City Council - Regular Meeting

good evening everyone and welcome to the Troy City Council uh it is 6 30 and it is uh I'd like to call this public hearing to order I would ask first 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.

Burke, would you please call the roll?

Council Member DeLorenzo.

Present.

Council Member Struber. Present. Council Member Spain-McLaren.

Present.

Council Member McKee. Present. Council Member Favreau. Present. Council Member Campbell-Cohen.

Present.

Council President Steele.

Also present.

All members are present.

Thank you.

Council President, I move that the Council resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole for the purpose of conducting a public hearing.

Clerk, would you please read the notice?

regarding proposed local law amending the Charter of the City of Troy by repealing and replacing Section C-40, Public Emergencies, to align it with the State of New York Executive Law Article 2-B regarding emergency declarations.

The public hearing regarding local law number four is now open. The rules of the chair are similar to the rules that we've followed for the two previous public hearings. We would ask that you come forward, give your name, place of residence. Please keep your remarks to no longer than five minutes. And I would invite folks to come forward.

good evening council members my name is frankie and i'm a resident of troy i'm here again to express my full support for local law number four and i want to thank you one more time for preserving the public's right to speak freely on this topic despite the mayor's attempt to silence our voices In my previous comments on Local Law No. 4, I lamented all the time, energy, and resources that have been squandered on Mayor Montello's fabricated emergency while Troy residents face the real-life crisis of economic insecurity. I highlighted actual emergencies, like the struggle of ordinary citizens to afford food, housing, transportation, and medical care. But since the last time I spoke, we now know much more about those real-life emergencies. On July 23rd, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report on homelessness that showed a stunning 55% year-over-year increase in homelessness in the city of Troy and Rensselaer County combined, the third highest increase in the entire state. In my opinion, that is a real public emergency. At the recent 2026 State of Hunger Summit in Troy, the regional food bank had one clear message. Food insecurity, especially among children, is on the rise. According to their data, roughly one in six kids don't know where they're going to get their next meal. I don't know about you, but that also seems like a real public emergency to me. So homelessness in our area is increasing at an astonishing rate. Regional food banks are struggling to meet unprecedented demand. Children in our community are going hungry and yet no public emergency has been declared for any of that. I personally think these critical issues should be our city's top priority. Unfortunately, the mayor appears to think the most urgent issue in Troy is to bypass the council and pay an exploitative data broker $160,000 taxpayer dollars to surveil private citizens 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And even though she paid that data broker over four months ago, the mayor has chosen to keep this supposed public safety emergency in place, which in effect puts it at the very top of her priority list. I can't begin to fathom the justification for that, but I'm hoping that the council's Article 78 lawsuit will provide us all with some insight. In the meantime, I ask you please get local law number four passed so we can stop focusing on the mayor's fake emergencies and get back to the business of serving the thousands of Troy residents, our friends and neighbors who are facing real life emergencies every single day. please seal the deal on this law close the loopholes and let's turn our collective attention to finding real solutions to the very real problems that are plaguing our community thank you for taking time to hear my comments it's appreciated as always thank you frankie

Good evening, Council. My name is Callisto. I live right down on Fulton Street. And thank you for all of your hard work on this issue that the public clearly cares a lot about. Our governing institutions function at their best when their participating bodies have their power restricted by a system of checks and balances and when those participating bodies and individuals are engaging with the system in a good faith effort. Certain circumstances, like natural disasters or other emergencies, require the system of checks and balances to be relaxed to allow the executive to navigate nimbly in the interest in preserving lives and property. We all recognize that there are good reasons for carve-outs to exist, which circumvent some aspects of our system as written. The world is complicated and our institutions should be fluid. An issue arises when that second thing about participating bodies or individuals acting in good faith doesn't happen. Our mayor has repeatedly shown that she cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of stewarding boundary pushing executive power through her abuse of the law, which allows her currently to declare a state of emergency basically on a whim. She has declared, I believe, eight state of emergencies in the past two and a half years, with at least three of those instances being to specifically circumvent the legislative process which the city council is supposed to govern. This most recently happened with the flock cameras contract, which was as plain of an instance of executive overreach and executive abuse as I can imagine. So I fully support local law number four, and thank you for continuing to take input on these matters. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Callisto.

