City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Troy City Council. This is a finance meeting, our regular finance meeting. I would ask that you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Council Member DiLorenzo.

Present.

Council Member Struber. Present. Council Member McLaren is present. council member mckee present council member favreau present council member campbell cohen present and council president steele also present this evening we have a special honor to uh remember someone who was very important to the city of troy for a number of years and so we're going to move up our agenda uh before the public forum to resolution 69 A resolution to commemorate the life, service, and legacy of Joseph A. Mazzarillo Sr. by designating that portion of Fifth Avenue between Ferry and Liberty Streets as Joseph A. Mazzarillo Way. Sponsored by Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McKee, seconded by Council Member Struber. Discussion on the resolution? all in favor aye opposed the resolution is adopted unanimously i would like to invite i'd like to invite the mayor and the family to please come forward and join the council at the front of the chairs

Yes.

Hello.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Mazzarello family. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Mazzarello family. I want to thank the council president and the council if you don't mind indulge us for a minute so we can meet the family of the Mazzarellos.

I'm Antoinette Mazzarello. I'm Joe Mazzarello's wife for 40 years. I'm Jacqueline Smith, a friend of the family.

I'm Joe Mazzarello, his grandson.

I'm Sophia Mazzarello, his granddaughter.

I'm John Mazzarello, his grandson.

Jennifer Mazzarello, his daughter-in-law. Tina Graber, his daughter, and his granddaughter, Brianna Graber.

I'm John Mazzarello, Joe's son. Kevin Graber, his son-in-law.

Seamus Donnelly, the Mazzarello family adopted me years ago.

Oh, hi. I'm Council Member Katie Spay-McClaren. Council Member Struber, District 2.

Council Member Phil DiLorenzo, District 1. Council Member Campbell Cohen, District 6.

Council Member Favreau, District 5. Council Member McKee, District 4. Chelsea Mazzarello, daughter-in-law.

And baby Mazzarello coming soon.

Where's Joe?

Joe Manzarello and Vincenza. Vincenza, we love you. Let's give it up for the Manzarello family. Before we read this resolution, I know a couple of people want to say some things about Joe Mazzarello. And I got to know Joe personally and professionally in the mid-90s when I was first elected to the council on District 3. And please introduce yourself. I'm so sorry. Everyone knows you.

Joe Mazzarello's son.

All right. And, you know, you think about it, if anyone knew, and it's so weird calling him Joe Mazzarello, because to me, he was always Mr. Mazzarello. I was in my mid-20s, and your husband, your dad, your father-in-law, your grandfather. He taught me how to read budgets. He taught me how to go through the budget. And at that time, Kathy Gemino was also part of the transition team at that time. And we were facing multimillion dollar deficits. And, you know, Mr. Mazzarello, he got us through a very, very difficult time. um it wasn't popular we went from two days a week garbage believe it or not forget about the tax increase forget about all the other services going from that two day a week garbage pick up to one day a week oh my lord it was uh war war three here in the city of troy but mr mazzarillo got us through a really really difficult time And he taught me, much like Joe Bruno, you know, they don't make them like those guys anymore. He taught me how to separate politics and policy. And Mr. Mazzarello, who served this city, and I know he put the family before the city, and I know how that works, but he loved this city, I think, as much, if not more, than Seamus and me, and that says a lot. He just was a constant professional and oh my gosh, numbers. But he always had these stacks and stacks of papers and budgets, but he never opened them because he knew everything here. He had it all here. I picture, like, numbers just going over his head if he were ever to see Criminal Minds. And, you know, literally the numbers over, I forget the one investigator, but he's just a brain child. And so saying that, Mr. Mazzarello just... He knew it all, constant professional. He loved his family so, so much. And he really left us too soon. But I know he's still here. I know that he built the foundation today that we have. We are on better financial footing because of Mr. Mazzarello. We are able to find a permanent home for City Hall. because of mr mazzarello his legacy will live on for years and years and years and decades long after all of us so um i'll read the resolution after but this is long overdue dedicating a street we should dedicate the city its name um but this is long overdue and i am just so honored to be a little uh piece of of this beautiful evening and that street sign uh it's more than a sign it's uh it's a symbol of what your husband your father your grandfather your father-in-law did for this city and I will forever be thankful thank you for sharing Mr Mazzarella with us thank you thank you I'll let Council President Steele and then I know Shane want to say a couple of words.

Well, I'm a lot older than the mayor, so I knew him as Joe. And I think there's so much that we could say about him. Stand up guy, just solid as they come. And a testament to that is the fact that he survived and served many administrations. um he was not a politician he was a professional and um the city is in a better place because of that and um it's a tremendous honor for the council tonight to join with the mayor in in this uh testament to his his service and as we drive by fifth avenue from now on we'll look up upstairs and remember him but uh

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council President. And, you know, thank you, Mayor, for putting this forward. Thank you, Council, for supporting this. Look, you know, me and Joe are long lifetime friends. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm the adopted Maserello, although I do love my own family very much. They are like my family. It's rare in life that you grow up and one of your parents, one of your friend's parents, not only becomes kind of that role model type figure, but becomes a friend. And that's quite certain what happened with me and Mr. Mazzarello. And now being here as deputy mayor, I definitely can understand now when me and Joe maybe were sneaking past his uh home office at a little bit late uh that he was still in there doing work the work never ends uh when you care that much about the city you feel such a duty towards the city like mr maz uh did i can understand that now a bit and i am a firm believer that the folks that are no longer with us what keeps them here keeps them present is saying their name out loud hearing what they've done what they've accomplished and i said earlier here at the city of troy uh almost like you know we have uh bc and ad in time uh there's something here called um you know mr maz did it you know it's just it's this went back to joe maz and uh well joe maz set this up still to this day uh staff here including ourselves are are leaning into mr mazzarello's work uh I mentioned that word duty. He took everything very serious. He took his family serious. He took his job at the city very serious. He took the ICC very serious. He took the bocce court very serious. And And, you know, again, like the council president and the mayor said, it's really especially in this city it's an a testament to this man that he went through multiple administrations, both sides of the aisle. He was a truck a trusted trusted. advisor to many mayors um he was so dedicated that you know he got to the time of retirement and stayed on to help the madden administration because again that's where his that's where he felt his duty lied and mr maz we think about you all the time um and i know he's here with us and i just think that this is absolutely wonderful uh that we are celebrating such a great man and that i'm i'm confident without you know calling kathy sheehan that uh His 40 years on a higher level of an administrator. He has to be the most longest running administrator the city of Troy has ever, ever really had 40 years at that level of auditor comptroller. So, Mr. Mazzarello, this is for you. And we love you. And we love all you Mazzarellos too.

