City Council - Regular Meeting

This is a City Council Work Session meeting on Monday, June 1st. The time is 6.04. I now call this meeting to order. Can you please join us in saying the Pledge of Allegiance?

Clerk, you may now take the roll. Council Member Murray. Present. Council Member Cavanaugh. Present. Council Member Hotchkiss.

Present.

Council Member Matavetsky. Present. Council Member Rathmell. Present. Council Member Dutton is absent. Council President Pro Tem Middleton.

Present.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. We will now begin discussion of legislation in the planning committee with Chair Rathmell. Will you begin by introducing RL26-109, please? I sure will.

Thank you, Council President Pro Tem. Middleton. I'd like to introduce RL 26-109, an ordinance imposing a temporary moratorium on the permitting and constructing of nontraditional multifamily residential units. Our presenter this evening is Reverend Dr. Scott Parnell. Could you join us? Come on down. Yep. Thank you for submitting and for joining us, whichever chair works. And I will hand the floor over to you to start sharing. Just make sure that the green light is on. So push, got it, yep.

Good evening. My name is Scott Parnell and I am the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Binghamton and I represent the Coalition of Congregations of Binghamton. We are a network of interfaith congregations located within the city who are committed to serving the unhoused members of our community. Amongst our congregations, we provide food, shelter, hygiene, bus tickets, and other items of support. We are comprised of members across the political spectrum who have found common purpose in pursuing the common good and the care of neighbor. I come before you tonight to request your legislative action to promote the construction of affordable housing. Frontline staff working with our unhoused neighbors consistently report that the inability to find safe and affordable housing is the single greatest barrier their clients face. Over the last 14 years, the construction of high density shared residential units has outpaced the construction of affordable housing roughly five to one. Since 2012, six off campus student development projects have added nearly 2800 beds to the local inventory. Today, about half of the standard apartments available in Binghamton are marketed as student housing, which fair housing analyses from 2015 to 2020 identify as a major impediment to housing opportunities for families with children. The influx of owner designated student housing has pushed rent up and people out. That is out of their home, not out of our city. People stay here because their lives are here. They are either couch surfing or forced into a shelter. Broome County's 2017 housing study explicitly warned that off-campus student housing had reached its maximum supply and that any new beds would completely exceed demand. We are today living in this reality. Affordable housing stock has been neglected. Broome County has 43 affordable developments totaling 3,100 units, but their average year of construction is 1984. That's before I was born. and just 500 units have been built since 2012. Currently, over 1,000 households are on wait lists for subsidized housing within the city alone, facing wait times of more than two years. We know that there is a housing imbalance, and we know that it is affecting the lives of people in our community. My hope and dream is that all people have access to adequate and safe housing. this runs the gambit from low income earners all the way to university students community is an inclusive project where we tackle the challenges together according to the county's ongoing studies we can confidently say that we have met our need for student housing We should celebrate that this need has been met, that it has been checked off the list of community development goals, while simultaneously recognizing that any more units of this type becomes an indulgence rather than a public good. The effects of inaction will continue to multiply. During the 23-24 academic year, 924 school-aged children experienced homelessness in the city, with 630 living in temporary, overcrowded, or doubled-up situations with friends or family. Local school districts report student mobility rates approaching 40%, meaning that nearly half of our students moved at least once and often up to three times per year just to keep a roof over their heads. This housing instability severely harms physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development, making childhood homelessness one of the strongest predictors of adult homelessness. In short, without action, this problem is only going to get worse, which is frightfully terrifying. This is something that we can work together on, but it's going to take discipline, sometimes choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. There is no moral value ascribed to student housing as a category, but only in the decision to flood a market when the rest of the city is in a drought. It is in the public interest to influence the system in only a way that you can as members of council to prioritize and promote affordable housing. As a people, we often lack the restraint or desire to promote the common good over private profit. Doing the thing that we cannot do ourselves and put in place policies to promote this public good by now shifting the focus away from student housing and placing it on affordable housing. In the materials provided, I've provided three starting points where you might take this legislation. one for new developments, one for the conversion of pre-existing homes, and finally a framework for an interim temporary zoning overlay. These are simply three proposals, three starting points for conversation on how you might address the housing needs of our community. I submit them to you for your investigation, deliberation, and decision. The county's 2024 housing needs assessment makes it clear. At least 26,674 households within the county need new, improved, or alternative housing arrangements. There is ample opportunity before us, and the data are clear in the direction we need to move. Set the stage for a future that continues to serve the common good. Thank you.

Thank you, that was extremely well said. Your data is sound, your data is comprehensive. I think there's no question that we are years past having met a saturation locally of student housing and that's demonstrated by even just a cursory literature review. So I appreciate you bringing not only all of that present tonight but the options the legislation that you requested I do think this is worth pretty intense consideration deliberation and investigation as you mentioned and intend to motion to move it to committee but I don't want that to to hinder any conversation or questions that that folks otherwise had. I think we've, as a city, as recently as 2022, but previous to that, made some efforts toward, the word often is curbing student housing, and I think we need data on what has been effective, if it has been affected, and then what our options among those you've presented can be our next step.

Anybody else?

I sent an email requesting a bunch of data. As far as I'm aware, there are no conversions in the pipeline, luxury housing in the pipeline. It would be a moratorium on things that are not currently in the works anyway. But I have requested the data to actually get that in writing. But that... I think part of seeing the saturation is that people are not putting in more student housing. But maybe I'm wrong and I'm interested in the data.

