City Council

MINUTES OF THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE SCHENECTADY CITY COUNCIL August 24, 2015 was to by at Chambers at City HalL Ms. King asked Rev. Arthur Butler to provide the invocation. Ms. King then called on Jeff Goronkin to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The City Clerk caned the roll and the following members of the Council answered to be present: Present Council members, John Margaret King, Ed Kosiur, Leesa Perazzo, Marion Porterfield, and Vincent Riggi John At this point, there were no to out order. Resolution No. 2015-217 - Resolution Recognizing Buzz Media and the lVIiles of Smiles Committee. representatives the Miles Committee were on hand and extended their gratitude for the recognition the Mayor and Council. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. Regarding Designating the Woodlawn Preserve a Park Lou Grasso, Schenectady - Noted he is a member of the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. He then spoke in favor of Woodlawn Preserve being designated a park. He noted the designation  Council Minutes 20151 2of6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: King a to approve minutes the August 10, 2015 Council meetings as submitted by the City Ms. Perrazo made a motion to approve the minutes, Mr. Riggi seconded the motion. Communications Presented to the City Council for Monday August 24, 2015 Official: a !J'VLUU'LVUCJ dated August 2015. General: Petitions: COMMITTEE REPORTS Leesa Perazzo, Government Operations - In relation to the public hearing regarding the building permit fee waiver she noted the fees would be waived if damage was caused by the City. She gave the example of a City owned tree falling on a private residents. Marion Porterfield, Health & Recreation - Noted there will be a Back to School Jamboree in Jerry Burrell Park on August 29 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event includes  Council Minutes 20151 3 of 6 or rp,,1rivrc'i1 rF't"""CPri streets You can anywhere were a project was done and you will see symbols, numbers, letters, etc. painted on the ground and left there - months after the job was finished. The engineering department does nothing about it. Beautification is not on their radar. Well, it be a city project should look better its completion than it did before. to be more language added to code before it passes. The engineering department needs to clean what the contractors behind. on INTRODUCTION OF AND ACTION UPON LOCAL LAWS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: a Consent Agenda Ordinance No. 2015 12 ....................................... Adopted Unanimously Ordinance No. 2015 13 ....................................... Adopted Unanimously Resolution No. 2015 218 .................................... Adopted Unanimously Resolution No. 2015 219 .................................... Adopted Unanimously  Council Minutes r\U\..,U;:>, 20151 4of6 to amlrel)S the IJw~lfliess to come are surmrlan Jason Planck, Schenectady Noted Schenectady Gazette had an article recently on Metroplex related to PILOTS. He noted the paper indicated that Ray Gillen falsified documents job related to the program. He added the state Comptroller was quoted the article as well. reporting included FOIL requests. He noted an obligation to have a cost benefit analysis completed on all PILOTS. He added this has not been done in 11 noted Metroplex is required to file a report by April 1 to the City Council. With respect to the largest companies benefiting from the PILOTS he noted the battery plant is down to around jobs. He added a Center City company has lost half of the initially reported jobs. He noted an auditor went after Metroplex for giving money to developers rather than actual businesses. He closed by asking what other benefits the river front developer will l\farva Isaacs, ~_"L~,"'_V'~~ Noted there will be a breakfast event at Bethel AME Church on 12 1 added, are to to garden next to at the center. He noted the garden is a great opportunity to something. noted there is a conflict with the being the City. He added Schenectady has an opportunity to show the community they care. noted currently youth engaged in the community garden are HV~U'H Schenectady is not supporting the community garden and that Schenectady is trying to take it Council to tum this into an opportunity, bend and show added he was born and raised in Burnt Hills on a farm and he realizes other young people are not as fortunate as he He noted there are a lot of empty lots in the City and none have a garden or give away free food. He then invited the City Council to visit the site and noted he is aware are issues with director. He closed by asking the Council to think about the kids. Mary McClaine, Schenectady "Earlier this evening you heard me speak of the laxity of the engineering department Can anyone here give me a time line when the filth the City made on my street will be cleaned up? The situation is getting worse. No street should have been done the  Council Minutes 20151 5 6 administration to over P.D. Voorhis, Schenectady Noted she has not received a to her FOIL request related to vandalism of her property. She added the District Attorney has not called her back. She noted that Socialism leads to secretive and favorable She noted this also interferes with noted vandalism in the is She then noted she wanted to address concerns related to the proposed economic disparities study. She closed by asking how many people are willing to up their check to get a job. Seeing no other speakers to come before the City Council, King declared the Privilege of the Floor closed regarding MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL Mr. Kosiur the Woodlawn Neighborhood ~""VV'"UUVU will host annual \Voodlawn Park on August from 5:30 p.m. to p.m. He noted there will be orgamzers Ms. Perazzo - She commended the work of the City's Engineering Department and the Mayor related to the Oak Street Bridge. She added as a resident of Bellevue it's a benefit to Emergency Response crews to be able to quickly cross town in response to calls. She then thanked the Southern Christian Leadership group for hosting the recent event related to violence in the rnnlort<=lt11" to  Council Minutes 20151 6of6 w~ ~ to prevent C'n'-'''''Ari from cutting for home ownership programs. local municipalities the City is eligible this federal funding. to to work with federal representatives to ensure the funding the for Humanity, Better Neighborhoods, the Land Trust and programs as welL He then noted the welcomed two new businesses week including Lottery Rewards in the NYBizLab and the Albany Distillery which is planning to invest $750,000 in a downtown property. Ms. King - Noted the SICM Summer Lunch program was a success and she thanked all the volunteers and site supervisors. She then added that many local students have benefited from early college credits they achieved during high school which has allowed these high school graduates to start college as a sophomore this fall. She closed by noting that Monday, September 31 is the fifth Monday of the month and there will be no City Councilor Committee meeting. added cycle will reconvene September. Adjourned: By Charles Thorne Schenectady City Clerk