Common Council - Regular Meeting

uh tonight's meeting of the physical services committee to order. Um could I have a roll call, please? Councelor Meyer here. Councelor Plunkett here. Councelor Ashlin here. Councelor Kennedy here. Could I have a motion to approve the minutes of the April 20th 26 committee meeting, please? Councelor Ashine. Councelor Plunkett. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer, yes. Councelor Plunkett, yes. Councelor Ashine, yes. Councelor Kennedy,

yes. I see no old business. We'll go to new business under authorization. The zoning and planning office has received a request from National Grid for use of public space at the properties known as 106 and 108 East Onidita Street in order to install a new utility pole to relieve o overloaded circuit between the curb and the sidewalk. Jeff,

good evening councilors. Uh this is pretty common place as grid goes through to upgrade some of their stuff. uh they find that some are overloaded and need to put a new utility pole in. In this case, it isn't our public right away, which is between obviously the sidewalk in the road in this case. So, they're just asking for permission to install that pole. Okay. Questions?

Yeah. Um when when National Grid puts a pole in, uh sometimes what they're doing is replacing a pole. And when they do that, there's other utilities that attach to that pole. And and when we uh it's in the public space and they've put a new pole in. Uh, in particular, there's a poll on East 8th Street at 250 East State Street where they replaced they added an additional pole and they left the legacy utilities connecting Verizon and Spectrum to the old pole. So now the homeowner has two poles and and and I I I'm wondering, you know, you know, when we authorize the installation of a pole, is there any any uh are we authorizing two poles or or do they have an obligation to remove an old pole?

Generally, an obligation to remove the old one. Do you know how long that's It's been five months. Okay. Okay. And they and the answers the homeowner's been given have been vague and not really responsive. You know, I did I did check the poll. It's interesting. They allocate the same pole number to the duplicate poll. And so so you know, I don't think they view this as an additional pole. They cut the top of the pole off,

but they but but but it's it's it's it's sprouted roots and there's two of them. and and and the homeowner is a very meticulous homeowner and said, you know, that's less than bar what I bargain for. I've had a poll and I understand that, but having two polls. So, I don't know if there's a way that we can we can facil facilitate uh getting those transferred to the new pole. Yeah, that would be the only question just so that we can tell a homeowner that they don't when we put poles in the old ones come out. Absolutely. We can look into that on the one on the poll number and we can see if we can't get to the bottom, but Perfect. Great. Thanks, Jeff.

Any other questions, comments? Could I have a motion, please? Councelor Kennedy. Councelor Ashine. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer, yes. Councelor Plunkett, yes. Councelor Ashlin, yes. Councelor Kennedy, yes. Item two, the zoning and planning office has received a request from Allison Smith, owner of a single family dwelling located at 264 East 7th Street for use of public space in order to install a 4ft high fence. Actually, counselors, I'm going to ask that you table this tonight so I can get some more information on this one notice. Oh, sure.

Come on up. This is the drawing, but there's nothing on there. So, so here's my existing fence. This fence would be a temporary barrier that would prevent unauthorized access and limit trespassing from this property here. So, this is your property here. Yep. And this is the road up here. So,

okay. But it doesn't show anything going into public space. So, I'm not sure who is responsible for marking that up. I wasn't asked to. Um, Mike Clary came to my house and we measured everything out so that the public space point that would start the temporary fence would go from here to the road. This property installed a fence without a permit and it encroaches onto my property. So, this temporary fence would go from my property line up to the street. But because it goes past my property line and within that 33 foot. So you're looking to go all the way to the road.

Correct. Because there's constant unauthorized access from this property coming into my front yard. What's your opinion, Jeff? I mean, generally we don't go beyond a sidewalk with public space with a fence because it becomes a a visual. There is no sidewalk issue. There's no sidewalk on this block. Even so, with that going to the road, isn't there usually a measurement from the center of the road to Well, that'll give you the setback. I mean, we I do have the survey here. Just generally

people backing out of driveways, cars coming down the street, somebody if somebody was coming out of that yard to go around the fence, they'd be stepping into the road. So, it becomes a safety issue going that far. I would definitely like to revisit that before. So you would like us to table it and and come back to take a look at it for sure because generally we don't go to the road for the for safety reasons, right?

So it there is an urgency here. I do want to note that. Um if the people who keep accessing my property were to get hurt, I'm liable and trying to respectfully ask them to not access my property has not worked. So, um, I met with Mike, the code enforcement officer. He he's familiar with the property. Um, and he measured everything out and had mentioned that I shouldn't have any problems getting approval. It's a temporary fence. It's not cemented posts. Um, I'm certainly open to suggestions on how to minimize the risk and liability on myself because I am the property owner.

I do request some kind of quick resolution. I would recommend I think we can ask Chief Katie who's here. I think we can ask councelor Kakoli if we were to table it today to look at it. Are we able to bring it back next week just because of the urgency? I just I think we need to have a little further look into it. I mean that would be appropriate if you would take it off the floor essentially without council or committee consideration but I mean it's kind of a unique situation uh okay when you're presenting yourself if there is an issue

right that needs a couple more days to sort through but if you're comfortable with that certainly yeah is anyone any counselors any comments or questions about that so a time. I can go look at it. I can schedule a time to meet you over there, counselor, if you'd like or anybody else that wants to look at it. All right, we can do that. Eager, we're going to uh table it or get a motion to table and then uh bring it back uh next Monday night next next Monday night for a motion off the floor. Could I have a motion to table, please? Councelor Plunkett. Councelor Kennedy. Roll call, please.

Councelor Meyer, the motion. Yes. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. To table. Councelor Kennedy. The next day or two and look at it and then I can circle back with you. Okay. Item three. The zoning and planning office has received a request from Tony Morgan, owner of a commercial property located at 11 West Senica Street for use of public space in order to install a new patio and sidewalks.

Anyone here to discuss that? Oh, Ch. So, there's a couple pictures in your packet here. The the first one is the current picture of that property. Now, what was formerly the office tavern uh currently houses the Yach Club, I believe. Uh if you remember a few years ago, there's there's been an awning kind of out to the sidewalk over that property with an outdoor patio for years. uh in a storm that was lost. They had a temporary uh setup there for a while that had to be taken down because it was temporary. So, if you look at that second view, they're basically looking to improve that whole property front along along First Street uh with a new metal roof, uh new lighting, planter boxes, stamprete, concrete, and I'd had a conversation with councelor Meyer today. Um they are looking to replace that sidewalk uh as part of their project, but they do have to, as the picture shows, keep those planters back on the other side of the sidewalk and everything has to stay inside of that because we have to have a clear path through there that meets ADA.

Any questions? Councelor Kennedy. Yeah. So those trees, they're going to be planted there as well that are in the picture. Correct. Or is that just a rendition like an artistition? Uh it's it's part of the rendition, but I think that's part of their plan is for trees. The only the only reason I'm bringing that part up is because the trees are great. just they seem kind of close to the sidewalk and I feel like when they get bigger the you know roots might upheavee that we'll have to look at that sidewalk again and like you know down the road but eventually

certainly always a concern with trees as you're 40 50 years ago there was a lot of maples and a lot of trees that have massive roots planted as we plant trees and replace trees now they're going to like Japanese lilocks trees that don't have that kind of root system that's what we're replacing I'm no arborist But talking to the tree advisory and the and the tree crew, um they've replaced uh up on Erie and Fifth. Some have been replaced and we're putting some more in. We go to trees that don't have that type of root system to prevent that from happening in the future because the sidewalk looks like it's their project, but eventually that sidewalk will be city property, I imagine. Correct. Correct.

Yeah. So, I just that's that was the only thing, but Okay. No, that's Thank you. Thank you. Yep. Any more questions, concerns? Do I have a motion, please? Council Plunkett. Council Ashine. Roll call, please. Meer. Yes. Yes. Ashley, yes. Yes.

Item four. The city clerk's office has received a request for use of public space from Michelle Han of the Asiggo Health Foundation in order to place three 18inch x 24in yard signs in various city locations in order to promote their for your health 5K health and wellness event. I'm not sure if she was going to make it tonight. I did talk with her this afternoon. Um the only concern I had was the length of time she wanted the signs up and uh what she told me was uh that she they were trying to get as many participants as possible and she thought that the length that the signs would be up would would help in that uh regard. So any more questions, comments?