The city just last month approved Shenango Holdings LLC to establish 63 units of student housing. at Center Plaza. I mean, that was announced last month. So we continue to see it. Yep. May 4th is when it came out publicly. And so we continue to see student housing prioritized and approved. And even if that satisfied some kind of current look at the pipeline, I think the goal is to make sure that even if something ends up in the pipeline, we are not advancing it until we can meet at scale the other community development needs for local residents. And I appreciate that this is a, it's a temporary moratorium, it's not a, I think we all recognize the value that Binghamton University as an institution brings to our community and has brought, but we also on the same scale have to acknowledge the impact that their expansion has had on housing opportunities for local residents. And if we can balance that scale, that's exactly what we should be considering, because for the last 10 to 12 years, it's been significantly unbalanced and has resulted in the homelessness and housing insecurity increases that we've seen, in my opinion. Actually, not just in my opinion, in the opinion of everyone who's been commissioned to complete an impediments analysis or housing needs assessment or market review.

Thank you. Anybody else? I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming with us. We know that there is a need for affordable and family housing here. Just in different perspectives, we know that the Binghamton City School District is low in enrollment, and that's because of, one of the reasons is because of housing. We don't have enough family housing. So I wanted to thank you for that, bringing this information. and I echo everybody's sentiments. I don't wanna speak for everyone, but I'm happy to learn more, get the data, and go from there, so thank you so much for that.

Thank you.

Anybody else? Nate?

I'd appreciate the opportunity to discuss this in more depth in a committee meeting, so make a motion to send it to committee.

I'll second. Okay, so RL26-109 is gonna be moved to committee, planning committee. So thank you so much. I think. Wait, are we voting on that?

Okay, clerk, can you please call the roll? Council Member Rathmell? Aye. Council Member Matavetsky? Aye. Council Member Hotchkiss? Aye. Council Member Cavanaugh? Aye. Council Member Murray? Aye. Council Member Dundon is absent. Council President Pro Tem Middleton? Aye. Thank you, that is six-zero.

Thank you so much.

We generally have to refer zoning changes to the Planning Commission for vetting. I don't know if an emergency moratorium has to go through that process or not, but generally zoning stuff needs their opinion back to us.

Yes, it still would have to go through planning. Also, I probably need to flesh out a little bit more in terms of exactly which of the pieces council would want to move forward or look at advancing, whether it's one of them, two of them, all of them.

That would be the vision for the committee discussion is to land on which option or options to advance and and I Envision Planning Commission members being part of committee conversations as well. I don't just want to bring them in at the end Because I think we need to understand their process and their perspective on continuing to approve developments as recently as last month so I envision that as a collective approach, but understand that it would, once we land on something, go through planning commission in addition to committee.

Yep, anybody else?

Well, and just for the way I understand it is the Planning Commission just gives an advice letter to council. It's like a non binding thing, but it's required. Is that am I required to refer to them for recommendation? Yeah, they make a recommendation. We don't have to follow it one way or another.

No, city council is not required to follow recommendation.

Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you so much. I hope you have a great evening.

Thank you so much.

Okay, Finance Committee Chair Cavanaugh will now introduce RL26-120.

All right, is Tom here from the Water Department?

Yeah, he's all the way up there.

All right. So we have RL26120, an ordinance to amend the 2026 capital fund for increased cost for a water distribution truck. The water distribution truck and the line that the money's coming from, which is a backhoe, were both discussed and approved by us during during the 2026 budget discussions as part of the capital projects fund. We're reallocating some of that money and we're able to do that because, pull it closer to you, make sure, yeah. Oh, now it's green.

There we go. It was already so the backhoe we put in 200,000 that came in at 149. So we had that extra crane truck came in $3000 over what I budgeted for. So we took some out of there. Now the balance, the dump truck, there's not enough money in that 90,000 that I put in last year. So hopefully this 47 will cover the dump truck.

okay so we're moving the money around but it ends up being that we have enough money for each of those expenses so we budget correctly overall just not quite the right distribution correct thanks for coming by for 26 seconds anything else up at the water plant no okay no not yet all right thank you any other questions no oh yeah yes i will a motion to expedite

I have a motion. Do I have a motion and a second?

Any discussion? Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council Member Rathmell? Aye. Council Member Matavetsky? Aye. Council Member Hotchkiss? Aye. Council Member Cavanaugh? Aye. Council Member Murray? Aye. Council Member Dunn is absent. Council President Pro Tem Middleton? Aye. Thank you. That is 6-0. Thank you so much. Thanks so much. This is expedited and it'll be on Wednesday's business meeting.

Thank you so much. Next up in the planning committee, chair will now introduce RL26-118.

Thank you, Council President Pro Temp-Middleton. This is RL26-118, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to submit the FY52 annual action plan and accept funds from HUD. Our presenter is Mayor Cramp.

Hi there. So in the work session packet we have the overall budget and then as required capital service and then separately ESG sub recipient breakdowns so this is for fiscal year 52 cdbg home and esg eventually i believe that as was outlined by the clerk's office this will have to come in the form of a budget which is adopted by council and i think we have the timeline pretty well in hand on what needs to happen So I know that this follows a presentation by the CDAC. I'm happy to really get into any areas of the budget proposal. If council has a preference on what we start with or I guess what would be the question?

I was gonna say maybe line by line like we did with the others.

I think we also had some discussion about, particularly since we also received the annual action plan, we had discussion about referring for a more in depth rather than line by line here to committee. So that's an option, I'm not saying we have to. Juliet did excuse me dr. Burling sent us the annual action plan and I think that's 57 or so pages worth of just kind of sorting through as well yeah isn't there there's a timeline on this though correct or no say that again there's a timeline

Yes, so we have to submit to HUD. There was a timeline that was shared that allows for setting up a public hearing and then enough time to go through legislative process as well. The public hearing is, I believe, scheduled for not Wednesday's meeting, but in the second meeting in June. The 17th, yes.