Thanks, Seamus, and you know, before we read the resolution, I can't say enough about one of my right hands, and and that's his son, and I know that your dad is so proud of you, Joe. um you know if anyone knows young joe maz uh he's a penny pincher so i do think he got some qualities and some skills from your old man i'm telling you uh so you definitely have your dad in you but if anyone knows joe maz um one of the hardest workers in shaymal test This guy's here day and night and weekends. You definitely, outside of the numbers that you got from your dad, you got the dedication to this city. You are working all the time, Joe, and your father would be so proud of you.

Okay, so

We'll read the whole thing if you don't mind. Whereas Joseph A. Mazzarella was born, I did not know he was a Virgo. Now I know what we had in common, fellow Virgos. September 3rd, 1951 in Servanera, a town in the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southwestern Italy. to the late Giovanna Mazzarello and Immaculata Concetta Carbone Mazzarello and was raised alongside his sister Francesca Mazzarello. And whereas Joe immigrated to the United States in 1956 as a child at five with his parents and became a lifelong resident here in the city of Troy. And whereas Joe graduated from LaSalle Institute, class of 1970, and from Siena College, the class of 1974. And whereas Joe was the devoted husband of Antonetta, who we love so, so much, to Palma Mazzarello, his best friend, and the love of his life for 40 years. And together they built a family with their sons, John and Joseph F. Mazzarello, and their daughter. I did not know that you're Conchitina. I love that. And whereas Joe and Antonetta proudly enjoyed watching their children build their own families. And the extended family with grandchildren often could be found socializing together at the ICC in Troy. And whereas Joe started the city of Troy in 1977 as city auditor, holding multiple positions over his career, including deputy comptroller and city comptroller. And whereas over Joe's nearly 40 years of service, he worked for city managers and mayors from different sides of the political aisle and reported the city's finances to many city councils. in the process becoming universally known and respected for his professionalism, diligence, and unwavering work ethic, as well as for his loyalty and devotion to our city. And whereas Joe played a vital outsized role in guiding the city through the financial disaster of the late 1990s and then setting it on the path to emerge from state control years later. For decades, Joe was the go-to guy. when it came to the city's finances and much more, I must tell you. And whereas Joe considered the Italian Community Center of Troy his second home, serving as president of the ICC for years and spending decades organizing and promoting the club in which he took great pride. so that joe and antonetta and eventually their children became regulars at most icc events whether it was a spaghetti dinner or a round of bocce you could pretty much guarantee joe maz would be present and whereas joe cherished the lifelong friendships he made at the icc and the city His dedication to our city was unmatched, and everyone knew if you needed help with something, Joe was the one to ask. And whereas Joe left a huge mark on the community of Troy, its government, and the people he worked with during the course of his career, he successfully mentored many of the city's financial professionals, and his accounting philosophies and methods are still used to this day. The Italian Community Center remains a thriving social hub due to his many years of hard work. Hi, Vincenza! And, of course, he was a model for his family, who all have served in government and share his commitment to the importance of public service and community involvement and improvement. Hi, Vincenza! What are you watching there?

Okay.

And whereas Joe Mez died suddenly on Sunday, June 26th, it'll be 10 years next week, formally retired from city service, but still working as a full-time consultant to the city, helping the new MAD administration get on its feet. And whereas as we approach this 10-year anniversary of Joe's passing at City Hall, in recognition of his profound commitment to family and to our community, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Troy wishes to honor his legacy and commemorate his many valuable contributions to the city. Now, therefore, be it resolved that in honor of the memory of the devoted public servant and a pillar of our community, Fifth Ave, between Ferry and Liberty Street, shall bear the honorary designation of Joseph A. Mazzarella Way. i'll let sue make a motion maybe the council vote on it on the floor you already did okay i i was in unanimously it was adopted unanimous vote why not congratulations to the mazzarello family as i stated this is long overdue and we would love to hear from the mazzarello family joe uh your mom okay thank you thank you so much i appreciate it

Joe was the love of my life. He dedicated the whole life to the city of Troy. He created not only the payroll, but he created also the payable for the city of Troy, started from scratch. He implemented a new computer system back in the 70s and 80s. He worked, like Sue and you, Mayor, said, many administrations. He was hired by John Buckley in 1977 as city auditor. My husband, not only here, but at home, he had four or five screens in his office, and they were all spreadsheets. I mean, and he was going, I mean, I can't even begin to tell you how many spreadsheets that he had opened in any given time to make sure that everything balanced. Even with my own checkbook, if I miss a penny, he was going after me. So let me tell you, he was very tough when it came to balancing my checkbook. But not only with the city of Charlie, when he moved here in 19, uh, 56, it was before I was born and I marry him, but we were for the same hometown when I met him in here, he graduated from Santa college. So we were 40 years married. Uh. in before he died i was 40 years married may 8 and he died on june 26 19 i mean now 2016. so not only he loved the city he was really a true trojan a true community service not only for the city of troy but the whole community as a whole He and Dennis from Dorn Ortiz created the empty bowls that he was dedicated for 16 years back in the days. Also, we brought in at the soup kitchen was St. Mary's Church close. So the ICC really was his second home. He was hardly home. He was at the Troy City Hall for 14, 15 hours a day. So with that being said, thank you so much. I miss him very much. I know each and every one of my kids now, we miss him 10 years today. So, but thank you. Thank you so much, everybody. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

And please stay tuned. We'll be dedicating this wonderful straight after Joe sometime over the next few weeks. So thank you. And we'll let everyone know. And I'm not sure if anyone else from his family wanted to add anything. I know I'm looking at Joe. You can't top that. Let's give it up to the Mazzarello family. Thank you. thank you for sharing joe with us thank you we'd love to take a group shot thank you um

All right.

