Paul Romano · Utica Common Council Records

Talks most about

grant 10 match amount 6 water authority 5 nail creek 5 water lines 4 capacity 6 construction 5 help 5 bond 5 water line 3 sewer work 3 flood bench 3 project 4 reimbursement 4

Meeting appearances

The bar under each meeting marks when they spoke during it.

Common Council Meeting January 21st, 2026

January 21, 2026 6m 12s speaking 7% of speaking time 13 remarks

Frequent dialogue partners

Immediate transcript handoffs around Paul Romano: who speaks next, and who Paul Romano answers.

They reply Paul Romano replies

Jack LoMedico 16 handoffs · 1 meeting 8 / 8 balanced Joseph Betrus, Jr. 5 handoffs · 1 meeting 3 / 2 balanced Marques Phillips 4 handoffs · 1 meeting 1 / 3 Paul Romano replies more Rocco Giruzzi 1 handoff · 1 meeting 1 / 0 balanced

What they said

Paul Romano 13:59

I can speak to that.

Paul Romano 14:12

You want to get up here and speak about it while up there?

Paul Romano 14:17

Okay, yeah, so the Mohawk Valley Water Authority approached the City of Utica about doing water line work where the city was doing sewer— is planning doing sewer work this upcoming construction season. City's doing sewer separation work in areas in West Utica on roads off of Lincoln Ave and in East Utica roads off of Culver Street, various locations, uh, to separate sewer, to improve, uh, to remove stormwater from sanitary sewer pipes to help reduce, uh, you know, problems at the treatment plant, reduce and concentrate treatment at the treatment plant. So the Water Authority was— learned of this work being done by the city and simply came— approached the city and said, can we come in? We'd like to replace water lines where the city's doing sewer work for efficiency purposes, you know. So we're opening up the street, we're replacing sewer lines, there's water lines right next to it, makes sense to address and replace those water lines. So this, uh, the Water Authority asked the city if the— their engineer, which is us with Rambo Engineering, can undertake the water line design and then— and construction. And then there'll be bid with the rest of the sewer work, and the Water Authority would come back and then reimburse the city for any of those engineering services and construction related to the water line. So that, in order to do that, requires intermunicipal agreement. The agreement basically defines the project and obligates the Mohawk Valley Water Authority to reimburse the city for any of this work that's done, both design and construction of the water lines in these, in these areas where the construction is.

Paul Romano 16:56

Yes, so, uh, Nail Creek is a creek that originates in South Utica. Actually, the headwaters come from Cavalry Cemetery through Hallux Ravine and then connect to Nail Creek in the Hazelhurst, Maryland neighborhood. It connects with Nail Creek. Nail Creek runs underneath— runs along the arterial underneath the brewery and then out to the Mohawk River. So it's a tributary in the city. That tributary Nail Creek often is at full capacity during storms. And it's an important creek to keep capacity in because when we do sewer separation work, we— when we remove— when we separate storm and sanitary sewers, the storm sewers need to go to a water body. So Nail Creek's capacity is an important issue. We put a grant in a couple years ago, a year ago, with the Environmental Facilities Corporation to do a flood bench in the vicinity of the Hazelhurst/Maryland Avenue neighborhood. That flood bench should be, as it is located on along Calyx Ravine on a city parcel there. Flood benches— but what they do is slow down the water and give the creek some extra capacity during storm events. So flood bench is constructed when it's benched, so the water in the creek, once it gets to flood level, goes into the bench instead of overflowing and potentially getting on people's properties and causing flood damage. So the, the benching has a localized effect to help flooding in the local area and in the local neighborhood, but also increases Mill Creek capacity, helps it downstream. So it helps to preserve that important capacity in the creek. So the city received a $2.25 million grant. The total project's estimated at $2.5 million maximum. It really won't be that much. So there's— it's a small match amount of, uh, of 10%. So this It's a reimbursement grant, so in order to do the work, the work has to be done, billed, and then the reimbursement package goes in, and then the city gets the money back. So in that situation, it requires a bond ordinance. So bond ordinance would get approved, the city would ban— do a bond anticipation note, short-term borrowing, you know, to reimburse the grant amount.

Paul Romano 19:29

Exactly, you voted on— you voted on the project to approve the project, to approve the— allow the mayor to sign the grant disbursement agreement. This puts the money behind it, and that small match amount, the 10%, we're working on. We're talking to, uh, you know, another grant or other, uh, perhaps the county to help on the match amount. Worst case You know, $2.25 is short-term borrowing, $250,000 goes into long-term debt. But again, it might not be that much. Yeah, it probably won't be that much, right? The project is probably not going to cost $2.5 million, so the match amount is going to be less, and we're probably going to get some help. The city will get some assistance on the match amount as well. So that's a, that's a worst-case match amount, you know, $250,000.

Paul Romano 20:18

Worst case in the long term. Short-term debt is just the grant. Long-term could— worst case could be $250,000. But again, we're looking for sources to offset that match, right?

Paul Romano 20:31

Well, we're talking to the county, and we're looking at other state grants could help in the $250,000 match. Yes, we're looking at different avenues.

Paul Romano 22:22

Yes, we're lucky to get the grant. The city is very lucky to get the grant. We got the highly competitive.

Paul Romano 22:31

Yeah.

Paul Romano 22:38

$250,000, we represent the match, right?

Paul Romano 22:49

Exactly. And EFC— EFC pays very quickly. I mean, you have to have the bond— the bond anticipation note because you got to pay the contractor in 30 days. But the EFC could pay us in 35— 30 days, 30, 45 days, no longer than 60. It's going to be a quick reimbursement, so your interest accumulation is going to be very nominal on the grant award.

Paul Romano 23:13

Yeah, it just— you, you know, when you have a contractor, you know, in place, you can't rely on, you know, if there's a delaying reimbursement, you can't rely on that.

Paul Romano 1:41:56

Well, I did, uh, run here to see if you need me to respond to anything on that, so a lot of work.