Councelor Ashine, does it say in here when the the signs are coming down? They come down August 10th. the the uh program is August 8th. 8th. Yeah. Okay. So, the following Monday, I believe. Yes. Okay. Any more questions? I have a motion, please. Councelor Plunkett. Councelor Ashine. Roll call, please. Meer. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Item five, the Office of Economic Development requests authorizations for use of public space at the Cahill Pier to host an American Cruise Line sendoff ceremony on Saturday, May 23rd, 2026. I did talk with uh uh Maddie and Abby. Uh they gave me some insight on it. I don't know if the mayor might have some more insight than I have on to it. Okay. Um it's their I guess that's their first sendoff for their cruise clients. uh stopping at a swiggo. So I she said it would be like 20 minutes or 25 minutes uh just to show the our our appreciation for them, you know, bringing their lines here and and helping our tourism trade. So that's uh any questions, comments? Could I have a motion? Councelor Kennedy, Councelor Ashine, roll call, please.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Item six, the office of economic development request authorization for use of public space at veteran stage to host a concert as part of summer concert series Thursday, August 27th, 2026. Anyone here to talk about that? Um, okay. I did I did uh uh talk to Maddie about this this afternoon and that that's just a continuation of their concert series that they're having. Um, I guess it was interrupted or could be interrupted by the cruise line um, dates. So, they just wanted to extend it. So, that's what you told me. Any questions, comments? Motion, please. Councelor Plunkett. Councelor Kennedy. Roll call, please.

Councelor Meyer, yes. Council, yes. Ashlin, yes. Kennedy, yes. Item seven. The Office of Economic Development has received a request for use of public space from Ken Oyer to host Rachel's Warrior Run starting at Breitbeck Park on Saturday, August 22nd, 2026 from 900 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Is there anyone here to speak on that?

Uh, good afternoon or good evening, council members. Um, my name is Elizabeth Allen and I'm here on behalf of Rachel's Warrior Run Incorporated. And, um, if you're not familiar with us, um, this year would be our second annual 5K runwalk event. And um Rachel's warrior run is established um for my daughter in for my daughter's to honor my daughter's memory and um if you don't remember I'm sorry to honor my daughter's memory and um Rachel Michelle Allen was taken in from us on July 13th, 2024 here in the city of Asiggo uh via a very tragic um event. And so our race is, like I said, to honor her memory and also to raise awareness about violence against women and to also um show our deep appreciation for the first responders that are so critical to um you know in these times these types of events. So uh we had our LA we had our first inaugural event last year. You guys approved it. Thank you very much. Out of Breitbet Park. And I wanted to share with you some of the impacts from last year's event. We were able to make from last year's event. Um you know our we were able to um donate $2,500 to um our

Swiggo County Opportunities uh safe services to aid families um program. we were able to donate $1,000 to Christina's House of Hope which is here in Asiggo in the city of Asiggo and serves um women that you know are find themselves homeless or you know displaced in some way and a lot of times that homelessness and displacement comes from stems from um you know do domestic violence but so we were able to give them $1,000 and then um something that we're very proud of is that we worked worked with CNY, Central New York Emergency Medical Services this past year to establish two $500 um scholarships for folks going through an EMT training program. So um our first two scholarships should be awarded um this month. the folks, we don't know who they are yet. Um, they're in the middle of, well, I think they finish up their training this month, but anyway, they'll be selected by their instructors and their instructor will look at them as, you know, what type of student they are and they'll also um, you know, look at the need, their need, you know, because it's they're not going through training for no cost. But anyway, so we're very excited about the, you know, being able to give out these two scholarships and and we hope to be able to, you know, do more as we move forward. Um, and then we also, you know, we want to um support, you know, local youth. you know, we want to add to their help them develop their confidence, empower them so that you know that down the road they don't find themselves in situations like my daughter found herself. So we um supported youth programming through ago

jiujitsu um uh Master Prior's Taekwondo America um the Elks Swiggo Elks Lodge their youth program. So anyway, um that's what we've done so far and we look to do more of that. And so I just wanted to, you know, thank you for the opportunity to share, you know, what Rachel's Warrior run is about, what our mission is. Um and I, you know, very thankful for your consideration of approving our event for this year. It is scheduled to be August 22nd. Yeah. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Questions? Any questions, comments?

Councelor Kennedy, do you have a like a rain date or is it rain or shine? Like rain or rain or shine? Thank you. You're welcome. It's going to be a sunny day. It's It better be. Let's hope so. It was last year. We had beautiful. We had another one coming. Yeah. Any more questions? Comes, could I have a motion, please? Councelor Kennedy. Councelor Ashline. Roll call, please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Item eight. The Office of Economic Development has received requests for use of public space from Graham Barney to host the Harbor Fest Party in the Park at Water Street Square on Friday, July 24th, Saturday, July 25th, and Sunday, July 26th, 2026 from 12:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. each day. Sir,

hello. Hello, city representatives. Uh, for those who don't know me, I'm Graham Barney and I'm representing the Harbor Fest sponsorship committee. Um, I'm here in regards to the Harbor Fest Party in the Park at Water Street Square. Um, I'm also the CEO of Snacks Enterprises and I'm attending member of the small business meetings in Asiggo. Um, I joined the Harborest sponsorship board in the past year in hopes to better relations with local businesses and add more vibrant density downtown while people are visiting the event. Um, in the past 3 years of being in business downtown, I previously threw a snacks party in the park the Saturday of Harbor Fest featuring local vendors, music, and artists for people passively checking out um these things while they're on the way to the main festival grounds. Um, the only main difference between this model that I'm presenting and ones that have worked in the past is it's going to be under the umbrella of Harbor Fest. um been working close with the new board members and leaders Craig and other sponsorship committee members um to get their seal of approval as well as policies uh for what's going to be happening as in who's playing um who's vending etc. Um and also instead of it just being Saturday, we're looking to have it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 8. Uh we're going to have uh New York State certified security on standby there with um communications to be able to communicate, contain, and control if anything were to happen. But in the past previous years, um the logistics and infrastructure for this event, I feel like speaks for itself. We have not had any issues. We've had nothing but support, smiles, and good times from this event. And we're uh looking to do this with the intention of bettering relations with local businesses. questions, comments. I have one. Have you Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, counselors given.

So, who's the applicant? Is it you or Harbor Festivals? I'm the one that is spearheading this event particularly. So, I'm going to be the one that's going to be the main representative of this micro event, but it is under the umbrella of Harbor. So, so it'll fall under a Harbor Fast. Yes. Okay. That that was my question. I appreciate that. Um, my question, have you talked with Chief Katy? Have you had any interaction with him? Uh, well, in the past, sir, we have had this event. Um, it very similar model. The only difference is it's going to be a couple days um in comparison just to the one. Um, but we haven't had any issues in the past, but I'm happy to be in harmony and communicate with the police force anyway that is needed. Again, haven't been any issues in the past. It's a great event. Okay.

I think expanding it'll be be good for the downtown area. Yeah, sounds good. Thank you, Chief. Any more questions, comments? Motion please. Councelor Plunkett. Councelor Ashine. Roll call, please. Council Meer. Yes. Plunket. Yes. Ashlin. Yes. Yes. Uhoh. My computer just went bad. Uh oh. What happened?

I'm in trouble. Oh, there we go. Okay. Item nine. The Office of Economic Development has received a request from the Asiggo Public Library for use of public space to host story time in the park at Washington Square Park on Wednesdays from July 8th to August 12th, 2026 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Um, I did contact the library. Um, I guess they've done this in the past. Um, it's 1 hour. Um the lady the the uh the person that actually applied uh is off until Thursday. So um I did talk to one of the representatives over there and it's just story time in the square and I think it's probably a good thing for the kids on a summer afternoon or sun summer morning. Questions comments motion please. Councelor Kennedy, Councelor Ashine. Roll call.

Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Councelor Kennedy. Yes.

