City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Thank you.

we are gonna start city of Newburgh City Council meeting July 13 2026 I was just briefly with the New York State assistant commissioner on education he's here in town so that's what that's why I came in at the nick of time And Dr. Alston is in our community, so he sends his greetings to the residents and the government officials of the city of Newburgh. So we're going to have a brief moment of silence, then we'll commence with our agenda for the Pledge of Allegiance. And we'll carry on with the business of the people. So we could just, any requests for the moment of silence? Is there anything?

That's right.

The Reverend Dr. Benilda Jones passed away a few days ago. So if we could think about the Reverend Dr. Benilda Jones and her daughter, Daniela Jones, as they grieve the loss and the passing of the good Reverend Dr. So. Moment of silence. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Roll call please.

Council Member Martinez. Present. Council Member McLemore. Here. Council Member Monteverde. Here. Council Member Shakur.

Here.

Council Member Stewart. Here. Council Member Zoria.

Here.

Mayor Harvey.

Here.

So carried.

Thank you very much. Next, we will move to communications under our agenda. And item number four, we need approval of the minutes from the city council meeting of May 26, 2026. So moved. First motion is set up by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on the motion, please. council members Martinez I Macklemore Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zaria yes mayor Harvey yes so carried thank you item number five under communications we also need an approval for the minutes from the City Council meeting of June 8th 2026 so move first motion is said that by councilman Shakur do we have a second Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez. Aye. McLemore. Aye. Monteverde. Aye. Shakur. Yes. Stewart. Yes. Zoria.

Yes.

Mayor Harvey. Yes. Resolution so carried.

Thank you so much. Item number six under communication of our agenda, we have the city manager's update. Mr. Morris.

Thank you, Mayor. We'll start tonight with a community update. City residents reminded to use cclickfix to report quality of life issues and submit non-emergency requests online to the city through the platform members of the community are able to report issues such as potholes damaged sidewalks missing or damaged street signs weeds or trash and other violations This platform provides city staff with a centralized issue management system to manage issues from creation to resolution and to engage city residents throughout the process. City residents can visit the city's website or download the app on the App Store or on Google Play and provide valuable information to address issues quickly. Residents are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible when submitting an issue. The City of Newburgh continues the City Park Cleanup Blitz Campaign with work at Clinton Square, 123 Grand Street, and Delano Hitch Recreation Park. This collaborative effort between the Department of Public Works, the Water Department, and the Recreation Department includes landscaping, litter removal, and the maintenance and repair of park furnishings, equipment, and facilities of city-owned parks. Thank you to all the city staff whose incredible hard work and dedication have gone far in transforming our parks for the summer season. The sanitation department collected a total of 976.15 tons of solid waste during the month of June. A total of 93.5 tons of recycled material was processed, supporting the city's sustainability efforts. Additionally, 64 sanitation warnings were issued, reflecting ongoing enforcement of waste management regulations and community standards. The Department of Public Works staff has repaired a damaged catch basin, replaced approximately 85 feet of failing sanitary sewer, 50 feet of storm sewer, and repaved the roadway on South Williams Street at Southlander Street. These improvements project marks a historic first, the first full sanitary sewer replacement performed entirely by the Department of Public Works personnel, eliminating the need for a third-party contractor. The four-way stop at the intersection of South Williams Street and South Lander Street, approved by the City Council, will be installed in the upcoming weeks. The City of Newburgh Water Department is actively working along the Broadway Improvements Project corridor, replacing aging fire hydrants with new upgraded units on Broadway from Robinson Avenue to Colton Street. This project is an important step in improving fire protection, maintaining system reliability, and supporting the ongoing infrastructure improvements taking place through the corridor. The land use boards received the following applications in June. The planning board received eight new applications and issued four approvals and one denial. The ZBA received four new applications and issued four approvals. And the architectural review commission received two new application and issued six approvals. 15 informational requests were received in the month of June. from our planning and development department. Approved by the planning board during the June 2026 meeting, the mixed use project at 825 to 829 Broadway consists of 57 apartments and relocating the existing restaurant on site into the first floor of the new building. The new building will be constructed outside of the floodplain and includes a robust stormwater management system. Once complete, the project will construct new sidewalks, street trees, and a parking garage. A rendering of the project is shown on the screens. From our police department, the city of Newburgh Police Department fielded 2,826 calls for service entries in June, 2026. The city's crime reduction strategies continue to produce results. Preliminary part one crime data through June 30th shows a 25% decrease compared to the same time in 2025. This includes a 24% decrease in violent crime and 25% decrease in property crime. In the month of June, the Code Compliance Bureau issued 193 construction permits with a construction value of roughly $1.6 million. They completed 1,246 inspections, issued 621 notices of violation, issued 16 notices of violation in the Broadway corridor, sent eight violations to court, received 622 complaints, closed 144 existing complaints, and issued 12 stop work orders. In June, emergency medical services responded to 454 calls, resulting in 457 dispatches and 284 patient transports. Average response times fluctuated throughout the week with Friday recording the longest average response time. The busiest day of the week was Monday, which saw the highest number of emergency calls. The fire department received a total of 251 calls for service last month. One of those calls were for structure fires. For all other fires, 15 calls were received. 55 calls were for non-fire hazard calls. 71 calls were for non-fire calls for service. Lastly, 43.43% of the fire department's calls in June were for false alarms and false calls. The City of Newburgh Fire Department assisted the American Red Cross with its Sound the Alarm program, which provides free smoke detector installations for residents without working units. On June 27th, the Fire Department helped install 32 detectors and conducted four fire education sessions. Among the volunteers was Cameron Ford, a multi-year fire department intern through Newburgh Enlarged City School District. The city of Newburgh wishes him the best of luck as he begins college this fall. upcoming events. Join us this Thursday, July 16th, as the City of Newburgh's summer movie series, hosted at the Safe Harbors Green, continues with the movie Goat. Pre-movie activities, including a cookout hosted by the police department, begins at approximately 6 p.m. The film will begin at dusk. In addition, join the City of Newburgh officials and the City of Newburgh Police Department for the annual National Night Out celebration on Tuesday, August 4th from 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. on Broadway between Johnson Street and Liberty Street. National Night Out is an annual community building campaign that promotes police community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. This year's National Night Out promises to be a fun-filled, family-centered evening featuring music, games, food, community resources, and more. The police department will also be on the scene actively engaging with the community. event will conclude with a fire with the fireworks originally scheduled for independence day beginning at approximately 9 pm from one washington street also known as the former consolidated iron site we encourage all residents to come out and join us for this special event The City of Newburgh Arts and Cultural Commission has launched Art Biz 2026 series. The Art Biz series is a free arts enrichment program for City of Newburgh youth. This program allows our youth to explore creatively new build skills, and learn from local artists in a welcoming and supportive environment. All classes will be held at the Armory on Saturdays until August 8th, beginning at 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. A community exhibition and celebration is scheduled for August 15th with the location to be announced. For more information and to register, scan the QR code on the screen. New City Parks will host a town hall on Wednesday, July 15th at the Activity Center located at 401 Washington Streets beginning at approximately 6 p.m. to gather residents' ideas for the enhanced Delano Hitch Recreation Park. The initiative will support plans for the city's first destination playground, upgrades to the sports fields, and improvements that will make Delano Hitch a more vibrant community park. The city of Newburgh Human Rights Commission is accepting nominations for the 2026 Human Rights Hero Award. The commission is looking for nominees whose actions promote equal justice, dignity, and opportunity for all. Nominations must be supported through the online portal found in the notice on the city's website or by the QR code on the screen by July 31st. This annual recognition honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to advancing and protecting human rights within the city of Newburgh and will be honored and celebrated on Human Rights Day, which is December 10th, 2026. Tonight, we'd like to highlight our current vacancies on the newly created Charter Review Commission. Individuals interested in applying for the Charter Review Commission must apply by July 17th. You can apply via the city's website at the cityofnewburgh-ny.gov, by emailing a completed application to boards at cityofnewburgh-ny.gov, or by hand delivering an application to City Hall at 83 Broadway. For the latest news and announcements about the City of Newburgh, sign up for the News Flash via Notify Me. Visit the city website at www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov and click on the notify me button towards the center of the homepage. To subscribe, you must type your email or phone number in the profile information section. Click the email and or phone icon next to the lists you want to subscribe to. You can subscribe to receive the latest city news, agendas, and job exam postings. Members of the news media are asked to direct all press inquiries to press at cityofnewburgh-ny.gov. That concludes the City Manager's Update.

thank you very much mr. Morris for that wonderful update next on our agenda we are going to forego the pre special presentation to the Reverend McAllister he's not present and councilman Macklemore is going to receive his certificate of recognition on his behalf. Yes, Councilman McLemore.

I know that Reverend McAllister, he's listening right now. He couldn't make it. and we wanted to thank him for all of his contributions and work that he's done in our city especially he was one of the voices and champions for the hometown heroes program and so we wanted to let him know that We appreciate him, and we hope that he feels better, and I'll give him his certificate at a later time. So thank you, Reverend McAllister.

thank you Councilman Macklemore next on our agenda we have comments from the public regarding agenda and or non agenda items and the non agenda items are general matters of the city we would love to hear from you all so that we can take notes and possibly respond tonight and if not tonight we can hopefully respond to you at a later time we ask everyone to follow our decorum protocols that have been set so that we can be respectful to one another and receive the communication in an effective way each person is asked to tell us your name whether or not you live in the city of Newburgh we don't need people's personal addresses we just need to know if you're one of our neighbors in the town or in New Windsor and you have three minutes to talk and give us your comment we do accept compliments so compliments are welcome if if if deed earned so yes so please come forward to the mic give us your name if you're a resident or not if you're a neighbor or not and the local towns or and then you have three minutes to do so so please come forward