give me one sec to get my phone up okay uh i'm francis uh sweet i'm in d6 um i support local law number four i think that it's high time that we get that passed um i know since she vetoed even this public hearing that she's inevitably uh carmela is going to veto the law itself, but I know that you guys have the strength and power to override that. So I'll be here for all of those meetings and supporting. I just wanted to point out some discrepancies in what the mayor has said in the past versus her actions now. She has absolutely usurped the power of the legislative body as the executive when she was council president she argued in favor of more power and oversight to the legislative body but now that she's executive that's been flipped on its head um flock is not an emergency uh when madden declared a state of emergency and she was up in arms about this that it was taking away power from the legislative body that was about necessary for life water supply this is about a fun toy that troy pd wants it's not the same this is not an emergency And she needs to not be able to do this. Any mayor needs to not be able to do this in the future. When she was city council president, she sent a statement to Madden criticizing him for what she said was quote, an attempt to usurp the powers of the legislative branch that is appalling and oversteps the co-equal branches of government. I think that perfectly is a perfect example of what she has done. So I support this local law and I hope you pass it and pass it again. Thank you. Thank you, Frances.

Hello, everyone. My name is Brianna Harrington. I'm in District 4, 10th Street. Yeah, I just want to reiterate what everyone's been saying. I support local law number four. Appreciate it being in existence to begin with. Definitely a long time coming with a lot of the abuses of power that have been going on consistently. I wouldn't be surprised if Mayor Montello actually declared a state of emergency about this local law number four. So we'll just keep that in the back of our heads because, you know, she loves to throw that around. Once again, as we all know, Flock. it's a tool it is a tool that is made by a very unreputable company as we've seen time and time and time again that we've discussed time and time again many communities all over the country are canceling their contracts as we know and so this definitely um does not deserve any sort of state of emergency or any sort of um you know uh payment without uh permission So again, thank you. Thank you, Brianna.

Does anyone else wish to address the council as part of the public hearing? I want to thank all of you for your comments. They were heard. And at this point, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the public hearing. Motion. Second. Council Member McLaren with a second by Council Member Favreau. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? We are adjourned. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Troy City Council. It is 7 o'clock. It is also the regular meeting, regular August meeting of the council. Previously at our public hearing, we pledged allegiance and we called the roll. At this point in the evening, I would ask that if anyone has any comments on the agendas, which are at the back of the chambers you're welcome to come forward this this public forum is on agenda items only there will be a public forum at the end of the meeting on any item but at this point of the evening it is just agenda items does anyone wish to address us on the three resolutions and one ordinance Seeing none, we'll move right along with our agenda. Ordinances. Ordinance 32.

Ordinance 32, an ordinance amending the 2026 general fund budget. Council President Steele at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member McKee?

Second.

Seconded by Council Member Struber.

Discussion on the ordinance?

All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

seven eyes zero knows the ordinance passes moving on to resolutions resolution 77 Resolution 77 a resolution accepting a grant from the New York state division of criminal justice services under the give initiative and authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract and execute documents related to the grant on behalf of the city council president steal at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion motion council member McLaren 2nd 2nd council member McKee seconds discussion on the resolution. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

7 ayes, 0 noes. The resolution passes.

I just want to clarify for those who may be wondering why this is moving along so quickly. All of these items were discussed thoroughly previously in our committee meetings. So we're moving along rapidly, I guess. Resolution 78.

Resolution 78, a resolution accepting a state and municipalities Sam grant in the amount of 125,000 dollars from the New York state dormitory authority and authorizing the mayor to enter into a grant disbursement agreement and execute documents related to the grant on behalf of the city council president steal at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion? Motion. Councilmember DiLorenzo? Second.

Second.

Councilmember McLaren? Discussion on the resolution? All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

7 ayes, 0 noes. The resolution passes.

Resolution 81.

