City Council - workshop

No. actually don't know the I think that the county who made that map I think they were using recent data recent aerial photos and whatever else they could get their hands on I don't think they were necessarily looking at the tree survey from 2015 but whatever recent data they could get and Jessica Ridgeway created that map in 2025

2025 okay it's concerning because you know it's a lot of homes over there a lot of but it's also really industrial yes so we're looking to see hopefully Crystal Lake can be considered deemed as a park and we can have that in that area but looking at the map and looking at the data that you just presented it is really concerning in Ward three thank you yeah councilmember Zaria

Thank you Gretchen. I was part of the CAC. I want to also thank Chuck Thomas who was on the NRI committee and has played a big role in this and also thank our planning team who took on this project. And I know that we have to plan a workshop and hopefully that we could plan that soon so people have a chance, the community has a chance to learn more. Luckily we do have lot of environmental organizations mine included outside of this work that are doing a lot of work and would love to collaborate I'm sure and in educating people around these issues because it's not just about a bunch of people that love hugging trees it's about our kids growing up without asthma our homes not being flooded because tree lawns have been cemented over and It's about many little things that people don't think about and they think just about the birds and bees. But I think every day we feel the effects of not taking care of our natural resources. So I think it's easy to lose something if you don't know you have it. So I'm glad that you've taken the time and your team. world-class team to catalog everything we do have in Newburgh and it's up to us to decide how we're gonna protect it so thank you I did have a question about the water issues and the water resources threats it seems that like PFAS issue and Stewart Air National Guard wasn't really mentioned in environmental justice or in the water threat resources I'm just curious is that intentional or did is that a

it is definitely mentioned in there it's it's discussed the PFAS problem issuing from the Stewart okay yeah very much so so I'm not sure

okay i'll i will double check yeah um i did want to add also that a lot of the recommendations are already taking place in newberg and i'm sure over the years that you've been working with us um We're working to designate Crystal Lake Park, which is in Tamika's Ward. It's Ward 3, and that's where a lot of the dark area, red area is. We're starting a DEC heat monitoring program that also helps us know more about the heat issues. We've signed on to the Orange County Emergency Preparedness Plan that does help us prepare for floods and things like that. We hired an arborist, and the planning department's going through an urban forest management plan. we've applied to grants for delano hitch to plant more trees and revitalize the park organizations like kathy greater newburgh parks to service he has been actually planting trees in private land and in the school district the state has been planting trees we are a climate smart community so i think i think people should know about all the stuff that is actually happening in newburgh around this stuff and i think this inventory adds a layer of knowledge and your expertise so that we could actually move forward and take care of what we have. So I don't have anything to add, but I wanted to let people know that a lot is happening and I wanted to thank you and your team for doing this.

Yes, and I would just like to say I'm actually totally impressed with the city, what I've seen the city has been doing over the last decade and more around natural resource issues. Totally impressed. I was given a lot of information, literature, reports, all kinds of things from the city and from regional organizations who are working with and around the city. And it's remarkable. I have never seen anything like, actually, the kinds of efforts that you all have been making. So, yeah.

there are be. Thank you go Gretchen for your wonderful presentation, I echo the sentiments of my colleagues with how important it is to make sure that we do our natural resource inventory of the NRI make sure it's up to date and I appreciate you. being impressed with some of the things that are going as um councilman zoria just mentioned about the arborist and some of the work we're collaborating with the county i love trees i love green spaces i think that the city of newburgh is far ahead of a lot of cities our size and our demographic in that regard and preserving green spaces, planting trees. One thing I wanted to ask and it kind of piggybacks on what councilman uh... macklemore had mentioned were around uh... funding i know that you said that you didn't have a complete picture of the urban forest inventory of the tree inventory because it doesn't include in your report uh... the trees and and and private homes and private properties um so that that is definitely something of my interest because i'm a homeowner like some many of our council members and our residents the homeowners especially our elderly community um have trouble with the trees and they're on their properties you know making sure that they're trimmed making sure they know the health of the trees that are on their properties I had a neighbor come to me over the weekend this past weekend because I have a very very large Scandinavian pine in my backyard I love it I love it but it has grown so big and so large that it is going on to the properties adjacent to mine and we had a thunderstorm recently and he was saying that one of the branches fell cracked his window shield on a car and so some of those costs he and I are going to jointly absorb and some trimming so tree trimming tree maintenance you know homeowners that do have trees on their properties like myself knowing the health of these trees a couple years ago we had a thunderstorm with lightning and I have also two pine trees in my backyard one of which we had to cut down because lightning struck the tree the pine tree and it caught on fire now my wife and I and the kids we were down in Ocean City Maryland on a Memorial Day weekend and my neighbor called me he put the fire out thank God the fire department called me and then we end up the pine tree was so damaged by the lightning that no one got hurt my fence got a little burnt but didn't damage my fence severely and we had to cut that tree down and that was a fifteen hundred dollar expense so when we talk about planning trees maintaining trees green spaces being and we got several awards as a tree city a certified tree city several years in a row and i know we can do even more and better with trees but that's my concern are there any organizations that you are associated with or your organization that can help provide funding for some of our residents who may not be able to afford the maintenance of their trees the trimming of their trees If a tree becomes damaged, severely damaged on their property, they're responsible for it. It can become a very costly endeavor. And I'm always thinking about our seniors, our senior community, because our seniors are on fixed income and, you know, between sidewalks, sidewalk repair we're living in really really challenging economic times right now and i get a lot of calls from our seniors if there's a damaged tree or on their property or adjacent to their property and they want to know you know mr mayor does the city own this tree or does or do i own the tree um i had you know elderly family members calling me saying because the sidewalks were lifted from the roots of the tree in front of their property and we have a thing in the city uh code where if you're a property owner you own the sidewalks you own your property to the curb. And if there are trees, which we love, and those trees are starting, the roots are starting to get so large where they're lifting the sidewalk cement, if you will, that has to be addressed and that's a costly endeavor. So my question is mostly geared toward maintenance of the trees that exist, especially on private properties, Are there any funding sources that you know of that we can share with our residents, our senior community particularly?

well that's a great question and I don't have a good answer for you I actually would like to look into that and and I'm and I'm actually thinking that probably the best if there is such funding out there and there might be that maybe it's funding that this that the city could get and then landowners could apply for funds from this from the city from from that pot of money, if such a thing exists. I think it, of course, is a city concern. I mean, the urban forest, it is important to the whole city, whether the trees are on private land or along the streets or in a public park. And so it's the kind of thing that if there is funding there, I think it would be worthwhile for the city to pursue.

will look into that thank you I definitely look into it as well and lastly I think your presentations timing it is perfect I think it's wonderful timing because this as my colleagues had mentioned is we're doing a lot of development without displacement we're addressing a housing emergency particularly for those who are not homeowners but renters in our city which is roughly about 65 percent it used to be 70 to 30. 70 renters in our city the 30 homeowners we've kind of moved the needle with the help of habitat for humanity and the land bank and some of the work that the city has done to get home ownership more home ownership in the city and we've moved the needle a little bit we've gone from a seventy thirty percent ratio to a sixty five to thirty five but still sixty five percent of our urban city population are renters and they're being priced out so we have been addressing that housing emergency that we declared maybe a year or two ago and the state has done the same and so with that housing emergency we want to continue to develop without displacement and we want to develop responsibly so that we're ecologically responsible in that development where we can maintain and even create more green spaces, more trees. And lastly, I'll say, I'll admit that I was a child that grew up with asthma, chronic asthma, so I definitely know how and why trees are important, photosynthesis are important, and clean air. So thank you so much for your presentation.

Thank you for the presentation. Next, we'll move on to item number two, and we'll hear from the Superintendent of Public Works.

good evening uh item item two and actually item three are kind of joined um as part of the project that's being constructed on broadway right now uh the short piece of john street i think it's actually south john street was evaluated for width and parking and all this other stuff so the existing width is not wide enough for two rows lanes of parking and two travel lanes so during that design it was decided that to be consistent with the rest of john street it would be wise to make that a one-way to accommodate more on-street parking in this the downtown area of the city Johnson Street, sorry. Thank you. A lot of streets going on, sorry. So this proposal is to continue the one-way designation to Anne Street. This allows us to have parking on both sides, and it'll be one-way northbound, so from Anne Street to Broadway. And then item number two is just to address the stop sign that currently exists at Anne Street to remove it because it would no longer be necessary.

Oh, you mean item number three? Item number three, yeah.

Just to clarify, item number three also corrects some other missing stop signs in the ordinance on some other streets. So it's to remove the stop sign at Johnson and Ann Street, and then to add stop signs in the ordinance that currently exist out in the city that are not codified. Thank you. Any questions on these two items from the council? Councillor Monteverde?

Thank you. Thanks, Chad. I'm still a little confused with removing the traffic signs, so if you can just go through that again. I know that there's a stop sign at Anne and Johnson, right?

So one of the pieces of item number three is to eliminate that stop sign, because there will be no longer traffic going southbound on South Johnston Street. okay okay so traffic will because i believe it works with the fire department as well as they come down allen street if they're going down south johnston to johnston they'll turn northbound right take a right-hand turn go northbound there'll be a stoplight an upgraded stoplight with all the crossings with this project um but there will be no longer traffic traveling

southbound all right i have to go by and take that make sense yeah so regarding you know all the work that you're doing on broadway the upgrades and the bump outs um and i know that we've asked you this before but if you could just remind me because i do get a lot of questions about you know the bump out areas you know we are going to be putting some green in those areas right

uh there are some tree pits that are going to remain and probably enhanced over time but at this time they are just sidewalk they're all sidewalk yeah okay all right um okay thanks mayor harvey you have a question yeah now uh council member monteverde uh addressed it thank you council member stewart

Yes, thank you. Chad, I just heard you talk about the fact that a street was not wide enough for a two-way street. I have a street that is going through the same issue in Ward 3. Am I able to share that with you so you can take a look at it and get back to me what's the process to do that?

