i'd like to call the city council caucus meeting to order we have four public hearings i am actually canceling the fourth public hearing regarding a provision for telling fees and fee schedules by unanimous consent we will ok item number one for final consideration an ordinance to amend chapter one sixty five to include the addition of new greens fees categories this was discussed in committee without objection on consent item number two item number two for original consideration an ordinance establishing zoning regulations for halfway houses introduced only with a resolution calling for a public airing held on monday may thirteenth two thousand and thirteen at seven p m at council chambers room two zero zero nine schenectady city hall one o five j street schenectady new york discussed in committee without objection on consent item number three item number three a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a contract with the new york state office for the prevention of domestic violence for the purposes of receiving county funds to support a high risk program also discussed in committee without objection on consent i don't number four item number four resolution authorizing an agreement with bartlett judas p c for the design services and right of way incidental in connection with erie boulevard not st j street and front street intersection improvement project for the amount of two hundred  sixty nine thousand dollars this was discussed in committee without objection on consent i don't number five item number five a resolution authorizing the implementation and funding for design services and right of way incidental incidentals in connection with the area below are j street not street front street roundabout project i just want to clarify with this that because the word roundabout is in there this does not mean there has to be around about its language that apparently we have to use that doesn't mean that there's going to be a roundabout so again without objection then on consent ok item number six item number six a resolution authorizing the city engineer to issue a revokable permit number two five seven four to sham low realty company for two bollards that are approximately four foot high by six inches in diameter and encroach on the city right of way at six seventy franklin street discussed in committee  objection on consent item number seven item number seven a resolution amending and correcting resolution two thousand and twelve there sixty five relating to appointments to the board of assessment review this was discussed in committee without objection on consent item number eight item number eight a resolution authorizing a settlement of a claim by patrick don wirth discussed in claims committee without objection on consent item number nine item number  resolution authorizing the distribution dispensing and or consumption of alcoholic beverages during st anthony's annual street fair also discussed in committee without objection on consent item number ten item number ten a resolution  proclaiming april two thousand and thirteen as fair housing month in the city of schenectady this was discussed in committee and will be presented at the fair housing luncheon and not to night so without objection and consent i do number eleven item number eleven resolution in support of u s senate bill three sixteen and house of representatives bill six thirty this will be taken out of order mrs brecker will present again item number twelve item number twelve a resolution recognizing and honoring carver community center on its seventy fifth anniversary on may third two thousand and thirteen this will also be taken out of order to springfield to present that one item number  resolution designating friday april twenty sixth two thousand and thirteen as arbor day in the city of schenectady it's also will be taken out of order mr regie will present that one item number fourteen a resolution in support of national crime victims week also to be taken out of order and again to be presented i don't number fifteen under contract in supplier resolution awarding the contract for the two thirteen waterline project on cheltenham avenue to tom company inc discussed in committee without objection total amount of five hundred eighty five thousand four hundred dollars to state that a portion of the work to be charged to the capital budget codes h b z or zero one seven zero eight three two zero one and h tonight because we didn't have all the information we needed and what i want to do is call to have the public hearing at our next council meeting in three weeks his present mood and his sprecher all in favor i and then one who's willing to move it to the consent all in favor i and i will call for the city council meeting for monday april twenty second if you would all rise for the invocation which may be given by reverend a levering i thank you for allowing me to play with you and i hope you'll receive this prayer in the spirit in which it's offered let us pray eternal god amid all the turmoil and changes of the world your love is steadfast in your strength never fails we are thinking this evening of the many places where your peace and your security are sorely needed and we think of the violence in the destruction in boston and in west texas and even here in our city of schenectady that we love so much so our hearts are filled with prayers and longing we give thanks for those who rushed to help the up standers who provided solace and help when it was most needed help us to learn from them to show moral courage even when and especially when we are sorely tempted to take the easy way out help us learn in this in all times of darkness in trouble watch over us and comfort those in distress guide the leaders of our nation and the leaders of this city with wisdom bless this meeting i pray bless this space and all of the people in it blessed the words they speak to one another that they might be words of peace bless all the papers that they're passing around and the decisions that they make that these decisions may