i call the city council caucus meeting to order from march twenty fourth twenty fourteen we have no public hearings tonight so we'll go right to the agenda for the clerk would read on number one item number one under final consideration an ordinance amending chapter one ninety two of the administrative code of the city of schenectady relative to the sale of cigarettes discussed in committee without object a roll call ok and number two i'm number two an ordinance amending chapter one sixty five of the administrative code of the city of schenectady related to fees for the municipal golf course also discussed in committee without objection on consent i remember three i don't number three in ordinance amending chapter two fifty five of the administrative code of the city of schenectady relative to the installation of water meters also discussed in committee without objection on consent item number four number four under original consideration an ordinance amending the code of the city of schenectady introduced only with the resolution calling for a public hearing regarding the affirmative action board discussed in committee without objection on consent item number five and number five a resolution authorizing the consent item number eight i don't number it's a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a tax or sherry for four thirty five dash thirty nine states three discussed in claims without objection on consent i don't number don't number nine a resolution calling for a public hearing regarding a proposed name change for a section of norwood avenue also discussed in claims committee without objection on consent item number ten our number ten a resolution filing vacancies filling vacancies on the board of the land realisation corporation of the capitol region also discussed in committee without objection on consent i remember eleven i'm number eleven a resolution recognizing the achievements of porterfield will present that i don't number thirteen or number thirteen a resolution recognizing the week of april sixth as national crime victims week sloss will be taken out of order mr brady will present that one and then we have several other items that came out of the claims committee meeting earlier this evening i don't number fourteen a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim liberty mutual a s o susan color without objection on consent i am number fifteen i don't number fifteen a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by progressive insurance a s o selina callaway discussed in committee without objection on consent item number sixteen i am number sixteen a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by darlene for him also discussed in committee without objection and consent i remember seventeen i remember seventeen a resolution authorizing the transfer of title on ask everyone to rise for the invocation by reverend horace sanders jr with the mount olivet missionary baptist church three ation we come before you today to give you thanks and on and craves we thank you lord because you are worthy of praise you are the source of all that is good you are the source of all of our blessings we thank you for every good and perfect gift for truly does come from above thank you lord god for this opportunity to come together tonight as we gather here to discuss business necessary for the success of this community for the success of the city we ask for your hands of blessings upon this meeting you pray old dear god that you will guide us and direct us we pray that you will assist us and bless us with wisdom productivity in way we have complete respect for one another thank you for helping us to accomplish the work that is at hand thank you of economic contributors including locally based corporations and industry area business districts representing small and family owned businesses and other economic sectors from health care to service to education and non profits these presentations highlight the economic impact these local businesses are organizations have on schenectady see khana me including generated income number of local jobs innovation and production along with a review of the history and future planning of the business tonight the city council is pleased to announce we have dr martha as one interim president of schenectady county community college on hand to present as part of the series schenectady county community college was founded in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight and as part of the state university of new york suny system the college emphasizes high quality academic programs brought access for students and responsiveness to the needs of the community as c c c offers a wide range of transfer degree career degree and certificate program thank you for the introduction dr king i'm honored to be here tonight to talk to you all about schenectady county community college and how we promote economic growth in our region the college as an employer and a buyer of goods and services and the living expenses of students from outside the region benefit local businesses in addition s e c c is a primary source of education to our local residents and a supplier of trained workers to our local industry next slide please in september one nine hundred sixty nine schenectady county community college opened its doors and boost our first class of new students we will be celebrating forty five years of service and commitment to our community this next academic year our college mission vision and purpose remain true to our community commitment and focus on the core themes of open access to an affordable high caliber and comprehensive educational experience the community college has demonstrated adaptability and flexibility in meeting the needs of local state and national workforce next like its s e c c offers fourteen degree programs twenty career degrees and fifteen certificate programs in addition we offer three bachelor degree programs onsite in partnership with suny delphi bachelor degree programs are in business technology management criminal justice and hospitality management we also have a joint program through the bellenger school of nursing for a degree in nursing the college has almost sixteen thousand alumni and has awarded over seventeen thousand degrees the average age of students taking more than twelve credit hours a semester is twenty four the average age of our part time student is thirty one we strive to keep our classroom size personable and currently our average class size is twenty one students our student body is diverse student enrollment is comprised of individuals taking credit nine credit and college in the high school courses we currently serve eight hundred sixty six seniors from our local community all are audited classes on our college campus thirty seven percent of our students are enrolled on a full time basis twenty one percent are part time and thirty one percent are high school students taking college level courses at schenectady county community college through our college and high school program about sixty percent of our students are from schenectady one thousand percent are from albany twelve percent from saratoga and ten percent come to us from other regions outside of our area as well as outside of the state next slide please thank you s c c c has its main campus campus located at seventy eight washington avenue schenectady and expanded our course offerings to include sites in downtown schenectady at our center city location at rich moore aviation and at our newest location in albany at one twelve state street in addition to that we continue to broaden our online distance education programs and offerings our