Resolution 81, a resolution to commemorate the 30-year career and contributions of the band Super 400 to the Troy community by designating the portion of Rensselaer Street west of River Street as Super 400 Way. Council President Steele, Council Member Struver at the request of the administration.

Is there a motion?

Motion.

Council Member Favreau?

Second.

Council Member Struver seconds. Discussion on the resolution? We're going to be making a special presentation just following this. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

7 ayes, 0 noes. The resolution passes.

I would ask the members of the band and their followers to please come forward. I know.

Okay. All right. All right.

I'm going to come on up.

Hi, everyone. Hey, guys.

Run over so they can get y'all in, like, some here, some here.

Okay, great. And run over to them.

All right. We have a special guest, and I want to thank the council president. I want to thank the council. I know we have a lot of followers who are standing behind us. Meet Super 400 folks. Come on. Let's give them a shout, man. so this iconic local band um and they plan to hopefully do a little song tonight i'm told no i'm kidding i won't i won't put you on the spot like that but i gotta tell you man um these guys they're in the capital region Rock Hall of Fame. Congratulations. They've been around for over 30 years. And I asked them, so why Rensselaer Street? And I didn't realize it was the spot of your first gig, which is so, so cool. They've been around for over 30 years. You have touched so many people's lives, not just through music, but we all know that Joe Mealy has a very special fundraiser for his son, and I know all of you helped lead the charge with Joe, and I'd love to hear you talk about that, but suicide prevention and mental health awareness and This band is a huge part of getting the word out for mental health awareness. And we can't thank you more enough from the bottom of our hearts. So thank you for that. Thank you.

And Carmela, can I also say a personal thing?

Oh, we'll let you guys talk. Okay. All right. Just about the suicide prevention.

Please. They have helped my family raise at the Dustin Millen Memorial Concert over $200,000 for mental health initiatives, supporting American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, NAMI and Catholic Charities. you know, which has provided many programs, and we've tried to make it as local as possible, and I want to tell them how much I appreciate them. There's lots of other charities they've supported over the last 30 years, you know, but I'll let you know. but thank you thank you can't tell you how much that has has done for this community how much it's done for mental health awareness when you have a band like this that plays year after year it's not just their time for the concert they also perform a super 400 but they also allow us to have guest musicians um and do backing for those bands that takes time for them to rehearse and they graciously do it. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Thank you.

And, you know, I know many of us and many of the council are very connected, not just to your music, but to your causes. Joe Mealy is a neighbor of many of ours over by Fair Park. And it's just something that the community comes out for, not just annually, but all throughout the year for Joe and his family. I know Joe will be at the dedication and we'll let folks know and give them a heads up for the actual dedication ceremony. for the sign where we're dedicating the street to super 400 way um you know and a real positive note i i must tell you so uh i had a real short stint with a band um they asked me to sing and you know you you just hit the nail on the head the work that went into that one song um literally took weeks upon weeks evening upon evening to get it right and we were down at billy's downtown i don't know if you know like that's where oh yeah so donna's is there now um and billy's from the east side moved downtown and so long story short with the baker brothers and a couple other police officers i sang a song but the practice that went into that so um to stay together for 30 years and practice like that and and work to that level and have that commitment really says a lot about all of you so i can only imagine the challenges the obstacles but just that reward to see people smile to see people enjoy music and you know folks should know we were talking about american theater before we walked in, and you never know, Super 400 might be one of those live bands at American Theatre when it opens in February, woohoo, as not only a movie theatre, but also live entertainment plays things to that nature so thank you super 400 for all the impact that you've had here in troy in the capital region once we dedicate that sign it's really going to be amazing so we post it on social media and like friends from high school you know which was only i think like 15 20 years ago for me haha But friends from high school were messaging me and they're like, oh my gosh, Super 400, they're such a great band. So we're just so proud of you. We have a proclamation, which I'll read in a few minutes, but I know the council president and a couple of council members want to say a couple of words. So congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. I'll do everyone a service and not sing. I can tell you that right now. Um, but you know, this is what makes Troy so very special is groups like super 400 who go above and beyond. And for that, the council is very, very grateful, uh, as I know many other folks are, but I'd like to turn the mic over to district two council member Struber.