be both just and kind of lead us we pray oh lord in your ways of peace all right we have several out of order resolutions while i start to the clipboards here so the first one is resolution in support of us as speak three sixteen and h r six thirty presented by mrs brecker president whereas the city of schenectady city council recognizes that the united states postal service is a vital national resource that provides essential services two hundred fifty one million households and businesses nationwide and supports more than seven million private sector jobs and where as the city council values the role of the united states post office institutions in our community including our letter carriers in the local post offices letter carriers deliver more than just mail to the communities they serve post offices play a critical role both as a business hub and community meeting place in whereas the u s post office is the largest civilian employee employer of american military veterans urges the u s congress to pass senate bill thirty one three one six and house resolution six thirty the postal service protection act of two thousand and fourteen thirteen it is further resolved  that the proposed cuts in service would threaten the longtime viability of this american institution that the citizens and small businesses of schenectady rely on the vast postal network to offer affordable accessible services that reaches every corner of our current county and that this proposal is a dangerous bill that would further damage and ultimately tear apart the central institution is further resolved that the clerk of the city council shall forward certified copies of madam chair i would move this resolution all in favor i look at graduation yes has mr koch would like to say a few words thank you god thank you the coun madam president you have a four resolution recognizing and honoring carver community center on its seventy fifth anniversary on may third two thousand and twelve to set two thousand and thirteen where as in one nine hundred thirty eight a group of citizens interested in improving the quality of life in the african american community formed the george washington carver league and where as in one nine hundred seventy league members agreed to incorporate under the name cover a community center a schenectady and whereas carver community center is dedicated to the memory of george washington carver and whereas is the mission of carver community center to respond to the various needs of individuals and families living in the city and county of schenectady and to continue to develop new initiatives to me to ever changing needs of  community and whereas on may third two thousand and thirteen carver community center will be celebrating its seventy fifth anniversary and where is the city of schenectady wishes to recognize the valuable services provided by carver community center to the community as a whole now therefore be it resolved that the city council of the city of schenectady pauses in its deliberation to recognize and express its appreciation for the valuable services provided to the schenectady community by carver community center and to applaud and to honor the community center on the seventy fifth anniversary this may third two thousand and thirteen and president let's move the resolution second mr erickson all in favor i congratulations treasurer mr al jackson and i'm lol cole the chairperson of the board of directors we're really excited about the fact that we're just celebrating seventy five years it's a long time for any organization to be in existence and we struggled down through the years up and down but we have never given up and we will continue to work with the while i have a minute i we did mail you our invitation to the seventy fifth anniversary annual dinner but i want to bring you an additional  paper to remind you that that dinner is coming up on may third and we would love to see all of you there it will be at the what is a lighthouse terr to freeman's bridge road our theme is celebrating the past embracing our present and welcoming the future and we think that's a very positive theme and our speaker speaker is dr da driskill butler who is a professor at union college thank you thank you and again congratulations you got it arbor day was first observed eight hundred seventy two with the planning of more than a million trees in nebraska and whereas arbor day is now observed throughout the nation in the world on this as a special day set aside for the planning of trees and where as trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water cut heating and cooling cost moderate temperatures clean the air absorb carbon dioxide produce oxygen provide habitat for wildlife and whereas trees are renewable source giving us paper wood for our homes fuel for our fires and countless other wood products and where as trees in our city increase property values and beautifier community and trees in the rain forest help keep our earth cool and trees are a source of beauty in shape and woodlands a source of response in renewable and whereas the city of schenectady supports retreats connected each year in history planning projects now therefore beer resolved that the city council here by joins with the mayor of the city of schenectady in proclaiming friday april twenty sixth two thousand and thirteen as arbor day in the city of schenectady and urges all residents to support efforts to protect our trees and w you councilman ricky i just want to take a moment to thank the mayor and the city council for your support over the years you can see by our flag we were just awarded our fifteenth year of a tree city usa and an arbor day proclamation is one of the things that makes us a tree city usa we just had a very successful successful planting on saturday with these members of the mount pleasant neighborhood association we put and thirty nine trees in the past week so we're really excited to be doing that we don't as you know we don't have city funding any longer so we're accepting donations we're still