The 17th, okay. So yeah, maybe, I'm not trying to tell anybody what to do, but maybe putting it in committee to go through it line by line instead of doing that tonight and having the committee meeting before the public hearing.

And I think the goal would be to receive any comments at the public hearing and make final determinations at that point. I don't think there's necessarily an interest in holding up. We've gotten sufficient time, I think, to start reviewing. Just quite a bit more pages given the AAP than just the budget. Yeah.

Is there anything you'd like to highlight Mr. Mayor from your your update from what CDAC presented?

yeah uh i would say that um you know largely speaking from a framework of the budget this follows in in past years from the service cdbg service programs i would say that the one note is a focus on youth services trying to maximize the spending Following conversations I've had with members of council on the need to focus on youth, obviously we are service cap determined as it relates to our CDBG service program. So we do not have an unlimited ability to keep improving those. But getting as much money towards youth services as possible, even if it means not funding an agency this year. which which my budget did that was a priority of mine and then as you go into detail about that i'm sorry sure uh yeah it was a conversation i know councilwoman a conversation we had about um as we have finite resources and and how we Choose to spend it youth services programs that assist youth outside of school are should be at the top of our list. My budget reflects that trying to fund the agencies as much as possible. Thankfully, we do have a number of youth programs that are providing these services that we can we can fund. um i think the cdac largely did a good job of of prioritizing them as well i further prioritize them um and again even if it's at the expense of a of a program that does not serve youth so i think just what i heard from members of the community and members of council heading into this budget process that at least this year we'd make youth as much of a priority as we could As it relates to the capital budget, two projects from a nonprofit capital upgrade that I wanted to have highlighted was the roof replacement at Phelps Mansion. This was something that was cut last year as part of the budget process. That historic building continues to hold a number of different community events. I think that without this investment, which we seem to once a year, maybe once every other cdbg cycle uh pick a historic uh rehabilitation to support this was you know at the top of our list this year specifically as they were cut last year and then hvac replacement at the discovery center They're doing child care programs, preschool programs, as well as servicing a number of youth. So again, in a line of youth services, the city of Binghamton also owns that building. So capital upgrades at Discovery Center benefit not just the Discovery Center operations, but also the city of Binghamton in terms of updating and maintaining its own infrastructure. In addition, and I spoke about this at my presentation to the CDAC, is an affordable housing pre-development fund in capital. More and more with affordable housing projects, in order for a non-profit or a developer that's doing low-income housing tax credits to apply to hcr to even kind of start that what is a long process there are continually escalating environmental costs for doing a project i provided counsel an example from the first ward action council on their wish to apply for stabilization money through hcr so this is to to upgrade existing low income rent, excuse me, low income units that they rent. But in order to even apply for that program, they're likely facing something like a half a million dollar in soft cost, pre-development costs to get things ready. Now, each project is not half a million. Sometimes it's some environmental reviews, a phase one, phase two. Sometimes it's other pre-development Environmental work that by having this fund available, we could, I think, jumpstart the number of applications that exist for a variety of of HCR programs beyond just the low income housing tax credit program. But all of the litany of services that as a pro housing community, we can take advantage of. What's great about this pre-development fund is oftentimes when a project syndicates its tax credits and it's closed on from the state, pre-development costs are reimbursed. So the funding could actually flow back into the CDBG budget as program income. and then help the next affordable housing project that is out there. So in a perfect world, at any given time, we would have maybe two or three projects that are taking use of this funding, paying for pre-development environmental reviews or other affordable housing pre-development needs. When those projects close with HCR and their pre-development costs are reimbursed, that comes back to the city's program income, and then they can get put back out to the next project. This is, amongst a lot of different things, a key barrier of the development of affordable housing is that the onerous, I think, and sometimes a lot of red tape that comes Agencies nonprofits are not even willing to spend that money upfront. We can de-risk that Like we were able to do with some of the city's ARPA funding over the years that will lead to more applications and more units being Created through HCR and affordable housing. So that $100,000 fund exists in the capital. I know I mentioned it at the CDAC and then in addition to that we have our uh, annual uh expenditure on public infrastructure parks improvements as well as demolition we again stand to have the opportunity to take blighted properties in need of demolition from broome county after they foreclose we weren't able to get as many as maybe we would have liked this past round but the land bank was able to get a handful so That is good. Blight reduction is a national objective. And then I would say, other than that, the ESG, some communications came in from CDAC. I emailed a little bit with Councilman Rathmel about budget so I think that reflects some updates as to what is prudent on that versus maybe back in the fall winter time when the applications came out so those have been updated and I think that is kind of the the large ticket items as part of this anybody else

I know we did say we're gonna, do you have something else to say?

Well, I mean, just for clarity, and people can have different feelings, and I appreciate the Phelps Mansion, but since it was referenced that it was cut last year, it was not recommended by CDAC last year, and council reverted some of the budget lines to the budget presented by CDAC. So there's different budgets, so I just want to make, for people that are following along, I see the press is here.

It was proposed by me, and it was amended to remove it by city council.

Back to our... Commission that we put in charge of.

Yes, and thank you for saying that, because also we didn't. No, I heard a rumor.

Saying that we shouldn't fund it this year, I'm not stating any of that. I'm just, because I want to make sure people understand that there's multiple versions of the budget that...

Thank you for saying that. I wanted to just say that too. I heard a rumor that it was being said that city council didn't want to support the Phelps Mansion at all, and that's not true. So I just wanted to throw that out there, that we support, we can support whoever needs help. It's just a money issue. And at the time when it happened, there was another organization who made a better case to us. And at the time it was for a roof, it wasn't to support the Phelps Mansion as a whole.

