City Council

May 5, 2020 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting Recreation Center 15 Vanderbilt Avenue 7:00 PM 6:55 p.m. – P.H. – Amend Capital Program and Capital Budget to Include city Hall Renovation P.H. – Zoning Ordinance Amendment Establishing Emergency Extensions 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approval of 4/6/2020 Pre-Agenda Transcript 2. Approve Use of Insurance Reserve Resolution #4 3. Budget Amendments – Insurance Reserve #4 4. Budget Amendments – Regular (Increases) 5. Budget Transfers – Regular 6. Approve Payroll 5/1/2020 $475,734.61 7. Approve Warrant – 2020 20MWAPR6 $108,770.53 8. Approve Warrant – 2020 20MAY1 $429,125.22 MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Announcement: 2020 Census Self-Reporting Reminder 2. Announcement: UDO Update 3. Announcement: 2020 CDBG Program Year Entitlement Fund Application Period Re-opened and CDBG-CV Fund Application Opened 4. Appointment: Complete Streets Advisory Committee 5. Set Public Hearing: CDBG Citizen Participation Plan Amendment 6. Set Public Hearing: Amend City Code 218-15 Regarding Temporary Dwellings in Established Agricultural District 7. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Execute MOA with Habitat for Humanity 8. Discussion and Vote: Resolution to Waive Letters of Credit extension Fees 9. Discussion and Vote: Zoning Ordinance Amendment Establishing Emergency Extensions 10. Discussion and Vote: CDBG Language Assistance Plan City Council Meeting 5/5/20 ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion and Vote: Accept Donation of Cloth Face Masks from Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services 2. Discussion and Vote: Accept Donation of Hand Sanitizer from Cooperstown Distillery 3. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Energy Contract 4. Discussion: Grievance Class Update 5. Discussion: Grievance Day Updates 6. Award of Bid: Pipes, Hydrants, Fittings, and Valves to Ferguson Waterworks FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Presentation: 1st Quarter 2020 Finance Report 2. Presentation: Update: Finance Department – COVID-19 and City Finances 3. Announcement: Update: Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) on Pause 4. Discussion and Vote: Information Security Analyst 5. Discussion and Vote: Resolution for the Use of the Building Reserve 6. Discussion and Vote: 2018 Fund Balance – Assignment Revision 7. Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Amendment – City Hall Renovations (Project #1141) 8. Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Transfer – City Hall Renovations (Project #1141) 9. Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Transfer (Revenue) – City Hall Renovations (project #1141) 10. Discussion and Vote: Budget Transfers – Payroll 11. Announcement: Appointment to the Saratoga Springs Arts Commission PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Appointment: Appointment Saratoga Springs Arts Commission 2. Announcement: 2019 – 2020 MS4 Annual Report 3. Discussion and Vote: Amend Capital Budget for City Hall Renovation 4. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Contract with Ferguson Waterworks for Pipes, Fittings, Hydrants, and Valves 5. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign New York State Department of Transportation Utility Work Agreement 6. Announcement: Hydrant Flushing 7. Discussion: Flat Rock Parking Center Lease – North Lot PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Announcement: Virus Update 2. Set Public Hearing: Amend Chapter 225 of the City Code, Section 225-77; Schedule XII – Stop Intersections 3. Announcement: Bikeatoga Public Safety Proposal for the City Website SUPERVISORS Matt Veitch 1. Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Update Tara Gaston 1. Board Update 2. Public Forum ADJOURN Page 2 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 May 5, 2020 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting Recreation Center 15 Vanderbilt Avenue 7:00 PM PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Robin Dalton, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Lisa Shields, Deputy Mayor Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner of Accounts Joe O’Neill, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Vince DeLeonardis, City Attorney Matt Veitch, Supervisor Tara Gaston, Supervisor 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 Amend Capital Program and Capital Budget to Include city Hall Renovation Mayor Kelly opened the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised tonight’s public hearing is to amend chapter 240 of the code; specifically to add a new section 6.1.9 to allow for extensions of Land Use Board approvals to the extent we are authorized under the state law. The extension will go into effect from March 13, 2020 and will run until the state of emergency is lifted. No one spoke. Mayor Kelly closed the public hearing at 7:02 p.m. Zoning Ordinance Amendment Establishing Emergency Extensions Mayor Kelly opened the public hearing at 7:02 p.m. Page 3 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Commissioner Scirocco advised this public hearing is for the amendment to the capital program and capital budget to include City