Item 10. The Office of Economic Development has received requests from Trevor Jorgensson and Steve Duffren for use of public space at Breck to host the Asiggo City Summer Band Series on Wednesday evenings from June 24th to August 16th, 2026. Um I talked uh I believe it was Steve over the weekend. They couldn't be here um only because they had prior commitments um and it's gone on in the past. So, I really can't see any. I think it's a a great thing for the community. So, I would I would urge us to vote yes. Comments, questions. Motion, please. Councelor Plunket. Councelor Kennedy. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer,

yes. Councelor Plunkett, yes. Councelor Ashine, yes. Councelor Kennedy, yes.

Item 11, approve fee waiver request for racing racing's biggest black party. Um, on this one, they they want to uh they want us to wave the fees for trash, road closure, bandstand, and generator. Um, I I have talked with the mayor on this. We have discussed this a little bit. Um, my feeling is that I don't think we should wave everything. I think it would be fair to split it. Um, I would like to amend this motion and in a way that uh the city would cover the trash removal and the um road closure at $550. Uh, dirt week would cover the band stand at 500. We would cut the generator in half so they're 550. So we we'd split it in half. They would pay $550 and and the city would pay 550. It's a free event. You know, they're hosting it. They wanted the band stand. So, I thought, you know, it would be appropriate for them to uh to pay for the band stand. Questions, comments?

I make a motion to amend as amended as you had stated. Okay. I think we're going to have to uh just put in for amendment on this. Uh Kevin, that's fine. Okay. Um Oh, I'm sorry, Craig. councilors, I believe the uh the wage fee for the band stage uh includes the generator. The $500 fee the stage includes the generator so long as they're using the generator for the stage. Okay. Because the power requirements for the new stage are is is 50 amp which isn't available. Um so council you should take that in consideration. Okay. Thank you Craig.

Any questions or comments on that? Do we would it be okay for us to cover the the uh trash and the road closure and uh dirt week would pick up the band stand? Any comments on that? Questions? So, Eager, I guess we'll have to amend it to read. Okay, you already got it. Good man. Okay. Could I have a motion as amended? You make a motion to amend. Okay. Okay. Sorry. You are motion to amend. Councelor Kennedy. Councelor Ashine. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Councelor Kennedy. Yes.

Motion is amend. Amended. Councelor Kennedy. Councelor Ashley. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. I thought that was going to be the easy one. All right. Item 12. Craig Rebu, our commissioner of public works and parks and recreation, has received a request from Blaine Mlullen on behalf of a Swiggo Admiral's hockey for use of public space located at Chrysafully rink to host hockey games on Saturday evenings. Craig, you want to someone talk? Okay, council, how we doing? We're doing good.

Did you have any qu come up for questions or Well, yeah. I mean, is it uh is it a rental type thing or Yeah, we'll be renting the space from the city. Okay, cuz that wasn't nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Uh council caravier, commissioner of public works. Uh we received this request from Blaine. Uh we we had some questions, you know, uh what kind of we had issues previously with with uh locker room space and such. uh the proposal before you. They're going to come and play games on Saturday nights when we usually have empty ice. So, we welcome like to ask the council to welcome the admirals and we welcome the additional revenue to the rink to help maintain it.

Yeah. Okay. Councelor Kenno can't have enough hockey. So, welcome. You know, we're happy to have you here. And figure skating. Yeah. And figure skating. But but it kind of raises a question. You know, it this is it's it's a facility rental of sorts. Yes. And and it comes to us as a use of public space, which we don't usually see these come this way. And I know you have other organizations like the figure skating club who have regular agreements for use of those facilities. So, so will this rise to a point at some point where we'll consider it differently or will it always come before us as a use of public space request? The the difference here is the admirals are going to charge admission.

Okay. That's that's why with the requested use. So that's why Okay. Yes. Okay. Uh so you have you have your pre-prescribed hourly charges in place for the use of the facility as well, right? Yes. Okay. And don't you visit those every year to make sure they're reflective? Insure. Yes, sir. Okay. That's my question. Any more questions, comments? I have a motion, please. Councelor Plunket. Council Ashine. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer, yes. Councelor Plunkett, yes. Councelor Ashlin, yes. Councelor Kennedy, yes.

Item 13, Craig Rebior, Commissioner of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, has received a request from Elizabeth Bonner on behalf of a Swiggo County opportunities for use of public space to place in a Swiggo County healthy mile sign in Breitbeck Park. This is a resend and replace. Is this part of the motion that we uh voted on earlier this year of how many signs you wanted? Yes, councilors are familiar. We had the uh the organization identified incorrectly in the previous it was so county uh it's actually county opportunities. That's the change in your resolution. Okay. But they they wanted to put a couple signs down. Yes, a couple signs in Brebeck Park for that for the healthy mile program.

Any more questions, comments? Have a motion, please. Councelor Ashline, councelor Kennedy. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. Okay. The next item, item 14. Uh, Chairman William Meyer request discussion regarding the cities of Asiggo's rules and regulations surrounding the signs yard signs. Um, when I put this on, I didn't realize it was going to be quite as elongated meeting as we're about to have tonight. So, um, we might want to keep this, you know, try to keep it short. Um if we have anybody in the um uh in the audience that'd like to speak and then I would like to see

Good evening common council Brandon Walker Fifth Ward. So I've spoken briefly to uh councelor Meyer and councelor Fitz Gibbons about this. To keep it short I just ask obviously all of you guys are aware just to reconsider what we have currently. Um, obviously tonight you're you're allowing in committee to pass for certain people to have yard signs in public space. I want you all to consider as well for small businesses, medium businesses to put yard signs in their own private property because the current ordinance is kind of weird is the best way I can describe that. So, this is just a reconsideration to look into it better and allow small businesses, medium businesses to have it on their private property for residential areas. So, thank you.

Thank you, Brandon. No problem. Councelor Carrick Kohley, um would you just couple couple questions? We we've heard in the past that um there was a a Supreme Court ruling on signs and um could you elaborate a little bit on that? So, we we have somewhere to go with this.

So, yeah, I guess the question really is whether municipalities in New York State are authorized to regulate yard signs, which is primarily what we're talking about here, but it could be any sign, right? It's not specific to yard signs. In fact, uh, Councelor Myers, you you gave uh me a copy of a portion of the zoning regulations uh article uh 8 dealing with signs. In in 2020, the council adopted uh the sign regulations primarily in response to uh as the purpose says the proliferation of for rent signs in residential neighborhoods and uh the undesirable image uh that that having for rent signs uh uh indefinitely in in windows uh kind of projected as a as a community, right? That um kind of contrary to to some of the things that we've been trying to do in in revitalizing neighborhoods, keeping them alive and well. And so this regulation was adopted in 2020. It doesn't prohibit signs necessarily. It it regulates them as it relates to um various zones and uh for residential uses uh when located on immediate property without um first obtaining permission from uh the city and particularly the code enforcement department. So such signs as for rent for sale signs um are to be um can be placed with the permission of the code office but then would have to be removed 10 days after the sale lease or rent of a premises. Um it goes on from

there. But fundamentally and constitutionally uh communities across the state and across the nation, I would contend as the chairman pointed out Supreme Court action uh the issue of signs is usually pops up during political season, right? The general rule of thumb is that communities can regulate the time, the place, and the manner of signs, but cannot regulate the content of that sign. That the that any regulations um trying to control the content of a sign has to be what the courts have said is contentneutral. So in other words, you have to apply the regulations equally to all signs. You can't pick and choose what sign you like, what sign you don't like. Uh you know, if if and again through the campaigns you you saw that one side's promoting uh a particular derogatory statement towards an individual and then across the street there's a similar sign, right? Those signs are permitted because in a community you can't treat one differently than another. What you can do is regulate for instance the size and the height of a sign. You can regulate the placement of that sign and the duration of the sign. Right? So time, place and manner. Uh you could regulate and and This chapter does regulate the the size of signs for

instance. Uh can only be um on a uh I believe for rent signs for instance um can only be displayed inside a window of a residential dwelling uh one for sale sign not exceeding five square feet in area. Those are regulations. Now they haven't been tested constitutionally but at the very least I would contend they regulate the time, place and manner. not necessarily the content. Even though this says for sale and for rent, it could say anything. So, I I think the the problem would come into um I know I've gotten a few calls on this from landlords that want to rent properties. And I know that was the issue back when they were doing this. I was in the gallery out there.

Yeah.