So go ahead, I'm sorry. No, no apology needed. We just have more of an audience than we typically have. So to clarify, we... We have commissioned the Community Development Advisory Committee representatives from each district, multiple appointees from council members as well as Mayor Cram. They review applications between fall and early spring january so late winter they make initial recommendations regarding allocations those allocations then go to council and the mayor the mayor offers his recommendations aligned or otherwise and then council ultimately makes a determination on which aspects to move forward so sorry if that got confusing but there's a there's a try multiple layers to the process, and the goal is as much community input as possible, which is why there's also a public hearing late this month.

Anything else? So I know we did say that we were going to refer this to committee. Can I get a motion?

I'll motion to refer to planning committee.

A motion and a second. Any discussion regarding this RL going to committee? Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Council Member Rathmell? Aye. Council Member Manavetsky?

Aye.

Council Member Hotchkiss is absent. Council Member Cavanaugh? Aye. Council Member Murray. Aye. Council Member Dunn is absent. Council President Pro Tem Middleton. Thank you, that is 5-0. Thank you so much. I guess, Mayor, you can stay right here for the next RL.

Okay. This is the Planning Committee Chair Rathmel will now introduce RL 26-119.

Okay, this is RL 26-119, a resolution authorizing an agreement with the GPI for corridor ID technical support. Mayor Cram, can you tell us what that is?

Great, so the city put out some time ago an RFQ for technical assistance in the development of just an application to the USDOT's corridor ID program. A corridor ID and it's kind of reinvigoration under the Biden administration was to assist municipalities in passenger rail development in communities. And so a passenger rail has long been talked about in Binghamton. Many years ago I think were some preliminary studies that looked at some costs, but this corridor ID program is really the first time that there's been an open playing field for municipalities, states, DOTs to get money from the federal government to assist on planning efforts for passenger rail. It is a multi-step process, and to go from a city or community that does not have passenger rail to get passenger rail will be a decade-plus process, and that's very, very clear. But what the city of Binghamton can do with our partners at DOT and regional transportation planners is to be the spark to get that initial $500,000 award from USDOT to study passenger rail returning to the city of Binghamton. This contract with GPI, which was a group that came out first after interviews from my office, city engineer, BMTS weighed in as well, is to create an application for the corridor ID program and apply to the USDOT. This is the same process that Scranton went through several years ago. They were not only awarded the $500,000 Planning award but have also moved into the next implementation stage for the corridor ID project So the scope of services is attached which outlines a lot of the work that they will be doing and Again, the big part of this is the many months long process to prepare a step one corridor identification application. A lot of it has to do with coordination with New York State DOT. One of the reasons why GPI was selected is that as part of their team, They have railroad engineers that have worked on and successfully secured this corridor ID funding for two other projects within New York State, which is the Adirondack project as well as the Thruway, basically I-90 Empire Expressway project. So this team has a track record of not just doing this process but submitting winning applications to USDOT. And the city of Binghamton, after really this point and after this application, cannot and should not serve as the ultimate project manager and point person or point municipality but we can serve as the spark get uh buy-in from new york state dot update rail plans as necessary and submit for the usdot to award that 500 000. once that 500 000 award comes in there is a separate lengthy process to apply for the next phase of funding again which the city of binghamton will not be take the lead on, but this starts that process. Since we announced that the city would be seeking qualified firms to assist us, and I've been kind of talking generally about it, it's one of the number one things that I hear from constituents is a wish for this service, a need to explore this. I think it could be a game changer for our regional economy to have passenger rail that returns. And again, this is something that would be long past my time as mayor, but ultimately something that we have to at least start. I think residents are asking us to investigate it. And GPI was the clear favorite in terms of the most qualified firm to conduct this work and submit an application to USDOT.

Okay, so I have a few questions. So if this does happen, what would it be? Is it going to be like Amtrak? How would that happen? Like long-term, will we be able to take the train to Syracuse, New York? How would that work? Do you have a plan for that yet or any thoughts on how that would work yet? And how realistic is this?

Well, the city of Scranton was able to apply for and obtain this corridor ID study money. Other municipalities within New York State have applied and have been selected and have won it. As part of the scope, they're looking at two alignments to be evaluated with an effort of getting a service between Binghamton and New York City, one through Scranton and one through Port Jervis, which is existing freight corridors. So this is simply the application that will ask a lot of those questions, but really the grant that would solidify what a plan would look like, what type of service would be from if we were awarded that 500,000. But yes, generally speaking, Amtrak passenger rail service between Binghamton and New York City is what we need to apply for and what needs to be studied.

And how realistic is that? Do we have the infrastructure to do that, to have that service?

Yeah, the service previously existed. One of the most difficult parts of service to New York City is that New York City to Scranton connection. The entire point of corridor ID is to ask those questions, whether financially viable, what changes would have to be done to the infrastructure to achieve this. And this is a very, very long process, as I said. If all goes well, the first ticket on passenger rail from Binghamton to New York City will be many years past on Mare. But the grants exist for communities to study this. There are a lot of communities all across America that are utilizing this exact framework to apply for planning funding to get that awarded and continue this project. Ultimately again the city will not serve as the as the point people on this once it moves past this stage So this is funding for the pre-study to qualify for the study To see if they'll consider us for a rail corridor. That's correct. Yep, and That is what usdot? wants to see

I was in conversation a few times with former Congressman Molinaro when he was in his transportation role about the need for transportation between here and Syracuse. Should Micron be what people think it's gonna be, right? That we're gonna have probably large number of our laborers commuting up there, other people and supply chain support and all of that. Is there any way to include looking at between here and Syracuse since that might be a place that people are going to need to get to for work, support work, et cetera?

I think in lieu of service to New York, probably that would be less of a priority. But if a Binghamton to New York service is ever designated, I think continuing the spur up to Syracuse would be a positive thing too. There again used to be rail service from Binghamton to New York actually not that long ago on specialty service to take folks that were going to Syracuse football games.