All right, everybody ready?

We're trying to make this quick. Here we go. One, two, three. Hold it for me. Keep holding. Keep holding. Keep holding. Hold it. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling. Keep smiling.

Thank you so much.

I didn't realize they were exciting. I didn't know either. Thank you, Mr. David.

Thanks, Alex. Okay. We will resume our meeting. We have pledged allegiance and called the roll. Um, this is now the public forum for any agenda item. There are agendas in the back of the room. If you're not clear of what's on the agenda, but I wish that you would keep your remarks, uh, to about five minutes and pertaining to any agenda item.

Five minutes. Okay. Hello. All right. Just got to switch gears here for a moment. Okay. My name is Greg Lyons. I live on 14 2nd Street in the downtown area. And today I would like to make a comment about Resolution 70, the one about seven replacement police vehicles for the tune of about a quarter million dollars. All right. So I'm not opposed getting new vehicles for the police, right, when it's warranted, when it's evidence, when the vehicles obviously need replacement. But with the materials that were provided here at the agenda, I didn't see any mileage, how many years in service. I didn't see reasons for why these needed to be replaced now. The only thing I did see is that they're coming to their useful end of their life. whatever that means. Is that 10 years of service? Is that 10,000 miles, 50,000 miles? I don't know. So I went ahead and foiled the city for information about the vehicles, the seven vehicles being replaced. Basic information, just the license plate, year, make, model, years in service, maintenance record, just things that would help fill in the picture why these need to be replaced now. So I got a response back relatively quick, but the response only had basically what was on the agenda, the purchase order information. Keep in mind, I didn't even ask for that. I was asking for identifying information for these vehicles. So in my mind, that was completely ignored by my FOIA request there. So I'm here tonight asking you from the last line of transparency here, to please vote no action on Resolution 70 until the city can provide reasons for why these vehicles, these seven vehicles, needed to be replaced now. And I think that's a very reasonable request, because they're asking for about over a quarter million dollars, and we don't have any of that information, and I couldn't get a FOIA request either. So please vote no action. We need transparency before approval. Thank you.

Thank you, Greg.

Frances Sweet from South Troy. This microphone is very loud tonight, by the way. The only comment that I have is that earlier I saw a notice on Facebook announcing the awarded money to Little Italy. And gosh, I thought that's what y'all were voting on. So just wanted to point out that that's a little jump in the gun. had not actually been gone before the city council yet. So thank you. Thank you, Francis.

Does anyone else wish to address the council on any agenda item? Seeing none, we'll move forward. Ordinance 17. Ordinance amending chapter 141 of the Troy City Code, Councilmember Campbell-Cohen. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Second. Councilmember Struver? The second by Councilmember DiLorenzo. Discussion on the resolution.

council president council member Campbell Cohen um this is not one of our more explosive pieces of legislation over the last six months it's mostly just modernizing the definitions of sidewalks and distinguishing them from side paths and just cleaning up the code almost janitorial in nature I do want to extend some thanks to neighbors planners and engineers who have contributed um and especially Aaron Vera uh the former council member from District 4 and former City Engineer before that who provided a lot of guidance on this as well as the team over at Capitol streets and our own City Engineer Chris Marini and our acting Corp Council as well um this was a sort of um it started as one thing and then we just kept finding more that needed updating and um

there's not much to say about this or the other ordinance except it was a good collaborative effort thank you thank you does anyone else have a comment council member mclaren um council member uh campbell coleman i think this might be a question for you but um the multi-use path or shared use path or side path? Is there also just path without any other qualifiers?

um I guess in this instance the reason why we went towards those is because there's sort of standardized language for planning purposes um uh like these are the three things that you would see in other kinds of documents um I sort of agree that path probably would fit the bill uh but it might it might cause more confusion to okay have a bespoke

The reason I ask is because it came up in the discussion with the Freer Park group about them wanting to have some connectivity between the two parks and some kind of path way that would um that they and i think the idea was about the um the width and the materials used cost effectively um because the the uh architect said something about asphalt and i said well uh we can't call it a sidewalk if it's gonna be asphalt um and then that would change the dimensions of it so i'm just

you know i don't i wouldn't even know how to ask to amend that but i guess something a change like that would just have to come before at least at least from what was discussed at the freer park meeting and i wasn't at the most recent one but i was at the one before it what like at least two people were talking about to me was a segregated A segregated path that wasn't serving the function of a sidewalk, right? Yeah.

So what was discussed was in order, I guess, the definition which was shared to us by Nick at CHA is a shared path has to be a minimum of 10 feet. And so anything less than that would just be an extended sidewalk. I see. So Katie and I immediately went to this and didn't know because he had suggested, even if it's at six feet, that... pathway connecting the two playgrounds it would technically be an extended sidewalk and he suggested blacktop or asphalt which is prohibited here for a sidewalk okay and what is the did they say what the maximum width would be for anything they were thinking around beat right and they were thinking around six just because of

the the room they have to work with um of where they would like it to be so chris do you want to hop in on on this are you available for this discussion oh great it's not us it's not up so

what we were dealing with in the legislation i believe it has to do with um roadside sidewalks road or street side and uh shared use paths could be something like could go all the way to the river a river walk But mainly we were primarily thinking of multi-use segregated areas of the roadway for bikes and motorized traffic generally. So I'm not sure the location of the extended sidewalk or path in Freer Park that you're talking about. it would go up for your Park Road and connect the ice rink playground to the North Lake playground and connect the fountain area so that would likely be a sidewalk I believe um I I don't know unless you want to make it accessible to the golf carts was that No?