Hall renovations. The City Hall restoration and renovation project is in the homestretch. There have been some unpredictable delays especially due to the Corona Virus. We are within a few weeks of completion. This budget amendment is to the capital program to increase the City buildings and facilities upgrades line by $563,077. Mayor Kelly closed the public hearing at 7:06 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded to approve the consent agenda as follows: 1. Approval of 4/6/2020 Pre-Agenda Transcript 2. Approve Use of Insurance Reserve Resolution #4 3. Budget Amendments – Insurance Reserve #4 4. Budget Amendments – Regular (Increases) 5. Budget Transfers – Regular 6. Approve Payroll 5/1/2020 $475,734.61 7. Approve Warrant – 2020 20MWAPR6 $108,770.53 8. Approve Warrant – 2020 20MAY1 $429,125.22 Ayes – All MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Announcement: 2020 Census Self-Reporting Reminder Mayor Kelly announced the City of Saratoga Springs’ current response rate is about 60% and New York State’s self-response rate is currently 50%. We are ahead of the statewide average but we would like to see that rate increase even more. Please complete your census on line at 2020census.gov. Announcement: UDO Update Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised public comments were received through February 21 st of this year. On March 3rd, I presented to the City Council a summary of the comments received from the public and some of the guidance we were going with direction toward a draft two. We met with members of City Council so that we could give further guidance to our consultant, Camiros. Ten days after the March 3rd presentation there was a state of emergency declared. Although we had anticipated releasing draft two in April that clearly did not happen for obvious reasons. We’ve received a number of inquiries from the public as to where we are with regard to the UDO. While the current pandemic has delayed our efforts, we still are working with our consultants towards developing a draft two. I can’t indicate a date of release for draft two, but we are progressing in that direction. We are hopeful that a second draft will be available in the near future. Announcement: 2020 CDBG Program Year Entitlement Fund Application Period Re-opened and CDBG-CV Fund Application Opened Mayor Kelly announced the 2020 CDBG Program year entitlement fund application period reopened due to the current pandemic. The available funding in this program this year is $315,491. The City has been allotted additional CDBG funding by HUD through the CARES Act for COVID-19 related activities benefiting Page 4 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 the low to moderate population in the amount of $181,629. Guidelines and applications as well as the funding schedule for both of these funding resources will be posted on the City website Friday, May 8 th. Appointment: Complete Streets Advisory Committee Mayor Kelly re-appointed Theodore Orosz to the Complete Streets Advisory Committee. He will serve a two-year term lasting from 5/5/20 to 5/5/22. I thank Ted for his service. Set Public Hearing: CDBG Citizen Participation Plan Amendment Mayor Kelly set a public hearing for Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 6:55 p.m. Set Public Hearing: Amend City Code 218-15 Regarding Temporary Dwellings in Established Agricultural District Mayor Kelly set a public hearing for Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 6:55 p.m. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Execute MOA with Habitat for Humanity (20-176) Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised our Zoning Ordinance in section 6.3.4 has language which allows for temporary dwellings for farm workers within state established agricultural districts. The issue recently arose that there is a provision in our codes, Chapter 218, that seems to contradict or conflict with that section of the Zoning Ordinance. The proposed amendment to chapter 218-15 is to allow for those temporary dwellings for farm workers and to align that section with section 6.3.4 of our Zoning Ordinance. Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded the City Council authorize the mayor to execute MOA with Habitat for Humanity as included with this agenda. Ayes - All Discussion and Vote: Resolution to Waive Letters of Credit extension Fees (20-177) Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised this resolution is to address projects whose letter of credit are set to expire in June. This resolution will allow for a waiver of the fees associated with the extension of letter of credit that will expire in the month of June, July, and August. The applicant is still required to submit an application for the extension; the action is just the waiver of the associated fee. Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Madigan seconded that the City Council approve the resolution to waive the letter of credit extension fees as included with this agenda. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Zoning Ordinance Amendment Establishing Emergency Extensions (20-178) Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised this is to allow for extensions of Land Use Boards for approvals during the period of the declared state of emergency. Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Madigan seconded that the City Council approve the Zoning Ordinance amendment establishing emergency extensions as included with this agenda. Ayes - All Discussion and Vote: CDBG Language Assistance Plan (20-179) Mayor Kelly advised City staff will attempt to identify limited English proficiency (LEP) person to provide guidance as to how to receive information in a language and appropriate format. Currently two Community Page 5 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Development staff members are bi-lingual Spanish speakers. We will request the formal documentation by CDBG sub-grantees for the instances of LEP persons request or inquiries on a quarterly basis. This information could also be used as data source to identify future language needs. We will also post signage at public meetings, local agencies, and local government offices noting language translation that will be made available upon request. We will continue to collaborate with local agencies and institutions who are able to provide translation services. Adherence to this plan does not necessitate any budget amendments or additional expenditures of City funds. Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded that the City Council approve the CDBG language assistance plan as included with this agenda. Ayes - All ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Accept Donation of Cloth Face Masks from Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services (20-180) Commissioner Franck advised the City received a donation of 8,000 cloth facemasks from Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services. Masks were distributed to Wesley, the Senior Center, Home of the Good Shepard, Shelters of Saratoga, the Downtown Business Association, Chamber, and for other local businesses. He thanked Saratoga County for their very generous donation. Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded to accept the donation of cloth facemasks from Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services for a value of $8,000. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Accept Donation of Hand Sanitizer from Cooperstown Distillery (20-181) Commissioner Franck advised the City received a donation of 400 bottles of hand sanitizer from Cooperstown Distillery. The bottles were distributed to Wesley, the Senior Center, and Shelters of Saratoga. Cooperstown Distillery also has plans to open a store on Broadway in the old Bruegers location. We want to thank the Cooperstown Distillery. Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded to accept the donation of the hand sanitizer from Cooperstown Distillery at a value of $1,600. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Energy Contract (20-182) Commissioner Franck advised the Finance Department requested we amend the energy contracts we have in place with Constellation to become a single-stream billing so the solar credits the City receives are visible within the billing. Single-stream means the supply and delivery charges are billed from one vendor. In this case, that would be National Grid. Changing to this form will result in a nominal increase of approximately $2,300 per year due to the administrative fees. Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to authorize the mayor to sign energy contracts with Constellation Energy as attached with this agenda. Ayes – All Discussion: Grievance Class Update Page 6 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Commissioner Franck advised every year the Assessment Office holds a how to grieve your assessment class. This year the class was scheduled for next Tuesday, May 12th but due to COVID-19 and the governor’s orders we had to postpone the class and are looking into alternative options. What we have done is uploaded the PowerPoint presentation that we do and use in the class to the City website under latest information. After reviewing the PowerPoint, if a taxpayer has any questions, they can email or call the Assessment Office and we will get back to them. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to do the class because of COVID-19. Again, feel free to contact the Assessment Office if you have any questions. Discussion: Grievance Day Updates Commissioner Franck advised grievance day is still scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, 2020. We did have an opt-out potentially, but our department had worked on this and was able to get out the roll in a timely manner. We are still holding our grievance day on May 26, 2020. However, due to Governor Cuomo’s New York State on Pause/Stay At Home Executive Order, the Assessment Office is accepting grievance applications via mail only. Once an application to grieve an assessment is received, the Assessment Office will call the applicant to schedule a time to appear if they wish. As things may change at any time, we will update the Council and the City via the City webpage for all updates. Award of Bid: Pipes, Hydrants, Fittings, and Valves to Ferguson Waterworks (20-183) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to award the bid for pipes, hydrants, fittings, and valves to Ferguson Waterworks for