Can you remind me where the 58,000 would be coming from?

Sure, it's capital, money that's been designated for engineering, pre-development type of work that's been approved by council.

right there it's our city dollars that you know but I think it's a it's a I like it I think it's a seed we're planting and you know that's may or may not bear fruit far in the future but but I think we need to be at least thinking about things that could that could benefit us that far in the future so I think it's a good use of some of our development funds.

So I think I haven't actually seen this study but I've been made aware that there has been a previous study many years ago kind of similarly looking at the economics of passenger rail from Binghamton to New York City and then that determined that it's not like economically viable but is I mean, things have changed since that study. So is that being disregarded in hopes that this new study will determine a different outcome?

I don't think disregarded, I think that this process which is awarding funding to a lot of different places across America didn't exist in the same way that it does today. So in addition to the city wanting to plan for this and think about planning, New York State also has passenger rail planning and New York State DOT also has an entire division that does this. So part of what exists in the scope here is interfacing with New York State DOT, understanding what their priorities are on passenger rail. There is obviously a community interest in this that exceeds what planning work has happened in the past and clear, definitive type of answers. And probably, yes, if through the Corridor ID Program, the U.S. DOT and New York State DOT determine that it's not viable, then that is an answer we'll have to live with for probably a couple decades. But until we kind of get that answer, I think we have to chase it. And I think that with Scranton, again, advancing these things to that next phase and the governor of Pennsylvania saying we're going to deliver rail service between New York and Scranton, that's considerable. And that solves a lot of the challenges that Binghamton, I think, had faced in the decades past thinking about rail service and how do we get a train from Binghamton to New York City.

So I know that we're going to get here, but just looking at the agenda and how these tie together, is this theoretically the first step, so 26-119, first step for that technical support, 26-121 toward the application for the grant, and 26-122 to partner with LaBella to move that planning forward, or are they separate?

These are two separate things. The two RLs that relate to smart growth are a separate awarded, has nothing to do with rail.

Quick question, just my thoughts on this is, has there ever been a study on this before? Because there's something that we can look up like have we ever had the city or BMTS ever did a study on what you're proposing. Like has there ever been a study because it wouldn't make sense like to waste money on a study if we know there's something out there already first.

So just to be clear, so this is paying for an application which requires a lot of technical preparation of information for a step one corridor ID funding.

No, I know that. But what I'm saying is it doesn't even make sense to even pay for the application or do any of those things. If we already have something or there's some data out there already that says this is gonna work or this isn't gonna work, I don't feel comfortable wasting $58,000 for something that isn't gonna work when it could be used to something else. So if there is a study out there, I'd like to know that before I agree on voting on this. I don't feel comfortable, even though this is the process before this to get this done, I personally don't feel comfortable spending this amount of money if there's nothing that's going to happen with it.

Well, I think that no one in this room can say for sure what is going to happen.

Yeah, but if there are some studies out there, there might be some information out there that says that this might not work. I've lived here all my life, and I know that people have been talking about this and that they want to do this. So, I mean, we don't know that, but I'm pretty sure that we're not the first council or the first set of elected officials that thought about this.

If Google AI is correct, the study was done on May 2002. So it's well over 20 year old study was the last feasibility study. So I think that's why there's a discussion about things shifting and especially with Scranton.

This whole process, the whole federal process now is a newer process. That's correct.

President Biden, you know, the Amtrak president, right? He instituted this. The first rounds of awards were under his presidency. There is an anticipation that the next funding opportunity will be announced within the next year or in 2027. So this is to prep for that. And what I'll say as it relates to folks have looked at this before and it either couldn't be done or the study said it shouldn't have been done. I would say to that, game on, right? We heard that for years about the railroad bridges, that there's nothing that the city can do to get the railroads to upgrade their bridges. We heard that for decades and decades about the Binghamton Plaza, that there's nothing, that we can do to enact any sort of change at the Binghamton Plaza. And I think in those two circumstances and, you know, this one, maybe even the hardest of those three, the city was able to, through creative thinking, sometimes just brute force, change the narrative as it relates to those projects and I think that our constituents are hungry for us to to try this it relatively speaking is going to be a long period of time but at least we can say we tried and We have, I think, a really good team that has a track record winning these in other communities, and we can say that we tried. And it may not end up that anything moves forward with this, or it's not within any of our time at City Hall, but at least we could be the spark. And this gets people excited in a way that few other things do, I think, across our community.

Okay, I'm gonna talk again.

I pulled up another thing. So the New York State Rail Plan that was issued, Strategies for a New Age, was 2009. So I'm gonna send you the links of what I found.

Okay, thank you so much. I just had another question. GPI, have they done anything like this before? Is that why we picked them to do this work?

Yep, as stated, their team is currently working on two successful corridor ID applications within the state of New York, and they have a litany of experts that are doing this exact railroad work all across the East Coast.

Okay, and what I just want to say one last thing on to your comment. I know that you said that our constituents and the people of Binghamton really want this done. I would say that constituents right now the way the world is going. They are really really looking at us in the city of Binghamton and they're watching how we spend money and how we do little things. So to me, in my personal opinion, and my vote would be on, you know, the information that I have first. I don't want to, like I said before, I don't want to vote on something if there isn't any substance to it. So I think, you know, a lot of people do want this, but also they're worried about how we're spending money and to make sure that we're not wasting money on different, on things that, aren't in the future. I mean, that won't come down in the future. So that's kind of my thoughts on it. And that would be my vote on giving the information before I decide to vote on that.

