Common Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. This is a regular session of the Rome Common Council. The date is July 22nd, 2026. The time is 7 p.m. Mr. Seale, please call the roll. Councillor Spruce. Present.

Councillor Mortis. Excused. Councillor Fazio. Present. Councillor Smith. Here. Councillor Riley. Present. Councillor Dursey.

Present.

Councillor Sparaglia. Excused.

Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation will be offered by the Chair. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, bless this Council with wisdom, courage, and understanding.

Help us carry out our responsibilities faithfully and with concern for all those we represent.

Amen. At this point, the meeting is open to the public. You have the opportunity to appear before the council, present your views concerning city affairs. If you wish to speak, please step up to the back microphone, say your name and address, and limp yourself to five minutes. Also, please sign in on the speaker sheet to help with the record. We are ready for our first speaker.

Good evening, Bobby O'Brien speaking to you on behalf of the Rome Waterways and Trails Advocacy Group, President Nash, counselors, city representatives, and members of the community. I would like to ask the council to support two of the resolutions that are on tonight's agenda. Resolution 93 is approval to submit a grant application to the New York State Canal Corporation and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation for the Canal Way Grant Program, and the Environmental Protection Fund Grant for the Muck Road Boat Launch Phase One Project. Resolution 95 is an application to the New York State Department of State for the Brownfields Opportunity Areas Program for the Erie Boulevard and Downtown Rome Brownfield Opportunity Area Site Assessments Project. This grant will provide funds to remediate the properties listed as part of the posted online agenda. These funds will help Rome to continue mitigating blight. Both grant applications illustrate the city's ongoing commitment to our community by moving unsightly properties back to serviceable use, as well as provide updated and enhanced areas for the community and visitors alike. As the Parks and Trails New York Trail Town, Rome continues to show the ongoing efforts to improve our community for the benefit of all, local and beyond. Your approval supporting those ongoing efforts to optimize properties throughout our city, as well as upgrades and or improvements to our recreational areas, structures, and amenities is very much appreciated. I hope to see everybody at the Honor America Days parade, symphony, the fireworks, shooting cannons, and then Canal Fest. And just prior to Canal Fest and staying for the length of time at Canal Fest will be a brand new tugboat that's been titled rome there will be a christening with champagne friday morning 10 30 there will be representatives from the canal corporation and there will be a lot more information available on social media hopefully it'll make the newspaper and a couple of other places as well so i look forward to seeing everybody there's too much to do in rome thank you thank you bobby

Next speaker, please.

Good evening, everybody. Thanks for having me, giving me the opportunity to speak. My name is Steve Mercurio. I live in, my post office is Rome, but I am about 10 feet from being a Roman resident, and I live in Westernville. Joe Griffo once told me that if the front door of my house was on the left side of my house instead of the front of the house, I'd be a Rome resident. So I was never able to vote for him for mayor, sorry. But I am representing the Rome Rotary, as Bobby just mentioned. We have Canal Fest coming up August 1st. And in preparation for that, besides the physical work we have to do, we've been submitting a lot of paperwork, mostly to the Canal Corp. And it's Eric Selig and Seth and Parks and Rec have made it very, and Joe Giuliano have made it very easy for me to submit the paperwork I have to submit to the city. One of the things that we did in the past was request a right of way on the north side of East Whitesboro Street. On some maps it shows it as Harborway. so that we could control the vendors that were basically in the park, because there were vendors that were outside the park that didn't want to participate in the event per se, because we asked for a percentage of their profits. So initially, that's why we asked for a right-of-way about five or six years ago. But now, it's good to have that right-of-way for the land on the other side of the street, just for safety purposes. On August this year, I thought I would ask for a closure of, uh, East Whitesboro street for the duration of the canal fest, because we have a couple of things going on. A lot of vendors arriving, uh, parking their cars there. They'll be putting up, uh, kiosks and, and, uh, and, uh, canopies. Um, we also have a kid's run right after the, uh, the, uh, the, what you call a ribbon cutting at the main gate. And, uh, they'll run, uh, Up one side of the park and up to the Whitesboro Street and then down the other side to the finish line. And then during the day, we'll have vendors resupplying themselves, and we usually park the food vendors right along Whitesboro Street. So I submitted a proposed ordinance for the closure of East Whitesboro Street from Ray Street to the dead end at the bridge over the Mohawk River from 7 o'clock in the morning to 7.30 p.m. Normally, we don't need the police or if the police want to be there, they can. I've seen them close it off for the last event they had down there. But we usually have a rotary volunteer with barricades provided by the city that allow the appropriate people in and out and also help handicapped people find the handicapped lot and help the general public find a general public parking between Race Street and Mill Street. Appreciate your concern on this, and I look forward to having the resolution passed. Thank you.

Thank you, Steve. Next speaker, please. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak?

