City Council

CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM TUESDAY, October 7, 2008 6:40 P.M. PRESENT: Scott Johnson, Mayor John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Ken Ivins, Commissioner of Finance Ron Kim, Commissioner of DPS Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW PRESENT: Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, Supervisor STAFF PRESENT: Michele Boxley, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Patrick Design, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Kate Jarosh, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor Joe Scala, City Attorney RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. PUBLIC HEARINGS SEQRA Southside Recreation Project Mayor Scott Johnson opened the public hearing on the SEQRA for Southside Recreation Project at 6:43 p.m. Eleanor Stanton, the Youth Pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Saratoga and lives on Vanderbilt Ave. She is in support of having an indoor recreation facility in her neighborhood. Many youths have both parents working and need an after school program in a location that the kids can get to, walk to or bike to. Putting it out of town means someone has to drive them there. Linda Terricola, Director of Recreation read the following letter written by Beau Kilmer on June 4, 2008 to the media: To the Editor: As a resident of Saratoga Springs for over seventy years, and involved with the youth of our community, why is it that when it comes to recreation our children become victims of the “not in my backyard” syndrome. One generation is already lost by all talk and no action and we are headed toward losing this generation. We have worked on building this multi-purpose recreation facility for over fifteen years. The decided upon South Side recreational complex (Worth Street and Vanderbilt Avenue) will offer many varied recreational possibilities to all adults and children. How many committees and meetings do people need to attend to solve the problem of where and City Council Meeting 10/07/08 how we recreate. This facility needs to be built in this central location. Everyone should unite and think long-term about the benefits of having a place all of our children can walk, bike and bus to, that will serve them for years to come. Bill Mirabile of 14 Vanderbilt Ave. advised the City received a letter from their attorney. The proposed facility will have basketball courts, there are outside basketball courts now that are hardly used except for the spring. New courts will not be used exclusively by local residents, which means the City may rely on busing people in from outside the City. We all know that’s the plan because there are buses shown on the architectural rendering. This makes the facility a regional facility. This was not supposed to be a regional facility. Why should city be responsible for providing this? There is almost a brand new YMCA 1.4 miles away from the proposed Vanderbilt location. What’s the sense in building basketball courts when ones already exists a mile and a half away? Everyone knows a new public facility is needed. Prisoners are interrogated in hallways, the female officers have inadequate changing facilities and the building dates to 1870. The bonds that exist for the recreation facility are general obligation bonds. Although there may be a cost, they could be easily converted for use for the new public safety building. The only reason the Southside Park is being proposed for a recreation center site is because it is flat, open and easily buildable. It is a park and a park should not be considered a shovel ready building lot. The proposed project is extravagant, costly wasteful government and funds should be shifted to a badly needed new public safety building and courtroom that is clearly a much higher priority. According to section 617.12 C2 of SEQRA, requires a minimum of 14 day public notice for a public hearing. This public hearing was public notice 6 days ago. This public hearing is illegal. Ann Bullock of 86 Lincoln Avenue stated Mr. Mirabile referred to the letter from the law firm of Berger, DuCharme, Harp & Clark. He is the attorney for a group of concerned citizens known as the Friends of Southside Park. She requested permission to attach a copy of this letter to the minutes and have posted on the City’s web site. Mayor Johnson advised she can provide a copy to be made part of the official record but it will not be put on the City’s web. Ann Bullock went on to draw attention to concerns of the group. He clearly stated the EAF (Environmental Assessment Form) prepared by the City is grossly inadequate and does not nearly meet the requirements of SEQRA. Failure to comply with SEQRA is grounds for halting a project or ordering buildings already constructed. He goes on to discuss requirements of an EAF and if there is a potential for even 1 significant adverse environmental impact then an environmental impact statement should be prepared according to Article 6 of the NY Code of Regulations section 617.7 A1. He also outlined a number of questions including the impact on the character of the neighborhood, traffic impact, noise, odor, and water run off. The necessary approvals from the planning board and the school are lacking. He believes that any objective observer would see it poses the potential for many adverse environmental impacts. Therefore, a full EIS is required. They urge the city to adopt a positive declaration under SEQRA and proceed with an EIS so that potential environmental impact can be thoroughly reviewed. Robert Defusco of 4 Bunker Hill Drive stated 10 years ago he stood in front of a City Council in East Hampton with the same dilemma about building a recreation center. A lot of people were opposed because this facility was going up in their backyard and didn’t want to ruin parkland. After the recreation facility was build it brought the community together. They did fundraiser walks, runs, etc. The kids whose parents work were able to go to a safe environment where there were supervised programs. Kids made other friends there. It became a focal point of the community. Everyone who was originally opposed to the project was amazed at how the community came together. Anyone saying kids playing is noise, there is a problem with that. Mark Lawton of 209 Nelson Ave stated he wanted to talk about a personal letter he sent to Carol Ash (Commissioner of NYS Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation) as a resident of the City. Carol is a personal friend of his as he spend 8 years as an Executive Deputy in parks, therefore he knows about alienation and alienation law. He has been both a defender and a charger in alienation. He provided the City with a copy of his letter along with Carol Ash’s response. He has a mild difference with her conclusion because he doesn’t believe she looked at the totality of the issue. The totality has to do with Page 2 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 the essence of the facility and what was received by the City in 1978 for which you need direction and guidance by the Board of Education. It has been made clear in court cases that one of the things that matters in alienation is how much of a foot print is there on the property when it moves from open space to built up area. When it approaches 45 – 50%, that’s a matter of judgment and most of the time it has been it is an alienation. He asked the City Council to do their own research and have the City Attorney check it out. He asked Carol to go back and check it. He is not against the recreation facility. He wants there to be proper protection to the tax payers and the proper precedent be established. He doesn’t believe the Council has a legal project on their hands. They are close to acting as an illegal group of people. When you misuse public funds, it becomes very serious and may be a felony count. He stated he outlined in his July 15, 2008 letter to the Council how they could correct it. They do not have a project that follows the charter requirements. They need to differentiate between a capital project in a budget and a capital program which is required by state law for a 6 year program. You can’t have one without the other; if you don’t have it in the 6 year plan it cannot be in the capital budget. By charter, specific information needs to be provided for identifying, quantifying, documenting and justifying a capital project. He understands all of that was done for Weibel Avenue and was completed and that’s why they issued bonds. You can authorize bonds and not issue them. Try to legalize this project otherwise there won’t be much choice but to go to court in order to find out if we have malfeasance, fiduciary irresponsibility and a reason to remove people. You cannot arbitrarily and whimsically make use of public funds without following process, procedure and having accountability. He offered help in understanding the charter. If not, they will probably see him at the other end of a court case. Rich Stone of 26 Tiffany Place stated he is an officer of the Saratoga Babe Ruth and Senior Babe Ruth League. He is there to speak in support of the recreation center. We want this facility. He speaks on behalf of recreational organization in the city, on behalf of himself and his family. This has been debated a long time and it is time to get this facility started and completed to enhance our recreational facilities in the City. He can’t speak for the legal ease of this and don’t care about that. They are here to support this, an enhancement to the City. He feels it’s appalling that we have dragged our feet this long. He would love to have a facility like this in his backyard. He urges everyone here to take the time to consider this one of the greater enhancements for the city, to approve this and do it quickly. Mayor Johnson advised that he decided yesterday to allow additional public comment on this issue, therefore he withdraws from his agenda a vote of the SEQRA process to allow additional public comment. A special Council meeting will be held on the 14th and they will hold public comment on this then and on the 21st of October. He wants to have as much public in put on this as possible. Based on legal advised he has received there is no legal requirement that there be any public comment on the SEQRA process. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 7:05 p.m. Amend 2008 Capital Budget for Geyser Road Sewer Project Mayor Scott Johnson opened the public hearing on amending the 2008 capital budget for the Geyser Road sewer project at 7:05 p.m. No one spoke. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 7:05 p.m. Zoning Map Amendment – West Avenue & Grand Avenue Mayor Scott Johnson opened the public hearing on the zoning map amendment for West Avenue and Grand Avenue at 7:06 p.m. This involves parcels that are seeking rezoning. The parcels are located at the corner of West Avenue and Grand Avenue and will go from a T4 zone to a T5 zone. Tony Izzo stated the current classification is UR2, Transect Zone 4, and Transect Zone 5, to all being classified as Transect Zone 5. Page 3 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Mark Lawton asked if this was a capital project. Mayor Johnson advised this is not a capital project it is a rezoning. No one spoke. This topic will be kept open until the October 21, 2008 City Council meeting. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 7: 07 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. PRESENTATIONS Mayor Johnson announced that due to the topics of the first and second presentation, the public comment period will be moved to follow these presentations to allow for comment on the presentations. 2007 Audited Financial Statements and Single Audit Reports Commissioner Ivins introduced Christine Gillmett-Brown, Director of Finance and Will Reynolds of Bollam, Sheedy & Torani and Company. This is the final report for 2007 and where we actually stand. Will stated this is the annual audit of the 2007 financial statement. It contains their opinion and is unqualified. It includes management discussion and analysis written by the City, and the financial statements. This year there was a government wide financial statement which is a balance sheet and income statement that shows the City as a whole. The main question he gets is how are we doing. In the City’s case there is a fund balance of $6.9 million dollars in the general fund, of which $3.9 million dollars is unappropriated – which is good because it is positive. In the general fund, about $34 million dollars is spent a year or about $3 million dollars a month, therefore a bench mark of unappropriated surplus is about a month. That is not a big number, but it is better than most cities in the state. You don’t have to hit much of a speed bump to have that run out on you. You don’t have a lot of cushion but you do have a cushion. One of the reasons you have that is due to the VLT revenues, which is just about that amount. If the VLT money goes away, or sales tax is reduced, that could be that speed bump. Two other areas had a loss for the year, the water and sewer fund. The fund balance is still positive, but if the trend continues it (water) won’t be positive for long. The precaution of passing of rate increase has been taken. It is commendable and correct. Footnotes that are useful for this group are: on page 37 there is a footnote that lists all the cities fixed assets (including infrastructure); page 40 lists all the debt and debt service out to 2036 (these are funds we don’t have much choice over); page 43 there is a note regarding the employee retirement system that has long term commitments (this a cash flow that is locked in for future years). Single audits report were received because we receive more than $500K of federal funds. There is a schedule on page 1 of the single audit report which lists all the expenditure of federal funds for the year ($1,052,000) and the sources. This year there were 3 compliance issues relating to single audits. None are earth-shattering, but either you are or aren’t in compliance. Most compliance issues have a corrective action plan provided and are reasonable. Hopefully these won’t occur next year. There is a new letter from him to the Mayor and the City Council which requires they communicate directly with those charged with governance. The letter notes the audit adjustments recommended, the estimates that are in the financial statements and where they come from, and provides any written communication between management and their firm. One of the communications is a representation letter. This letter is required of every audit and where they ask the financial officials that they were given all the information requested to the best of their knowledge, it was accurate and complete. A management letter is also attached this year where there is one point relating to fixed assets. Fixed assets are moving in the right Page 4 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 direction, being refined and corrected. There are still 3 items listed in the suggestions of best practices of internal control left over from last year to consider. Commissioner Kim stated there is an investigation by the police and allegations of an employee pocketing money. Would this audit potentially uncover that? Should this audit be revised to add this investigation. Page 3, section 9 states there has been no fraud Will stated they are aware of the allegations. It is not material in this financial statement. The money is not in here because the money is not here. If there was a real major defalcation that came to light, that’s when an adjustment to the financial statement would be made. An audit like this would not have caught this. Commissioner Kim asked when this is all washed out, would an adjustment be made then or if because it is so small it wouldn’t reach the financial statement or the opinion letter. Will stated this is for year ending 2007 as they best knew it on September 11, 2008. If restitution were to be made, then there would be a receivable. Commissioner Kim asked if we will be doing anything different after the court outcome, would we change it or is it too small to make a difference. Commissioner Kim asked knowing what we know has been alleged, will we be doing anything different to determine this in the future. Will stated an audit like this probably wouldn’t have uncovered this. When they do an audit, they do test basis of large numbers, reasonableness of large numbers. The allegation as he understands it is over a period of time. Since this was discovered by your own controls, your system is working. Commissioner Ivins stated we plan to bring in the state comptrollers office to do an audit of all our cash systems to find better procedures. We can’t do this now as there is an investigation going on. Commissioner Franck advised we will book a revenue if this went to court and the person is found guilty and restitution is made. 2009 Comprehensive Budget Presentation Commissioner Ivins advised copies will be on the web tomorrow. The line by line budget can be downloaded right now. There will be 4 other opportunities to make comment on this budget and there will be budget workshops in November. The budget process as called for by the charter was explained. A call letter is sent out to all Commissioners and the Mayor by August 1st of each year. They have until September 15th to respond with all their requests and information for the coming year. The first City Council meeting in October the Commissioner of Finance presents a proposed budget. He was trying to keep to 2% tax increase. The department requests came back at a 29% tax increase. Commissioner Ivins and his Deputy went through the entire budget line by line to cut everything they could $4 million dollars of cuts) to get back to where we wanted to be. He returned to each department their respective budgets with the cuts for them to review and respond. He defunded some things, but told each department he was willing to put back anything he defunded, but they had to find where else they could cut to keep the defunded item there. Commissioner Ivins stated he is looking only a 2% tax increase because it is tough out there. Information from Citydata.com, as of July 2005, reports the average household income for Saratoga Springs is $54,000. There is a large number of people that make less than that. He showed history of where our budget has been, where property tax has gone, where assessed value has gone, etc. There was over an 8% increase last year. Page 5 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Commissioner Ivins described what has driven this budget. He quoted Governor Paterson as saying “we are in more than a recession, were are in very serious economic crisis”. Locally, Troy has no increase, Schenectady had a 12.98% tax increase and eliminated 50 jobs; Albany had a $14 million dollar gap and had to eliminate 62 full time employees and 65 seasonal employees - 10 police, 20 firemen and still have a tax increase, Saratoga County is trying to hold the line on a tax increase entirely. People say with the amount of building that has been going on we shouldn’t have a tax increase at all. In 2007-2008 we grew in assessed property value 2.5 – 3.6%re grew by 3.25 %, this year we only grew by 1.6%. Our debt service climbed from $1.1 million to $2.4 million. Your taxes combine a general fund and debt service. If there was a 0% property tax increase this year, the actual money we would had available to go in the general fund is less than we had last year by almost $1 million dollars. Every time we raise or lower taxes $162, 350, that equals 1% of tax increase or decrease. In 2008 we bonded some things and paid just interest. In 2009 we paid interest and principal on that money. That figure jumped $200,000. In 2009 we are proposing more capital projects. The interest on just those items is another $153,000. The parking lot behind the Adirondack Trust was $2.4 million dollars and was bonded over 30 years. The County agreed to pay half of it or $1.2 million dollars over 4 years. The previous City Council decided to use up the money paid over the four years, therefore the money was going towards paying additional debt service that has occurred in the past. Now we are taking a hit and it is going up by $300,000. Former Commissioner McCabe took $500,000 of the VLT money and put it into the capital budget rather than the general budget. Now that money is gone. If everything stayed even and didn’t have any increases, such as payroll, health insurance, etc. our tax rate would go up 6.39%. He doesn’t agree with bonding anything until we are ready to put a shovel in the ground. If the police station money was bonded, we would have had to add another 4% to the tax increase. Commissioner Ivins stated from looking at all the numbers, there would be $38 million dollars available to spend this year for expenses and the projected spending is $38 million dollars with everything. This is before payroll increases, gas and oil increases, etc. Major revenue resources are: VLT money. We budgeted $3.8 million but only received $3.3 million. The reason is the state said they overpaid us in 2007 so they subtracted the overpayment and the Governor took another 2% away. Commissioner Ivins hopes we will get what we would have gotten before the overpayment is taken away. The state estimates in the beginning part of the year what it is going to be for the year. The good news is we get the state’s money before they do. The bad new is if they miscalculate, they will take the money back. Who knows what the amount of dollars will be collected in sales tax. Track attendance was down this year, hopefully it will go up next year. The County looks at giving money back to communities, so we could see another $700,000, but he is not budgeting it in. Former Commissioner Matt McCabe took VLT money and applied $3.2 million to general fund and $500,000 to debt service. As a result the general fund tax went up and the debt service went down. It is the same amount of taxes. Commissioner McCabe’s plan was to take $200,000, which would have been the interest on the police station from 2008 and use part of that $500,000 to pay for that the first year and apply what was left the second year so there wouldn’t be as big of an increase to make it all happen. If we bonded before July, that’s what would have happened. This year we were advised to bond in August. Since we bonded in August, there was no interest payment. In 2009 there would have been interest and principal. We didn’t get the $500,000 from VLT. The money wasn’t bonded so there is a net of zero/zero. Page 6 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 In the budget process, each department was asked what they expect their expenses to be for the year. The total expenses projected for the year was $38,891,169.00. Contingency is big because there are no salary or health insurance increases in the line items. Money has been put aside, once the union contracts are approved, the money will be put it where it belongs. The more money put in the more taxes have to increase. Adjustments come out to a property tax increase of 3.8%, higher than the 2% he was looking for. If we did what everyone had requested, the budget would have been over $40 million dollars and a tax increase of 29%. We are looking at a shortfall of $800,000 for this year and have to make that up somehow. The departments need to find income or find reductions otherwise we will be in the hole this year. The history of the police overtime was presented. The projection is to be over $1 million dollars. It was requested to be $900,000, Commissioner Ivins is requesting it to be $800,000. Commissioner Kim stated these numbers don’t show the hours the police actually work overtime. They are bound by contract to pay overtime to the most senior people, who gets a higher rate than a junior person. Commissioner Ivins stated he did de-fund some positions. He told each department if they wanted them refunded, they had to make other cuts. The Mayor did it. A number of the positions de-funded were positions that were being submitted as new positions. These are not positions that currently have people in place. One case, DPW was looking for an IT person. He assigned the duties back to his own office as they currently house the IT department and they are taking on additional work to make that happen. Commissioner Scirocco stated he is looking to do a website he promised this during his campaign. Commissioner Ivins advised DPS and DPW asked for additional money to better serve the city. If we do this we are looking at an additional 3.38% increase in tax on top the 3.8% already being proposed. Additional things could be paid for out of surplus but he doesn’t believe this is the right thing to do. Surplus should be maintained for a rainy day. Commissioner Ivins advised the cost to the City for cancellation of the recreation center is $906,285.13. Another interest payment was just made on October 1st on the recreation center. A tax increase of 3.8% for an average home of $200,000 equates to an additional $40/yr in property tax, 8% would be an additional $85/yr in property tax. This is in addition to the school tax increases. There will be 4 more public hearings, October 14th at 2:00 p.m. in the City Council Room, October 21st at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Room, October 22nd at 6:30 in the Music Hall, and October 28th at 6:30 at the Canfield Casino. Between November 1st and November 30th, the departments have the ability to amend, approve, etc. Budget workshops are when the council sits here and debates. The dates are being left open to the council to decide when they will hold these. The public can send comments via e-mail. Commissioner Franck asked what the appropriate fund balance according to the auditor. Commissioner Ivins advised right now it is 1 month and they would like to see 3 -4 months. Commissioner Franck stated the argument could be made that the money from the county was we spent that money or the argument could be make that we built up our reserves with that money. He also askedif it would be possible to take $1.2 million, of the $4 million and appropriate that money for debt service, not Page 7 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 over the next 26 years, to ease some of the problems and appropriate it towards the bonding over the next 6 years. Commissioner Ivins stated the Council has the ability to do that should they choose. Commissioner Franck is suggesting this may be a way to free up a percentage point. In 1993 we bonded $960,000, nothing in 1994, 1995, 1996, in 1997 we bonded $1.2 million, nothing in 1998 or 1999, 2000 we bonded less than $1 million, nothing in 2001, 2002 we bonded $1.6 million, nothing in 2003, 2004 we bonded $3.7 million, 2005 we bonded $2.2 million, 2006 we bonded $8.3 million, and 2007 we bonded $9.3 million, and in 2008 we bonded $7.8 million. Some costs we are having a tough time controlling because there are mandates, but we are bonding ourselves into trouble. Once the principal and interest hits, that number goes up drastically. He confirmed the VLT money we received in 2008 was for 2008, there is no lag. Commissioner Ivins stated Commissioner Franck was correct in his understanding of the VLT money. Commissioner Franck stated the tax increase looks like we are in line with the other local cities. Commissioner Scirocco stated he wanted to correct Commissioner Ivins on a couple things. He stated there were only 8 people cut from the budget, but there was a total of 24. Some are part time employees that work full time. Commissioner Ivins clarified that the 7 people/positions were the ones he de-funded. Some of the departments had also de-funded some stuff before it went to him. Commissioner Scirocco went on to say if you don’t have the workforce to provide service there will be a cut in service. He is willing to work with Commissioner Ivins to bring it back up to where it should be. The employees are