I mean if you want to just send either the city manager or myself and myself an email we could have a conversation and evaluate that and have discussions okay and then get back to you because it's the it's very narrow and it's an issue with the plows coming down the street in addition to people parking on both sides of the street with garbage I would I would often I would say send and send an email and we'll take a look and get back to you okay perfect thank you no problem okay thank you Chad

Moving on to item number four in engineering. Item four is a contract with ACA Environmental for emergency asbestos abatement at the wastewater treatment plant maintenance shop. As you may recall, the city council passed a resolution previously to authorize asbestos testing and ultimately preparation of a bid for emergency work to abate asbestos on an emergency basis that fell from the ceiling in the maintenance shop. This is the contract that actually performed that work. That work was completed. It was completed on August 26 on an emergency basis. And the funds in the amount of $8,450 are coming from the engineering department's wastewater treatment plant budget. Any questions on this?

Okay, moving on to Item 5.

Item 5 is award of bid number 11.26 to the Mack Group LLC in the amount of $375,758 for the replacement of the roof at 155 West Street. this is the building that the city purchased a number of years ago located at the top of the west medtech area the roof was known to be effective defective at the time of purchase and this is the uh replacement project any questions on this item councilmember monteverde thank you jason um so i know that we've had this building for quite a long time do we have plans to rent it out so that we can at least income so once right once we finish with the roof project we can determine what we want to do with this building there is no purpose for this building at this time right it is vacant yeah okay it is it does seem like a waste I mean it's a nice building thank you any additional questions I this is a i'm not sure what this looks like is there any way we could explore subdividing parcels and rfp and make it a like a housing for people it was just so the the area is already subdivided into lots um the city owns i think all of the lots at this point in that area so we could certainly do something with the with that land yes mayor harvey

just for context especially for our new elected council members when we purchased this property there were talks about relocating the police department there because of the conditions of the current police department there were also discussions on relocating police and possibly fire there was discussions also about relocating City Hall but then people agreed that we wouldn't relocate City Hall at the West Tech Med Building but we would stay on Broadway so I just want to kind of give um those who weren't around during those discussions some context to um how and why we purchased that property but I definitely want to put emphasis on figuring out what we're going to do to get our police department out of that current condition that they're in in the building they are so that's definitely And we'll go through that with the priority list on Monday.

Any additional questions? Okay, moving on to item number six. Item number six is award of bid number 6.26 for the general construction contract with DA Collins on the Newberg Combined Sewer Control Facility. This construction award is in the amount of $44,592,140. So the background on this, the city has been in the design process for a number of years for one of the long-term control projects known as the combined sewer control facility this is a addition to the existing wastewater treatment plant it'll be located on the south side of the existing wastewater treatment plant in the current vacant vacant parking lot adjacent to the rowing club this will provide high rate treatment and storage for combined sewer during precipitation events that will reduce combined sewer overflows to the Hudson River. This is a long-term control plan project. This project is funded by financing and grants from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation. Because this is a building, this bid is a Wix law project, and it requires four separate contracts. It requires a contract award for general construction, HVAC, plumbing and electrical so tonight you'll see three separate contracts up for award for general construction which is this contract before you right now you'll see a contract for hvac and for plumbing the city did not receive any bids for the electric portion of this contract so the city is currently out to bid again in hopes to find up hopes of obtaining uh electric bids for the electric portion of the contract Also on the agenda tonight, you'll see in connection with these contract awards, a bond resolution authorizing, amending the previous bond resolution that was passed by the council to provide the full amount of funding for all of these contracts. So we'll continue to run through these. I just wanted to give an overall summary. Any questions on this construction award for general construction? Council Member Monteverde.

Thank you. So I was down at the Ward's Park yesterday with Mr. Jacobs there. Jacobs, I think. And he was showing me the natural habitat that they had planted. Just curious, will that impact that area? You know, the area I'm talking about that they

Is this close to the trail? Yes, it will completely destroy that area.

All right. I think then he'll probably have to remove everything and see if he can transplant it somewhere.

He has maybe two months before construction will actually start to commence down that area. But yes, we'll be running a pipeline right through that area to that river.

Great. Thank you.

Mayor Harvey.

thank you jason on you mentioned about on these various different contracts being a part of the map control plan uh... my question is are any of these on sewer combined sewer control facilities in coordination with some of the um... sewage separation and and and and infrastructure work that's gonna go on the newberg i'm sorry the liberty street corridor is any of this tied to that or in in conjunction to that work that uh... we've already been granted state funding for

so the liberty street reconstruction project which is currently in the design phase is one of several projects outlined in the city's long-term control plan the city's long-term control plan consists of a number of phased infrastructure projects that were that started in 2016 and are scheduled to run through 2031 liberty street reconstruction is one of those projects and that is a combined sewer separation and green infrastructure implementation project this particular project before you tonight is also one of those projects in the long-term control plan schedule of compliance the phase infrastructure projects and its and its purpose is to take the areas that are already combined right so there's areas in the city that are not separated and will not be separated as part of the long-term control plan this purpose of this project is to take the combined sewer that will be directed to the plant that is currently directed to the plant and to treat it before it's released to the Hudson River so right now when we have precipitation events or what weather events there is raw sewage that's discharged to the Hudson River without any treatment right this will be that we address that with that 32 million dollar North Interceptor project now is that so so when you say the plant which one are you referring to the north interceptor or the one so the wastewater treatment plant is located at the east end of renwick street gotcha near the hudson river okay uh the rest of the city is referred to as the collection system which includes the north interceptor sewer gotcha the purpose of the north interceptor sewer and the upcoming south interceptor sewer is to provide larger conveyance of combined sewer to the wastewater treatment plant specifically to this new facility for treatment before its discharge of the hudson river excellent um and the last question is um at one point we had in the in the um long-term control plan we had discussed that there was going to be water sewer separation in all four quadrants of the city am i correct um the the sewer separation projects that are outlined in the long-term control plan are strategic they are placed um and being implemented to gain the biggest bang for the buck so this so the separations that are being done provide the greatest benefit for the separation projects um there are not separation projects throughout the city they're done in specific areas for specific reasons okay gotcha thank you council members real

uh i just wanted to thank you jason for juggling these massive infrastructure projects and running our city at the same time so i just wanted to stand there start there i don't know how you're doing it um i know in january we voted on a order modification and i think we were waiting on csx access and like a efc plan did we get those did we get access

We got CSX access for this specific project. We have an execute fully executed agreement. I Don't remember what specific project You're referring to it might be for the South Interceptor. Oh, maybe I think I'm could that project is currently in design okay, and we're currently negotiating agreements with CSX for access for that project and

got it i did see that the from august 2022 to september 2026 this has gone up like almost like uh from 35 million to 60 million is that because of the steel price like the the cost of materials so there's a number of reasons the cost has escalated uh the previous cost estimate that was done was done in 2024 before the project was at 100 design

that project the the reason that cost estimate was done and that bond resolution was passed by the city council is so that the city could apply for grants that were available at the time to fund this future project the city did receive those grants to the tune in total about 26 million dollars

and now because the project is at 100 design and it is out for bid we know the costs and now we have to amend the bond resolution that was previously passed to go after those grants to capture the full costs known today got it um for this looking forward to budget season i would be curious to see how like this timeline plays out for like a multi-year plan i'm just curious if the consultant who's coming is going to help us like map out the timeline of these bonds

Yes. The way this works is the city applies for financing through EFC, which it has done. We have to amend the financing agreement that we have in place to capture the current costs, which goes from 44 million to 60 million. That's the amended bond resolution. The city enters into agreement with EFC for short-term financing to fund the project construction. Then once the project is complete, the city rolls the short-term financing to long-term financing, which is typically over a 30-year period, most likely at 0%, but maybe at a lower interest rate depending on the city's current borrowing at the time. With EFC, there's a cap. And then once the city rolls the financing from short-term to long-term, because this project also serves wastewater from the town of Newburgh, the town of Newburgh has a 42% debt-sharing requirement on this project as well. So it will not be entirely financed by the city of Newburgh. It will also be paid for partially by the town of Newburgh. and last question does the sewer fund help pay for these bonds is it allocated like that directly or is it just like general fund i'm just curious no it is sewer fund that pays for these projects okay and specific the facility fee the facility charge is designed uh to cover the debt financing got it thank you

Jason, can you just repeat that you said the town has how much sharing? Is it 43?

The town of Newburgh is required to contribute 42% of the city's debt that the city incurs on a long-term basis, so bonds and long-term financing, for any project in the sewer system that the town contributes to. So because this is at the wastewater treatment plant, the town would contribute to it. Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember score Yes, I'd be walking my dog in the back part down by the river and I go to the end of that fence is that where that property is going to begin or Yeah, so I think you're referring to the place where the trail opens up into the parking lot the open parking lot and

so coming from people coming from people walking down south right the back and the end of that fence yes i know the gate down there yes so just past that gate is where this project will be at the end of this project there will be a trail improvement in that area so that people walking on that trail will be able to pass through this area and continue on yeah my dog he got loose and went down here one day i had to walk all the way down and get him okay thank you Any additional questions?

One last question. How long is the construction for?

The city is required to issue the notice to proceed by November 1st and constructions anticipated to be completed by March of 2029. Okay. We'll move on to item number seven. Item number seven is award of bid number 6.26 to TN Brennan Service. This is the plumbing contract for the project we just referred to. And this contract award is in the amount of $384,000. Financing is coming from a mixture of grants from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation. Any questions? Moving on to item eight, award of bid number 6.26 to DJ Heating and Air Conditioning for the HVAC construction contract on the Newberg Combined Sewer Control Facility. This award is in the amount of $566,700. Any questions on this? Council Member Stewart?

