Common Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we're lucky. Did I get everybody? I think so. Going to call to order council meeting April 7th, 2026. We have eight resolutions for consent and three ordinances introduction. [clears throat]

First here we have resolution 165 adopting minutes from the last common council meeting. Any questions? Resolution Oh, I should read it from here. Resolution 2526-166 resolution authorizing agreement with Nextiva Inc. Alderwoman Holland. Oh, just in time. I was just talking about the Nextiva contract. To provide telecommunication services for city hall. I feel like I should comment on that.

Marvin took control of this and negotiated it. Our phone system has sucked. The phones that we got were terrible. And um so we are getting an upgraded phone. Hopefully it will resolve all of the issues that we've been having with a with a with a phone that was supposed to be a a good phone. Uh but [clears throat and cough] um you know, he's he in order to get the deal that he got, he had to agree with a three-year contract, right Louise? That's kind of what Yeah, there should be no upfront cost to this. costs, better phones. The the charge too went down a little bit or I believe it was going to

I thought it was level. It might have gone down a little bit. It went down, yeah. But the cost monthly cost ongoing cost wasn't changing a whole lot. It was really more about renewing and getting

Unfortunately, the phones that we had were very very bad. They did not work the way they were promised to work and and uh hopefully these will, you know, resolve all those issues. Yeah, they typically wouldn't replace them for free again necessarily, but because they were they hadn't been uh functioning ideally, they agreed to if we renewed the contract for another three years, they're going to replace all the phones for free. Any other questions? Okay, resolution 2526-167. [clears throat] Resolution authorizing $10,000 contribution to Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County. [clears throat]

Any questions? I would like to say something though, if that's okay. Um when we look at this, you know, we it when you think about the other charities in the city and everything that are that see this and that may request um financial support help, I I want everybody to understand that that what those financial institutions do and what Habitat for Humanity do are two totally different things. You know, Habitat for Humanity is in the business of rebuilding homes, giving stable living, and you know, giving us tax revenue. Um it it's building something up from something that was gone. And you know, like God bless the soup kitchens, you know, um all those other places, but they're more of a human services type industry that that doesn't that puts help and that puts good feelings out into the community, but this actually brings homes into the community. That's an investment in city revenue. So, that's all I wanted to say. Yeah, great point, Chris. Thank you. But thank you for your consideration. Okay, resolution 2526-169 resolution authorizing and awarding the 2026 concierge services at the Riverlink Park to Dan's Backyard Excuse me. Yes, Mr. Marcel. This is 168, which is the

168. transfer necessary to make the Okay, sorry about that. Resolution 2526-168 resolution [clears throat] 2025-2026 budget transfer Habitat for Humanity. Okay. Any questions? All right, 20 resolution 2526-169 resolution authorizing and awarding the 2026 concierge services at the Riverlink Park to Dan's Backyard Barbecue LLC. Mr. Marcel. [clears throat] There was one one bid notice from Dan Nelly. And he uh put in his Now, this is a proposal, remember? This is a request for

a request a proposal. He was the only one that submitted a request for a proposal. Yeah, a proposal in response to the request for proposal.

Right. So, I overlooked it and I don't see a problem with it. Um he's been here before and uh according to the contract, there are some clauses in there that uh will be strictly enforced that he has to abide to. Okay. Yeah. Any other questions? Resolution 2526-170 resolution authorizing mayor to execute contract with the County of Montgomery for control of grass and brush on county highways. Now, this is an annual contract that we have to put out with the Montgomery County. And what they do is one section of road, as you will see, it's 0.3 7 0.37 miles of Long Sandy Drive over into the River Ridge. And they take care of that Sandy then part of the because they do another part of the county, which is attached to this road, they do it all. So, we just contract them out. Thank you. Okay. Resolution 2526 -171 resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement with the Ambler Professional Fire Fighters Local 20 and 25 and extend the collective bargaining agreement. Yeah, I had sent uh the council a pretty extensive uh explanation of why how how this evolved and where where it came from. I've talked to a few of you about it. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. We also have our fire chief Agresti here. Uh so, he can address any questions you may have at any rate. Chief, do you want to comment on this? I'm not saying anyone has a question at this time. Okay. Any other questions? No, we're good. Okay,

[laughter] thank you. Thank you, council. Resolution 2526-172 resolution approving the audit. The audit is fine. Any questions on the audit? All right, we're going to move on to our consent. Resolution 2526-173 consent. I didn't do this. Huh? Didn't we just approve it? 169 and this that were sent to me for this for The one was sent and then this was sent as a consent. [clears throat]

Oh, okay. Well, I don't know why. Are you talking about 173? Yeah, 173 is a consent. 173 is that. First one was 169. Yes, I think that was awarding and then this is with the contract. Oh, okay. Got you. Got you. Got you. Got you. This authorizes We didn't have the contract with the Right. This authorizes you to enter into a contract. Sorry. I thought I saw it as a duplicate. No. One was a proposal and this is a contract. Great. Okay.