concerned about their jobs and where they are going to be in 2009. People in the city are spoiled, they want services, they pay taxes for services. He likes Commissioner Franck’s idea of taking some of the surplus and paying down some of the debt. He believes they should look at a way to set money aside over a period of years to pay down the debt. He would be willing to look at some of his capital requests the help bring down the dollars. Given the economic climate, the recreation center doesn’t go for where we need to be. I don’t want to cut any positions. We cut everything as far as we could cut it, we gave you a bare bones budget. We can’t operate on the numbers Commissioner Ivins plugged in. He encouraged Commissioner Ivins to work with him. He would make concessions. Commissioner Ivins stated Commissioner Scirocco did a great job trying to cut his budget. We are also looking at a possible 7% increase and he is not comfortable with that. Commissioner Franck said this is demoralizing. Let’s go back and see if there is anything in the capital budget that can be cut. It looks like next year our tax assessment is going to go down. Once we get to look at each other’s budgets we may find some things to cut and maybe there are some capital project things that need to be pushed over to 2010. Commissioner Kim stated they worked on their budget very hard. DPS is the largest department in City and has the largest budget. Important thing we need to do is prioritize. DPS and DPW provide the essential services to the City. Other departments provide important services but they are not the essential ones. They looked at their budget that way knowing it was going to be a tough budget. There are 2 departments that have increased, the recreation department and the finance department. He is happy to work with people to get to where they need to be. One of the issues that drives overtime for police is they have taken a huge step back over the past 10 years on how they do reports. 10 years ago they were doing reports in their cars on laptops. Now only 2 cars are equipped with laptops. Reports take longer. Several positions were funded that didn’t have adequate amount of social security. Another issue is the replacement cycle for crosswalks is about every 2 years. This is an essential service people want out of his department. One of our code enforcers has been cut out of the budget. There has been a lot of discussion over the years that 2 code enforcers is inadequate. We need approximately $80k for that code enforcer. He also stated he brought up a revenue item for this budget where they could do apartment Page 8 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 inspections in multi-unit family houses. This is an unfunded state mandate that was voted down by the City Council 3-2. That would have brought in about $70K in revenue, not tax payer money. The landlords would have to pay every 3 years $30 to have their apartments inspected. The code enforcer that was going to do that job was taken out of the budget. Commissioner Ivins stated it was brought to his attention late today that that was not in there. They will make an adjustment. He also stated Commissioner Kim stated the budget is up for recreation and finance. Commissioner Ivins stated the finance department budget is not up according to the sheet he is looking at, the recreation center is up. There are things like the special assessment district that are lump in his budget and go in and out. There is a revenue item that offsets the special assessment districts. Commissioner Kim asked where the money was going for hospitalization and such. Commissioner Ivins explained this will go into his budget as a contingency. His budget will go up because of the contingency portion until contracts are settled, then it will be moved to the appropriate department budgets. Commissioner Franck advised the reason he voted against the apartment inspection was because they were going to have to hire a person to do this. The 2 code enforcers couldn’t do it. Commissioner Kim is talking about the revenue and skipping the expense. It is so bad right now with the code inspectors, this may be an argument for keeping them, his department had to go and get over $20,000 in fees this summer that should have been collected over the last 5 years but they told us they didn’t have time to get to. If Commissioner Kim can show him we can get these revenues mentioned without hiring somebody, he’s all for it. It wasn’t made that clear at that meeting, that’s why he voted against it. The reason he voted for the policeman’s contract is because Commissioner Kim stated the overtime would go down $100K but it went up $200K. Commissioner Kim said they can show the staff levels that have created overtime due to injuries, pregnancies, etc. He stated he never proposed hiring additional people for apartment inspections. Commissioner Franck asked Commissioner Kim if he put the fees in the budget. Commissioner Kim said no. Commissioner Franck stated if he put the fees in the budget and he could show that there will be no expense, he will vote for the proposal. Commissioner Kim stated they do not propose any additional cost. The way they were going to do this is through the 2 code enforcers and the fire inspector. There was a discussion about the technology that would allow them to do that. That was all that was discussed in terms of any kind of expense. Commissioner Franck stated this mandate doesn’t take effect until 2010 so there is time to work on that. If we can not increase payroll and Commissioner Kim can show the revenue that’s going to come through, you can keep your person. He is just trying to help him keep his person. Mayor Johnson wanted to note for the public that neighboring communities have released their budgets. They have utilized their reserves to keep their tax increases down. He does not advocate doing that. Keep that in mind when looking at other cities budget information. The recreation facility has been bonded for over 2 ½ years and there is no additional cost to the city for building the facility. The tax payers are paying for the full amount regardless if a shovel is put in the ground. We have been paying for it for over 2 ½ years. Hopefully there is no more misconception in the public that somehow we can save money to the taxpayer by canceling the bonding on the recreation center. Commissioner Kim asked if it is true at some point when we are paying interest and principal we are going to have increase cost to the city and it is also true that the staff will increase. There is in the future some increase cost. Page 9 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Mayor Johnson stated if Commissioner Kim looked at his proposed budget for 2009, there is not one increase in personnel to run the recreation center. There is a part time personnel line item for $20K to oversee the evening programs. We are transferring all the present staff to the indoor recreation center, they will man that center during working hours. They are flexible in their work schedule, they will do evenings, weekends, whatever the case may be to make sure someone is there to manage the facility. They will not be on the eastside field any longer. Commissioner Kim stated presentation from Commissioner Ivins stated there will rock climbing wall revenue and paddleball court revenue, which we are not building and should be taken out. He asked Mayor Johnson that there will never be any additional cost to the operation of the recreation center. Mayor Johnson stated that as they are projecting for next year and foreseeable future, they are using existing staff to man the indoor recreation center. Commissioner Franck confirmed that we are paying principal and interest on those bonds. Commissioner Ivins stated that is true, in fact it is going to go down over time. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Johnson said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes each according to the rules approved in February of 2004 by the City Council. Mayor Johnson opened the public comment period at 8:45 p.m. No one spoke. Mayor Johnson closed the public comment period at 8:50 p.m. because the fifteen minutes had elapsed. Johnson Control – Energy Performance Contract This presentation cancelled. Police Overtime This presentation was postponed until the next City Council meeting. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Scott Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the consent agenda as follows: 1. Approval of Capital Budget Public Hearing Minutes 9/4/08 2. Approval of Capital Budget Public Hearing Minutes 9/8/08 3. Approval of City Council and High Rock RFP Workshop Minutes 9/16/08 4. Approval of City Council Minutes 9/12/08 5. Approval of High Rock RFP Workshop Minutes 9/8/08 6. Approval of Minutes Capital Budget Public Hearing 9/10/08 7. Approve Budget Amendments 8. Approve Budget Transfers 9. Approve Payroll 9/26/08 $445,583.36 10. Approve Payroll 9/19/08 $417,442.36 Page 10 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 11. Approve Payroll 10/3/08 $413,021.41 12. Approve Warrant 2008 Mid MC1OCT07 $29,863.60 13. Approve Warrant 2008 Mid MC2SEP08 $2,789,876.43 14. Approve Warrant 2008 Regular 1OCT08 $881,305 Commissioner Ivins advised there was a typo on item 12. It should read MC1OCT08. Ayes – All Mayor Johnson announced that the Accounts Department had requested to move their presentation on the Natural Gas Contract up in the order as the presenter has been waiting a long time. Presentation: Natural Gas Contract Commissioner Franck introduced Gene Salerni. Gene works through the Chamber of Commerce for a company called EnergyNext. About this time every year we have to make a decision if we want to lock into our rate or keep it variable. Commissioner Franck is not putting anything to vote, he just wanted to Council to hear Gene and digest the information. Gene Salerni stated they manage the Chamber of Commerce’s energy alliance. The City has been a member of that alliance since 2002 buying natural gas, electricity, etc. Since that time, the City has saved almost $200K. Natural gas is a commodity sold at a variable price. The bench mark to which you measure it is the price National Grid would charge you and they can only sell it at a variable price. Over the past year, the price has gone from $.88/therm (basic unit) to $1.53/therm. There are 3 choices: one is to remain with National Grid, another is to continue to be served by an energy supplier that has been chosen through the Chamber’s program, and the final choice is to lock into a fixed price at a rate that is about equal to the average price of the last year - $1.06. This is what they are recommending to customers now. Commissioner Scirocco asked if that is a yearly rate. Gene advised this is yearly as the City would be locked in. Commissioner Franck asked if they perceive it going lower. Gene suggested not waiting too much longer to make a decision, maybe one more week at the maximum. Commissioner Franck requested something in writing to the Accounts Office to say what the rates are so everyone has something to refer to. Commissioner Ivins suggested bringing this item up at the special meeting on the 14th. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Mayor Johnson advised he is taking one more item out of order as the family of Beau Kilmer has been waiting. Discussion and Vote: Resolution to Name the Eastside Recreation Football Field “Beau Kilmer Field” (08- 175) Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the resolution to name the Eastside Recreation Field “Beau Kilmer Field ”. Linda Terricola stated there are no words that could describe the countless contributions made by Beau Kilmer to our community. He was a former Recreation Commissioner Chairman and a dear friend. Beau Page 11 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 worked tirelessly towards the proposed indoor recreation center. She seeks the approval of the Council to proclaim Saturday, October 18th Beau Kilmer day. This event will take place at half time of the Pop Warner football game at 5:30 p.m. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK Mayor Scott T. Johnson Commissioner John Franck Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Commissioner Anthony Scirocco Commissioner Ronald Kim IN MEMORIAM BEAU KILMER 1937 – 2008 BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs as follows, WHEREAS, Clarence B. “Beau” Kilmer, a lifelong resident of our City, passed away on September 22, 2008. Beau was a well liked and well respected member of our community who served his fellow Saratogians in many capacities and made a tremendous impact on our lives, and WHEREAS, in addition to his years of public service as Deputy Commissioner of Public Works, Superintendent of Public Works, and as a member of the City’s Recreation Commission, Beau served as a youth football coach for 39 years and also as a youth baseball coach. He will be remembered by generations of Saratogians for his love of sports and his dedication to our young people, and WHEREAS, it is appropriate that we remember Beau for his lifetime commitment to youth sports and recreation, and so it is hereby RESOLVED: 1. That the Eastside Recreation Football Field on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs be named and hereafter known as “Beau Kilmer Field”. 2. That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Recreation Commission offices and to Beau’s family, and be it further RESOLVED, that this Council hereby remembers and honors the life and good works of Beau Kilmer and extends the community’s gratitude and sympathy to his family. Mayor stated he received 2 letters in regards to this. One was from the President of Pop Warner League in support of this and the other was from Janice White, the Superintendent of the school district stating they have no objections in renaming of the field. Ayes – All Presentation: Open Space Advisory Committee Annual Report Mayor Johnson advised this is an annual report by the Open Space Advisory Committee. Two members of committee are here to present to the Council. Jim Gold, co-chair along with Harold Hagman of the Open Space Committee. Their committee has a long history from the public and private sector. Members of the committee are: Theresa Cappozola, Margarie King Martin, Michael Englert, and Charles Morrison. In 1994 the Council adopted an open space plan; in 2001 the Council created the Open Space Advisory Committee; in 2002 city residents approved the community land preservation referendum which authorized the City to acquire recreational, scenic and environmentally sensitive lands. When the committee was established, they were charged with developing criteria and make land acquisition recommendations. In 2003 the City Council approved criteria including parkland for active and passive recreation, scenic areas in the City’s gateways and along scenic roads, land for trail development, buffer land for watershed protection, wildlife and biologically significant habitats, wetlands, significant farmlands, and significant historic, geologic and ecological sites. In the past 6 years, since in the inception, the committee has considered dozens of parcels throughout the city. Recommendations have been both large and small. To date the city council has authorized approximately $3.4 million dollars in purchases under this referendum, leaving a balance of $1.6 million and acquiring 4 major parcels (3.5 acres on Crescent Ave. also known as the waterfront property, 15 acres on Excelsior Avenue and Excelsior Spring Drive which contributes to the spring run trail, approximately 26 acres at Weibel Avenue and Lake Avenue Page 12 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 also known as the Braust property, and 46 acres at the southwest entrance of our city also known as the Corcoran property). The later two properties contribute to the City’s gateways. Harold stated they do recognize the money is bond authority and not money in the bank. The report is posted on the City’s web site. There are 6 recommendations in the report that are the theme of enhancing the recreation of state that the City already has. They are setting the stage for the next period of growth for the City. They look forward to improve methods of dialogue with the community and to continue involvement of the public in acquisitions. They also recognize that the City’s zoning ordinances and subdivision plans do provide a solid basis for open space planning. They do communicate regularly with planning department so there is a coordinated approach. They meet on a monthly basis and invite anyone who wishes to attend. Commissioner Kim asked if there is any prohibition that once the city acquires land thru the open space act that is has to be developed just with City resources or can it be developed with private partnership. Harold is not versed to be able to answer the question yet. Commissioner Franck asked if the board has thought about a new price structure of the old Getty station location. Has the property value gone up because it is cleaner? Harold stated they have not approached them recently. It is still one of their priority projects. Commissioner Kim asked if the property is now developable? Commissioner Franck asked wasn’t it down to Dunkin Donuts or us? Harold responded that a group was willing to take on an aggressive fundraising campaign to establish a landmark. Mayor Johnson stated he spoke with same group earlier in the year. They are looking at the City contributing the land and they would develop it into the equine park with sculptures. Grant money applied for was denied. Commissioner Franck advised the value will go down with next assessment because it is just land. Mayor Johnson wanted to highlight a couple things in the report, the waterfront property, the Corcoran property, and that the Committee issued an advisory opinion that the City proceed with the purchase of the vacant lot on Vanderbilt Avenue that is adjacent to the Southside field. Discussion and Vote: Approve Mayor to Sign the New York State Office of Children and Family Services Individual Program Application 2009 (08-176) Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the Mayor to sign the New York State Office of Children and Family Services Individual Program Application for 2009 . Linda Terricola stated this is an annual application. It is a 50/50 matching grant. The amount from the County is $14,650. The City matches this amount. The funding is used for summer playground program and introduction to ice program. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Resolution for Grant to Prepare a Joint Management Plan for the Corcoran Property and the Woods Hollow Nature Preserve (08-177) Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the resolution for a grant to prepare a Joint Management Plan for the Corcoran Property and the Woods Hollow Nature Preserve. Page 13 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Mayor Johnson advised this property is approximately 46 acres purchased in 2006 by the City on Rt. 50 near Northline Road. It is wooded, no path, no trail. The grant is to develop a plan for the trail system of that property in conjunction with Saratoga Plan. Saratoga Plan has offered their services to apply for the grant and administer the grant process if received. They qualify for the application and the City does not. We are happy to partner with them and do this on behalf of the City. It is a 25% match grant if received. We are applying for up to $24,000. The overall exposure to the City is $6,000 towards development of this plan. It is a joint management plans which means it takes into account what is already developed at the Woods Hollow nature preserve (130 acres owned by the Village of Ballston Spa) also in the boundaries in the Town of Milton. The proposal is to develop a plan to complement what they have. With the 46 acres from the City, it becomes a total of 175 acres. Mayor Johnson met with Mayor Romano of Ballston Spa and he is pleased to support it. The decision of the grant will not be made until April 2009, that will allow City to defer our contribution to 2010 if need be. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK A RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING PREPARATION OF A JOINT MANANGEMENT PLAN FOR THE CORCORAN PROPERTY AND THE WOODS HOLLOW NATURE PRESERVE, ENDORSING THE CONCEPT ON AN INTERMUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT OF CONTIGUOUS OPEN SPACES, AND AUTHORIZING SARATOGA P.L.A.N TO APPLY TO THE LAND TRUST ALLIANCE FOR PLANNING ASSISTANCE Mayor Scott T. Johnson Commissioner John Franck Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Commissioner Anthony Scirocco Commissioner Ronald Kim WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs has invested $3.4 million in open space acquisitions since the Community Land Preservation referendum of 2002, and WHEREAS, such acquisitions include 46.11 acres of open lands commonly know as the Corcoran Property and located in the southwest corner of the City and, and WHEREAS, said property is immediately adjacent to the approximate 130 acre Village of Ballston Spa owned “Woods Hollow Nature Preserve” , and WHEREAS, the City Open Space Advisory Committee has recommended in its report “Next Steps” the development of “management plans” for the several properties acquired under the Community Land Preservation initiative, and WHEREAS, said Open Space Advisory Committee, in advancing its original recommendation to acquire the Corcoran Property, envisioned collaborating with the Village of Ballston Spa and the Town of Milton to develop a comprehensive management plan for both properties, and WHEREAS, said Open Space Advisory Committee, following consultation with Saratoga P.L.A.N, has concluded that these two regionally important adjoining public open lands would be best managed by complimentary development as a unified whole for joint usage by their residents, and WHEREAS, this City Council finds and declares that it is in the public interest to collaborate with the Village of Ballston Spa and the Town of Milton to cause a collaborate management and usage plan to be prepared, and WHEREAS, Conservation Partnership Program funds are potentially available through the Land Trust Alliance to prepare an inter-municipal management plan for these important public open lands, and WHEREAS, upon receiving appropriate resolutions of support, said Saratoga P.L.A.N will apply, pro bono, to the Land Trust Alliance for Conservation Partnership Program assistance to prepare such a joint management plan, and WHEREAS, Saratoga P.L.A.N has offered to serve as project coordinator for preparation of unified, inter-municipal management plan for the Corcoran Property and the Woods Hollow Nature Preserve, and WHEREAS, the total grant assistance available to support the preparation of such a joint management plan is anticipated to be up to $24,000, with a 25 percent, or up to $6,000, matching share, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that this City Council endorses the concept of participating in an inter-municipal initiative to jointly manage for the public benefit the Corcoran Property and the Woods Hollow Preserve, and be it further RESOLVED, that this City Council hereby authorizes Saratoga P.L.A.N to make application to the Land Trust Alliance for assistance to prepare a joint management plan for said properties, and be it further RESOLVED, that any and all work programs, inter-municipal agreements, contracts, authorization for matching funds, in-kind contributions or other elements which may be required may only be approved by further subsequent action of this City Council. Ayes – All Page 14 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Discussion and Vote: Resolution Authorizing Application for Grant Assistance to Update the Heritage Area Management Plan (08- 178) Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the resolution for a grant assistance to Update the Heritage Area Management Plan. Mayor Johnson advised this is a plan the City has had in place since 1986; it is part of the Saratoga Springs Urban Cultural Park Management Plan. It is one of only 19 statewide that enjoys the status of being a heritage area program, so it is prestigious. This plan is to keep it going and improve upon it. The objective of the grant is to develop a new plan with further recommendations that would increase public awareness and participation in the area program through planning initiatives streamlining and improving content to improve education, preservation and economic development strategies, thereby promoting statewide heritage area systems. The plan has not been updated since 1986. We have achieved all goals and initiatives under the old plan so it is time to plan for the future and develop new strategies and more goals. This is an application for grant funding of $10,000 non-matching; no contribution from the City if we receive it. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING APPLICATION TO THE NYS DEPARTMENT OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION FOR GRANT ASSISTANCE TO PREPARE A HERITAGE AREA PLAN UPDATE Mayor Scott T. Johnson Commissioner John Franck Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Commissioner Anthony Scirocco Commissioner Ronald Kim WHEREAS, this City Council recognizes the inherent value and contributions of the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Program, one of only nineteen statewide, to the community’s economic strength through its educational, preservation and recreational programs and activities, and WHEREAS, the 2008-09 New York State Budget allocates grant funds to eligible heritage area management entities for non-capital projects which further the program goals of education, recreation, preservation and economic revitalization, and WHEREAS, said Heritage Area Grant Program requires no local matching funds, and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs, as the management entity for the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Program, is eligible to apply for such grant funds, and WHEREAS, the leadership of the Heritage Area Advisory Council has recommended application for grant assistance to update the twenty-two year old Heritage Area Management Plan be prepared and submitted, and WHEREAS, such application has been prepared and submitted contingent upon the adoption of this enabling resolution, and WHEREAS, this City Council finds and declares that the development of an updated strategic Heritage Area Management Plan designed and intended to increase public awareness of and participation in the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Program and promote continued economic revitalization within the program boundaries is in the vital interest of the community, now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor be authorized to submit, consistent with state and City requirements, said application for assistance in an amount not to exceed $10,000, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Mayor is authorized, consistent with any and all City requirements, to sign all legal documents, including the grant application, agreements resulting from the application, and any related reports and documentation. Ayes – All Set Public Hearing: Amend Capital Budget for Communications Mayor Johnson set a public hearing to amend the Capital Budget for Communications for Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. Set Public Hearing: Capital Budget Amendment for the Purchase of 00 Vanderbilt Ave. Mayor Johnson set a public hearing to amend the Capital Budget for the purchase of 00 Vanderbilt Avenue for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. Page 15 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Discussion: NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Advisory Opinion on Alienation Re: Southside Field by Indoor Recreation Center Mayor Johnson stated the 2 requests were made to