Hi, I'm Cynthia. I live on Grand Street in the city of Newburgh. I'm here tonight because I read somewhere a while back that we were a sanctuary city. And then I read somewhere like a week ago that we have flock in the city. And I was thinking, like, how can we be a sanctuary to people if we have these invasive cameras recording everybody's license plates? How can we offer anybody protection from ICE or any kind of agency like that if we can't even keep these cameras off our streets? We wouldn't be the first city to do so. Other cities are getting rid of flock as well. So I just want to say get the flock out of Newburgh now.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Mark Sanchez-Potter, City of Newburgh resident. I want to echo what Cynthia said earlier about FLOC and just bring up some other concerns in relation to it. So FLOC as a system is used by Customs and Border Protections and ICE. And the CEO of FLOC actually lied under oath that he had a contract with Customs and Border Protection. And as we know, Customs and Border, ICE, Department of Homeland Security, US Marshals, they have actively said that they will be using racial profiling to detain as many people as possible in relation to the administration's ramp up of immigration detention. And so, you know, they're going to continue to use racial profiling and the way they're using that is they're accessing people's license plates, people's pictures, images, and they're looking for darker colored people and Hispanic looking people, you know, and they're going to target those communities. I really think the city should cancel the FLOC contract and make sure that any data that the city does use, there has to be protections in place. And I understand this goes into the issue of federalism and the state government versus home rule, but there are ways and laws that can be implemented to ensure that people's data is more protected, right? This is a clear violation of people's Fourth Amendment rights. This is wrong. Newberg should not be using the surveillance. And to also continue this discussion, ICE now wants to build a detention camp in the town of Newburgh, right, on Corporate Boulevard. And who do you think they're gonna be rounding up to put into this ICE detention camp? They're gonna be rounding up city residents. So we should not be giving ICE and Border Protection and Department of Homeland Security any more tools to target our residents. This is gonna just continue the harm. We saw what happened in Houston. We saw what happened in Maine this morning. This administration, they don't give a damn anymore, right? They're willing to use deadly force. And I pray that this does not happen in the city of Newburgh. But you see these rogue agents who do not care about American citizens because they've detained American citizens and they're detaining residents. The person in Maine had work authorization. He had a social security number and they shot him and killed him. So it's not, oh, we're going after the bad ones. To them, any person is bad, including American citizens. So I don't think the FLOC contract should continue. I think the city needs to implement stronger data protection laws and ensure that any data that the city uses is protected as best as we can. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Dennis Grant Newberg, I'd like to thank the Acting City Manager for being consistent with the cooling center at the activity center. This has been a hot and still a hot summer. For my neighbors here and watching, uh... tomorrow july fourteenth to ten a m to six p m wednesday july fifteen ten a m to eight p m the cooling center at the activity center also free splash pad free splash pad locations and hours at the xavier lumen park 66 courtney courtney avenue and the tyrone crab memorial park at 94 south street at 7 a.m to 9 p.m and also the audrey carey park 251 liberty street 12 to 7 p.m get cool get wet remain safe uh please everyone these next few days are going to be hot and check in on your family and on your neighbors. Question, what is the status, speaking of the acting city manager, what is the status of the new city manager hiring? We don't want to leave that full-time position vacant too long, do we? Now, on the budget. order presentation during the work session was interesting it was interesting hearing council members not understand the methods the former city manager used while taking points while the talking points were unclear it happens when you don't know where to stand in the budget so i get that uh but 33 million dollars estimate 27 out 27 million dollars actual that's a six million dollar off from where Please be transparent. The city would like to know you can't talk about a smoking gun until you have the gun. The fire department hasn't been at full strength for years. Less lip service and more action. Personnel concerns and vacancies have been going on for years here. Some good, some just delayed. My question is, what has this council done in raising questions and being transparent to the people year two, year three, year four, year five, year six years ago now? That's transparency. On a different note, concerning resolution number 150, 2026, it's good to hear more information about the Newburgh colored burial ground memorial with possibility of additional grant monies. I'm sure my godmother, Dr. Jones, would have appreciated these efforts again. Rest in peace. Between all of Dr. Jones' accolades in the city and in this state, awarding her a key to the city or a street sign near the courthouse are real ideas. Because if you know, you know she was not for the foolery. Who will create the resolution for this? Do you need assistance? She will be missed. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hello, everybody. Corbin Ledline, Ward 3. I just wanted to follow up. Last time I was here, I spoke about how I submitted a FOIL request. I was disappointed but not surprised that I was told that it would be delayed. They said they would need until October 30th to release the audit logs and the data sharing agreements and all the things I asked for. I personally think that's an unreasonable delay. If there's anything that any council people can do to help expedite that, I would be greatly appreciative. I think that information is extremely important because, especially while, you know, there are some on the council who believe this technology is necessary, there's already been discussions on what to replace it with, it's important that the people of Newburgh knows what the technology has been used for for the past two years. Who has had access to it? What have the searches been for? particularly because I recently saw an article published this month that there have been over a dozen arrests of police officers for stalking ex-girlfriends, girlfriends, their family members with this technology. And those are only people who have gotten caught. And so that's a public safety issue too. stalking of women illegally by police officers. So it's important people know what this technology has actually been used for. And also I wanted to share with my neighbors that I'm helping to organize an event on Sunday, August 9th, which will be a teaching about this technology. It's from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 271 Broadway, which is at the Church of the Good Shepherd. We'll have an expert from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to talk about this technology, threats to civil liberties, and how other cities and towns across the country have been fighting back and canceling flock contracts. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Good evening. Gregory Notto, Newburgh constituent. Good evening. At the last planning meeting, there was a comment made that has stuck with me and has been sort of gnawing at me. Is this the perfect project? No. But I just want to see something built. Somebody actually stated that in this hall. We all know that we need development to succeed. We are all in agreement. It's what we develop that is very important. The evidence from municipalities across the United States is clear. The communities that have increased their tax base the fastest have not simply just built more buildings. They have built more productive places. Research from the OECD shows that cities generate the strongest long-term prosperity when they invest in mixed-use projects, quality public spaces, alternate transportation choices, housing diversity, and access to jobs and services. As Newburgh reviews future development proposals, I encourage the Council to ask a simple question. Will this project increase the city's long-term prosperity, or will it simply add square footage and population density? The National Prosperity Index, it exists, reminds us that successful communities are measured by much more than GDP or the number of buildings under construction. The developments in successful communities that consistently produce the greatest tax rateable include active ground floor commercial space instead of parking podiums, mixed income housing, small business incubators and local entrepreneurship, public waterfronts that attract visitors every day of the year, streets designed for pedestrians and then for automobiles. These are investments that multiply value through an entire municipality rather than concentrating value with a single parcel or project. Communities like Greenville, South Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Bentonville, Arkansas transformed themselves because they elected leaders, actively recruited the best developers instead of waiting for them to arrive. Newburgh already possesses extraordinary assets and fantastic population. All we need now is equally ambitious strategy to market and expand those. If we focus every development decision on improving the factors that drive prosperity, quality of life, business opportunity, we won't simply be building more buildings. We will be building more prosperous Newburgh for all of its constituents. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, my name's Paul Andrews. I live about a block and a half from here, not too far away. Just got two things. Number one is I'm originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey. And Elizabeth, New Jersey, over in the projects, I remember back around the 80s when I was a kid, the crime rate was starting to get really bad. So what the city did, which I thought was really, really good, they put in a school dead in the middle of the projects where they taught these low-income kids how to do coding. And I remember back when it came out, it was very controversial. It was like it was seen as a waste of time and all that. And today, it has paid off in dividends. You have Kean College and Elizabeth. They keep getting kids that came straight out of the projects, and they're getting jobs in these high-paying fields in tech. I was wondering why we can't do something like that here. And number two, I'm only going to be here for another 45 days, and then I'm going to be moving out. And it's for a good reason. When I lived in Seattle about, 20, 25 years ago, there were only about 10 skyscrapers there. I talked to somebody who was there since the 60s, and he said there was no skyscrapers. He said the town was dead since people passed through it during the Klondike Gold Rush. In the 70s and 80s, they started to give out tax breaks. And I just went back there about a week ago, and there was nothing but skyscrapers. And the minimum wage over there was $28 an hour because the cost of living was so ridiculously high. So I'm thinking if those guys could give out tax breaks to tech companies and bring them in over there, this is Seattle. This is in the corner of the country that nobody ever goes to. This is Newburgh. This is the crossroads of the Northeast. If you want to go from New York City to Montreal or from Boston to Scranton, you have to go through Newburgh. So I was wondering what we could do to get this city up and thriving. That's about it, man.

Thank you. We've got to tell you about the P-TECH program that's in 13 years with the Newburgh School District. We'll do that. And the Armory does coding. So 13 years, high school kids earn high school diploma and associate's degree in cybersecurity, partnered with SUNY Orange and IBM. And they have job placement, paid internships. So we'll give you some information on that. Thank you.

Hello, local Barbara here. I've decided to return to these council meetings and the one thing I will say is that this is a repetitive cycle that never seems to change. This city will only grow if the individuals who are elected here follow through on what they promised during their campaigns. I came here to address outdated signage and illegally marked lines that are actively hit with unjustified tickets daily. When I reached out to my councilwoman, I was met with no emails have responded. I'm still waiting for a substantive answer. When I took the next logical step and reached out to my city hall directly, I was met with the same thing. Unanswered emails, weeks of administrative silence, and a year-long cycle back and forth. Our constituents should not have to stand at this podium to complain about street signage and overgrown grass. These public meetings should be reserved for the heavy systematic issues that deeply impact our family lives, like supporting our fire department, bringing back police youth programs, our boxing program, creating soccer programs, and debating major tax investments. We should be here discussing the future of our city, not begging for administrative to fix basic daily inconveniences. The paid city staff city needs simply needs to do their job to fulfill the legitimate legitimate request that its residents for the residents they serve. What happened the last time I was here? Omar from City Hall weaponized my historic parking records in a blatant attempt to attack my character and bash my name. Rather than addressing the actual municipal errors I have repeatedly asked him to fix using the city resources target, a resident for exercising the right for public comment is unacceptable. We need better for our city that I love. We deserve better for the people who live here and work here. If we cannot manage basic and fundamental logistics for our city, we will never truly progress as a community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. My name is Leonard Lee. I'm the boxing coach here in Newburgh for Hooker Lee Boxing. Today I'm here for like three issues. The first issue is that I want to try to get air conditioner and the heat working on top of the roof has been broken for like two years now second issue is that when when will we be able to use the building on 104 south on 104 south lander for that neighborhood because it seems like those kids don't come to me so we're trying to come to them And the third issue is, for me, is an important issue, and that's Maritza Wilson. I think she needs to be considered for director for the rec. She's been there, she's trained all the directors that have showed up up there, and I think she needs to be looked at as being director for the rec. Thank you and God bless.

Thank you.

jewel barton i'm a long time resident i just i came here because i'm tired of the lies i'm tired of hearing ice we don't want ice in newburgh the last time that i saw ice in the town of newburgh was 2024 when we still had immigrants undocumented immigrants in Ramada Inn, that was housed in Ramada Inn, that was housed in Crossroads, and yet our street is riddled with drugs. People are overdosing in these motels. And y'all want Newburgh and the surrounding areas to be sanctuary cities. We don't have a housing problem. We have a crime problem. The police department don't have enough people to come back on these drug ridden, um, places that we have. So again, when I said, I don't mind for people to come here on asylum, but if they're smuggling drugs, that's when I have a problem. Two of you thought that I was being racist. I'm a black person who happens to be Puerto Rican. Okay? So it's not about against any particular person. I come from a drug family. They do drugs. I got a hold of my older sister's methadone. I can talk about it. I want the police and the fire department to have what they need. The same way y'all like to pour money into these undocumented people, give them the same money you give to them.

Thank you.

It's a little bit short. Good evening, Mayor.

Good evening.

My name is Sister Liliana. I live in New Windsor, but I consider myself to be a citizen of Newburgh. And I am here to let you know that I strongly oppose the folk surveillance camera in our city, in our beloved city. Our people are already afraid of ICE, and now we're going to have the possibility of ICE right on our 17K. And isn't it sad that every time I leave my house, I have to bring my passport? I never thought that was gonna be necessary. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi everyone, my name is Wendy. I have been a resident of the city of Newburgh for the last 20 years. I just want to reiterate that this frustration that everyone's feeling right now is very valid because you know they're using our taxpayer money to fund these actions by rogue agents who do not have the necessary training, who do not have the knowledge and basis to be acting in the way they are instead of giving back to our community. Remember, a Department of Social Security office close here in Newburgh, but yet they have money to build this warehouse, right? So just also wanted to make the council aware of some terms that have changed in the FLOC contract, so I urge folks to review our contract with them. Previously in the terms and conditions, it did state that FLOC does not own and shall not sell customer data, but now that language is absent. Also, previously, there was giving, right now, the terms and conditions state that there is a perpetual right for FLOC to use customer data to support and improve its services, meaning that even if a town or city terminates its relationship with FLOC and no longer has access to that data itself, FLOC's right to use such data would have no expiration date. And then finally, something else is that flocks protections against liability for willful misconduct or gross negligence, potentially shifting the cost of data breaches and other failures from the company to the taxpayers. So these are some conditions and terms that have been changing recently as of February 16th of 2026. So I urge the city to take a look in our own contract to see what has been changed. And apart from that, like I said, I live in Newberg. I live by Papaleo's Towing Company. And I know this is an issue for the Department of Transportation, but I wanted to know if the city could look into maybe putting more stop signs, either up by Mill Street and Anne Street, or down by Anne Street and William Street, because I've been on that street for more than 15 years now, and there's an accident on either end almost every month. month because the cars are either going too fast or you can't see because people aren't parking correctly so that is something that's been a big issue for the rest since I've been at that address so just want to urge the city for that thank you

Hello, councilpersons. My name is Rebecca O'Brien. I am a New Windsor resident and a concerned citizen. To piggyback on the previous speakers, I am respectfully requesting that this council immediately terminate their contract, their flock contract. We do not, immediately. Take the loss. Take the loss, right? We don't want it. Your community doesn't want it. Your constituents do not want it. They do not want to live in a police state. And I respectfully, again, end the contract immediately.

Hi, my name is Cassandra Mercado. Born and raised here in Newburgh. I have a hard time public speaking. I'm a survivor of domestic violence. But ICE has been mentioned quite a bit. And I went to the library, all right? I've seen people that are making programs for getting green cards, stuff like this. This is more of what we want to do, right? But it's only in Spanish. There's no Creole, there's no Arabic. I mean, you guys don't even have it on here. Creole and Arabic is very, very widely spoken in Newburgh. Also, you guys are limited on what you can and can't do. can you speak closer to the mic you approve the contract for flop cameras okay and i apologize again i get nervous very easily um and i know you guys are limited on what you can terminate not and i know that it's very pressure filled for everybody yelling at you guys to do this but again i is like they overrule our council so if we can try to help the immigrants get their green cards teach them that would be more helpful not yelling at the council and be like hey guys the army go fight them Okay, also humanize our statistics. So like our fire, you know, like we got the fires, how many fires we had, how many ambulance, but how many injuries were the police involved in? How many injuries were the firemen involved in? I mean, tell us how many people got hurt so we feel for them. Like the police officers go out, they go on a call, And you just say, they went on this many calls. They got hurt. They got shot. There was 10 police officers down this month. There were firemen that got hurt. They were in the hospital for two months. You guys did not humanize them. You just said, hey, we went down a little bit, or hey, we went up. mean they're people there are heroes we call them when we need them show them some respect okay and help the immigrants don't yell at the council to cancel the arm or ice thank you have a good day thank you good evening Gabriel hail Ward 2

For the young lady that we're talking about, the stop signs, the Transportation Committee meets the second Wednesday of every month. But in addition to that, you've said it's been going on for years. Maybe we just need to bring some public attention because we have stop signs all over the place and people still go through them. So sometimes it's not the signage, even though I'm not saying we couldn't use more, but we really got to impress upon motorists to slow down and pay attention. So maybe we can stand on that corner and do something. I don't know. Have some signs, but just bring some attention to that. And William Street and Ann as well. So I just wanted to offer that to you. I'm here for resolution 135-2026, that's item number eight, encouraging the city council to support and pass the resolution authorizing the city manager to accept federal fiscal year for lead service line replacement. Most of you know how near and dear that is to my heart. Many of us family members and parents, their children had suffered lead poisoning, lead exposure. So anything we can do to rid our city of that horrible toxins, I'm in support of. Resolution item number 21.

