City Council

August 25, 2011 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting Agenda 12:00 PM – P.H. – Public Hearing for 2012 – 2017 Proposed Capital Program to Follow the Presentation of the Proposed Capital Program Below 12:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION(S) 1. 2012 – 2017 Proposed Capital Program EXECUTIVE SESSION: None CONSENT AGENDA None MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT None ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT None FINANCE DEPARTMENT None PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT None PUBLIC SAFETY None SUPERVISORS None ADJOURN City Council Meeting 8/25/11 August 25, 2011 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room PRESENT: Scott Johnson, Mayor Ken Ivins, Commissioner of Finance Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Richard Wirth, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor Kate Jarosh, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Sharon Kellner-Chille, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Frank Dudla, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Joe Scala, City Attorney EXCUSED: John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW 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 HEARING 2012 – 2017 Proposed Capital Program Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing at 12:05 p.m. Michele Madigan of 30 Horseshoe Drive stated per past parking studies, it has been found that parking lots do not pay for themselves. The latest lot is to be built with some private money; is this money legally binding. She is interested in the supporting documentation that states additional sales will be generated from the building of the parking deck. This is not the first time the Council has claimed a capital budget item would pay for itself; you did the same with the new recreation center and that is not so. She also asked if they are budgeting for future maintenance and repair. She believes that the plan for EMS on the eastern plateau is a great idea as there is a need for this in our city. She asked if there is information Page 2 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/25/11 supporting their claim that no ‘beefing’ up of fire services is necessary. She also asked if the amount budgeted for the police station repairs is enough. John Willson of 3 Waterview Drive is president of the Summer Wind Homeowners’ Association and a member of the East Side Safety Committee stated the City previously recognized the EMS need when it bonded in 2004, 2005, and 2007 for a total amount of $350,000. They are hopeful this new initiative is successful, however they have the following concerns: emergency response use is not compatible with the site’s recreation use; site distance on Crescent Avenue is poor; and parking demands would overflow into the Summer Wind development. The City should consider an alternate site on or near Rt. 9P. Nancy Goldberg of 66 Sarazen Street stated she is speaking on behalf of the residents east of the Northway, specifically those in Interlaken. It takes 9 – 21 minutes for emergency services to reach our area. A #9 priority on the capital budget list offers us a private ambulance service at public expense. She would like to know why they should settle for amateurs like SEMS when they pay taxes for highly paid trained professionals in both fire and EMT. They don’t want SEMS, they hire young people who leave the minute they can get a better paying job. Her main point is this Council saw it fit to build a recreation center before giving them emergency services. George Shulof of 55 Regatta View Road is president of the Regatta View Homeowner’s Association and a member of the East Side Safety Committee. Timely emergency service must be provided to the residents of this area. In many instances, emergency medical staff of the Fire Department are the first responders. An alternate location should be selected that can accommodate fire and medical. He suggested the Council retain an architect engineer to design or copy an existing facility for EMT initially but also for a fire house shortly there after. Public safety should be the top concern of any government and should not be compromised by politics or any political party. Brent Wilkes of 5 Thames Way submitted a copy of what he read to the Council. He inquired as to why the amount of funds allocated for each year of the program are the same for projects #4, 7, and 8. He also asked the following regarding the emergency services: can the proposed site accommodate parking for the park and EMS services; with the EMS station be manned 24/7; and with the proposed EMS station be designed to accommodate a fire station in the future. His final question was regarding the City’s policy for the annual debt service in relation to the total City budget. Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road stated he doesn’t object to any of the items in the capital budget. He asked if there will be money budgeted for a project manager for the development of the parking deck. We will also have to co-ordinate with the development of the Lillian’s lot so that 2 lots aren’t closed at the same time. Samantha Bosshart, executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation thanked the Council for putting the repairs of the Spirit of Life and Spencer Trask Memorial in the budget. The last time restoration was done on the Spirit of Life was approximately 30 years ago. They have done preliminary cost estimates and found it could cost up to $200,000. They hope the City could contribute over a period of time $25,000 and the Foundation will contribute the rest. Matt Jones of 2 Victoria Lane stated he is a member of the task force for the parking deck. There is a broad consensus for the need of a parking deck. He commended the mayor for the program he put forward which takes advantage of the current economic times. Downtown remains key to the success of Saratoga Springs. Donna Wardlaw of 588 North Broadway stated she and her husband Bob Bristol are also owners of 437 Broadway. She came to commend the Council for moving forward with the parking initiative. Multiple use downtown requires multiple use parking – we need 2 hr., 4 hr., and long term parking to accommodate the mixture of uses. Jeff Clark of 480 Broadway and president of the Downtown Business Association expressed his appreciation for the leadership on the parking initiative. Page 3 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/25/11 Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 12:36 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 12:36 p.m. PRESENTATION Capital Program 2012-2017 Mayor Johnson explained he will be presenting an abbreviated version. The Capital Program its entirety can be found on line or in the City Clerk’s Office. The Capital Program for 2012 – 2017 has been a year in the making. Each department that comes forward with a project must present a cost and need for the project. The composition of the committee is determined by the City Charter. The committee assigned rankings for the upcoming year – 2012. The committee has recommended bonding almost $5.5 million next year of which $1.3 million represents water and sewer bonds. Water and sewer bonds are excluded for the calculation of the debt limit. Mayor Johnson explained each of the following projects in the Capital Program: Department 2012 Capital Project Title Total Rank REQUESTS REQUIRING BONDING Finance Lake Avenue Fire Dept. Infrastructure Renovation Project $453,599 1 Mayor Woodlawn Avenue Parking Deck $2,582,000 2 DPW # Water Treatment Plant Filter Upgrades $825,000 3 DPW # $ Infrastructure Improvement & Replacement Project $350,000 4 Finance Time and Attendance System $60,000 5 Accounts Sound and Recording System $17,000 6 DPW City Buildings & Facilities – Repairs & Upgrades $200,000 7 DPW Canfield Casino Rehabilitation Program $300,000 8 DPS/Mayor Emergency Services for Eastern Plateau $200,000 9 DPW/Rec * Ice Rinks Rehabilitation $185,530 10 DPS Radio Communications Replacement $24,663 11 DPW Spirit of Life Restoration $25,000 12 DPW/DPW Downtown/Congress Park Security Camera System $125,000 13 DPW # Wastewater Pump Stations Annual Upgrades $100,000 14 DPS Police Department Infrastructure Renovation Project $46,490 15 DPS West Avenue Fire Department Parking Lot Improvement $54,120 16 DPS Lake Avenue Fire Station – Sidewalk Replacement $16,786 17 TOTAL BONDED PROJECTS $5,565,188 Less projects funded by Water Fund $1,275,000 NET AMOUNT – TOTAL INCREASE IN DEBT LIMIT $4,290,188 REQUESTS CONTINGENT ON GRANT / SCHOOL FUNDING Mayor * Waterfront Property Redevelopment Phase 2 $400,000 DPW/REC ## East Side Rec and West Side Rec Capital Improvements $30,000 TOTAL CONTINGENT ON GRANT / SCHOOL FUNDING $430,000 # Indicates Water Funds / * Contingent on Grant Funding / ## Contingent on School Funding / $ May be financed through NYSEFC SRF Page 4 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/25/11 Mayor Johnson advised the next public hearing will be September 6, 2011 before the regular City Council meeting. PUBLIC COMENT Mayor Johnson opened the public comment period at 12:55 p.m. 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. Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road stated a comment was made earlier that the City addressed the building of the recreation center before emergency services on the east side. We have been paying for the recreation center building for 6 years so it makes sense that we built it. That is not to say that the emergency services aren’t necessary. Mayor Johnson noted that each year the City does retire a certain amount of bonds. They anticipate retiring $1.8 million in bonding for this coming year. Mayor Johnson closed the public comment period at 12:57 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA None MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT None ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT None FINANCE DEPARTMENT None PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Commissioner Scirocco moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to add the item of setting of a public hearing to the Department of Public Works agenda. Ayes – All Commissioner Scirocco set a public hearing for September 6, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. to amend the 2011 Capital Budget for the Ballston Avenue improvement project. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT None SUPERVISORS None Page 5 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/25/11 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to adjourn the meeting. Ayes – All There being no further business, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 9/6/11 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 6 of 6