I have a question but not, why do you think it's so difficult to find someone for electrical?

it's difficult to find any kind of contractors at this point there is a severe shortage of people in the trades we can go into the whole new CT building and how important that is for the city and generally and contractors are very busy so in in the case of the plumbing contract we only got one bid One bid. In the case of this contract for HVAC, we received three bids, which is reasonable.

Thank you.

Council Member Monteverde.

Jason, so DJ is doing the HVAC, right?

Yes.

Okay. Yeah, they're big. They're union, I think, right?

We use DJ heating and air conditioning on the pool project, and it was very successful.

Right. Okay. Thank you.

Moving on to item number nine. Item number nine is an amendment to the previous bond resolution for the Newberg Combined Sewer Control Facility. This bond resolution amends the previous amount of $44,890,000 up to $60,539,377. Any questions on this item? Okay, moving on to item 10. We'll hear from the Finance Department.

Good evening. Item number 10, legal stress renewal agreement. Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with administration incorporating DBA legal stress for document destruction services. Any question or comment?

Any question? This is an agreement to shred paper documents that the city no longer needs.

All right, moving on to item 11.

Item 11, Austin International Agreement for the year 2026 through 2028. Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement with Austin International incorporating to provide liquidation services to the city of New Bern.

Any questions on this item? Council Member Shakur?

What exactly is liquidation services? What would that incur?

So basically, this is when we surplus property. This is one of the services that we use to turn the equipment and vehicles into cash.

All right. Any additional questions? Thank you. Moving on to item number 12 in the IT department. Item 12 is an agreement with Zayo to install a firewall on the DPW storage garage on 9W. funding for this is coming from the city's 2026 operational budget any questions moving on to item 13 item 13 is a change order with icc community development for an upgrade to the city's laser fish system any questions on this item counselor monteverde

I'm glad you pronounced because I'm like how do you say that it does mention that it ties into the existing KVS system is the goal still to like move away from that or that longer term

we the city is currently interviewing other software vendors to upgrade the kvs system move away from kvs got it thank you but this ties into the laser features a separate system that the city uses for other features that'll likely remain i got it that's our score that answers my question that's fine

We're trying to ask a question on the last one about the firewall. Our department can't do that, the IT?

When we say firewall, it's an IT convention to protect the city's IT network. So the wide area network, the Wi-Fi, and the computer services. So we use the word firewall. It's not fire as in firemen. It is a term of art for the technology that prevents cyber attacks and things from happening. infiltrating our data systems.

I understand that part. I had that conversation with Camille, our IT guy. I was wondering why he couldn't do that.

so we have zao is the contractor that developed our wide area network and this is the company that uh maintains the network and it's the same uh concept that we did up at the pool because we had to inter uh we had to integrate the aquatic center and the equipment up there into the city's network same idea yes i had that conversation i knew what the firewall was thank you

Any additional questions? All right, moving on to item 14, we'll hear from the Director of Planning and Development.

Good evening, item 14 is the purchase of 252 Liberty Street to Wesley Laidlaw for an amount of $180,000. This is a house on Liberty Street between Catherine and South. The city's owned it for a while. We marketed it since, reading through here, uh for about a year it was listed a year ago in august of 2025 we ended up with a robust amount of offers but mr laidlaw who is here tonight he has been at a few of the uh council meetings um he his offer 180 000 plus bonus points was the highest when we use the bonus points he will have bonus points because he intends to uh live there for 10 years as a resident um he moving up from the city with his family

Questions or comments? Council Member Martinez?

Welcome, you'll be my neighbor. I literally live around the corner, so.

Any additional questions, comments? Council Member Shakur?

Congratulations, phone calls paid off. Thank you.

Mayor Arvey?

Yeah, I definitely want to go on record before the vote, I support this.

Moving on to item 15.

item 15 is the beginning the secret process for the Newburgh colored burial ground project it's a resolution declaring the city's intent to be lead agency and classifying the project as an unlisted action I just want I know there are some back-and-forth emails rather than answer that an email we figured it would be better to just kind of talk briefly here so a reminder of what I'm gonna call recent events so we understand that remains were found but recent events are in 2022 the council approved the site on the top of Downing Park and at that point we put out an RFP and engaged studio hip and push studios that landscape architecture team brought their final designs to the City Council in 2024 that design is in your packets it is also the same design that was up on the website so the design in terms of schematics that you see has not changed from that point since then staff has been working with studio hip on this environmental review and then ultimately working on a big bid package so you see nice drawings in your packet but a bid specs are detailed drawings and then a detailed list and inventory of everything that the contractors need to do that needs to be prepared before we can go out to bid so The next step, again, is this seeker. So on Monday, the city, we expect you will vote to declare the intent to serve as lead agency. We need to notice interested and involved parties. I will note one of those interested and involved agencies is the State Historic Preservation Office. And you should all read the very lovely note that they sent if anyone isn't on that email chain let me know and we can share but you know they are very happy with the project and it's not it's rare and nice to have those kinds of accolades so Bravo to this council for their leadership following Monday night on October 26 we expect that the city can declare itself lead agency and issue a negative declaration the consultants have been tasked then with finalizing the bid specs that package I was talking about by November 15th of this year putting out the bid in December um we would hope to then award the bid for construction in january of 2027 and issue a notice of proceed in march of 2027 giving 2027 as our construction year any questions we'll go in alphabetical order counselor martinez no question counselor mclemore

i don't have any questions but i want to say uh thank you for um pushing this forward i know that um the committee has uh been looking for answers and wondering been waiting patiently patience is a virtue but it's something that the committee as well as the community has been waiting uh waiting for so uh thank you for uh pushing this forward and also giving us the answers that we need to settle our minds and know that things will be happening. And so I want to say thank you for that.

And thank you to the committee. I don't think I said that, and I certainly don't say that enough. Ms. Hill is a representative here tonight, and I also thank you to those who have passed. This has been so long that many of the members have actually passed on at this point, and it's sad that they don't get to see this come to fruition.

And they put in a lot of hard work, so that's why I wanted to say the committee is definitely worthy of the answers. So thank you to the committee as well.

Council Member Monteverde.

Thank you. So, Allie, just remind me again, this has been a long time coming that we've been looking at this and working on this project. We did identify the funds for this, correct?

So the previous city manager put aside a large chunk of funds. We hope that that will be enough. But as you heard with the previous construction project, the long-term control project, we will ultimately not know that until we bid. The bids come in.

I just want to point out the current construction estimate exceeds the available funds that we have at this time so we do need to search for additional funds which we are doing we applied for grants we applied for two grants they have not been awarded yet but we're hoping that with the response we got from Chippewa that the awarding agencies will look on the project as favorably so that will also hopefully add to the funding available for the construction

Great. All right. And also, you mentioned the passing, you know, the late Dr. Benilda Jones, who was also part of this committee. I just want to acknowledge her as well. Thank you.

Councilmember Shakur?

Yes. I hope that this project is the consultants, the people who help build it, our people from our community. Because if we're talking about burying our ancestors, then our community should be a big part of that. And I hope the consultants are back. I hope that they come to our community and hire people. Because if they don't, my ancestors, they will be very upset. And so will I. Councilmember Stewart?

Council Member Zaria.

You answered all the questions in the presentation about the timeline and things like that. I was wondering why it said non-construction on the, but it's all explained. I'm happy to see this moving forward. The top of Downing Park, definitely a lot of stuff goes on there. And I think building something that honors our history is a great improvement from what we have now. So thank you.

Mayor Harvey. thank you uh mr church i um again share the sentiments of my colleagues in the sense that um i think the committee uh i think all the folks including in your department that have been involved from day one um this has been long long coming i am happy as uh councilman zuria said uh to see this moving forward my understanding we are already at 100 design yes correct there was one point nine million dollars for the record set aside in a in a fund two grants of applications were sent out hopefully they come back favorable uh... and even if the cost are above and beyond uh... we definitely want to know what those are and i'm always the one wanting to know when we're going to put shovels in the ground so that we can start i know we have to go out to bid because the procurement process is super significant with public funds and a project to scale but I too I'm looking forward to it because you know the ancestors are you know their remains are still in a repository as SUNY New Paltz and they've been there probably since 2006 2007 when I was on the art and cultural commission as a private citizen not as an elected official and we did a wonderful job at the courthouse with the historic marking I think this is going to really really give pay homage and give the uh deference that's needed uh for those ancestors uh from the city of newburgh um and lastly if if i don't know if the designs are have been made available for the new council members i think that's important that we get those designs to them. I was really impressed with the waterfalls. I was really impressed with the sitting area, the stone tablets where hopefully there'll be historical documentation about who and what this is dedicated for. just the reconstruction and the beautification of that area up at the top of Downey and then hopefully we can get a fresh paint on the pergola when we're doing that construction because that pergola is rough that's a completely separate project I know it's a separate project but it's really really rough and I think that even this summer we took 50 kids to downey park the downey park planning committee met us they gave us tours of the park we went up there near and around the pergola we got the history of the park the volks the olmsteads even andrew jackson downey's history it's really really a beautiful green space And I think this would really, really top it off with this historical landmark and deference to former enslaved people. So thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Ellie.

moving up quick question i know we're talking about a lot of the committee members that passed away and you said this has been gone on for a long time is it any way to kind of uh commemorate that in this like with a little plaque or something i think that's a wonderful idea with the names of all of the community absolutely yeah i think that would be to see a minute thank you ali moving on to item 16 we'll hear from corporation council all right i'm going to take you through items 16 through 20.