newest programs demonstrate how adaptable the college is at meeting the needs of our local community we recently introduced new programs and communications biology casino and gaming management drama honors con concentration and supply chain management our two thousand and thirteen graduate student survey reflects ninety eight percent of our graduates are satisfied or very satisfied with the education that they receive at s c c say ninety five percent of our alumni tell us that they achieve their educational goals by being at assisi say next life thank you other facts facts about the college s e c c offers testing assessing secondary completion that was formerly known as the ged test we also offer english as second language classes we do this in collaboration with the capital region bosis the college in partnership with c t a provides in a row all enrolled students with the ridership program transportation barriers for our students our student futa lies the ridership program to get to and from the classes to get to enter their internships to employment to participate in service learning opportunities and for transportation to shopping and entertainment within our region over the past four years the colleges health professionals opportunity grant has provided training for two hundred percent of federal poverty level or tan of students interested in becoming a certified nurse aide home health aide or a personal care assistant in addition our sunni college and career counseling center located on the ground floor of center city in the heart of downtown schenectady provides community based academic and workforce development programs to adult learners in our community duplicated annual enrollment at schenectady county community college has seen much growth compared to two thousand and eight two thousand and nine we have approximately two thousand more students increasingly a c c c is becoming a first choice college for recent high school graduates and is further attracting the returning adult learner who is seeking to develop their skill set expand their knowledge and begin a new career or to transfer their market ability to employers and other four y institutions next line please i would be remiss if i did not tell you about our schenectady smart scholars early college high school program in two thousand and nine the bill and melinda gates foundation provide a grant funding for the college to open our doors to an early college high school initiative working collaboration with the state university of new york state education department and schenectady city school district the college annually welcomes one hundred to one hundred twenty five new ninth grade students into  schenectady smart scholars early college high school the purpose of the program is to ensure access to higher learning for students that are not typical of going on to college let alone completing high school the early college high school engages the students in a twelve month learning community that provides comprehensive structure of support to ensure that each student will not only just graduate from high school but will have a regents diploma and also have a minimum of twenty college credit hours earned from schenectady county community college these college credit hours  transferable to any suny institution of higher education this june two thousand and fourteen we'll be celebrating our first ever graduating class from schenectady smart scholars early college high school program i'm most proud to say that we have a few students who are graduating with more than thirty college credit hours from schenectady county community college in addition funding support from the state and our other local communities to include schenectady foundation for their insurers and improve quality of life for these smart scholars and rolled in early phase school experience as well as for their families and our community at large next life thank you s e c c truly makes a positive impact in our community to help us better understand just how much of an  make the college participated in economic impact study with economic modeling specialists international and february the results of the study were presented to the college i am pleased to share with you examples from the study that demonstrate the significant positive impact the college has on our local community our business community and our investment return the results of the study are based on two thousand and twelve two thousand and thirteen academic year and they demonstrate how s e c c creates  value for multiple for perspectives next line let us look at the impact s e c c has on our local business community from the perspective of college operations student spending and student productivity its students added one hundred sixty eight point two million dollars in income to our service area economy the college has five hundred fifty five full time a part time employees and payroll amounts to eighteen point six million dollars impact of college payroll and expenses was approximate twenty four point eight million dollars and added regional income next line about four point three percent of our students at the college are from outside the region the expenditures of students who relocated to the region during the two thousand and twelve two thousand and thirteen academic year added approximately two point six million dollars in income to our economy as c c c students enter and re enter the workforce with newly acquired knowledge and skills the accumulated contribution of our students currently employed in the regional work force amounted to one hundred forty point seven million dollars in added income during the in alice this year next let us look at s c c s return on investment to student society and taxpayers in two thousand and twelve thirteen s e c c students paid a total of eight point eight million dollars the couple to cover the cost of tuition fees books and supplies in return for the money they invested in their higher education students will receive a present value of two hundred seventy four point two million dollars in increased earnings over the course of their working lives  translates to a return of almost seven dollars and higher future income for every one dollar that student invest in their education thus the average annual return for students at c c c is twenty six percent next li from a social perspective new york state will receive a present value of five hundred eighty six million dollars in added state income over the course of the students working lifetime socially the benefit to new york is fifteen point nine million dollars in present value savings related to reduce crime lower unemployment and increased health from the taxpayer perspective during the two thousand and twelve thirteen year state and local taxpayers contributed thirteen point two million dollars to support schenectady county community college the net present value of the added tax revenue stems from the students higher lifetime incomes and increased output amounts to five fifty four point nine million in benefits to taxpayers this reflects a point four point nine million dollar savings in benefits due to the reduced demand for new york state government funded services during benefit the i'm sorry dividing benefits to taxpayers by the associated cost of four point five benefit ratio cos this means that for every dollar in cost there is four dollars and fifty cents seen in benefits the average annual return on investment for taxpayers is eleven point two percent next thank you thus the m s i study reflects the value created by schenectady county community college the college plays a vital role increasing student employability