Thank you, and thank you, Super 400. I get to see all of you guys pretty often at the El House and around town, and I'm just so grateful that you do what you do. I was introduced to Super 400 the first time back in 2023. I was at the Eddies Awards, and so were you. They won an Eddie that year. And your music is easy listening, but also It opens up the community. It brings people together. And that's one of the reasons that bands like yours are so incredible to have locally. So thank you for everything you do for continuing this for 30 years plus. And I hope to see many more of your shows.

All right. Without further ado.

Council President Nye and the City Council would like to read this with me. Never needed these until years ago. So whereas in February of 1996, Joe Daley, Laurie Friday, and Kenny Harmon first played together in a rented rehearsal space at the former Van Zandt Jacobs and Company Collar and Cuff Factory on River Street. and became known as Super 400 after that initial jam session ended. And whereas Super 400 continued rehearsing at the former factory while building a reputation as an extraordinary live band and continued writing and performing for the next three decades. Growing their fan base, not just in the capital region, across the United States, Europe, and Canada. Releasing five studio albums. Super 400 in 1998, Blast the Message in 2004, Three and the Beast in 2007, Sweet Fist in 2009, and Spirit in the Sound in 2026 this year. And whereas throughout their career, the members of Super 400 have also worked as studio and live session musicians in the U.S. and U.K., written soundtracks for top television shows toward the Northeast as the backing band for future Grammy winner Mike Farris, frequently played local music stages, hopefully American theater, collaborating with area musicians on a variety of projects and appeared on national television. And whereas Super 400's first live album, Live Zero Five, was partially recorded, where else? The Owl House, one of the best wings in the Capital Region. And their second live album, 2024's Live from Troy, New York, was recorded where else? Across the street at the Hangar on the Hudson from the Owl House across the street with both venues located on River Street just one block north of the band's original factory rehearsal space. And whereas in 2011, Lori suffered serious injuries in her automobile accident and was unable to tour. So she and Kenny co-founded the Troy Music Academy with Graham Tishy, where for the last 15 years, they have helped to grow and celebrate the local arts community by teaching students of all ages. And whereas the band's been recognized for their accomplishments with Super 400 Day in Troy, first declared on February 25th, 2006 by then-Mayor Harry Tatungian, and again declared on January 19th, 2024 by your current mayor, Carmela Armantelo, and by being inducted in the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame in 2022. And whereas the members of Super 400 have performed at countless local benefit concerts over the years with a long-time connection to the annual Dustin Mealy Memorial Concert at Brown's Rep Hall, and during every live performance, they always proudly proclaim that they are from Troy, New York. And whereas the westernmost end of Rensselaer Street runs along the north side of the former Van Zandt Jacobs and Company Collar and Cuff Factory, the place where Super 400 began its musical journey, and one block from where they recorded both of their live albums, and whereas The city of Troy desires to recognize and honor members of our community who have made extraordinary contributions to the development of the arts and sciences and to the culture of the city as a whole. Now, therefore, be it resolved that in recognition and appreciation of the musical achievements of this quintessential Troy band, Rensselaer Street West of River Street shall bear the honorary designation of Super 400 Way with an official dedication ceremony to take place in the near future. Be it finally resolved that this honorary designation shall serve as a lasting municipal tribute to Super 400. Be it finally resolved again that the City of Torrey on behalf of its 50,000 plus residents extends our sincere gratitude to the members of Super 400 for all the years of the great musical entertainment and we wish you well congratulations and many more years ahead super 400 way there you go sir and we would love to hear from super 400 let's hear it folks let's hear it

It's hard to know what to say, really. That was a great piece of reading there. Really, all we ever wanted to do was to just make music together. And the fact that people started getting into our sound was just something that it was like icing on the cake for us and you know regarding the benefits and things it's really the least that we can do if we have a gift that we can share our music and it'll turn people on to the arts and a beautiful way of seeing the world then we're happy to do that and hopefully we'll just do it until our hands won't let us do it anymore

want to thank you guys it means a lot to us i mean just we're just a band you know what i mean we do the best we can um we love this city so um you know thank you so much for everyone for doing something special for us well deserved thank you

