Common Council - Regular Meeting

For an emergency, please note the exits on either side of the chambers and proceed down the stairs. Bathrooms are located at the door to my left, women's to the right, men's to the left. We allow 30 minutes for public speaking. If you have not done so, please sign up at the podium. Zoom speakers are only permitted if you signed up by emailing the city clerk by 11:00 a.m. today. If you did sign up, we didn't have anybody sign up. Please note that the council has rules of decorum. Uh for our meetings, including the public speaking portion, we ask that respect be shown to all, whether they serve on the council, on the staff, or here as public members. As noted on the signage, we do not allow weapons of any sort, signs mounted on wood, metal, or similar material, or signs larger than 19 by 24. If you have appropriately sized sign, you cannot raise it in the air as this could affect a person's line of sight. Not only are we here tonight to listen to the public's voices, but we are also here to conduct government proceedings. To best serve us all, we cannot have any distractions. When a speaker is addressing the council, no disruptions are permitted. This includes talking over, yelling, clapping, and snapping. When this body proceeds with the day's business, we also need no disruptions. As for open meeting law, section 103, interruption of a speaker or government proceedings will not be tolerated. After one warning, anyone interrupting a speaker or the proceedings of today's meeting will be removed from chambers. I am now calling this common council meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. on May 5th, 2026. If you are able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence. to the republic for which it stands. Nation indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. You may be seated. May I please have roll call? Alderman Pasti. Alderman Tierney here. Alderman Marlli here. Alderman Faulk here. Alderman Mickens here. Alderman Dennis excused. Alderman Ham here. Alderman Katz here. Alderman Hirs here. We have a quorum. Can I have a motion to dispense with the minutes of the previous meeting and approve same? Motion by Michelle Hirs, second by Sar Sarah Pasti. All in favor? I.

Opposed? Motion is adopted 8 to zero. Can I have a motion to dispense with the reading of the general bills? Motion by Sarah Pasti, second by Ben Folk. All in favor?

I opposed. Motion is adopted 8 to zero. We're now entering into the public speaking portion of the meeting. We have allotted 30 minutes for this purpose. Speakers will have three minutes. Please be aware that I will give a 30 second verbal warning. If there are remaining speakers after 30 minutes, I will call for a motion from the council to extend the period for another 30 minutes. Speakers, direct your comments to the chair as council members cannot engage in debate during this time. Please state your name and your ward number on the record before you begin. If you do not reside in Kingston, please state your name and the municipality where you live. There could be no distractions from the audience in chambers or on Zoom when a speaker addresses the council. The common council has also received written comments for our consideration and they could be found on the city's website under tonight's agenda. May I have the first speaker, please? Matthew Cernney.

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Matthew Cerny. I'm representing Wiltwick Cemetery, uh, which is in wards five and nine. I'm a resident of Hurley. want to start by saying clearly, we support the intent of the proposed tree preservation ordinances. Trees matter to this community. Our 85 acres of green space in the heart of Kingston matters to this community. Our grounds are not just a place of burial. They are a place of reflection, history, nature, and peace for all of Kingston and Olter County. I want to share something important about who we are. We are a community cemetery. We are not a private developer. As a community cemetery, we serve everyone regardless of the color of their skin, where they came from, what they believe, or who they love. At one of the most I'm sorry, at one of the most difficult moments in life, we are there for families and for the deceased. Everyone who comes through our gates is treated with dignity and respect, and that's where our concern comes in. Some parts of the proposed tree ordinance, particularly around tree root zones and ground disturbance, could unintentionally make it difficult and even impossible for us to perform basic burial operations. Hundreds of graves in existing family burial plots would not be able to be used by family members if this ordinance were enacted as written. Unlike other types of land use, we cannot delay what we do. We cannot tell a family to wait for a permit. We serve communities in Kingston whose customs require burial on the same day as a death. Please help us honor these communities. We absolutely believe in protecting trees. We already do it. Our cemetery has a significant tree canopy

and we invest in maintaining it responsibly. We have an active tree planting and preservation plan at Wilwick Cemetery. We've been managing and planting trees for more than 175 years. But we are asking you to recognize that cemeteries are different. We are asking for a narrow, thoughtful accommodation, one that allows us to continue serving families without interruption while still respecting the spirit of this ordinance. This is not about avoiding regulation. It's about making sure the ordinance works for everyone in our community, including the people who rely on us in their most vulnerable moments. 30 seconds.

