City Council

and the attached.  Schenectady State of the City Mayor Gary R. McCarthy City of Schenectady City Council John Mootooveren, President John Polimeni, Majority Leader Carmel Patrick Marion Porterfield Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas January 25, 2021  City Departments Director of Operations Comm. of General Services Affirmative Action Officer Alex Sutherland Paul Lafond Ron Gardner City Clerk City Engineer City Assessor Samantha Mykoo Chris Wallin Molly MacElroy Comm. of Public Safety Director of Solid Waste Receipts Supervisor Eugene Devine Floyd Slater Lindsay Kline Fire Chief Corporation Counsel Director of Development Ray Senecal Andrew Koldin Kristin Diotte Police Chief Signal Superintendent Human Resources Admin Eric Clifford John Coluccio Tiffany White Chief Building Inspector Comm. of Finance Purchasing Supervisor Chris Lunn Anthony Ferrari Erin Gallagher  City Financial Status Five Consecutive Tax Cuts 2015-2020 Tax Rate 2015 - 2021 13.88 13.81 13.9 Tax Rate Per $1,000 13.7 13.5 13.21 13.3 13.15 13.1 12.98 12.96 12.77 12.9 12.7 12.5 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Fiscal Year  City Financial Status Assessment Equalization Rate is 100% $2,400,000,000 $2,380,000,000 $2,397,323,987 $2,360,000,000 $2,370,153,452 $2,340,000,000 $2,320,000,000 $2,358,144,377 $2,300,000,000 $2,350,415,615 $2,280,000,000 $2,260,000,000 $2,272,181,142 $2,240,000,000 $2,261,538,657 $2,220,000,000 $2,200,000,000 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021  March 13, 2020 State of Emergency Declaration vDeclared State of Emergency on Friday, March 13, 2020 vEssential services operational throughout pandemic vPolice, Fire, Waste, Water, Sewer vReopened City Hall by appointment only on June 15, 2020 vInstituted social distancing protocols to ensure members of the public can obtain city services safely vCreated one entrance point for City Hall to enable temperature screening and contact tracing  CARES Act: HUD-CV Funding Prevent, Prepare, and Respond to COVID-19 v Housing Assistance: $1.7 million v Rental assistance, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, emergency shelter v Youth Programs: $575,000 v Boys & Girls Club, Hamilton Hill Arts Center, SJTA, YMCA v Small Business Assistance: $400,000 v Community Loan Fund, Affirmative Action Office, skills training, technical assistance  COVID-19 Small Business Assistance Program “I was encouraged to “Business was very apply and was one of slow due to COVID- numerous small 19. With this grant, businesses in the city to we were able to receive grant money from keep our business the program's second afloat. We round of awards. This purchased a fridge grant will go a long way which was able to and I am very grateful.” help our business.” - Caroline Bardwell, – Roy Vincent, Schenectady Trading Co. Roy’s Caribbean Restaurant  City Financial Status 2020 Revenue Shortfalls In response… v Prior Year Tax Lien Collection: -$2.4m v $7m Tax Anticipation Note (TAN) v State Aid: -$2.2m v Reduced all non-personnel expenses by $2.1m v Casino Revenue: -$1.4m v Hiring freeze on all vacant positions v Interest on Real Property Taxes: -$773K saved $1.9m v 2021 Proposed Budget à 2021 Adopted Budget v President Joe Biden: American Rescue Plan v State and Local Aid  Respond, Recover, Rebuild Build Back Better Sustainability Housing Infrastructure  Smart City Project National Grid REV Demo Project Update v Citywide change out of street lighting to LED with Smart Controls providing reduced maintenance and better asset management v First phase of deployment using two different vendors to understand the differences in technology and ROI now complete v Negotiations completed for the second phase to complete the entire citywide rollout with one technology v Project includes not just lighting but “Smart City Solutions” w/ video analytics and other sensors collecting data v Public Service Commission will review the results with quarterly reports that are submitted to them  Expanding Public Wi-Fi Neighborhood Access and Equity Educational / Gov’t Daily Web Page Hits OVER 1.1 MILLION BETWEEN MARCH 26, 2020 – DECEMBER 31, 2021 NUMBER OF HITS INTERACTIVE PUBLIC Wi-Fi MAP June 27, 2020 – December 31, 2021 OVER 40,000 Public Wi-Fi Visitors UNIQUE VISITORS  Sustainability Initiatives Building Back Better LED Streetlights Electric Vehicles Solar Power v >50% of streetlights converted v 28 public City-owned EV v Bevis Hill – 711 kw to Smart LED to save energy charging stations v Anthony St, Cheltingham Ave – 4.5 mw costs and reduce greenhouse v 44,161 kg fewer GHG emissions v New land sale in Rotterdam gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere (1,132 trees)  Sustainability Initiatives