Common Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone.

I'd like to call the Common Council meeting of the City of Dunkirk to order on this first day of September 2026 at 5.31 p.m. Clerk, please conduct the roll call.

Council Member Leskowiak. Here. Council Member Terrain. Here. Council Member Fredrickson.

He's excused.

Council Member Civilletto. Here. Council Member Atlarge-Weiser.

Here. Thank you, clerk. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the pride of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you for joining us this evening. Next, we have the certification of prior meetings.

This is to certify that an official copy of the minutes of the regular Common Council meeting of Tuesday, August 18, 2026 was presented to the Mayor on Thursday, August 27, 2026. Pursuant to Section 3.03 of the Dunkirk City Charter, all items presented to the Mayor are now in full force and effect. In witness whereof, I have here to set my hand and seal of the City of Dunkirk, New York, this first day of September 2026.

Is there a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approve them as presented? Moved by Councilmember Civiletto, seconded by Councilmember Terrain. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Laskoviak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Civiletto.

Aye.

Councilmember Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. Minutes are approved as presented. We now move to privilege of the floor.

The privilege of the floor shall be extended to any person appearing for themselves, in which case each individual appearing shall be a person representing any group who shall be limited to a maximum time of five minutes. The privilege of the floor is reserved for members of the public to speak on any subject pertinent to the affairs of city government. The city clerk shall have the duty of maintaining such time limits. The chair may determine in their discretion whether individuals are speaking for themselves or representing groups. The chair shall maintain good order and may require any speaker to cease speaking if remarks are made in bad taste or slanderous or not germane. The time limit specified shall be adhered to, except the chair may allow any person speaking to complete a statement or thought started before such time expires. And a longer time may be allowed by the chair with the approval of the majority of the council.

Thank you. Privilege of the floor is now open. If there are any members of the public who wish to speak, please step forward, state your name and address and address the council.

Did you say name and address?

Yes.

Uh, and Janik nine beach road, Dunkirk. Um, so District attorney Jason Schmidt was quoted in Monday's observer as saying that there was a flock license plate reader placed in the city of Dunkirk on public property with the consent of the department of development. I'd like to understand more about that approval process. For instance, who was it that authorized its use? And when exactly was that?

Thank you, Miss Janet.

William Rick Hill, turf tenders, 45 Nichols Dunkirk. Last week I was pretty much on par. We had some family health issues, but besides bringing up turf tenders and my new budding neighbor, Ms. Battery Park, and our business should not fly. Secondly, no, first, is the school fly. You have nonverbal kids, autistic kids. We've had issues even in our own building that I'm not going to get into. But my daughter is a daughter of a neuropsychologist at John Hopkins University. She can't be here due to our family health issues. But she wants to bring up about the humming, the sound, the noise within 500 feet of this. This should be tabled again till we find out that this we have these children. It's a serious issue on a daily routine. They cannot go back to 2020 during COVID and interrupt their daily routine. I'm kind of disgusted that we have not been reached out and site plans. The woman from Gritty. Said she was going to send it to me last last week and she did not. I'm kind of concerned where you guys are going with this. I really think you should table it again. Let's get some research done. Today I went and went up to behind the training facility of the firemen and I can't believe even after this heavy rain how much work has been done. already for this fourth largest thing that's going to happen here. I really like to see the site plans on that. I have some really good friends. Luckily in turf vendors, we service over 8,000 pounds and I deal with some very powerful people and they're feeding me some information. They can't believe you guys allowed this to happen. First of all, we have one of the last greatest lakes that are sitting here. And God forbid something happens. Just in our realm, in the last 15 years, we've been struck around lightning storms. We had a Kwanzaa hut go up 11 years ago. We have fires. I mean, I really think you're making a bad decision on all this. And I really think it should be elsewhere. And I don't think my new abutting neighbor should be that with this school five with these poor kids, they're going to be disrupted daily. And you're going to, it's on your shoulders. You know, my motto is I sleep at night. Yes. A lot of people don't like what I do for a living, but I'm going to tell you what, when you guys are approving is wrong. It's really wrong. And I can't believe you can sleep at night and allow this to happen to come in here for a million dollars a year. I'm hearing rumors and given any, come on. And we could do a lot better. Actually, I, I taught, You know, J.C. Senate could make this freaking place better on the lake.

I'm sorry, sir. Your time is up.

Thank you. You know what? Think about it. Sleep at night. Thank you, Mr. Brickfield.

