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Common Council Meeting January 21st, 2026

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Common Council Meeting January 21st, 2026

10 matches · 2 unidentified
1:53:30
A local law amending Utica City Charter, Section 1.016, Notice of Tort Claims Against City, Liability of City in Certain Actions. No civil action should be maintained against the city for damages or injuries to person or property sustaining consequence of any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, park, recreational field, or any other municipal-owned asset, real or personal property and/or facility. Park, recreational field, or any other municipal-owned asset, real or personal property and/or facility delivered. No such action should be maintained for damages or injuries to the person or property sustained solely in the consequences of the existence of snow, ice, water, grass, or other growth, um, upon any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, park, recreational field, or any other municipal-owned asset, real or personal property and/or facility, unless actual written notice thereof relating to the particular place was in writing and actually delivered to the Commissioner of Public Works and there was a failure or neglect to cause such snow, ice, water, grass, or other growth be removed or the place otherwise made reasonably safe within a reasonable time after the receipt of notice. The city should not be liable in civil action for damages or injuries to person or property or invasion of personal property rights of any name or nature whatsoever, whether casual or continuing, arise at law or in equity, alleged to have been caused or sustained in whole or in part, or because of omission of duty, wrongful act, fault, neglect, misfeasance, or negligence on the part of the city or any other of its agents, officers, or employees, unless a notice of claim was made and served in compliance with Section 50(e) of the General Municipal Law, nor unless the action was commenced thereon within 1 year and 90 days after happening of such act, omission, fault, or neglect. But no action should be commenced to recover upon or enforce any such claim against the city until the expiration of 3 months after the service of the notice. This subsection does not revive any claim or cause bar discard or any requirement, statute of limitations, nor waive any limitation applicable to any claim or cause of action against the city. The actual written notice requirement, which necessitates an actual delivery of said notice to the Commissioner of Department of Public Works, will be satisfied by transmissions of said notice to the designated recipient Such delivery does not include utilization of the City of Utica 311 application or similar electronic applications, text messaging, oral notification, and other methods inconsistent with subsection A above. Your votes, please.
Unidentified speaker 1:31:36
No, just a few things. I mean, I guess code-wise, ongoing battle with snow sidewalks. Um, since November 1st, Codes Department listed, um, has either tagged, sent notices to, or ticketed 183 people or properties for snow and sidewalks. A lot of those properties don't have people living in them. Sometimes it's the snow banks in grocery stores go over to the sidewalk and we got to get them to then clean it. So it's an ongoing battle. But the easiest way to report that is the 311 app. And the second easiest is just calling codes. There's nothing that gets reported that our officers don't go to. If it's a report, we have to show up. So that's the snow. The other thing that came up was, and it's funny because some of the people that were advocates for these people, the millennial housing that keeps coming up, Genesee Towers. I just kind of want to emphasize because of some of the things I've seen inside the codes, I don't mean to be too vague, is, you know, Genesee Towers, Lillian Cooper, Brandegee, the millennial housing spots are still a struggle. Hud is a big national company that has a big problem and they're underfunded and they're challenging conditions and we have to make tough decisions every day whether to kick people out of their houses or not. That's the reality, but they're not the local people that work in the buildings. The people that actually manage the buildings, the maintenance guys, the property managers are working their backsides off. They came in on the weekend to clean up you know, garbage because there was a social media post in the hallway. And there's, there's one person cleaning up 11 floors of stairways because there's garbage on the stairways up and down that they threw down there over the weekends. So, you know, the people that live here and work here do a good job. It's the people that live in Ohio that we're having an issue with. Um, and then finally, uh, you know, my father was on the council. I've been coming coming to City Hall since middle school. I was a reporter after that, coming to City Hall since middle school. One of the most helpful elected officials that I ever dealt with, a person I consider a mentor, taught me a lot of what I know about government, is Joan Scalise. And, um, she'll be missed. I was sorry to hear about her passing, and I hope, um, her legacy lives, um, as long as the strength in which she helped me. So that's all I have to say.
23:21
So thank you very much. Yeah, thank you. Anybody have any issue with this? No. All right, I'm good with it as well. Thank you. All right, the next one, uh, proposed resolution number 5, uh, Board of Estimate and Apportionment, be resolved that pursuant to Section 523 of the Real Property Tax Law, the following person is hereby appointed as a member of the Board of Assessment and Review for the current 5-year term, which commenced on October 1st, 2025 and ends on September 30th, 2030. Nathan W, cross it. Everybody good with that?