the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, one by Commissioner Kim and one by a citizen, Mark Lawton who identified himself as a member of the Citizens for Implementation of the City Charter. The requests were made in writing September 30, 2008 and the reference on the letter was the Southside recreation area and the proposed construction of indoor recreation facility. Both individuals were asking for the office to indicate if there was alienation occurring by the construction. Carol Ash, Commissioner of the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation responded with a copy to the City Attorney. Mayor Johnson quoted a few of Carol Ash’s statements. She stated “parkland ‘alienation’ occurs when a municipality wishes to sell, lease or discontinue municipal parkland. Parkland alienation applies to every municipal park in the State whether owned by a county, town, or a village. The basic principal for parkland alienation is founded in case law as early as 1871 and is often referred to as the ‘public trust doctrine’. The court has consistently held that once land has been used as a park it cannot be diverted for use other than recreation and hole or in part temporarily or permanently, even for another public purpose without legislature approval.” She further stated “You have raised concerns with regards to the proposal by the City of Saratoga Springs for construction of an indoor recreation facility on land that is currently used for outdoor recreation. The creation of the facility would involve parking and the construction of an indoor gymnasium and locker facilities. The case law dealing with the alienation of municipal parkland does not prohibit the construction of indoor recreation facilities on public parkland. In other words, as long as the facility would be run by the City and is open to the general public for recreation, and no other non- recreational uses are planned for the building, the construction of the recreations facility would not constitute an alienation of parkland. The city would still be obligated to comply with other laws, such as the need to undergo a formal public bidding process pursuant to the State Finance Law and to complete an environmental review pursuant to the State Environmental Review Act (SEQRA). State Parks is not an involved agency for municipal parkland alienations SEQRA reviews. Sincerely, Carol Ash, Commissioner.” There was criticism that the Mayor’s office was not seeking opinion of that office on alienation. Regardless of merit of that, at least there is an opinion now from that office indicating in their professional opinion in their jurisdiction on this issue it is not alienation. Commissioner Kim stated the letter was sent by his office not the Mayor’s office. Obviously the alienation thing from the experts is an issue. His office wrote the letter to ask if this is a problem. They also wrote a letter to the school board to see if there is an issue with the lease. The first problem is whether or not there is a potential use issue and the second problem is there is a restrictive covenant in that lease that says if we build that recreation center at Southside, all school residents will have to have equal access toit . He is trying to make sure they knock down the issues the group said they are going to sue on. Mayor Johnson responded to Commissioner Kim by saying the City Attorney gave very specific opinion to the entire Council that this is not alienation. He did not accept that opinion, so he wrote a letter, which his has the prerogative and right to do. Mayor Johnson is saying that now we have an opinion from the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation that is consistent with the City Attorney’s opinion earlier. Commissioner Kim stated he was correcting the statement the Mayor made that there was criticism that his office wasn’t seeking the opinion of the Office of Parks and Recreation. That’s not a true statement, you didn’t seek it, he did. That’s the facts and the Mayor seems to want to fudge the facts. Mayor Johnson admitted he didn’t seek the opinion as he didn’t feel he needed to as he had been advised by the City Attorney there wasn’t a problem. Now we have the opinion and can move forward. He also pointed out that the threat of litigation was not back when Commissioner Kim wrote the letter; it is very recently coming up since they retained council last week. The order of chronology is a little skewed. He didn’t want to do that as he didn’t think the need was there. Page 16 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Commissioner Kim stated so the record is clear, the opinion the City Attorney gave them was a verbal opinion. There is a court of appeals case law that supports no alienation. He asked for copy of the memo of how they arrived at that determination. He was looking for someone to write this down and give him some information about this. Because he didn’t receive anything in writing he had to go to the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation. Mayor Johnson advised that City Attorney offered to sit down with Commissioner Kim but he declined. Commissioner Franck asked Commissioner Kim if he is comfortable with Carol Ash’s response? Commissioner Kim stated it’s their perspective, they seem to be the experts. He is satisfied with it. Commissioner Franck asked Commissioner Kim if he read Mark Lawton’s letter. Commissioner Kim stated that is where he feels they have some risk. Commissioner Franck wants to make sure as a Council that they are comfortable with the response. He asked if the school district was going to get involved with this. Mayor Johnson stated the school district does not want to be involved with this issue. They don’t see a need to do that and deferring to the City. Commissioner Franck stated the only other issue is the SEQRA process. Has there been a lawsuit? Mayor Johnson stated the letter as he read it didn’t say a lawsuit is going to be filed. It raises concerns, legal issues, but it did not threaten the City with a lawsuit. He will not conduct City business under the threat of litigation as some way of negotiations or leverage. They need to make sure they are doing what we need to do on a legal basis that is right for the community. Commissioner Franck stated if it was a lawsuit, it would be an executive session. He also stated it looks like the main hitch is the SEQRA process. Should they bring anyone (planning board) in to give recommendation. Mayor Johnson stated the SEQRA that they will adopt was prepared in-house by the City Engineer, the City Planner, and the Assistant Planner. These are the individuals that give advice to our land use boards, the planning board, the zoning board of appeals and the DRC on occasion. The project was given to those most qualified in the city to do this. He suggests that they go through the SEQRA process first. Then he will have those people who drafted it available for explanation, comments on why they did certain things. A public hearing for SEQRA has been set for Tuesday, October 14th at 12:00 p.m. Discussion and Vote: Issue Negative Declaration on SEQRA for Indoor Recreation Center Mayor Johnson pulled this item from his agenda for this evening. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Award of Bid to Redi Rock of the Adirondacks (08- 179) Commissioner Franck moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to approve the award of bid. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Works, I move to award the bid for the Concrete Block Retaining Wall System to Redi Rock of the Adirondacks (second lowest bidder, lowest bidder did not submit a complete bid, therefore they were disqualified) in the amount of $8,700.00. I further move to authorize the Mayor to sign the contract. Page 17 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Ayes - All FINANCE DEPARTMENT Set Public Hearing: 2009 Comprehensive Budget Commissioner Ivins set a public hearing for the 2009 Comprehensive Budget for Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Discussion and Vote: Mayor’s Department Payroll Transfers (08- 180) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded the Mayor’s Department Payroll Transfers. Mayor Johnson advised this is to take item from payroll and transfer to alternate use for zoning ordinance review. The City needs a review of zoning ordinance and this transfer will allow this process to begin. There is money in the line item for this. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: DPS Payroll Transfers (08-181) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded DPS Payroll Transfers. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: DPW Payroll Transfers (08-182) Commissioner Ivins moved and Mayor Johnson seconded DPW Payroll Transfers. Commissioner Ivins advised that payroll transfers have to be done separately from the consent agenda. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Letter to NYS Comptroller Commissioner Ivins pulled this item from his agenda for this evening. Discussion: City Finances Commissioner Ivins advised that sales tax up a little for August at this point but down for the year. The mortgage tax just came in and we are off about $250,000. This is a good portion of our shortfall of the $800k as shown in his presentation. By the meeting on the 21st we need to make some serious decisions. If not, he has to put together a plan of action; he would prefer to have their input. Discussion and Vote: Approval to Amend the 2007 Capital Budget for Repair of the Geyser Road Sewer Line (08-183) Commissioner Ivins advised adding this item requires a 4/5 vote and is a role call vote. Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to add the amending of the 2007 capital budget for the repair of the Geyser Road sewer line to the agenda. Role Call: Commissioner Franck - Aye Page 18 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Commissioner Ivins - Aye Mayor Johnson - Aye Commissioner Scirocco - Aye Commissioner Kim - Aye Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to amend the 2007 capital budget for the repair of the Geyser Road Sewer in the amount of $33,500 contingent upon the approval of the Public Works agenda item #1. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Approval of a Bond Resolution Supplementing a Bond Resolution Dated May 15, 2007 (08-184) Commissioner Ivins advised adding this item requires a 4/5 vote and is a role call vote. Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to add the approval of a bond resolution supplementing a bond resolution dated May 15, 2007. Role Call: Commissioner Franck - Aye Commissioner Ivins - Aye Mayor Johnson - Aye Commissioner Scirocco - Aye Commissioner Kim – Aye Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to approve a bond resolution supplementing the bond resolution dated May 15, 2007 authorizing the issuance of additional serial bonds for the amount not to exceed $33,500 for replacement of the sanitary sewer forcemain on Geyser Road contingent upon the approval of Public Works agenda #1. Commissioner Ivins commended the bond council for handling this with a very quick turnaround. They were asked yesterday afternoon and we have it today. He also thanked Deputy Jarosh for coordinating everything. Commissioner Kim asked if this bond is for 2007. Commissioner Ivins explained this is for 2007. There are funds to cover it now in the debt service but will eventually issue a bond anticipation note and be wrapped into other bonds. Role Call: Commissioner Franck - Aye Commissioner Ivins - Aye Mayor Johnson - Aye Commissioner Scirocco - Aye Commissioner Kim – Aye PUBLIC WORKS DEPARMENT Discussion and Vote: Amend the 2008 Capital Budget for Geyser Road Sewer Project (08-185) Commissioner Scirocco moved and Commissioner Ivins seconde d the approval to amend the 2008 Capital Budget for the Geyser Road Sewer Project. Commissioner Scirocco stated Anjo Construction completed the project 3 months ago in the amount of $341,000. The amount in the capital budget is $300,000, remaining balance is $41,000, less money received from Saratoga Eagle in the amount of $7,500. The amount of the capital budget amendment would be $33,500. Page 19 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 Ayes – All Commissioner Ivins stated he was just made aware he kept saying 2007 when is should be 2008. Discussion and Vote: Authorization to Hire Assistant City Engineer (08-186) Commissioner Scirocco moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded authorization to hire an assistant city engineer. Commissioner Scirocco requested approval to hire an assistant city engineer on a part time basis for the Nelson Avenue project. The position will be funded from a payroll line under the capital budget project with no financial impact from the DPW budget. Civil Service has approved this position. Rate of pay will be $35.82 per hour for 20 hours per week for no longer than 3 months. Commissioner Kim stated has concern with paying salaries out of capital budget. You can pay consultants. Commissioner Ivins stated he has checked it in his office and has been assured it is ok. Mayor Johnson confirmed this is an employee not an independent contractor with a 1009. Commissioner Scirocco stated it is an employee. Ayes – 4 Nays – Commissioner F ranck Set Public Hearing: Street Acceptance – Tyler Drive Commissioner Scirocco set a public hearing for the acceptance of Tyler Drive as a City owned road for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 6:40 p.m. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Accept Donation from Elliot Masie (08-187) Commissioner Kim moved and Commissioner Franck seconded the acceptance of a donation from Elliot Masie. Commissioner Kim stated the donation is in the amount of $1,000 for the DARE program. This donation is being made to show appreciation to the police department for their help in investigating the damage to the horse in front of his business. Ayes – All SUPERVISORS Joanne Yepsen Local Government Council Supervisor Yepsen stated she is sitting on a Capital Region Local Government Council as a representative of the City and the County. This Council meets monthly and is chaired by Mayor Jennings of Albany and Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Gino. They are looking at grant programs. There is a grant workshop on October 10th. Four grants are being offered through the Office of Government Efficiency; general efficiency planning grants, shared service implementation grants, efficiency implementation grants, and the 21st Century demonstration project grants. They are looking for applications and more projects. Page 20 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 NYS Property Tax Relief Commission Supervisor Yepsen attended the 10th Commission Meeting for the NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief. In reaction to the proposal of property cap and circuit breakers, many suggestions were made by speakers mostly addressing NYS educational systems, municipality, and school budgets. Ideas included shared contracts, consolidation of budgets, energy audits and looking at how other states fund special education. County Committee Reports – Long Range Planning, Upcoming Meetings Supervisor Yepsen reported that committee met on September 30th and discussion let to a $9, 964,000 proposed capital projects for Saratoga County. The majority of this money is for roads and bridges some recycling programs, airport improvements, and radio and technology systems. Supervisor Yepsen is meeting with Commissioner Ash tomorrow regarding the preservation and historic land marking of Saratoga Race Track. The Executive Director of Saratoga Preservation Foundation will be attending with Supervisor Yepsen. The second item on the agenda is completing the Universal Preservation Hall preservation project. Women’s Veterans Housing Project There are several women from Iraq that are homeless. A committee has started to work on securing a home for these woman. They are working with the Saratoga County Company which already run a men’s home that is very successful. They are down to 3 properties and working on financial planning. The restaurant 50 South is doing fundraiser on November 10th. Skidmore Intern Supervisor Yepsen advised she helped draft a Skidmore internship over the summer. The intern has secured the proposal and will be working on tech parks throughout the country to find out what went wrong, how it impacted the local communities. They will be putting together conclusions , issues and ideas. Matt Veitch Update: Geyser Road Trail Project Supervisor Veitch stated the Southwest Neighborhood is pushing for trail on Geyser from the Town of Milton to City. In February, and RFP was prepared with help from the City Planning Department and the County Planning Department. Five responses were received but they needed more info from the respondents. In July, a request for that information was sent to the responders, only 3 responses were received. One response was very high and 2 were low. They are meeting tomorrow regarding the vendors to make a decision within next couple of weeks. The neighborhood has been raising money and about half way to lowest bidder. Hopefully they can do this through private funds. Update: Economic Development Committee Meeting Supervisor Veitch reported they had a presentation from SEDC (State Economic Development Corp) regarding their mission and what they have been doing for the past 30 years. They have invested $1.3 billion since 1978 in Saratoga County. A conference call was held with Ward Tisdale, Director of Global Community Affairs for AMD. There will be 1,400 new direct manufacturing jobs, 5,000 indirect jobs throughout the region; 1,600 construction jobs to build the plant with an additional 2,700 jobs in terms of suppliers, etc. Page 21 of 22 City Council Meeting 10/07/08 The investment for the project is $4.6 billion dollars. It is a larger project than originally planned. This is the largest project in NYS right now and possibly the largest in the country as far as industrial development and economical development. Ground breaking estimated in mid 2009. Commissioner Kim asked if there was any decision point today or just a press conference. Supervisor Yepsen stated it was officially announced today that there is a new investor, which allows them to come. Mayor Johnson stated the median income projected is 60k. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Franck seconded to adjourn the meeting. Ayes - All. There being no further business, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 10:19 pm. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 10/21/08 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 22 of 22