ok i'm going to call the city council caucus to order for april eleventh two thousand and sixteen we have one public hearing this evening if the clerk was please read public hearing number one regarding changing hours of operation for certain city parks objection and consent i don't there to a number to an ordinance amending chapter one thirty eight article four regarding waiving building permit fees introduced only with a resolution calling for a public hearing on april twenty  discussed in committee without objection and consent i did number three number three a local law mending two three four dash through three of the city code regarding real property tax exemptions introduced only with the resolution calling for a public hearing on april twenty fifth two thousand and sixteen discussed in committee without objection on consent item number for i don't know for an ordinance amending section one fifty one dash eleven and two twenty eight point two zero point two regarding street repair introduced only with a resolution calling for a public hearing on april twenty fifth two thousand and sixteen also discussed in committee without objection on consent i did number five or number five a resolution calling for a public hearing regarding the proposed amendments twenty twenty sixteen action plan city development block grant to take place on april twenty fifth two thousand and sixteen discussed in committee without objection and consent i remember seven number seven a resolution adopting the following procedures  mint of goods and services necessary for the implementation of projects funded by the governor's office of storm recovery of the new york state housing trust fund corporation and that was discussed in committee without and that will be taken out of order and presented by ms quarter field at a number thirteen number thirteen a resolution recognizing the month of april is national autism awareness month and that too will be taken out of order presented by mr ferrari i sixteen or number sixteen a resolution accepting the bed in awarding the contract for fertiliser pesticides and turf supplies for missile golf course twenty sixteen season also discussed in committee without objection consent and then we have one additional item for original consideration to be moved to the council agenda item number sixteen a if the clerk please read a number sixteen a resolution proclaiming april twenty sixth seen as fair housing month in the city of schenectady and i don't need a city council caucus meeting i will ask for a motion to adjourn mr cocksure seconded by mr ferrari all those in favor thank you were injured and i will now call the city council meeting to order for monday moment good and gracious god be present in the work done here tonight enable a spirit of cooperation where we agree grace where we disagree let our work be done for the common good and let us recognize the good intent in every individual a man i will now ask mr iraqi man to lead us in the pledge of allegiance we have four out of order resolutions this evening and also a presentation from the autism society of the greater capital region the first ceremonial resolution is commemorating the fiftieth golden anniversary of the friends of the  library and i will ask mr porterfield to present that madam president you have a four resolution commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the friends of the schenectady county library whereas in one nine hundred sixty six members of the community came together to form an organization with a vision  the literacy technological and cultural needs of all members in our community and whereas through its charitable programs the friends are actively engaged in library collection development the promotion of library programs targeted school aged children the operation of their site second hand bookstore a new industry or the monday new lecture series their tireless support for the written word demonstrates that libraries continue to play in the elect intellectual integrity of the community which is in the community which it serves now therefore that the man gary are mccarthy and city council do hereby pause in their deliberations to recognize the fiftieth fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the friends of the schenectady county public library and to consider the words of carl sagan who wrote the health of our civilization the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concerns for the future could all be tested by how well we support our libraries  porterfield for the honor of having us here this evening as she mentioned fifty years ago this month it was when this organization was formed to promote the building of the library which stands kitty corner to the city hall and from that point we have become advocates supporters and great admirers of our library system and we think it is one of the stellar achievements in the city of schenectady it is a diamond in the city along with others and we promote the greatest effort for literacy for cultural efficiency for awareness above all for the city of schenectady and we want to thank you for this award and in fifty years we will be back  fairly our library director karen bradley and volunteer she is with us every step of the way and we are with her every step of the way and if you have not yet visited our new branch on state street please be sure to do that it is another gent in the city and we thank you all for your support and hope that it will continue as well as our support for the library system thank you again which is open seven days a week eighteen chefs over one hundred volunteers working every week to raise funds solely for the purpose of promoting the library and its programs and so i would like to see you all at the book sale i can guarantee we have approximately fifty thousand books you might find something you like let's hope so let's hope it stops politics ok but again we appreciate your support and we're glad to be neighbors right across the street from you so stop in and see us reed you're sorry mr chad had my notes so you are second ceremonial resolution recognizes national crime victims rights week and i will ask m resolution recognizing national crime victims rights week madam president you have a floor thank you