I'm going to keep plugging for something to Syracuse, because I think if we want tech jobs here, we want to make sure we have a train line, something convenient to be able to produce things for the supply chain and such, because they're going to need things that are pretty immediately delivered, so we might be able to be in that that zone so gonna kind of keep plugging that we might really look at what syracuse is doing with micron following that being in conversation with their county executive etc to see how we can jump off that for our economy since we have the engineering firms and a lot of the manufacturing know-how here But yes, I would like to take a train to New York City.

Be easy, very easy. I'm not against it. I'm just worried about nothing happening with it, but I'm for it, so that's my thought. Does anybody else have anything? Well, thank you. You were gonna say something?

I am. I was just curious, the organization that we're- Turn your mic on.

Hang on, give me a second.

The organization that we're looking to conduct the study that have done this type of work and assessment for us before, Like what's the thought process with using them to move forward like is there was there a list of various folks that we could have considered it to move forward, I know you said that we landed on this particular group, can you help me kind of understand the thoughts and decision behind why them.

Yes, so an RFQ was issued, a public request for firms that are interested. There were three firms. Councilman Hotchkiss, I think, was provided the information. Wasn't able to join us for the interviews, but the firms were interviewed and ranked based on their expertise. And specifically with GPI, it was their experience dealing in the state of New York with New York State DOT. on two other corridor ID successful applications, in addition to all of the blocking and tackling that they're able to do on technical assistance for a grant like this that set them apart.

So just to clarify, the other firms did not have an extensive amount of experience within working on projects similar in New York State, or GPI just had more?

The two other firms had experience on corridor ID projects in other states, and some that were, I think either firm could have certainly submitted an application and done the job. But with this firm having and dealing currently with New York State DOT, which will be the most important partner on this, that was what kind of broke in GPI's favor.

Thank you.

Okay, anybody else? And thank you, Hadassah, for forwarding that information over. Thank you so much, Mayor Cram.

Thank you.

Okay, now I'll move on to Planning Committee. Chair will now introduce RL26-121. Is this a little better?

Come on down. I'm playing Tito Martinez, I think, today as well on this. Welcome. Bob, you going first?

So I'll introduce it while we're discussing who's going to start. How about that? This is RL26-121, a resolution accepting a New York State DOS grant for a quarter smart growth planning initiative. And I will kick it to whomever wants to begin the presentation.

Sure. So the city was able to obtain and secure funding from the New York State Department of State for an update to our form-based code process, which there was some inkling of during the comprehensive plan and zoning update that took place in 2013, 2014. but there's been I think some updated development that's happened since then we wanted to identify some funding to further support that not just on the Main Street corridor but the north and south corridor going up State Street and so with that grant the team which included code studios which was involved in the 2013-14 form based code update is on board and labella to basically provide that update provide that plan and advance a form-based code to the extent possible within our zoning in the city now if you just want to turn on that mic and introduce yourself yep right there okay uh good evening um my name is matthew rogers i'm a senior planner with labella associates and i would serve as the project manager for this project

I'm okay looping it into a full conversation rather than introducing the second piece that's fine yeah but just if you want to introduce your scope of work sure you're doing yeah yeah okay I did provide I can hand this out to the to the committee if you'd like

We should have that in our packet.

The proposal that you submitted. I just put together a quick set of slides just to give us an overview. I'll give you a second. thank you okay so we were selected by the city and obviously we're here to discuss the the final contract and our team as the mayor had mentioned includes Co studio Colin scarf who was involved with the 2013-2014 comprehensive plan There was a kind of a side project where the city put together a form-based code for Main and Court Street. I believe back then that was a fairly new kind of progressive code and we don't have all the details, but it was never incorporated into the zoning law. It was never. passed it was never passed correct right so it was never uh the zoning law was never amended to incorporate that but that still exists and uh the city would like to kind of revitalize that and also as the mayor mentioned uh look at the north south corridor uh as well and Also on our team is Jonathan Peet with Chituin Trowbridge. And between the three of us, three of our firms, we've prepared dozens and dozens of zoning updates along with form-based code, including the city of Buffalo that Colin was involved in. We're wrapping up a hybrid project in the city of Plattsburgh in northern New York. and a variety of other projects that include zoning of one form or another, including design standards and form-based code. we're very happy to be here tonight and be able to kind of go over the project so following the smart growth grants scope of services the project would begin with a typical kickoff meeting organizational process where we'll work with a committee or the city staff can I back up further so when we're talking about the north-south corridors and the east-west corridors

Yeah, I was gonna say, can we pinpoint that down to particular streets, or what does that mean?