Nancy Nichols, 212 Lincoln Avenue, Dunkirk. My first concern is Rumor on the street, I know it's early in the year, but rumor on the street is that our lovely Mr. DeJoy is contemplating moving the firework display from a 20 minute to a 10 minute one for 2027. And I really don't think that that should be his discretion to make that decision. If funding is needed, then it can be taken from festivals and special events or the DLDC. I mean, there's a way to find out how to come up with money if that's what he's looking at, that the problem is, as they say, or stop giving raises to people that don't need it. Second of all. Under new business, if someone could please explain that in detail as it comes to the floor so our local residents could know what it entails, just reading it, no one will know what it means. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Nichols.

Anyone else who wishes to speak this evening? Going once, twice. Privilege of the floor is now closed. Next, we move to communications from the mayor, including disapproval messages.

Council, I'm here tonight to address your continued inaction and underfunding and continued refusal to take responsibility, which have now placed the city in a position it can no longer sustain. The city clerk's treasurer's office is operating three employees short. Yet because of your choices, that office is now responsible for not only all accounts receivable, water billing, water bill collections, correction of water billing errors, licensing related to clerical work such as dog licenses, marriage licenses, and hunting licenses. Council failing to take action has now placed licenses, plumbing, and electrical that should be in building and zoning directly in the clerk's hands. The clerk treasurer also handles tax collection, preparation, and corrections to taxes due to inaccurate tax rolls. Building and zoning retains its operations assistant, the person who should be handling electrical and plumbing licenses. The licensing software is housed in their department. The clerk is not an administrative user and cannot modify the letters or templates. You chose to meet with building and zoning. You did not meet with the clerk treasurer. You have repeatedly chosen to publicly, along with other employees from the city, discuss the clerk's salary, creating an embarrassing and inappropriate spectacle. Discussing an employee's compensation in public while spinning a false narrative about workload is not leadership. It's harmful and unprofessional. Worse yet, employees are now refusing to do assigned tasks, contacting you for sympathy, and using using grievances as justification for not completing their work. This is insubordination, and your willingness to entertain it is setting a very dangerous precedent that undermines the city's ability to function. Let's be clear, the grievances we're facing today were created by your decisions. You're having shorted the budget year after year and now you're surprised that services must be reduced and departments cannot meet operational demands and that the city is strained beyond capacity. It should also be noted that due to the underfunding, specifically this council's underfunding, There will be a cancellation of September brush pickup. To support the residents, however, the city is offering that the brush pile will be open for resident drop-off with proof of residency from September 28th through Saturday, October 3rd during the following hours, Monday through Friday from 6.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is not a result of a staffing shortage. This is not a result of management's decision. This is a result of your decisions. So tonight I'm asking you all very directly, what services do you intend to eliminate in the next budget so we can finally pass a balanced budget? The public deserves answers, the staff deserves answers, and the city cannot continue to operate under a budget that is structurally incapable of supporting the services residents rely on. The clerk's office as well as other offices have stepped up repeatedly. They have corrected inherited errors. They have modernized operations. They are protecting the taxpayers, but they cannot continue to absorb every responsibility that you refuse to address. It's time for you to act and it's time for you to stop shifting the consequences of your inaction onto the employees who are trying to keep the city running. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Next, we'll address communications from the public and petitions.

Request from John Brenner of 4584 West Lake Road to open an account with the City of Dunkirk DPW for sewer service.

Is there any discussion, Councilman? Hearing none, do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approved subject to appropriate insurances and usual conditions? Moved by Councilman Terrain. Seconded by Councilmember Lyskowiak. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Lyskowiak.

Aye.

Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Civiletto.

Aye.

Councilmember Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried.

Walk-in communication from George Burns III to request additional permanent parking at Memorial Park in the vicinity of the existing gravel lot by the fence.

Communications marked as received and filed. We'll now move to reports of standing committees, boards, and commissions. Council Member Laskovia.