and individual potential and in return the college creates a significant positive impact on the local business community and generate in conclusion s e c c students receive great value for their educational investment as table two on the right of the screen demonstrates the results of the investment analysis is positive for all major stakeholders the results of the  study demonstrate the s e c c creates value from multiple perspectives the college benefits local businesses by increasing consumer spending in the region and supplying a steady flow of qualified train workers in our workforce s e c c enriches the lives of students by raising their lifetime incomes and helping them to achieve individual potential the college benefits society as a whole in new york state by creating a more prosperous economy and generating a variety of savings through the improved lifestyles of student finally s e c c benefit state and local taxpayers through increased tax receipts across the state and every duce demand on government supported social services next line i thank you for providing me this opportunity to shout about schenectady county community college i think of nothing else more that i love to talk about than this institution we do make a significant impact in our community and the lives of our students and the lives of their families thank you very much for this time two finer representatives we cannot have i asked for the floor you have it thank you this is a resolution recognizing the chief of women and designate a march as women's history month whereas women were among the first settlers of schenectady  hundred sixty one and since then have contributed to the growth in strength of the city of schenectady in countless recorded and unrecorded ways and whereas women have played critical economic cultural and social roles in every  of life in the city of schenectady and constituted a significant portion of the labor force working both inside and outside the home and whereas women have played a unique role throughout the history of both the city of schenectady  nation as a whole often by providing a majority of the volunteer labor force and whereas women of every race class and ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social movement and whereas american women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity but also in the abolitionist movement and the emancipation movement the industrial labor movement civil rights movement the peace movement and other similar movements all of which have been created have created a more fair and just society for us all and whereas despite these contributions the role of american women in history has been consistently overlooked and under valued in literature teaching and study of american history and whereas the city of scarcity has a rich history of women of every race class and ethnic background who have served to enhance the city and wellbeing of all its residents now therefore be it resolved that the mayor and the set schenectady city council rich with women i might add hereby designate march as women's history month in the city of schenectady and recognizes the struggles contributions and achievements of women in the city of schenectady i moved to resolution right is there a second ms porterfield all in favor yes on behalf of the schenectady why don't you see a note also as to why don't you see a northeastern new york want to thank the city council the government of schenectady for appreciating what women do in this community it's obvious that were part of excuse me part of the government but we are also part of the leadership in education and have been our first president of the community college and so you also know that as much as we work forward we also have many issues still to conquer would be the right right word but we appreciate that the city of schenectady city council appreciates how much work that is and recognize i just like to echo dot's words because the present the board of directors at the white a b c a and to say thank you very much we really appreciate this and on behalf of the women in schenectady we will have this framed and it will hang on the writing the next out of order resolution is the one recognizing april eighth two thousand and fourteen as equal pay day as porterfield president you have for a resolution recognizing april eighth two thousand and fourteen is equal pay day whereas more than fifty years after the passage of the equal pay act women and minorities continue to suffer the client consequences of unequal pay and where as families headed by a working mother make up nearly forty percent of low income families and pay equity because can significantly cut the poverty rates for women and whereas according to the national partnership for women and families the wage gap results in a total loss of income of over twenty billion dollars for women in the state of new york with an arijit wage gap of over eight thousand between men and women and where is the new york state women's equality act and other federal paycheck fairness act could could would advance equal pay by closing existing loopholes in the equal pay act that allowed employers to fire a reprimand employees who share wage information and by increasing damages and successful claims and whereas according to two thousand and twelve american association of women's study college educated women working full time over a course of a lifetime earn about half a million dollars less than their male peers and where is nearly four in ten mothers or their households primary breadwinner and nearly two thirds of mothers provide significant financial support making pay equity critical for family canonic security and whereas a lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for retirement and less count less income counted in the social security a pension benefit formula and whereas fair pay policies can be implemented by using existing salary setting systems and the public and private sectors and where is fair pay strengthens security of families today and eases future retirement cost while handsome the american economy and whereas tuesday april eighth symbolizes the day in two thousand and fourteen when the wages paid to american women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year now therefore be it resolved april eighth two thousand and fourteen be recognized as equal pay day and we call on all citizens to join the city council and they're recognizing the significant contribution to their labor force made by women men in prison i move the resolution right second by mr ag all in favor i schenectady it is especially important because this year in the state legislature a bill has already been passed by the assembly that would make pay equity equal for women and as men and we are very anxious that very eager i should say that our residents have a conversation with their state senator to see that this bill passes through the state senate so we're bringing it to everyone's attention early so that people can write letters make phone calls do what needs to be done to make this unjust situation as far as pay for women in new york state to get that fixed and we thank you very much and i anyone else just be sure to call your state senator and thank your assemblyman if they voted for it and i think both of the assemblyman record i know both of them representing schenectady county did thank you very much very much you have the floor like you resolution recognizing the week of april sixth as national crime victims rights week where as eighteen point seven million americans are directly harmed by crime each year and each crime affects many more family members friends