Can you hold that for me, Michael?

Thank you. agreement to retain the EDR grant writing assistant, so where we can find money that would benefit the city, especially when it comes to our youth, as has previously been spoken. And item 23 and 24. Mr. Grant has already spoken about the loss of our dear mother, Bernilda Jones, who was one of our original members of the colored burial ground committee. and although she has passed, the work still continues. Gabrielle Hill was involved from 2018 until now. Gabrielle Hill has been very instrumental in going to visit the remains, speaking to the professor, coming before the committee, and getting a resolution that adopted Downing Park to be the final resting place of our loved ones and residents. We want to commend the entire committee for the work that they've done so far. But I also want to encourage the community to get involved. This is a serious, serious, serious traumatic issue that's going on around our state and our country. And finally, African American burial grounds are getting the attention they deserve. We are looking to partner with or at least collaborate with the city to have civic engagement talks around this color burial ground. People want more information. People want the opportunity to speak their voice. So to Mother Benilda Jones and everyone else that has been instrumental of making sure this goes forward, I appreciate you. And as a city, I thank you all for your diligence. This issue has been going on since 2008. Two more years is going to be 20 years. There's finally some money in the budget so that we can have this sacred memorial designed, and we want to make sure that money goes there. It's unfair for African-American residents and folks that live in this community to continue to suffer the injustices of government, not this body, but just our government and the harm that it does. So I thank you for letting me go over time.

Good evening, Pastor Rosie Ward 1. I had nothing, absolutely nothing to say, but I just jotted some things down that I thought was very important. I spent a lot of time praying for all of you in the city of Newburgh and the whole entire government. Please don't check out when I say this. Kindly hear me to the end. The amount of needs, projects, things that are needed in this city that are coming at all of you are really a lot. Many of you have been around for a long time in your departments and you could have easily quit. All the pressure coming at the jobs daily. I thought about all of you this month more than usual. I believe in all of you. I believe in all of you. I pray we can all see one another for who we are and not be critical to one another. There's finances, there's waters, there's IT matters, there's police, there's crime, there's building projects, fire, garbage, listening and answering phone calls, emails, angry constituents with many significant needs and complaints. I want you to know I see something beyond the surface in all of you. I don't see perfect people who have done perfect jobs or have made perfect decisions, but I see willing hearts, willing people who are giving more time than they're paid for. I see you in your weaknesses trying. I'm thankful for how I've been treated even when I didn't always get the resolutions I may have wanted yet. I see how many things can humanly fall through the cracks, but I want to commend you for your efforts and all the time and energy and money that you put in to trying to make our city a better place to live in. I believe in all of you. I believe in all of you and I believe you will make very important, significant decisions this year because we're going through major transitions. I'm praying and I'm announcing a blessing over all of you tonight. I want you to succeed because when you succeed, that means we all succeed. So many of you have treated me with amazing blessings, Katrina and Macklemore and Mayor Harvey Omar, and Jason, and Michelle who's been around forever, and the police department, and DPW. I'm very blessed. I have complaints, I have things that I want to see changed, but we are a blessed people. And we have some very important people that are willing and are trying And I just pray we would respect everybody, and when things fall through the cracks, have patience, keep being persistent, bringing those things before the people that need to be brought through, but to believe in this government that we have right now. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So before the next speaker speaks, I'm going to ask if there are any other speakers to please stand if you're physically capable so that we can gauge who our final speakers are so we can hear from the council members. uh to hopefully respond to some of the very important things that have been said so we have two speakers left if there's anyone else that's physically capable to stand so we can know okay then we'll go with the last two speakers thank you so much good evening my name is darwin

I'm a fellow Newbergian, born and raised here. And my concern is with Flock Camera and everything about them. who they share their data with, who has access to it, who abuses it. You see with some administrations how they abuse certain powers because they're in power. And I'm just a concerned person here, worried about flocking. I don't want it in the city, and I don't think neither do my neighbors.

Thank you.

Katrina? If you could pass that org down so council members can see it. Thank you. Michael LeBrun, Grand Street. Two years ago, I advised this council that the city needs a speech policy. It did nothing, and here we are with a new issue. The resolution language of the Hometown Heroes program shows that Corporation Council has familiarized itself with some of the case law that I cite in my series called Honor and Obligation, which I enter into the record. The city must treat the utility polls either as a public forum or as its own speech. Council has chosen the latter. The banner is therefore the city's own message, and the city owns what it says. Three points. A, the resolution language is inconsistent. For example, a dead veteran with other than honorable paper qualifies under one sentence and is barred by another. Suppose a newborn woman somehow scrapes her $375 together, comes to the clerk with her son's other than honorable discharge papers. He came home from the war broken, and the institution responsible for breaking him not only will not repair him, but declares him unfit because he was broken. The Government Accountability Office examined 91,000 service members separated from misconduct between 2011 and 2015. 62% had been diagnosed with PTSD or a related condition. 13,000 were sent home with other than honorable paper. They were not bad soldiers. They were injured. The injury looked like misconduct and it was written down as a character defect. The mother will be told no by the superintendent of public works checking a box on her website. B, I am the plaintiff in LeBron versus National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Scalia's 8 to 1 opinion. In Department of Transportation, the Association of American Railroads, the Supreme Court returned to this case. Justice Kennedy said that LeBron provides necessary instruction. Practical reality of government control prevails over the government's own disclaimer of its status. Your policy contains just such a disclaimer. The Supreme Court has now said twice that practice, not disclaimers, determines status. See if this is found to be a forum. I designed the 100-foot long artwork that is being distributed among you now. Amtrak allowed ads promoting the sale of Coors beer, but disallowed ads criticizing Coors' political views, its defense. It allowed only commercial advertising. In response, Judge Newman wrote that the rule written as category definition can impact its operators of viewpoint discrimination. Amtrak's rule accomplished exactly that, turning the First Amendment on its head. Newman declined to decide the question, stating that my other positions were well supported. It is dicta binding on no one. But the Chief Judge of the Second Circuit, riding on remand from a landmark Supreme Court decision, does not lay out my argument, call it substantial, and cite a Seventh Circuit decision in support unless he means it to be available to another applicant. So the question remains open. I know how to argue it. How does a program that uses public property, charges a public fee, and applies eligibility criteria get adopted seven weeks with no public hearing? So in closing, for these reasons, I strongly urge this council to table the resolution and hire outside counsel with the needed expertise that applies on the constitutional terrain that this program rests upon before it acts. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. LeBron. That concludes our public comments section. Next we will move to comments from the city council regarding agenda and or non-agenda items which are general matters of the city. Hopefully the city council will be able to respond to some of the concerns. We'll start with council member Martinez.

Thank you Mayor, and thank you everyone for joining us tonight. I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer. We have a lot of activities and events happening, and if you would like to invite council members to any of your events, please let us know. I wanted to start off by giving my condolences to the Jones family. In the small amount of time that I was able to meet Reverend Belinda Jones, she was the sweetest person. She was in our Democratic Committee meetings. She was always there, and she always had a beautiful smile. And so my condolences to her family. I also want to thank our city our executive team and all the departments who work together for the park blitz the parks are beautiful and I hope that the community is taking advantage of not only our splash pads at the parks but also our Aquatic Center it's been packed so please go check it out if you haven't already I would like to encourage people to apply for the charter review commission board that we have. If you are interested in just figuring out what issues the city of Newburgh has in the sense of a governmental structure, if you want to learn more about it, if you want to actively participate and make Newburgh a city that works for all of us, then you should apply. And I also wanted to share a quick update. This past weekend, Council Member Monteverde and I went to Baltimore for a local progress conference. Local progress is a very great resource to help elected officials all over the country in terms of policy to fight against, I mean, for progressive topics, but one of them was to fight ICE in our community. It supports a lot of environmental issues that we're facing here in the city of Newburgh, policing concerns, and just overall transparency in government, and I think it was a very beneficial conference, and I would encourage my colleagues to join us next year. And then just on the comments regarding ice and flock, I have attended several meetings and I actually saw Corbin speak at a For the Many meeting and he gave very informational and just common sense information that people should really be aware about. And I've mentioned it before, I oppose flock. But not only do I oppose Flock, I wanna be careful with my language in the sense that we can't just, I'm sorry, can I just get 30 seconds? 30 seconds. We can't just get another company to replace Flock. That defeats the purpose of the surveillance state and what we're trying to do to protect the privacy of citizens here. And so I in good conscience cannot support Flock or any other type of surveillance. that will breach our privacy, and so I just wanted to make that clear. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next we'll hear from Councilman McLemore.

So thank you everyone who has spoken. I'm going to start off with some positivity. We had our ninth annual Newburgh Anti-Violence Day on Saturday. It was a huge success. We served hundreds of people. um thank you to uh councilman shakur and also uh mayor harvey our county legislator uh wendy mejia and also um mark sanchez potter uh who uh who attended and also were sponsors of the event um it was absolutely successful and we thank you guys and i want to thank the community especially for coming out um participating and um seeing my vision and seeing exactly that we can unify, we can love each other, and there's no need for violence in our community. Which reminds me of what happened at the Mullins and also on South Street and Chamber Street. I want to let the community know the ones who are committing these crimes that you're actually going to get yourself in trouble. So you need to stop now and stop with all of the violence in our community because we're not going to stand for this. Nobody on this council promotes any type of violence. We are standing against it and we want to make sure that our city is safe. And so thank you to the police department who is working diligently And I know you are working diligently to solve all of these crimes that are occurring, especially gun violence. So once again, thank you to the police department. The water department, I went out there on City Terrace. They gave me a tutorial on the fire hydrants, and they were replacing the fire hydrants. And I got a chance to speak to one of the interns that were working with them. And I'm telling you, the water department, they're top notch. The workers, they are top notch. They took time to talk to me. And you guys are doing an excellent job. So continue the good work. And tell my friends at the water department I said hello. Also, I visited the After Incarceration Program led by Jose Pineda. I probably said it wrong, but I'm going to get it right. His program is awesome as well. Mark's Friends Group. I'm running out of time. Mark's Friends Group. we support you and thank you for everything that you did with save our streets also there was a food truck festival by ran by the grants and so it was absolutely awesome so kudos to you guys 30 seconds When it comes down to the hometown heroes, we have veterans that are watching right now. They actually, some of them just texted me and told me that they are watching live. They are for this. And so I wish this was implemented when my grandfather was still here. he died and gone on but he served in World War two and so I am I'm grateful that we can actually do something to honor and give tribute to our veterans deceased and alive thank you Thank You councilman Macklemore next we'll hear from councilmember Monteverde thank you so a couple of things I

I'm in agreement and you know I was just talking to the mayor about the flock software and you know how we need to prioritize getting flock out of the city of Newburgh and I understand that there are some things that we have to look at in order to do that but I support this 100% With what's going on now, with ICE really coming down and enforcing and picking up people, we have to do whatever we can to protect our community. You know, every day I wake up, I look at the news and I just wonder, what the heck is, you know, going to happen today? And, you know, we shouldn't have to live this way, waking up in fear. concerned for our community that they're you know taking people and kidnapping them they want to open concentration camps because that's exactly what they are right we're gonna history is not going to forget this we are going to look back and see that these were concentration camps and we watch them take our families and our communities off the streets and put them in these concentration camps no good reason without warrants so again I I support removing the flock software from the city of Newburgh and hopefully we can find something that's more compatible or something that is safe to use that won't share information the other thing that I want to also mention that you know we were able to do something positive get out of the city although there were a lot of wonderful events this past weekend councilwoman Martinez and I along with legislator Ramos were able to get away to Baltimore for the local progress conference and lot of great elected officials from all over the country dealing with the same issues. You know, it was great to get out to hear what other elected officials are doing to make sure that, you know, they're passing good resolution, that they're listening to their community, that they're fighting for their community and bringing programs that are so necessary, especially during these challenging times. It was actually very uplifting and inspiring and positive to to go and listen to see that it actually these kind of things can actually happen right there. There are resources, there are tools. So as an elected official, it's always good to be able to do this. I also just want to comment on the Blitz. I have gotten so much positive feedback about the Blitz and what's going on with our public spaces and our parks and how we're really investing in these areas and having pride in taking care of it. I want to ask that the public also make sure that when you're in our parks, you know, to make sure to take your garbage out. respectful these parks are for our kids and for our constituents to enjoy you know we need to really take pride in that and thanks for coming out tonight thank you thank you so much councilmember Monteverde next we'll hear from councilman Shakur yes thank you for coming out tonight Flock