an amount not to exceed $81,261.20. Ayes – All FINANCE DEPARTMENT Presentation: 1st Quarter 2020 Finance Report Commissioner Madigan advised this report is prepared on a cash basis and no adjustments have been made for receivables or payables. In the general fund, revenue property taxes in the general fund are recognized for the full amount levied at the time the tax roll is posted to the general ledger. The Finance Office has reviewed the payments made as of 3/31/20 and 57% has been collected or $9,137,251. Last year at this time, 55% was collected. As of 3/31/20, the City has not received many of its larger revenue streams. Sales tax figures include one month since February and March collections are not distributed to the City from New York State Taxation and Finance until April and May respectfully. VLT aid is paid in June. Hotel occupancy tax is paid to the City from the County on a quarterly basis. The first quarterly payment for 2020 will be received in April. County surplus distribution is paid on a quarterly basis too with the first payment due in April. NYRA admissions tax is paid annually after the racing season has closed. The bulk of franchise tax is paid annually in the last quarter of the year. State aid revenue sharing is distributed in two installments, September and December. The largest share is received in December. Mortgage tax is paid semi-annually in May and November. In the Finance Office, when actual revenue is adjusted to reflect actual property tax receipts, then the Finance Office is at 24% collected. Please note that recreation revenues are only 11.8% as of March 31st. Approximately 25% of property tax revenues were actually received as of 3/31/20. In 2019, the adjusted approximate revenue collected was 26%. Water and sewer revenues, the first quarter water and sewer bills for 2020 were mailed in April for a May 15 th due date. That has been extended by the Commissioner of Public Works to June 15th. Capital revenues – the City will issue a general obligation bond in June to finance the 2020 capital projects. Liability insurance has been paid in full for the year. Most departments’ expenses are running at about 25%, which is on target for 3/31/20 and is consistent with the first quarter of 2019. Variances are due to seasonal expenses and grants. Presentation: Update: Finance Department – COVID-19 and City Finances Page 7 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Commissioner Madigan advised a plan is coming together and I have reviewed these tools at the 3/17 City Council meeting, the 4/7 City Council meeting, and the 4/21 City Council meeting, as well as through other methods including media. The first one is various loans. In particular, short-term loans, one of which is a budget note which taps out at 5% of our general operating budget. New legislation, and I am closely tied to this legislation right now working with various bond counsels, is being promoted to allow deficiency notes in addition to budget notes. The hope is these deficiency notes will not be limited by any sort of percentage of our operating budget. All of these will be due for repayment in 2021 with interest. Potentially not the deficiency note, that may have a longer established term. We are still working through those details. Fund balance as available at this point, I have recommended bringing fund balance down to 8% and I am absolutely willing to go to 6% if that’s what we need. I would not like to go further than 6% for reasons I will explain later. In terms of reserves, some reserves are guided by New York State law and would be very difficult and some almost impossible to break. However, I have reassigned $1 million dollars in assigned but unrestricted reserves. Expenditure cuts, all the departments, I have received reductions that I had requested to try to achieve as closely as you could 10%. I have all of those in. Employee wages, we looked as shared work program. That seems to be off the table. It’s complicated and especially due to the time it takes to implement it, which could be up to four weeks. Furloughs, deferred raises, payment on a lag, retirements, and lay-offs are being discussed. We are also hopeful for federal programs. They have yet to emerge. National unemployment applications are over 30 million and consumer spending is down a record 7.5%. The governor has been very vocal about the prohibition of events and venues that attract large numbers of traveling visitors including having fans denied attendance at the 2020 NYRA and SPAC seasons. The County and state fairs have been cancelled, all New York State schools are closed through the year-end. Whether summer school will commence has yet to be determined. The governor is in process of rolling out a plan to re-open the economy post May 15th. In the face of the absence of federal assistance, coupled with revenue losses, all of our revenues, jurisdictions across the state that are moving ahead with lay-offs and furloughs. The City of Albany announced yesterday that its estimated budget shortfall will force lay-offs in every department. Cuts will begin this week and no department will be left unscathed. The City of Ithaca announced lay-off actions over a week ago after the third federal stimulus bill provided