No, but certainly bikes and strollers and things like that. I think this is something that's probably going to have to be hashed out between CHA and...

I mean, the park is a little different because it is... it is municipal property in general i mean roads are municipal property too but um the development standards could i i think they could conceivably be different there than they are on our normal public ways okay okay okay and he suggested that too i think um so okay yeah all right i don't know that you want to put an asphalt but well anyways that's you know you know better than i do chris

that would be my interpretation this is more focused I mean it's under the buildings it's under the building section of the code right my interpretation is it primarily applied to private development uh and you know for a park that's City owned and running through there I I would argue that we wouldn't have to necessarily conform to to that code in our best judgment

that's okay and that's pretty much what he said it's our own capital project gotcha thank you and sort of to that point the the the instances in the past where this has given rise to confusion and that this legislation is intended to address was on private property it wasn't a public development okay thank you any other questions or comments all in favor aye opposed

Ordinance 17 is adopted 7-0. Ordinance 18, ordinance amending Chapter 251 of the Troy City Code. Council Member Campbell-Cohen.

Motion.

Council Member McLaren. Second. Second. Second by Council Member Struver. Discussion on the ordinance? No? All in favor? Opposed? Opposed? Ordinance 18, adopted 7-0. Ordinance 21, ordinance authorizing the reconveyance of real property acquired by in-run foreclosure, 315 2nd Street. Council President Steele, at the request of the administration, is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McLaren, second. Council Member McKee, discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? ordinance 21 adopted 7-0 ordinance 22 ordinance amending the 2022 2026 cd fund budget council president steele at the request of the administration is there a motion motion council member mclaren second second council member favreau discussion All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Ordinance 22 is adopted 7-0. Ordinance 23. Ordinance amending the 2026 general fund budget. Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McLaren? Second. Seconded by Council Member DiLorenzo. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Ordinance 23 is adopted 7-0. Ordinance 24. Ordinance amending 2026 general fund budget. Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion? Motion. Council Member Campbell-Cohen with a second.

I'll second.

Council Member Struber. Discussion on the ordinance. Council President. Council Member McLaren.

um i just had a question about the wording and and i don't know this might be just kind of a a general boilerplate um but it almost sounds as if there's not already adequate funding for the life of the grant is that i think she's talking about the memorandum of support yeah that was by yep by uh mr mcneff's memorandum of support is mike here so

I apologize. I was out of the room.

It's about the Strive Grant. So his first bullet point says increasing the appropriation for accounts associated with Police Department's Strive Grant to provide adequate funding for the life of the grant. Didn't the grant itself have adequate funding?

Right, but we have to I'm going to guess here. Okay. Cause I don't have Mike here, but I'm going to guess that the appropriation has to, the funding is from the grant, but it hasn't been fully appropriated yet.

Okay.

So I think that's what he means there. Okay. The council has to appropriate the grant.

I understand any other questions. Thank you. Thank you. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Ordinance 24 is adopted 7-0. Ordinance 25. Ordinance amending the 2026 water fund budget. Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McKee with a second by Council Member McLaren. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Ordinance 25 is adopted 7-0. Ordinance 26, ordinance amending the 2026 general fund and capital fund budget. Council President Steele, Council Member McKee at the request of the administration. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McLaren? Second. Second by Council Member Struver. Discussion? Council Member McKee?

So this ordinance would transfer $400,000 to complete the funding for a very worthy project called the Marketplace in Little Italy. And this has been in the works for a fair number of years. It will bring stability and joy and will create a lot of events for the community. And I just have a few questions about the transfer of the funds. Can you tell us what project the funds will be coming from? And is this surplus funds for another project?

Or where the actual, so the budget transfer is coming out of unappropriated funds. That's where that's coming in. There's two things here in that. Just to give a little background, the project where it stands now has that funding gap. We do have a bid that has been awarded. We want to move forward with the project. We feel over the next month, we're going to hear back about a New York State Municipal Parks and Recreations grant that adds up to $295,000. Also, Assemblyman McDonald, has agreed to transfer $125,000. That was a member item once dedicated to the Knickerbocker Aquatic Center, not needed anymore. We're very confident about that. It just has to go through the process. So what you're doing is we're taking that out of the unappropriated fund balance, adding it into the Little Italy a market capital account. Our hopes is to not spend all of it, of course. The dream world would be that both of those grants do come our way and we won't have to expend it all. But this will now allow us to at least move forward with the project, give a notice of once with your approval, we can give a notice to proceed so we can actually see the project complete by fall, we're hoping.

So there are no ARPA funds involved?

There's no ARPA funds involved, no.

Anybody else?

Yeah, I have a question. We received a letter of support that indicated that there would be HUD monies coming to TAP and that TAP would then funnel the monies to the city. Is that part of this project or something else?

That is part of this project. So we actually, and again, for some of you that have been tracking this project for a while, we usually refer to the HUD money as Congressman Tonko money, because he secured that as a member item. And we usually refer to the state as John McDonald money. That HUD money, because Barb has been, and shout out to Barb and TAP, thank you for all they've done on this project. One of the first to get involved that basically um like what tap does created a a plan for this project submitted it to congressman tanko's office it kind of was a almost a paperwork technicality the intention was always that that grant should have went to the city but since tap actually submitted that proposal to congressman tanko's office when it was awarded it came in tap's name so i don't recall exactly when but this council or prior councils passed a pass-through agreement with tap so that we can basically work with them to once they apply for the funds that have been spent to funnel it through tap right back to the city so that is part of this project but not part of the the funding that that's already secured funding we have that okay so it's a different four hundred thousand This is the 400,000 yes is different. That's the 500,000 from Congressman tacos office council member favor.

Referencing that same memo of support that we have received from Barb. She had mentioned that they had grant was 465,000 dollars. So that's a gap of 35,000. So.

I just so that would so and and again, if you're familiar with tap, that's kind of what they do. They start off a project. If it does end up getting funding tap does collect a little fee. So the grant is for 500,000 that 35 would be Barb's taps fee. That would obviously be 1 of the 1st drawdowns on the on that ground.