whereas twenty three million americans are the victims of a crime each year and of that number five point two million are the victims of violent crime and where as victim or rights are a critical component of the promise of justice for all found in our net nations pledge of allegiance and provides a foundation for our system of justice in america where as where as this year the federal department of justice office for victims of crime has announced the theme of serving victims building trust restoring hope in order to underscore the importance of early  in victim services in the stablish in trust with victims which in turn begins to restore their hope for healing and recovery and whereas while our society has made great strides in working with the victims of crime there was always room for improvement especially involving those in historically underserved communities such as those victims with disabilities victims with mental illness under age victims elderly victims victims in rural areas and victims in communities of color now therefore be resolved that the mayor here we are mccarthy and city council do hereby pause in their deliberations to recognize the week of april tenth through the sixteenth two thousand and sixteen as national crime victims rights is something they have a nice ceremony coming up this wednesday so if you would speak to that well i well once again we will say thank you so much for recognizing crime national crime rectums rights week and also the events that happened here in schenectady and in the capital district it means a lot to us to know that we have your support and i'm going to let tina speak about the garden so this year or the event of course is on wednesday april thirteenth at noon in the rose garden and we do plan to be on the rose garden the the tree that fell unfortunately was cleaned up and we heard didn't do much damage and w amazing thank you thank you thank you of which they cleared up the law of the land with no guarantee the rights of equal housing opportunity and whereas the fair housing act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race color or national origin religion gender status and disability and whereas the mission of this city fair housing program is to promote and in the shore equal housing opportunity to all residents of the city of schenectady whereas the law of the state on our society seek to ensure such be quality of choice for all regardless of age race national ori n gender sexual orientation marginal status disability military status or part of a specific group unaware as ongoing education outreach and monitoring are key to raising awareness of fair housing principle practiced rights and responsibility and where success schenectady fair housing programs goals are to inform housing consumer of the housing market are open you thank you thank you mr mcferrin on behalf of the city of schenectady and its fair housing office and all those who are protected by the federal fair housing act within the city it's connected i would like to thank the city council president housing act prohibits discrimination as it was said before based on race or color or national origin religion gender for me your status and disability all of us in the city hall is open to the public and everyone during the normal city hours for more detail information and questions please do contact this and call us as you know discrimination still exist as a nation like you seen it and you have seen it every day people with various disabilities thank you very much thank you  and our fourth resolution recognizes the month of april is national autism awareness month now ask mr ferrari to present and leave we had janine crash lag here a resolution recognizing the month of april as national autism awareness month where as autism is estimated to occur in one out of every one hundred fifty individuals there is no racial ethnic or social boundaries whereas autism affects the normal development of the brain in the areas of reasoning social interaction and communication skills causing those suffering from the disease to have demonstrative all difficulties and whereas a diagnosis of autism has wide ranging implications for the entire family of a diagnosed individual an early diagnosis education and therapy are vital to reducing the negative effects of autism and whereas the last thirty years have seen significant progress in the areas of research medication diagnosis and therapies for autism thereby resulting in an improved quality of life for individuals living with the disease and whereas more research is necessary to find a cure or ensure prevention increased recognition and understanding of the disease so that people are accurately diagnosed and appropriately treated now therefore be resolved that the merit there are carry our mccarthy in the city council to hereby pause in their deliberations to recognize the month of april as autism awareness month in the city of schenectady in order to foster thank you for taking the time to learn more about autism and to recognize the work that the autism society does some things that you may not know that the autism society of america was founded in schenectady new york i myself just learned this about two years ago when it a conference i had absolutely no idea that we were the home of the autism society of america so i'm very proud to know not only fifty years ago were families from schenectady really thinking about the future of individuals affected by autism but that we had a significant role in determining and supporting individuals with autism and the types of support that they would need the c d c released numbers not too long ago just about a week and a half ago there are one in sixty eight children who are going to be diagnosed with autism and that means one in sixty eight of our young people in schenectady will have an autism diagnosis and as a spectrum disorder that means that we can expect individuals who will need twenty four seven care in our communities as well as individuals who are going to marry work attend college and do all of the same things that our citizens are so lucky to have afforded to them in the in the city of schenectady over the past few years we've been in the city of schenectady for about seven years or right on