Questions on this? Both go. Mr. Marcel. Um the only that submitted a proposal. So, after reviewing the proposal and nothing's being changed, we we entertained all the clauses in that proposal. So, then the mayor went with the alderman with Driver and Tony. And Tony, they decided in the appropriate season of They came up with these uh certain factions that are going to hold Dan's Backyard accountable and it's in the contract. And that's why we have a contract now. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

[clears throat]

Okay, consent resolution 2526-174 resolution authorizing execution of Medicare Advantage renewal. Alderwoman Holland. All right, Louise, you want to take it away with some details on this? Well, first of all, I apologize that this was being presented to you as a consent, but we needed to give our brokers as much time as possible to to shop this around because the the renewal rates were pretty terrifying. Um it was supposed was going to be 34%, but they did come down 5% in the 11th hour. Um but yeah, the you know, there are a couple in uh you know, factors in play. The um claims rate is pretty high for this population and Medicare funding cuts, you know, along with all sorts of things that are happening in the medical medical uh uh realm right now are just, you know, making these driving these costs up considerably. Um unfortunately, this was a bargain compared to uh the other carriers um that quoted us coverage. Um you know, but it goes into effect

high claims rate. Yeah. Um we we did have a um very low comp There's not a lot of competition out there any longer. These people are the big insurance companies are running away from this coverage. What we have left are they quoted higher than this. The Medicare reimbursement from the federal government, forget it. I mean, it's not it's it's it You know, when they when they talk about a tax break at the federal level, the reason they do a tax break at the federal level is because they push away this kind of funding. And when when this funding doesn't increase with the costs, the local taxpayer pays it in that form of taxes. So, it's a really it's just a very difficult situation. We're and and it's scary. It's really scary what's happened to Medicare Advantage. I do. Louise, the whereas clause, the renewal contemplates 80 members participating in the custom medical advantage plan at a annual cost to the city of 152,890. Then there's another 89 members participating in custom Medicare advantage plan at a mile of 142. What's the difference?

There are two plans. They were negotiated in the the contracts. They're just slightly I think the deductibles are Yeah, it's most the most the only real difference I do believe are the co-pays and the and the the zero [clears throat] the the one plan versus the other. The recitals are wrong, right? Right? I don't The recitals are wrong, right? It's not what they typed. [laughter]

The numbers should match. It should be I'm sorry. It should be 81 for custom Medicare Advantage PPO zero PH at a total cost of 200,251. And the custom Medicare Advantage PPO 10 PH is 90 members at an annual cost of 184,118. Now, what the heck happened because I typed this myself this morning? This looks like it was last year's resolution because the dates But I changed it from last year's resolution. Even the dates up above that say 25 to 26. I don't think anything saved. It was changed. The wrong resolution I did copy paste cuz I did send last year's out when I sent this to you just for reference. So, maybe it got grabbed by mistake, but yes, you're right. It is the wrong. Whereas Mr. Marcel, good night. I probably So, I'm sure Well, only because you said it's a big increase. You could have saved some money if you didn't save it. No, it's just as simple, guys. I I don't have any problems with my thousands. Uh The resolution is prepared, so it's right here. But I emailed it to Stacy last year. So, do we need to make an amendment for the change for the actual Uh I I apologize. Email it to me. I'll go print it right now. I can I can change the date and numbers. Can we withdraw this resolution and we put another resolution on there, I mean, with the right numbers? This withdraws the whole resolution. Just use this as an amended resolution. It's consent. Do we need to withdraw to consent? Can we just accept It's for all intents and purposes the same thing. You're amending it to read what's being printed out. Mhm. I don't have a I don't have a problem. Whatever way you want to do it. I don't know how the heck I did it. It's okay. Don't worry about your phone. Yeah. So,

we'll just amend this one. Do you want me to print some new ones? Yes. Who are you sending it to? Are you sending it to my office? I'll send it to you, Clark, right now. Thanks, Mark. I was just admiring my abs on the camera. It's a keg, not a six pack. I thought it was your new haircut. The attached [clears throat] sheet is correct. No, the attached sheet is correct. I just emailed the wrong resolution. I emailed Stacy last year's resolution. Okay. Thank you very much. So, Jimmy, this is This is attached that has prints. Okay. Shall we move on? Yep. Yes.

[clears throat]

Resolution 2526-175 consent resolution transferring funds for the sanitation truck to capital funds. Aldrin, Marcel. Okay, what we're going to do here is I guess the mayor Do you want to explain this to us? Yeah, I can explain. It's It's self-explanatory. Self-explaining. What we're doing is we're going in the capital funds and we're just going to pay for this over period of time, right, Louise? Well, it's just because we're not expecting the truck We're not expecting to take delivery until it's after June 30th. But the the purchase was authorized. This was already approved in the budget for the current year. We're just moving the funds to a capital project line just so that there's no issue if it comes in after July 1st. That's all. Yeah. Cuz the auditors will move the transaction into the following year. So, this is a way to So, with the purchase of this truck

We'll now have three new Correct. trucks. So, when I say new, relatively new garbage trucks, and we will be in great shape. Yep. Thank you. Resolution 2526-176 consent resolution transferring funds for the HVAC replacement in the WWTP. Holiday. Waste water treatment plant lost a piece of machinery there, like their AC boiler unit, so they're getting a new one. I wanted to throw this to my clerk, but he's running a little errand for us right now, but he did deem it an emergency, so we're just going to move some money around. That's all I know. Okay. Yep. Okay, we're going to move on to ordinances. Ordinance B of 2026 to be known as A Ordinance A first. Yes. Okay. Ordinance A of 2026 to be known as Ordinance 1 of 2026. If adopted, this is an introduction. An ordinance modifying section 73-32A of the [clears throat] Amsterdam City Code pertaining to dog licensing.