So I brought Flock up two or three meetings ago, our resolution, and everybody had to discuss it, and they've been discussing it for the last two months. So I'm bringing it up again, the resolution, with everything that needs to be discussed or whatever, because we keep saying we want to look out for the community, but like I said, I brought this up two months ago. And so now we have a chance to do it again, bring it up in August. I also would like to thank Mr. Corbin, the gentleman who first brought it here, Ms. Ann Sullivan, Mr. Daniel Swartz from New York ACLU. He will be coming here after we talked on the phone and give us a presentation with all the receipts. A wide flock is not good for your community. And he has all that information and we're going to be doing that on our next work session. i'm bringing it up i just had it passed out again the resolution to get rid of flops and so now you're going here they everybody say oh we're we're against it but then they say we need to discuss it we're going to discuss it for two months so now i'm bringing it back up again we need to get it done Thank you also like to talk about the parks, thank you with way that's how he doing a good job on the parking and fix the parks up was up rock community in the numbers in the residents to keep the park clean and make sure we keep them going on he did a good job. Thank you Wayne where we disappear to also I like to talk about. the gentleman who was talking about Newburgh and what we could be doing and he made it something about Newburgh and how we're in the middle of it. So when Casinos try to come I asked him why you were coming to Newburgh if they cost with the hub of the tri-state area 10 million people can go through Newburgh 84 87 we got the airport. We got veteran off. We got location location location Yes, we are location location location. Now. We need leadership leadership leadership and ideas and get things done and Yes, we had 2 of this this weekend. I spotted one with long counseling Macklemore and a possible mark friends. We did a double thing on Broadway South Street Saturday.

We had a lot of things going on.

Yes. And one of the reasons also why I put in this resolution cause I got another phone call from the ACLU and they said Flock just added another feature to their cameras where they can feed when they can jump into your cell phone so I'm getting all this information I'm getting all this stuff putting it together I have it all together so next meeting it should be voted on so we'll see because everybody says they're against it so we will see can I get 30 more seconds 30 seconds I'd like to thank the county legislator. She's doing a grill party this month, next month. Oh, God, okay. I'll keep that off. Oh, okay. You put it on Facebook? Yeah. People have been calling me.

Anyway, it'll be a public-private event.

okay and so I just like to thank everybody for coming out tonight like the city council we have a lot of things we're trying to do we're going through a transitional period right now but the biggest thing I talked to all the people to call me and ask me to do stuff only have five minutes I didn't get to have the stuff on my list only three minutes but when you come in and you start to fight or whatever you need to fix i can follow up and make sure we get it fixed so come to the meetings thank you thank you so much councilman shakur next we will hear from council member stewart

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. It's always a pleasure to hear the constituents and residents come and speak about things that are of concern to them. So I wanted to just address some of the things that was brought forth during the public comment. And the first one is flock. It is absolutely not anything that we want to be connected to in the city. So here is the two sides and this is what I like to, I want to share with folks. Flock is a horrible company and I've shared this with several people and this is, I will maintain this. It's a horrible company. I am more concerned with the abuse and the misuse of it than anything. Should we not have Flock? It was voted on in 2024, if I'm not mistaken. We have it now. What do we need to do? Yes, it is not a good system to use. I believe that the technology is useful for us in terms of public safety. But here is what we need to do in the meantime. We need to make sure that there are stronger safeguards for what this data is used for and how it is used. So what that looks like to me as a council person, because we have a responsibility not just to the technology or to communities. We have a responsibility for a fiduciary responsibility. We have a responsibility in terms of public safety for the greater community. And what I wanted to share was when I say stricter guardrails is we have that system. I'm looking for monthly reporting on the information, the data, what that data is used for, who accesses the data, When are they accessing this data? Who has the ability to access the data? We as a council need to get this monthly report, put stronger resolutions and guardrails on how it is shared, how it is stored, who does anything with it. We need to know. That is a stronger guardrail without taking away our layer of a tool that we would need God forbid somebody's child go missing or something happens and we don't have the ability to go out and support our residents to help them to find out what's happening. Their parent with dementia walked off or moved somewhere or got in a car or something. We don't have that tool and technology. I'm saying you move, the contract is up in 2028. That contract is up, let them go. We will never partner again with them. Let them go. In the meantime, we identify a new system, that system where we control the data. We control how long the data is stored, we control who accesses that data, and we continue to get those monthly reports on the data. The data misuse and abuse is worse than anything, and we get to control who we share the data with. We should not be sharing our data with anybody outside of the city. The other thing, 30 seconds. The other thing I wanted to speak about is one of the residents, the barber came up and he talked about coming continuously to the city council meetings and it seems like nothing gets done. That is one of the reasons why I've asked for the green light process, which will allow us to prioritize things that the council that residents come bring forward to the council so we can prioritize it and move on them quicker I don't like the fact that residents have to keep coming back about things that you know it's a lot of issues in the city the city staff is stretched if we get a system in place where we can prioritize some of the things that are coming for before us it's easier for us to respond to the residents in a more timely manner We need to pass the green light process so that parking issue and other issues are put on a priority list and they get settled faster.

Thank you so much, Council Member Stewart. Next we'll hear from Councilman Zoria.

thank you everyone for joining us today um i also want to thank city staff for all the and everyone who uh had events going on i was driving through newberg uh i sponsored a couple of them and it was great to see people enjoying crystal lake going on the hike celebrating the natural resources we have and all the other events that were happening at the time um We have so many issues that we have to dwell on and think about, and I will never be rushed into any type of legislation myself, and I do like to take time and think about stuff and listen to different perspectives. However, I do agree that FLOC is maybe a convenient tool for our police department, but as an American, whose family immigrated to this country, I do think that we need to protect our civil liberties. When we do say, when we do say, hold on, I only have three minutes, please. When we do say liberty and justice for all, at the end of the pledge, it hasn't always applied to everyone. And I wanna make sure that we, I support the police department and know that it might be inconvenient, but also we need to know the return on investment we're getting on $280,000. And I think the number of apprehensions, cases that have been cleared, what is the actual return on investment locally? bigger picture in the context of things when there's a facility going possibly in our backyard how cloud-based AI is being used is concerning and we have an administration outside of our little bubble here at Newberg there's bigger forces at work that are out of our control, and I am happy to continue this conversation, but I don't think we should be shamed into any legislation and we should definitely explore it and find out what the options are. I do not want this, any type of AI surveillance state or in this country or in this city, and I am clear on that. going back to the other topics housing crime these are all problems i mean they're they're such big problems i'm like what can we do about crime and when you find out who's possibly committing these crimes learning that teenagers might be the ones shooting at each other it is so devastating and to think of like how can we create a newberg in the future where they don't feel like they have to turn to crime to as an option that that we develop economic development projects and and and make our city vibrant then invest in a place where people don't turn a crime to make a living and some are forced into this life these are big questions a lot of these grants that we're discussing tonight are looking towards the future how do we invest in our hillside how do we can I get 30 more seconds What concerned me last work session, and I hope you tune in and somebody mentioned the budget, and I'm not gonna be able to do it in 30 seconds, we have some issues, some internal control issues that we're gonna be addressing, and we've asked for remediation, but also looking into the future, our financial plan, Our financial plan, and this is why we need leadership that's accountable and we need segregation of duties, our financial plan has some lofty estimates that have not materialized. If someone tells you you're gonna have 33,000 in your account at the end of the year and you only have 26, that hurts your plan. if someone uses the budget and uh and works the numbers and then and leaves holes and you have to balance it some other way that might work one year pay your credit cards with your college tuition but going forward for a sustainable future we need a balanced budget that is real we can't get a budget the community i'll stop i'll continue in my last three minutes

thank you councilman Zaria I want to say thank you for everyone that came out had the courage and the gumption to speak up and speak out during our public comment section I want to first thank Mark Sanchez Potter, did I say that right? Okay, he and the organizers, Zach Constantine, legislator Genesis Ramos, all those that organized the rally at Algonquin Park, Myself, Councilman McLemore, Councilman Shakur, Councilmember Stewart, and Councilmember Ramona Madurete, we all were at the rally. It was a huge, huge rally, fighting and uniting against the detention center that's won a proposal for the town of newberg um i'm proud to say that i was also united with mayors across the state fighting when they were trying to do the detention center we all signed petitions as mayors council members um and and there were some rallies that happened with chester and trying to build that um uh detention center in chester i personally helped five or six families who were falsely detained who were immigrants and I work with Laura Garcia and several other organizations even including Congressman Pat Ryan's office because we had several families that lived in the town of Newburgh in New Windsor they weren't city of Newburgh residents but they contacted me and they were sent to Buffalo illegally, their writ of habeas corpus was violated, their Fifth Amendment due process under the law was violated, and we fought vigorously, I did, behind the scenes with partners in government, with our non-for-profit organizations, and those families were returned, thank you for that, but they were detained for four to six months in Buffalo, and they were taken from the Home Depot in the town of Newbury, they were taken from Lowe's, they were taken from you know Walmart and other places where they do their day-to-day business or shopping for their families and that fight continues was as far as flock is concerned as council member Stewart mentioned she is spot on in my opinion that there are two sides to this there are guard rails that are already in place I spoke with the deputy police chief um Pulaski just moments ago um to see if he wanted to say anything but the police chief roller covered it i i advise anyone that was not at that meeting to please revisit that meeting if you don't know the date you shoot me an email i'll give you the date of that meeting he covered the guard rails the other thing is in 2017 we made the city of newburgh a welcoming city i got 30 seconds we made the city of newburgh a welcoming city then we went in 2024 i believe it was and we put stronger language on being a welcoming city we are not a sanctuary city there is a major difference sanctuary cities are not eligible for federal grant funding and there's a long list of grant funding that we get to improve our infrastructure roads and ada compliant curbs and all that and even more especially with the administration in the White House. The last thing I wanna say, there are some guardrails that are already in place according to Chief Rolla. I do agree with monthly report and data sharing information. We do not, and I make it clear, we do not, give our police department and it is in writing by way of resolution unanimously the right to share our information and data with any federal entity that's not dealing with specific criminal our task force the safety streets task force but I could go on about that we do not share our data it is not there for that it is an LPR system as council member Stewart mentioned the license plate reader so people who are bringing drugs into the city people who are bringing guns and if god forbid a kid a child or an elderly is kidnapped and we can track those criminals that is what our uh flock cameras look used for we are not favorable of this organization thank you all for giving us the education on flock and we are planning to phase it out and look for a different company potentially uh that doesn't have all the issues that flock has so we are looking to uh phase them out and lastly if we do it abruptly 30 seconds oh my bad and you made a good statement you said there are two sides to this last statement so what side are we on the community okay excuse me last statement if we abrupt it immediately it is going to cost the city half a million dollars as as as reported um and it will be phased out so those are the choices that we're looking at all right thank you thank you

all right so we're going to go on to the city manager's report uh mr morris thank you mayor resolution number 134-2026 creation of budget line a dot 1121.0103 overtime city court do we have a motion for resolution number 134-2026 first motion is settled by council minister core do we have a second second by council member stewart roll call on the motion please

council members Martinez I Macklemore Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zaria yes mayor Harvey yes resolution approved

Resolution number 135-2026, lead service line replacement grant award, DWSRF number 19605.

Do I have a motion for resolution number 135-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman McLemore. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Discussion? Yes, discussion granted to Councilmember Stewart.

Yes, so I wanted, I always forgot to ask people to stay and listen to the resolutions again, because that is where you see a lot of the movement in the city. A lot of the things that you're going to hear about tonight are grants that the city is applying for. And when we apply for grants and we are awarded those grants, that is less money that is taken out of taxpayer dollars and pockets. So please pay attention to the resolutions as they are presented. and that's also a way to hold us accountable when we are looking and tracking the money on a lot of these things. The lead line replacement, I just wanted to point out how several of my constituents have shared that they received grants from the previous lead line replacement and how it saved them tens of thousands of dollars and it is really important and hopefully we are applying for this grant we're applying for the grant award and This money will definitely benefit a lot of the homeowners here in the city of Newburgh that still have lead line Lead lines the water department has done and they will continue to do inventory in my correct water and Jason I

Yes.