Item 16 is a partial release of restrictive covenants from a deed issued for the property located at 82 Clinton Street. In June of 2020, the city sold this property to Anthony White. uh anthony white redeveloped and rehabilitated the property he was granted a release from the rehabilitation covenants in 2021 there was an owner occupancy restriction in the deed that remained he has now completed the owner occupancy restriction he's asking for a release he's satisfied the requirement and we are recommending that you authorize the release of that final deed covenant any questions

We got 17.

17 and 18 are related to the same property and involve the same current owner. So this property is 367 First Street. It was originally sold by the city to a company called Newberg Community Improvement Corporation as a homeowner development project. then subsequently transferred to the current owner whose name is Heather Daly. So Ms. Daly at this time is looking for a satisfaction of mortgage for the property that she received when she purchased it. And also from the deed covenants that were in the deed that the city had with the Newberg Community Improvement Corporation. The original deed is from 2005. The time to enforce the rehabilitation covenants is expired. The mortgage is forgivable based on the time that the owner lived in the property. That time since 2006 has also been satisfied, and we are recommending that you authorize the release of both the deed and satisfaction of the mortgage.

Any questions on this item?

Okay, that's 17 and 18. Moving on to item 19. Item 19 is also a request for a release of restrictive covenants from a deed that was issued related to 161 North Miller Street to Phillip Gaskins, who I believe is deceased. So the city sold the property in 1998. The title company is looking for a release from that 1998 deed to clear the title so that the property can be sold. The time for the city to enforce the deed covenants that were in that 1998 deed are expired, and we are recommending that you authorize that release to clear the title so the property can be transferred.

Any questions? Council members agree?

The lot 8 on the top doesn't match what it says lot 18 in the first whereas. I just wanted to correct whichever one is right.

Okay, well thank you for pointing that out. We usually proofread these and I missed it but we will definitely clean that up for and make sure it's correct for Monday night and thank you for pointing that out.

That's 161 North Miller, lot number.

All right, and then the final item that we have in this category is also a request for release of restrictive covenants from a deed that was issued to Jean LaPere. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly. for property that was at the time identified as 397-399 Grand Street. It is now known as 397 Grand Street. The city conveyed the property out in 1982. That's when those deed covenants existed. Clearly, it's been transferred a number of times. The current owner is Habitat for Humanity. They're in the process of transferring that property, and they're looking to clear all of the restrictions in the title that are no longer enforceable, and we are recommending that you authorize the same.

Council Member Monteverde.

Thank you. I'm glad to see it's finally that Habitat has it. And hopefully, they'll build something. That vacant lot has been vacant for many, many years. So good to see. And hopefully, they'll build several houses on there.

Any additional questions or comments? All right. Thank you. Next, for the recreation items, we'll hear from the water superintendent, item number 21. Good evening.

Item number 21 is a contract with Main Line Commercial Pools, and that's for winterization of the Aquatic Center.

Any questions on this item? Council Member Zaria.

I just wanted to say thank you to you and the city staff that made this season a success. It's always great to see the kids and families having fun there. And I know it was always a challenge, but thank the lifeguards and all the staff for us, please.

Council member Monteverde.

And I, too, want to say thank you, Wayne, to you and your staff. That whole area is looking fantastic. People are really loving it and taking a lot of pride. So thanks again for caring and for taking care of it.

Any additional comments or questions?

yes i think we can't say thank you enough so when i went over to the um the activity center and i saw the new fresh lines and all of the new plants and the new flower beds and all of the new mulch and how everything just looks so beautiful the fields and everything just really highlighted um the aquatic center everything just seems like it came together and it absolutely looks amazing you dpw water crews you guys with the blitz and everything that you did this summer i mean you guys showed out it's teamwork yeah you showed out and it it looks really good thank you makes the city look good

I can go. Okay. Everybody beat us to it. So I just wanted to say you took me and my daughter on a tour. It was absolutely remarkable to see a lot of the things that are occurring with the recreation center. And it's raising the standard, it's raising the bar. And not only just you as supervising, but it's the entire team that's doing the work. And I want to say that a lot of the employees over there are City of Newburgh. Some of them, especially the ones that I grew up with, are City of Newburgh residents, which you highlighted. one of the residents as well, one of the employees. And you never know that the teamwork that's being built there is becoming a strong unit as well as pushing them into wanting to manifest in their future and goals and giving them things to look forward to. So that's something that's important, something that I look at, especially when it comes to leading a department. And you're doing a lot. I know you're looking for relief, but, you know, just like Jason is.

I think the gentleman across from me is probably a little bit more.

Yeah. So, I mean, I want to say thank you to the entire team and keep doing the great work that you guys are doing because people are recognizing it. So, thank you to the entire team.

Any additional comments or questions? Mayor Harvey.

Yes, I'd be remiss not to say thank you as well on record. Wayne, you and your team have done an immaculate job. You and I talk a lot offline, in person, and then via telecommunication. So you already know I love what you've done. You've truly transformed that entire rec space. Not done yet. Oh, it's not done yet. It looks great. Work in progress. Well, keep up the great work, man. Duly noted, and it has been completely a blessing to see how your work has transformed that space. Thank you.

welcome any additional questions or comments okay moving on to item 22. so item number 22 is a contract with blackline safety monitoring and an annual service agreement blackline safety came to me when one of my staff at the water department who was working alone fell and he fell into a tank he was alone and he laid there until the next shift came in that came to me as I need to do something right we've done that for years and years we never had a safety issue but that came to something came to light so there's new technology that came out several years ago it's called black line safety the unit sits right here this is one of my staff's units this unit is worn there's another staff member up at the water plant right now he has one of these on him right now This is connected to a live operator. So if I pulled that red latch, somebody's gonna answer this and talk to me over this and say, hey, are you okay? If I don't answer, Chief Porter is going to get a call right away, and fire dispatch is going to get a GPS location of this device, and I'm going to get fire service to me right away. So that's kind of what the loan device is. It also has a feature where, God forbid, if I fall, if I have a heart attack, I'm by myself, it automatically picks it up and automatically... brings safety personnel to me. So it's a really cool device, it's very cost efficient, and it's just a very, very safety, really good piece of equipment.

Questions on this item? Councillor Martinez.

Thank you, Wayne. Repeating again, just thank you for all the work that you do and for being so attentive to your staff needs, to your team's needs. Question, is this only being used for the water department, recreation department, or is this for... all departments.

So right now, water department uses it. It's anybody that's alone, right? So right now, there's one person up at the plant running the facility. So that person has one of those clipped to its belt, or sometimes they wear it around their neck. At night, we have recreation staff that are alone, that are by themselves. So they'll be out there cutting the baseball field or doing anything. And God forbid, if there's a heart attack, any kind of medical issue, that person is going to lay there until somebody finds them. At least with this device, it would automatically go off and safety personnel will get to them within minutes.

Certainly, if we have other staff that could benefit from the safety, we can look into expanding the use of the device.

I was just thinking about the fire department and PD, literally all departments that... Well, again, it's basically for somebody who's working alone.

If you're working with a team, there's usually somebody spotting for you. But we can certainly review. There may be other places where you have a lone worker that may benefit from that safety device.

If you heard it go off, I just shook it over there and it went off already and it was saying respond, respond, and I had to respond. If I didn't respond, it was sending people to me.

I just think that this is something that's really important, especially when it comes to safety of our employees. So I'm definitely in favor of anything that would promote the safety of our employees and workers doing their jobs, especially when they're alone. That's really important. So thank you. Thank you for bringing this to us.

customers real.

I know I noticed that the resolution mentioned the recreation department and then the second whereas the water division is this coming from the recreation budget recreation funding kept OK. Council members for that will work like it is a cave in or something like that.

And that's my working here so if I if I'm if I'm holding this device and that you know God forbid there's anything that I can I want to hit the red People are coming. If I fall off a ladder, which we do have, you know, we have people painting at night or anything like that. If I fall off a ladder and hurt myself, it automatically detects the fall and automatically an operator will call this unit right here on my neck and say, hey, are you okay? If I don't answer, they automatically send safety personnel to me.

So my doctor asks, can I put my pacemaker in here?

It's kind of like a very, very advanced, like the unit you always see with the seniors. I fall and I kick.

Council Member McLemore. So, just real quick, Wayne, this is the $4,035. That's for two of the safety devices? Two units, correct. Okay. Okay.

two units one will be one will be distributed every single night um and then God forbid there's an issue with one I have a backup and then I can always get the other one fixed absolutely all right that's members area last question is this like internal policy where people like have to wear like you're assigned if you're alone you have to wear it it will be once once we make the contract yep got it thank you it'll be a new standard operating procedure very good thank you Wayne thank you thank you thank you for all your work at the Recreation Department

item 23 item 23 is the donation of an ada wheelchair to the aquatic center so the city received an inquiry from a former orange county resident who found out that the city built an aquatic center and that the aquatic center was ada accessible this former orange county resident is also disabled and they would like to donate an ada wheelchair so that people who are disabled can enter the water on the ADA ramp with a wheelchair that the city maintains. Any questions on this item?

I just wanted to thank Kara Dorsey for the donation.

Okay. There's no other questions. We'll move on to item number 24. We'll hear from the police chief.

Good evening. Item number 26 is a resolution authorizing city managers to apply for and accept- 24. 24?