I think we passed that earlier. It's clicking for me now. And then I do see that the MPR grant was, I'm assuming, submitted in February because that's when the deadline was.

I believe so, yeah.

Was it just for that $295,000 or did you guys also apply for anything for like the Freer Park revitalization?

There was not. The NPR, from what I've been told by our grant writer, that was really the most appropriate grant to go after compared to, say, the North Lake portion of the Fair Park, where it does seem like that type of playground is really more set up for the grant that we applied for that that's giving out larger amounts, I think up to $2.5 million, which is what we went for.

Yeah. And do we have an idea of when we'll hear back?

We're actually, we thought we would have heard by now. That's kind of why we've been waiting for this a little bit. It almost could be any day. I did follow up with our grant writer before putting this forward and they did reach out to their contact. They said it should be soon. So I mean, hopefully we're only talking weeks. So that's our, by the time we give the notice to proceed and they mobilize, we're really hoping all this, the dust settles with these funding sources and we ultimately don't have to go into this capital account or expend all of it too. As you all know, these projects, as they come along, things do come up. I mean, we think that it's very thoroughly planned, but we are anticipating that something could come up so that way we're getting it. Just for everybody's reference to, as you all know, normally, when the city goes after grants, there usually is some type of match because these remember items there, you know, there is no match for the city. But that's what I'm liking. This too is that we received a larger grant and this is kind of the, the city's stake in it as noted as well, too. We've already done some sidewalk retaining wall repair through our chips program. Part of the project will also still have that involved in that quarter as well. So we're. trying to maximize the funding sources on this as much as possible cool we have a grant writer on staff now uh we've had a grant right since this administration's been yes okay thank you council president council member struber what happens if we don't get this grant So if we don't get this grant, and this is the way that I try to propose it as well, is that we would be dipping in and we'd be using all of these funds. So this is where we're kind of committing those funds now in the hopes that those grants come in. But if neither, although I'm, I'm confident about both assembly members 1. I'm definitely more confident with that's kind of more of just going through a process thing rather than an approval or an awarding. So, but we could ultimately end up dipping into those city funds, which I think is well worth it considering how long this project has been getting worked on. It's truly a. a project that originated through the neighborhood all the way back to, God rest his soul, Michael Esposito and Marion Fields, if anyone remembers them. And it's been a long time coming. This project has been talked about for a while.

And how much is left in the unappropriated funds budget line?

So without having that exact number, it's wealthily funded. We do talk about that every now and then. I mean, we're talking about a multi-multi-million dollar fund balance there too that's up in that, you know, could be above $15 million or so.

So you don't anticipate any issues with the budget, any unexpected payments that we're going to need to make? Like there's no effect financially dipping into these funds?

Um, no effect. Maybe you could elaborate on that question a little bit more. I just want to make sure, um, no, that's true. Oh, correct. Yeah, we're not. This is a pebble in the city's funding fund balance.

And what would it do for the project to wait a couple of weeks and approve this in July after we know about the grant?

Well, we are getting to that point. We've kind of reached that point before because the bid, I want to say, closed out maybe almost a couple months ago. So we're at that point where Someone has won this bid and they're waiting to proceed. And the further we keep kind of pushing it, the further we get out of construction season. So that is why this has that timely element of it. And again, the neighborhood has worked really hard on this and is really eager to see progress finally. So that's part of it as well. And I would argue even if we never were talking about any grant sources, this is well worth the money that we're putting into it.

Oh, for sure. I love the idea of the project. I'm very excited now that I've played Bocce once to do it outside. See?

Our next game can be outside. Yes.

I lost my train of thought. I had one more thing.

That's okay.

If I remember, I'll email you.

Yep, most certainly.

Thank you.

Any other questions? Council President, Council Member Favreau?

And this is a question for McNeff, but he's not here. But can we have details of the appropriated fund balance account? I don't think we've seen those.

Yeah, you I mean, just for reference, they actually are in your audit report, your AFR as well. Those are very detailed. So yeah, all right, point towards those any information you want, of course, any questions you have, let us know.

Any other questions?

Thanks just in council president if I may, I, as a resident, I was on the quality of life action committee. I still am for little Italy with Sammy and Heather. So, not only as deputy mayor, but personally, this really means a lot that we're entertaining this and putting it forward. And again, have to give a huge shout out from Marion fields, Michael, Sammy, and Heather Hamlin, and a lot of different names that I've worked on this. And I appreciate everybody's support for such a great project and I will see on the body court.

Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Yeah, I would echo what's already been said. This is a wonderful example of a groundswell effort coming from a neighborhood and reinvigorating the roots of that Italian heritage. And so it's very exciting. And I would say all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Ordinance 26 has been adopted 7-0. Moving on to resolutions. Resolution 66. Resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a contract with ARE Event Productions Inc. for the management of the annual Troy Turkey Trot. Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion? Motion. Council Member McKee, seconded by Council Member Favreau. Discussion? Discussion.

council president council member Campbell Cohen is somebody from the administration available to speak on this with regards to the request that um procurement for this year be deemed single source can you walk me through that

So I spoke to soon last year that we were going to go to RFP, but with a little bit of research this year, I was not able to find anybody with this magnitude who can conduct this race with other event holders. So we thought this would be a single source for sure.

Okay. So it's expertise by the vendor.

Yeah, pretty much. They're the only game in town.

Okay.

Yeah.

I see.

Yeah, I've experienced.

Yeah. The experience, I mean, last year, what, what went terrific without a hiccup and, uh, you know, we'd really want to work with them again as well, but it made me, yeah.

It, I had no problem with the vendor at all and probably not with a single source. I just want to make sure that I'm understanding the decision-making for it, because if, wouldn't you know what, how many games are in town through the RFP process?

Yeah. We don't know if any of that can handle this size magnitude of the race. I don't think anybody can. There's probably two vendors in the area and we can only use one at this time.