[clears throat] Now, would you have to schedule public hearings for all of the ordinances? Yes. We're going to schedule that now or we do it after? No, we schedule them now. Okay, so it'll be on the 21st. We have to figure out times and we have three of them that day. [laughter] Okay, so April 27th? April 21st? 21st. 21st. Okay, and how much time do you think we need for these? [clears throat]

5 minutes? 5:40 5:45 5:40 40 Yep. And 5:45 for the next one. 5:50 for the last one. Okay. 5:50 Okay. So, Ordinance A will be scheduled for April 21st at 5:40. Yes. And Ordinance B of 2026 to be known as Ordinance 2 of 2026 if adopted. This is an introduction. An ordinance ordinance modifying Amsterdam City Code section 228-48 schedule 14. 14. Correct? Yes. Okay. Uh no stopping south side of Northern Boulevard at Clizbe Avenue. Aldrin, Holiday. Can you Can you make an amendment cuz that says 16.

Change that schedule 16 to a 14. Okay, so we'll change it before the meeting. Yeah. So, Yeah. Change it at the meeting.

No, I We changed it before the meeting. Okay. So, we're good. Okay. Yeah, so this is just addressing the visibility concerns on one side. And you know, I guess I'll speak on the next ordinance as well. It's the other side of that strip essentially, Clizbe around the curve um near that Y, I guess you want to call it, off of Second and Sloan. And uh this takes it down to um Let me see. Oh, this is Northern. Okay, this is the other side. Yeah, this is Northern. So, there's another visibility issue. Both of the same. One's off of from Second to um Evandorf essentially, and the other one is on Northern Boulevard uh pretty much around the curve. If you've ever driven it, you guys know what I'm talking about. This is a recommendation from our chief. And Chief, did you want to have any You have any comments on this? Um This is This adds on to an existing code that we have for the north side and it goes to about 20 Northern to 20 Northern Boulevard, which gets you up onto that hill. So, you it alleviates those concerns for the grade of the hill and the curve. Sure. Thank you. Okay. Um this one is scheduled for April 21st at 5:45. Ordinance C of 2026 to be known as Ordinance 3 of 2026 if adopted. This is an introduction. An ordinance modifying Amsterdam City Code Section 228-47, Schedule 13, parking prohibited all times, Clizbe Avenue, both sides between 133 Clizbe Ave and Second Street. Again, Alderman Holiday. Yep, same

thing. I was I actually only mentioned that the first time, but it's the beginning of Second to Devenendorf. Can't really see around that curve and hopefully this will only be a gap. All right, this is also scheduled for April 21st at 5:50. But you can park from Devenendorf to

Northern Boulevard. to that intersection. No, like the No, it's Okay. No. 133 is the property right behind the bargain store, that building, that premises where the garage was just purchased and it's partially knocked down. So, starting at 133 there to Second Street, there'll be no parking on either side.

Right. But there will be there's a section of sidewalk there from 130 133 to the corner where there's existing sidewalk that you there will be two or two possibly three spaces there. And we are putting signs up just because these are this isn't necessarily an ordinance, but we will be putting signs up at the intersection right there, correct? They're already up. They're already up. 15 ft on either side. Yes. Okay. So, you can go from 133 to the intersection sign there Mhm. and then another section going towards Northern Yep. where the 15 ft start to the point where it's deemed Yep. poor visibility. Signs are up over there, too. Great. So, this is basically a safety precaution we're doing for, right? Yes, sir. Yes, the congestion is it's apparent as Robert War mentioned. It's not going to help the parking situation, but it's going to help the safety situation.

[clears throat] Correct. All right. Okay. Can we go back to this one again? We're going to go back to [laughter]

What are we doing now? You need a number. It's [laughter] the same number. It's the same number as you stated. Same number? Okay, right. Can I read it now or Yes. Okay. So, it's going to be 25 going back to the consent. [laughter] 2526-174, consent. Resolution authorizing execution of Medicare Advantage renewal. And This is Holiday. Alderman Holiday. All right, so Louis, do you want to continue?

[laughter] Same thing, new numbers. I mean, I would just say this is a new Suppose one of the accidental benefits [laughter] of having the last week's resolution prepared and typed and now seeing this one is you you you have an opportunity actually look at the numbers. So, there are increases. [clears throat and cough]

Sure. Okay. So, the renewal contemplates 81 members participating in the Custom Medicare Advantage PPO OPH plan at an annual cost to the city in the amount of 200,000 251,000 and 90 members participating Custom Custom Medicare Advantage PPO 10 PH plan at a plan cost to the city in the amount of 184,118. Any other questions? So, we're done with our all resolutions, Mayor. Um we got 5 minutes until 9:00 until 6:00, so

[clears throat] the engineer would like to start your report, Mike.