the corner of state and church street in the old campbell house building or just building we've seen a real change in house connected has recognized the autism community we'd like to refer to schenectady as a corridor of support down on state street we have the college disco connected county community college the autism society schenectady a r c now youth build has just joined us and not too long from now we will also have senior housing at the old y m c a so this quarter has developed into a very unique supported area where both young people and our seniors can live together and receive the appropriate support that they need i know i have talked with lisa regarding a recognition of this very unique thing that is happening in the city of schenectady and building upon that and making a name for the city of schenectady as the most support of community in america we see the main street america campaigns i would like to see and work with the city council at some point to designate and recognize schenectady as a city of support we actually encourage people to move into the city of schenectady they know that we're present there they know that there's great health care they know that there's a college locally that they can access quite easily the last two years we have run very quietly and as a pilot project it's called the college success program we work with the community college we now have six students with autism who are nested within the autism society who walk back and forth between the college and receive the education that they are quite capable of receiving and doing well with except they need additional support to do that when i first moved into this area just a few short years ago i can remember that the press about individuals with autism is connected county community college was not positive today we are beginning known across new york state and now across the nation as a model program program for community colleges it's affordable it's realistic it gives our students who have the academic pasadena and capability with autism the ability to go to our local community college learn their trade come out with a degree and complete their college education our hope is that they will then move on and go into a four year school if not schenectady becomes home to many of these young adults they're now living all around state street they connect with schenectady a r c they stay with the autism society we can help them to connect to other services and supports that they need is only happening in the city of schenectady so it's a wonderful wonderful thing that's going on here we're looking at housing we're looking at employment we're also looking at families who have younger children who are coming up so we're talking to the schools we talk to ellis hospital because we recognize that the autism community touches every single system and community that we have most people today if i ask if you know somebody with autism almost everyone in a room will raise their hand they are either raising a child they have a sibling they're working with a coworker who is raising a child it's just everywhere these days and if you think about one in sixty eight and the ratio for boys is about one in forty two so that means forty to one forty two of our young men in the city of schenectady is going to be diagnosed or perhaps not diagnosed but still have an autism spectrum disorder which can often be in the stake in for poor behavior for rudeness and that means that they're going to touch with law enforcement other first responders and we can change that and i'm very proud to be a part of the city of schenectady and to know that we have a very bright future and that we have to really promise things to build on and i'm hoping that the city will build and you know really own and take ownership of this corridor of support i don't know where it will take us to but the fact that my child is twenty eight can live here anybody else's child can live here with appropriate levels of support in our seniors can also live here i think is a wonderful future for the city of schenectady so thank you very much thank you naturally dovetailed together so thank you for the taking time and raising awareness as to what's going on and i think we can all be very proud of what's happening in the city and thanks for your to your efforts so we have one public hearing this evening the public hearing is regarding changing hours of operation in certain city parks and i have one person signed up to speak j more than just watch and report illicit activity in our neighborhood we are in support of changing the hours of ordinance to and move on to approval of the minutes from march twenty eighth meeting motion by mr seconded by mr ferrari are those in favor i thank you of the clerk would please read communications additions communications presented to the city council for monday april eleventh two thousand and sixteen under official letter from paul the foreign commissioner of general services recommending the contract award of automotive tire changing and balancing member purchase installation and training to total tool l of castle to new york a letter from richard michael robbery occurred purchasing supervisor recommending fertilizers and pesticides and serves supplies for the twenty sixteen golf season at the schenectady municipal golf course under general there are none legislation for that the tobacco free coalition has come to us and that we've been discussing is actually since last year at this point corporation council will be looking at the legislation and seeing how we can develop legislation for the city of schenectady and bringing it back to the council additionally the tobacco free coalition continue has asked us to consider to continue siddur ing about our legislation regarding the sale of tobacco within  thousand feet of schools the challenge that we're told with this particular station is it is how to enforce it so what we agreed to do was to discuss it with the mayor and then have further discussion regarding were able to to enact such a legislative and how we'd be able to enforce that and with that i have an announcement about those folks who do still smoke and would like to quit smoking there's a program called the buck stops here in the world when