday he announced that his office is still waiting for numbers from the Sewer District in order to complete 2002 projections for the budget. He said they have always had these numbers in time in previous years. He said therefore, he could not complete the 2002 sewer budget that was due to be in the Finance Office on October 1. He said they have completed all the other budget areas, but cannot complete the sewer budget. He said that Jim DiPasquale said that there would be an increase but he refused on the phone to give the amount. Commissioner Lenz asked if historically the City receives these rates prior to October 1 and Commissioner McTygue said that pertaining to what the County is going to be charging the City, yes always in the past. The Commissioner said he could not get a sense of when the numbers would be available. Commissioner McTygue said he contacted the County Commissioners and the County Supervisors and they did not have the figures. He said that the Sewer District has confirmed that they have the figures, but they will not release them. Page 21 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Discussion: Saratogian Parking Lot Commissioner McTygue said he has spoken to Commissioner Lenz, Commissioner Curley and Commissioner Mirling about discussion with the Saratogian. He would like to send a letter to Kevin, the publisher of the Saratogian to discuss the preliminary ideas and the possibility of future opportunities of the Saratogian Parking lot of having an elevated lot over that. He said that these discussions are premature, but the City would like permission from them, he has sent a letter about it, to allow the City's Engineering Department to look at the lot, measure the lot to see if it is a reasonable proposal to put forth. He added that there has been interest in the purchase of the Broadway lot taking the money whether the City sells the lot or does a long term lease with the Lillian's lot, and take the money and puts in for additional parking in the general vicinity of all those businesses. He said that rather than just replace the forty two parking spaces presently on that site, the City could double or triple the amount of parking spaces in that general area. Commissioner McTygue said that once permission is obtained from the Saratogian to measure and survey the Saratogian Lot, he and Commissioner Lenz will have some discussions with the Saratogian about that site and the possibility of utilizing some space over that space. Resolution Authorizing Certain Benefits for Active Military duty City Employees (01- 194) Commissioner McTygue said that this is based on discussions he had with Mayor Klotz. He said that this resolution was presented by then Commissioner of Public Safety, Lewis Benton back in 1991 at the time of the Desert Storm Operation of the Gulf War. Commissioner McTygue explained that this resolution is for the employees who work for the City and are in the reserves. He called upon Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo to present the resolution for the City Council's adoption. Assistant city Attorney Izzo said that for the record, the reference for the resolution is section 243 of the New York State Military Law. Resolution Authorizing Certain Benefits for Active Military Duty for City Employees WHEREAS, this nation is part of a multi-nation force engaged in fighting those who sponsored acts of terrorism against the United States and WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs has within its employ seven members of various military, reserve and National Guard Units and WHEREAS, the City's seven employees with a Reserve or National Guard obligation could suffer significant economic hardship if called to active service and WHEREAS this City Council finds it in the public interest to assure that military service in a time of war does not impose economic hardship on City Employees and their dependents NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this Council authorize and direct that those City employees who are currently members of the reserve or National Guard be, upon being called to active service, compensated by an Page 22 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 amount equal to the difference between their respective gross regular City salary at time of call and their gross military pay, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that said compensation be made for a period not to exceed six months following exhaustion of all regular and statutory obligations, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that said employees be entitled to proportionate FICA and retirement benefits during said six month period, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City continue current medical insurance benefits, if currently provided, to said City employees with dependents only. Commissioner McTygue said that Military law only requires the public employers to pay members for up to twenty-two working days for military duty in a calendar year. Commissioner Curley said that if a single individual, one without dependents is called up their insurance would have to go through the government agency which is Champus. He said that would not have an effect upon this resolution. Commissioner McTygue said then, accordingly there is really no problem with the Council adopting this resolution and Commissioner Curley concurred. Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Michael Lenz seconded to approve the Resolution authorizing certain benefits for active military duty City employees. Ayes all PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Waive of Bid – Ryan Biggs Associates Commissioner Thomas Curley moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to approve a waive of bid to Ryan-Biggs Associates, 291 River Street in Troy, New York in the amount of 1531.36 for engineering consultant and appraisal work. He said this work was required because of an anticipated structural integrity problem with the Fire House floor because of the weight of the fire trucks. He said that fortunately, it has been determined that there are minor cosmetic repairs needed but not structural repairs. Ayes all Registry Commissioner Curley said that in the future some of the City’s personnel may be called up by the Guard Units and people who are working for agencies that are involved in providing medical services or emergency services in areas that are affected are either going to be going on a voluntary or a paid basis with those agencies. Commissioner Curley said that if a property owner living in the City finds themselves under these circumstances, in the position of having to go and provide service to an area of our Country or on behalf of our country, he would like to set it up so that the Police Department, the Public Safety Department and the Fire Department, if called upon, could keep an eye on that individual’s property to check the property to ensure that nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Page 23 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 He said he has formed a registry for this purpose where an individual, if interested, can contact the Public