Yeah. Tonight, I wanted to talk about battery storage units and how we as a municipality need to set standards within our zoning codes. We need dedicated zoning regulations such as neighborhood buffer zones, property line setbacks completely obscured from the public. mandatory high fences surrounded by vehicle impact wedges or pillars the removal of batteries after 180 days of inactivity etc and or whatever is appropriate we need to manage risks and write specialized standalone codes responsibly I believe NYSERDA can help us with this this is the time to do that as we are making final improvements to the zoning codes we have now we are already working with gci lighthouse regarding a battery storage facility way up on brigham and we have talked with them at length it is a company with much experience already meeting these standards however the one proposed by gritty development to be placed behind the ups building on brigham is too close to residence and school number five Would not be obscured from the public. I realize it is a smaller way of megawatt size however Everything could be subject to change It was set before the Planning Board and thank goodness there are members questioning and calling for specific zoning codes So before the next council meeting, I'll be talking with the mayor and putting this subject under new business with the help of the mayor, city attorney and the planning board. Let's draft and present proposed zoning code amendments to specifically regulate best within the city of Dunkirk, especially regarding safety. I mean, it's not banning them, it's just regulating. We could seek reimbursement. We can cite the New York State best law from NYSERDA as a template. A lot of New York cities are copying that. Chief Barter, to ease people's minds, will there be special hazard training regarding battery storage units now that we have GCI Lighthouse to begin in 2028, such as a first responder ER operations plan? And we could seek reimbursement from the company for any needed special equipment.

Thank you, thank you

It's very disappointing about the new brush pickup this September since it's on the schedule. I just wanted to say in 2024 we passed an 84% increase. Along with grand undercutting of revenue and overdoing expenses compared to the previous year, along with another 2% last year. Honestly, that should be enough. Go ahead.

Thank you, Councilmember train.

Better begin. Let me first of all address some of the things that the mayor said. When she cites the council, I think it's completely misleading to cite this council when three members of this council was not present when that budget was passed. I want the public to understand that. We are going to be looking at this year's budget, and we're going to analyze what's going on with this year's budget to see where we can go. So for the mayor to cite the council for being the reason why This council is totally misleading. You cannot blame this council for that. Maybe you can look back at past councils and criticize them. For this council, you can't cite us for interaction for what we've been trying to do for the misgivings and the things that have been going on in the city. So I take exception to that. And I think the other thing I want to add is that according to the city charter, the current city charter, It's the mayor that has authority to meet our task and according to her wishes to those departments and to those department heads. And that's a day-to-day operational thing. That is not a council business. It's a day-to-day operation for which the mayor is the CEO. And when the mayor is the CEO, the mayor is responsible for doing that, not the council. I don't recall ever getting in the office Just listening to one side, you can ask any department. I've been to each and every department as a personnel committee chair. Each and every one have talked to individuals about what they're doing and how things are going. And it's always an ongoing process. Always an ongoing process to make sure that what we do here, we're doing it efficiently and that I have an understanding of what's going on. And I'm speaking for me on that. So for us to be criticized on that, I find that highly irregular and I take exception to that. Now, as far as the best project, and I know he came forward to talk about that, about how it affects students, because the one that's being proposed to be near the school, council has not got We have not received any resolutions for that, so we have not made any decisions where that best project is concerned. It's still in the hands of the planning board, and the planning board has tabled it, taken a look at the zoning codes which are going to be, which are being worked on, and I think it's going to be January 1st. Is the target date for that to be?

For the update.

For the update?

It's got to go through locally.

so there are some processes that we're going through. So don't, I want the public to know that don't take that as a, we are definitely going to allow that project to go through because it's not even at that. We're not, we're not there. We are not there. Okay. So, uh, uh, you know, just, just keep, keep in mind. We're not there. We're not there. Uh, uh, well, no, you have an opportunity to speak so we can talk after. Um, but, uh, uh, and, and, We are listening to everything that the public is saying about it, and we are listening to everything that all the potential hazards that come with it. And that company, they're responsible for bringing that project forward and convincing us that that's a good project. If they can't convince us that's a good project, then that's on them, and we can definitely say no. We can definitely say no. So I want you to keep that in mind. OK? And the next meeting for the personnel committee is going to be October. The next meeting coming up is going to be in September. I'm sorry. Hold on. September 9th, I think.

Yes.

September 9th. So it's gonna be September 9th at 11 o'clock and I have sent out the invitations which quite a few people have already accepted and That's it, thank you councilmember civiletto In the Sterns building

That was all I was going to say, but there's a lot I'm going to say now. First, Ms. Nichols, I remember when you fought against having fireworks and was questioning where the money came from and how to fit. And now, all of a sudden, we're supposed to magically find this money in some line someplace. Not really sure how that's going to go. It's supposed to be... paid for by sponsors and we are down with Scott Mekus, who was the person who was in charge of getting all of those sponsors. So, um, it's something that in economic development, we're going to have to try to figure out, um, on how to find sponsorships for, um, the, so, um, I'm hearing some good stuff from out in the gallery.