All right. I didn't really plan to say anything. My name's Jim Meaney. I've been friends with the band for 20 years or so. And so far, this ceremony has been almost as long as a Super 400 show, if you don't see one. so i'll try to keep it quick um thank you so much to the city of troy for doing this for the band um i'm so proud of them i love you guys so much and i really appreciate the title super 400 way it could have been super 400 street or super 400 drive but i like i like the sound of super 400 way because it kind of makes me reflect on the way that these three move through life And when you learn about what they've done over the past 30 years and what they've been through, the resilience, the love they have for each other and for this community, it reminds me so much of Troy. I'm not from Troy, but I spent a bit of time in Troy some years ago and I know how it feels here. And people hold their friends tight and they love each other. And when things get hard, they just, keep their heads straight and keep looking forward. And this band just is the epitome of that. So Super 400 Way is the Troy way to me as an outsider looking in. And I'm so proud of you all. And I'm so grateful to the city of Troy. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Let's give it up. Super 400 Way, Troy Gritt. That's what you represent, Troy Gritt. Thank you. Thank you.

We'll take it. All right, how about on three? Super four comes your way. Here we go, one, two, three.

Super 400 Ways.

Very good. All right. Thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. yeah. yeah. yeah. yeah. yeah. yeah you want to try to see it well

Thank you all. As our celebrities depart, I want to invite anyone who wishes to address the council on any item to please come forward. We ask that you give your name and place of residence. And try to stay within a few minutes, you know. I'm sorry, Jim.

Hello. Jim Mount here, District 5.

Oh, thank you. I am a homeowner, taxpayer, voter. I turned 70 today, so as you can imagine, I'm in a kind of state of shock here, okay? Happy birthday. Well, thank you. You know, I'm not thinking that I got any wiser, but I'm not thinking I got any more senile. But what I don't believe, and I don't prescribe to, is that the flock safety devices were what made Troy's crime rate go down. My feeling is that it may have been fully or nearly fully staffing the police department. You know, I think that might have something to do with it. And I also have trouble dealing with Troy's government being dysfunctional where we don't recognize the difference between the executive branch and the legislation branch. I think the council sets the policy and the mayor, the executive, is deemed to enforce that policy. So My feeling that we need to get our emergency procedures in line with New York State. We do not want this sort of authoritarian thing to happen where the Americans say, hey, I'm going to declare the state of emergency and do what I want.

So that's all I have to say. It's quick. It's easy. Well, thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your birthday, Jim. Thank you.

I'm going to. Francis and Frankie told me they're going to take care of me.

Okay. Very good.