They will identify the homes that have lead lines so that an inventory will be done that that kind of warehouse will once is identified and when you get this money then we can pretty much try to get people connected to these grants so apply for these grants so that they can get this funding.

so this is really important keep your eyes and ears open on how you know this money's once it's done or allocated that to see how you can benefit from it if you're a homeowner and you happen to have lead lines council member stewart you are on point thank you so much for what you've said um because 2.5 million dollars has already been spent on uh replacing lead line water service lines for free the estimate is between ten to twelve thousand dollars per household sometimes it can go up to fifteen grand and we as a City Council with our executive team particularly in the city management and also the water department have received grants from the state government and from the federal government. And one of the things that was really exciting was that when the former President Joe Biden passed the $1.9 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, we got a lot of money that helped with this lead line replacement in addition to the $32 million North Interceptor project that was completed um and so we are very proud of this program uh and if we get any more money which we know um we we have a strong chance because i think out of all the uh river cities of the hudson valley we've um done the best with that with those monies and have been uh getting given even awards for some of the stuff that the work that has been done the last thing i'll say about the lead service line replacement program There's been a state mandate and a federal mandate to do the inventory work. DEC, Department of Environmental Conservation, it's a state entity, and the EPA, which is the Environmental Protection Agency at the federal level, they have made mandates that are very, very costly just to do the inventory work. on the entire city and other cities throughout the country uh in the state of new york so yeah i support this and i think that um we've done some great work and uh our entire team deserves um you know kudos for for what we've done thus far so any other comments yeah let's give the water department a hand let's give them a hand all right if there's no no other comments we'll uh do a roll call in the motion please

Council Members Martinez? Aye. Macklemore? Yes. Monteverde? Yes. Shakur? Yes. Stewart? Yes. Zoria?

Yes.

Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 136-2026, 2026 New York State EFC Wastewater Infrastructure Engineering Planning Grant Application.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 136-2026? So moved. First motion is accepted by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Aye. Monteverde? Aye. Shakur? Yes. Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey?

Yes.

Resolution approved.

Resolution number 137-2026, 2026 CFA WQIP Grant Application South Interceptor Sewer Improvements Project.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 137-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Monteverde? Shakur? Yes. Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 138-2026, 2026 New York State EFC WIA Grant Application South Interceptor Improvements Project.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 138-2026? So moved. First motion is set up by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

Second.

Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez. Aye. McLemore. Yes. Monteverde. Shakur. Yes. Stewart. Yes. Zoria. Yes. Mayor Harvey. Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 139-2026, the 2026 New York State EFC WIA grant application West trunk sewer contract number three.

Do I have a motion for resolution number 139-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

second by councilman mclemore roll call on the motion please council members martinez aye mclemore monteverde shakur yes stewart yes zoria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 140-2026 quest proposal for asbestos testing at recreation department

Do I have a motion for resolution number 140-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. Aye. McLemore? Aye. Monteverde? Aye. I'm sorry, yes. Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria?

Yes.

Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 141-2026, donations, city annual events 2026.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 141-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

Second.

Seconded by Councilman McLemore. And discussion granted to Councilman McLemore.

so I I just want to make sure that as we are approving the city annual events that we get the RFP is out in time so that we can have these events as well. I would like to see Newberg illuminated return. If so, I believe that's something that benefited um and highlighted our city and so i want to make sure that that's something that'll be in the works or in the plans moving forward thank you mayor

thank you and to that point when Mr. Morris stepped into the position as city manager he approached me and I was very happy that he approached me about my opinion on re-implementing the illuminated festival for June of 2027 and I was really excited about that because for whatever reason in the in the recent past um it would it got kept getting pushed away pushed away and um it just didn't happen and um not putting any fingers at anyone but uh we haven't had the illuminated festival since 2019 so we're talking six years and that is and was the biggest event um of all of our city sponsored events where we brought people together um and so i look forward to supporting that effort and it's very refreshing to hear mr morris is excited and so are some of our council members the illuminated festival we are definitely looking to make sure it happens next year councilman shukur and then mark lamore

Yes so when we accept these donations for events can we also accept them for the swimming pool because I had somebody who wanted to do it for the swimming pool and I told them the best way to do it donate the money to us but pick their pick who they you know because I don't know what the process is how we will pick them but if you want your money to be how you know pick some kids from your neighborhood or something like that and sponsor them.

So there is a mechanism I believe in place particularly with our non-for-profit entities because I know Michelle McKeon and Charlie Quinn of recap reached out to me and some of the council members because they sponsored a number of kids that may financially the families may not be able to afford the season passes and so I know that that protocol was referred to the city manager and the recreation director that was a smooth process so yeah it's just a matter of communicating with us if you do want to sponsor families or children right and so yeah so that that has gone well and I anticipate it will continue but so shout out to Michelle McKeon and Charlie Quinn of recap because they really they had a lot of money for families that could not afford those passes and we were happy to see our aquatic center fully fully occupied especially during the heat wave and we got another three day heat wave someone mentioned it earlier coming up starting tomorrow 98 degrees 98 degrees and then a hundred and something degrees so the next three days our cooling center will be in full effect our aquatic center will be in full effect and stay hydrated and our safety protocols will be in place as well for our children our elderly and most vulnerable population in our city stay cool so yeah we definitely need that

So I also wanted to say as we're moving forward because I forgot to say this as we're moving forward with Different events. Let's just make sure that we all The executive office work with You know, whoever the organizers are especially when it comes to things like Newberg illuminated so that we that way we can get things done and um this was taken away from our residents from the people and so we want to make sure that we give it back to the people so um this is not about us and our egos it's about the community and this is what the community wants so let's make sure that we get that done and thank you Jason for um for implementing that and bringing us all to the table thank you

And my question before I would interrupt it was the cool station what what's what turns the more 80 degrees 8590 what what sets it off.

Mister Morris, I believe it's 85 or above.

I forget the exact threshold off to get back to the threshold temperatures.

OK no cause where I come from it don't start to a 120 degrees.

All right, I have a there's no other discussion on this one. OK good.

I just want the public to understand this may seem like it's like my new show but anytime the city receives donations or is looking to receive donations of any kind whether it is a month. monetary contribution or in-kind services it has to come through the City Council and it has to be approved by the City Council so no one can just give the city money without it going through this process so I want you to understand what that process is and it's the public special event sponsorship policy and that's why this is on the agenda for tonight so you understand also this stuff that you see us looking at all of these resolutions it's all online it's all on the city's website this is nothing that is private or secret you have access to all of it so when we read it and we get it during our work sessions we're reading it you have access to it to take a look at it see if it's matching up if you don't understand something that you're reading come back to the council ask for clarification and we can get you clarification but I None of this stuff that you see in all of these folders, none of it is private information. It is all information that is available to the public.

Thank you. Excellent. If there are no other comments in this discussion, we're going to make a motion to roll call, please.

Council members Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Aye. Monteverde? Aye. Shakur? Aye.

Stuart yes Zoria yes Mayor Harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 142-2026 installing a firewall and integrating the swimming pool into the new SD-WAN network topology

Do we have a motion for resolution number 142-2026? So moved. First motion is that of the Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Monteverde? Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

resolution number 143-2026 proposal with Ryan Biggs Clark Davis for phase two concrete evaluation at the drinking water filtration plant we have a motion for resolution number 143-2026 so move first motion accepted by Councilman Shakur do we have a second

Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. We'll call on a motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez. Aye. McLemore. Aye. Monteverde. Aye. Shakur. Yes. Stewart. Yes. Zoria. Yes. Mayor Harvey.

Yes.

Resolution approved.

Resolution number 144 dash 2026 personnel book amendment to add the position of bilingual account clerk.

Do I have a motion for resolution number 144 dash 2026? So moved. First motion is settled by Councilman Chikor. Do I have a second? Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Discussion granted to Councilman McLemore then Councilmember Zoria.

Thank you. Mayor, I just wanted to get some clarification as far as with the bilingual account clerk. Why is there a need for it? I want the community to know as far as the reason why we're doing what we're doing. I want to hear from our city manager or maybe our superintendent of why there's a need. for a bilingual account clerk. And if this does pass, will it be filled when there is a vacancy? Why are we doing this? Or even is there a vacancy right now? So if that's something that we can answer.

So we have a number of retirements coming up in the city's water department. And I'll let the water superintendent elaborate on the timing and the details of those retirements.

Mr. Vandenberg?

no it's a dead mic can we give him a live mic okay while he's uh coming to the mic because i know we have budget discussions coming up and so i wanted to i wanted to make sure that this is something that um so in the city manager's uh email there's a uh resignation notice from uh one of our staff members that's been with me for 57 years

That's a lot of experience, right? Right behind that, a staff member came to me and said, I'm done too. She's been there 30 years. So there's almost close to about 100 years of service there with the two employees. And the question is, why? Because we cannot fail. We don't have an option to fail. What that means is when a customer calls One, we pick up the phone every single time. Two, we have to know what we're talking about. We have to make sure that your accounts are correct. Two staff members, and I want to be clear, two staff members who are probably the lowest paid city employees that you have on the books take care of 6,000 accounts by themselves. They have to go on vacation. They get sick. But two, I want to raise the bar. I think I've made that known that I'm not good with status quo, that I expect excellence. That's just the way it goes. When you come work for me, that's what I expect. It doesn't sit well with some people, but that's the way it is. I want bilingual, right? 60% of us speak Spanish. So when my Spanish-speaking customers call, I want them to feel comfortable.

I love that.

There is more exciting stuff coming down. There's brand new meter technology that's been installed. I'm looking at a chat feature so that you can actually chat with our staff. An email feature so that you can email and we email you back. Some really advanced stuff, and I think that's why you pay me to do what I do, is to prepare the department for the next century. That won't be me, but it'll be somebody else, but I will make sure that you're prepared for that next century.

Quick question. So when are these people retiring? Are they retired already?

So I have one gentleman that's leaving very, very shortly. And the young lady, she said to me, if we can get somebody in here, I will stay to help get that person trained. she's ready to go herself but she's doing us a favor and saying i will stay to make sure that that place that that person's trained up before i leave councilman forgive me to go through the budget and i wanted to know of course we're giving it to the budget how can we put that in in place because we have to put in place so we have some cost savings because i had i had a position that's been vacant for a very long time so i have cost savings that i can move the money around

So I'm gonna go to Councilman Zaria, who's been waiting patiently, then I'm gonna come back to you. Councilman Zaria, you had something.

Yeah, I just wanted to thank you, Wayne, and the department for thinking about the bilingual. I think one of the residents came up. I think it is important for us as we grow into a city to try to reach all the city residents, and that might take investment. And I just wanted to say, well, congratulations to those that are leaving the service, but I wanted to thank you for the bilingual clerk because I think it's much needed. If there's a lead line program and there's kids that are with families that only speak Spanish or any other language, because I know the water department reports are in many different languages and I was impressed to see that. So I just wanted to say thank you. It's one of my priorities. There is an organization called U.S. Digital Response, and I've sent a couple of questions to IT to see how we improve language access across the city. But this is a great step in that direction, so thank you.

Thank you. Councilman McLemore, then Councilman Shakur.

So once again, this was not in anything of opposition. This was to make clarification because there were some questions that were in the community. People wanted to know what was going on. We field calls today. regarding this exact thing and so it was incumbent upon me which I spoke to you guys to make sure you know that these are the questions that we're going to come forth so that the community could know exactly why we need this is not just we're just arbitrarily just creating positions or putting things out there just to be doing it and wasting taxpayer money. No, this is a need. And so we wanted to make sure that the community absolutely understands why we need what we need and why we're creating what we're creating. And also there was a question about the title, which we have clarified that the title is a bilingual account clerk, not the bilingual clerk.

Yeah, I think just looking at the titles, when I have to make a decision, I try to look at the title that best fits where my vision is, where I want that person to be. And I'm looking to raise the bar. The staff are going to be getting a lot more duties, a lot more responsibilities as the technology grows and it's coming. It's here. It's already installed. We're just lifting it up and getting it ready. to be released to you folks. So I'm looking at, one, I'm looking at the quality of staff member, the salary structure, all those different things that I'm going to look at. When you look at the job descriptions, our job descriptions are extremely outdated. right the duties that my staff doing are just are they're just not there so i would like to like work with our civil service administrator and come up with a great job title and then in the 2027 through the budget process where i think it should be and that's what i would like to do thank you councilman shakur yes because when i came in today i know thursday when i left i was voting on a

bilingual clerk and we already have a body will quirk and that's a whole different status. Then when I came in today, it's a bilingual account clerk. So I guess we got it right now and but that's why I want to know because we're voting on 2 different positions Thursday when I left I was voting on that Monday when I came in we're voting on this and that's 2 separate on position and I just want to make sure clarify that we got it right.

also thank you Councilman Shakur also on because I got several calls today regarding the question of it being needed and nobody called me though yeah exactly and they and they wanted to know why wasn't this put in the budget during the budget season that whatever but thank you for that clarification and just for the new council members I wanted to give you since we have you Wayne since you said new technology I know at one point maybe two years ago we were talking about an app where all of our residents that pay for water sewage and sanitation would be able to read on their phones how much water usage they were having in their household and and so on yeah how close are we with that with that technology very close okay and then lastly obviously people always concerned when we do personnel higher because you clarify the couple retirements already in the pipeline and they want to know is that going to cost their homeowners higher water rates so people get real nervous so I appreciate your clarification and I definitely echo the sentiments of my colleagues about the bilingual account clerk being hired and prioritizing that for people who are non-english speaking residents so that's awesome so thank you so much Thank you. I think that's it, right?