[clears throat]

I'm going out of order. What Crescent Avenue bridge. The concrete abutments have been as the new ones have been built erection for the steel girders, all five of them. That is scheduled for August next week. Um And I know we keep [clears throat] keep work with the town. They're going to have to stage them on Pioneer Street for an overnight run. They're going to be on trailers. So, that that short section from there to the bottom of the hill is going to be they're going to what take a lane or take the whole road? I don't remember. One lane. It's just an L erection set in the following day. But it's good progress and again, the the target for substantial completion is just after the 4th of July. So, it won't this won't should not drag on all summer. Uh demolition has really progressed. All of the I believe all 23 of the original base bid properties have been demolished. Um if you recall, we added two to the contract. One was Edson Street, debris pile from a previous knockdown and another one was is Second Ave. I believe the only one remaining to be done is Second Ave and I think that the target for that is for the end of by the end of this week. Um after that, just clean up, probably some topsoil, seeding, grading, mulching, the the whole nine yards. Um water breaks, yeah, they're still out there. We pulled a couple

[clears throat] and I believe there's more that we have not found yet, but we we've knocked down our water consumption somewhat um through the losses. [clears throat]

And the street paving program for 2026. Now, you got a you got a spreadsheet in front of you. If you would if you do what everybody would do, me included, and look at the bottom of the total amount of CHIPS on probably 150% of what our CHIPS funding is. What you have before you in this list isn't all the streets that we had proposed as alternates last year and did not get to, plus the streets that the council uh requested that I put on the uh list for this year. They are here. Um suffice it to say we're going to have to do some wiggling, I think, to get us down um to that budget number. Uh our our our target that we intend to spend out of our all of various CHIPS funds. Um So, here's the here's the thing. We're April 7th right now. Um I think everybody knows which streets were the ones that they requested on the list, right? Um Now that we've got this in front of us, my suggestion would be to take a look at the this list again, you know, your streets and and propose a priority, if you would. Um I mean, unless somebody's got a better idea, I we we have to we need to get close to $2 million out of there. So, we need to we need to get ourselves down to around

[clears throat and cough]

maybe 2.3 would be my guess. So, I think again, you say prioritize, it got to be based upon you know, just like we do every year, traveling them and making a recommendation as to which one should go first. Um the ones that have been added, I know some of them are worse than some of the streets that were on last year's list, so I think they need to be reviewed and you know, who better to do it Mike than you and Alyssa, maybe. Um I'm happy to do it. Um I don't mind doing it at all. My recommendation would be on based on well, condition and traffic volume. Exactly. You kind of got to weigh those two together, right? That's basically what we do every year, so Right. No need to change, but there are a lot of streets on this list that need you know, that that need need attention and uh not enough money to go around in terms of all of them, but um let's see what we get when we do that. Okay. Will there be any uh more work by National Grid for the gas lines on any of these streets? That should be taken to account. We Well, yeah, I mean we've we'll go through that again. We met with them last month. Uh all the streets that we had carried over from last year, they don't have work proposed. [clears throat] Okay. But I will tell you that's not to say that that there's not going to be emergency work or anything of the sort or But there are streets on this list that have already had National Grid work that have not been repaved yet by National Grid. That's correct. So we need to factor that into our thinking as we take the tour of the city. That's the key, I think. That's the key. Well, yeah, these are these are streets with scars on

[clears throat]

Um we meet we meet with National Grid a couple times a year. It's not a perfect situation, but it's better than it ever has been, I'll tell you. And it just They lay out Pardon? They've been doing it They're on their own schedule. That's the thing. They're on their own schedule. That's what it comes down to. Well, what I tried to do over the last 5 years is restrict them from replacing gas lines in streets that have been paved within the last 5 years. Um they still done a couple of them, but what I what we've required of them when we issue a street opening permit is that rather than just paving the trench, they they repave an entire lane. So Right. it instead of just a 3-ft wide swath, a 12-ft lane, you know. Right. Just to try main maintain some rideability in the road, you know. I mean

Okay. It'll go to pieces eventually. Can we just stop I'm sorry. I thought you were done. Mr. Mayor, you have to I'm sorry. Please stand for the pledge. [laughter] Call the meeting to order. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Alderwoman Kristen Mars. [clears throat]

Alderman Holiday. Here. Alderwoman Collins. Here. Alderman Carpenter. Here. Alderman Martuscello. Here. Okay. Motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Roll call. I move it to adopt the agenda. Roll call. Alderman Wirth. With with four consents and eight resolutions, four consents, and three ordinance introductions. Okay. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Okay, we have no proclamations this evening and no communications or presentations to present. So we [clears throat]

move on to the public participation section of our meeting. Anyone who would like to address the council, you have a 5-minute time limit to do so. Please state your name and address when you come to the podium. Okay. Thank you. Hi. Uh my name is Gordon Myers. Uh 16 Eleanor Street. And uh I'm here to talk about uh the golf course. I went to the golf course meeting uh previous go yes tomorrow. And I presented a uh I'm listening to the meeting just like with the city, there's always the expense, there's always expenses, always need to spend money on this. And years ago we had mentioned nobody does any marketing, we don't know how to do marketing for the course. [clears throat]

Well, I I presented them with a proposal. It's like a coupon. It's from a company called GroupGolfer. Where you have they send out for the whole state of New York and they would feature just our course that week. That those 2 days, 24 actually excuse me, 48 hours they would feature our course. So any everyone in the state would get the emails. The only thing that they see for a coupon for a promotion would be Ansonia. And so after 48 hours you're unable to buy these these coupons. And the vouchers. And the vouchers the golf can golf course can put a time limit on them. They're only good till say end of September or even end of the season, but once they're done, they're done. They're So if they don't redeem them, and I talked to the company and 20 to 30% of all the vouchers that are sold are never redeemed, kind of like a Groupon. People buy these things in advance and then they never end up having to use So the city gets all that course all that money. I presented to the golf commission and I haven't heard anything back from them. I I'm going to go over to some of the There's two courses in the area I'm going to give you an example. Saratoga Lake