24:00
All right, number 6. Proposed resolution number 6, Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Another one. Be it resolved, pursuant to Section 523 of the Real Property Tax Law, the following person is hereby appointed as a member of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for the current 5-year term which commenced on October 1st, 2025, and ends on September 30th, 2030. And that would be Carolyn E. Marino. Everybody good? And this was from Councilman Betrus. Joe, I'll just read the first part and you could discuss it.
25:58
Yes, and I'm going to let Marcus talk to us. So this is basically just helping our Codes Department to give them some teeth on, uh, problems. So I've been having a lot of issues where people are calling me, uh, one specific area on Riverside Drive where, um, you know, a resident cut a bunch of trees down, has 7 or 8 big large trucks there. And, um, so I, I talked to Marcus every time they send people there, and it's not just this property, it's all over where people are bringing dump trucks home, um, taking— buying a bus. Um, we have a place on, uh, Lorain Ave where a person has a bus that they bought a bus and they're redoing it into a camper. Um, and when we send our codes there, there's nothing in codes. So I've gone to Marcus, uh, he's been extremely helpful. I'll let him— he helped me draw this up and I'll let him speak on this a little bit. And the only thing I do want to say about this, I'd like— we're in the next month or so, we're going to have a lot of stuff going on. To bring this out for a vote tonight, it has to be unanimous. I'd like to, you know, I'd like to get this done and pass it. It's, um, you know, I did my homework, I worked with the Codes Department, and it's something I think it benefits all the residents of the city. The one thing I want to say beforehand, if anybody's listening, you know, we have, we have a code that you have to have 4-foot fencing. There's a lot of people that will come in front of the zoning that they have a 6-foot fence, and if they have a reason, it gets sent that they can, you know, if it's proper, they can put the fence up. The same thing with this. If somebody has a food truck that's parked on the side of their house that is not being, you know, a deterrent to the neighborhood or making things bad, they are able to get a special permit to be able to do that. This is basically to stop, you know, what's going on in a lot of places— people running businesses out of their house with large vehicles. And guess what? All of you guys sitting around here, you all have people in your, in your districts doing the same thing. So I'll let Marcus speak on this, and I have another piece, um, after, um, kind of the same type thing, um, and I'll let him talk on that too.
Unidentified speaker 1:26:16
This one's entitled I Had a Dream. Before I start this speech, I'd like to give my respects to Martin Luther King. Because of him and other right leaders like George Madison, whom Virginia's Declaration of Rights served as the basics of the United States Bills of Rights, you see me standing before you. I, I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Thomas Jefferson. I had a dream that more Uticans came to these and other public meetings to express their concerns. You cannot be heard unless you— you cannot be heard if you are silent. I had a dream that Utica would opt into the good cause eviction. This would add a layer of protection from bad landlords and real estate LLCs that seek profit over the safety of the tenants and the residents of Utica. Only imperialistic landlords that prey on the weak and disabled need to fear this law. Pass Local Law Number 4 of 24 registration owners to hold them accountable. I had a dream that businesses and property owners within the city kept their sidewalks cleared as required underneath the city code 2-22-12, especially in the winter. Let us start putting snow shovels in the youth's hands. If an elderly or disabled person lives on your block Do the right thing. Your local fire hydrant needs to be cleared. Every minute a fire department is shoveling out a hydrant is another minute the fire can double in size. I had a dream more Uticans cared about the city like I do. Please stop the litter. More Uticans should adopt and maintain their local parks. Utica does not— does have the third largest park system in New York State with over 677 acres, just not enough staff to maintain it. It is on you, Utica, to pitch in. I had a dream that the homeless had safe, adequate housing during the winter months, unlike what I had to endure last November, that they were provided with good, reliable winter gear. I had a dream Our youth would stop putting weapons in their hands. Instead, Utica would provide more opportunities and initiatives for sports. Utica is a multicultural city with many different kinds of sports from all around the world. Utica and partners are investing $130 million into the Nexus neighborhood. This will give our youth a safe place to have fun and enjoy the games. The greater Utica area is known for its athletes in every sports Even Utica's ski hill is named after a 3-time Olympian. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Stemings, journalist, political activist.