And uh and I understand what the city was was getting at. They had signs all over the place and for rent signs. uh from uh complaints from residents said that it was, you know, demeaning to their to their neighborhoods. Um, however, if if the if it the Supreme Court has ruled that um we can't actually say regulate what's on the sign if we allow yard signs for say roofing contractors or uh for sale signs for um even if they got a permit, would they be would that allow them to put that sign up? Well, I I think the uh the law tries to address that. One ground sign per lot shall be allowed in a by special permit in a T TN T1, TN2, SR and UR residential district for um well in this case licensed professional offices if such offices are allowed therein are allowed uh that are otherwise allowed in those districts by special permit. Um, I guess the the I guess what you're getting at, if I understand you, is that, you know, you're regulating for rent signs, but what about, you know, roofer for hire or any anybody else, right?

Um, and again, that's content. Um, can't necessarily discriminate. We're gonna regulate for rent and for sale signs, but we're not going to regulate uh you know person for hire signs. What you can do is regulate the the again the time, place, and manner, right? So the location there are um um safety concerns, right? if it blocks pedestrian access or vehicular access, th those are legitimate concerns that the courts have said a community can can regulate and and usually it's done by by way of size, right? Um there's also the the duration, right? So, how many days it can go up? Do you want some a sign up indefinitely? Um again, municipalities have the right to consider all of that. Uh I'm not suggesting there's one easy answer for all of this, but um we can certainly look at uh article 8 signs and see if it's worth tweaking. You know, six years now and uh you know, points have been raised that that are good points and certainly not opposed to taking another look at it to make sure it does, you know, meet constitutional muster.

Okay. Does anybody council that's given uh uh time, place and um manner location. Yeah.

Yeah. Those are those are good things uh to to to do. But I also look practically that that real estate signs of five feet square feet. That's 2 foot by 2 and 1/2 foot. I I I I'm sure we could check most of the real estate signs that are commonly commonly made. None of them are made two foot by two and a half foot. They're they're probably 30 by 24. They're bigger than that. Sure. You know, so they're they shouldn't be significantly bigger, but we ought to at least be consistent with what a Century 21 or Howard Hannah sign will typically see in the community. And so and to be consistent with that would probably be appropriate, you know. And the other thing is if those signs require a a a walkth through to zoning to put up, do we want to be in that business? uh you you know and the question is do we want to have a have a a requirement that we know is not going to be followed because it's practically impractical. It's impractical to have every every nuance of real estate sign that comes and goes managed by us. And uh you know in the in the same regard I I I get the fact we don't want to have someone camp out a for rent sign in front of a desirable place and use it as bait to solicit uh tenants looking for places thinking that that place is available and use it to be the the the the magnet to get a flow of tenants for other locations. you know, that would be the if we didn't have a duration of of of of how a sign and how long a sign could run. So, I think I think it was a good topic to bring up. I don't know that we're going to generally get the answers tonight, but there's there's a few

this was just start discussion. We need to clean up. Yeah, there is I I I will just add one other just as a public information. I I know I sent it to Chairman Myers already, but the state of New York has put out a a very good publication, Municipal Control of Signs. It's a 75page document. If you Yes, it is. If you want to if you want to read it, uh I can send you a link. We can make it available. It it it's it's in the public domain. So, anyone can uh can pull it up. Uh it's it's a little dated. Uh 2010 was the last time it was revised as far as I could tell, but the the material is still valid and relevant. Okay.

Encourage you to Kevin to to Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Council L. I was going to ask you, could you just forward this the link? Sure. Thank you. Yep. Happy to to continue this discussion. Do we need a motion or how does that work to I mean, unless there's an action to be taken from this discussion, it's it's been a discussion. I think to be continued would be would be the way to go, but okay. I'm not hearing of any action at the moment. So, uh if there is none, then uh probably if that's the last item on your agenda, probably a motion to adjurnn, Mr. Chairman. Great. Thank you. You're welcome.

Okay. No more discussion. So, could I have a motion to adjourn physical services committee meeting? Councelor Kennedy. Councelor Ashine. Roll call, please. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Plug. Yes. Councelor Ashley. Yes. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. All right. Um, so call the human services committee to order. Um, can I have a roll call, please? Councelor Kennedy here. Councelor Thompson here. Councelor Ashlin here.

Um, first order, can I get a motion to approve the minutes of the March 16th, 2026 committee meeting? Council Ashlin, Council Thompson, Council Kennedy, yes. Councelor Thompson, yes. Councelor Ashlin, yes. Uh I don't see any old business at this time. So new business. Uh authorization number one, Police Chief Phil Katy request authorization to enter into an agreement with Helio Health Incorporated for an embedded mental health clinician and further authorization for the city chamberlain to execute payment for monthly invoices related to SA.

Thanks councelor Kennedy. Good evening everyone. Uh in 2022, we started planning for the corresponder embedded mental health clinician program to help with our homeless homelessness problem in the city. Uh at the time, we secured 150,000 in grants from then Senator Manion and 75,000 in uh grant money from the Shinman Foundation. Uh April 2024, we partnered with Helio Health and we started our program. We brought on Gina Vaughn, who's here somewhere in the back. Uh since its inception, the program has grown a lot. Uh it's been become more than just uh dealing with our homeless population. Gina regularly helps with mental health calls, uh domestic disputes, um death notifications, juvenile problems. It's the the program is has really grown, taken on a life of its own. Um so this is this request is to pay the invoices to get us through the rest of the year. Uh we knew we were going to hit this point eventually with the grant money running out. So after conversations with councelor Fitzgiven and councelor Kennedy, we felt this would be the best meeting to uh to bring this up. Um it's not a budget amendment. I'm not asking for a specific amount. I think after looking at uh the average amount of monthly invoices that we get from Helio Health, uh 65,000 should get us through the rest of the year. And then uh in our discussions for the 2027 budget which will be coming up um we'll discuss the uh the program and uh possibly expanding it. But now I'd like to invite Tanya Lines from Helio Health. She's going to give a little talk about the program and then we'll answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you counselors for having us. Um, the city of Asiggo's co-response model of embedding a mental health clinician within the Asiggo Police Department has become an essential component of our public safety and behavioral health response system. The program has proven to be highly effective, data-driven, and addresses individuals in crisis while also supporting law enforcement and improving community outcomes. Last year in 2025 alone, a single clinician, Gina, responded to 225 immediate calls for service and managed 717 total client related encounters, including in-person crisis responses, follow-ups, and care coordination. The program served over 300 unique individuals with nearly half of those referrals originating directly from 911 dispatch, demonstrating its critical role in frontline crisis response. Beyond the immediate interventions, the program facilitated 81 direct connections to critical services including mental health treatment, substance use care, housing, and primary care, which has contributed contributed to helping stabilize individuals and reduce repeat system involvement. The model not only reduces the burden on patrol officers, but also ensures that individuals experiencing mental health or substance use crisis are met with appropriate specialized care. It strengthens continuity by following up with individuals after law enforcement contact, helping prevent repeat crises, unnecessary hospitalizations, and avoidable justice system involvement. Continued funding for the remainder of 2026 is critical to sustain this proven high impact program. Without it, the city risks losing a vital resource that reduces strain on law enforcement, improves outcome for vulnerable residents, and strengthens coordination across systems of care. Um, I think we can probably save the expansion chat for when you guys are talking about your budget for 2027. Thank you.

Um, yes. Did you say so Gina responded to all those all by herself? Those 700 and some odd. So 225 were direct in-person responses co-responding with a law enforcement officer or more than one law enforcement officer. The rest are followup to those calls and other referrals that she did respond to on her own. Wow. Okay.

Uh any other comments, concerns? Um, at my monthly meetings, uh, Chief Katy and several officers have been there throughout the three months I've had them and, uh, this topic has come up on several occasions and they've had nothing but, uh, good things to say about this program. So, I would definitely encourage us to keep it going.

I I I'll add to that, you know, I think this is an area that that uh, Gina, there's been nothing but positive things of the impact Gina's had uh, to the community. When you look at uh caregiving and what 247 is as it relates to public service and and first responders, you know, that leaves a lot of time that might not have all the resources that would be necessary and the problems that the that that the that the community faces and these are are crisis people in crisis. And and I think having the resources uh uh in addition to Gina, but what what we can do to expand that uh will I think minimize the impact to our first responders in the fire department and and the public health uh system that we serve, the emergency room, you know, the all the other things that demand resources can be helped by the program. So, you know, thank you very much. Thank you, Phil, for championing it. and and I I think it's our it's on us to to to work together to find resources to uh make this work uh beyond where it is right now because it's certainly a good example of what does work and and certainly we we've we've we've heard the voices of other mental health providers and and people dealing with crisis population and and it's a mosaic of what we need to do. There's not one there's not one way we're going to do it. And I think we all if we coordinate these things well and allocate resources smartly, we we'll be better. Thank you.