Councilman, can I just interrupt you briefly? Again, those are rumors that we're hearing on the street. Those are not actual facts to the best of my knowledge. None of those discussions that have ever happened. So it would be best to just call those rumors and stop spreading misinformation through the community.

Yeah. I mean, that's, I haven't heard any of that either. So, um, so now I'm going to go on to what the, uh, what the mayor said. One, I'm going to reiterate what Councilman Terrain said. I haven't seen a budget yet. We've been going through stuff. This was the last council. How is that this council, three out of five of us are brand new and we're being blamed for stuff that has happened in the past. Second, if you are understaffed in the clerk's department, that is because we got rid of a treasurer. That was the public that got rid of the treasurer. As far as I remember, you, Mayor, were endorsing that, to get rid of that, with no plan. Because I remember when I was running, I was saying, so what is the plan for when we get rid of the treasurer? There was nothing. So the last council is the one that should be in charge of or blamed for not having a plan for when the treasurer disappeared. They knew it was going to happen. If we're under budget or underfunded, that is from the budget from last year, which I have not voted on. That is not my fault. Have I been called by the office of mayor?

no have i taught has has she talked to have you talked to me no you haven't this is my time okay this is my time okay that's enough enjoy your time uh i was going to say this has been discussed at nauseam at finance committee meetings uh maybe council should start hunting those

I have to work. I have a job. I'm sorry, I can't just leave my job to go to a finance meeting. And if you want me to do something, then you need to call me and ask me. That's how politics works. If you'd like me to do something, if you'd like a vote, then you called me for a vote. That's basic 101 politics. The mayor is the executive branch. The mayor is in charge of day to day, day to day, going is on in the mayor's office or in the city hall. The council is in charge of creating legislation. We're in charge of creating laws. We're in charge of the budget. But the budget hasn't come up yet. If anyone is to blame for a toxic environment, as you can see, In the clerk's office slash treasurer's office, it is sure as heck not me. And it sure as heck not Mr. Terrain, Mrs. Dekloviak, Ms. Fredrickson, or our councilman at large. We are not here every day. We do not set the tone. I've had enough. I tried, I tried, and I tried to be on her side. But this last bit of of storming out and unprofessionalism is not going to be tolerated by me anymore. I'm done. So publicly I'm saying that her actions are inappropriate and unprofessional, and I'm done with having that type of attitude in the city hall. I don't know what I can do about it, but I'm not very happy. All right, I'm done.

I'd like to take a few minutes to address the proposed changes to the city's water rate structure that are on tonight's agenda. As everyone knows, the city faces ongoing and significant financial challenges and the financial sustainability of our water and wastewater systems is an important part of the larger conversation. I've consistently supported the elimination of the declining block rate, particularly because our existing structure provides increasingly favorable rates to our largest users as the consumption increases. At the same time, I think it's important that any changes to the rate structure be based on a clear understanding of the financial impact, both on the city's finances and on the people and businesses who pay these bills. Today, for the first time, Council's received the financial projections associated with the proposed changes. I think it's therefore appropriate that we take the opportunity tonight to have our comptroller walk us through those numbers and explain the rationale behind the proposal. Comptroller Smith-Dengler, in just a moment, I'd like to turn the floor over to you to explain the projections, the anticipated revenue impact, and whatever other information you think would be useful for council and the public to understand as we begin this process. In particular, I think it's important for everyone to understand what we're being asked to accomplish financially, how much additional revenue is anticipated, and how that revenue is distributed among residential, commercial, and industrial users. So with that, Madam Comptroller, I'll turn it over to you.