neighbors and coworkers by leaving a lasting physical emotional or financial impact on people of all ages and abilities and of all economic racial a social backgrounds and where as in  two the president's task force on victims of crime and vision to national commitment to a more equitable and supportive response to fit dumbs to mitigate the degree to which crime victims face of criminal justice system that at times ignores their rights and treats them with this respect and whereas the victim assistance community faces new challenges to reach and serve all victims including victims of new crimes such as cyber crime and terrorism and victims w not always trust to the criminal justice system including immigrant victims urban youth and victims who are lesbian gay bisexual transgender or questioning and where as national crime victims rights week april sixth through twelfth two thousand and fourteen provides an opportunity to celebrate the energy creativity and commitment that launched the victims rights movement and suppliers its progress and continues to advance the cause of justice for crime victims now therefore peer resolved at the city of schenectady city council hereby joins carry our mccarthy mayor of the city of schenectady and proclaiming the week of april sixth through twelfth two thousand and fourteen to be national crime victims rights week and yes thank you very much to the schenectady city council for this resolution it means a lot that our own city does recognize crime victims rights week we have so many victims in the city in the county in the nation and it is very good that we do recognize them and their families i also want to say that my daughter mary regina went to schenectady county community college and it just so happened it was wonderful to hear about all that they're doing there so i will pass this on  to i just wanted to say thank you i was just thinking about how many years that i've been with the piano and single parents or children group and this is like nineteen years now that we've been doing an event in schenectady central park rose garden and  have been there every step of the way for us and i can't thank you enough there are events being planned throughout that we can each county and schenectady is going to hell sarah that on wednesday april ninth at noon in the ro garden hopefully the weather will well suffer from pete this cold or will be in the belly and if it's not the weather doesn't hold up but i want to buy everybody to be there the families really do appreciate all of them the support thank you i'd like to thank also the schenectady city council i'm not a resident of schenectady county have over my daughter was murdered in schenectady county ten years ago october first wrestler county but it is very very important for crime victims rights week to take place so that the family members the survivors can come together and know that there is support out there for all of us thank you again thank you communications and petitions communications presented to the city council for monday march twenty fourth twenty fourteen under official from the mayor a list of appointments they did march twenty fourth twenty four team under general there are none under petitions are not right will ag before claiming soon this is been ongoing and we actually held up until tonight paying a couple of these claims for if you hit killer property damage accidents and it's been an ongoing problem as a matter of fact tonight on the agenda there's four accidents property damage accidents totaling over ten thousand dollars this is been ongoing and myself and the rest of the council has some real concerns about how we're going to deal with this and what's being done to deal with this because the numbers are kind of extraordinary actually only since i've been chair claim since two thousand and thirteen through today  and two thousand and thirteen we had a total seventeen property claims to accidents with city b it calls on a total forty four thousand five hundred in the breakdown is one in the fire department three for the police department four for the street department during services and nine in the waste department and two thousand and fourteen this is only three months we have seven accidents there totaling twenty four thousand dollars to this point it's only the first quarter of this year one on the fire department one a police department one puro services street department four in the waste department it seems like the waste department seems to have the biggest problem from what i'm seeing so far we have a total of twenty four accidents and thirteen of them are directly caused by the waste department now some of us feel that one of the reasons is because there's a clause in our contract called the point as soon as they're done with their routes they may go home apparently this is not a good thing because i think by the rushing it leads to carelessness many of these involve stationary objects in the reason we have a fifty thousand dollars deductible it's because an insurance company doesn't want to carry a signing more so the taxpayers are the insurance company and we're the claims rep that's the way i look at this so we have to look out for the best interests of the city and we're not quite sure what plant some important place supervision all are what's going on if there are these safety classes but mayor we're going to have to start i think looking into this a little further than we are than just paying the claims we have to pay the claims we're liable there's no question about that the people that have been injured by the city and on top of that this is not this is not including if there's any personal injuries for not stationary objects and the damage to city vehicles that we have to approve also when we buy the city vehicles are they being fixed i don't know but in the in the future i would like to see at least an estimate of when there is a claim put in what is the damage done to a city vehicle whether it's going to be fixed or not i'd like to know how much that is costing us in the taxpayer because it decreases the value of that vehicle when the vehicle has to be turned in either lease or sold if we bought it so this is ongoing there's obviously some problems going on hair and it's very disconcerting to me and obviously to members of the council we've been asking these questions and we were going to hold off on paying a couple of them been then i think we decided that it really isn't fair for the people that have been part of this process and then church their property being damaged to hold them off anymore but we need to see whatever the issues are as far as the safety if there's a safety program drivers program drug testing we'd like to see that we'd like to see what's being done because it's getting it seems to be getting a little out of hand and we really can't afford to just keep paying this off and it's just i think by a miracle there hasn't been a real tragedy we had one driver flew out of his truck in one of these accidents driving by himself flew out of a truck now there's only a couple ways that can happen and i wasn't there so i can't tell you what it is but that's not good it's good think he wasn't killed or some innocent person wasn't killed it was just property damage to landscaping but we can't have this anymore there's no question about it so mayor i'm asking you to look into this let us know what can be done and what is being done if something's been done all that can be done is being done well i don't think somebody people should be driving anymore because the same names keep coming up over and over and over again what insurance company would not insure these people is no