A little bit shorter than you. My name is Sylva Menard. Good evening council members. Thank you for taking the time to be here on a regular basis this year and next year. Last week I tried to close my street for one day to finish a masonry repair and I got a different answer from every department I asked. including one from the police telling me to do the very thing that several days later code later said i had no right to do every person i dealt with was very courteous the problem is that the city seems to have no permit for what i was asking and we send those employees out to enforce a rule that has never been written down they were set up to fail and so was i i hired andrew bakalakis to repoint the peak of my building four and five stories up and that took an 86 foot lift Andrew worked for three weeks on the east side of that wall without closing the street once, and we needed one day to close the street for the west side. The width of the street, a tree, and a large stoop directly opposite my house meant that we could not set the lift up on the other side to allow traffic to pass underneath. we didn't run out of time we ran out of people who could tell us what the process was andrew was in conversation with the city for over a month and pulled two successive barricade permits he never hid what the job required when the lift was delivered it took hours to walk that machine into position with traffic backed up mid-block shortly into this process the police stopped They told us we had a barricade permit and that with it we had to close the street at the beginning of the block so drivers wouldn't get stuck halfway up. So the police told us to close the street and they cited that barricade permit we were holding. Scheduling no parking signs weeks later for the west side of that north wall where we did need to close the street, Paula at DPW Dispatch told Andrew, you've got a barricade permit. The only thing you need to do is provide your own blockade and sign. Andrew asked, really, that's it? He asked again, are you sure? And he was told yes twice more. I don't think Paula was careless. She answered confidently three times because nobody ever gave her anything that says otherwise. So then Friday, July 31st, Andrew walked to the fire station to tell them the street would be closed and we moved the lift in before 7 a.m., Nobody had mentioned another process. The no parking signs were up. DPW knew what the plan was. And here's what we were told after that in one day. At 11 a.m., TBD and Chip from Code arrived, and they had no idea why the street was closed. Chip told us, you can't close a street without a 911 dispatch notification, and you can't put the sign north of the O'Neill parking entrance. Please remember that. I've got photos. Andrew, my son Avi, and I then walked down to Code on Chip's advice. Andrew at Code called fire, and what came back was, the chief says that road can never be closed. We require it open as a main thoroughfare. Not today. The answer was never. But that road was closed for the lift positioning at the request of the tri police. It was closed all day on August 4th for National Grid. It's been closed repeatedly over the last couple years for King's Landing 2 construction and other construction on our block. I'm not going to argue traffic engineering with anyone in this room. I'm telling you that never turned out to mean not for me. So Avi and I walked to the fire station, having discussed this, and we spoke with Chief Salucci. We told him the work left was only four to six hours. And his answer, he'd spoken with, he called Jared, the assistant chief. He called Andrew at Code. And their answer, he came back and he said, you have to go through Code. I'm sorry, you won't be able to do it today. Everyone needs to be notified in advance for planning, fire, and police. So it can be closed with notice. And that's the opposite of what we've been told 20 minutes earlier at Code. so we go back to code uh fire chief had told us there's a permit we show up there is no permit billy french told us you email building permits but joe maz approves these himself he needs written sign off from fire and police it goes through the city clerk and there's no way that it gets approved by tuesday so at this point we're up to five people maybe four departments one day and not one of them could hand me a piece of paper Andrew, my mason, he threw up his hands. That lift had cost me $5,000 for a one-month rental so we could get this work done. And the month was running out on August 4th. He wasn't going to rent it for another week on speculation of trying to get the street closing permit. So at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, August 4th, instead of finishing the job, that 86-foot lift was removed. It was massive. And Skyworks sent him a smaller lift, but it wasn't big enough, and we didn't get another one until this morning. There was another deadline blown and another rental. That was the third vehicle that showed up this morning. So by 10 a.m. on Tuesday of this week, the day that we were told a closure could not possibly be arranged, We had national grid on the south end and the north end of the block and shortly thereafter I have photo and video from 1pm showing that that street was closed all afternoon. Their barricade actually sat exactly where ours had been on July 31st, last Friday. It was north of O'Neill's entrance, where it was invisible from Federal. The placement, I had been told, was prohibited. There was no detour, no flagger. There were no cars turning... There were actually cars coming up Federal, turning in and having to turn around right in front of the construction area at King's Landing. There was no notice to neighbors. And all of those things that I just described to you were described to me as a hard requirement for street closure. And I understand your utility may notify the city rather than ask its permission to close the street. I'm not challenging that. My point is narrower. The street can close. It has closed. It closed this week multiple days in a row and traffic managed. And the safety measures I were told were mandatory were nowhere on that. so i started looking for the process myself the city has two instruments and i needed a third according to code fire a barricade permit is too little it lets you occupy the curb it doesn't put fire and police in the loop i wrote this earlier this week i since actually got a copy of the permit and i'm going to read that now um See reverse side for restrictions and regulations description of work barricade permit for a lift slash scaffolding to be placed in the city right of way. Work in city right of way. If it is necessary to restrict pedestrian or vehicular traffic in the sidewalk or street areas, proper barricades must be erected to warn traffic and to reroute it safely. A minimum width of four feet must be maintained for pedestrian traffic. And if pedestrians are forced to walk in the street, adequate barricades are to be erected in the street to define that walkway. So the things that I was told, which worm, Detour, flagger, cars turning around, notification to fire and police, none of those are listed on that permit, but the permit talks about street closure. So the other document that's there on the city website as far as permits, because I was told the barricade permit was not the correct permit, is a six-page special event permit. To repair the wall of my own building, I would have to declare my masonry work an event, name it, check a box, is it a parade, a festival, a block party, a film shoot, estimate the crowd size, say if it's rain or shine, and then submit a background check with my social security number and ten years of addresses. But I wasn't bringing a crowd, I was asking for the opposite of a crowd. I wanted a quiet, empty street for one day so a machine could work and nobody would get hurt. So what appears to sit between a barricade permit and a special event permit application does not exist, and that seems to be why I got five answers. Chip was right that fire and police need to know. We actually walked over to the fire department and notified them that the street was closing for the day. And the chief was right that advance notice matters. Everyone I spoke to was right about what the city needs, but not one of them had a form to deliver it. So I'm asking for four things, and all four things help the people behind the counter as much as they help me or the next property owner. One, create the missing form. A construction street closure permit between the barricade permit and the special event permit, unless the barricade permit is adequate and I was not getting accurate information, but maybe people don't know. So that special, that different permit could put fire and police on notice in writing, which this barricade permit does not do. It would, you know, pull off the other aspects, no crowd size, no background check. And section 270-20B already gives the traffic engineer authority to close the street and set the barricades. So two, put printed copies of this additional permit next to the barricade permits and online. Nobody should have to know to ask. Three, give DPW dispatch the answer in writing. Paula should never have been in the position of guessing. Four, decide whether the safety requirements are real. I was told a detour or a flagger plus notice to neighbors were mandatory and four days later my block was closed with none of them. and in years of construction on my street i've never once been notified of a street closure if those measures keep people safe they should apply to any closure if they don't no resident should be turned away for lacking them either way write it down so no employee has to improvise it at a curb And I would appreciate a written answer telling me what the correct process actually was on July 31st. I still don't know, and I don't think the people I asked did either. And I just want to note that my mason called on Tuesday multiple times, and he called again on Wednesday. He got no response from DPW this week about getting the no parking signs up for today for when our equipment was delivered, and that has never happened before. Thank you. Thank you, Silva.