[clears throat]

course in the beginning of March they were featured. They sold 1,678 vouchers at $32 each. Saratoga's they sold $53,906 of the vouchers. Saratoga Lake the course gets 75% of the revenue. The company that does all the work with the email, we don't do anything, we say can you do it? They get 25%. Saratoga Lake got $40,272 by selling those vouchers. Another [clears throat] course was the Old Post Road course. Used to call the Evergreen Court Evergreen course. It's just outside East Greenbush in Rensselaer County. They sold 200 2,201 vouchers at $35 apiece. And the Old Post Road share was $57,776. And again, 20% of those don't get used. If 20% of those don't get used, that kind of offsets the 25% that we're not getting that they get. So it's kind of a little bit almost like a wash. I'm proposing this because we have like a 4 to 5,000 uh email list that we send out for our promotions. These I talked to the company. These get 80 to 100,000 hits every day they're on the in their email that people open up the email and read it. It's not just the email 80,000 or 100,000 emails. That's how many people open the email and read it and look into it. So with the new clubhouse and we want to promote the course and one of the things is we get to restrict when they're used. They're not going to be used on weekends and holidays, not during busy times. It basically is going to be used only during Monday through Friday and on weekends and holidays after 12:00 p.m. at the lower rate price. And it's it's a good avenue to bring people in from the Capital District that think Ansonia is kind of a little far away, but give them an incentive to come here. They're going to come, they're going to see the

course, they're going to see the new clubhouse, and it they're going to see what a fantastic course it is, and they're going to come back and pay full price. We're not going to get a lot of members out of that, but what we're going to get is people come here two, three times a a year that don't come here now. And it's something that especially with the new clubhouse that we're featuring, we haven't had one for a while. To let people know, okay, now you can come here and get full service clubhouse, get what you want, get the beautiful view. I think it's worth a shot. I These courses have they do it every single year. The last 3 years I've been tracking them. I have the emails to show me. They do it and they're doing it for a reason cuz they're making good money on it. It's something that again, it's something to look into, it's something that we should do, and it's going to bring new eyeballs to the course and to the city. So people come here and they say, "Hey, Ansonia's not what you need." They hear Ansonia and then they see a great proposal. I mean if they see an incentive to come here. So I come to you because I want you to see if you can maybe, you know, give a little push to the golf commission and say, "Hey, you know, maybe there's something we can look into." I've been asking for 3 years to try to get this done. And and every year I get being told, "No, we want we don't want to discount the price." You got to promote somehow. And and and [laughter] if it gets new eyeballs on here, it's a win-win for everybody. And this that's why I I I came here to you know, propose this. So I just hope you maybe look into it. Any questions? Get a hold of me. Kelly's got the email of all this stuff. I can give you paper copies of of all the details to each one of you if you want to. And any other questions you can contact me whatever, but it's something that I'm proposing bringing in revenue and no one seems to want to listen. And it's a little it's a little frustrating. And another part of bringing in revenue. The golf course is supposed to open up next Monday. I don't know if anybody's looked at the weather, but the weather for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is going to

be tremendous. Courses are open up in this whole area this week. People are going to golf this weekend. And they're going to golf somewhere. If we're not open, all that money's going to go other places. If we're not open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and I talked to superintendent yesterday, and he says there's no reason he can't open. There's nothing course-wise that would stop it from being open. I don't know about Joe in the pro shop, but you hate to lose a weekend. There's only eight more weekends in the season, and the first weekend of the year when you got good weather on top of that, the place is going to be mobbed. And if I don't we're not open, these people will spend money somewhere else. So if that's something else you could say, "Hey, can we maybe move up that opening date to Friday or Thursday?" At least Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And you know, we're losing we could lose $10,000 this weekend by not being open. Okay? That's all I got to say. Thank you, [snorts] Joe. Thank you. You're welcome. Hi, Terry Bertuozzi. I'm here with my daughter, Christie KLD Properties. Mayor, council members, police chief, fire chief, Mr. Clark. Um we applaud the efforts going forward for the traffic problem up there. This is great. This is this is a good step. What I would like to see also, if could be, is when you come off the bridge, there's a little grass parking lot right there. You cannot see coming out of her parking lot when the cars are coming around that corner. You can't. Her and I talk about it all the time, and when I left Saturday, I was the guy that almost got hit. So, I'm pretty careful. So, if you could add that maybe in somehow, somewhere. I mean, they only put vehicles in there. Some of them are backed in, some of them drive in. The ones that drive in, they back out into a into that four-corner area. That three three corners, whatever it is.