I invite each one of you to come tour Wiltwick Cemetery and see our tree preservation and planting efforts. The best place to understand how this ordinance will affect those entrusted to our care is right there among the trees. Uh I've shared my contact information with the clerk and it's a sincere invitation. Please come to the cemetery. Let me give you a tour of the cemetery and and let's talk about our trees. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Lynn Woods.

Hi, my name is Lynn Woods. I live at 68 Pine Street. I'm here just to to voice my support for the tree preservation ordinance. I was looking through it carefully because in the past I've written about all the trees that have taken down specifically on Franklin Street during the sidewalk reconstruction project which was I don't know maybe six years ago was before COVID and also in Henry Street uh there were 14 mature trees on uh Franklin and even though we were told the public that they would be preserved they were all cut down and some of them were native including maples and on Henry Street there was one shade tree that I was told by the city planner would be preserved. It was cut down. So, I don't I look carefully through this section 373-7 to see if all the um you know all the the language in that would apply to sidewalk reconstruction projects. And I know that on letter D it talks about impact on sidewalk traffic prioritizing sidewalk reconstruction. So, it addresses sidewalks and trees. And as you probably know in Green Street, there are some very um uplifted sidewalks that are very hazardous, which are blue stone, and I'm a big proponent of blue stone. But in this case, I would hope the trees would not be cut down to smooth out the sidewalk. And I guess that this tree commission would have to weigh in on each case. But when there's a huge um you know a big infrastructure project, I just hope that this ordinance would apply and be looked at and that the tree commission does its job and looking carefully and making sure that the ordinance is followed. I'm also really happy that there's a whole section there about Central Hudson because as we know they their their topping of the trees is extreme. So I'm hoping that the city can work with Central Hudson to do a better job of preserving trees. And um and the other thing I want to mention is that after the sidewalk projects at Henry and Franklin, the city did put in a lot of

trees, native trees, but there were a couple of periods of drought and no one was watering the trees and I was calling Sue Cahill saying, you know, someone better water these trees or they're going to die. The ordinance doesn't address that. I think it's a DPW issue, but I'm just mentioning to the council that I hope we can keep on our urban forester and I hope that there can be attention to the maintenance of trees. So that's it and again thank you very much for listening. Thank you. Next speaker please. Tanya Garmin.

Hi. Um the tree code is um the next step um in a a long recent line of city of Kingston acknowledging the importance of the public realm um and uh um and equity in in how we move around it. Um our new zoning code, it shapes the public realm more than micromanaging uses and has street design standards. We're talking now about how to um fund different things. Um traffic coming. Uh there was some money that was put in a recent year um a small amount for trafficcoming devices and we are um uh talking about having better funding for our sidewalks. You can it's much cheaper to to pave a bunch of you can do a lot more street paving. So the tip money goes to streets and not sidewalks. We don't have a capac ability to do that. The urban tree forester um is the latest and um greatest iteration we had um when the Franklin Street uh Broadway um Henry Street trees were being lost. Um the mayor um responded to things like Lynwood's article um a boreal adue and um h and put into the budget um tree maintenance out of DPW. This this um this document, this law is going to do more than just what's in it. It's going to keep us moving forward. It's going to keep us thinking about how we take care of our public realm and invest in it and um make it a safer, more comfortable place for people to be together. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please. That was all who signed up. Is there anybody else here who has not spoken who would like to speak? No. All righty then. I will close up. Whoopsie. public speaking. Um, thank you everyone. We now enter into the report of committees starting with I'm sorry I skipped a couple. We now enter into claims and communications hearing. No discussion. There'll be file in the clerk's office. Can I get a motion to dispense with the second reading of the general bills and pay same motion by Michelle Hirsch,

second by Sarah Pasti. All in favor? Opposed. Motion is adopted 8 to zero. Now we enter into the report of committees starting with resolution number 68 please. Resolution 68 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston New York authorizing a transfer in the city clerk's office from contingency in the amount of $30,000 to repair the chillers at city hall. On the question hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 69, please.