working off of a new york state grant as well as support from national grid that reimburses us for trees planted under wires so hopefully we continue to keep planting trees thank you very much for a very honored madam president for some resolution support of national crime victims 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 and social backgrounds whereas in one thousand nine hundred two the president's task force on victims of crime and vision the national commitment to a more equitable and supportive response to victims to mitigate the degree to which crime victims face a criminal justice system that at times ignores their rights and treats them with disrespect and whereas the victim assistance community faces new challenges to reach and serve all victims including victims of new crimes like cyber crime terrorism and victims who have not always trusted the criminal justice system including immigrant victims urban youth in victims who are lesbian gay bisexual transgender questioning and where as national crime victims rights week april twenty first through twenty seventh two thousand and thirteen provides an opportunity to celebrate the energy creativity and commitment that launched the victims rights movement inspires its progress and continues to advance the cause of justice for crime victims therefore bill resolved that the city of schenectady city council hereby joints with gary armored cars the mayor of the city schenectady and proclaiming the week of april twenty first would the twenty seventh two thousand and thirteen as national crime victims rights week and we're farming schenectady commitment to respecting and forcing victim's rights thank you very much mayor mccarthy and all the city council members for recognizing our week it's very important to us and to all of the folks that are in the various victims groups we of course are in the parents of murdered children group and you know sad to say we're always getting new members but to have the support of folks like yourselves in our county or city is very important to us  the others thank you very much appreciate it do you want to mention the event that you have no yes i'll let it so we kicked off yesterday in saratoga county to hear we're going to be hosting our event on wednesday at noon in schenectady central park in the rose garden and if it rains will be in the pavilion and we invite all of you to attend it's at noon and we'll have it last about an hour but it's one of the most memorable events through the week it's one of my favorites only because it's  in the rose garden but it's really special because it's the families it's more for them and for to speak of their loved ones and everyone remembering them and honoring them so thank you this i appreciate your support it's been sixteen years we've been doing this you guys have been amazing thank you thank you from our one single family residential to our three multiple family residential i have one person signed up donald crapsey and president council members there my name is donna crops me and i'm here on behalf of the up and james hausler this application was made in january and it's been before the city planning commission and the council committee and i'm here to answer any questions you might have on the application other communications presented to the city council for monday april twenty second two thousand and thirteen from the mayor a list of appointments dated monday april twenty second two thousand and thirteen a letter dated april twenty second two thousand and thirteen from paul of fine director of waste of water and wastewater attached to a resolution recommending the award the award of the waterline project cheltenham ave to the lowest responsible i just want to update what's been going on with the dog park plans there is they continue the rendering has been done by by the architects so they're moving forward that at this point they're also looking for volunteers to help with that so we received the email from marion russo you know and she is there looking for people that would like to work on the committee that's working to beautify the park plans are coming together and so they're looking for people to help with cleanup and fundraisers so if anyone's interested kind of a comment about our committee meeting and even though it wasn't on the finance committee i thought it was pertaining to finances so i will talk about a water line project on cheltenham avenue that we just announced being awarded it is on the agenda highlight that fact that when we have multiple beds we do get things that come in under budget and so i want to recognize that and additionally i think if at all possible want to know that sometimes coronating some of these things is sometimes challenging jobs that we're protecting as well as you know it can sometimes mean the difference of whether someone gets their medication or gets a check that they need to buy dinner that night or whatever the case may be so although i'm pleased we did the resolution i just wanted to add another word of support thank you anyone else all right then we'll move on to privilege of the floor related to the legislative agenda i have one person signed up mary maclan category of charging nonresidents more money to play golf is counterproductive the golf course is a destination we should welcome newcomers maybe they'll consider buying a house here and stay permanently most a city really want to advertise that nonresidents are treated differently that's what happens when you put up a public sign and they come and enter to be entertained downtown and then when you go to the other end of town that's going to cost you more to be entertained this is no way to treat visitors to the city charge the same for  item number nine a resolution authorizing the distribution dispensing and or consumption of alcoholic beverages door insane at the nice annual street fair council needs to pay close attention today it's when granting waivers to organizations for special events conflicts between non profits should be avoided especially