I just. Oh, you got something. OK. No, it's just a comment. During the work session, one of the questions that I asked so that I could have for my edification was, was this position collective bargaining position and it is a CSEA position and I wanted to see how did they come up with the that grade for that position and it's based off of what the expectation is that the person is going to do you identify a similar grade which is a pay grade in the system and then you go with that similar pay grade because the duties may be similar and THESE ARE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING POSITIONS. THESE ARE UNION POSITIONS. A LOT OF THIS STUFF COMES OUT OF THEIR NEGOTIATIONS, RIGHT, AND THEIR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS. ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO POINT OUT TO PEOPLE IS THAT THE COUNCIL DOES NOT ENGAGE OR WE ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THE HIRING OF THESE PROCESS. THAT IS THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, THAT IS THE CITY STAFF THAT DO THAT. WE DON'T DO THAT. WE LOOK AT THE BUDGET, THE FUDITIARY SIDE, THE GRANT, THE the allocations where it fits into the budget how it comes out and all of that stuff um there was a comment that why wouldn't they hire from within that is not our um that's not under our purview that is something that the department will handle and i'm sure that once a position is posted if someone that is internal would like to apply for that position they too can apply for that position if it is considered a promotion so it doesn't bar anyone just because it's a new position it is a new position and once it's posted it's posted and anyone can apply for that position whether they are currently working or they're not working in the city michelle kelson has something you're good okay we'll let it go all right

okay all right um if there are no other comments we'll call on a motion please council members martinez hi mclemore yes monteverde shakur yes stewart zoria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved

Resolution number 145-2026, sale of 60 Hasbrook to Raymond Garcia for $50,000.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 145-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Roll call on the motion, please.

Council members Martinez. Aye. McLemore. Yes. Monteverde. Yes. Shakur. Yes. Stewart. Yes. Zoria. Yes. Mayor Harvey. Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 146-2026. 30 Bencart Avenue, extension of time to close.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 146-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

Second.

Second by Councilman Zorrilla. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmember Martinez.

Macklemore Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zaria yes mayor Harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 147-2026 participation and cooperation in the New York State DEC climate ready corridors program do I have a motion for resolution number 147-2026 so moved first motion is said by councilman Shakur do we have a second

second seconded by councilman zoria roll call on the motion council members martinez aye mclemore monteverde shakur yes stewart yes zoria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 148-2026 agreement to retain edr for grant writing assistance

Do I have a motion for resolution number 148-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilmember Monteverde. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Aye. Monteverde? Aye. Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 149-2026, apply for and accept if awarded a 2026 Brownfield Opportunity Area Grant.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 149-2026? Definitely, yes. First motion is set up by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Seconded by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on a motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Aye. Monteverde? Yes. Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey?

Yes.

Resolution approved.

Resolution number 150-2026. Apply for and accept if awarded $200,000 through the New York State African American Heritage Grant Program for the construction of the Newberg Colored Burial Ground Memorial.

do i have a motion for resolution number one five zero dash twenty twenty six first motion is said by councilman mclemore do we have a second second second by councilman zoria uh i want to grant myself a brief moment of discussion um i'm really excited about this i've been meaning to reach out to um county legislature um Hill because of her leadership, her due diligence, and the due diligence of the Colored Burial Ground Committee, past and present. This is something that has been an ongoing challenge with getting the former remains of the former slaves reinterred and taken out of the repository at SUNY New Paltz since 2007, 2006. 2008 I'm sorry somewhere and and so there's been almost 20 20 years and I'm really really excited about the possibility because you can't speak on things before voted but I'm really excited about the possibilities of this coming to fruition one for the sake of the ancestors too for the sake of um the dignity respect and uh and also honor to beautify the area up and uh at the top of downey park where the pergola is um has been a neglected area and then uh also um the notion that 1.9 million dollars has been put aside so if um this is carried and we are able to get additional funding that's gonna really help us if there are unanticipated expenses to really do this area of our park and the and the ancestors a really really important honor and lastly I want to say The story is, historically, at the pergola that's graffitied up and uncared for, that at one point in time was a house. And the story is that there was a young African-American female slave who was a young girl, and we believe her name was Effie. And Effie, if we can not only do that memorial and historical site, light it up and do what we need to do to beautify it for educational purposes, we may also be able to show some tender loving care to the pergola where Effie allegedly lived. um and so um you know that that's that's very important to me as a human being it's important to me as an african-american and also as a history teacher we're taking 50 kids and i said this during the work session we we're taking 50 kids in our summer bridge program to downey park tomorrow morning to meet with the co-chairperson of the Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess County who is also co-chair on the Downing Park Planning Committee and I know Mr. Councilman Zaria would appreciate this where kids get a chance to get into one of our important green spaces and learn the history of Andrew Jackson Downing and the significance of this park and we've done it for a number of years with our P-TECH students And we've done cleanups there. We've done things with the Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess County. And so it would be awesome if we could take them to the top and if that memorial was there and they could read the history of who the folks were that were reinterred. you know there are water fountains in the design there are sitting areas anyway i could go on but i'm i'm excited about the possibility of it so if there are any other comments okay councilman shakur yes and yes i think about my ancestors every day but i'm also thinking about our children in our community now so we have two million dollars plus

we need to get in touch with a black developer and put a workforce with our community together to benefit from this from our ancestors we need to make sure we benefit with whatever money comes in here we need to make sure the community benefits from it absolutely thank you councilman shakur council member martinez so oh i'm just gonna yeah

you got yeah we gotta check that out after but um I just wanted to make a comment I've seen a lot of online debate on this topic and I wanted to clarify that with the funding the african-american heritage grant program is specifically to assist nonprofit organizations or us local governments in preserving places of cultural importance and an African American community, meaning that these are for capital projects. As much as we would like to place this money in for specific youth programs or for other issues that we really deeply care about, we can't use that money for those topics. So for clarification, and instead of going on social media, spreading all this misinformation that the city doesn't want to fund that, that we're misusing government funding, that's not true. This grant is specifically for preserving and for basically like interpreting, documenting black history in the city of Newburgh. If it were used for anything else, we would have offered the opportunity for public comment for the community to come and give an opinion. But these are for capital programs only.

Thank you, Council Member Martinez, for that. And I want to just add some of our colleagues in Albany sent this to me, and I sent it to all the council, to Michelle Kelson. I want to thank you for your work on this, Allie Church and Jason Morris, because I was like, wow, it qualifies for what we're doing. hoping to do and I do agree with Councilman Shakur in that any and everything we do we want to make sure that it does have a direct benefit to our community as far as workforce development you know there's an educational component um to educate young people in our community about who and what what this monument and this um uh this area and you know historically what it what it represents and it hopefully will add to what's already going on in that wonderful beautiful green space and put light on African-American culture and heritage and the sacrifices that those that came before us. So there is an educational component. It is going to add to tourism and it's going to add to hopefully beautify that area that has been neglected for a number of years since I was a teenager when I moved here. So anyway, if there are no other comments, roll call on the motion, please.

Council Members Martinez? Aye. Macklemore? Yes. Monteverde? Yes. Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria? Yes. Mayor Harvey?

Yes.

Resolution approved.

Resolution number 151-2026, apply for an accept if awarded $50,000 through the New York State African American Heritage Grant Program for an educational consultant for local African American history.

Okay, do we have a motion for resolution number 151-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Councilman McLemore. Roll call on the motion, please.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. McLemore? Yes. Monteverde? Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria?

Yes.

Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 152-2026, schedule a public hearing for the fiscal year 2025 CDBG caper.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 152-2026? So moved. First motion is that of the Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

second by council member Monteverde roll call on the motion please council members Martinez aye Macklemore yes Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zaria yes mayor Harvey yes resolution approved

resolution number 153-2026 agreement with hill treekeepers inc for beach tree treatment services do we have a motion for resolution number 153-2026 so moved first motion is said by the councilman shakur do we have a second

saying by councilman Macklemore roll call on the motion please council members Martinez aye Macklemore Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zoria yes mayor Harvey yes resolution approved

Resolution number 154-2026, 2026 Environmental Protection Fund grant application.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 154-2026? So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

second second by councilman zoria roll call on the motion please council members martinez aye mclemore monteverde shakur yes stewart yes zoria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 155-2026 2027 orange county youth bureau funding grants

We have a motion for resolution number 155-2026. So moved. First motion is settled by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Councilman McLemore. I'm going to do a brief break for a brief discussion. I had a meeting with the CEO of Ulster Savings Bank today and his community liaison is a former councilwoman in Kingston she also worked very very much with the Youth Bureau service of Ulster County and she brought up a very important question in our meeting today which was why is the Orange County Youth Bureau located in Goshen New York when at one point when I was a teenager and I moved first moved here it was on Broadway in the city of Newburgh so I know Mr. Morrison I had a meeting on reestablishing a really positive relationship professional relationship with Orange County and some of the departments and some of the entities and we do have a county legislator here so I'm going to ask the city council to consider along with Mr. Morris and our county elected officials on finding out how or why was the you girl moved out of the city of Newburgh to Goshen where our family and communities don't have access to those that. Councilman shakur so I think the joy Pittman was in charge of that with him before that was on Eric because they were right on Broadway by.

South Park 3. in between South Clark and Johnson Street they were there and then we hired Miss Pittman to run our youth bureau or whatever so I don't know if when she left that if they lost it because of that but it was something in that period and then there was a gentleman an older gentleman I can't I

Wilbur yeah Wilbur what was his last name Wilbur he ran but he ran the recreation park yeah and then Wilbur and then uh Mr Pittman was in charge of the youth bureau or whatever it was when it was on Broadway right but prior to Miss Pittman Wilbur also ran the you were Higgins Wilbur Higgins yeah he ran the youth bureau because when I first got out of college he hired me for two summers with the youth bureau and the private industry council as a whole cultural teacher for two summers so just want to do some exploratory Mr. Morris we just want to do some exploratory questioning with how or why did the youth bureau relocate the Goshen is very similar to like the the business or Orange County Chamber of Commerce they used to be located in the downtown Broadway area but then they moved out you know of the city so just want to re-engage that conversation so that we can figure out is it possible that we um relocate the youth bureau at least back in the city um any other comments if not roll call on the motion please council members martinez aye mclemore monteverde shakur yes stewart yes zuria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved resolution number 156-2026 fiscal year 2025 assistance to firefighters grant do you have a motion for resolution number 156-2026 move first motion is set up by councilman shukur do we have a second second second by councilman macklemore roll call on the motion

Council Members Martinez, Macklemore, Monteverde, Shakur, Stewart, Zoria, Mayor Harvey. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 157-2026, Memorandum of Understanding with New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services for Municipal Firefighter Training.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 157, that's 2026? So moved. First motion accepted by Councilman McElmore. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Councilmember Monteverde. Roll call on a motion, please.

Discussion.

Oh, my apologies. Discussion granted to Councilmember Martinez.

Oh, I'm sorry. Can we just go over what this specific grant would be used for?

It's for training. It's a memorandum agreement with New York City.

She's asking about the previous resolution.

Are we not doing the... We already did it.

Okay, which one?

The grant program? Yeah. Oh, sorry.

Oh, is that resolution 156? Okay.

No, I'm talking, wait, 157? We're on 157. Yeah, we're on 157.

It's not for equipment, it's to send firefighters to the academy to be trained.

Yeah, it's a training, that's what I'm saying. Oh, okay. Homeland Security Emergency Services training.

Okay, thank you.

So it's like I ran in the United States, they have a MOU going on, a memorandum of understanding.

So I promise it has nothing to do with flock or anything or... No. Yeah, it's firefighters being trained.

yes we don't the westchester fire academy cannot accommodate all of the cadets that the city has in the pipeline for training the state this is the state department of emergency services they have their own fire academy we would like to send some of our firefighters there to get their training

they have a memorandum of agreement we need to approve it and sign it so we can get them into the training program and it says New York Division of Homeland Security so that may that Homeland Security we always think of the federal entity of Homeland Security and this is the New York State Homeland right so they're correct they're not one of the same correct okay just want to make sure and bring that point of clarification Anything else, Councilwoman Martinez? Anyone else? If not, we'll call on a motion.

Councilmembers Martinez? Aye. Macklemore? Yes. Monteverde? Yes. Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Zoria?

Yes.

Mayor Harvey?