Okay. What I'm not getting is isn't that what the RFP process is supposed to tease out is whether how many people are able to do this work and willing and interested.

yeah what we're trying to tell you we would put an rfp out there there's no other company that literally can put on an event like this to this magnitude um there was two um and one of them has since as you know um george regan um he doesn't do these anymore so

So is the thought to one day return to an RFP, but now, right now, with the information that you have?

Well, right now, I just don't see any organizations starting from start to finish. I mean, charitable foundations and the equipment they have, the volunteers they recruit, anything that, you know, start to bottom to help this race out. I don't think there's another event holder that can do this.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

appreciate your time council member favor um and i can actually kind of vouch for that as a as a runner or at least i used to be a runner when i had more time um are is is the show like they they run everything yeah they're nationwide And yeah, they're nationwide. They have a great base of volunteers. I've volunteered for them a number of times. The only question that I had is I couldn't find the old contract. I believe with George, are we paying the same amount or has anything changed?

We are. I am not familiar with all of the events that, what was it, special event promotions ran. The ones that I am familiar with, the city received no funds whatsoever, even though some were provided in the contract. This contract provides for a minimum of $25,000 to the city Um, this is the proposal. Okay. I don't think we have a final contract in there yet. Uh, in addition, that amount is subject to it. That's a minimum. There's a increase depending upon the number of runners that are, um, enroll or that apply, uh, last year. I think the payment was something closer to 28. 27.5 um so um yeah this is much better than the prior arrangement also in addition i think he's if we end up with a he's uh guaranteeing if we end up with a multi-year contract uh he's guaranteeing fifty thousand dollars a year in charitable comfort contributions And based on my discussion with him, that has to do with his ability to build working relationships with donors and sponsors over a period of time.

And he hasn't seen it with other races. Yeah, he hasn't.

That was one of the increases from the previous event holder that that was only $20,000 as well.

Any other questions? Thank you.

I just want to add, Josh from ARE, he is on flight with his team to an actual event, to an event out of town. He'll be here for the July meeting. So, okay.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Resolution 66 is adopted 7-0. Resolution 67, resolution determining that proposed action is a type 2 action for purposes of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. Council President Steele, at the request of the administration, is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McLaren, second? Second. Council Member McKee, discussion on the resolution. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Resolution 67 adopted 7-0. Resolution 68, bond resolution of the City of Troy, New York, authorizing the issuance of $7,750,000 in serial bonds to finance the reconstruction of various streets in the city. Council President Steele, at the request of the administration, is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member DiLorenzo, second? second Councilmember McLaren discussion on the resolution Councilmember Campbell Cohen is somebody from the administration available to speak on this for a second um

earlier today we got the email uh with the AIIP streets as responsive to questions about the chips uh bonding is is that right that it's one-to-one almost One to one as in everything that's going to be included in your everything that's going to be covered by chips funding is included within that. Okay. So there are a handful of in South Troy a handful of open questions that folks have had and I understand that this is a sort of flexible plan uh based on a thousand different variables and it's nothing is going to look like how you planned it but um uh in particular um I've gotten a lot of questions about what's going on with restriping First Street uh with the bike lanes um after the canal and I was curious why that was left off of

Chris can jump in too, just in case I'm misspeaking. Again, like you said, it is a flexible and fluid plan. If there's not something in there, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can't happen. um just like there's stuff in there that might not happen just because uh like you said there's a bunch of variables especially lead piping and even when it comes to striping too we're a little beholden to the like you know one stripe company that all the all the pavers seem to subcontract out to too I know we tried to do more striping prior year and got a little cut off um so

you know if that if you're if you're giving us feedback that you're hearing feedback that people are are looking towards uh that being paid that's something that we can look into if that's if that helps okay yeah i've i'm hearing a lot about fourth street and first street especially the bike lane on first street just because a lot of people bring their kids to school along that way and so they're a little bit more nervous and at this point what was the bike lane is now occupied by parked vehicles almost okay yeah that was always such a wide But yeah, it's a kind of awkward, hilarious, no matter how you got it. But there's a lot of feedback about the bike lane, especially from parents of kids.

And I'm assuming when you're referring to Forestry, you're also talking about the bike lane. um bike lane for the most part is yeah what um and we do try to not that you know we value uh the bike lanes as well but you know we do try to prioritize crosswalks and things like that too especially in certain areas with schools and high pedestrian walkability

And then the other two that I get asked about all the time, and I'm sure you guys do as well. I didn't see Stowe Hills reconstruction in this plan, and I'm curious, is that still planned for this year?

so i you know like we've said all along we definitely want to get up to we definitely want to get up to stow i do think that some of the next steps are one as we all know first is lead piping lead pipes that is definitely a goal to get up there this year uh we do it's been a while uh if any sense of really preliminary preliminary plan has been provided up to on stow hill to the neighborhood there that is definitely something we'd like to do as well and as we have labella work further on on uh going into that but whether it it occurs this year or not it's something that we're definitely committed to trying to see through is that reconstruction pro uh up on stow that is definitely still a a top priority and i don't know if i'm leaving anything off here chris if you

it's in design right now yeah okay yes for the five stow heads listening online chris said that it's in design now with labella uh and um i appreciate you guys filling in the potholes up there as like a method of triage yeah yes now it's

we and we you know like everybody knows we try to keep up with the potholes as much as possible it is a little bit of a game of whack-a-mole and just with our weather conditions it can be very tough for those to for those to sustain but that's another thing we're always trying to work on and improve on but we try to get it as much as as much as we can but no stowe definitely needs some love i mean we you know yeah

and then the last thing and I'm gonna let this go is um I saw uh guard rails in the work plan for Campbell Avenue but not at the parts that I expected to see it at and that doesn't mean that the ones that you selected are unworthy or anything I'm just not as familiar um there are guard rail issues down near Mill uh in particular there's one basically at the turn by the pond that is completely out like uh if a car hit it goodbye uh uh lights out and then the other one like taking a right off Campbell's now are you talking about right there yeah okay yeah if you were if you were to hang a right by the pond there's there's a guardrail that's like that is not load-bearing at all um and then uh the conversely, the entrance to the Narrows, there is a guardrail there that basically prevents all pedestrian access unless you're spry enough to hop over or walk all the way. block a very far way around um a couple different folks especially the volunteers around Burden Pond so if you are going for guard rails on Campbell Avenue which is already quite specific I'd uh I'd love to see those uh those repaired

another thing that we can definitely look into too i think and you know just so everyone's clear here with the guard rails for some reason and they seem to be another item that just take a really long time to come in and that's something in some other areas even from projects we started a year ago or so still trying to get some guard rails up so we can look at that i'm trying to picture the guard rail you're saying that lacks the pedestrian because i i love the narrows i'm just trying to