when other events are new vote for this russian illusion but spread the dates when considering the events i am all in favor of item number eleven in having the saturday delivery continue i would like to support the rosalee simple but also a and i thought so think council should do more than lip service if everyone die that's what i do the post valentine cards christmas cards and so on and you know what she writes back and the last letter i received from her she said that she was using her treadmill every day ok this is i'm here to speak with think about the schenectady tenet association meeting that we're having here on the april twenty fourth as six thirty at the metacity room in the library ninety one clinton street i'm hoping that you will come and help us to make some wise decisions concerning tenets that are having problems with landlords and try to help us all to resolve our differences i think that landlords are very good people who are trying to do some very positive things they came down here and spoke about that a couple weeks ago a but we also need to have a balance have the tenants to have something to say about what they feel is also happening in this community i want to see break i want to see tennis to brainstorm ideas on how to work with landlords to improve housing i appreciate the writing that kathleen moore wrote about what we're trying to do because we really want to be unified and words we really want to find ways to help each other to better  situation and we want you to help us to better our situation our growth and development here in schenectady we need a lot of growth and development here in schenectady concerning housing very brand of residence connected to the i've been asked by a number of people from the independence party the democratic party and the republican party to come down here tonight and expressed my gratitude and their gratitude mr rickey for the outstanding job he's done on the city council and apologized for the way he's been treated by other members of the council this is coming from the hearts of other citizens of this city and i hope on election day it will show its fruit this is shameful the way this man is being treated as an individual coming down here for at least twenty years for the citizens of this city to stand here and speak not just come down once a year but come down at regular meetings and express his heartfelt feelings and hollow the city should be run and represent the individuals in this city there's no one i know of here already place else in this city that has done that you could be in office for sixteen years or twenty years but you haven't represented the citizens you may be on a committee as is the council you may be mare but when it comes down to representing the city citizens it's not there it seems once you've been accepted by the party you've lost contact with the citizens that's my opinion and i've asked the people to show this when they come to the voting to vote for an individual not for a party but for the individuals the sad part of this whole thing is that there's a good possibility that there's individuals right here that perhaps want to walk further in politics that perhaps want to be america in a city i certainly hope not and that comes from the why are because you don't deserve it for what you've done so far these private meetings this leave in an individual from the city council out of the meetings and even the press out of meetings we should know as citizens through the press alone what takes part in every meeting that you discuss city business it's shameful and it's not acceptable it's wrong it's not the american way it's not what our men and women went and fought for it's not what the citizens in this city voted for and it's time you'd wake up and treat each and every person in the american way with dignity and respect thank you thank you joy h border and everything else going on we need to fix up the streets the potholes and fix up arab oil who are for in particular for one thing and it's curbs need to be fixed too so it's a lot to be done before somebody gets hurt and we better do something fast we don't need nobody getting hurt in this town thank  different offices of pick of the of schenectady city and they have not responded to me in any fashion to give me can any kind of idea of when this building will be turned down torn down and they haven't even acknowledged that it's even on the list to be and has been far and far worse condition i have tried to email each one of the city council members a copy of pictures of this property so that you can get a look at it but i guess the father said he was too large so it was think you should know that there are children that get on the bus on the corner of page and obvious street daily in their right on the corner where this big brick building is on seven i guess the seven thirty six  street which is right next to the other building this property is easily accessible it's not roped off not that contained in any kind of way and children can easily come wander in there there has been many people who have come near t trafficking of vagrants that come there every day i live right around the corner on page three three o two page street next to see the property of people coming all the time so like i said i really would appreciate it if somebody would take some action and have the zoning board or the co to force me to actually look at this property and move forward and get it removed and you can thank you mary maclean i want to say a few words about the comments that were made at the last council meeting well so that good idea to limit speech in a democracy is  good idea for the lights to flush a month's face well dr sizing his or her right to free speech what's so good about pricing the importance of education when council members make city appointments but it ignore economic experts who tell council to not pass the eight year town a contract what is so great about the city spending money it doesn't have one at least five occasions i heard the mayor compare