It was brought to me on my very first day on the job. This has been something that has been an issue, something that my colleague Randy Woodbury has been looking at for the last couple of years. So we've done a pretty deep dive into where we are and where we've come from. Part of my investigations, my learning, have been meeting with one of the architects of our North County Water District and incredibly complex formulas that are driving our rates to the water district. They also play a factor in our city and town rates as well. Very interesting conversation with that professional, SUNY professor. I have also met repeatedly with Mr. Woodbury and with our fiscal affairs officer, And, um, we have developed the proposal that you have in front of you tonight. Um, what we are finding or what we have discovered is that it has been at least since 2017, since water rates have been adjusted here in the city of Dunkirk. Um, although, uh, North County water rates are being adjusted on a frequent on an annual basis. We have not made any changes for the last 10 years. it is entirely possible that those changes go on even longer than that. Um, we can't be sure that they haven't been changed since 2014 based on some of the information that we see. Um, as councilman Weiser referenced, we are eliminating the declining block rate. Um, what we have discovered is that, um, through that mechanism, our industrial and commercial customers are paying far less for to buy our water than it costs us to produce our water, uh, which means our enterprise fund, which is designed to do nothing other than raise revenue for the city has failed in that objective. Um, one minor change that is being made and the legislation that you see in front of you is we are updating the term meter rates to capacity charges. We feel this is just more reflective of those fees that are being charged to industrial and commercial customers. That really doesn't have any bearing, but I wanted to be clear about that change as well. As far as the changes that we are proposing, we are increasing the monthly minimum from $20 to $30. With that change, we are also increasing the monthly minimums that go along with that. There will be 3000 gallons for the $30 as opposed to the 2000 gallons that are currently being allocated for that minimum fee for anything above and beyond the 3000 gallons. The new price, uh, for per thousand gallons will be $5 rather than the $4 and 33 cents because of the elimination of the declining block rate. Um, that $5 will apply to all customers, residential, commercial, and industrial. Um, let me get back to my notes so I don't overlook anything critical. Um, as far as the town rates, those are also increasing with the same proportion that these city rates are. So the minimum rate for, um, the first 3000 gallons for town customers will be $45 instead of 35 and $8 and 75 cents, um, for additional thousand gallons instead of $7 and 58 cents. Um, another change that we are proposing is our bulk water, um, water used by our own programs to, uh, facilitate our splash pad to fill up residential pools. Uh, any large water uses have been billed at one half of a cent per gallon. I'm sure you can understand that that is not helpful in any way. So we are proposing that that goes to $0.05 per gallon for our bulk water. we do understand that this is not a one and done we are not proposing these rates that impact our city and town users only subsequent to this we will also be looking at sewer rates we will be talking with our partners at the north county water district there have been concerns raised from those participating partners about the formula that we are using and whether perhaps there can be a more Manageable system rather than this very complex formula that we have inherited for that Another point that I would like to reinforce is that with these changes our rates to all of our customers will still be substantially lower than any of our neighboring communities as we are selling water to other communities they are putting infrastructure costs on top of our rates and because they are also having a hand in the process of delivering water to our users. So our rates, even though they are increasing from over the last 10 years, will still be the lowest in the area. And one final point that I would like to make is that we have both the New York State Office of the State Comptroller and the Department of Budget looking very, very carefully at these rates. And everybody that has looked at them has said, what the heck are you people doing? You are giving your water away. This needs to be addressed. So we are doing that. Councilman, as far as what this looks like from a revenue standpoint, uh, in crunching the numbers based on the rates that we've just discussed within 2027, we estimate that the North County water district at $5 and 27 cents a gallon will generate $1.3 million in revenue. Our base rate, the new $30 fee for 3,000 gallons, will generate $1.8 million. And then finally, our commercial and industrial customers finally paying for the water they're using will generate $2.5 million. All of this combined results in $5.6 million in revenue. which will go a long way to putting our enterprise fund back in a profitable status and give us the ability to begin setting small pockets of money aside for infrastructure. At this point, we are not able to create any kind of water reserve that we would use when, not an if, when any of our equipment or any of our infrastructure fails and needs to be repaired. I think I've answered all of your questions. Are there anything else I can answer for you? I believe that covers it. Any questions from council?

Hey.

Yes.

Tracy, could we see the local law number six of 1992? Could you send it?

Please forgive me. I'm not able to hear you.

Oh, yes. Could you please send counsel the local law number six of 1992?

Certainly.

Thank you so much. And when you say the industrial increase will give us 2.5 million, is that 2.5 million more? Or what is that compared to what we already have?

That is the revenue that we anticipate seeing from industrial and commercial customers in the calendar year 2027.

OK. And so entirely. OK. Compared to, do you know what we're getting now, like say last year? Or could you provide us with that information?

I have that. Last year's revenue? We can certainly dig that out and get that into your hands. I don't have that with me right now.

Thank you. DPW Director Woodbury, do you have?

Yeah, it could be three quarters of that, roughly.

Okay.

Okay. The entire amount looks like it's going to be about 5. How many million?

5.6 is what we anticipate based on the fees that we are proposing that we change our law to. That is what we are estimating that the revenues will generate with our water products.