Sure, yeah, so I apologize, I'm not sure how much information you guys have about this project. So the north-south was Washington Street, State Street, West State Street. That's the north-south corridor. And then the east-west would be Main Street and Court Street out to approximately Grandview. So that is, the east-west is the original, essentially the original corridor that was evaluated during the 2013-2014 plan. We have a map somewhere in our email. Yeah, so the city recognizes the, if they're gonna take a look at both of these corridors, let's look at the north-south as well, which intersects in downtown. So a big part of the process would be doing what we call a diagnostic evaluation of your existing code for the districts that are involved here, along with a series of block studies. So we would be essentially mapping every single parcel in the study area, identifying what the existing conditions are, what the current zoning is, what opportunities there are for infill development, redevelopment, et cetera. And we're also going to be looking at the neighborhoods on either side of both of the corridors because it's important to identify those and ensure that there's connectivity from the neighborhoods to the corridors between neighborhoods and destinations, et cetera. So it's not just looking at the zoning. We're also going to be looking at possible streetscape improvements, pedestrian connectivity improvements within the corridor and adjacent to it. And after we conduct a diagnostic evaluation, we'll be holding at least two public workshops, but we'll also be holding pop-up events within the study area, meeting with stakeholders, property owners, business owners, the residents to get their input. Now, obviously zoning, is kind of a niche thing, but we do look to get input from the public from their perspective on the types of uses they would like to see, improvements they would like to see, et cetera. And I will say, for those that maybe aren't familiar with form-based code, a true form-based code doesn't necessarily take into consideration the allowable uses which typical zoning does and and that's the historic uh component of zoning is it divides a community by uses whereas a form-based code allows a development to occur if it meets the the desired form in terms of the size the setback the architectural characteristics now whether the city Pursues a true form-based code and doesn't regulate the uses in the quarter. That'll be part of the process That were that we would be conducting and evaluating the pros and cons of that There's only been a few cities. I think the city of Kingston is primarily the one city I know of that has a true form-based code where they they do not regulate the uses per se and And that is kind of a big step for a lot of communities. And that's why I think the city of Binghamton is doing a good first step here to look at it from a corridor perspective and not necessarily looking at it broadly. And an important part of this too is, I always say zoning is not necessarily economic development, but it certainly can facilitate economic development. And right now, my limited familiarity with the zoning, because we haven't obviously, begun work and I don't know the full details but my understanding is that it significantly limits and it divides these corridors up by specific uses and and kind of limits the ability of property owners and developers from being more creative and providing say mixed-use development in areas that are strictly single-use type type projects and with that to the current zoning it also limits the density and the footprint to the most restrictive uses if you wanted to create a mixed use. So that kind of puts property owners and developers in a requirement to get a bunch of variances, and it's very unpredictable. So what we would be looking to do, and of course, at the end of the day, it'll be a package of zoning recommendations that the city council will obviously consider and adopt, but looking to facilitate and provide opportunities for redevelopment in areas in a way that's not constrained by just use, okay? So the public outreach process is gonna be important. We have a whole team that does public outreach. And like I said, we like to pop up events. What we're also thinking is if we identify some of these nodal areas that the city wants to focus on, we may do some concept developments of how development could build out and we can create some temporary installations at that property. for people to gonna go take a look at it scan a QR code provide their input on how they feel that type of development is whether or not it's in character of their neighborhood or if they're looking for something else so we're we're gonna certainly look to provide as many unique opportunities to get get public feedback in addition to working with with city staff So ultimately we'll put together the recommendations and to draft zoning regulations. Form-based code is fairly, has a lot of graphics so there's gonna be lots of graphics and designs and less text the better. And a big part of this, too, would be working with city staff, the planning commission, and other staff to kind of walk them through the process so that it just doesn't land on their desk if the city council adopts it, but will provide training, have multiple meetings to address any questions that they have and how this would be implemented if adopted. And our final task would be an adoption-ready regulation package that the council would go through the local law process, right? So referrals to the county, public hearings, et cetera, but we will have regular check-ins with the council as we go through this process at key intervals to kind of keep you up to date on where we're going. Is it gonna be a true form-based code or are we going down kind of a hybrid approach?

so if I'm looking at this map correct then when you say north-south it doesn't actually go into the south side that's correct it does not go north-south doesn't actually include yeah north-south from the the Main Street Court Street spine correct Just for clarity, because I would have assumed that it would have gone over, at least into our business district on the south side.

Yeah, I mean, the grant was written for a specific area, but there could be an opportunity for us to extend that, but I'd have to have a conversation, of course, with Mr. Martinez. I mean, that would seem to make, I mean, one of my,

questions is the integration of this plan with other ongoing plans so on that those on those axes that this plan covers I would have said that two of the biggest development possibilities would have been the former Weiss on Main Street, which now has a church in it and has been taken care of, that whole ugly plaza, and the Binghamton Plaza, which now has its own whole development process going on with community engagement and blah, blah, blah, and how much are we duplicating, or how do we ensure that this is working with that plan in concert and helping each other and just not Sure. You know, spinning wheels, and to come from Medvedsky's point, extending really a couple of blocks up Washington Street to capture that also intersects with our whole Conclanave corridor study that we have going on, which is not in form-based, not doing form-based code, but is looking at redevelopment, you know, and We just did a how-many-million-dollar, Mr. Mayor, reconstruction of Main Street we're in the middle of, and we've been consistently working on the North-South Corridor with the Decker District Project and all that such, and we've

that quarter is getting a lot of attention as well so how do we how do we make sure we're we're getting new good stuff sure so with the example of being been doing a lot of stuff along both of those corridors i guess right yeah right yeah we were as part of the rfp the city laid out all the other projects that are that are happening uh and obviously we're aware of what's called planning fatigue you know after a while people are like i'm done with the meetings i'm done with planning i want to see something happen so we're going to try as best we can to coordinate with all the other projects going on particularly the binghamton plaza one you know they're doing concept redevelopment and how that area could build out there still does have to be zoning that regulates that area but the idea there would be if the project timelines coalesce they would help inform us our team in the city as to how that particular area would build out and in terms of the main street improvements so you know a lot of the city infrastructure projects uh zoning doesn't necessarily involve that so that's within the street right of way but the idea there is is the city's making the investments to beautify and improve these these corridors that then make them more attractive to the property owners And then the idea with the form based code or the ultimate set of zoning regulations will is intended to provide more flexibility for property owners and developers to provide the type of development that the city wants to see, because you're still going to be in charge kind of running the show as to how you would like the areas to be built out. So and one of the first steps that we do for any any project is to pull together all of the applicable planning projects, planning projects, infrastructure projects whether they're just completed they're they're in in the works or they're they're down the road so we have an idea so we're not duplicating inventory analysis we're not asking the same questions to the public and to the city so that would be one of the first things so we have an idea of what else is going on

I had a nice discussion with Tito Martinez from Planning on Friday, you know, and kind of prepared for this, and he put together a fairly long email to counsel with kind of going through some of those questions, but I'm interested in also digging back to what happened coming out of the comprehensive plan, the form race code that came out of that, and what happened and what is different now that we will have a different reaction to a foreign-based code now. What were the inherencies in adopting it then versus what we're gonna get now?