no local aid. It cited an economy that is heavily reliant on students and their families as well as tourism to generate the local sales tax that along with property tax funds annual budgets. It expects those revenue streams to dry up resulting in a serious financial hit. The City of Schenectady announced today significant cuts to police and fire. Finance has projected a $14 - $16 million dollar revenue shortfall in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a significant shortfall creates stresses on our budget and to our cash flow. From a budgetary perspective, we are contemplating the following to address the revenue shortfall: $4.5 million from City’s unassigned unrestricted fund balance. We can go a little higher – we are at 8% at 4.5; 6% operating expenses would be the lowest I would recommend going because we have about 33 employees who are available for retirement. When they retire, we have to be prepared to pay them their comp time, sick time, and overtime. $1 million from the re-assignment of various assignments; $2.4 million in a budget note that would be short-term debt that would be due to pay back at the end of December 2021; $4 million in proposed departmental expense reductions. That total package is $11.9 million. This leaves us with a projected revenue shortfall between $2.1 and $4.1 million. This is just in 2020. Be aware taking the above actions have ramifications that the City will have to remedy. The use of fund balance may reduce our unassigned unrestricted fund balance below our minimal allowable threshold of 10% that is self- imposed; however, if we do go below 6% the comptroller will put the City of Saratoga Springs on a list of fiscally stressed cities. Further reductions could lead to significant long-term financial ramifications for the City and should be strenuously avoided, as funds will be needed for various payouts, as I said, retirements, comp time, sick time, and other liabilities the City is required to pay at any given time. It would also draw intense negative scrutiny from our rating agency. We are in the process of re-affirming our bond rating. Actually today, we had the rating call. Short-term loans have steeper interest rates and must be paid in full by 1/231/20. Budget cuts provided by each department are under review. These must be reviewed to determine how many can be acted upon given union agreements, contractual obligations, relevant laws and regulations. Figures supplied by departments are as follows: but I’m just going to give you the total for that, the will likely be reduced. The total is $4,064,255.23; the Mayor’s Office coming in at 3.7% of total budget; finance at 10%; public works at 6.98%; public safety at 8.97%; accounts at 8.3%; rec at 13.14%; and rec and DPW an additional 8.81%. The cash flow situation is no less challenging. Monthly expenses continue to accumulate while revenue collection has slowed significantly. It is critical that we significantly reduce our spending now. Like most jurisdictions, one of our limited ways to meet our budget and cash needs is to Page 8 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 reduce one of our largest expenses and that is wages. This is also one of the most difficult. Several programs have been researched. I’ll repeat them again, New York State Shared Work Program, lay-offs, deferred raises, payment on a lag, retirement, and furloughs. Someone even gave me an idea today that I will of course float by the legal team, the mayor, and that is to reduce our workweek to four days a week. I don’t know how much money that might save; take Fridays, a long weekend. I don’t know. Nothing is too crazy for me to explore at this point in time. Furloughs are a very effective means of achieving immediate expense reductions. Affected employees would be able to collect New York State unemployment, collect the additional $600 weekly benefit provided by the federal government through July 31st and maintain their City provided benefits. Many of our employees already have reduced duties during our stay at home period while the City still pays them as if they were working 100% schedule. We can reduce our spending immediately by furloughing these and potentially other employees. Taking such an approach provides immediate relief to the City while providing maximum protections to affected employees but only if we move quickly. The mayor, H.R., and our Legal Department are discussing this option with each union in the coming week. Reducing City expenditures via furloughs will have a direct impact on the potential for any future lay-offs and that for me is the goal. That is, the more people we furlough now, and it will be difficult, the fewer we will need to consider laying off later in the year. I have also noted that this may not be the final word on expense reductions. The current situation is extremely challenging and in constant flux. Further action most likely be required throughout the year so that we can maintain essential services, protect our employees, and ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the City. We have made a great deal of progress and we have more work to complete. Thank you to all members of the City Council, the City employees, our New York State representatives, and