And then how does that impact, will that impact our proposed 27 budget?

Can't answer that. We are still working on expenditures. I do not think that that is going to cover everything. As you well know from your household budgets, everything is increasing. And as we see the tariff wars increasing, all of our expenditures are going to go up from where they already are. Many of the chemicals that we use in our water treatment and our wastewater plant, we are buying from Canadian vendors. So we will see. substantial increases in our costs. So we are confident that if these proposed rates are updated, that will go a long way to minimizing any additional tax increases. But until we get finished and through this process, we can't answer that question.

And I wanted you to be able to say that because I think that's one of the things that the misconceptions of the public is that we can hold a line when nothing else The line is not being held anywhere else. We're still paying more. And for the public to think that we can hold the line when we're paying out, paying more, that's unrealistic. Cuz if we look at our household budgets, we're paying more for everything.

Yes, we are.

I mean, we make a trip to Walmart, we're paying more for less. We go to a restaurant, we're paying more for less.

During our conversations and our investigations, our water rate team, has pretty much come to the conclusion that we need to evaluate this on an annual basis. We considered proposing rates for both 27 and 28, but we do not have enough information in regards to CPI increases in order to be able to project out 27 rates. We feel it is in our best interest to make changes for 27, make another evaluation, and then see where we should be for 28. But if we continue on in this way, it will continue eroding our city finances, and we are close to a cusp right now. So we really need your help and support with this, everybody.

DPW Director Woodbury.

Just in support of all this, something I think that would illustrate the impact in a positive way to the residents. We are about to begin flushing of higher hydrants. That tests the fire hydrants for flow. Sometimes it exposes a hydrant that needs work. Right now, if we find a hydrant that isn't working properly, we cannot afford to fix it. We'll put a black plastic bag over it, and if it happens to be your house, you will have no adequate quick fire protection at that location. That's something that I don't find acceptable. So a small increase to the residents is what we didn't want to have, but I think they could buy into having reliable fire protection. The fire department will work around that the best they can to bring that, and they'll know that it's out of service. But the more we can give them good hydrants all over the city, we want to do that. It affects your insurance rates. Another $10 per month we're asking for the residents goes a long way to helping us preserve the great infrastructure delivery. The infrastructure is getting old and it's going to have to be replaced at some point. We may face a huge bill of $65 million within the next 10 years under an EPA order that we received this week for lead service lines between the main in the house if you know that and that would be on the residence we don't know how we're going to do this if we can put money aside right now we have no fund balance and we've been criticized by the office of state controller severely for not having that in fund two the water fund um we've had to dip into the pfas annuity to fix something that happened to our water intake to the tune of $50,000. We didn't have that unless we would have been fortunate enough to win the lawsuit against six companies, and we get paid for removing the PFAS. There isn't much out there, and it's at safe levels, but our granulated activated carbon knocks it down to zero. It's been doing that for 30 years. But it costs us money to do that, and the companies that made PFAS are paying us to do that. We are trying to keep costs down the best we can. With that lawsuit that Mr. Elliot Ruanda was helpful in getting us that money, and the mayor as well, it's been a team effort. Also, the last point I'd like to make is that we went to a webinar um that was we're only halfway through it was an hour and a half to two hours so far and we learned that we absolutely need a fund balance that we have not planned for the rainy day that will come but we have to put money into our great water supply and keep it going so that was on the four issues that we learned about ellen and tracy and myself at that webinar we have another half to go to It's available. We'll give you the power points. It really hit home to me that we're not just by balancing a budget and not putting money aside for those eventualities that are going to cost us those fire hydrants that need to be fixed. It's a real danger. So it's a minimal, it's still less than anybody else is paying around here and it helps us so that we can give you reliable, great water.

Thank you. Thank you, director Woodbury. Thank you, Comptroller Smith-Dengler, for your efforts and explanations. I think it's important the council and the public have this information as we begin considering the proposed changes. There's obviously a lot here for us to review. I expect that the Finance Committee will spend a little bit more time working through these numbers and understanding the implications in our next meeting, which, in light of the Labor Day holiday next Monday, will be held next Tuesday, September 8, at 9 AM in the Stearns Building first floor conference room. Seeing no unfinished business, we will now proceed with the pre-filed resolutions. Clerk, please introduce resolution number 66 of 2026.

Resolution 66-2026. Resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract that sent us first aid and safety for the purpose of providing the city of Dunkirk with safety equipment.