Yes.

Resolution approved.

resolution number 158 dash 2026 NACC art biz 2026 teaching artists contracts we have a motion for resolution number 158 dash 2026 so moved first motion accepted by councilman Shakur we'll have a second second by councilman McLemore roll call please

Council Members Martinez. Aye. McLemore. Aye. Monteverde. Aye. Shakur.

Aye.

Stewart. Aye. Zoria. Aye. Mayor Harvey. Aye. Resolution approved.

Resolution number 159-2026, City of Newburgh Hometown Heroes Military Banner Program.

Do we have a motion for resolution number 159-2026?

So move.

First motion and seconded by Councilman McNamara. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Shakur. Discussion granted to Councilmember Monteverde.

um yes i'm sorry i missed the work session i would have had several questions regarding this i have gotten some calls and emails about this resolution and while i do appreciate councilman mclemore's intent behind this program and desire to want to honor our men and women who served our country i feel like i do have questions regarding um you know the fact that we are requiring the families of these veterans to come up with this fee and I would like to look to ways where if we could get someone to sponsor or get a grant program or look for a grant program that would pay for this. If we're going to honor our veterans, we should do so in a way that is equitable and accessible to all who served our country.

We discussed that on Thursday and it's going to be in the application process where they can receive sponsors for that.

Right, and I also, Councilman McLemore, and we had talked about that, and then Councilmember Stewart also said that there were some resources that she had found where they'll issue grants, those all included. So there is the option that if the veteran or the family of the veteran Don't have the financial resources or the means that there are options to be sponsored and funded He's councilman Macklemore is even getting you know emails and phone calls to people who want to donate So we're trying to set that process up They're hitting them up right now. So, yeah, I'm excited because, you know, when we when I go to Fishkill or I go to East Fishkill Hopewell Junction or I go to Walden, they have they have the banners. on the on the streets and yeah and it really this is a really really wonderful gesture and you know my dad who passed away in 2020 was a Korean Korean War veteran and um I'm going to pay for whatever that fee is to have him honored in this way. And I have a lot of family members that were Vietnam veterans, some cousins, and my older brother. So yeah, this is really amazing. I think this is exciting.

but thank you council member i do have uh some i did have questions about the i mean i'm also concerned about the the the i do want to say i do support our veterans and want to honor them visibly and permanently this seems like a subscription for a short-term banner and it is kind of expensive i don't know why it's 375 other cities have it for 150 200 And my concern is, one, it's just like, I think it's symbolic and it's great to honor our troops, but it seems a little overpriced. And my concern is, our DPW is responsible for installing, inspecting, repairing, removing, rehanging. And the city owns these banners, so the liability of one of them flying off and hitting a car is on us. So my concern is we're helping deliver the goods of a private company that's only temporary for people that could afford it. And there's a lot of people that are struggling that have come here before this microphone that are having trouble making ends meet. So I get the symbolism, but I'm like, will it serve the purpose? And is the liability exposure of having privately placed banners for people that could afford it worth it? And unless there's a clear sponsorship and hardship application tied to this, then it doesn't seem fair to me that it's a pay-to-play kind of scheme for honor. And I think a lot of people that serve this country don't serve to have a banner, and I could see how it feels good for families that could afford it. But the struggling veterans that are in the streets asking for help, will they feel good about a banner? I'm not sure. And my question is more about as...

liability of these banners for the city and the staff having to manage yet another aspect of their a new job essentially well I definitely reject the comment of pay to play this pay to play is corruption to me it's not corruption it's a price pay to play is in in our business of as elected officials when you say pay to play that has the connotation of something being corrupt some people buy some wrong I reject that I me personally as as an elected official because I don't think there's any pay so people can play and the connotation to that but I do respectfully I definitely understand the sentiments and the concerns that are mentioned other than that statement but you know again there are um some options that if if people um can't afford it and they want to be honored there are some grant funds and there are going to be some mechanisms put in place for sponsorships and i'll i'll work diligently to assist in that effort but council member stewart you had something

Yes. I wanted to share that the fee was a part of my concern. And when we talk about pay to play, it's just a concept. And that concept means that in order to have something, you have to pay for it. It is that in media. It is that in entertainment. If you want to get your music on the radio, you have to pay the radio station or you pay. So it's a pay to play, meaning that there is some kind of fee exchanged for something else to happen. In this instance, I do know that that can be connected to something nefarious when it is something involving politicians or something like that. Yes, that is something that is real, and it would be considered nefarious in that instance. But in this instance, it is you have to pay in order to have a banner put up. And pay to play is just, you know, a euphemism that people, something that people are, that they're saying. So one of the things that I wanted to also point out is that my other concern with this is that a couple of things. The organization, because you want to do your due diligence on it, this Hometown Heroes, the program, it's a for-profit program. It is not a not-for-profit. So this money goes somewhere. I don't know what they do with this money. We have seen these banners up in heavily. areas where at one point you never saw a banner that was someone of color on those banners. It was literally something that was centered on white males that were in military service and it did not honor other people who contributed to the military service. The other thing is is that that has since changed because now you see a sprinkle here or there where people are now they can afford to have a banner. My other concern is that where it says you have to be part of the criteria is you have to be honorably discharged. And it made me think about just recently the Air Force major, I think he was a major person who spoke out against the current administration and was arrested and sure to be dishonorably discharged. And that dissent is exactly the dissent that we want. Is he not considered a hero should this person not have a banner up to say that he opposed dissent of that kind so when you have somebody that is honorably discharged being honorably discharged I get it but there are people that are dishonorably discharged due to the things that they faced while they were in service so I don't want to skip over that I want people to understand that it's not just like oh yeah just put a banner and that's it it for a lot of people who are connected my dad is in the service I was in the service my grandfather was in the service my uncle's in the service I get it I understand but I do know that there are people that have been dishonorably discharged for good reason because they stood up for what they believed in or they were they had some kind of, there was some kind of repercussion from something that happened to them while they were in service. So I want people to just be mindful that it's just not, okay, you get a banner. People really, just because you have that banner, it doesn't really say much about the hero because we have heroes that are homeless, right? We have heroes that are addicted to drugs. We have heroes that have caught that have PTSD from actually serving in these areas, and they're still heroes. So I don't want to minimize their service and what they have experienced in this matter with just people being able to afford a banner put up. And I wanted to learn more about it. I just looked up the program, and I'm like, this is a for-profit entity. It's not a not-for-profit. So I don't know what this money is being used for. So I don't have a lot of information on that.

okay when i say pay to play i do not mean any type of corruption i mean 375 dollars for two years meaning 160 a year to hang a banner that is not permanent that helps if it's not permanent i think i'm not opposed to this i think that we should look at the whole There are nonprofits that work, that do community work. I think an overstretched DPW, adding another job without thinking through the costs, mapping it out, identifying sponsors, I think that's a little premature.

Thank you. Thank you everybody for your comments. Even now, I'm getting texts from different vets talking about he was honorably discharged prior to office. Also, to get benefits, you have to be honorably discharged. Those other than honorable, they need to see the VFW and the DAV to have discharge upgraded. So even with that, thank you for everyone who made your comments. Even with the fees, those fees, as I said to Jason, those fees can be adjusted. That will be in the application. And so, you know, I just think this is something that's honorable for our veterans. I've talked to different veterans, and they are in agreeance with this. It's just up to us to vote on it. So, you know, that's all.

I'd like to thank you for doing it, because I could sit here all night and think of a thousand things that go on with it, but... I want you to get it done so I'm I want I want to get done so what can we do to make it done with us as you are I can see it OK. Real quick I just want to make.

I just want to make a point of clarification. Because my oldest son did four years in the Air Force. So you have honorable discharge, you have discharge, and you have dishonorable discharge. So there are veterans who are not honorably discharged, and they are not dishonorably discharged, and they do qualify if they're discharged without being honorable or dishonorable. They have some benefits. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE THAT CLARIFICATION. SO WE'RE GOING TO DO A MOTION TO WE'RE GOING TO ROLL CALL ON THE MOTION.

you have a question I'm sorry yeah no I just I I just wanted to ask if there were possible to include in this like a lower cost fee or is it tied to the program like is it the set 375 or can we change the amount of

mr morris so there's language in the policy so right since tonight you're adopting a policy there's language in the policy for the city to adjust the fee based upon its actual costs so that means up and down so we started with 375 based upon the banners that we could find that we could purchase online we have to remember that it includes the purchase of a banner and it includes the purchase and installation of the hardware on the light poles

um also keep in mind when the two-year term is up the banner gets turned over to the family if they so wish to receive it oh okay so it has a two-year life oh okay so it's not permanent and it will get turned over to the family okay all right if not and no other questions or comments roll call on a motion please

Council Members Martinez? Aye. Macklemore? Yes. Monteverde?

No.

Shakur?

Yes.

Stewart? Abstain. Zoria?

Abstain.

Mayor Harvey?

Yes.

Resolution approved.

resolution number 160-2026 city manager search authorizing a contract with MGT impact solutions LLC do I have a motion for resolution number 160-2026 first motion is that the right council member Monteverde do I have a second

Do we have a second?

Second.

Seconded by Councilman Zoria. I want to go on to a brief discussion. I'll let Councilmember Monteverde speak first, and then if there's any others, I'll speak last.

Thank you. And again, I did miss this discussion. It was a very important discussion. and I have to say that I'm glad that we're going with MGT they scored pretty high with me as well I like the fact that you know they're into doing community engagement talking and engaging the department head so I have a good feeling about this these consultants thank you thank you anyone else councilmember Stewart

so i think one of the constituents mr grant asked about the status of this city manager update and this is where it's at right now we have to do homework with looking through i think 12 different large proposals and i believe we did that and we identified the strongest proposal for that consultant so once this has been approved then we will move to contract with that particular consultant firm, and then we'll start that process. So that is where we are with the city manager search.

THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART ANYONE ELSE I'M GOING TO JUMP RIGHT IN I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES ON THE CITY COUNCIL BECAUSE THIS WAS NOT AN EASY TASK IT TOOK SOME TIME TO REALLY READ AS COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART MENTIONED i mean those proposals were thick and i want to thank um city manager uh council city manager jason morris along with the council because between you and i believe kelson was involved with receiving these proposals you know i mean it was a lot of reading and a lot of work mr morris organized a scorecard so we can score these um these uh you know proposals based in the firms based on various different categories um and so that was it was not easy it was like I felt like I was in college again um and it took a while for us to really really because you can't you know skim over stuff you gotta really look at this and and be focused and you know there were times where I had to put it down because I was was a lot of work it was a lot of work and you know a lot of this yeah councilman mclemore was in my office you know i had to go several rounds to get through the um just to get through one it was it was a lot but anyway we did it we did it with um complete transparency with the utmost integrity and um i want to thank my again colleagues on the city council the executive team for organizing it and that same process is going to happen When we look at the scope of services that we're looking for, the interview process, having the public forum, it is some serious work and time and effort on everyone's part, including our residents. And that same process, well, not the same process, but a similar method is going to happen with the commission of the charter review. and then we we got a retreat that we got to organize um and a vision plan and a master plan and all that so there's a lot of work that um we all as elected officials have to do um even regardless of being part-time elects or not we got the we got to put in our table time in our work so i'm really proud of um this outcome uh once we vote so um anyone else if not roll call on the motion please council members martinez aye mclemore yes monteverde yes shakur oh he went to a men's room

I'm sorry, Stewart? Yes. Zoria?

Yes.

Mayor Harvey? Yes. Resolution approved.

Thank you.

Resolution number 161-2026, Charter Review Commission Budget.

Do I have a motion for resolution number 161-2026? So moved. First motion accepted by Councilmember Monteverdi. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Zoria. Discussion granted to Councilmember Monteverdi.

Thank you. So, I'm glad that we're moving on this, but I just want to remind Council that you know we are on a time clock here with regard to you know making sure that we're following protocol I know that the applications for the Charter Review Commission are due on Friday and I'm hoping that you know everybody informed and that they're throwing their hat in the ring and volunteering to be on this committee this is going to be an extremely important process and I would like for everybody that can be involved to participate in one way or the other thank you anyone else

real quick I just want to say thank you give people props where props are due all of the residents that came out and spoke up and out whether you were for or not for I'm glad you all did your hard work and spoke up and had the courage to do that all the residents and my colleagues on city council because you know I take one position, but through hearing everyone and listening to different perspectives, I changed my mind on this, and I'm for it. I'm excited about it, and I think that, you know, I think that. think right and you know you got it you got it you got to listen to all sides and make informed decisions and even though it was a tough one you guys you guys did you did you guys did a great job everyone involved the public the council and even the executive team especially even with Michelle Kelson and her her brilliant legal mind so and her experience in doing this

years ago so without further ado roll call on the motion please council members Martinez I Macklemore Monteverde Shakur no Stewart yes Zoria yes mayor Harvey yes resolution approved

resolution number one sixty two dash twenty twenty six authorizing settlement of in rem property for twenty twenty five for twenty two twenty five washington street we'll have a motion for resolution number one six two that's twenty twenty six the move first motion is said that the councilman chicory you have a second anyone second second uh by council member monteverde roll call on the motions

council members Martinez aye Macklemore Monteverde Shakur yes Stewart yes Zoria yes mayor Harvey yes Macklemore resolution approved perfect timing resolution number 163-2026 payment of claim with Kenneth Sikorsky

We have a motion for resolution number 163 that's 2026. So moved. First motion is said by Councilman Shakur. Do we have a second?

second second by councilman zoria a roll call on a motion please council members martinez aye mclemore monteverde shakur yes stewart yes zoria yes mayor harvey yes resolution approved that concludes the city manager's report thank you very much mr morris that is hard to get through those

All right, we're going to try to be quick and brief. It is getting late. We are approaching the 10 o'clock hour. Any old business that we all need to consider for the next work session?