Yeah, we're doing the law enforcement technology grant first, then the axon body worn camera renewal information, and then we'll get to item 26. 24.

okay i'm confused i thought i said 25 that's all right okay all right we all understand All right, item number 24. This is the DCJS Law Enforcement Technology Grant Resolution to accept an award up to $250,000 with no city match. This is the second iteration of the New York State DCJS Law Enforcement Technology Grant. We are limited this time to $250,000. New York State set the amount maximums based on municipality size. So $250,000 is what we're going for. applying for with technology now seeing a lot of questions I'm gonna attack these a little differently I want to look at this one does this does a law enforcement technology grant and what we're applying for tests against our fair and welcoming city policy as well as our immigration resolution and I will say yes to both of those one a grant requirement written specifically into the New York State grant specifically reads that I'll just read it. Please note that all applicants must attest that they are in compliance with applicable provisions of Section 170 of the Executive Law as added by Chapter 55 of Laws of 2026, requiring local police agencies to prioritize local criminal enforcement activities and limit civil immigration enforcement efforts. No application will be considered should the applicant be determined to be operating a 287 agreement, which is an agreement with ICE, or similar agreements with the federal government which would support state and local resources being used for civil immigration enforcement purposes. Further, no data or information generated by technology or equipment procured with these funds shall be used for civil immigration and enforcement purposes. That is written right into the grant application. The technology that we are applying for is $158,000 for interior drones. These are advanced interior drones that will allow us to navigate difficult situations where we might have to send the drones inside a building. They fly in the dark. They allow for a conversation with someone in the residence. And we can hopefully safely end a situation with drones. Another thing we're applying for, $45,900 for what is called a TrueNarc Delta narcotics testing device. In order to prosecute narcotics offenses, you need this test. It needs to basically say this is a narcotic. It will identify it. You need that for prosecution. And the third thing we are going to be applying for with this grant, should we be awarded it, is a mobile light tower, everyone's seen our light towers, with an integrated camera system as well, which we can use for hotspot policing, as well as large community events, 4th of July, things like that. So that is the law enforcement tech grant.

Thank you, Chief. Any questions or comments? Councillor Monteverde.

Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Also, it says that other eligible items that you can use it for is for surveillance cameras and storage, but you're not going to be using it for that, right? No, ma'am. Okay. Thank you.

Any additional questions, comments? Okay. Moving. Councilor Azaria.

I know the grants, the middle date was September 2nd, and we're past that, so we would just retroactively accept this award.

With the grant timelines and the work session timeline, we applied for it, and then it's up to the council if the executive office accepts the funds or not.

So just from a legal perspective, we can apply for grants. You need the resolution to accept the funds and sign the grant contract.

Okay, thank you.

We generally prefer to do an apply and accept before the grant deadline to make sure that the departments have reviewed the application and if there is a match or some other expense associated with it, we have earmarked where that match is coming from that's just a budgeting and finance improvement that we've made over the years but the real legal decision is for the council to accept the funds and authorize the manager to sign the contract

Got it. I'm glad New York State included that provision to not cooperate with civil immigration, because we know that's caused a lot of problems for our community. But thank you. You're welcome. And the camera that you mentioned, is this with a trailer camera, or that's with Axon?

no like it would be a light tower again this is what we're going to apply for we don't have the vendor yet or anything once it's awarded we'll we'll probably submit a contract for a specific light tower and camera right now the first step is deciding what items we're going to apply for and applying for the grant okay and it would be a regular camera not like alpr because i know we're going to talk about that later but correct our intent is a regular video camera that can pan pantel zoom camera Any additional questions? Councilor McLemore.

So thank you, Chief. I'm definitely familiar with the tech grant. And there's a list of things that can be utilized with this tech grant. Thank you for pointing out what your department is going to be asking for. And I think that's important in the day and age that we are in to know exactly what is being funded and what technology you're requesting. Is there anything else within that tech grant that you are looking to enhance or advance the department in, especially with technology, how we can use technology to solve crimes and different incidents? Is there anything else that the department may possibly be looking for within this tech grant?

not within the law enforcement technology grant.

Any additional questions, Mayor?

Thanks, Chief, for all your hard work and your leadership. It doesn't go unnoticed, especially with me, in knowing where we were years ago when I moved here in 1991 and where we are today. even in other small increments of time in 2010 and 2015 when I ran for council 2016 when I first got on there's been a significant downward trajectory with crime in the city of Newburgh and I know that That has happened and it's a multi-faceted thing. There are different elements on how and why. Great policing, improving police community relationships, really looking at how we can effectively use technology. in a responsible way and in your leadership role we've seen how you have done a lot of things gone I think above and beyond to be one transparent to take the temperature of the council and the recommendations of the council and the executive team on how to reassure to our residents that surveillance that is happening with technology is being done responsibly, not in conjunction with federal agencies like ICE, et cetera, et cetera. And so I really appreciate that because that's super, super important in these very, very unprecedented times. you know, when we see what's happening in other parts of the country, other, uh, uh, counties, uh, and so on. Um, and so, um, I thank you for that, uh, and anything that we can do to continue to support your work and your leadership, you know, you have my support. Um, I think that, uh, THE ISSUE WITH FLOCK, WHICH WE'RE GOING TO GET TO, WHICH ARE UPDATES AND STUFF LIKE THAT. YOU'VE ALSO MADE CONCERNING EFFORTS TO BE TRANSPARENT, TO AS SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE RECOMMENDED, PUT IN SAFEGUARDS so that, you know, the surveillance is being done responsibly and not in conjunction with other agencies. We've seen some movement at the state level with Governor Hochul and State Attorney General Letitia James with some new laws, a new law that addresses that. And then we've seen some of the other stuff from agents, let's just say law enforcement agencies that are pursuing a legal matter. And I'll leave you right there. But you were ahead of the curve on this before the governor, before the state. And I just want to say it does not go unnoticed. And I want to say thank you for your complete transparency and your ongoing communication regarding these very sensitive, volatile matters. Thank you.

Thank you. Any additional questions or comments? Okay. Moving on to item number 25.

Item number 25, I'm going to go over as in order, I guess. This is related to the Axon body worn camera contract. The last work session, if you recall, I proposed a five-year renewal right around $811,000 for the five-year renewal. So I'm gonna attack this the same way. Why am I presenting a five year contract? As discussing with why a contract's so long, Axana will only issue a five or 10 year contract, so we're limited within that timeframe. Again, looking at this technology, because it is a technology contract tested against our fair and welcoming city policy and the immigration resolution, this is for body worn cameras. There's no sharing unless we give a direct login access to the body-worn cameras. And the only people that would have that is the DA's office for cases that are required download for prosecution. Outside of that, it would have to be a specific request to the police department that comes to the chief of police for authorization. And again, the body-worn cameras are excellent for transparency, for showing transparency, what the officer did, and also what they experienced and saw on a call for service. So I do believe it meets those tests. These cameras record. We added two functions that we previously discussed. The auto-tagging, so there is an automated part of it, but that has to do with our records management system. The second part of that is the translation services. So there is an AI built into it, which we will utilize for translation. Again, I believe that serves the community. I don't believe that hurts the community. So, if we look at the tabled Axon contract that I proposed initially, I'm actually going to request the council to either, however we move past that contract, whether we have to vote it down Monday or if we can just table it at the work session and I'll explain why. Our budgets are due July the previous year for next year. So in preparing for next year, I realized my body worn camera contracts expire August 31st. So trying to give the council as much time as possible, plan ahead. I'm looking at early contracts. There's also a benefit to the early contracts for you save, you're locking in a 2026 rate. 2027 they go up about 4% plus you get an early bundle discount on the contract. Why I'm asking the council to table the initial one is I now have an updated quote. And what I did as I listened to the council, I listened to the comments, and I'm listening to the logic of not needing to lock in for five years. So the initial contract I proposed is for 92 BWCs. And my thought process was looking to start to implement BWCs for all our fine auxiliary officers who are part of a lot of events, council meetings, items like that. However, I do not believe at this time we need to lock in for five years with that. We can continue to evaluate that internally, and if I want, and if we feel there is that definite need, I can get a quote and present it to counsel at that time. But what is a definite need, and I do believe is fiscally responsible, is the new and updated contract, which is the minimum amount of cameras we know we need for our sworn officers, park enforcement officer, and eventual city hall security guard attendant position. So that is the updated contract, and that is what I would ask the council to review and potentially vote on. I'll have that presented in the first work session of October, but I just wanted to explain this whole thing. So the first contract you have was a previously one. The reason behind it, I would ask that we table it, vote no to it, and then I will present the new one where I'm very comfortable in locking that in.

So just before we get to questions, logistically, because resolution 177 was tabled at the last council meeting, that's the five year $811,000 contract. It is, by parliamentary procedure, going to appear on Monday night's agenda under old business. Your options at that time will be to entertain a motion to take it off the table or not. but it will be there. Based on what the chief is telling you now, the staff is recommending that however you address it on Monday night, that it be in the negative. Either no to take it off the table, take it off the table and vote it down. Either way, makes no never mind as long as you do that. The new proposal for five years at $697,000 can be added to a a different agenda so there's no confusion when you vote on Monday night so now if you have specific questions for the chief on the substantive contract you can ask the chief but I just wanted to be clear about the procedure okay any questions or comments regarding this item okay

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to step back and evaluate our needs and concerns and address them I think it makes a difference and I think as we look at our fiscal future as a city I think saving a hundred thousand here a hundred thousand there will go a long way so I want to say I appreciate for checking whether this ecology meets our standards I think the next conversation is like how do we set standards for data and stuff like that, but I appreciate you taking the steps to evaluate and be responsive.