But if you could somehow restrict that, that that would that would really do a lot. So, Terry, are you talking about the side that's right next to your parking lot? Yeah. Between the parking lot and the bridge? Yes. The parking lot. The little grass area. You can't If if there's some small cars in there, it's one thing, but there's a lot of guys who know better when they come with their trucks. Some of them will back in, which is smart, right? Cuz they can see going out. But still, people coming across that bridge, they can't see anybody coming out of our lot, my daughter's lot. They they just can't. They can't. And and but I do have a question. On Northern Boulevard, what does that mean no stopping? What What is Chief, that's what the the first uh ordinance says no stopping. So, no stopping also means someone might They might pull up there and let someone out. If they're still in their car,

[clears throat]

they're not ex- and the car's running, they're not exactly parked, they're stopping. So, it's no stopping, no parking. No, I don't mean No, I don't Mhm. Uh someone is running in quick, no. We're loading something up. Right. Right. Right. Well, yeah, they they come in they come in her lot to bring everything across the street and and fill up their cars and all that there. But no, that's all I had to say. I appreciate your efforts. Um thank you for the time. Christine KLV Properties. Um I want to kind of follow up with that and say, thank you, Chief. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Rich and everybody else um that talked about this or whoever um hooped up together to try to get something done. Um that's the most This is the most support I've ever had in the 7 years that I've been there. Um and god damn it, felt good to have people on my side, especially the city, um supporting me and supporting us um in our efforts. Um so, I really want to say thank you guys for that. I really do appreciate that. You have no idea. Um I do want to aside from that, because now with Pagel's property right there, that piece of grass, um I don't know what he's got set up with Brent. I have no idea. Um but now with the foliage coming in, especially now that spring and summer, you definitely cannot even look over the bridge to be able to tell if anybody's [clears throat] even coming down um to kind of gauge. Um I guess I don't want to push it too far here. Um I'm trying to say this respectfully to him. I support everybody in their small business. I literally will do anything for anybody with their small business. We know how hard it is to be a small business in this city. It's extremely difficult, and not just because it's the city of Amsterdam, but just in general in this society. Um He's outgrown that space, we know that.

Um I guess I'm coming to you guys for either brainstorming or something and how we can get him or the owner of the building, I guess to take on the accountability and responsibility that unfortunately has been put on me by him. Um His business model, albeit it's a great one and he's being very successful, and that's amazing. Um I unfortunately have to take the brunt of the responsibility, the negative consequences, the repercussions, um just the other day on Saturday, I I I I it just it's crazy to me. Um a mother and her son, which I have pictures. I I printed it and I forgot it. Um Seth in a parking space in my property, down on the ground, and seeing as we have cones, I don't know if anybody's familiar, but I have an open entrance and exit to get into the parking lot and out. One of my tenants' customers came in in a Jeep, had no idea that they were sitting there, and they were one of our garden customers, and almost wiped them out. Um they were this close, and I think the kid was three, maybe four. Um so, they're using now my Now Now that you guys are doing the, you know, you put those two signs, which are amazing, for the corner, um they're now using my parking lot to come in, drop off, come in, pick up, bring the carts over, unload. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know. Um and we're still having to sit there and play traffic control. Um After our last meeting on that weekend, um Brent did hire somebody um to actually play traffic control. I knew he was just doing it to shut me up.

Um [clears throat] And that kid, whoever he was, I think his name is Luis or whatever, he did amazing. He was literally directing people where to go, where not to go, and by the end of it, he came over to me. I thanked him. Um and he said, "This is crazy." He goes, "And now he hasn't been back since." So, there's no traffic control um and I truthfully believe it's because he does not, excuse my French, he does not give a It's only about what's in the store being sold, not about what's happening outside. He has security for inside, but they do nothing on the outside. Um and I just know that me personally, if I was really if I was like that in my business or my tenants were putting out those type of consequences or causing anybody else a loss of business, I would feel awful. I would feel absolutely awful, and I would feel like I would have to do something in order to help that area. Todd and I are suffering. Um I know he's not here cuz he has to work. Um but he has not sold any more pizza. He has not He People come in there just to buy a soda just so they can go use the restroom. Um and then the last thing is uh the bathrooms. I know there's no law. I know you can't force anybody with a retail space um in New York state um to be able to have their customers use their own restroom. I understand that. Employees, yes. Um My My thing with that is they're all coming to me still. And seeing as Terry and I are not I swear to god we're not. Um There was a pregnant woman that came the other day, and she had a coat on. She was standing in line for 4 hours. She

came to the door. We had no idea she was pregnant. We told her, "You can't use the restroom here. It's got to be across the street." She said, "But I'm pregnant. I I I He won't let me use the bathroom. Blah blah blah blah blah." We let her use the restroom. Everybody else sees that. Now we got to stand at the doors and say, "No, you cannot come over here to use the restrooms." So, I don't know. That's why I guess I'm coming to you guys. I don't know. I mean, I know that sounds so stupid. Um But let me tell you, when I'm cleaning up their fecal matter all over my bathrooms cuz they're mad they couldn't park there, it's not too fun. Um So, I guess I'm just coming to you guys accountability, responsibility. I don't know how we put that back on him or the owner of the actual building. Um I appreciate the safety. That that's I'm hoping that's going to help immensely. But unless enforcing it, if the cops are not there enforcing it with not parking there, and then therefore nobody's directing those people that can no longer park there somewhere else, then it's going to be they're all going to be flooding like ants into my lot again. So, like I said, I I I don't even have a resolution um because I don't know where to go next. So, I'm hoping somebody I'm hoping we can have another conversation or maybe throw out options, but that would be Let me see. So, thank you once again for everybody that tried to, you know, Thank you so much for introducing that. Um and I appreciate everybody's time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um anyone else from the public?