That's insane.

Does anyone else wish to address the council on any item?

My name's Leo Carroll. I lived in Troy. Pretty much my whole life. And the only thing I'm looking for is to put a little light in the city of Troy. I've been fighting this fight for well over a year.

I come home.

I live between Burdett and 27th Street. I come home every night. After fighting this for a while, and having Emma Quinn follow up on it with channel six, I finally got a little result and the mayor promised to have lights back on Hoosick Street within two weeks. Two weeks went by, nothing ever happened. Three weeks went by and finally, in front of my neighbor's house, one light was replaced. And down short of 15th Street, one light was replaced. So two lights out of 15 lights that don't appear on Hoosick Street where polls should be. To get any reaction, what I did was put a sign up in front of my house. That sign is still there now, and I change it every month. It started out six months. It's now up to 10 months. Having the one light out in front of my neighbor's house was pretty good. At least we had something to see up there. Hasn't rectified the rest of the street at all. The rectification for the rest of the street where the wires were shown, where they took pictures of, which has looked ugly all these years, Finally, they did something. They created a wooden box, painted green, to cover up where the wires come. Now, if you go up Hoosick Street now, you will see all those little green boxes. However, they are not in the place where they were put to cover the wires. Kids come along, kick them. They get hit by cars. But I was a little happy that they put that one light up in front of my neighbor's house. Not the other one, but that one light. A week ago Sunday, the bell rings at 3 o'clock in the morning in my house. I wonder, what's happened now? I look out, and there are two police cars in front of my house. so i come down i open the door the policeman says your ring camera does it pick up hoosick street i said well no i can't have to pick up hoosick street because it'll be going off all the time with the traffic going by i only pick it up as to when they hit my sidewalk i said what do you want to know that for he said a vehicle just took down the light in front of your neighbor's house now this was maybe once in a half we have that light up that's what the front of my house looks like it's just amazing so i'm kind of at a loss here we want to be a well i think we want to be a welcoming city when you come in and go up i don't know has anybody driven up hoosick street at night Now, you talk to National Grid, National Grid says, I'm sorry, we can't do anything about this. The city owns those lights. Now, just common sense. They say that poles get knocked down. Okay. They say sometimes they have to do curb cuts. You don't have to do a curb cut unless that wire rots. If that wire rots, then you got to do a curb cut. So if you knock down a pole, if you get a new pole up pretty fast, You got no problem. Why doesn't the city have a contract with somebody so that when it gets knocked down, they don't have six months to go through to get something to replace that pole. I just can't understand the operation that way. Okay. Um, that's all I got to say, please get me some lights on music.

