City Council - Special Meeting

Hello everyone, my name is John Darro. I am the president of the Council of the Commission of Architecture, Urbanism and Historical Preservation of the city of Binghamton. And I intend to open this meeting today, September 15, 2026, which constitutes a special session.

We will start with a nominal appeal on my behalf.

Jennifer Church, first assistant to the city's legal advisor.

Glad to have you here. Churchertzer, commissioner. Glad to have you here. Brian As, commissioner. Jeffrey Smith, Commissioner.

Tito Martinez, Director of Urbanism.

Urbanist in charge of the historical preservation of the city.

Wonderful, thank you.

Well, the first point in the order of the day is the approval of the verbal trial of April 28th. I examined what was in my document. Are there any questions? Does anyone see omissions or errors? I therefore propose to approve the verbal trial of April 28th, as it is. Can someone press the button? I press it. Who is for? For Ado. Now, point following the order of the day, the approval of the verbal trial of the meeting of August 4, 2026. I examined the file in front of me. I find no omission or error. Does one of the other commissioners see something that requires a correction or a remark? I propose to accept the verbal trial as it is presented for August 4, 2026. Thank you. You're shaking a little, you know. The 4th of August, 2026, is adopted. I propose at this stage to modify our calendar for the order of today by passing the 21 Mansell Street before the 9 Riverside Drive, because I must object to the ownership of Riverside Drive and one of our commissioners is en route. We are waiting for it.

Thank you, Joe. Who is for? For.

For. For. The motion is adopted. Well, let's get down to business. We examine. For. For.

Very well, the 21 Mansell is a property that the city of Binghamton acquired. They propose to demolish it in the context of their efforts to reduce the decrepitude and, once demolished, the plan envisages that the land is eligible for the adjacent land program. La propriété a continué de se détériorer. Il y a eu beaucoup de plaintes à ce sujet au fil des ans, donc la supprimer semble être la meilleure solution. Pour la ville, j'ai effectué des recherches et trouvé pas mal de propriétaires pour cette propriété au fil des ans et pour l'année de construction. Cela semble être autour de 1 880 gardernes d'après les personnes que j'ai pu associer à la propriété. Just a brief description, it is located in the Northside neighborhood. It is a two-storey residential apartment on the north side of Munsell Street. It has a wooden roof, an asphalt barbed wire roof and an aluminum or vinyl coating. It has a two-level porch on the south side, which is a characteristic element. It is a simple vernacular style with a front-oriented pine roof and you can see windows with two tiles all around the building. J'ai noté que l'état général est passable à détériorer. Il ne semble pas s'agir d'un exemple remarquable de structure représentative de son époque passée ou présente. Il ne semble pas non plus être l'un des rares exemples restants d'un style architectural passé ou d'une combinaison de styles. En ce qui concerne les personnages ou événements historiques, j'ai trouvé, quelques personnes, d'une certaine importance. The most notable people found were Russell H. Phelps, who was the president of the Brougham County Real Estate Board. He often opposed the control of rents and criticized local housing projects. He appeared in a lot of press cuts from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, highlighting his career in real estate. J'ai également découvert que George W. McKellan était facteur et qu'il avait travaillé dans un bureau de brevet. Il a aussi obtenu un brevet pour un roulement à billes réglable pour bicyclette qui a ensuite été essayé sur des automobiles mails. Il a travaillé comme directeur technique au Binghamton Press pendant 10 ans. La dernière personne notable associée au bâtiment que j'ai trouvé était John W. Lyon, un éditeur bien connu à son époque.

I propose to declare a non-class action at this stage. I second. Thank you Jeff. All those who are for. Comments. A discussion. That seems obvious to me. Okay, there is nothing. Really special. I agree with you. We know this property. Who is our criteria reader?

I take care of the first.

I am not responsible. Critère de démolition pour importance historique. Excusez-moi. Critère de démolition. Critère de détermination de l'importance historique pour la démolition. La dyslexie s'installe. La détermination de l'importance historique par la Commission se fonde sur les considérations suivantes basées sur les normes du secrétaire à l'intérieur des États-Unis pour la préservation historique. 1 if the structure is a remarkable example of a structure or memorial representative of its time, past or present, really not. Or if the structure is one of the rare examples remaining of an architectural style past or a combination of styles. or if the structure is associated with a person or a significant historical event for the city, the region, the state or the nation. I really don't find anything significant. We had a real estate agent who held a patent. Unless someone disagrees, I don't find anything significant. I propose that it has no historical importance. The proposed action will create a material conflict with a plan for the use of adopted soils or zoning regulations.

Say no. Will the proposed action lead to a change in the use or intensity of the use of the soil? Will the proposed action alter the character or quality of the existing community? Will the proposed action have an impact on environmental characteristics that justify the establishment of a critical environmental zone? Will the proposed action lead to an unfavorable change in the existing level of traffic or will it affect the common transport infrastructures of bicycles or walks? Will the proposed action lead to an increase in energy consumption and will it prevent the integration of reasonable opportunities for energy savings or renewable energy? Will the proposed action have an impact on public or private water systems, water supplies or public water treatment services? Will the proposed action alter the character or quality of important historical, archaeological, architectural or aesthetic resources? Will the proposed action lead to an unfavorable change in natural resources? For example, wetlands, groundwater, air quality, flora and fauna. Will the proposed action lead to an increase in the risk of erosion, flooding or drainage problems? Will the proposed action pose a danger to environmental resources or human health? Therefore, on the basis of what precedes, I propose a negative statement.

I press the negative statement motion.

Who is for? For.

In unanimity, it is Ado.

Let's beautify life.

Is there anything that could be done administratively now that it is no longer fixed? I know that I have...