Climate Smart Communities Task Force Working towards a more sustainable Schenectady through Climate Smart Community certification (DEC) Average GHG Emissions by Sector ü Completed 2/2 “Mandatory Actions” 2016-2018 including a GHG Assessment ü 120 Points earned Wastewater facilities ü Working towards 3 more “Priority 7% Administration Actions” via a Climate Vulnerability 32% facilities & Adaptation Report 43% Vehicle fleet v Report is available for public input 18% (meeting & discussion dates TBA) Streetlights and traffic signals  Sustainability Initiatives Building Back Better CITY HALL WINDOW REPLACEMENT PROJECT 15% REDUCTION 24% REDUCTION NATURAL GAS USAGE NATURAL GAS COST  Public Safety Fire Department EMS Telemedicine v New telemedicine initiative with United Concierge Medicine (UCM) offers patients virtual emergency medical care. v SFD EMS paramedics can perform telehealth consult with UCM physicians, avoiding costly trips to hospital ER. v With 115 paramedics, the SFD EMS is the first and the largest department in the region to offer this service.  Public Safety Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative In accordance with Executive The work of the Order 203, the Schenectady Collaborative will Police Reform and Reinvention culminate in a written Collaborative was formed and plan for improvement is undertaking a that will foster trust, comprehensive review of fairness, legitimacy and police deployments, address racial bias and strategies, polices, and disproportionate policing procedures and practices. of communities of color.  Public Safety Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative The Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative was recognized in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2021 State of the State Address. Governor Cuomo referenced the newly formed Hiring Advisory Panel made up of Excerpt from Governor Cuomo's 2021 State of the State Address community members who will meet with potential police recruits as a part of the Schenectady Police Department hiring process.  Public Safety Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative The Collaborative has partnered with the John Finn Schenectady Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Institute for Public Safety, an independent research Community Survey is now available online firm that has being working to collect and analyze https://www.cityofschenectady.com/665/SPD-Reform- feedback, data as well as survey responses. Through Reinvention-Collaborative this work, the Finn Institute will present its findings to the Mayor and Chief Eric Clifford to then create a plan of action. TIMELINE Call to Action & Phase 1 July – September Community Completed Organizing September – Community Phase 2 Completed October Meetings November – Phase 3 Data Analyzing Completed December Draft Plan, Phase 4 January – March Presentation to the In Process City Council  Public Safety Police Department Accreditation Accreditation demonstrates the agency performs in a consistently professional manner, that formalized polices are in place to govern its operational practices and procedures and that all employees contribute to the agency’s mission. Achieving accreditation is evidence that a law enforcement agencies polices, procedures and operations meet the standards of current policing best practices.  Neighborhood Revitalization Data Driven Approach v Demolitions & Blight Removal v Foreclosed Property Sales v Homebuyer Resources v Housing Rehabilitation v New Construction  Neighborhood Revitalization Demolitions and Blight Removal In 2020, the City and the Capital Region Land Bank demolished 34 blighted vacant buildings. 1706 Carrie Street Before After  Neighborhood Revitalization City-Owned Property Sales Since 2013, the City of Schenectady has sold over 600 vacant properties. Properties Sold by Year 2013-2020 Despite the 160 temporary 140 120 151 COVID-19 100 shutdown, the 80 108 101 City sold 71 60 78 76 71 properties in 40 2020, for a total 20 23 34 sale amount of $987,509. 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020  Neighborhood Revitalization First Time Homebuyer Program In 2020, the Schenectady Housing Development Fund Corporation (SHDFC) approved down payment and closing cost assistance for 11 first‐time homebuyers. “I would like to thank the City of Schenectady and its partners for helping me achieve my goal of Home Ownership. I hope that my story can be an example to others; there are resources that can help you if you want to own a home in Schenectady.” – Rivquah Caldwell  New Housing Rehabilitation Reinvestment in Schenectady 55 new affordable housing units, 62,000 sq. ft of new construction and renovation work at 739-743 Eastern after Renaissance Square on Eastern Avenue. 