Hi, my name is Alexis. I am a senior project developer at Carson Power, and I want to speak about ordinance number 9884, the ban on battery energy storage systems. So, I want to say, start off by saying that I appreciate the thoughtful approach. The council has already taken by adopting a moratorium battery energy storage systems. Our best are relatively new technology for many communities while not a new technology altogether and taking the time to better understand them before adopting a permanent local law is a responsible approach. My goal tonight is simply to provide some context on why these systems are being developed across New York, how they are regulated, and to offer myself as a resource as you consider what best should look like for your community. Best battery energy storage systems store energy when the demand is low, and discharge it back to the grid when the demand is high. But I also want to clarify an important point about the types of projects typically proposed in communities like yours. The system which Carson Power and many other developers propose in these type of these communities are distributed generation battery storage projects, which are different from utility scale, utility scale, which is typically connected to transmission line This is connected to the local electric distribution system, the same system that serves your homes, your schools, the businesses in Rome and the municipal facilities. The energy they provide is used to support the local grid, not just simply sent down state. Distributed battery helps improve local reliability, reduce strain on existing electric infrastructure, and can divert costly upgrades to substations and distribution lines that would otherwise be paid for by the rate payers. As electricity demand continues to grow in New York, distributed battery storage has become an important tool for helping utilities maintain a reliable and affordable electric system without waiting for years for new transmission lines or power plants to be built. It also helps reduce reliance on older, more expensive peaker plants, which are typically fossil fuel burning during periods of peak demand. I also recognize that the primary concern surrounding battery storage is safety. That concern is understandable, and it's one that New York State has spent years addressing. Today, battery storage projects in New York comply with some of the most rigorous and comprehensive fire safety standards in the country, if not the most, including UL 9540 certifications, large scale fire testing and the New York State Fire Code, which has been adopted to address battery storage. PROJECTS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO DEVELOP SITE SPECIFIC EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS, COORDINATE WITH THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS AS WELL AS PROVIDE FIREFIGHTER TRAINING AND MAINTAIN CONTINUOUS SYSTEM MONITORING THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF THE PROJECT. THIS THOUGHTFUL APPROACH TO PREVENTING FIRES IN NEW YORK IS A DIRECT RESPONSE TO MANY OF THE FIRES THAT YOU'VE SEEN IN THE MEDIA SUCH AS THE WARWICK AND THE LONG ISLAND FIRES OF 2023. Like any piece of infrastructure, the battery storage is not without risk, but it is important to recognize how much the technology has evolved. Modern systems are enclosed, factory built units with multiple independent layers of protection, and industry data shows that failure rates have declined exponentially over the last several years as safety standards and technology have continued to improve. I also think it's important to look at the data from real world events. Following the battery fire in Warwick, independent environmental testing concluded that there were no adverse effects to the surrounding soil or groundwater, as well as the air, which was tested through continuous monitoring. Rather than replacing the moratorium with a permanent ban, I would encourage you to use the remainder of the moratorium to help develop a thoughtful local best law. Battery energy storage is becoming a permanent part of New York's energy landscape. The responsible course of action isn't to remove this technology from consideration altogether. It's to establish the standards that determine whether, where, and how it can be developed in your community. Municipalities that plan for it today will be better positioned to guide how it develops tomorrow. A well-crafted law gives you the ability to distinguish between different tiers of battery sizes, identify the zoning districts where they may or may not be appropriate, establish setbacks. Landscaping and screening requirements will give you an insight to emergency response planning and decommissioning standards. and other project specific requirements that reflect your community's priorities. It allows you to evaluate projects individually rather than treating every proposal the same. A ban gives up that opportunity. A thoughtful local law preserves your authority to shape development in a way that protects residents while also allowing you to make decisions based on the facts of each individual proposal. please let me be a resource to you throughout that process me and my team are happy to answer any questions provide you with technical information studies and share our experience so that any decisions you make are based on the best available information thank you for your time and for your commitment to developing a thoughtful lasting policy for your community thank you alexis if you stay around afterwards i want to get your contact information so we can start the meeting absolutely

NEXT SPEAKER, PLEASE. ANYBODY ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK? PUBLIC SESSION IS CLOSED. THE CHAIR WILL UNDERTAIN A MOTION THAT THE READING OF THE MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING SESSION BE DISPENSED WITH IT THAT THEY BE APPROVED. SO MOVED. COUNCILOR SMITH. SECOND. AND COUNCILOR SPRACE. MOVED AND SECONDED. ANY DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE SAY AYE. AYE.

let's see here communications the following financial reports for quarter ended 6 30 26 have been received and filed in the city clerk's office senior citizens council of rome new york south rome senior citizen center roe martin community center part of city officials commissioner giuliano president nash thank you um members of the common council city officials and