Yeah, I mean, I can only speculate, and I don't think anybody here was necessarily around when that plan was adopted. I was around. Yeah, okay. I don't wanna speak for anybody.

Sure, it was a, you had the comprehensive plan,

I mean, this can be an ongoing discussion, too.

Yeah, which was a huge document, obviously. And then this was kind of an added extra project. And I think, you know, it was a completely different city council, obviously a different mayor. It was also, you know, the first year of Mayor David's tenure. And so that. form-based code and kind of this density provision was not as, I think, as in the forefront of what maybe I'm thinking about in terms of like how do we add more housing units more cheaply, right? Density is one of those things. What does in our commercial corridors that are on the public transit system, our next two services are already existing as commercial places that can take some of that density, how do we actually do it through zoning? As just as an example. That discussion and priority today was not necessarily around 12 plus years ago. And I think too, it was 12 years ago, form-based code just as a concept was relatively new and it was very, it's a very progressive way, it's a very new way of doing these things. So also the fact that we have a state grant that is saying to explore something that the state is picking up the tab for it makes it an interesting conversation today versus 10 years ago.

Thank you.

So I'm very happy that with the Conklin corridor study, Councilman Rathmell and I have been invited and involved in suggesting people for the advisory committee, focus groups, et cetera. I guess I'll state on the record that I hope with this project that the council members whose districts you're cutting through are engaged not just in getting updates, but are engaged in assisting in identifying folks for you to engage with while you're doing the project I would certainly in addition obviously to the mayor's office and right people who reach out and all that any anybody else I guess I'll ask what would it take to extend it over into the south side those couple of blocks I don't

i'll leave it up to the city whether or not they want to extend the the form-based component of that i mean we we can increase the study area that that's not going to be a problem we're not we're you know we're not going to ask for a change in in the scope or the fee uh i'm pretty sure the department of state which is overseeing this would not have a problem with that i'm sure they'll be all for that and then It's just a matter of working with the mayor and Mr. Martinez to say, all right, what is the, and of course the council members and your districts to identify the boundaries. So, and certainly would like to do that sooner rather than later before we start the kickoff meeting and we can have some initial pre, kick off conversations and update the study area. And then like I said before, again, there might be sections of both of these corridors that maybe stick with a typical, what's called Euclidean zoning, which is by use, but maybe more design aspect of it, because again, sometimes relinquishing the ability to regulate use is somewhat uncomfortable from a zoning perspective, right? So they're typically, you know, we're gonna wanna discuss kind of the guardrails there, but we would be happy to extend that area south. um and then and again what one of the first steps would be to look at both both the the corridor that the city originally identified you know to say are we missing anything are there little nodes that are shooting off into the neighborhoods that we want to take a look at at least not necessarily from a coatings perspective but from a pedestrian streetscape improvement or redevelopment opportunities because that's a big part of what we're doing too it's not just zoning we're looking at opportunities for revitalization so would be happy to have that conversation.

Much appreciated. I do serve on the Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee for the county. Perfect. So I'm in with all the folks that are interested in those topics.

Excellent.

Think my It's it's always I think for me and other members of council. It's reassuring to see a community has adopted Form-based code or any other any type of policy and like what the results were from that and I know Kingston is like Relatively similar size so that could be a good What am I saying? Good case study. Yeah, good case study. So if there's anything from that that you can provide or that you've heard of, I think that would help us with this whole process. Or we go on a road trip.

Yeah, and we will certainly do that between Colin and myself and the projects that we've worked on. I was not involved in Kingston. Theirs is only about two or three years old, but I work with Ulster County a lot, and I know the planner, and I'll get an update from them and how things are working, both from, in terms of, positive development you know there that might be still kind of coming right but in terms of procedures and how the planning commission adapted you know there's a lot there that we can probably learn from to provide you thank you anybody else

There was mention that maybe our corporation council might be presenting something at some point on this. Was there something that we're missing?

no the only thing i think i would have would be on the grant piece um there's a local match the local match would be coming from services that the city would be providing to the planning department uh versus an actual like monetary amount would be applying for it but that was the only piece that i had of this

I'm sorry, one more time. Local matches coming from where? Services that?

In-kind services to the planning department. So planning personnel would help on this.

So basically they would keep time sheets of the hours worked on this project or some such mechanism?

Yes.

Okay, anybody else? Well, thank you guys so much.

Thank you, appreciate it.

Do you have a card you could leave for us?

Thanks.

And are you, LaBella has an office here, right? Are you locally based here? I'm out of the Albany office. Okay.

Yeah, and then John Dworowicz, who's also, he's gonna be the lead planner, he's out of the Syracuse office. But between the two of us and Colin and John from CTLA, we'll be the primary face and we'll be out here quite often.

okay good okay well anybody else anything else i'd like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting wait we're done no we're not done executive session okay um can can you add a little bit more context for open meeting purpose to what the executive session sure you can go ahead and do it i believe it's relating to pre-development so it's a there's i don't know if our corporation council can add kind of what the boundaries are for not you know, why we're able to go into executive session for the topic.

Yep, and we are entering.

Without giving away.

Yeah, we're entering local, I mean, we're entering executive session to receive local guidance.

Legal advice. Huh? Legal advice. Yeah, okay. Yes.

Thank you.

And can I get a motion to enter?

I will motion to enter into executive session. Second.

Second.

Okay, all in favor, executive session?

Aye. Downstairs?

All in favor? Aye.

Okay, I guess we can go downstairs, yep.

I forgot we were going.