program that has helped thousands of people to stop smoking there is a fee for the program but it's a sliding scale so individuals who are they do it based on your ability to pay the your ability to pay it's being held at st mary's hospital in troy and there are five it's there is five of the program goes on for five weeks it's from six to seven pm it has dates here in the next date is from april twenty sixth through june on your agenda items number five and six in a couple of weeks recalling for two separate c p g public hearings the first one would be for funds that were not used during the year of two thousand and fourteen and fifteen and the mayor has given some five teenagers here in the city of schenectady so again there's two separate public hearings that to be the first one of course and the second one which would be the same evening i would be for regular allocations of the two thousand and sixteen seventeen c program that the american has given the council recommendations of there are copies of those allegations a downstairs in the clerk's office and it's also they able on our newly designed website you go to the home page and click under governments and they click under development you'll see the proposals there for all the different agencies and l occasions for such one of thing again i would keep talking we're moving along and we have four properties there we're going to be moving out of this evening and again once again very proud to announce that of those four three of them will be owner occupied the fourth is going to be purchased by a it will be a corporate headquarters for a local construction company forty seven thousand dollars worth of  properties are being sold and two hundred ninety two thousand dollars will be the total assessed value that hopefully be back in our taxable so again i highly commend our committee for working that this objective and seanie and our colleagues here to us supporting and moving on these are properties thank you thank you i the committee reports ok so we will move forward to the privilege of the floor as it relates to the legislative agenda i have two people signed up to speak jason plan here in the city council what it is they took that six hundred thousand that was earmarked for hamilton hill mt plus that area and then they turned around and gave it to a developer then they took the six hundred thousand they got for economic that had to go for area distressed area so they took that six hundred thousand through there i'm hoping that this same process is not going to happen the same thing again and so i'm just wondering that when you when the city council takes a look at it is this in the additional on top of already of what's already earmarked for my hamilton hill not pleasant and some of the lower economic area or is this going to be a rope a dope of switching these bunny surround so i'm hoping the dots can be taken a look at the other one is the purchasing policy that you've got on the agenda the right to due process is not even proper process what they're saying is that they're giving you ten days after the bid in order to go to the purchasing manager what if there's a problem with minority participation that there wasn't enough or anything else the purchasing manager doesn't even have the expertise of determining whether or not that's close to happen so you've got to have another person with affirmative action and just got to get involved in this and then if you don't like the purchasing managers decision doubts you go to the other alternative is you have to go to the mare but there's nothing that says that you're right or to process it you have to do that so you're missing some elements in your pattern tonight that's not even complete so i'm hoping that you can be able to take it up the gender night or bring it back and redo it again you know we've got to have a right to due process and we've got to be able to understand what's going on the other one has to for house and celebrated for houses but the problem is that the city the county have a fair housing corner and the city has given along with with its representative sitting on metroplex and the county idea which controls the city idea a lot of the developers have been given  marriage taxes property tax exemptions and everything else to build luxury townhomes and luxury apartments nothing is going towards for housing we still have a fair housing shortage with in the city and in this county above and we also because of the housing is the old built on the old short church lots and they're about four feet high we've got problems of where we need ramps be and i had about six years ago had gotten a grant to build some more rounds we still need to have a program to build some more ramps and beyond i did a great job in building those and so we need to look at more of how are going to be able to do more affordable and accessible hous thank you thank you mary mclean blacktop where their shoulder meets the street it looks like a big scar on the road that would not have happened if all the work had been done at the same time give waiver herman fees and bought happens i'm going to give you three examples my property borders along the black yards of the homes on not street a guy in news timely bought the property first they removed all the song and the brass from the back yard and put down blacktop house a c l o and the side of the garage was later painted are inch would you like to give someone like that a waiver well your standards is that an improvement example number to cross the street or go indies family bought a big two story line for an investment ranchers live in it the new owners installed each door is different the city needs a five year program that encourages homeowners to fix their properties without thank seeing as there is no one else signed up to speak i will declare this portion of the meeting closed and i'll ask for a motion to approve the legislative agenda mr reagan seconded by mr cocksure all those in favor i thank you and we will move on to privilege of the floor for city business and for people signed up jason plank there's also been a case been going along for the last couple of days we're not where some people have claimed their nuyorican oha calling about your bill and they're asking