question about it from somebody in your own household you would pull the keys away from them so i think this has to be looked into thank you you and he had a committee report it's not  of the community will block grant i mean there are twenty to twenty to forty pages it shows in there where she cut and paste and men are present you are here when councilman blanchard and councilman allen at the time told her to stop cutting and pasting those applications the other piece is that we also noticed within the community don't block grant sheets turn around and charge back to the city for affirmative action saying that she sat on the committee to find a new executive director at the hamilton hill art center what does that have to do with the city's affirmative action had nothing both council and council and joe said that that needed to stop that's also falsifying federal documents because reason why is because we give money to hamilton hill under the communal block and it looks like that we were second set in this odd place up to give our own money back to ourselves so you know i mean these are some of the things that we need to take a look at also too is that and just released on from the department of justice after about fourteen years a claim in one thousand nine hundred nine and two thousand and two the department justice went after the new york city fire department and sued him for ninety eight million dollars in fines for affirmative action violations of not hiring qualified minorities and they turned around and had to set up  and basically saying no white people are able to hire here at this point in time and they turned around and had to have higher priorities which means they had to go back in to retake the test and of course the police chief and the fire department had to go back in and re interview and go through old they're just not because they're they're a minority they were hired they were hired because they were qualified applicants and they had to be able to put them on they did it for priority in july twenty third twenty fourteen and july tw fourteen so you know basically this city can be on the hook and it took fifteen years for the minority group to get justice against new york city how long is it going to take for here in the city and in the county for how much money are we going to get hit with fines because we have the same thing that new york city had you know and hopefully and to two weeks three weeks we will have the public hearing on affirmative action hopefully people come out here's the good evening my name is mary maclean i live in the city two items tonight i don't know under three on tonight's a chanda calls for the installation of water meters for business i have a big problem with water meters in our homes residential meters will be the end of the island gardens those of us who plant the gardens use the outside faucets attached to our homes to water the plants there is no city source to water them with such was some merced like the one we had last year and it takes a lot of water to keep the plants alive i do not mind the work but i am not willing to absorb the cost for time and water use president residential ne are bad idea let the idea die and committee work out started affirmative action surely council is bluffing on this one the some of these and ignore the rest i agree with mr joost when she said affirmative action applies to everyone and of council was serious about affirmative action they would have used the method to fill the vacant city council seat the seat comes with a salary in medical coverage filled by someone who did not have a job two weeks ago the seat was given to a double dip or fourteen days later council comes back whether an affirmative action proposal council isn't serious it had a golden opportunity to apply it and members blew it the proof was right there in that and all in favor i write and we have one roll call item an ordinance amending chapter one ninety two of the administrative code of the city of schenectady relative to the sale of cigarettes  absolutely terrible just the advertising the cigarettes not lucy's just the advertising the cigarettes out front we're kids can see it it's terrible my problem with this is really it just has to do with another ordinance that's going to be on our doing this we have a county agency that's should be doing this it's illegal it's federal and state it's illegal to do this why we're going to have i just see it as a redundancy and  another law that you know is an enforceable it could be but it's an forcible by other entities to i turned in somebody first first selling loosies last week to the county health department that's why i turned it into and they took the they took the complaint and they said they would act on it so i'm not sure but what that i'm going to vote no because we have enough i'm not fourteen it says on this on our books right now that are not enforceable and that's my pride i want to see ordinances that we can enforce not that we can't enforce or don't enforce and choose to throw the ball around so it's nothing to do with selling to minors at all i'm strictly against that i don't want to buy to get the wrong message but i have a problem with having redundancy and i'm i was just every time i hear it i hear working together works why are we working together and working on this one i don't know so that's  asses sixty one ok well now move on the privilege of the floor regarding city business sign have ten people signed up to speak the first is joe rodriguez mister president members of the council on behalf of the schenectady city school district board of education i want to remind everyone to vote tomorrow for the capital project rep referendum its the voting is taking place from twelve to nine at seven locations in the city this is a capital project referendum as i said for seventy million dollars and it is estimated that it will cost two zero to the grand sum of a dollar fourteen for a house assessed at one hundred thousand dollars this is due to the fact that we have structured the work that ninety five percent of it is paid for by the  state and the other five percent is covered by what is called an excel grant so we urge everyone to go out and vote for now what's going to be done in this capital project primarily we're working on our middle schools we will put twenty five million dollars into mount pleasant another twenty two million dollars in tone ita and a three point six million dollars into central park i know there's been some concern about central park we are not i'm doing the work that's been done there before we are raising a few the height of a few toilets and the height of a few drinking fountains in that in that school in addition to other work that was needed you may recall that in the city our schools are rather old eight of them are over one hundred years old and we need this capital money in order to do the necessary work often times that involves the  furnace is the roofs and and so on in this case we're adding a few classrooms at house and we're doing creating these small learning centers at mount pleasant and with the idea that we will repair it's not it would be putting good money after bad or bad money after go whatever way it was but that so this is part of the recent we're looking at doing this work so once again  tomorrow march twenty fifth twelve to nine the seven locations are gates elementary school back to the high school elmer elementary page elementary woodlawn elementary mount pleasant middle school and full early childhood center and it depends on your district your city district determines at which location you go thank you thank you jason g we still have