So if you're coming down the hill and the volunteers have recently, over the last couple of years, cleared out a section, it's now a dirt walkway to where the picnic tables were just installed. Yeah, yeah. So you have to walk over the guardrail. And they have, like, a beautiful butterfly garden on the left-hand side and a bench now. But you have to climb over.

And we'll look into that, too, because, I mean, we usually work pretty closely with the group up there on all their endeavors and everything. And that's something that's awesome. I love the Narrows. I take my little dog down there. It's such a cool spot if you have a dog to kind of get a little bit of water. But, yeah, we'll take a look at that as well.

All right. I've got it up here, but you you can see it's it's not even attached to the. Okay. Yeah, it's okay. Pretty bad. Okay. Okay, I think that's it on my end. Thank you.

Council President Council members.

I have very similar questions around the knickerbocker. Very happy to see so many streets around Nick Park on this list. So many residents have been asking about it. There are a couple that I emailed about that I'm not seeing here. I see that 8th Ave is on the list, but it doesn't specifically say anything about sidewalks. And residents are complaining already about kids just walking down the middle of the street on 8th to get to Nick Park. Is sidewalks part of this plan for 8th?

Without having the list in front of me, I mean, usually any time we're doing a street, for the most part, we do the sidewalks.

I don't know if the sidewalks don't exist there right now.

So if there's not an existing sidewalk, then that might be the issue.

Yeah, it doesn't exist at all right now.

Okay. Do you want to chime in yet?

I also ask because I'm seeing sidewalks being put in on 103rd where they didn't exist before, which is also on the way to the park. So it made sense in my head that we're improving all of these things to help people get to the park, but only certain things. So that's why I was asking about it.

Yeah, and we can look at that part of 8th Avenue. Like everything, it's always is a balance of where you're trying to put stuff. We're trying to. That's why we are big on all the ADA crosswalks and all those. So we try to improve the walkability and access wherever we can, especially if it's lacking somewhere before. So we can take a look at that part of 8th Avenue.

Thank you. And then similarly, the alleys between 6th and 7th are on this list, but not between 7th and 8th. And with the increased traffic going to the park and the fact that there's been road work everywhere, getting a lot of complaints from residents about people going down that alleyway, which is also full of potholes and not doing great. So just wanted to ask about that too.

Yeah. So that's again, that's something that we can look into when it comes to alleyways. Another thing that we're very proud of doing as somebody that has exited and entered my home with an alleyway for probably the past 15, 16 years. And they're so in disrepair across the whole city. We're very proud of trying to chip away at the alleys as much as we can. We try to show them love with potholes being filled as well. They eat up the plows during snow time, everything. So it's definitely something that we continue to focus on. What we're doing too is we really focus on alleyways to try to allow the lead pipe program pull ahead a bit so we can start chasing it with paving. So it might be just that we were mobilized in a certain area, getting those done, and then it's kind of the cutoff point. But again, that's why this is a fluid list. We want to hear what residents, everybody's saying and try to adjust the best that we can. But, you know, and great job to Chris for putting this together. putting the bid together for our annual infrastructure program. We do involve a lot of different departments now trying to get the feedback, national grids involved. So, you know, there could be something going on there. Quite frankly, that's why we're staying away from it. But we're always up to hear some feedback, especially if it's coming from the residents.

Great. Thank you.

Yep.

Any other questions? Thank you very much. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Resolution 68 is adopted 7-0. We previously unanimously unanimously approved resolution 69. Moving on to resolution 70. Resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into contracts with the McGovern MHQ Inc. for the purchase of two 2026 Ford police interceptor utility vehicles for the patrol division and five 2026 Chevrolet Equinox police vehicles for the detective bureau pursuant to competitively procured award. that was a mouthful um by council president steele at the request of the administration is there a motion motion council member mclaren second second council member mckee I would just like to speak to the gentleman who spoke during the public forum, Greg Lyons. I see you. I'm sorry that you're having such foil problems, and that's Very unfortunate. We were able to obtain the information we requested by email to inform us, but we had very similar questions to you. It's not right. The members of the public should have access to the same information the members of the council have. So this is one of many FOIL problems uh, being encountered and, uh, needs attention. Council president council member McLaren.

Um, and just to kind of piggyback off what she said, um, the list that we got certainly showed, um, high mileage, old vehicles, um, needing to be replaced. So I, for one, I'm comfortable, um, approving this.

Are we allowed to read that?

Are you allowed to read the list if you want to?

I'm happy to read the list out loud so that the public has the same information that we got. The cars that are being replaced are a 2008 Chevy Impala with 86,460 miles, a 2008 Chevy Impala with 73,185 miles, a 2010 Chevy Impala with 100,498 miles, a 2008 Chevy Impala with 99,177 miles, a 2015 Ford Taurus with 60,005 miles, a 2018 Ford Explorer with 165,316 miles, and a 2016 Ford Explorer with 151,433 miles. Thank you. Are there any other questions, comments? Council President. Council Member Struber. I'm hoping somebody from the administration can help define what the standard is for end of useful life?

I think it's when Bob Polosky says, get rid of this piece of junk.