City of Rome residents that are here and watching or will watch later. I just want to bring out the fact that we had our subcontractor start our material service line inspections. We have teams of inspectors on the ground going door to door and getting the inspections that we've been asking for for the last 20 months or so. We have postcards going out to individual homes. We're hanging door hangers on doors where people don't answer and we're leaving the information where they can still self-report and or call my office and talk to Kelsey about getting a set appointment for that inspection. So I want everybody to, just the Rome residents, to know that those people are out there. They're dressed in CDM outfits. Our social media pages for the city show those vests. They show the hats they're wearing. They do have ID tags that they're hanging around their neck. So if there's any question of who some people are, If they're hesitant, we still don't want anybody to just let anybody in the house. Rome PD is aware of the ground team's vehicles. So if you see a vehicle parked on your block for three or four hours, you can call and ask Rome PD and they have the list of those vehicles so they can clear that for you. So we tried to make it as safe as possible. Obviously there's people out there that that want to break us down, but just be safe. Let the residents know that these people are working for us. On a separate note, my office is running through about $44 million of construction this summer alone. I know there's a lot of disruptions on the street with the construction projects on 825 or Hill Road, Erie Boulevard, our street paving program started last Monday. So there's a lot of disruptions there on the inner city. We still have work going on on Route 46 up by the fish hatchery and at Wright Settlement Road at the Madison Street intersection. So there's a lot of stuff going on. We only have seven good months of construction time. So we do have to force it all in. We get a lot of questions as to why you're doing it now or why they start right before school ended up on the Westernville Road project. Um, just the calendar, it's the calendar and the weather, uh, it dictates a lot of our work and how we go about it. So just ask to be, to be patient. It's the same thing every summer. Uh, we have road construction going on. It just seems that with the state, with a few state projects, it does, it does pile up and kind of change everybody's commute around the city. So, uh, third thing. In the on the second meeting in August, the Common Council meeting, I'll be updating on the train station tunnel restoration project. I'm still evaluating the new design for the ceiling and the cost for that. So before I can give an accurate account, I still have to evaluate those, those costs and those does that design that was given to us by our consultant. So the second meeting in august to be the 20 something so i'll i'll have something uh prepared for that for the drug station all right and uh and thank you thank you commissioner anyone else for the counselors

Thank you, President. And it's funny that Commissioner Giuliano was talking about all the things going on. I just wanted to actually thank Commissioner Giuliano, Public Safety Commissioner White, and Police Chief James. Recently, I've had several calls about just different things in my ward. And these departments have been excellent on handling things. And just like BPW Commissioner said, there's a lot going on. He's got 100 million things going on. He's even taken the time to meet with the residents, take it off my hands. Same thing with both the other guys that I talked about. I just want to thank them for helping me and for helping the residents because there's times where you have residents say, well, nobody, I can't get ahold of any, I can't do, I don't know who to call. and then they'll call me. There's been many times where a lot of these department heads, all of them, but these three specifically have said, you know what? I'll meet with the resident. I'll figure it out. I'll let you know we're doing it. It's easier going right to them. So they do a lot. It may go unnoticed, it may not, but I appreciate everything that they do. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Council Spruce. Anyone else? Councilor Riley.

TO THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT, FELLOW COUNSELORS, CITIZENS OF ROME. TO CONTINUE A LITTLE BIT MORE AS FAR AS WHAT COUNSELORS BRACE IS SAYING. This is new to me, this is my first summer, so I'm getting a lot of calls in regards to everything from grass being cut to houses, when is this house gonna be taken out, et cetera. And I'm very impressed with when I talk to codes about this, it's like I don't even finish the sentence and they have the answer for me as far as what's going on with it. So anything that you have concerns in my ward or any ward, Call me about, I'll look into it and I'll see what we are as far as status. And that comes from everything from cutting grass in a certain area to boarding up a house that's in the process of going through the nuisance hearings. So smallest to biggest. But I got to tell you that we're on top of things as far as that goes. The city is, as Commissioner Giuliano was saying, the city is very busy. uh they are a little bit behind when it comes to cutting grass um but they are sure you know trying hard so uh you know be patient with that uh but if you are not getting you know the results that you want we i don't have a problem receiving a phone call from you uh but again uh to continue what uh counselor sprays is saying i kudos to these department heads kudos to the workers i think they're doing a very good job and a lot of times OF THE WEATHER DOESN'T ALLOW THEM TO DO THAT, AND THEY'RE STILL ABLE TO GET THE JOB DONE. SO KUDOS TO THEM.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, COUNCILOR REILLY. ANYONE ELSE? ONWARD, OR NO, REPORT COMMITTEES. ANY COMMITTEES?

NO.

OKAY. RESOLUTIONS. RESOLUTION NUMBER 93.