[clears throat] Um So, we're on to Mike, you're all done with your report or I was I was just going to conclude my saying we're going to we're going to take another look at all these street every street on this list, and what I want to do is by the end of this week share my recommendations for pairing it down with Council, you have no trouble with that, right? Okay. All right, all good. Um You know, this is first station. No. Mike, can I ask a second? Yes, sir. Anthony, [clears throat]

can we amend ordinance B to include that section um by the bridge? Or does it have to be another and we'll start the introduction tonight. Before you do that, whose property is it? It's private property. Who John Pagels? Johnny Pagels, isn't it? Well, then I That's private property. That corner, that little corner. That's private property. Yeah, you could do something for parking on the street is is the the limit, but it is privately owned by John Pagels, the guy who owns the property behind LOB. Yeah. Okay. You'd have to [clears throat]

They'd have to be in its final form 9 or 10 days, I can't remember which. 9 or 10 days prior to the public hearing. Okay. So, that's what we would have to do. Okay. Um so, we're on to the resolution phase? Resolution number 2526-165, [clears throat] resolution adopting minutes from last common council meeting by Alderwoman Collins. So moved. Any questions? Call the roll. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello.

Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Resolution number 2526-166, resolution authorizing agreement with Nextiva Inc. by Alderwoman Collins. Whereas in 2023, the City of Amsterdam entered into a contract with Nextiva Inc. to provide telecommunication services at City Hall for the City of Amsterdam. Said contract covering an initial period of 42 months from the date of October 18th, 2023 and is set to expire on April 18th, 2026. And [clears throat] If you go down to the last two whereas and then the resolution. Whereas Nextiva has agreed to provide 67 new phones and to lock in a reduced rate of $13.95 per line of service provided that the city agrees to extend the term of the contract for an additional 36-month term commencing April 18th, 2026. And whereas the copy of the proposed being attached hereto is hereby resolved, the attached contract with and agreement with Nextiva Inc. is hereby authorized. So moved. Any questions? Call the roll. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday.

Aye. Resolution number 2526-167, resolution authorizing $10,000 contribution to Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, New York by Alderwoman Collins. Whereas Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, New York has been instrumental in the City of Amsterdam in producing safe, stable, and affordable housing for income-qualified residents of our city. With each new house the organization builds and sells to provide individuals being restored and or added to the city tax roll generating substantial property tax and user fee revenues for the city. And whereas the City of Amsterdam is desirous to support the endeavors of Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, New York by way of making a financial contribution to the organization for the purpose of acquiring a new trailer to be used for hauling tools and supplies at the various locations rehabilitated by their organization. Now, therefore be it hereby resolved that a financial contribution in the amount of $10,000 to Habitat for Humanity in Montgomery County, New York is hereby authorized. So moved. Any questions? Call the roll. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. I am a member of the Board of Directors and I will be abstaining from that vote. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Resolution number 2526-168, [clears throat] resolution 25 2025-26 budget transfer Habitat for Humanity by Alderwoman Collins. Okay, just go down to the now therefore. Now, therefore be it resolved that the controller is authorized to amend the 2025-26 fiscal year budget as follows. [clears throat] Decrease expense judgments $10,000, increase expense mayor's contractual expenses $10,000. So moved. Any questions? Call the roll. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. I'll be abstaining as well. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Resolution number 2526-169, resolution authorizing and awarding 2026 concessionaire services at Riverlink Park to Dan's Backyard Barbecue LLC by Alderman Martuscello. Uh so moved. Just read that the now therefore be it resolved clause. Now, therefore be it resolved that the award for the 2026 concessionaire services at Riverlink Park to Dan's Backyard Barbecue LLC is hereby authorized. Call the roll. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Resolution number 2526-170, resolution authorizing mayor to execute contract with County of Montgomery for control of grass and brush on county highways by Alderman Martuscello. So moved. Just read the second whereas clause. Whereas more specifically the subject contract pertains pertains 0.37 miles along Sandy Drive where in the city will pay a rate of $148 per clearing. So moved. Question. Call the roll. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Resolution number 2526-171, resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement with the Amsterdam Professional Firefighters Local 2825 and extend the collective bargaining agreement by Alderwoman Collins. So moved. Any questions? [laughter] Okay. So, we're going to go down to um the now therefore be it resolved. [clears throat]

Now, therefore be it resolved that the Common Council of the City of Amsterdam hereby authorizes the mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement with the Amsterdam Professional Firefighters Local 2825 extending the current collective bargaining agreement for the period of July 1st, 2026 through June 30th of 2029. You want me to read the rest of them or do you want me Yeah, go ahead and read the last one. And be it further resolved that said MOA shall include provisions permitting to the city to hire non-firefighter paramedics and or EMTs to support emergency medical service operations through June 30th, 2029. And be it further resolved that upon expiration of the agreement, such positions shall be discontinued unless the city and the union mutually agree to continue or modify such arrangement. And be it further resolved that the mayor is authorized to take any and all actions necessary to effectuate the terms of this resolution and the MOA. I just uh want to thank uh Fire Chief Agresta and we've been at this a long time. It took a while to put this together and I think it's a it's going to be something that's good for our city and uh I appreciate uh all the work you put into it as well. This I I just have a question.