I mean, we have a maintenance program with our own police garage and they pretty much determined that, I mean, he's a mechanic for over 50 years and there's a second mechanic as well. It really has to do with that. And we try to keep up with it. Usually the useful life of a regular patrol vehicle is about three or four years. That's why we try and buy fewer vehicles every year, rather than we've gotten into a problem in the past where all of a sudden we got to buy like 10 vehicles, 12 vehicles at once, which is too costly. So we just try and keep up with it. But as I stated with the list that you had, most of those vehicles are pretty beat. um yeah but yes it's determined by our by our police mechanic pretty much but there are no written standards about you know once it reaches x number of miles or once it needs to be repaired x number of times like there's no standard for it i'm sure he has one i don't know it off the end i rely on him as my as my police mechanic okay thank you council president council member to lorenzo real quick i just have to ask i assume these cars go to auction Some of them do, some of them don't.

So what happens is we try and get even more life out of them.

So if they could go to training or they can go to maybe an admin spot where it doesn't really get much use, but you don't want it to be responding to calls or anything like that because it's You know, it's kind of dangerous. I mean, because the steel stresses too. I mean, they get rusty and then the frames start to go and so on. So, but we try and get as much life as we can. If another city department sometimes might take one of our vehicles and make use of it. And after that, then yeah, it goes to auction. Thank you.

Council President. Council Member Favreau. And I think the other thing that I'll note for the public is we had asked this was already budgeted in your budget, so this is not coming out of inappropriate funds. Correct. Yes. When they're decommissioned and handed off to other departments within the administration, are the lights removed or turned off?

Oh, yeah, yeah, they're stripped down, and any kind of emergency vehicle part of it, you know, the striping on it is removed, or the lights are taken out of the grills, and no more, you know, the headlights are called wigwags, all that kind of stuff is removed, unless it's going to go to something else that might need some of the lights, you know what I mean, like if it went to DPW or something, and they needed some of that stuff, but you wouldn't mistake it as a police vehicle.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Any other questions, comments? Thank you, Chief. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Resolution 70 is adopted, 7-0. Resolution 71, resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a contract with Allmark Services Inc. for tree services as needed. Council President Steele at the request of the administration. Is there a motion?

motion second member mclaren seconded by council member di lorenzo discussion council president council member struber is somebody from the administration here to answer questions um in looking at all of this it is of course an open-ended contract because we don't necessarily know what we need yet that makes sense What did we spend last year with Allmark?

With my department itself, spent $65,000. With other departments, a total of $82,000.

So the total between yours and the other departments was $82,000. Okay. And in looking at the proposal form, I was surprised that the not in wire pricing is exactly the same as in wire pricing. Is that normal?

Um, it was actually better than the other two. It was, it's what they proposed and it's very tricky. So we would never be able to touch anything with trees that are caught up in wire.

So I expected it to be here for in wire. Okay. Um, and, I know that the mayor mentioned recently that we have somebody on staff who is close to becoming an arborist. How does that relate to the services that we're going to need to contract out for? Is that going to decrease what we need to use them for?

this main rfp for me is for emergency services everything else is just a caveat what's needed so like what we had today we had roots coming off the ground we need professional services i actually had to call somebody today under procurement but we couldn't do that in-house so for those purposes it's mainly for emergency response got it thank you

So, Joe, when a tree is determined to be removed, I mean, who makes that judgment call?

I lay eyes on it myself. I mean, I use common sense. If it's clear cut dead july no leaves and it's gray and there's a hole in the base and someone calls and says this tree's about to fall on my house i'm probably going to take that down and take the liability off the city but we don't actually have an arborist on staff no we don't contract with an arborist no to help us protect the trees that we have no okay member mclaren are there plans to use um greg tudor as i mean i know he is the intention for him to have that um use his services you know have the city use his services i could definitely do that okay yeah actually the other 17 000 was from greg so yeah he uses his contract quite a bit as well and he knows that trees yeah yeah okay thank you you're welcome

Any other questions? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Resolution 71 is adopted. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Is adopted 7-0. That concludes our agenda for finance. I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

Motion.

Second.

We have a motion that's been made and seconded. All in favor?

Aye.

We are adjourned. Okay. Okay. All right. Sure. We're gonna have to redo all those proclamations. So we go right into the special. This evening we have a special meeting that has been called. We've pledged allegiance. We've called roll. We have one ordinance and three resolutions on our agenda. Um, I would entertain at this time, anyone who wishes to speak to the council on any agenda item to please come forward, state your name, place of residence. Seeing none. We'll move forward. Ordinance 26.

Ordinance 26 ordinance amending the 2026 general fund and capital fund budget council president steel at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion motion council member McLaren 2nd 2nd council member. Discussion on the ordinance. All in favor aye opposed.

7 eyes 0 knows the ordinance passes.

Resolution 67.

Resolution 67, a resolution determining that proposed action is a type 2 action for purposes of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. Council President Steele at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion? Motion. Council Member McLaren, second?

Second.

Council Member McKee? Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Seven ayes, zero noes. The resolution passes.

Resolution 68.

Resolution 68, a bond resolution of the City of Troy, New York, authorizing the issuance of $7,750,000 serial bonds to finance the reconstruction of various streets in the city. Council President Steele at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member Struver with a second by Council Member DiLorenzo. Discussion on the resolution? All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Seven ayes, zero nos. The resolution passes.

Resolution 69.

Resolution 69, a resolution to commemorate the life, service, and legacy of Joseph A. Mazzarello Sr. by designated that portion of Fifth Avenue between Ferry and Liberty Streets as Joseph A. Mazzarello Way. Council President Steele at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion? Motion. Council Member McLaren? Second. Council Member McKee? Um, it has come to our attention that Mr. Mazzarella was actually not a senior. So I would, uh, offer an amendment to remove senior. Is there a second to that motion? Second council member McLaren seconds. All in favor. I opposed the amendment passes now on the amended resolution. All in favor. I opposed. 7i zero knows the resolution passes i would entertain a motion to adjourn motion motion council member struber i think and seconded by council members there is that right yep all in favor aye opposed we're adjourned