And this is the direction that the country is moving with these embedded clinicians and law enforcement departments. So, we've seen a lot of success across the country with it.

And we we're probably the first program in Central New York, if not one of the first programs in Central New York. And uh we're slowly becoming a model program. Go ahead. I know with like your leadership, Chief, uh you've done a lot of good things for the for the department and with this uh clinic with this mental health clinician with Gina, it's been really great for the community and I know that a lot of the officers get their training, but they're not trained all the way with what mental health providers can can do and and help with. So, um I I agree with councelor Gibbons to uh hopefully we can look at the budget for next year and expand on this. So, I'm I'm all for this.

And that was one of the things uh when we originally looked at building this program, we thought about having the clinician as a city employee, but once we got looking at it with certifications, um it's just it's a better idea to go through a program like Hale.

Absolutely. And we have deep experience with this in other areas too. We're not we don't have um an embedded clinician in other law enforcement departments, but we ride along and work very closely with other law enforcements as well. So we have a great deal of experience in this um arena. And you know, Gina can only provide so much time. So we really do hope that we are able to provide this community with another um clinician one day to serve more of the 24 hours that exist in the day. Crisis can't be predicted. So,

and and the followup component is huge for us because our guys can only do and guys and girls can only do what they can do, right? If they have to take somebody uh in for a mental health evaluation, they're able to do that. But the followup afterward is the key component to all of this and uh having GINA able to do that is is very important. Council Thompson, based on the number of calls that you get, um, mental health related, drug related, um, how many how many resources do you actually need? Because I see we're adding one next year. Do we actually need more than just one? Uh, more than two total?

No, I think if if we have two to cover more hours, that will be be sufficient that, you know, that's a conversation we can have as a group when we're doing the the budget meetings. Um but uh certainly down the road as as conditions may change it might be something that we we can look at. One other quick question. Have you um I see Officer Lumness is in the audience is uh grants looking at or this grant I know was currently um been exhausted but is there more or

Yep. So, right now I'm having discussions with the county and there's opioid settlement funding uh money that they have that they can allocate and early discussions with them uh to help with the program. Most of the grants that are available right now or are for new programs that are starting up and so we're kind of well ahead of that curve, but we're constantly looking and I have to give Sergeant Lumis some props on this. that, you know, we I discussed my idea with him when when this was uh in its early inception and he kind of took it and ran with it and we looked at other programs and and he definitely uh dogged it and got us a lot of grant funding for it. So, give him credit for that.

You have found some third parties to build for the services as well. So, that's what's stretched out your ability to run. So, I mean obviously that also has a benefit, you know, a reimburseable service. Sure. In an ideal world, we would bill for all of the services. However, um, in the mental health world, you really need consent to bill. Um, and so we're dealing with a population that isn't typically ready to put pen to paper. And we understand that, but that's certainly a benefit that you wouldn't have realized when you probably started it to the extent that you're able to extend it. Within the last year, we've started that. Very good.

Right. Um, any other questions or concerns? Can I get a motion? Councelor C. Ashine. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. Councelor Thompson. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Thank you. Thank you guys. Authorization number two, Chairman Chance Kennedy, request discussion regarding mental health awareness month. U so at this time I was hoping there would be some people in the audience that would like to discuss uh mental health awareness and any services that are offered things like that. Anybody wants to come up?

Hi. Um, for those of you who don't know me, uh, my name is Aaron Stark and I work uh, for Farn and Family Services as an admitting clinician. And my primary duty is to assess uh, people when they come in for, you know, substance use disorders and uh, you know, mental health screening. And what I've seen is the direct correlation with mental health and substance use disorder. So what it is, I mean uh the American uh uh psychiatric association recognizes substance use disorder as a chronic brain disease. It's what it is. It's reoccurring. Um and it's treatable and it's not like it's, you know, a lack of willpower or anything. It's just uh it's unfortunate, but it's what it is at the end of the day. It's all mental health. Um, and what what I've seen personally is clients will come through and will already either have pre-existing uh mental health diagnosises a lot of times undiagnosed or untreated. And what has happened is they end up um using substances to treat their symptoms, which you know, fast forward a short period of time, could be a longer length of time, end up addicted to the substances. And uh on the other end of the coin, there's people that have come through that um as a result of just prolonged uh recreational use of substances end up developing mental health disorders. as a result. So, they both go hand in hand and um I'm glad that we're actually talking about it more recently.

That's all I had. Any questions? Mhm. Um you mentioned you're from Farnum. Is that the site that's uh developing on George Street? Yeah, that's your new location. We're excited. The end of uh the end of July. It's probably going to be the second week in August, but they're saying the uh last week in July right now. We're very excited about that. So, we have some uh contracts with the a bus and uh some different transportation resources going to make things a lot easier for people to gain access to services. Thank you. Mhm. Thank you. Anybody out there would like to speak?

Hello. Um, I work with Espo County Opportunities. I oversee the behavioral health services. Um, within our program, we offer mental health services. We offer residential housing. So, we have a group home that or group residents that offers 10 beds to individuals who have a severe mental illness. Um, we also have a transitional living apartment treatment program that is up to 30 beds. We're still waiting for a couple to come online, but we do have 30 slated there. Um, it's also something we've expanded across the county. So, we have units that we're getting ready to open in, sorry, in Palaska and um, Mexico, I think. So, we have schools. Um within those units, we work with our guys to learn daily living skills, symptom management, um medication management. We work with them to learn how to successfully manage their own lives. So we work as almost um inhand with case management. So we will go to appointments with them. We will assist them in advocating Um, the supervised residence is 24 hours. Our apartment treatment isn't 24 hours, but we have 24-hour on call, so they have access to staff whenever they need them. Uh, we also have a crisis bed. So, the crisis bed provides shortterm crisis services and supportive counseling to adults. So, all of these services are 18 and older. Um, and that bed is in our 24-hour supervised residence. So um there is a short application for both processes. The crisis bed is a

little bit easier to get into because it is a shortterm respit. Um whereas with our supervised resident in our apartment treatment program, it is a little bit of a longer process because we have to verify the mental health. We have to verify the um like length um and ensure it's an appropriate setting. We also have a mental health supportive uh housing program. This one's pretty cool. She has 65 vouchers. Um and she offers financial assistance to secure independent housing within the community for folks with mental illness. So she works hand inand to maintain the apartments within the community, the leases in their name. Um the program just pays a portion of the rent and then assists with anything that comes up throughout the month. They also provide a case management. So they go in, they visit with the folks every month um and make sure everything's going okay there. Sorry. Okay. Um we also have within OCO sort of underneath this behavioral health umbrella is our arbor house um which is a substance use um supervised residence. So that's 24 hours 16 beds um and that is out in hand. We also have an SLP so our supportive living program also Oasis funded. Um but as you know far was just saying we do see a lot of that co-occurring where we have folks who are medicating via substances to treat that mental health symptoms. Um our oasis like Arbor House is men only but we just started taking ladies into our apartment treatment program. So

that's been very successful. Our weight list has uh almost doubled due to that. So, we are seeing a need for that within our community. Um, we also have some homeless services, but I know we're focusing on mental health today. So, you guys have any questions? Sure. Uh, how would people get a hold of these services? Like what is there like a special number to call or is it just the main number? Like how did people get

Yep. You could absolutely call the main number. they'll get you over to us. Um, I can also give you my number afterwards if you'd like. Um, I also brought some applications. Wasn't really sure what you guys were over here. So, I did bring some of that stuff to give out. Um, we do try to um like respond fairly quickly to any referrals we do get. We do sometimes have a wait list. We work with um mental hygiene, SPOA, so single point of access. Um, occasionally with getting folks in, we work a lot with lockdown. We work with the inpatient unit ACT team who also, you know, service our folks who are struggling with mental health. So,

you took my question. Oh, you took your question. Yeah. you you commented on a couple of um supportive models that you you do and and those are supportive housing models. Yes. So we do have a supportive housing model. That model includes the um the consumer. So our resident is on the lease. So they sign the lease and then the supportive housing program pays a large portion of the rent. So, our guys only have to pay 30% of their income, which is where housing should be, right?