Is there any discussion, counsel? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council member Laskoia.

Aye.

Council member Terrain.

Aye.

Council member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council member at large, Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 67-2026. Resolution accepting bid from Greener Gardens Nursery to plant 200 trees in the city right-of-way with UCF IV grant from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Any discussion, council? Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto. Aye. Council Member at large, Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 68-2026. Resolution authorizing budget line modifications fiscal year 2026.

Is there any discussion? Council. Comptroller Smith-Dengler, could you confirm for us that the budgeted parameters for salaries will not be exceeded for 2026 relative to these budget line modifications as presented?

No, they will not. We have had a number of positions or titles leave. Most of the reallocation is just evenly distributing the former treasurer's salary across the departments that have taken over that work. So we are not asking to increase the budget. We are simply transferring money within the budget.

Thank you. Anything further, counsel? Okay, seeing no further discussion, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member at large, Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 69-2026, 2025 CDBG allocation amendment.

Any discussion council? Seeing none clerk, please call the roll.

Council member Leskowiak. Aye. Council member Terrain. Aye. Council member Civiletto. Aye. Council member at large Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted. Moving on to new business. Clerk, please introduce local law number six of 2026. We can do them after the local law. Okay. It's all under new business. Okay. Yeah.

Local law. Number six of 2026, a local law amending the city code to repeal and replace local law. Number six of 1992 to change the water billing structure.

Hey, before we proceed, I'd just like to point out that the introduction of this local law is the beginning of the process, not the end of one. Financial projections that we received today are an important part of the process, and we now have the opportunity to review those projections, understand the assumptions behind them, and consider whether the proposed structure accomplishes what it's intended to accomplish. I also think it's important that we look at this from both sides, what the changes mean for the city's revenue and financial sustainability, and what they mean for the individual customers who will be paying those rates. So I would encourage my colleagues, as well as any members of the public who are interested in this issue, to look at the information that has been provided and to participate in the public hearing process. With that in mind, I would ask for a motion to schedule the required public hearing on local law number 6, 2026 for Tuesday, September 15th at 5.30 p.m. with the understanding that the hearing will provide an opportunity for public comment and that the council will continue its financial review before considering final adoption. Is there a motion to table for a public hearing? Okay, moved by Councilman Terrain, seconded by Councilmember Laskowiak. Clerk, please call the roll on the motion to table Local Law Number 6 of 2026 and schedule a public hearing for September 15th, 2026 at 5.30 p.m.

Council member Lyskowiak. Aye. Council member Terrain. Aye. Council member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council member at large Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried. Local law number six of 2026 has been tabled and a public hearing is scheduled for September 15th, 2026 at 5 30 PM. I understand there are also two walk-in resolutions. Clerk, please introduce the first walk-in.

Walk-in resolution 70 dash 2026. Resolution for city support of CSX railroad request to close Robin street tunnel.

Okay. Is there a motion to accept the walk-in resolution onto the agenda? Moved by council member terrain. Seconded by council member Lyskowiak. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council member Lyskowiak. Aye. Council member terrain.

Aye.

Council member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council member at large wiser.

Aye. Motion to accept the walk-in resolution onto the agenda is carried. Is there any discussion? on walk-in resolution number 70 of 2026 council.

Uh, and speaking on behalf of safety, uh, that has been that, that, uh, particularly, um, walkthrough has been a, uh, that tunnel has been a safety issue. And, uh, um, if, uh, uh, police chief Switzer, uh, know that, you know, he probably had calls down there to the cause of safety and it's no longer being used like it used to be. when we had quite a few of our students that were going through using that as a way to get to school. So we don't have as much traffic going through as it used to be. But it's being used more for things that we don't want to be used for. So closing it off, I don't see where closing it off is going to present that much of an issue. for the people that live on the other side of the tracks.

Yeah, we do have quite a few issues down there. We do have cameras down there, but they keep being vandalized. They're spray painted over. So the issue is that there's got a few overdoses down there. It's a gathering place to do stuff that isn't the best of nature. So quite a few spray paint incidents, you know, damage down there. So yeah, it is a problem.

Is there anything further, council? Councilman Civiletto.