not gotten a straight answer out of the communal block grant people on exactly where the about sixty thousand dollars of the payback on those three million dollars loan we received from hod is it coming out of the out of house money which is the fifteen percent or is it coming out of the back of the house money if it's coming out of the front of the house money that's going to be looking at about a twenty percent across the board cut in the money itself and also to as we should also need to know exactly where you know how this money is going to be paid back but also what are we developers in the contractors are metroplex is going that direction our problems are hamilton hill and mt pleasant we have between a forty to forty five percent home ownership rate in those two communities we're only as strong as our weakest link and we need to be able to could move forward in providing home ownership if we increase homeownership hud says if we get to sixty percent we have a stabilized neighborhood what's that going to do it's going to lower the crime going to lower health costs it's going to lower everything we need to start working in these two neighborhoods and you're not we have we have the tools the mayor was correct on some of these tearing down some of these housing creating parking lots to give some off street parking that was a great idea we've been saying that for many many years and i'm glad that he was behind us on supporting that that was a great sank but we need to start working where our weakest link is and helping those to increase their property values and increase their ability to get jobs and that's the whole thing is right now you know you're concentrating everywhere else except where we need to be at and we need to be able to know exactly how we're going to be able to move forward because all schenectady county is the worst county in this state in affordable housing and in affordable rents so we need to be able to take a look at some of the things that are going forward thank you very much twenty but on bellevue i haven't had the chance up until this past weekend to come down from bellevue road straight up broadway to state street but a shock i got this weekend the building on  corner of state and broadway the radio station who in god's name ever told them they could paint that i mean i'm waiting for the red light there and i look up stakes street all those beautiful buildings we worry about facades we worry about this we worry about that to me that is an eyesore to city i don't know how they got the pain of it but i mean you try to beautify downtown that is an eyesore thank you  good evening ma'am mccarthy president king and city council members my name is patricia smith and i am vice president of the mt pleasant neighborhood association the first annual mt pleasant sports awareness event was held this past saturday seven sports prizes the kids were thrilled at seven p m thursday april tenth mom pleasant neighborhood association will host a neighborhood revitalization meeting at the fte deliverance tabernacle church ten twenty eight zero stranger place guest speakers will be eric schilling building inspector city of schenectady and bob hoffman legislator district one and chair of the schenectady county neighborhood revitalization committee the neighborhood church to church cross walk will begin on good friday april eighteenth at ten a m from new day christian empowerment center corner of vermont have had twelve fifty nine chrysler six churches will be participating everyone is welcome to join the walk which will conclude at the bridge christian church seven thirty five crane street for the actual performance of refreshm pleasant parks and sidewalk cleanup day is scheduled for saturday may third from nine a m to two p m eight thirty meeting in orientation site will be announced volunteers will pick up their supplies where work clothes can closed toed shoes we will also be collecting re recyclable bottles in cans to benefit the emily in wylie foundation which serves our community on thursday may eighth at seven p m pleasant neighborhood association will host a community emergency preparedness night with guest speakers from schenectady county public health services lisa with man whose r and b s and public health nurse preparedness program and june show are n b s and public health nurse medical reserve corps coordinator we have also asked councilman john wood of iran to announce additional  t events thank you for your time thank you thanks for all the good work you're doing join hall up the street that's got to stop number two thing is the seniors are taking advantage of in this town and it's not right these contractors or whoever they are come around dumping the street minding his own business at ten o'clock at night he should have probably even been now because i tried to keep him in the house that night because he at the table he won't slow but somebody else is gone this is going to have to listen there's been an accident up the sue this young lady that killed my son i really don't but if i have to in order to fight this i will because it's got to be done it's got to be when you know budget somewhere ok i mean i've heard just talk about how much money that they have made me i'm floor in the city of us connected the i came tonight to to make the public aware of the ongoing activities taking place in mt pleasant neighborhood for a long long time mount pleasant has been woefully neglected and not even the millions of dollars grant money that hillary clinton in two thousand and poor had earmarked for mom plus an amateur over the hill didn't make a difference because it's to my understand elsewhere the shining example has been sharon lynn smith she's the president of mount pleasant neighborhood and her assistance donna foley john horton and patti smith f well over two years and almost on a daily basis not for photo shots or competing with neighborhoods we have dire needs for over two years almost every single day sharon and smith has taken a bow but a warrant so to speak and walk the walk diligently attending to concerns and solutions to better improve the conditions of mount pleasant neighborhood sherrilyn along with her assistance met with every city official the presentation councils many organizations in the city brought the business managers together attended every religious association talked with the with the congregations and the religious leaders talk with residents on the streets she walks up and down the streets asking their opinions she's been in contact with the news media took pictures of all the area houses that needed fixing up and she presented it to the city council the legislative council and we met before the code  and it saves them alleviate many hours of work but then and she works with a team and for all of you who know sharon she's just a wonderful even spirited person not like me at times  she got everybody to paint every single fire hardin you heard about that encourage weeding reach free planting of flowers in other plants fields around mt pleasant clean up the city playgrounds and orchard park which i found out to several years ago right mina where was she got volunteers to clear away over eight dumpsters of debris parks and around and john horton does that the city  around the city parks and c d s and i better hurry up because my time is going up just to name a few of the things she does this past saturday sharon lynn and of reference james of the bridge church put on the magnificent sports thing for the children and channel ten thank you channel ten came and reported the and they last night they said they stated that was almost at the children signed up so sharon