Um, so that gives them a break and makes things affordable because a lot of our guys are either on SSI or DSS and and and and since it's a situational, you sign leases with the So, they're throughout the county, including in the city. But then you have a supportive model in Palaska you mentioned. Yes, we do.

And that's a congregate house. Um, so yes, the apartments that we have out in Palasky will be congregate. So we've got a couple things going in Palasky, we also have an ehi property that is or we partnered with somebody in regards to each and that is for our homeless folks that's also funded by OM which is the department or the office of mental health. So we do focus heavily on mental health within those ESHI units. Um, Empire State supportive housing initiative. Sure. So that is also one of the programs that are set up so people don't pay more than 30% of their income towards rent.

One of the voids that that that I you know I think I I see is emergency supportive housing. You that's that's really a void in our community. Yep. And you have have you looked at programs that target the emergency supportive housing models that are out there and and the state has programs behind that as well with cor with uh uh uh uh you know you know and and certainly we we we we wrestled with the supportive service with Haven of Hope, but what happens outside of that and it's not there there's there's we have warming shelters in the winter, Mhm. But what else do we have?

Yeah. So, I do think something like that would be amazing. I will say that's that's that's what OCO is. Amazing. Right. Well, yes. You you've got you got a month or two to come up with something and come back. Love to hear it though because I really think that's a void. We have uh emergency supportive housing and and and and if you have there's thoughts on that, I'd be interested. Yes. And I do think that's important for us to know because that's a barrier having the folks backing us in doing that. Like folks still have to live somewhere. So you got to bring them into the community. But you need good partners with good plans. Yes. And and so you we're not going to get a good plan tonight.

No. But but I would say that that's clearly uh something that that I I think I you know speaking for other counselors I think we'd like to hear what that would look like. Yeah. Uh because because the absence of that is is uh is not good and we're we don't support the absence of it. So so we we we need to come up with a way to make that work. Perfect. That's why we got this that's why I'm trying to get this discussion moving forward so we can find solutions to these issues

like Haven of Hope um and and things like that so we can help with these get these to a better place. I know there's going to there's no easy solution to anything any of these real world problems, but baby steps in the right direction are the right direction that I feel like the city and the county, I imagine, would like to take to to help at least rectify in a small way the the issues that our residents undertake. It's definitely appreciated. Thank you for speaking. Appreciate that. Great. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, is there anybody else at this time that would like to speak?

Good evening, counselors. My name's Clark Sergeant. I serve as the executive director of mental health and wellness for Swiggo Health, mental health and wellness division. Uh, thank you councelor Kennedy for inviting us to be here. Uh I just want to start by echoing the value that um from the Swiggo Health perspective outside looking in that the value that the uh OPD and Helio partnership brings. Um our inpatient admissions have been very static for the last decade and this uh last year we saw a decline of around 300 admission days. And um while we can't correlate that entirely to a single event or or a single response, uh we look back at what has changed over the last year and identified the Helio OPD partnership as one of those things that most likely contributed uh to a reduction in inatient stay. So I just wanted to start by that piece with that piece. Um I'd also like to thank the city. It's it's uncommon for a small city and a rural county to be as forward thinking on mental health uh as this city has been. Uh just the fact that we're talking about this tonight, I think is a is a meaningful step. Uh mental health is uncomfortable to talk about. Um topics about uh self harm and suicide are very intimate uh and and and and so it takes courage and intentionality to talk about them. Um, according to the most recent Asiggo County community needs assessment, over 70% of respondents identified mental health and suicide as one of the most significant barriers uh facing the count uh facing the county. And sadly uh their concerns are well placed. We see that aso county leads uh the six surrounding counties in suicides uh each year. Um and that's a statistic that ASGO health takes very seriously. Um our

organization consists of four primary service lines. It's anchored of course by the psychiatric inpatient unit. Um so that that unit takes um patients that come through our ED and our assess uh to need inpatient mental health treatment and then are admitted uh to our inpatient unit. But we've also very recently and we haven't we haven't announced this yet, but we have a meeting with our marketing team to announce this uh soon over the next few weeks. Um we're setting up a pilot program to admit patients directly to our inpatient unit straight through the Lobell Center, which will avoid the need to go into the emergency room for assessment. Now, that is not going to be for every person struggling from a a mental health condition. Um obviously patients who are severely psychotic or manic um will still need to go through the traditional process but those who are voluntary who meet some baseline medical requirements who are deemed to be sober uh we'll be able to have a higher level of access and faster access to impatient psychiatric care. Uh so we've already um rolled that out kind of silently as uh uh and done some test runs on that and then we're going to be announcing that to the general public here within the next month. Uh in addition to our inpatient psychiatric unit, our uh second service line is our outpatient uh mental health services. So that's primarily therapy and med management services. Of course, we provide that at the Lodell Center, but we also have uh some outlier clinics in Fulton. Uh our third service line is our ACT program. And our ACT team is a small group that takes care into the community uh for the sickest individuals who can't access care at a centralized location. So, our psychiatric nurse practitioners will go out into the community, meet people at home, do their assessments, make uh uh prescriptions right there. We have um specialists of vocational, educational, housing specialists that will go out into the community and meet these individuals where they are. Um and

we're serving currently just over 50 people in Swiggo County with that and a number of them right here within the city limits. Uh and our last service line is our school-based program which is uh continuing to grow. uh we found that accessing uh children in a central clinic is less effective than accessing them in the school uh in the schools. We currently have therapists in almost all of the schools in a swiggo in the Swiggo city. Um and what we've seen is that when we have a captive audience then we uh have a higher chance of impacting those kids. And um it remains true that when children are developing, if we can get um them engaged with mental health care at a younger age, outcomes are significantly improved. Uh I councilman, I will echo your uh statement about emergency housing. uh one of the significant barriers to safe discharges from our inpatient unit is uh for emergency housing and uh it's something that has the ability to undermine the success of that recovery. Um somebody once uh famously said that uh when you have a house over your head, enough food, and your bills paid, your mental health problems get significantly less. And and it's true. You know, that's not a very clinical statement, but that's true. Um, so at that point I'll I'll wrap it up and say thank you again for inviting us to participate and ask if there's any questions.

Great. Thank you. Very good. The school program that you have is that like elementary, middle, and high school or all through like K through 12?

Yep. We um have therapists at all levels. Um and one of the challenges we realized was that there's a lot of uh there's a lot more elementary schools feeding into a single high school or in in in some areas. So how do we seamlessly transition large groups of of kids into a place with less access to care? Uh so within the last year we created a model where at the end of every year um each therapist from each school district meet together and do warm handoffs about who needs care, who can be transitioned uh so that we can seamlessly move the kids who need care and prioritize the one that need ones that need it most uh to be ready to meet with that therapist that's uh located right on site at that school system at the high school. uh and some districts are set up a little better for that than others, but uh that pro that system has seemed to had a have a pretty positive effect on the continuity of care across the different school levels, the different the different educational levels. Good question.

Thank you. Anybody else want to check? Does that program run through aso health?

It is. Yeah, we're in 14 schools across asiggo county. We just uh launched a partnership with um Mexico Boseies um and the demand there has been so significant that we may uh embed a second therapist very soon there. Um not every school in the city of Asiggo has taken advantage of our offer to have a therapist on site. It's of no cost to the school. Um and um we believe very strongly that that's where the value is. And if you look at the literature, um we do have a dedicated youth clinic in Fulton, but the number of visits and the amount of care we're providing continues to dwindle at that location and contin continues to expand uh at the schools and the uh some schools that even have weight lists. So, um, we'd we'd love to be in every school in ago, uh, city and, uh, and there's some schools, I think, that are on the verge of, uh, expanding within the school, going from a single therapist, uh, to multiple therapists on site. Uh, and we don't replace school counselors. Uh, we supplement that care. So, uh, the therapists, uh, represent kind of a more acute or critical need. Uh, so the care could be escalated from a school counselor up to, uh, one of our mental health therapists. And it's a no cost to the city, no cost to the school. We uh have a billing model straight through uh our own organization to to handle all that. All we need is the space.