Safety Office and talk to the Deputy Commissioner or the Commissioner’s Secretary so they can set it up and make sure that the Police Department and Emergency Personnel are aware of the fact that this house is owned by an individual who is out on duty somewhere so he or she can have the peace of mind knowing that back home their property is protected and under watchful eye. He said that all of this information will be held in confidence. He said that anyone that does become affected by this need only to contact the Office of the Commissioner of Public Safety and they will work with them and make sure that everything is protected as much as the department can possibly do. Evacuation Plan Commissioner Curley said that it seems that everything we do today is promulgated by the fact of what happened a few weeks ago. He said that an individual in his department recommended that it might be time to look at an evacuation plan for City Hall. He said that should anything happen, the City Council should probably be ready to do something, and have designated locations outside of the building, designate individuals who will be responsible to take a head count, take names and make sure that people are out of the building. He said that this is just being responsible. He said he would like to have a representative from each department meet with somebody in his Department, someone from Public Safety personnel who is used to doing emergency planning, and come up with a reasonable approach to making sure that there is an evacuation plan that can be depended upon should the need ever occur. He said that this would provide some level of comfort that the employees are protected, and the City Council has an obligation to do that. He said that between now and the next City Council meeting, if the Council members could give it some thought and if the council feels comfortable with this recommendation, then they could move forward and set up a small committee to have it happen. Firehouse Repairs (01-195) Commissioner Curley said that he would like to call upon Paul Male regarding a situation at the firehouse that they have been trying to get repaired. There are some things that have been happening because of the fact that there is a covenant on the property so it does not look like there is a possibility that the repairs are going to be made. He said that there is a capital budget line item that is involved here and he is hoping that something can be done to tie up those funds to ensure that the repairs are done. City Engineer Paul Male said that at the request of Commissioner Curley, the Engineers went up to the Fire Station and looked at the re-pointing of a number of bricks, and a wall with some bulges in it, and a number of structural type of issues. He said the Engineers determined what needed to be done, and they contacted the Design Review Commission for their input. He said they found out there was a covenant on the property because the City received some funds back in 1989, $50,000, and by accepting those funds the City is Page 24 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 locked into the rules and regulations for twenty-five years which takes them to 2014, twelve years into the future. There is the same covenant on the Casino. Paul Male said that some of the work has to be placed on hold because of the specifications in the covenant. He said an example is the mortar work since the rules specify precisely the type and consistency and visual aspects of the mortar and the State needs to review this before the work can be done. Paul Male said that although the State promises a prompt review he has never seen a State Agency respond in a timely fashion, especially at this time of the year. Commissioner Curley said that the concern is that we will lose the opportunity for warm weather. Paul Male said that after meeting with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner it was decided that there is a quote to do some painting work and the quote is excellent and includes additional scope of work than expected for the money. Paul Male said the scope of work includes painting, scraping of all windows, caulking the joints, re-glazing, wood repairs, looking at wood surfaces, filling nail holes washing windows, and more. He said the quote covers a wide range of items of work at a cost of $8950. He said that the work is well worth the cost, and one of the main reasons why his office recommends that the work be done this year. He said there is also a dormer that should be replaced, and a leaky roof drain that needs to be repaired this year, and these are the items being looked at now. He said that window replacement would probably be placed on hold. Commissioner Curley said he would like to try to do something and lock in the capital budget item with the monies that are involved. He said that essentially what has happened is that through neglect, and through the years of water leaking down into that mortar area, it is breaking down and deteriorating. He said that it is his hopes and maybe a long shot, to get this work done this year in which case there will not be a problem. However, if the work can’t be done because it is recommended that the temperature needs to be consistently warmer than 40º because concrete mortar would not adhere properly. He said that what he would probably come back and do if it is not a problem with the City Council is to use those monies that are there since they are for slowing down the deterioration and repairing and overhauling some of the windows in that area. Commissioner Curley said he is requesting a waive of bid on this project in order to move on it quickly since the situation necessitates some of the work to be done before the end of the year and the weather is a prime problem here. Commissioner Lenz asked if funds are available. Commissioner Curley said that the money would be from the capital budget monies he has set aside for the repairs to the firehouse. It is in the 2001 budget. City Engineer Paul Male said that the quote is a great price but they have to get the New York State Parks and Recreation Agency’s approval of the scope of work, which has not been done yet. He said that on the telephone the agency did not think there would be a problem, so they have to do this and the Design Review Commission must also sign off on this. Page 25 of 26 City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 2, 2001 Commissioner Lenz says that if this money is appropriated in the 2001 Capital Budget, it is up to Commissioner Curley’s discretion as to what the funds are used for. Commissioner Thomas Curley moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to approve a waive of bid for Old Saratoga Restorations of Saratoga Springs, New York to do repairs to the Firehouse as stated in their quote and scope of work, in the amount of $8,950. Ayes all ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Thomas McTygue moved and Commissioner Bernard Mirling seconded to adjourn the meeting. Seeing no further business, Commissioner Michael Lenz closed the meeting at 8:25 PM. Ayes all Respectfully submitted, Nancy Wagner Clerk Adopted: Page 26 of 26