Thank you, Leo. Awesome.

I'm very sorry. I want to hand these to the city clerk so they can be passed out to the council members.

Hello, Avi Menard, District 4. So on the Hoosick Street, whack of lights. And I mean, they're already gone. They could be moved to the other side of the sidewalk farther away from the street so that they don't get knocked over by cars or they're less of a problem during construction so that they don't need to be replaced as often. That's also a thing with the, gosh, what is it? King and Fifth or Jacob, where there's the fire hydrant that's been, knocked over many times by cars and it's missing and it was previously there so those are just two things where they if they could get inset into the sidewalk or other places it might make it better thank you thank you Avi sure Leo go ahead

With that pole that was knocked down, I come out with all my investigative skills the next day. And I'm looking up and down the street, and I look up the street, and it had to be a pretty good-sized vehicle to hit that pole, knock that pole down. That pole had to go back up over the top of the vehicle. That vehicle came into my wall and knocked my wall down and kept going. So if you just look up my street now, you can see the oil or I don't know whether it's something from the radiator or whatever going up. So I walk up and follow it. I go up three houses and it shows it turning around and coming down Hoosick Street. Now, I know there's been a lot of dispute regarding the flock cameras in the city of Troy. So I inquire, are there any flock cameras on Hoosick Street? Lo and behold, there's a flock camera just as you go on alternate route seven. I think, beautiful. They got to be able to take a picture of this car or truck with probably a missing front right headlight all smashed in. So I inquire with the police department, and the police department says, yes, we do have a flock camera on 8th Street. I said, can you see any vehicle coming down without a missing headlight and know what the vehicle is and, of course, pick up the license plate? The flock cameras are crap at 3. All you see is glare coming from the headlight and you can't even make out the vehicle. What the hell good is a flat camera for at night if you can't even make out the vehicle license plate? That was my addendum. Thank you, Leo.

Very good. Very good.

Does anyone else wish to address? Leo's a hard act to follow, I have to admit. Well, seeing none, before I close the public forum, I would be remiss if I did not note that tonight we were supposed to have had the second quarterly financial reports. Per section 45.3 of the code, The second quarter report from the Comptroller is due July 31st. We have not seen the report. I gave the Comptroller the courtesy well in advance, asked him, would this be a good night? We'd hold a special finance meeting and we could, as you can see, we had a very short agenda. It would have been perfect. We haven't even seen the report, much less whether or not the Comptroller has finished it, whether or not he's ready to present. And the mayor, when I brought this up, said, well, you know, the language in the code is outdated. Well, I want to remind the mayor that in 2018, when she was council president, that section was amended. And it was amended to insert those specific dates to compel the controller to report to the council on the finances of the city so if they are outdated She must be outdated because 2018, she was council president and responsible for that legislation. I have to say further that it is the council's response. We have a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Troy to monitor the finances. We adopt a city budget and throughout the year, we are to monitor the expenditures of the city we need to know have we overestimated revenues have we underestimated have are we over expending in a certain uh item should we be adjusting uh budget transfers you know it's an ongoing process but we cannot do our job if we don't have the information so i am being told that we will see it On August 20th, I've asked that we have it in advance because it's only fair that the council can at least peruse it and look at it and become familiar with it so they can ask intelligent questions. I have received no guarantee that that will happen. I think the citizens need to know what's going on here. And so I just had to share that tonight before we close the meeting. I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion. Second. We have a co-motion by Council Member McLaren, seconded by Council Member DiLorenzo. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? We're adjourned.