schenectady to the city of utica after the fifth time i took the liberty to the city does not deal with fluoride imagine that mr mayor a city that receives five million dollars more of unrestricted funds does not have a budget line item for fluoride i also also asked about medical coverage for a part time elected officials he said utica does not pay medical coverage for part time elected officials imagine that mr mayor no line item for medical coverage and i asked about city cars he said the city of utica house cars for three people the mayor police chief and fire chief our mayor sold the mayor scar plus six others and kept twenty eight cars from a fleet of thirty five schenectady cannot afford those extra cars it doesn't have five million extra dollars of under strict at funds mr mayor so those cars and use the money to pay off the principal for the four star avenue complex thank you thank you joe  keller honorable mayor and a president city council members good evening i'm joe keller i'm a city resident and a candidate for city council this past weekend my wife and i had an opportunity to visit be earth day event over in the central park a fantastic event and we saw lots and lots of dogs inside the dog park utilizing that and i seemed to be enjoying themselves along with their member of their owners  there's an event coming up next tuesday that i wanted to mention and that's over at the price chopper community room multi neighborhood association event with one two three zero nine eastern ave and central state street and it's a meet the school board candidates event hope that many of this residents in those areas and other areas of the city would be more than happy will attend there's one other item that came to my attention as i read in the news it appears that there unfortunately is once a bit again been a closed door meeting regarding city business with only the members of a single political party allowed to  attend however legal this may be it does remain a biased representation of the people of the city's connectivity who are of course your constituents while i would expect more from this council we are disappointed once again by party politics it's very unfortunate i remind you that this november there are three seats which people have the option to change to create a better system of checks and balances to think for themselves thank you very much for the time thank you ok i have no one else signed up saw this portion of the meeting closed and then move on to miscellaneous business of the council yes thank you it was a wonderful week in schenectady first of all i want to congratulate the mayor on an amazing realtors day earlier this week and i want to thank the people who wrote in letters to the editor that gave a more well rounded view of the event because it really was wonderful it was packed house of what i spoke to many enthusiastic people talked a lot about the treasures of our  community we learned a lot of interesting things like we have the fastest fastest growing tech park in general electric most people think it's global foundries but no indeed right here in schenectady we have the largest waterfront development project that's being started at the plant so just wonderful then i went to bed and cuttings both on j street brand new businesses so that always helps me combat some of the negativity that is out there swirling around which was wonderful and those have been cuttings i actually came to a realisation some very very special things are happening right now last month proctors announced their broadway series for next year one of our shows coming up is matthew bourne sleeping beauty matthew bourne is a very famous choreographer in england and his show is going on tour it is going to london moscow ravin italy new york city washington d c los angeles and schenectady my side i just put in their new thinking exhibit that is by i b m the think exhibit opened in two thousand and eleven in new york city it was there for two years it has been disassembled half of it has gone to epcot center and half of it has come to schenectady at that just tickles me i think were very special community and third as of today time magazine has released they're made in the usa manufacturing is back and featured in that magazine is an article that talks a lot about schenectady and the g e battery plant so yes i will reiterate we have our challenge is but boy are we moving forward in boy do we have a fabulous fabulous community that i'm extremely proud to live in and thank you thank you anyone else m whoever thank you i just have a couple of actually community announcements i'd like to make the hilton hill arts center is doing a fundraiser this friday april twenty six th it's a building renovation benefit it's a jazz concert so for the folks that like jazz it's going to be at the first unitarian society which is located twelve twenty one wendell avenue so it's going to be some great music a great evening and is doing a meet the chief of that missionary baptist church at six p m so folks are invited to meet chief brian kilcullen to come he'll be doing a presentation just about some of the things are going on the city people had different questions concerns this is an opportunity for people from all communities to come there'll be a question and answer period for him to answer any questions the folks may have so that's on the second of may and then on may fo the schenectady human rights commission is doing and poverty's connected a and that's going to be held to proctor stare on the second floor in the family gallery it's starting at ten a m and it's going on to twelve p m so they'll be a group of panelists just bringing awareness to it's the situation of poverty in schenectady and ways to end that so it's going to be a panel discussion insist the beginning of what's going to be an ongoing series of discussions to the people to bring things to the table questions as well as well as resolutions and there will be a media alert going out about that folks are invited to it's open to the public there is