Resolution 69 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, authorizing a transfer in the building safety department in the amount of $5,248.96 to correct a previous transfer. On the question hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 70, please.

Resolution 70 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, recommending approval for modifications to the fiscal year 2026 historic properties budget and requesting authorization to expend in the first instance for the comprehensive historic preservation plan and citywide historic design guidelines project. On the question hearing, no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to 0. Moving to resolution 71, please.

Resolution 71 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, adopting the standard work days for elected and appointed officials in the New York State Retirement System. On the question hearing, no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 72, please. Resolution 72 of 2026, an ordinance amending an ordinance in relation to the traffic on the public streets of the city of Kingston, New York, adding no parking any time on Dwit Street. On the question hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor?

I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 73, please. Resolution 73 of 2026, an ordinance amending an ordinance in relation to the traffic on the public streets of the city of Kingston, New York, establishing a loading zone on Broadway.

On the question hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 74, please. Resolution 74 of 2026, an ordinance amend an ordinance of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, amending section 390-99 schedule 16 parking prohibited certain hours. On the question hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 75, please.

Resolution 75 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, authorizing settlement of tax certary proceedings for Woodhaven NAT management LLC CVSarmacies number 08945-01 with RPTL section 727 to apply to the 2024 and 25 years. On the question hearing, no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 76, please.

Resolution 76 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, authorizing settlement of taxuary proceedings for Broadway Donuts LLC with RPTL section 727 to apply to the 2025 year. On the question hearing, no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 77, please.

Resolution 77 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, authorizing settlement of taxiary proceedings for 50 opplaring. No discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I I opposed. Resolution is adopted 8 to zero. Moving to resolution 78, please.

Resolution 78 of 2026. Resolution of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, authorizing a 2026 budgetary modification to provide funding for charter review consultant in the amount of $46,980. on the question. Alderwoman Sarah Pasti and thank you, Madam President. I just want to say how exciting it is to be passing um this budget modification because what this modification will do is enable the city to go into contract with the consultant who will be assisting our city in reviewing our charter um after a long period of time, say over 20 years when it has not been reviewed. And even though it's um I've heard that the cost is expensive and people are worried about you know how much how much we have to pay to make this happen. I think that if this if this will help streamline the government process, if it will engage citizens in government and going forward into the future, keep citizens engaged in our government, make it easier for people to get involved and perhaps even save money in the long run. I think this is an expense worth making. So, thank you colleagues for um for your support and uh I look forward to seeing the charter review get launched. Thank you.

Thank you, Alderman Mickens. So, um I will be a no on this. I had expressed my support of this um previously, but I think in in light of everything that the city is going through financially, I think we have to be better stewards of uh taxpayer dollars. Um, I I question the city's capacity to take this on at this particular moment. Um, I understand the need for a charter review. Um, I'm just not certain that this is the proper time. So, I would be at no vote on this. Thank you, Alderwoman Hirsch.

Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Um I am you know mindful of that this is an increased expense but this is uh as my colleague Alderwoman Pasty said this is a necessary review. It hasn't taken place in over 20 years. I would just like to mention that our New York State controller just recently released a report and Olter County uh in the first quarter of this year has the highest sales tax revenue. So I believe that this will not stretch us too thin. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Hearing no one else. I will call for the vote. All in favor?