739-743 Eastern before New Housing Rehabilitation Reinvestment in Schenectady 105,000 square feet of new construction on Albany Street and Craig Street in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood New Housing Rehabilitation Reinvestment in Schenectady New Yates Village: 104,000 square feet of new construction on the city’s northside v 300 newly constructed affordable housing units v New community center for residents and non-profits v Income-based rent v Interconnected streets v Open green spaces, with clear lines of sight v New green infrastructure, including bioswales and green streets  New Housing Rehabilitation Reinvestment in Schenectady v Mill Artisan District: 140,000 square feet of new 501 State St 192 Erie Blvd construction and renovation downtown v Renovation of the former Trustco headquarters on Erie Boulevard downtown – 67,000 square feet v Demolition followed by new construction at 501 State Street downtown – 66,500 square feet v Construction of new 40,000 square foot building at YWCA adding 54 new units 132 Broadway Before After v Renovation of the former Gazette Press building on North Broadway downtown – 27,000 square feet v Renovation of the former OTB headquarters building on Clinton Street downtown – 16,500 square feet v Renovation of the building at the corner of Jay and Franklin streets downtown – 17,100 square feet  Department of Development 2020-2024 Five-Year Consolidated Plan v 5-Year Con Plan Goals: v Housing v Economic and Workforce Development v Strengthening Neighborhoods v New application process in 2021 will require proposals to demonstrate how HUD funds will be used to meet these 3 goals and also allow organizations to collaborate v Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area v Mont Pleasant Renewal Area Code Enforcement Municity and City Squared In 2021, Code Enforcement will implement an online permitting program called City Squared. Applications will be routed, tracked, managed and approved in a faster and more efficient manner. Code Enforcement focused efforts on increasing the number of inspections of vacant properties, which nearly doubled from 1,032 in 2019 to 1,800 in 2020, an increase of 74%. Photo credit: Pete DeMola, Daily Gazette  Orchard Park Mont Pleasant Park Improvement v NYS OPRHP $354,735 grant funding to improve access and usability of Orchard Park. v The City met with the community and developed a plan and final park design. v Park improvements, including a walkway, playground equipment, picnic tables and grills. Bureau of Service Storm Response Initiatives  Rebuilding Infrastructure 2020 Projects v Completion of the Rose Garden Stairs at Central Park v Replacement of City Hall roof v Renovations to Fire Station #3 v Complete Streets reconstruction of DeCamp Avenue v Installation of Erie Blvd Railroad Bridge Lighting v Structural Repairs to the Congress Street Bridge v North Ferry Street Pump Station v 36” Force Main to Anthony Street Sewage Treatment Plant  Rebuilding Infrastructure North Ferry Street Pump Station v Construction continued at the City's Water Resource and Recovery Facility (WRRF) and the construction of the new North Ferry Street Pump Station. v Installation of new 13,000 ft. (2.5 miles) of a 36" sewer force main from North Ferry Street to the WRRF on Anthony Street has been completed. v Completion and commissioning of the new North Ferry Street Pump Station and improvements at the WRRF will be completed in 2021. v New state of the art Bio-waste Pyrolysis Solutions (BPS) bio- solids drying and pyrolysis facility at the City WRRF to be operational by spring of 2021. v In 2020, the WRRF brought in a record $1 million in revenue Photo credit: Peter Barber, Daily Gazette through the septage and sludge disposal program.  Rebuilding Infrastructure $15 million of Infrastructure Projects in 2021 v 2021 Paving Program $1.5M o Counterflow Bike Lane at Washington Avenue v Brandywine Avenue Highway Safety Improvements (State Street to I-890) $1.5M v Broadway Pavement Preservation (Weaver St to 4th St) $1.5M v Lancaster/Wyoming/Grenoside Stormline Installation $750K v Wendell/Rosa/Nott Intersection Improvements $600K v Nott/McClellan Intersection Traffic Signal Improvements $100K v Craig Street Complete Streets Reconstruction (Design Work Fall 2021)  Rebuilding Infrastructure Downtown Walkability Improvements Downtown Pedestrian Safety Improvements $1.1 million project Complete Streets Reconstruction: South Church Street (Fuller St – State St) $500,000 project  Rebuilding Infrastructure 2021 Bridge Projects Kings Road Bridge Full Replacement Francis Avenue Bridge Deck Replacement $4 million project $2.9 million project Thank You First Responders