the tremendous efforts of our local businesses, and citizens. Announcement: Update: Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) on Pause Commissioner Madigan advised the City of Saratoga Springs is one of thirteen municipalities in the capital region working toward a community choice aggregation program that benefits residents throughout the region. She decided to place community choice aggregation on pause during this health crisis for a number of reasons. Progressing further with CCA during this pandemic would hamper the transparency, education, and discussion that needs to take place with the community prior to City Council moving forward with the program. City Council and our community is fully focused on COVD-19 pandemic right now, its implications to our public health, our economic recovery, and the financial challenges to follow. This is the time to pause CCA but we do not plan to stop providing education and environmental leadership in our goal of 100% renewable CCA program. The energy market has crashed and we do not want to pass along a greater expense to our residents at this time. MEGA will be monitoring the energy market throughout the summer and continue to have conversations with us as well as the other 12 CCA communities to help determine the right time to move forward and at that time she will continue to update the City Council. Discussion and Vote: Information Security Analyst Commissioner Madigan pulled this item from her agenda. Discussion and Vote: Resolution for the Use of the Building Reserve (20-184) Commissioner Madigan advised City Hall is near completion and the urgency to move back into our building is pressing. About $567,000 is required to complete the renovation; an amount of $167,513.92 is being requested from the building reserve. The current balance in this reserve is $627,741; this will be $460,227.08. Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded that the City Council approve a resolution for the use of the building reserve as include with this agenda. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: 2018 Fund Balance – Assignment Revision (20-185) Page 9 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Commissioner Madigan advised on October 1, 2019, the Council approved the creation of an assignment for the Recreation Department skate park improvements in the amount of $200,000. Priorities have changed and she would like this assignment to be changed to an assignment for building and facilities capital improvements in the amount of $188,095, leaving the assignment for Recreation Department skate park improvements at $11,905, an amount that has been placed in the capital budget and encumbered for design work with the school district. This will allow the essential final work to be completed on City Hall. Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to approve the revision of the 10/1/2019 assignment for the Recreation Department skate park improvements reducing it to $11,905 and establishing an assignment for City Hall renovations in the amount of $188,095 as described in the memo included with the agenda. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Amendment – City Hall Renovations (Project #1141) (20-186) Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to approve the capital budget amendment City Hall renovations project 1141 as included with the agenda. Roll call: Commissioner Franck – Aye Commissioner Madigan – Aye Commissioner Scirocco – Aye Commissioner Dalton – Aye Mayor Kelly – Aye Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Transfer – City Hall Renovations (Project #1141) (20-187) Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded to approve the capital budget transfers – City Hall renovation project 1141 as included with the agenda. Roll call: Commissioner Franck – Aye Commissioner Madigan – Aye Commissioner Scirocco – Aye Commissioner Dalton – Aye Mayor Kelly – Aye Discussion and Vote: Capital Budget Transfer (Revenue) – City Hall Renovations (project #1141) (20-188) Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded that the City Council approve the capital budget transfer City Hall renovations – revenue – project 1141 as included with the agenda. Roll call: Commissioner Franck – Aye Commissioner Madigan – Aye Commissioner Scirocco – Aye Commissioner Dalton – Aye Mayor Kelly – Aye Discussion and Vote: Budget Transfers – Payroll (20-189) Commissioner Madigan moved and Mayor Kelly seconded that the City Council approve the budget transfers from payroll as included with the agenda. Page 10 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Ayes – All Announcement: Appointment to the Saratoga Springs Arts Commission Commissioner Madigan re-appoint Ria Curley to the Saratoga Arts Commission and thank her for her past and continue service to the Commission and the City. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Appointment: Appointment Saratoga Springs Arts Commission Commissioner Scirocco re-appointed Lisa Kolosek to the Arts Commission. Announcement: 2019 – 2020 MS4 Annual Report Commissioner Scirocco announced the draft 2019 – 2020 annual report on the City’s municipal separate storm sewer system will be available on the City’s website for a 30 day public review and comment period. The MS4 program is administered statewide by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Anyone wishing to comment on the draft report should contact the MS4 program coordinator in the City Engineer’s Office by telephone at 518-587-7098 ext. 2573 or using email addressed to alflick@saratoga-springs.org. Discussion and Vote: Amend Capital Budget for City Hall Renovation (20-190) Commissioner Scirocco advised this is to amend capital budget for City Hall renovation. The budget amendment to the capital program is to increase city buildings and facilities upgrades line by $563,000.77. Commissioner Scirocco moved and Mayor Kelly seconded to amend the capital budget for the City Hall renovations and I put that in a form of a motion. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Contract with Ferguson Waterworks for Pipes, Fittings, Hydrants, and Valves (20-191) Commissioner Scirocco moved and Commissioner Franck seconded to authorize the mayor to sign a contract with Ferguson Waterworks for pipes, fittings, hydrants, and valves in the amount not to exceed unit bid price per proposal. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign New York State Department of Transportation Utility Work Agreement (20-192) Commissioner Scirocco advised this utility agreement with the New York State Department of Transportation is based on the resolution that was approved by the City Council on 2/18/2020 for work the state needs to do to repair part of NYS Route 9N from Myrtle Street to North Greenfield Road to Spiers Falls Road. As part of this corrective maintenance, the state will be adjusting and relocating some water valves owned by the City. Overall, the work will be done by the state and will result in new paved surface, safer travel over this busy highway. Commissioner Scirocco moved and Commissioner Franck seconded for the mayor to sign utility agreement between the New York State Department of Transportation and the City of Saratoga Springs. Page 11 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 Ayes - All Announcement: Hydrant Flushing Commissioner Scirocco announced the Department of Public Works will begin flushing hydrants this week. Employees will be starting at North Broadway working towards the southeast and southwest end of the City. Discussion: Flat Rock Parking Center Lease – North Lot Commissioner Scirocco advised there was language in the lease that jumped out at him that he wasn’t aware of. The grading and seeding of the north lot was negotiated with the lease. I thought that was part of phase 2. The way I read the lease is the lease expires when the project is over, then the lot reverts to the City. I’m under the impression that we don’t have enough parking, not for City Hall employees but for City Hall vehicles that we’re going to have down there. The two-hour lot is not big enough to support all the vehicles. His thought is to have a permitted parking lot just for City Hall employees. The 60 spaces in the parking deck are free only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Mayor Kelly advised the intent was to have grass area. This was discussed and we did give back the two- hour lot. We said we might have a shortage. Commissioner Dalton advised a meeting was held a week ago with Chief Catone and Vince regarding the structuring of parking for the City and worked out a couple solutions that will accommodate. Commissioner Scirocco stated it has not been decided what we are going to do with that parcel along with the 2-hour parcel. His understanding is they’re separate from phase 1. Phase 1 was the parking deck. Where we are going to put all the City vehicles? By the time you get done with engineering, Building Department, and the Police Department, you’re not going to have enough room for the commissioners and City owned vehicles. He suggested to separate themselves from that first phase and keep that lot as a surface lot where City Hall employees have permit parking. That would solve a lot of problems we are going to have when we move back in City Hall. Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney advised there was a committee established shortly after the Council ended the prior contract with the City Center under the last iteration of a parking garage. A concept plan was developed that contained four principal components; one being a municipal parking structure; the other being an extension of the downtown connector; one component being a park which will be developed in the future; and then the reservation of out-parcels for future development. The Council then passed a resolution accepting those four components be part of utilization of that property but in that resolution they recognized that due to financing and other considerations, they had to proceed with the development of that parcel in two phases. The first phase was going to include the parking structure and the downtown connector. The second phase, at some point in the future, would include the development of the park. When they are no longer need the lot for staging, they are required under the license agreement to grade and seed that area. It is clear that at the conclusion of the project, the entire parcel, which isn’t just depicted in words, it’s