Want to go first?

Go ahead. Contract for Channel U.

Okay, thank you. Councilman Shakur.

Yes, I'm bringing that flock resolution, old business. I'm going to put it back on, because like you said, there's two sides to this story. I want the community to know what side we on. Thank you.

Thank you very much, flock resolution. Anyone else, old business?

once again the green light yes we sent had it out out there just to put it back on the agenda so that we can fix whatever information needs to be fixed please if we can get that green light with resolution passed can you send that information research I think where we stand with that we need the council to review and comment on it yeah okay I'm for it but okay

But I'm for it.

I like it.

We see council comments.

Okay. So I'll put it back to everybody, the top of everybody's email that we had. So.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Anyone else? Oh, I'm going to circle back with the grant that we won for additional cameras to purchase the additional cameras. I don't want if I can get an update on hopefully there's no sunset and spending that money and where we are with that if we can uh move on that so i just like get an update uh and then um i would like for any council members that haven't been to the police department to please um take some time to go to the control room with the um permission and escort of the police chief so you can see what cameras work and what cameras don't work, especially if you're a ward rep, you should be aware of where we are in your ward in terms of public safety and that surveillance matter. Yeah, so we can get an update on that. Anyone else for old business? all right if not new business any new business items going once going twice um all right and then we'll go to final comments from the city council members we'll start with council member martinez

Thank you. So some of my earlier comments I didn't get to finish. Thank you to everyone who went to the rally in the town of Newberg. The first one I wasn't able to make for personal reasons, but I made the one today. They met outside of town hall, and it was a very great turnout as well. and this isn't for um obviously my colleagues here or any of our allies but i do want to call out elected officials that only join jump on the bandwagon when something is trending who i have never seen at you know supporting our immigrant community only show up when it's convenient for reasons that are not humanitarian who only support it because it's inconvenient to traffic it's inconvenient to the structure of where the detention the proposed detention center will be to those elected officials you have to do better I think that there is a lot of division in our community and this actively harms constituents and regardless of someone's immigration status they're still your constituents and deserve dignity and respect um also um against the any i'm starting to dial back a lot on the conversations with um I don't support AI, any use of technology with AI. Well, it can be helpful. We have these increasing AI data centers that are using up all of our water that is causing all of these environmental issues. And for people that use ChatGPT for all these like, I'm sorry, but like nonsense, like stop, genuinely stop. No one on Facebook wants to see your AI-created flyer. Support a local artist. Support your local artists and really just think about your consumption with AI. And then I want to really just talk about the... need for council staff and by council staff I mean somebody that can really work with I'm sorry Michelle I'm sorry Yeah, so I really want us to have a specific person that we can have designate working on constituent issues with us. As I've mentioned before, we are one person. Our executive team has a lot on their plate, and we need to really start delegating this work to people who can do this full-time and help us address the issues that our constituents are coming to us with so if there can be a line added in the budget or for anything regarding just constituent assistance I would really like to see that thank you

thank you powerful message councilwoman Martinez all right next we'll hear from councilman Macklemore so thank you everyone who came out and everyone who stayed big wins tonight so I'm grateful so July 21st I want to say this County Legislator Hill has been in our community. You see her everywhere. Sometimes she don't even see me. I see her out here talking to people, walking the streets, and doing different things. She's visiting churches. She's here, and she's doing the work. And I want to thank her for also partnering with me to feed the seniors on July 21st at the Senior High Rise. uh we're also uh partnering with uh mark's friends group and um we're going over there to spend time with the seniors this is not anything political um so if you got any political speeches you can stay home that day this is for us to feed our seniors this is our third our church does this and um it's our third annual um feeding of our seniors so i want to give a big shout out to our county legislator um who was with us and she's the one that i i count on to make sure that things are moving in our city so thank you so much and thank you for partnering and thank you for always showing up i appreciate you and i and i want i want the world to know that we appreciate you um also also um we want to make sure that we look into the um The channel you program and moving that forward as well. Other than that, I'm thankful for today and I love my city. Thank you everyone who came out on Saturday. Once again, it was an awesome, awesome event. so I'm so grateful hundreds of people mayor was there Shakur was there and we were we were just talking to people in County Legislature was there we're talking to people and what really really helped out was our departments as well that water truck helped out tremendously so thank you Wayne for allowing the water truck to to come and all of our vendors and everyone so thank you once again and uh um i appreciate everything man listen i'm good i'm going i'm going home on a high so thank you god bless good night thank you very much councilman mcnamara next we hear from council member monteverde

Thank you. So, again, you know, I was thinking about what Councilwoman Martinez mentioned, and that was the rally that was last week. And, you know, the rally was quickly organized by county legislator Ramos and I believe it was Megan and Zach and, you know, Indivisible, actually. And, you know, it was fantastic. And it was wonderful to hear from some community members and not always hear from politicians who wants to hear from politicians all the time. Um, so it got me to think about, you know, what we need to do is show up as a community because there are going to be fights, the data centers, the concentration camps, you know, they're going to try to sneak this in. They're going to try to push this on us and our community. And it's times like these that it's easy to focus on the challenges before us. And it's my hope that we remember to recognize the strength that exists within our community when we all come together and we all support each other, even though we might not always agree. So let's agree to disagree. Let's try to communicate. Let's reach out to each other. And again, even though we don't agree with each other most of the time, out of respect and as a courtesy, reach out and just talk and say, hey, I want to do this. I'm thinking about this. I'm always open. And again, every act of kindness for our community members, for our volunteers, who volunteer in the community for all the small businesses that are trying to exist. Every family looking out for a neighbor and every person who chooses hope over fear helps make Newburgh stronger. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Monteverde. Next, we hear from Councilman Shakur.

Yes, I hope we got like 15 minutes, because I came across something very important that we all need to hear. It's going to take about 15 or 20 minutes.

I'll do it next week. Thank you. Y'all have a good night. Thank you very much, Councilman Shakur. Next, we'll hear from Councilmember Stewart.

Thank you. It's always good to hear the public comments. I'm going to keep this short. One of the things I wanted to point out tonight is that the large part of what we went over, it was our resolutions was about 75% of grants that we are applying to. we really look forward to getting these grants we have a city staff executive office and full staff that actually are very vigilant with applying to these grants as this really does help the city and i want us to understand that when we do get grant funded money we have to do right by that grant funded money and also those grant tours because that would put a blemish on us and if we are not utilizing that monies um if we're just acting willy-nilly with the monies that is definitely something that we can be uh we can feel consequences from so i want people to understand when grantors give us money we have to be good servants of those dollars and just not you know we have to be very stringent on how we are spending that money again over 75% of what you heard tonight was us applying for grants whether from the state county or other entities so it is a really big deal Another thing that I wanted to say is thank you to the staff, the water department, also the police department for their response to the incident that happened at the Mullins, the shooting that took place. I mean, the officers have come around. They have been out really engaging with the community. The community members, the residents are absolutely happy about the response that they are getting from the officers. and the chief and it has we it's they have I want to say shout out to the residents in the Mullins because they have they've been activated they show it up at the Newburgh Housing Authority meeting they're gonna put they're planning to be at the next one they gave out food to the residents from AMZ AME Zion Church in the community center to the residents of the Mullins they have been activated they fought back some of the kids and teens that came back after this incident to congregate in that area and they worked with the police to get them out and that has to be commended and that is exactly what community police relations look like it is that partnership between people who want their community want to take their community back and the police that want to support that so they are when i say activated they are activated they are planning to uh they've already started having conversation with management about their tenant association uh they're talking about uh different mechanisms for them to get some of their uh apartments fixed and maintenance so again that is what we are looking for residents in the community to be activated and engaged and fighting for what they need and want and we are here to support them and that is my ward and i tell them like i tell anybody i'm their first line of defense so thank you for that thank you so much council member stewart thanks for here from councilman zoria

I want to thank everyone that took the time out to be here and thank all my colleagues. I think people underestimate the amount of sacrifice we each make to push our initiatives, to share our perspective, to try to be everyone for everything to everybody. to share the burden of of of having to manage the message and deal with the different personalities that all want you to be something they want you to be um but i think it's all been a learning curve i'm so damn proud of this council because the last six months we created a city manager search process a city manager search process that involves the community that involves the department heads that involves everybody and it's written into the the it's written into the proposal and you could read it it's online right now we demanded that they involve the community we didn't want to just tap someone in the shoulder also the charter review commission if you take the time to listen to the audit last week you will know that we are in desperate need of segregation of duties and we need to review our charter for what what we can a lot of people have a lot of opinions but the the facts are the facts if you look and listen to the audit last week there's a lot of concerning things and what got us here won't get us there and i am not saying there's any fraud or corruption i'm using audit term no there's no fraud it was actually no material weaknesses there are internal controls that are concerning and i think a lot of people wanted to you know give props to the last executive team but there was under the hood when you look there were a lot of concerning things they're not material weaknesses they're internal weaknesses there are over estimation of revenues there are lofty state aid funds that didn't materialize that are in a five-year plan let's say we're gonna get uh six million more dollars and they're not there and these are estimates that were done in december you could look back at the march 5th meeting these are concerning things to me so as a council that needs to think about the fiduciary future and stability of our city we need to start thinking about how we develop economic development in our city how do we attract businesses how do we make housing more affordable how do we answer all these questions I think we have it's great that we're applying to grants but they can't be our lifeline we need to figure out ways to make this city attractive and for people's quality of life to actually get better and how can we invest the limited resources that we have to accomplish that is the question I would like to answer during budget season. I am really concerned after seeing that audit that our general fund, although we're healthy, and this is not supposed to alarm anyone, we have $26 million and it's the highest it's been in a decade, so this is not to alarm anyone, but the trajectory forward, thinking five years out, 10 years out, is not sustainable. So I would like that we,

think about those things but i will also say that the last six months i'm damn proud of everything we've accomplished here together thank you councilman zoria i love it um and you know just to piggyback on some of the things he said um we have done a lot uh and there's been some really really great work in the last six months as well we need to continue to develop responsibly develop without displacement we need to continue to work on our ratables in a responsible way where we can maintain our green spaces we can be more welcoming and the community benefits supersede what our expectations are we do want walkable cities more of a walkable city we do want any development to have mixed use as Mr. Nadeau mentioned earlier where there is workforce development there's economic impact positive net positive economic impact with jobs to continue the downward trajectory of poverty in our city to continue the downward trajectory on crime which has been a major nucleus of the challenges that we've had and we want to continue to develop again without displacement in a responsible way and in a more inclusive way so I do agree with that there are multiple development projects that are already in the pipeline that are being affected by this new New York State earmark in the budget with the city IDA and so there's some development projects that are gonna cancel their already pilot programs and come before the council to ask, but they better come correct if they do come because we wanna make sure that this is a collective effort and we're doing things more responsibly with our due diligence. We have to develop. Affordability in the city of Newburgh is a problem. Affordability in the state of New York is a problem. We are in one of the worst economic crises because of some of the federal actions and the leadership in the White House with a federally controlled government. And we wanna make sure that people are not paying 30% of their housing costs um... above that uh... where they can afford the rent you know the rent in the city of newberg is too damn high the pew institute did a supply side economic study and say that we have to which is the catalyst for the home and community renewal the governor's initiative our declaration on affordable housing the pew institute said that we have to supply the housing market with affordable housing in order for us to fight gentrification gentrification and high cost and a high rent cost in communities and of course we want to continue to move toward more home ownership We went from a 70 to 30% ratio where 70% were renters. We're currently 65% are renters and 35% are homeowners. So we've moved the bar over the last 10 years. the rent is too damn high and we got to continue to develop and including rateable so that's it for me thank you all for coming out shout out to carson carter and the crew i saw at the dutch reform church cleaning and excavating let's give them a hand because they they did a lot of great work uh at the dutch reform