for information on your personal information and so scam they will not contact you if your bills late or anything else that you are too kind they will send out a bill telling you to contact nag or mohawk so i urge people to  definitely not give out any personal information when niagara mohawk calls unless you call them the other one is that we've constantly because now it's starting to get the spring so as summer we're constantly getting these other  companies to try to get you to switch over to their fur for niagara for new building and that's also another scam the reason why is because it will affect your d s s in trying to get heat they're the same individuals i've notified this city clerk a couple times on and it's just that the police are just too darn busy to get out there in time to go after them but i'm hoping that you know they'll hit one of one of these police officers homes or one of the fire departments in the never to regret it but all you do just say no slam dollars in switching over and all that kind of stuff so i please urge people to take it easy and be careful of scams thanks thank you and going in and speeding for nothing you don't gain nothing by speeding all you do is something happens we don't need to back thank you madam president city council members you know disk morning my developer rowing got me he called me he said i got some good news the  started in schenectady moved away five years ago but we want to come by and we wanted that particular one because it sits in my community and one of the days that i want to encourage people from my community is that you can do it too if i can do it so can you are doors going to always be open to the community to  community who might be interested in doing what i do which is construction i don't know about computers i don't know about politics i don't know none of that stuff i don't know construction and we are going to be willing to train and teach any young men or women who might be interested in the occupation of construction  involved in a multibillion dollar business and i would like to see some of that be passed along to the people in my community but i do know and i do understand as a businessman we've got to get them trained and  i'm hoping that i get a chance to work for other with the city on trying to figure out how can we get somebody or residents in schenectady trained in a very  so once again i just wanted to come here and think you got it for giving us the opportunity to get their property and come back thank you thank a residential streets down telephone and cable wires non working or cycling street lights feeding and litter issues we are offering our email address so that if a resident or a business owner needs to report a non lines maybe that should be looked at when the next franchise agreement is made also one dispatch system issue instead of people feeling intimidated when they call the new multimillion dollar county dispatch center they should set up an email address that is also for non emergency issues that is all for now thank you for your time thank you chair i'm going to announce there's an open house this thursday april fourteenth five thirty to seven thirty and notre dame bishop gibbons school is now grades six th rough twelve and jack on the quay came and spoke at our church about this and for those that can afford it and not all cad it is a very good education the graduation rate is a hundred percent they are of the people that graduated the average scholarship money that they received was one hundred sixteen thousand dollars so these numbers are pretty impressive for someone that can afford to send their children to a catholic school and the catholic education is very good they have smaller classes there's a lot of pluses taught but i was very impressed to hear speakers will be city assessor molly mcelroy and keep big manager lori ruff you i'm sure malia will be going over the grievance process for people to group their assessment which is coming up this may so it's good timing to have this and for those that are retrofitted it's open to the public they should go in and see what this says or has to say but not to process to some or may seem intimidating but it really is and it's fairly simple to small claims oh i think that's something people should get involved with also their neighborhood garage sale is june fourth and they'll be more news coming with that so this year it's going to be on june fourth the public is invited and can participate oh last year i think we turned the belleview a little league field over to upstate premier baseball and there they finally got everything together and they did a great job cleaning the field up and everybody's really happy with that because that was quite a mess over there and this thursday the valley cats will be there to put in a brand new wind field to side and field which is terrific that's going to be a big improvement new pictures of my own so they're ready to go for this year they're going to serve children tend to through twelve but they're looking to expand also so that's good because that's what that area of filters park was designed to be it opened in one nine hundred fifty and it's spent a little league field this is a little league baseball but it's youth baseball and the group that's the substate premier baseball they're doing a good job they have traveling teams and whatnot but finally the field will be used for what it was intended for it's really good and uplifting to see this transformation take place so it should be real nice wood in the wind field nobody would make an error on that i don't think that's for sure with a side infield so that's really really something to see and there was some damage to our parks with that straight line wind that we had come through thank god there so real big pine that came down in fairview park and from the neighbor across the street that witnessed  school child just missed getting hit by the tree because it was just one of those things that came up like that nothing anybody could do about it but the city did get in there the next day we had a contractor in there they got the tree all cleaned up it's a big pine all those trees in fairview are extremely old an extremely large some of them that aren't as healthy cause