Anybody else like to ask questions? Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Is there anybody else in the audience that would like to speak counselors? Uh, I just want to applaud you for bringing uh this topic up. Uh, in the first responder community, we're not um, you know, we're seeing it affect us, too. Um, I've been on calls with Gina and Chief Gate and his gang and and she does a great job. They need more help. Um, and you know, we just going through um, over the years we we take train uh, safety training and the safety topics over the years for firefighters. uh sometimes has to do with you know cardiac issues, cancer issues. Now mental health is always at the forefront. So uh it's always talked about and we're trying to find you know what you're doing is adjusting and bringing topics up and sometimes that that it's going to be a catalyst for change. So I applaud you all for that. Um and uh you're seeing it already at the police department and we're we're at the at the fire department we are bringing up um we're trying to change as well. So, we're looking at more culturally competent um clinicians. Uh you know, in Danielle's office and personnel, we you know, we have EAP, employee assistance program. Everybody in the city has it. We've used it. Um but we're finding is we need culturally competent clinicians to deal with first responders, uh you know, uh firemen, police see some things that you can't unsee. Um so, it's important. So, thanks for bringing it up and you know, uh, keep up with

um Okay, Chief, could you tell us a little bit more about the program that's offered to city employees that you just referenced, the employee assistance program? Yes.

Yeah. Uh, I believe it's through Krauss Help People. That's our contracted vendor. I think we've had it for a long time. Um, you know, and so it's a it's it's an anominous thing. The cards are posted. So, when I talk about change, I mean, we've all had the posters in our offices. We hand out cards to new employees. My point is sometimes that's not enough and you got to catch people before they they they fall in so to speak. So, um try to get as much information out there as you can. So, um that's a good program and I but you know I think we could we could do a little more. We have local you know great local uh help here. So, um yeah, it's it's available. It's available also to the employees and um I'm sure Danielle can get more information out about that. I'm going to put Isiggo Health on the spot.

Don't you love me now? Um, would it be possible to do a partnership with our first responders?

We would love to participate in that. I mean, we can throw a rock and hit the fire department from from our location. So, not that we're going to throw anything, but uh yeah. So, one of the things that we've um looked to do more recently is to find ways to um do education or better connection within the community. One of the things that we recognize is that there's such a small number of helpers uh in in in ao county and and in the city and each one brings something uh unique to the table and no one organization can fill the void. It's got to be multiaceted. Uh so the more that we can interconnect with other partners um whether it's uh local municipalities or nonprofit uh operators we very happy to to participate with that

anything else. Thank you. Thank you.

Great. Thank anybody else who would like to speak. Hello. Um, I'm very grateful to be a part of this conversation. I'm very grateful that you're making it happen. Um, this past winter we saw a lot of serious mental health that was untreated and um, it's it's just great that we're bringing it to the forefront in the community's eyes so that we can learn and grow as a community. Um, I think we're trying to open by June 1st, which would be very happy for all the people that that come to our our agency. Um, we've had a lot of messages every day. Are you open yet? Are you open yet? Are you open yet? They just want somewhere to go where they feel accepted and loved and and connected to resources. So, we're very excited to be opening soon and to partner with all the other local agencies in town.

That's all. Thank you, Rachel. Thanks. Is there anybody else that would like to speak at this time? I'd like I'd like to thank councelor Kennedy for bringing this up and spearheading this this uh discussion on on the mental health. I guess I wasn't aware that it was that prevalent in this and and he's brought it to the forefront and I I think uh I would like to thank him personally for that. Thank you.

I'd like to say that as well. And I'd also like to remind that came up uh on last council meeting 988 is the crisis line. It's 247. It's confidential. It's free. It's a resource that whether it's uh substance, mental health, or or any other issues. It's the equivalent of calling the fire department and the police department. Uh and so people should be familiar with it and they'll connect you up to the resources in our community. So, so that should be a judgment free like employee assistance programs are judgment free. These are judgment-f free resources that should be more readily talked about, more readily used because we we all sit at kitchen tables and we're at tables ourselves where issues like this are are are happening every day.

Thank you again. Um thank you. And I've personally used 988 myself, so I know it's a great resource um for when you're in a really bad crisis. So, it's uh I would recommend 988 for everybody that is in that situation. Hopefully, you're not, but times happen and it's definitely a great resource to have. That being said, um authorization number three, uh chairman Chance Kennedy requests an executive session to discuss proposed pending or current litigation. Can I have a motion? Are we gonna Did you want to defer that?

Is there a motion for this? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Could we include this in uh the executive session that's coming up? Well, we have to we have to vote on we have to get this. Okay. Yeah. I I I think the chairman Kennedy's correct. I would recommend that you vote on it, but then for defer it to the so that you can go into executive session on the two topics, the next committee. So you would vote to go in, but you wouldn't we wouldn't break yet. We would break at the at the second Okay. request. Okay. Okay. So can I have a motion? Councelor Ashine. Thompson. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. Councelor Thompson. Yes. Councelor Ashlin.

Yes. And uh we will defer this until the next session. So at this time, can I get a motion to adjourn? Council Ashine. Thson. Councelor Kennedy. Yes. Councelor Thompson. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. At this time, I'd like to call to order the administrative services committee. Clerk, please call the role. Councelor Pluget here. Councelor Meyer here. Councelor Pence Gibbons here. Councelor Lacket here. Councelor Ashlin

here. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes of the April 20th, 2026 committee meeting, please? Councelor Lton Sack. Councelor Meyer. Councelor Plugin. Yes. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Fitz Gibbons here. Yes. Yes. Councelor Ashley. Yes. Is there any old business? Seeing none, we'll move on to new business. Item one under authorization. Craig Rebior, Commissioner of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, has received a request to accept the donation of a bench from Sarah Sunday on behalf of the Swiggle County Office of the agent to be located at Shapiro Park. I move. Good evening. Hi, counselors. It's okay if I speak.

I'm sorry. I was gonna move right through it. Sorry.

Yes. Good evening, counselors. I wasn't going to speak. I was going to kind of sit back there and just listen or or wait and have you accept this donation, but after the conversation regarding mental health awareness and mental health awareness month, I wanted to give you a little more information about what this bench actually is. Um it's not just a bench going in the park, but um as director of the office for the aging, we see a lot of um loneliness and social isolationism. So, one of our ways we're combating that is with these chat benches and they are placarded with happy to chat and if you sit on that sit down at that bench be expected to have a conversation with someone. So, as we age, one of the the things we start losing people that are in our community circle and it sometimes is harder to make new friends. So these benches can help connect people and it's not just for older people as well because there's a lot of younger people that are lonely and socially isolated. So these benches we this is one of six that are around the county to get people to come together and have a conversation. Um, so that's that's really what this is. One way that we're looking in the office for the aging to bring people together and a safe place and knowing that if they sit down, they can have a conversation.

Great. Any question? Good idea. Questions or comments? Councelor Lensac, I just think this is lovely. How many are we going to have? There's going to be one here at Shapiro Park. There will be one at our office on Bunner Street. And then there's uh four others around the county. There's one in Mexico, Plasky, Phoenix, and the city of Fulton. That was my question.

The the most visible one right now is if you go drive through Mexico, it's right there by the gazebo. So, you can see it right there um at the gazebo. But they are well well placarded and there's a QR code. For older people, you know, we don't use QR codes as much, but for the younger people, they can find, you know, it'll bring them to a page to give more information on what it actually is, why it was established and some how to be safe as well because you shouldn't just sit down and have a conversation with someone and start giving your social security number and, you know, your credit card information to someone. So, and who built the benches?

Thank you. Yes. So this is a uh the city Boseies construction and manufacturing students built all these benches last fall and we had an early snow and a long snow. So these benches have been built since the fall but we're just now going to be getting them out and they'll be placed um this one will be placed on the 21st of this month. Excellent. More questions or comments? And they'll stay they'll stay out year round. Yes, it'll stay out year round and we're looking into um civic organizations to do maintenance on it because it is a wooden bench. It's not the plastic benches. Okay. Thank you.