absolutely no cost for that thank you thank you now mr  you a couple things tonight i just want to talk to we saw some folks retreat and i just want to thank all the volunteers for retreat and planting trees near city it's a volunteer organization so the labor is free they do a lot of good work also in the news today is how there's a tenet group also getting the other the slick group and you know normally maybe that wouldn't be such huge news but i think it's actually pretty interesting considering some of the stuff we went through recently with our new policies and certificates if these two organizations can solve all the problems of of the quality of housing in schenectady i think it would gladly put us out of business but we wouldn't need to put so many resources in that area we could focus those resources someplace else in the city and that would be good so i encourage those two groups to meet as often as they need to to solve the problems and if they can do it without us meddling i think that's probably better for them and better for everybody we could focus our efforts someplace else  third in my list and springtime they're getting warmer and when the weather warms up i think of miss joy paul mentions it all the time and she was talking about tonight with potholes and and roadways and we have some paving come up and over the last couple years we've paid a lot of the roads in the city and i think that we've picked up the pace got a lot of more of the main thoroughfares repaired enough you know  improved two years ago i think the quality the work that was done was phenomenal on the roads were smooth manhole covers were a perfect alignment with the pavement i mean some of these things are kind of small nuances but i think important last year not sure the this coming year you know we have a smaller budget so i won't be as much paving going on but i make sure we understand what we liked what we didn't maybe learn from experience to stretch as far as we can and l know talked about the really as open house you know i received some good feedback i had people who were kind of unbiased opinion some folks who aren't from the area people who are real estate's a bit worn and it open some eyes you know  you can't please everybody and i'm sure that we didn't convince every person who went to that event that it's going to choose the best place on earth but i think there's a lot of different perspectives and i think that we did open some eyes and if we changed one person's opinion i think it was a success if we changed thirty or forty people's opinion that i would say it was a grand success knowing we probably didn't change everything but it was mentioned some pretty extraordinary thinks and i'm proud of my city everyone i talk to i tell how great it be other issues but who doesn't and so i think that as long as we're making progress that's good for the city and so i know the mayor and the staff put a lot of effort into the really is open house and you don't see that going on a lot of other communities i think it was i don't know if i want to call it a first but it as far as i know was a first and you know i think everyone who volunteered again volunteer a lot of volunteer help on that as well as the city staff and the mayor so i thank everybody for that as well and it was you anyone else just quickly that address seven thirty eight page mayor i've turned it in at least twice i know and i'll follow up tomorrow and i hope that you will too and that house that has been a problem and i think kevin chairs have brought that to my attention i have my list in front of me but that has been a problem i had complaints about that before so we could follow up and just quickly pleasant you're going have a clean up on that private owners still have site control work with a lot of apartment trying go after those individuals it's kind of the negative side where we saw the realtors stay is the positive side but we're again trying to balance that where we're showing people the opportunity that's here did it in a very impressive manner thank the council members for their kind words was what people seem to think was the largest one that ever been done in the capital district in the most comprehensive we do that every month to try and do something to get the message out to talk about the real estate values that exist here in the city the same time we're trying to do the in force meant to go after the problem landlords property owners and it it's a slow methodical process in both ways to chip away at the negative side and to build up on the positive side so i appreciate the council's support effort look forward to putting a package together with the community development block rosenthal woman in business aboard went to the folks at syfy telos beatrice angela and that was good and then the women of achievement included sarah erickson who's an account representative with new york state industries for the disabled finkelstein ours is a retired social worker and it ministre her and consultant penny heyns who sighs president for academic affairs at schenectady county community college wendy rosher who's vice president of clinical services at alice medicine and carol ryan who's manager of environmental health and safety and she is outstanding women i think they all definitely deserve to be recognized also wanted to mention a couple of events coming up day nursery is having their fourteenth annual a little bit of jazz and more that is going to be on monday the twenty ninth at cornell's restaurant in schenectady from five thirty to eight o'clock p m this is always a great event and it's a really good fundraiser for the nursery and also the schenectady cancer foundation is holding their annual fund raiser a lot of night music there is going to be saturday the twenty seventh at the mohawk golf club if anyone has any interest in either of these events  feel free to give me a call and i'll make sure i connect you with the right people and with that i will entertain a motion to adjourn mr a second by mr erickson all in favor i thank you