because of their age just like some of us so it goes with the territory but it's a beautiful park and i'm glad that they got it cleaned up and there's plenty of other pines around there but i know of central park received a lot of damage to be diamond i think got hit pretty hard they lost the fence there and jeremy said he was looking to gets get something back up there so they can start their off there are all the games that they have scheduled so that will be good and again this once they have been on time that service in the rose garden everybody the spend there i'm sure it's something you don't want to miss if you can make it because it is very touching and when you're see that list of people that were murdered it's mind boggling you know the names there's so many names on that list but it's a very touching and moving ceremony  ame church at five forty mumford street on april twenty ninth the friendship baptist church will be hosting a health fair at friendship house nine fifty five albany street and will be from ten a m to three p that's it at the corner of albany and hubert street at seven eighty st so if you pass by there you can see the demolition that's already been that's already started there so on may fifth at one thirty p m there will be the official groundbreaking ceremony again the public is invited to come and the apartments are being named after a a former council member joseph allen who resides in the hamilton hill police so that's really a great honor for his family and i think it's a worthwhile the service that he provided to our city and i'm glad that we're able to do that thank you thank you addiction on april twenty second at six p m at the schenectady high school blackbox theater and everyone's encouraged to attend thank you thank you mr palin many mrs mcclain actually mention something that we're considering as a council something on the books but we're looking to alter slightly is reducing the value added tax on improvements getting rid of the value added that council in conjunction with mr mood of aaron's building permits process so this is again a step in the right direction as we continue our push for neighborhood revitalization as a council and it's just a number of things that we'll be continuing to put forth throughout the year as we look to help citizens really improve their neighborhoods and get back to where we really all want to be as far as  was a process many years ago to actually put a series of fields and make everything beautiful unfortunately there was just a few in the community who really opposed happiness and trucks go through the neighborhood in the process of building up a nice complex but that was unfortunate and but now it's good to see the fields being put back to use and it's great to have the valley cats come in really redo the field and will be great for the community will be great for bellevue and really look forward to seeing that field open up and be used again thank you thank you  is one so four units and it's between a period of june the fourth to august already force you have to hold you're probably within that three months and is good for one year so it is something that the consul and all of us are working very hard to they get to that and thank you for coming to speak to that we look outside right now it's just a little after eight o'clock in the spin dark for probably at least twenty minutes to a half hour so legally people can be in the park right now and some are causing mayhem as we know with the equipment they got tagged so this is what this is we're going to try to target is to just have after dark you can't be on the park and cooperation council work so we get that tightened up because sensors three stages of twilight we'll see what stage of twilight will will use but i think it is something that's much needed to give our police officers the teeth they need to at least tell people they can't be on their after dark so right now it's dark and they shouldn't be in there but right now they can be in there until nine o'clock so that's really what it's all about it's simple and hopefully will get to a resolve to this thank you thank you go to the dedication mass at st anthony's church it was just wonderful mr for ari was the cantor that day but it was really quite impressive and really meaningful in the dinner that followed was pack wonderful graduations to our very own because that reporter hayley the karo she's not here tonight because we have a couple of celebrities in the area with candidates coming in but she is a finalist for an associated press new york award which i think is very impressive and certainly an honor to be itself to be a finalist but we certainly wish her the best of luck also congratulations to raindrops closet and founder should reign rivera they had a grand opening on saturday afternoon this organization assist people that have been homeless with essential items including clothing and housewares they accept gently used and new items on tuesdays from ten to two at the manual friedan's church and then they also accept donations by appointment and to do so you can call for one seven nine to eight four and then lastly i just wanted to mention that eight forty five broadway has received a preservation league of new york state award it is excellence in historic preservation the preservation league's award program notable achievements in retaining promoting and reusing new york state's irreplaceable architectural heritage it is a former leave aiken property on broadway and the daylight factory had been converted to affordable housing for one hundred fifty five residents many of them are our military veterans and president obama recently recognized he is one of only three cities in the united states to eliminate veterans homelessness so the eight forty five commons project made a major contribution to achieving that goal and included in that project team was a preservation l l c of kinderhook the glassy group but natural construction of saratoga springs reform architecture key banc capital district y m c a metroplex and new york state office of parks recreation and historic preservation so a once blighted building is now housing most vulnerable population and that's all good as far as i'm concerned so congratulations to them and