also depicted in a map that is attached to the lease agreement as exhibit C and that identifies the entire area that we are talking about. The number of spaces that are going to be available for City use in the parking facility plus the number of spaces that are going to be available for use in the two hour lot, and the number of spaces we will be able to utilize along Maple Avenue for police and other marked City vehicles; there is a comfort level among everyone that there is more than sufficient parking to provide for the needs of City vehicles. As we get closer and closer to moving back into City Hall, are going to have to have further conversations about how we are going to divvy up those 60 spaces in the parking structure. He has been having meetings with Deputy Commissioner Finneran and they will be reporting back to Council, with regard to what we recommend for the 60 spaces. For marked City owned vehicles - between the two-hour lot and Maple Avenue, it’s sufficient for those needs. Commissioner Scirocco stated there is going to be a shortage of parking down there for City owned vehicles and for City personnel. It’s something we are going to have to deal with in the future, but he Page 12 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 wanted to go on record saying we don’t have enough parking for not only City owned vehicles but for City personnel and to go on record saying we are not going to be able to do business with people in City Hall. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Announcement: Virus Update Commissioner Dalton read the following into the record: Mayor Kelly and Commissioners: I would like to provide an update from the CEMC. Continue to monitor the impact that COVID-19 has had in Saratoga Springs. The County Public Health is running a daily dashboard, which shows county demographics as well as a breakdown of City residents who have tested positive for COVID-19. The CEMC continues to transition toward a recovery phase. We are working on screening employees. This work is in conjunction with Human Resources. CEMC members continue to gather information to ensure we are able to maximize state and federal reimbursements resulting from the pandemic. Personnel continue completing ICS courses. There are a few left. If you are not sure, please contact Risk and Safety. We are waiting for further guidance from Governor Cuomo. His message is that of a data driven phase of period, if we continue to wait for further details we will be prepared to meet the needs of the City’s re-opening. This concludes the update from the CEMC. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Respectfully, Chief Joe Dolan Set Public Hearing: Amend Chapter 225 of the City Code, Section 225-77; Schedule XII – Stop Intersections Commissioner Dalton set a public hearing for Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 6:55 p.m. Announcement: Bikeatoga Public Safety Proposal for the City Website Commissioner Dalton announced in coordination with Bikeatoga, she will be putting up a safety announcement on the City website regarding the rules of the road for bicyclist, joggers, pedestrians, and motorists as well as some safety tips for City residents. SUPERVISORS Matt Veitch Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Update Supervisor Veitch reported they had a Human Resources and Insurance Committee meeting last week. At that meeting there was a committee appointed of supervisors, a sub-committee from the Human Resources and Insurance Committee that is charged with investigating the time and a half policies. At the Board meeting, which was the same day as the last City Council meeting, the County did a resolution to have an internal committee or internally look at the time and a half issue that we had with our employees that were working as essential employees. They did appoint an internal sub-committee from the Human Resources and Insurance Committee. Tara Gaston Board Update Supervisor Gaston reported they’ve had some requests for masks and hand sanitizers throughout the City and she has been very responsive in making sure they get those to the places where people need them, Page 13 of 14 City Council Meeting 5/5/20 including Stonequist and the Terrace providing masks. She can bring sanitizer from the County. The County has 364 cases, which is the same as we’ve had so emergency services is happy with that. The Board was notified by the HR director that all additional compensation has been stopped for all employees including those in the command center. That was a decision that was not made by the Board or with the Board’s knowledge. She has the same question about the attorney who was hired for the external investigation in addition to the fact the Board is supposed to authorize expenses over $15,000. I estimate this will be over $15,000 if they are doing an external investigation and yet the Board was not responsible for authorizing those costs. Public Forum Supervisor Gaston reported this Thursday, the 7th at 6 p.m. she will be having another public forum on Facebook Live. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 8:44 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 10/20/2020 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 14 of 14