Authorizing the Mayor of the City of Rome to submit an application to the New York State Canal Corporation and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation for the Canal Way Grant Program and the Environmental Protection Fund Grant, $825,000. Councilor Spruce.

Councilor Riley. Move and second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 93 is carried. Resolution number 94.

Authorizing waiver of application fees for right-of-way permits for installing a temporary banner. Move it.

Councillor Dursey, Councillor Smith. Move and second to any discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 94 is carried. Resolution number 95.

authorizing the Mayor of the City of Rome to submit an application to the New York State Department of State for the Brownfields Opportunity Areas Program for the Erie Boulevard and Downtown Rome BOA Site Assessments Project, $300,000. Move it. Move it.

Councilor Smith and Councilor Pezzio. Move and second it. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 95 is carried. Resolution number 96.

Authorizing waiver of application fees for right-of-way permits for Rome Rotary in regards to Canal Fest.

Move it. Councilor Smith. Second. Councilor Riley. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 96 is carried. Resolution number 97.

Authorizing use of funds from the Sewer Department Reserve Account, ESA84, to fund the Sewer Improvements Capital Project, HSAO. Move it.

Councilor Diercy. Second. Councilor Riley. Move to second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion number 97 is carried. Ordinances. Yes.

I just noticed in the body of the legislation, there's a typo.

Okay. I don't think we really need an amendment for it, do we? I don't think it is.

It's taking $356,000 out of plan 365.

Yeah, we got to do that. How do we do that since we already passed it?

President Nash, members of the council, I mean, the easiest way might just be someone make a motion to reopen it and then you... I HAVE A MOTION TO AMEND AND THEN VOTE ON IT AS AMENDED.

OKAY. COUNCILOR SPRICE.

I MOTION TO REOPEN.

MR. FAZIO SECONDS IT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED. WE'RE REOPEN TO MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT 365 INSTEAD OF WHAT? 365. OKAY. 365,000.

MOTION TO AMEND.

MOTION TO AMEND BY COUNCILOR SPRICE. SECOND. AND COUNCILOR BRYCE-SMITH. AND COUNCILOR SMITH. We've been seconded. Any discussion on that amendment? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? That amendment is carried. Now, version number 97 is amended. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Version number 97 is amended, is carried. Now we're going to ordinances. Ordinance number 9889. Thank you, Treasurer Adams, for that.

Authorizing the closing of streets for Tabernacle of Praise Ministries Pastor Services.

Councilor Fazio? Second. Councilor Spruce, Councilor Smith, Councilor Riley. Ordinance number 9889 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent say aye. Aye. Opposed unanimous consent is carried. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ordinance number 9889 is carried. Ordinance number 9890.

Authorizing the Mayor of the City of Rome to amend the transfers of 8366 West Thomas Street and 8368 West Thomas Street to Rome Building Contractors Incorporated.

Move it.

Councilor Smith.

Second.

Councilor Fezzio.

Unanimous consent.

Councilor Spruce. Second. And Councilor Riley. Ordinance number 9890 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent say aye. Aye. Opposed? Unanimous consent is carried. Is there any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, ordinance number 9890 is carried. The chair will entertain a motion to remove ordinance number 9884 from the table. So moved. Councilor Smith.

Second.

Councilor Sprace. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, ordinance number 9884.

Amending Rome Code of Ordinances, Chapter 80, to prohibit the establishment, installation, and construction of battery energy storage systems within the city of Rome.

UNDERTAIN A MOTION TO A TABLE?

YES. RE-TABLE.

DR. SMITH AND COUNSELOR DERSEY. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? ORANGE SUMMER 9884 HAS BEEN RETABLED. OKAY. WHAT'S THE ORDINANCE? THE CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION. HOW DO WE SEE? THIS RIGHT HERE. Okay. I had my O going. No, that's all right. Sure. And then a motion to waive rule six for ordinance number 9891. So moved. Councilor Smith. Second. Councilor Spruce. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ordinance number 9891.

Authorizing the closing of streets for Canal Fest 2026.

Move it. Councilor Smith. Second. Councilor Spruce. Councilor Fazio. Councilor Dursey. ORANGE SUMMER 9891 IS MOVED AND SECONDED. NANIMOUS CONSENT IS MOVED AND SECONDED. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF NANIMOUS CONSENT, SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? NANIMOUS CONSENT IS CARRIED. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? AND THIS IS JUST TO, AS MR. MCHERRO HAD SPOKEN OF, CLOSE ANOTHER PORTION ON WHITESPORO STREET FOR CANAL FEST, WHICH IS COMING UP PRETTY SOON. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

OPPOSED? ORANGE NUMBER 9891 IS CARRIED. CHAIR AND ATTENDANT, MOTION TO ADJOURN. MOVE IT. COUNCIL SMITH. SECOND. COUNCIL CLASIO. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

OPPOSED? WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TONIGHT.