Any more questions or comments? If not, can I entertain a motion, please? Councelor Meyer. Councelor Ashine. Councelor Plugin. Yes. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Fitz Gibbons. Yes. Councelor Lz. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Item two, under authorization, Craig Rebior, Commissioner of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, has received a request to accept the donation of a bench from Christina Cooper to be located at Shapiro Park. Commissioner

Council, the standard bench donation. Uh we have a spot in in Shapiro for the chatbench that's already there. And then uh this will replace one of the other uh benches that is in disrepair uh that needs updating. Great. Great. Councelor Thompson, is this a wooden bench, plastic? These the these donated benches are uh metal frame with a composite uh like you see in Brebeck Park and the other parks. It's our standard uh uh donation bench. Great. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Can I get a motion, please? Councelor Lensac. Councelor Fitzgiven. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Meyer.

Yes. Councelor Fitzgiven. Yes. Councelor Lacack. Yes. Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Item three under authorization. Craig Rebior, Commissioner of Public Works and Parks and Recreation requests authorization to implement fee changes at the Gallagher pool. Commissioner

councilors in 2025 uh somewhat to some unpopular decision uh from my office. We went from a zero fee to a $2 fee at the public pool for entry. Uh previous to that in 2024, 2023, 2022, there was a significant rise in um inappropriate behavior at the pool. Uh in 2025, sorry, 2024, uh the average call to 911 for an officer to respond was three a day. Three a day. The pool's only open from noon to 7. There were fights, there were weapons, there were arguments. It wasn't a good scene. It was not welcoming to the public to families at all. Uh some discussion with the police department and uh the mayor and the council, we went with a $2 fee and $75 for family fee. family family rate gets you uh you so long as you live in the same household, you as many names on that that uh entry fee, entry ticket as you as you wish for the $75 and that gets you in every day all summer long. And $2 per person uh as outlined in your in your packet. Um 2026 was a resounding success. What the what the what the fee does is make people stop at the front counter. You come in, you check in, we take your name, we make sure that uh parents and guardians are present.

This is made a very positive and significant difference. The fee forced people to stop at the desk and check in to allow staff to verify that they were responsible adults present to their children. Most people were positive and cooperative in the process. We went from an average of three a day to I believe it was one 911 call all in 2026. There were scuffles. There were minor issues, most of which were handled by the the lifeguard staff. CSOS do stop in occasionally, check in the pool, make sure things are going okay. Nothing major. Again, just that one. I believe that one 911 call for the entire season. Three a day to one in the season. Checking at the front desk worked. We met at the end of the season, Friday, August 22nd to be specific, with our uh pool supervisor, Katie Metaf. Mr. Plunkett was at that meeting as well. Um, meeting notes from that meeting was we would take a look at this this spring and consider lowering the fee, cutting it in half to $1 to make it more affordable. And the family fee from 75 to 50. Uh, the other free, you know, foreign under veterans and seniors are still free. Uh, this still accomplishes our our need and our goal of having people check in at the front desk while making it more affordable. and the the reviews we got, the feedback we got from the families using the pool daily that this was it's like night and day between 2024 in 2025. And I guess we lower the fee this year. Again, we'll see how this goes. I'm assuming, my best guess is we're going to see the same success we saw last year. If that's the case, then we'll

make this the permanent fee structure going forward until someone wants to change it, you know, 10 years from now. Uh, any questions, comments? Councilor Thompson. So, if checking in at the front desk is what resolved the issues, why don't we lower it to zero and still make them check in at the front desk? They won't stop. There's nothing to stop them at the desk. So, why don't we change the flow of entry so that way they have to stop?

Is that something that could be looked into? We we could consider that. We could try that. Um when it was when it was zero fee, um people are people are rude. I I'll be I'll be blunt about it. People are rude. They're going to push their way through. Or there'll be someone at the desk being talking and checking in like they're supposed to, and the next person will push through and go in the locker room, and then next thing you know, they're out in the pool, the kids in the pool, and then it's a fight to get them out. Now, we're calling 911 to come get them out of the pool. Um if that's the council's direction that we want to go with this, we'll certainly we we can look into that and we could try that for this year. Uh recommend my recommendation and the recommendation of this committee that was put together to discuss that is that is not the recommendation. We lower it to a dollar. Um there were some uh individuals and and people willing to made made some donations last year to to lessen the hardship on the people that know even a dollar can be a lot because they're not talking about a dollar. It could be three, four, five, $6 depending on how many people are coming in and we understand that. Um again, we welcome uh if we will welcome those donations if if anyone wants to to step up and do that again this year. Um, so I leave it to the council to discuss and and decide which way we want to go with this.

Councilor Longac, do we have numbers on how many people attended at 2024 versus 2026?

We do not have 24 numbers because we weren't checking in. Um, I thought I had a number here for 25. Hang on. Bear with me. I'm sorry. I I don't have a account. I do have I have a dollar amount that we collected, but it's not about the money. Do we take digital pay or Apple Pay or card in addition to cash or is it cash? Cash only.

Is that something we could explore? We could. There's no internet service at the pool. We would have to install internet to be able to have that capability. Um, well, you could I mean, tech's cool now. You can play through a QR code most things. So, something we could explore. Yeah, we could work with the IT on that. Questions, comments? My question was budgetary. Just what was the impact of the $2 fee and gross? And that's okay if you don't have it. That's fine. My other question,

no, I have I have an answer. I have the answer to that. So, in um we 12 thou approximately $12,000 in pool admission at the full at the $2 adventure at the $2 admission. What if if it had an effect on behavior, what effect did it have on attendance? Did did you see 2022 2023 numbers and then 2024 or 2025 numbers being dramatically different uh in terms of use of the pool? Attendance was down. I don't know if I would call it dramatic but attendance was noticeably down from from 25 to sorry 24 to 25. Yes.

Council long. Is there any way we could set it up that I don't know if someone is on wick or something like that, there's a process they can go through where they would be able to be comped so they could have a pass for the season or reduced even further for something like that. As the council, you can set whatever rules you'd like. So, I don't know what the process would be for that. uh some sort of application, proof of proof of uh proof of hardship. Councilor Thompson, when does the pool open up?

Normally, we open not normally. We open the first Saturday when school gets out in June. Councelor Lack, third question. I'm sorry. You don't have probably this number. Do we know the cost of actually running the pool? I don't have that in front of me. No. Any other questions or comments? Can I get a motion, please? Councelor Meyer. Councelor Ashline. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Fitz Gibbons. Yes. Councilor Lac. Yes. Councelor Ashine.

Yes. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. Item four under authorization. The city clerk's office requests acceptance of a donation from the family of Edward Connors of five books of historical local files. I spoke with Greg Caster at the city clerk's office. Um the family of Mr. Connors found a collection of a swiggle themed books while he was cleaning out a home and would like to donate this. These are historical books to the city clerk's office. Um, does anybody have any other questions or comments? Not. Can I get a motion? How are they available to the public? That I don't know.

The clerk's office. I think I think they're in the clerk's office. I think so. They can be viewed by the public at the clerk's office. Council. Yeah. I think you can go right down there, right? Your understanding go down there where it's foilable. It's foilable. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. I just know these are very old historical documents. They should be treated respectfully. I just want No, no, that's a great question. That's a great question. That just stored in the basement because we got them. Right. Right. Um, any other questions? Now, can I get a motion, please? Councelor Lensac. Councelor Ashline. Councelor Plugget. Yes. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Fitzgiven. Yes. Councelor Lack. Yes.

Councelor Ashlin. Yes. Item five, under authorization, Mayor Robert A. A. Cordino requests an executive session to discuss collective negotiations pursuant to article 14, Taylor Law of the Civil Service Law. Could I get a motion to go into executive session, please? Councelor Lensac. Councelor Meyer. Councelor Plunkett. Yes. Councelor Meyer. Yes. Councelor Fitz Given. Yes. Council Wack. Yes. Councelor Ashley. Yes.

Last call. Let's call for alcohol.

Do we need to buy you a diet coke or something for your time? second halfotion. Yes.

Yes. Uh and then we have this time I'll make a motion to come out of executive session for administrative services. Councelor Meyer. Councelor Fitzgiven. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. This time I'd like a motion to adjourn. Council Lack. Councelor Ashline. Councelor. Yes. Councelor. Yes.