lynn and her crew can be seen be an active involved but i also would like to who continuously works besides all the work she does on the side she continuously works with sharon lynn on mount pleasant and the two of them are quite a team thank you thank you city council members i'm here to was speak about the city proposal to fix the water laterals for schenectady homeowners when they break well some people said that this is one of the best ideas that has recently come out of city hall i spoke to a number of landlords and they have all agreed that this is a good idea but the city has to work out the details of implementing this proposal the way we see it it's like an insurance policy for that water or  even mentioned so why would he see that mentioned anywhere the homeowner will pay for a premium to the city and in turn the city will promises to fix the lines when they break something some owners have expressed concern especially if the city tries to make an absolute requirement to participate rather than being an optional program others are concerned that the city may be fused to do the work if the property owner is not current with the with the paying his or her property taxes some landlords have indicated that the city may also try to collect from their insurance companies if their policy covers their placement costs of those lines this would appear as a claim against a game a claim filed against the landlord however i would say that this is that very insurance very few insurance companies cover this expense for landlords policy i've been i mean the insurance business and it's a wise investment to participate in this program offered by the senate especially if the landlord does not  has not recently replaced their water lines moreover if landlords do not have the money to fix those lines when they break they will likely they will more likely abandon those properties as their tenants will be forced to leave and t others up is more blight for the city in short this program should be about what's good for the property owners and residents of disconnect of skin of the city was going to activate not about some plumbers greatly benefiting from someone else's problems i also a car city council member to attend our next landlord meeting to further discuss his proposal and the concern that reservation landlords may have about the program thank you very much thank you mary mclean ok my specific opinion or i guess comment on it at least to bring up for discussion was to make water meters an option right so people can choose from a current flat rate or choose to have a meter if they feel that they would some residents who maybe use a single person living in a house uses much less water than a family of four or five people and so if they felt the meter was in their best interest to be an option so that's what i had and that again the traffic laws you know as much as they are doing and i think it's about a quite a bit of money in terms of revenue that we do pull in by issuing tickets you know it's something that we spend a lot of money on public  safety i think we should consider maybe allocating some more of those resources that we are currently paying for public safety towards traffic safety because i think it's something that affects everyone's lives the good the bad everyone who lives in resides and walks around and spends times in the city is impacted by the traffic flow and the safety that's involved there so we should take a look at reallocating resources and lastly it's come up comments about the water lateral we brought this up lateral program whole bunch of times and i'm sure we'll talk about it a bunch more i know the only thing i've come to conclude is that anybody who's recently fixed their water lateral is not going to like the program anyone who is laterals about to break they're going to love the program and anybody everybody in between might you know not be so passion about an opinion is a tough one i'm not sure seems like every week time we bring it up there's at least four five six or seven different opinions on how it should be implemented and you know carlson in colophon have presented it a bunch of different ways wondering will you guys like this way we're not sure so is president a different way and so they've been i think more than patient and accommodating in trying to presented a hundred different ways hoping to find one that's palatable by the majority of us and if it's something that we're going to do we're going to have to find some compromise and i think that this is just a couple of announcements recognitions there is a financial health and debt elimination drop in session that is hosted by a thousand moms of schenectady on monday march thirty first from six p seven thirty and that is going to be at the central library in the chose the room if it includes free ebooks to attendees how money works which is a common sense guide to financial health and how money works for kids which is parent's guide so again that's monday march thirty first six to seven thirty p m in the big room in the downtown library i also just want to recognize a couple of really  substantial investments in our city that are going to be coming down the pike one is the old and liberty street that's recently been purchased and it's going to be receiving a three point six million dollar private investment from the brother contracting and also along with some funding from metroplex and it's going to end up being thirty upscale apartments i think it's just a wonderful continuation of the economic growth and development as it travels down state street and starts to move off into the various neighborhoods to say congratulations to disc in a glass which i actually business in the city of schenectady that recently purchased a substantial piece of equipment that will allow them to really increase their services to the people that utilize their business and just another good investment in the city and lastly just reminding people again that the graffiti covering initiative give graffiti the brush will be starting up as soon as mother nature cooperates we need to have a good solid fifty degree day throughout the day and the night for the paint to dry her properly so if you have a business or a home in the city of schenectady that has unfortunately been tagged with graffiti please contact me my information is on the city website will send you a release form and we will have our youth come out and very professionally cover your graffiti for you so that's it thank you very good thank you anyone else thank you we did have a speaker they came to talk again about the affirmative action and yes we are moving forward with the affirmative action advisory board i just wanted to make it clear that there are specific there are specific groups that are need to be represented represented according to the legislation women minorities veteran disabled but in addition to that there are at large seats for anyone who is interested in moving forward in terms of making sure that we have affirmative action so it's not just those groups there's also other at large seats so that others have the opportunity to sit on that board if they're so interested in we are still accepting resumes for that i want to remind folks that we're still in tax season we have about twenty one more days before taxes are due and free tax preparation is still available at the vita sites volunteer income tax assistance program program excuse me to have your taxes prepared just also would like to announce that well spring has sprung even though it may not feel like it's april twenty second is earth day and the hamilton hill neighborhood association will be doing a cleanup