any additional questions or comments all right thank you moving on to item number 26 flock update item number 26 the flock update right before the resolution discussion i just wanted to update the council update the community on some of the flock requests and some of the flock data and i'll just kind of go through it sequentially I issued the mayor and the city council a memo on August 27th regarding FLOC and the FLOC audits, which we do plan on releasing publicly. But we wanted to give the council a moment to go through it first, digest. We wanted to address it publicly in the meeting and this way any questions could be hashed out versus just releasing raw data publicly that no one knows what it is. So just a little background. july 22nd 2024 is when we entered into our resolution and contract with uh flock this was for 86 fixed lpr units those are the lpr units you commonly see permanently attached to a light pole or a pole or a structure they're set lprs so it was 86 set fixed lprs and one mobile lpr which is called a flock falcon flex this is a a mobile unit that in in Theory and practice, if you're having an issue in an area, you can literally transport this in a car, hold it, set it up somewhere. It's a temporary, transportable, not permanently fixed LPR. uh moving then to august 7th council member shakur requested some of the flock log audits in response to that i was able to provide all of our flock audits all the way back to the first month october 2024 when the city of newburgh network shows its first test of to see if the lprs were working and we have provided that to the council and we will again provide that to the public every single month of use with flock just going into that a little bit what the audit show I wanted to touch on that the city of Newburgh Police Department Department Network basically what that means is if our network our LPR network is included in in flock LPR search it just means they are checking our LPR reads as well so our LPRs as a car drives by it will read the license plate. It stores that for 30 days. If I conduct a search and include the City of Newburgh LPR network, it will see if there's any reads that occurred that match the search criteria. So what these audit records show, the audit records identify searches that included the City of Newburgh LPR network by City of Newburgh Police Department personnel and by outside law enforcement agencies. Each audit record entry documenting a search does not automatically mean the search was conducted in connection with a separate investigation or offense. What that means is every time you hit search it creates a new search log for that audit. So you may have the same case if I'm investigating a hit and run accident, I may search three-day window and this area certain area then I realize I need to expand the area and decrease my days I maybe made that decision within 30 seconds the second I just changed my time frame change my LPR network update with a color of the vehicle these are all different searches so for one case one investigation you can have 10 15 20 audit lines searches because they are different searches but it's not a different case you're just trying to narrow down your results to get you know what you're trying to investigate so what the audit records do not show the audit records do not show by themselves or establish that any given search included any c and pd lpr reads or that any law enforcement action came from that search. It was just our network was included. Now I'll kind of just go into the timeline. We'll be releasing October 2024. That is the first time where we see City of Newburgh. If you actually see in the audit, it says City of Newburgh test. It literally says the reason test for the City of Newburgh. fast forward to december 9th of 2025 that is where i took further steps to restrict any sharing it was actually my intent on december 9th and i made all the efforts i knew of at the time to restrict any and all sharing of the city of newberg police department network to just city of newberg police department and the new york state dcgs crime analysis center which we do have agreements with, which are part of the law enforcement tech grant as well. They're a DCJS organization, and they're not any part of immigration, anything like that. It's a New York State agency. I made those restrictions December 9th. Fast forward a little bit in January of 26, I follow up to just ensure everything's working good. I regularly check all our systems just to make sure things are functioning, check our compliance, things like that. I realize somehow other agencies are still able to include our networks. I have a call with our flock representative and I'm able to determine how that happened. There's multiple levels of sharing and multiple platforms and multiple things you have to turn off. i was able to turn all of those items off and as of january 23 of 2026 through current there has not been any search of cnpd lpr reads or network that was not done by the cac or done by city of newark police department personnel you will see in the audits there's a few months uh february march april where you see uh town of new town of marlborough you see like one or two other agencies village of west hampton beach where it shows that they included our network again i go back to flock and see why are they able to include our network It turns out that mobile LPR that I was talking about in the very beginning, that has its own City of Newburgh network. So we actually had two networks. We had our fixed LPR network, which was completely restricted. Then we have our mobile LPR network. So that network, a few agencies were able to include. That network has no data. We have not deployed the mobile LPR, so nothing would have come back. There's no data there. I have since then not allowed mobile are fixed so since january 23 no searches have included city of newberg network that wasn't the cac or city of newberg personnel to go even further april 14th of 2026 i actually restricted the cac from being able to use our lpr network and we still partner with them we still work with them we are supposed to work with them they're our dcgs partner agency But now they just directly reach out. We work with our analysts and we assist them where we need to assist them. But no one besides City of Newark personnel can run a flock read within our network for our detections that is not City of Newark. And I've confirmed that and you'll see that in the audits that have been released. And I confirm it every month and I just confirmed it for all of August. So that's basically the memo that I gave to council. That's kind of what I just quickly summarized. Along with the audit reports, the memo will be released so that the public and anyone else can see the memo, they can see the audit and make sense of it. uh the other item i have i apologize that this came so late there's just so many things going on but the council's been asking for some time now for lpr uh like investigative applications like how has it helped the city of newburgh so i just released another document to the council the mayor the executive office with several examples of where the license plate readers have assisted in investigations and in cases And that is another document, again, we intend to make public with all the other documents for the community and everyone to just be aware of and take into consideration. I'm not gonna read it all, but just, you know, it talks about high-speed pursuits. As recent as May 10th of this year, June 6th of this year, we're able to terminate high-speed pursuits because we're able to follow up with the LPRs, get a direction, identify the drivers, identify the vehicles, Multiple hit and run investigations where normally the victim of a hit and run is going to be on the hook for insurance. Because we do not know the suspect vehicle as they fled, we've been able to identify multiple suspect vehicles. One as recent as May 19th, 2026, we had a hit and run to a bicyclist. We were able to locate that vehicle. We've been able to solve multiple burglary sprees, recover multiple stolen vehicles. We've had a home invasion, an armed home invasion, that this assisted in helping. Multiple homicides, it's been a key part in solving and getting an arrest. Multiple suicidal or EDP, emotionally disturbed persons. I know the council, not too long ago, there was a helicopter flying all over Crystal Lake. We were actually looking for a suicidal person. They told their family member they were going to kill themselves. So between cell phone locations and LPRs, we were able to get the location up there. Long story short, LPRs in the city of Newburgh hit with the vehicle leaving, and we were able to use those LPRs to safely locate that individual. So there's a lot of stories like that. just in there as the council requested and again these are not like flock LPRs these are license plate readers the benefit of a license plate reader as far as the resolutions I'm here if there's a question that the police department can help with I'm also here if there's any questions pertaining to what I just addressed or what I've issued the council but as far as the resolutions I yield the table

so there's several draft resolutions in your packets and the intent tonight is to determine if the City Council wants to move forward with any of these or amend them so there's only two resolutions one the first resolution that's right on top was took the resolution the councilmember Shakur had introduced that's been mine that was amended and made further amendments to that that was submitted by councilmember Monteverde A couple of weeks ago, a second resolution was submitted, and that is a slightly different resolution with some different parameters, and that is also in your packet. Both have some redline revisions that the chief and I have suggested, but we need direction from the council as to whether you are interested in moving forward with

both or none and if you have questions substantive questions for the chief about his presentation the floor is available for that as well there Harvey Thank You chief and mr. Morris miss Kelson so the last concern that I had and some of the other council members had was with the resolutions that have been drafted and presented, I still want to know, is there a financial obligation or commitment that we have to make if we were to terminate the FLOC program or camera? I know there was talk about, in some of the documentation, $400,000. the city would owe if we were to terminate the flock camera or program before 2028 so that's still a concern and a question uh so if someone can answer that um so um there we're in a we're in the middle of a two year renewal

the two year the the the uh funds for the two-year renewal are city funds the grant funds have been paid for and expended in the original contract they're no longer an issue um in terms of going forward so um the current year of the contract funded and paid in the 2026 budget you have not yet addressed um or uh you have not yet um seen prepared reviewed or approved a budget for 2027 whether or not you want to include the funds for that final year or portion of the year for that contract that is something you will have to decide in your budget process. The contract does contain a relatively common clause. We call it a non-appropriation clause. A lot of contracts with units of government have those clauses in their contracts. If there is a budgetary reason for the legislative body or the municipality or the unit of local government not being able to authorize funding for that particular purpose, generally speaking, it can be grounds for termination. So the FLOC contract does have what looks like a standard non-appropriation clause. That may be one mechanism by which The contract could be terminated, but that would be for next year and based on however you propose and approve your 2027 budget.

Right, so if we don't fund FLOC for 2027, those are grounds for termination. Will that come at a financial? It won't come at a?

It shouldn't if the contract operates the way these contracts normally operate. When you make that determination, so this contract clause requires notification to the company within a certain period of time of the non-appropriation. So we would have to keep on top of the budget planning purposes, when the budget is approved, and make sure that we send those notices as soon as possible so that the company is aware that the funds have not been budgeted for the final year of the contract. So that's how it should work. That's how I understand non-appropriation clauses to work.

Okay. Thank you.

Council Member Shakur.

Yes, thank you. So I brought this resolution, well, and first of all, I want everybody to know this is not about our police chief and our police department doing good work. Me and him talk all the time. In fact, I was going down Nanda Street I was going down there in the street, and I found this dog right here last week.

And I called the chief, and I told him I was going to call animal control.