What they have submitted seems quite simple now. Beautiful panels mounted on the ground. Quite neat and clear. I would hate to wait any longer. It seems that they may have bought one.

They had one in the shelter somewhere.

Ask for the photos. So do you want to kill yourself 5 more minutes in case they show up or...

I mean, do you know if the person is coming?

No, we don't know. When is our next meeting? The 5th of October.

The 6th of October.

October. Our next meeting is the 6th of October. I can't wait for it to be over. We have some rules. John or George, could you... Is it allowed to... And the other guy, John... He's there. He's there. He's there.

He's there. He's there. He's there.

He's there. Glenn, I'm going to report your file on October 6th, because I...

Sorry about that.

Always a pleasure. So I propose to report the 9 Riverside Drive, uh... Corum's fault, at the meeting on October 6th of the City Code Commission of Binghamton. I press this motion. Thank you, Jeff. They're really trying. It's true. I'm also trying, as... Good luck.

One thing for the 21 Munsell, the last motion I heard about the negative statement, but there was no motion made on the absence of historical significance.

Okay, so let's reopen. I propose to reopen the 21 Munsell Street. Need support for reopening.

John, you made a proposal. And I supported it.

No historical significance.

Yes, you just need the motion for the SEQR, then a motion determining whether there is a historical importance or not.

The motion on the historical importance and the global motion that you must submit. If this motion is not made, we have no conclusion. So the negative statement must precede the motion aiming to determine whether the property is significant or not.

But we will discuss it with the models, I hope, magnificent, that I created. Yes. New models. So we will review it afterwards.

Do I have to reopen the Munsell Street file to make a motion on the lack of historical importance?

No.

Everything is fine? Yes, it's good. I'm almost sure that someone is coming.

Welcome. No one. Good. You mean to raise the session first? No, we would do it during the public meeting, since we have the quorum anyway. But to go back to what I was saying, since it's happening, maybe you could just present the procedure and we can discuss it in detail at a future meeting.

So I created this procedure. C'est vraiment un document de travail? Alors, sur l'exemplaire que vous avez, n'hésitez pas à faire des annotations. Nous y reviendrons si nous avons du temps le 6 octobre et lors de futures réunions. Au fur et à mesure des décisions, référez-vous-y. Voyons si nous devons modifier certaines normes. Assurons-nous de prendre des décisions cohérentes. J'y ai inclus un guide pour faire des motions car je sais que c'est une question que Brian et, je crois, Joe m'avaient posée lors de la dernière réunion. So I hope that this will facilitate the task for everyone and once again will guarantee that we work in a standardized and consistent way. So go ahead, go through it on your side. You can always send me messages. We can open a specific discussion thread on Basecamp for any changes. However, we will talk about it regularly and continuously. In addition to the procedure, I created these new models for the personnel report. So one for the authorization certificate, one for the determination of historical importance for the demolitions, and one for the determination of importance for the ranking. These three are now on their own. It saves a lot of paper too, the presentation of the ancients leaves a lot of empty spaces. It was quite confusing to watch. I hope for better readability. They will be better used as reference points. It's just easier for all of us to know what we need to make the right decisions. So also take a look at these documents, write them down, tell me if there are things that seem illogical to you, if something should be added or removed. All your modifications are welcome. I just want to make sure that these are the most practical and most suitable models to allow us to move forward. It's very internal, but we also consider calling for external training. J'ai été en contacte avec la Preservation League, notamment Jana Rudler, qui je crois est basée à Binghamton. Je ne sais pas encore si elle sera présente en personne ou si nous opterons pour une solution via Zoom. Nous pourrions donc être dans cette salle ou une autre selon nos besoins techniques. Elle devrait être là le 3 novembre et j'ai tout coordonné avec la réunion du COD pour que ce soit aussi ouvert au public. Les gens pourront venir poser des questions ou même les envoyer à l'avance. Ce sera une initiation à la préservation avec un volet sur les crédits d'impôt. Ce sera utile pour les membres de la communauté et pour vous aussi. Si vous avez besoin d'informations sur les crédits d'impôt, si vous travaillez sur un projet concerné, etc., c'est prévu pour novembre. Et au printemps, je ferai appel au SHPO, le Bureau de préservation historique de l'État, pour une autre formation. Je veux juste nous remettre à niveau et m'assurer que tout le monde est sur la même longueur d'onde. And thank you, ATE, for organizing the training for the... ...intervenants. I hope that at least some of you will be able to attend. I will go, I will take notes, I will share the documents with those who will not be able to come, so that we all have them. Yes, a lot of training at the moment, but we will get there. Do not hesitate to keep me posted for any changes. We will be able to make adjustments as we go. Once again, these are really working documents for the moment.

And thank you for doing that.

It will really help us for the meetings.

And we did something else. Tito and I spoke with Jen, and Jen, with her eye of a lawyer, will make sure that everything is impeccable and consistent. We can do a visual presentation of all this. You have this reference document that you can consult at your own pace. whether it's for the next meeting of the COD or maybe not the next one. We will find a schedule. We can prepare a PowerPoint-type visual support to highlight the essential points and give you the context so that you can refer to it for more information, if that suits you.

Do we have various questions to address? Just a question about the new No, not yet. There are some modifications that I have to make with the consultant, Andy Roublet.

There is also the procedure that we have to follow with the municipal council, the request for legislation. So I don't really know what the calendar looks like. I hope by the end of the year. Tito, do you think it's...

Yes, I would say that if we can finalize the project of directives by the end of the month, the legislative procedure would take maybe one more month. So yes, beginning of November.

Yes, I was wondering because I had a little forgotten until now.

D'autres points abordés? Alors sans hésitation, je propose de lever la séance extraordinaire du 15 septembre 2026 de la commission COD de la ville de Beacon Falls. Y a-t-il un appui? Merci. Qui est pour?