I opposed. Resolution passes 7 to one. The descent is altern. Moving to the second reading and vote of local law number one. Local law one of 2026 of the common council of the city of Kingston, New York, amending ethics section 49-5C of the code of the city of Kingston. on the question hearing no discussion I'll call for the vote all in favor I opposed resolution is adopted 8 to zero moving to the local law adopted um moving to the second reading of local law number two please

local law two of 2026 of the common council of the city of Kingston New York replacing chapter 1 general provisions article one adoption of code of the city of Kingston on the question Hearing no discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor? I

opposed. Local law is adopted 8 to zero. That concludes our communications. Before we depart for the evening, I would be remiss not to take a few minutes to thank our corporation council, Barbara Graves Per, for all her efforts in bettering the city of Kingston. There is no doubt in my minds that she loves Kingston and has put her whole soul and probably a fair amount of sweat and tears um into her work for the betterment of our community. I would like you to know that you are appreciated for how much you care, how hard you work, and how you have helped to strengthen the common council. Specifically, when you came here, I was considering resigning because of the lack of support, but there you were offering to help me rewrite the common council rules. Together, we took the nonsensical language that the council had been following because nobody could understand it, ourselves included, since 1908, and turns it into a cohesive document that the council and the public can now follow, making us a stronger, better, and more transparent council. There are plenty more examples of how you supported my efforts, which I personally will forever be grateful. But more importantly, your fighter personality is what Kingston has needed. Fighting and winning through countless briefs and oral arguments all the way to the court of appeals. On behalf of the common council, we are we are grateful for your drive, your intelligence, and your dedication to the city that we all love dearly. So, we have a little token of our appreciation to offer you.

strange to speak uh in this space, but I want to say thank you and um just note that government works best when elected officials and those of us who have the privilege of serving in appointed roles collaborate. And I just wanted to share two real highlights from this experience um of collaborating with all of you. Uh the first one that comes to mind is of last year's uh court of appeals victory, but it wasn't the victory that really stands out in my mind is this moment when one of the judges asked me a question about the the vacancy study in our processes and I leaned in and instead of giving the kind of answer that I would have as pre Kingston Barbara, I knew that I had the council leadership behind me, the kids from Kingston High School who had come up to give support and I knew that it wasn't me arguing the case, it was being the mouthpiece for a whole community that was set to win. And that feeling made me a different type of litigator and it was a wonderful highlight that wasn't about the win. It was about that collaborative effort. The other moment when I think about what has been the um real highlight of working here is actually not been in court, but it's been with the council. uh back in 2022 when we collaborated again to uh change the installment repayment plan provisions that was something that just came up randomly in a conversation and then we worked together in our office worked with you Janet got with the controllers's office we figured out how can we you know come up with a revision that would really serve Kingston's communities and the council passed legislation the mayor signed it and at the end of that there will be families that are able to hold on to homes that don't go into foreclosure because of

that collaboration. And I won't know those families and they won't know me. But together, we worked to make this city stronger and healthier. So, I want to thank you. It's been the highlight of my career to represent the city since 2021. And um while I'll be leaving Kingston, I don't think Kingston will be leaving me. And so, thank you very much. Before we adjourn, I'd like to open the floor to any council member who would like to present a memorial if we have any. Aldwoman Miggins. Yes. So, um I'd like to close in honor of uh Robert Debbella um who passed away on Monday, April 20th at the age of 73. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. Many of you may know an Marie Debella who served as an older person for Ward 5 for six years. She and her husband Robert Debbella. I don't know why I have trouble saying that name, but Robert Della were for many years my neighbors before they moved to Port Euan. I've always known Bob to be kind, generous, and always smiling. At one point, Bob owned and operated a furniture store in the old Woolworth building in Uptown Kingston, named A Place in Time. Later, he would serve as the county the county director of transportation for the Elsa County Area Transit. Uh Bob enjoyed pickle ball, football, and he loved to root for the uh New York Giants uh and especially golfing with his friends in the Hackers League. He was a volunteer at the Olter County Habitat for Humanity Restore and a member of the Mendelson Club of Kingston. Bob loved old homes and

furniture restoration. Surviving him is is his wife Amory Debella and a daughter Anna Debella, two granddaughters, as well as his beloved K-9 companion, River. I would like to extend the council's deepest sympathies to the Debella family and especially to his loving wife Ann Marie. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Then I will take a motion to adjurnn. Motion by Alderwoman Hirs, second by Mike Ham. Um, all in favor and we hereby stand adjourned until the next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020.