Yes, sir. Is it attached memorandum of agreement or should I come to the clerk's office to look at it or it's here. The memorandum of agreement? Yeah, it's right there. Okay. When I sent them out, I asked anybody needed a copy to let me know cuz it was you're right. You put it in my box. Thank you. You're right. It's in my box. Thank you, ma'am. You scared me, John. All right. All right. Thank you. I read it in advance. Please start. Call the roll. Alderman Collins. Aye. I'm sorry, Alderwoman Collins. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello.

Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. [clears throat] Resolution 2526-172, resolution approving audit by Alderwoman Collins. So moved. Any questions? Call the roll. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Resolution number 2526-173, consent resolution authorizing contract with Dan's Backyard Barbecue LLC in connection with the concessionaire services at Riverlink Park by Alderman Martuscello. So moved. All right, any discussion? [clears throat] Thank you. Call the roll. Alderman Martuscello.

Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins.

Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Resolution 2526-174, consent by Alderman Holiday. Resolution authorizing execution of Medicare Advantage renewal. Whereas the city currently provides Medicare Advantage benefits through Anthem. And whereas upon recommendation by the city's health insurance broker, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. And upon recommendation by the city controller, the City of Amsterdam being desirous to enter into a renewal of services with Anthem for the period covering June 1st, 2026 through May 30th of 2027. And whereas the renewal contemplates 81 members participating in the custom Medicare Advantage PPO zero PH plan at an annual cost to the city in the amount of $200,251 and 90 members participating in the custom Medicare Advantage PPO 10 PH plan at an annual cost to the city in the amount of $184,118. And whereas a copy of the subject renewal document being attached hereto, now therefore be it resolved that the mayor is authorized to execute the attached renewal with Anthem. So moved. Uh any questions, comments? Call the roll, please. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Resolution number 2526-175, consent resolution transferring funds for sanitation truck to capital fund by Alderman Martuscello. Whereas, the city approved the purchase of a new sanitation truck in the 2025-26 operating budget. Whereas, the full cost of the truck package is $215,000, $215,001. Whereas, the city is not expected to take delivery of this truck before the end of the current fiscal year, so this

funding will be transferred out of the sanitation fund and put into the capital fund. So moved. Any discussion? Aye. Call the roll. Okay. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Resolution number 2526-176, consent resolution transfer funds for HVAC replacement at the wastewater treatment plant by Alderman Holiday. Whereas, the administration building wastewater treatment plant has an air air handler air conditioning and boiler system from the original construction. And whereas, the current air handler had failed and caused the loss of air circulation for the building. And whereas, the city engineer deemed this an emergency. And whereas, Advanced Mechanical was contacted and a new roof top unit that can handle heating and cooling was proposed for a price of $70,000.

So moved. Any questions? Mike, this this was wasn't going to be part of the project. And we had to do it. Is that Is that how this works? [clears throat] We were going to use this equipment as part of the project. We were going to replace the existing boiler that's there now. Okay. Um the good thing is is that we're probably compared to a steam boiler uh rooftop unit is about 50% of the cost. So, we're going to You're going to incorporate it into the project.

We're going to We're going to do it now in lieu of that and and that money may not need need to be spent in the project. Um rather than rather than install a new steam boiler system for [clears throat] that. Cool. Call the roll, please. Alderman Holiday. Aye. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Ordinance A of 2026 to be known as Ordinance 1 of 2026 if adopted, introduction. An ordinance modifying section 73-32A of the Amsterdam City Code pertaining to dog licensing fees by Alderwoman Collins. So moved. We're going to We'll have a public hearing on this on April 21st at 5:40 p.m. So, we don't call a roll on this. Ordinance B of 2026 to be known as Ordinance number 2 of 2026 if adopted, introduction. An ordinance modifying Amsterdam City Code section 228-48, schedule 14, no stopping south side of Northern Boulevard at Clizbe Avenue by Alderman Holiday. All right. Cool. What time is that again, Stacy?

Our public hearing for this one will be at 5:45 on April 21st. Okay. Thank you. Ordinance C of 2026 to be known as Ordinance number 3 of 2026 if adopted, introduction. An ordinance modifying Amsterdam City Code section 228-47, set schedule 13, parking prohibited at all times, Clizbe Avenue both sides between 133 Clizbe Ave and Second Street by Alderman Holiday. Cool. And that's it. Public hearing for this [snorts] one will be on April 21st at 5:50 p.m. Sounds good. Thank you. That's it. I I want to thank the council because we threw a lot at you tonight. We really appreciate your engagement in that. Um We do have coming up this Saturday, we have the Wing Fest. We have the city cleanup sponsored by Mr. Patel's uh Century 21 Realty, which is always a great event. So, we hope to see everybody there. And then after that, we have the Wing Fest. Build up the city cleanup this week. No, not this week. No, next week. But we're not meeting again before then, so. What is it, August 15th? 18th. Stacy, don't listen to him. It's April 15th. April 15th. Yeah. Don't don't wait till August to clean up our city.

[laughter] No, I'm sorry. Yeah, did I blow that? April 15th. 18th. April 18th. April 18th. This April 15th. Not [laughter] this Saturday, but next Saturday, we're going to have a cleanup sponsored by Mr. Patel. And then we're going to have a Wing Fest with all of the great wing makers of our city. It's the greatest day of the of the year when it comes to doing something good and eating something good. I hope everybody can show up for that. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. Alderwoman Collins. Aye. Alderman Carpenter. Aye. Alderman Martuscello. Aye. Alderman Holiday. Aye. [clears throat]