I was going to keep the dog. He said give him the animal control, see if it was somebody's dog. But he was starved. You could see the dog. He was . And so me and the chief, we talked all the time. Me and the chief had no problem. And the dog is looking good. I showed them the pictures. I adopted the dog and brought him home and everything. This is about flock. This is not about our police department. This is about flock. And if you look at the news the last two or three days, the Texas governor and the Sanchez in Florida, Republicans, they're against flock. It's about flock itself. Flock is internally no good. No matter what our police chief is doing or whatever, it's what Flock, the technology inside Flock. That's one of the reasons I really wouldn't have it, because what Flock is doing and what they're doing across the country. And internally, the Flock workers, this company itself, is totally corrupt. So that's one of the reasons I went against it. And one, because the community came to me. And so I didn't write this resolution. I went to the NCLU and the ACLU with the best lawyers in New York State who were working with five other cities that had just got ridden FLOP. And I talked to them, and they put this resolution together with them. And Council Lady Martha Birdie, she responded, and said it was very good, and she added some stuff, or she took some stuff off. And so, like I said, this is not about police. They're doing good work. I want them to find another alternative, but this is about the plot. Flock nationally, people are coming out against Flock. Flock is a corrupted company and it's doing some illegal stuff. And I went to Minnesota last week because my daughter didn't get married this Saturday. I got to go back. But I got off the plane and a reporter stopped me. and said, did you see the memo from Newburgh about what's going on? I was like, I haven't seen no memo yet. Let me check myself. But the first thing they asked me, so they said, this has already been accessed by ICE. And I said, I haven't seen the memo what you're talking about. But George, he said, I Our flag here was already accessed by different law enforcement agencies. And I told the reporter, when I looked at the memo and talked to the chief, I would get back to him and I explained to him why I was getting rid of the flag. But that, whatever you're talking about releasing has already been released. A reporter already called me. That information, somebody from here already released that information. And so when that reporter called me, I was like, whoa, hold up. I don't know what information you're talking about. Because he said it was some information that FLAC has already been accessed by ICE and different agencies. And I said I wasn't aware of that memo and where this information came from. But it's information, like I said, It's already out there, the information I asked you about to release. It's already out there. So like I said, it's not against you and your department. This was about block itself and what's going on nationally. And I felt block was bad. And after talking with different people, this was to get rid of block. NOT TO GO AGAINST OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, NOT TO SAY NOTHING BAD ABOUT OUR CHIEF. THIS WAS TO GET RID OF BLOCK. AND THAT'S WHY I PUT THE RESOLUTION TOGETHER. THANK YOU.

thank you um and also i want to give credit to councilman shakur for bringing this to the table um i did review the the resolution and actually um put together another resolution i also met with the aclu lawyer um i think his name is daniel i can't remember his last name but you know we went over it and it's something that we actually could present it's got some pretty strong guardrails there's other things that he's recommending that we add to it if we want to move forward i would let councilman zarilla speak on the on how we can actually do away with Flock. But I agree, this has nothing to do with Chief Rolla, your police department. It's just that Flock is not a good surveillance, LPRs, whatever, because of how they do share data. They have propriety over that, and there's just no control over it. We don't even know if they're accessing it now. So, you know, I do agree that we do need to remove it and go with something else. Thank you.

Councilor McLemore.

Yes. Once again, Councilman Shakur brought up a resolution. I know there was a couple of resolutions that were going. It wasn't meant to be separate. In actuality, I wanted him to look at the resolution and decide and and try to modify whatever it is that he wants to put in there and that would be great for the entire council. As our corporate council had talked about the non-appropriation, not funding, that's something that should definitely be in there. As Councilman Shakur said, what's the alternatives? So if we take this away, if we take Flock away, now this is his words, what's the alternative? So I want to ask and request, what is going to be the alternative? If we're taking Flock away, what's another company? What's the alternative that can help? advance to help our police department, especially when it comes to crimes and different incidents that may occur. Especially, you would need certain technology to assist in those areas. I'm really going to piggyback off of what he said, what's the alternative, because he's the one that brought these resolutions to the table. Once again, it's not meant to be separate resolutions. I think there's a resolution that we all can work on together. Councilman Zarrillo has said at the last council meeting that we all need to work together. This is an attempt for all of us to work together on a resolution that would not do anything that will be a detriment to our finances, to the city but will actually uh help in in either way so um that's that's that's I wanted to clarify that because this isn't a competition on resolutions this is something that we all uh have to work together and um that's what uh um

I wasn't presenting it as a competition. No, no, no.

This has nothing to do with you.

Presenting that you guys need to.

Yep. And once again, this has nothing to do with the corporate council. This is something that Shakur and all of us have spoken about. But I don't want that to get misconstrued. This has nothing to do with you. I just don't want us to think that there's separate resolutions that's going out because it can be confusing. And we don't want to confuse you. And I do think that you should have a say as well. seat at the table as far as what you know you know your thoughts on on the resolution as well so I think we would love to hear your advice and some of the things that you would think of when it comes to our resolution

Councilmember Zaria.

Yeah, I would like to thank everybody. I know this is a hot topic and I think we all agree that Flock is not a good company. I think we all agree that we want our data and privacy to be controlled by us locally. And I did look at the resolutions. i think what i can't agree on some of them is that we can't cancel flock like there's no legal literal way to do that in this contract and i think there's elements of each resolution that i think makes sense and i'll just go over some of them right now as far but starting with flock as far as like a clean break from flock that is a responsible way to get out of a contract that doesn't cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars because we just feel we gotta get rid of it right now september twenty first we have the police budget hearing It will be in the budget. We decide as a council and we adopt the budget and we adopt the budget November 23rd. In my mind, November 24th, this was a part of Rob's resolution to send out cancel notices right after we don't appropriate funds we send the cancellations notice november 24th the renewal is january 1st so hopefully we can negotiate the installation credit part of the contract is if they didn't install all the cameras we have an installation credit i'm not sure what that looks like but it's a dollar amount And we do not breach a contract. We negotiate the installation credit. We ask a cancellation notice a day after we adopt the budget that does not include flock. And we don't breach a contract and don't get sued as a city. As far as the resolutions go and the conversation about an alternative, we definitely want to make sure we protect our citizens, not just their privacy, but their well-being, the time we respond to things. And I think before, I think these resolutions, aside from flock, is how do we choose the alternative? I think there's elements of these resolutions that help us narrow down whether new technology is acceptable. Like Omar's resolution asked for a public hearing and policies on limiting use of data. Rob's resolution asked for no interference with current investigations, safeguards for future use of technology. Ramona, you added fair and welcome policy. How do new technologies stand against that? Capturing and auditing the records that we have so we make sure we keep them so that when we cancel the technology we have now, we don't lose our records. So I think these are separate things. Obviously, we all want to get rid of flock, and I know people feel very strongly about that. But we also have a responsibility for our taxpayers who are crying about high taxes, who are worried about our fiscal stability and all that stuff. So we have to be mindful of our fiscal responsibility and do with the budget route, which is, in my mind, the only clear route to get rid of flock. And at the same time, take these resolutions and make sure FLOC doesn't happen again because we analyze technology and have a process for looking if it makes sense. We decide how we handle our personal data and who we share it with. We decide whether a renewal of a contract of that amount needs another council resolution because that was another renewal for half a million dollars. That didn't go through us. The council then approved the first one in 2024, but this renewal of half a million dollars, maybe in the future, we make sure renewals go to us and we assess those things. So in my mind, flock, we have a clear path forward. there's a clause in the contract, we have budget season, and your presentation is September 21st, we adopt the budget November 23rd, send cancellation notices, and in the meantime, create a robust resolution to analyze alternatives in the future and make sure we do not make the same mistake, and that there are safeguards that a lot of these resolutions already have for analyzing technology and protecting our data, our privacy, and also giving the police the tools they need to do their job because we don't want a handicap so it's a balance and i think we have to find that balance and i think the multiple resolutions do a good job of doing that and we take elements of either but in terms of flock we can't cancel it we have to be responsible councilmember stewart

yes thank you um not going to reiterate any of the points council menzerilla stated but i the this is in response to what's next right the next steps what do we do after all of the conversations have happened around cancellation I think that in this time technology is only advancing. This is going to come up again and one of the things that I think as a city we can do to pretty much lead this way is not just pass a resolution because the resolution is, you know, it's good, it's symbolic. I think that we need to really lead this charge and actually pass a local law and be one of the cities that are saying that we are going to put into law guardrails that are some of the provisions that are in these resolutions. But we want to actually concretize that into a local law where it is and this is I just drafted some of this language which would be their surveillance technology approval and reporting local law that star law would allow us to put into place all of the reporting features that we would ask I don't care what company is used I don't care what technology is used it should go through a process in any process that Any company that we're using should go through this process. The reporting should already be there. The documentation, who gets this information? One of the things that I listened to Chief Rolla talk about was how he wanted to submit this information to the public. All of that is in this local law. When is this information presented to the public? How often this information is presented to the public? Who gets this reporting in terms of the city council actually having it? There are only two other cities that have actually done a local law for surveillance technology. We need to be adding ourselves to that and not just the resolution, but that local law, which would allow public comments, which would allow people to come in and talk about why it would be important to concretize this in the law as opposed to just the resolution, which people can do away with it. If it is a law, that means we This is what it is. Nobody can get past it. The police department is going to follow it. The city council is going to follow it and everybody else will follow it. I've drafted just a little bit of the language. I didn't want to share it with anybody. I wanted to just talk about it to see if that's something that people would want to talk about or look into. We can share it with Corporation Council I did some research and it shows that we are not bound by any other preemption state laws or anything like that so we are clear to pass this local law and it would absolutely put into place exactly what we're talking about in these resolutions we'll put it all together and we will be one of the seed is leading this surveillance and technology reporting because it's only going to grow. It's only going to get worse. And we don't have to worry about what is the next company. We will already have in place the parameters, the protocol that needs to be followed in the local law, regardless of what company and what technology we utilize for surveillance in the city of Newburgh.