starting at jerry burrell park beginning at eight thirty a m to noon it so please join us in celebrating earth day we're going to clean up the neighborhood in the park and the work projects and plans include picking up litter raking pruning trees cleaning and painting over graffiti there and overall sprucing of the park in the neighborhood for spring the organizations that are supporting this are the him the hill neighborhood association better neighborhoods incorporated the city of the parks department general electric electric habitat for humanity and retreat schenectady so we invite folks that are interested in supporting this and also that live around the neighborhood to come out let's work together chair going to read this for jackie herd and julie lewis with the bellevue group bellevue preservation meeting thursday april tenth seven p m at st paul's church speaker to be announced we're looking for speaker of the takers of the public has invited and also just a heads up the bellevue neighborhood my garage sale be held on saturday june seventh applications will be available soon bill view farmer's market will open thursday june twelfth at four p m and be held every thursday through september fifth on the three very successful unplowed to see they're going to be up and running you got it my hat's off to all the neighborhood associations throughout the city they do a great job you know and taking care of their neighborhoods and it's it's good to see so many people involved that is really is good and just to expand a little on mr eriksson's comments about the lateral program i agree everyone is not going to be happy with this but one thing we have to be clear on just so people don't get the wrong idea it's going to be half of a water system only from the city's main to the curb box from there into the house is still going to be the homeowners responsibility no matter what so you know there's a lot of things to be considered and we have to get the facts and figures with what it's going to cost and see if this is going to go forward or not but there's a lot of gray area with this because anybody that's going to replace a water system if you only replace half guess what the other half isn't far behind so you're going to have to hire a plumber anyhow so anyhow that's my thoughts on that thank you thank you anyone else county will be and should be working collaboratively as a partnership when we do these stings or whatever we want call of the loosies it's very important because as i mentioned at the committee meeting every one of these businesses are cited with a find the first time they're then the second in peace when they when they come up for the second time that they're caught there's an additional fine then it gets to the point where they're actually going to lose their liquor license the billy to sell liquor and then finally  the fourth indictment would be when they lose their ability to sell lottery tickets so again will be a very good relationship with the city the county just a piece about ninety percent of all smokers started as teen smokers and i think that's really what this is driven about so i spoke about it earlier the more eyes that we have on the on the problem the better off this will be and as the mayor indicated to us a committee meeting a few weeks ago these are all nuisance calls that he's receiving from the police department  actually take a look at that and ministry of code chapter two fifty five with the water because what we voted on today was just basically allowing the city to purchase the water meters for businesses but as we read through this code here it is very old and antiquated there's for they're talking about establishing water meters and bathing establishment breweries livery and boarding stables pump house those were able stations so it's very very old and that is when we had spoke to the commissioner  he was unable to give us any those numbers and again we have to be sure of how we move forward on this understand we did purchase the the back of this year through us of the capital funds but important that we as council members and as our road residen  from nine to eleven with fifteen loven of course they have a great website it's w w w fifteen the number one five fifteen love dot org so please check out their websites their free lessons and of course they do lessons draw out the city throughout the entire summer another piece for summer youth employment is absolutely it's on the website right now for schenectady county so please it's open to a youth residing in schenectady county anybody from the age of fourteen to twenty years old the applications are application and again the numbers will be drawn for the lotteries for the positions as of right now we've got about two funding i believe for about two hundred twenty five positions throughout the entire county we're actually working with the chamber  do a buy one get one free summer youth employment program word we're asking businesses to donate a thousand dollars and that will get you actually to used to work for you the county will take up the entire is worker's comp we will hire him they will screen campus and other folks are meeting thursday seven o'clock at the everlasting life church angelica morris who is the executive director of the human rights commission she will be the speaker not mr erickson as the paper had mistakenly written today so a big special thank you to them and hopefully down the road we can do a special resolution on that team before they all leave the to go home and would that be great to have some national championship it's the first time ever in the history of the union contract has been rated number one in t country and even though they're not here on araa city but again has off to scotia glendale boys high school team a great undefeated season that they had and now that they are new york state champions but the federation champions and congratulations go out to all you thank you m lives by bringing their compassion and stability when people go through just horrendous events and the traffic issue at brandywine in albany begin we've become work dress of with chief kilcullen in terms of data driven policing where we put police officers where the problems are in we're always looking at that data to become more sophisticated with it and again with the tragic accident there that we will review that and see if there are things that we should do differently or approach it in a different way to minimize the potential for those type of events  and april ninth and april tenth following up on last year's very successful realtors they are having a summit meeting here in schenectady it's labeled strengthening cities communities in homes and working in the city of schenectady but five other regional mayors are participating in it we have new york state department of housing community renewal  s department of housing and urban development will have representatives here realtors will be here bankers again to do some educational training for people and talk about homeownership opportunities that exist within the city of schenectady and within communities in the capital district so it should be an exciting time and hopefully we'll get some of the members of council to sign up for that and again cathy los the  school board every minute tomorrow is that binding issue that's very important and so hope people would just take a few minutes go out and vote tomorrow the polls are open from noon until nine  the way it's been structured it really minimizes most aeros any impact on the local taxpayer in leverage is state in the other dollars to do many of the needed improvements it will just improve the overall quality