Yeah, I just wanted to, historically, this was something that the kids used. So there's a lot of stories about going in that tunnel and getting to school via that tunnel. And a lot of people used it. In the past, it's unfortunate that we have to close it. I did initially not want to vote for this. But I'm going to change my mind for safety reasons. Unfortunately, it just isn't what it was, and we have to move on from this. from this mode of transportation from second to third street. So, um, I'm sorry, but yeah, it will be for those who are, who are, who feel this in their heart, that that's something that they remember when they're your children. Um, but I'm going to have to vote for it. So it's fine to put that on there.

Anything further council.

Yes, just quickly. Uh, when we have tried, we, we put about $70,000 of, grant money into trying to make it safe right and it's just been a battle um we had unsafe crossings as well i'd like to shout out mr robert mays a city resident who's helped with some of these railroad issues as a private citizen he's volunteered and made some communication just in the audience i just want to say thank you robert for those calls he would certainly verify that we tried everything councilman and feel free to introduce yourself to him afterward great resource um doesn't happen to live in your ward he lives in mr terrain's award but great great service and thank you so thank you all thank you any further discussion council are we prepared to vote on this tonight okay uh in that case clerk please call the roll for the vote

Council Member Laskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain. Aye. Council Member Civilletto.

Aye.

Council Member Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. The resolution has received sufficient support and is hereby adopted.

Walk-in Resolution 71-2026. Resolution authorizing budget line modifications for fiscal year 2026.

Is there a motion to accept the walk-in resolution onto the agenda? Moved by Council Member Laskowiak. Seconded by Councilman Terrain. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Laskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain. Aye. Councilmember Civilletto.

Aye.

Councilmember at-large Weiser.

Aye. Motion carries and the walk-in resolution is accepted. Is there any discussion on walk-in resolution 71?

I just wanted to say this is a reappropriation of funds into its correct place in the budget and this was already previously voted on. I just wanted to

Any further discussion, Council?

It also, what this does is that without any impact on the budget, it makes a correction on where those funds are coming from to increase those salaries. Let me say that in response to anybody who would like to make a criticism on this, especially where the city clerk treasurer is concerned, that particular position is requiring the city clerk treasurer to do two jobs, basically, the clerk's job and the treasurer's job, and to make sure that, and the bottom line is, we know that there's been a lot of talk and pressure on the city clerk treasurer to reopen their office full-time, and she did tell me that there's a date to reopen that office full-time, and that that's gonna be done even though they still don't have the appropriate number of personnel to do that. So what we're doing is we're making sure that this has been being brought online and that the council is approving this budget mod to make sure that this is being brought online.

Okay, anything further council? Councilman Zivolo.

I just wanted to reiterate again, put on our laps as new councilmen because there was no plan last year about what to do if and when the treasurer was eliminated by the public. So unfortunately this is something that has come to us and we have to deal with it because, I mean, it's our job, but because it wasn't thought of in the very beginning. by the last Council who was mostly the three members that have been replaced. Thank you.

Any further discussion, Council? Okay, seeing none, Clerk, please call the roll for the vote.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Civilletto.

Aye.

Council Member at large, Weiser.

Aye. The resolution has received sufficient support and is hereby adopted. I understand As we near the conclusion of tonight's meeting, that there may be a need for an executive session to discuss matters of personnel. Is there any further new business to be discussed prior to that?

I'd like to say that brought to my attention, Mr. Mays brought something to my attention about, and I'd like for Al and the zoning code enforcement to take a look at the property down on Lakeshore Drive. right across from where you go into Point Drive. And there's a business there that has cars over on the National Grid property. And those cars have been there for a long time. To take a look at that and also have either the fire department or the police department take a look at whether or not there's something that can be done about either getting those cars moved or at least talking to the proprietor of that business about Those cars has been there for a long time. I took a ride through there and there's a couple over there that has, uh, that had weeds that are at least 10 feet high. So we can take a look at that and see what can be done over at that property. Um, if there was any, it was anybody else, they probably would have been cited already. So, and I'm not sure if he has been cited and just not responding. So if you can take a look at that, appreciate it.

Any further new business? In that case, is there a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing matters of personnel? Moved by Councilmember Laskowiak, seconded by Councilman Terrain. Before we vote on this, I'd just like the public to know we will not be taking any public action after we conclude the executive session, so there's no need to stay unless you'd like to. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Laskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain. Aye. Councilmember Civilletto. Aye. Councilmember at large, Weiser.

Aye, motion carries. We will now enter into executive session. For the record, the time is 6.30 PM. We kindly ask the public and any non-essential staff to excuse themselves. And I'd request that Attorney Raimondo