Mayor Harvey. thank you Councilwoman Stewart because I agree wholeheartedly in a sense that we should codify a local law with these protocols and the process so that any company any corporation as an alternative to flock will know at the very beginning at the onset of what our expectations are as legislative body and what the expectations are of our community. I agree, you know, surveillance technology, AI, is off and running. Councilman McLemore and I had a conversation briefly today when we talked about the surveillance technology with the Ring cameras. AI now is involved with Ring. I've been to seminars and conferences about AI because I teach in a P-TECH program. And so I do agree with Councilwoman Stewart about codifying the local law and making sure, and we do have home rule. we do have home rules so and it doesn't supersede the state or federal um jurisdictions or anything like that and i want to reiterate that yes IF WE DO A LOCAL LAW AND WE AS COUNCILMAN ZORIA MENTIONED ABOUT NOT BUDGETING THE FLOCK PROGRAM FOR 2027 AND ALLOWING IT TO EXPIRE WITHOUT IT BEING FUNDED AS LONG AS THAT DOESN'T COME AT A COST TO THE CITY BECAUSE WE HAVE TO DO THIS RESPONSIBLY AND looking at the alternatives once we codify a local law. When we look at those alternatives, because public safety is always going to be our number one priority, and I'm constantly concerned about the child trafficking that goes on in our country and in our community. the human trafficking with women and even men at this point. I'm concerned about that. The kidnappings, sexual assaults and sexual crimes that go on in and around our community. So I don't, as my grandmother would say, want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And we've referenced that before, meaning that the baby is good, the public safety element of having that technology to solve crimes and to track people who may be human trafficking or maybe bringing you know illegal guns ghost guns or whatever the issues are in to and throughout our city i think that's important to keep in mind so uh yeah and that's that's all i have to say on that councilmember shakur

yes I'm glad the rest of the City Council now understands because we already had those I've already when I asked for this resolution with my lawyers and talk with them I already asked for alternatives and our local law you are me and Macklemore already said we would talk to the police chief afterwards or whatever but we already have stuff put in place but we wanted I wanted to see how y'all vote on fly because we heard mmm We have the alternatives. We have the alternatives.

We need some direction.

And we have something for the new law.

I need some direction because I feel like we're floundering.

This is what it is. It is floundering. I think that we need to come to an agreement about is it necessary to pass a resolution? Do we just go do the local law, go with the plan of a clean move and break from flock? and get rid of it without any financial burden or stress to the city and just get rid of it that way we don't have to worry about it it's not going to be appropriated let it be done and we start working on the surveillance technology law and

which means we really don't need a resolution the only thing I would say about that the only thing I would say about that and this is entirely up to the City Council and I recognize you want to do something substantive and that a resolution could be viewed as symbolic but I do think that for the next three months while you go through the budget process you are going to continue to hear from members of the public who want you to take some action and even if it's a symbolic action

that may do that may address some of their concerns that you've heard them and that you're willing to take action it's entirely up to you i'm just pointing it out there's a plan to get back can i say something um and i'm listening to both sides but i do know the efforts of what uh councilman chicory did do should not go unnoticed and i'm not saying anybody's doing that What I am saying is that he has a resolution. I think we should all work on that resolution together. And then if the local law, if we all want to go with the local law, then that's something that we can also do. But I do think that we shouldn't discredit his efforts of trying to bring this before the council. And as Councilman Zarrillo and everyone is saying, I think we should just basically do the resolution work on it together combine whatever it is that you know our ideas of what the resolution should look like and then if we want to go further with the local law then we can do so

So, I mean, as far as direction, if I think there are strong things in each resolution, if everyone is okay with agreeing to use the appropriation process to get rid of flock, that answers our flock question. In terms of the public and the general public, I think for the next work session, I don't know if we have time to all put these

uh guardrails and protections from each one of the resolutions and get a start with so i i i might suggest that you read the resolution that remote that council member shakur began that councilman monteverde has improved that's the first resolution in your packets is there anything in there that's inconsistent with what council member steward is proposing because if the answer to that is no you could a little bit of time yeah I think yeah I think there's elements of these things that we can put together and I'm happy I think as long as we avoid breach of contract

and don't cost us undue financial burden, then I think the guardrails that are in these resolutions are great. The safeguards, the data sharing, the data protection, they all have elements I think that I'm happy to do. My thing was avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars going out the door.

And I don't think either resolution had any intention of authorizing.

It does say termination and that could be a problem.

so that's what I'm saying if we can work on this together yeah I believe if um yeah if we can work on this together to get this resolution passed then I think that that's something that we can do and then we can work on the local law so Let's work on the resolution. There's certain things in the resolution that are presented and that Council Member Shakur presented.

So what I can do is I can send, Council Member Monteverde's resolution came out in Word. I responded in Word. I'm not sure that the resolution that I received from Council Member McLemore, the second resolution, went to everyone. I know that I received it, but it didn't look like it was copied to everybody. Right. um but i can add that to the email chain and working from two come trying to merge two word documents is probably the easier way to go yes thank you michelle just want to if whatever that final draft resolution is

It doesn't put us in liability, in any kind of legal liability, where the city will be, it will cost us almost half a million. As long as that.

It's not going to cost anybody a half a million dollars.

Okay, okay, okay.

Okay.

and last comment I think the data sharing which the chief has already offered to do after they clean up the data I think councilman Shakur has been asking for a public display of the data so I do think that we should figure that out also but I think that is already included in the resolution the dad is always know that I asked for is already publicly out there I don't know if you haven't seen it but the reporters have seen it so it public

This also just to talk about the data. I know that there is a conversation about how that's going to happen. I know it might be a possibility to put it on the city's website where people could access the data that the chief will share so that anyone can see it. They have questions. They can do that. I think that would be the best thing to do in terms of data sharing. So everybody has the information and no one is being

sharing any little clips and pieces and create their own narrative it is there for the public and they get to monitor yes we already requested that right we requested that twice thanks so that that was requested the city will place that on the web the city's website both the chief's memo is explaining the data and the data but as the chief mentioned we wanted to get it to the council first so the council could discuss it digest it before we release it to the public chief that's it

and just a quick clarification point um you may be able to search websites like i've been flocked things like that where you see city of newburgh data or what would show a city of newburgh read so the audit reports that we will be releasing and release the council and we'll be putting on our transparency page are the city of newburgh networks Full search, full audit, so every single search that ran through the City of Newburgh network. We're the only ones who have those and those are now released. What you are seeing on the internet or may have seen on the internet now is if the City of Newburgh searches and includes somebody else's network, when they do their audit report, it'll show on such and such date and time city of newark police department searched for stolen vehicle so it's in their audit report if they release their records you'll see that but that's only a small snippet of our actual audit reports if that makes sense i hope that i explained that well we're going to be releasing all of our networks versus some other departments where we've included their network in our search so we'll show up on their audit report, if that makes sense. I hope that makes sense.

Okay, so just to summarize, Corporation Council's gonna work on an amended resolution for the next work session that hopefully will be a blend and acceptable, okay.

All right, great.

Moving on to item number 27, we'll hear from Corporation Council.

Item number 27 is an authorization to nominate a large scarlet oak tree that is on the Grand Street side of the Grand Street Courthouse at 123 Grand Street for the DEC to come in and take the measurements and to add it to the New York State Big Tree Register. So it's an authorization for them to come into the property and take the measurements. This is a nomination from the Conservation Advisory Council in consultation with the city arborist. And I just want to make one more point to kind of get ahead of Newsberg. we know that there's a historical marker on the front of the courthouse related to uh... and uh... that addressing uh... the historical uh... site for the public lynching we do not believe according to historical records that this tree that we are nominating was used in that historical situation. We believe that the event took place on the other side, on the Liberty Street side of the courthouse. So we are commemorating this tree and registering this tree for its own independence without any historical negativity associated with it.

Questions or comments? Council Member Zaria?

when you designated like a champion tree is there some type of protection mechanism for it into the future or is this just like a kind of one-year title type of thing it's a registry so I understand it to be a permanent designation I don't think you put something on a registry just for a year okay okay this would be a city-owned tree so It's a city-owned tree. I think the intent is to preserve it and to recognize it for its years, for its age, and it's, you know, thriving.

Okay, moving on to item 28. This is a street naming request at the request of Councilmember Martinez, so I will let her introduce this item.

Thank you. Thank you to Jason and Michelle for working on this. So I am really excited to introduce this street naming, the street dedication for La Amistad Bakery. I'm very close with the family that owns La Amistad. It was one of the first Mexican businesses here in the city of Newburgh in 1997, I believe. And they have been a strong pillar, not just of the Latino community, but of the entire city of Newburgh. They've brought together different neighbors, cultures, and have recently bought property to expand their business and they have opened it up to different food trucks businesses in the city of newberg and they have multiple events throughout the year that just bring the community together and so it just felt very fitting that for latino heritage month that begins on september 15th that we This is here and rename the South Williams Street, the corner of South Williams Street and Mill Street as La Placita Amistad. And I think that this just is the beginning of what the business, what the family and the business will be doing for the city of Newburgh. They're also very involved with the Latino community business commerce that they just started their group and have very close ties with the commercial Plaza uh near Lake Street and um have generated a lot of revenue here for the city of Newburgh through their events so I'm just very excited and I hope that my colleagues will support this resolution questions or comments Councilmember monteverde

Yes, I want to thank Councilwoman Martinez for bringing this to the table. This is long overdue because as she mentioned, this is an anchor store on that street. You know, he's done the business and the owner has done a considerable amount of uh good deeds for the city of Newburgh and the citizens he is um you know he's he's very busy doing a lot of a lot of good things for the community so it's it's uh I I 100 support this thank you thank you Harvey

Yeah, I also want to thank Councilmember Martinez for bringing this forward. I had an opportunity to interact with the owner of Amistad on multiple occasions. Recently, when we did a ribbon-cutting at the food truck, a grand opening of the food truck recently, he's done an annual food event and things every summer. So I support this resolution. This is going to be a really, really wonderful situation. And yeah, he's got the owner has an amazing bodega. I guess you would call it right. It's like a store bakery. Yeah. Tacos, yeah, I love that. I love it. So anyway, I support this. I'm excited about the opportunity, and I thank you, Council Member Martinez. Thank you.

any additional questions or comments i also support this i think it's great to see hear the story of francisco he's an nfa graduate and just to hear how he made it happen and created a life and supported the community here in newburgh i think it's a great story to share and he's dedicated to doing a lot of community events so yeah thank you council member martinez Council member Stewart.

No, something that I support. Easy.

Okay, great. So that concludes the regular work session. Do I have a motion to go into executive session? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Any opposed?