Reorganizational Meeting - Tonawanda 7, 2020.doc · Web viewJamie Kaye, 24 East Avenue- I just have a question on the re-zoning. If it doesn’t go through what can we do with the

Re-organizational MeetingCouncil Chambers

Tonawanda, New YorkJanuary 7, 2020

The Common Council convenes pursuant to Division 3, Section 2.045 of the City Charter.

Council President Jenna N. Koch seats the new Council.

Roll Call: Councilmember 1st Ward Thomas A. Newman Councilmember 2nd Ward Dawn M. KammerdeinerCouncilmember 3rd Ward Sean M. RautenstrauchCouncilmember 4th Ward David R. Mileham

The City Clerk reads the following acceptances and oaths of the officers elected at the last General Election held on November 5, 2019.

Council President Jenna N. KochCouncilmember 1st Ward Thomas A. NewmanCouncilmember 2nd Ward Dawn M. KammerdeinerCouncilmember 3rd Ward Sean M. RautenstrauchCouncilmember 4th Ward David R. Mileham

Ordered filed

Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Koch Prayer led by Associate Chaplain Rick Oates

PUBLIC HEARING – Re-zoning of 72 East Niagara Street

Council President Koch- At this time I want to turn it over to the Clerk to read the notice regarding the Public Hearing for Re-zoning of 72 East Niagara Street.

City Clerk Kossow- This evening we are holding a Public Hearing. The applicant is David E. Pawlik, 550 Seneca Street-Suite 100, Buffalo. New York 14204. The property description is 72 East Niagara Street, Tonawanda, New York 14150. The SBL # is 39.38-2-1.1. The purpose of the zoning request is to re-zone the property located at 72 East Niagara Street currently zoned M-2 Light Industrial District to zoning classification C-2 Central Retail District. The purpose of the re-zoning is to allow for the construction of residential apartments and office space.

Council President Koch- I would like to recognize, is there anyone here for the applicant? Sir, if would you please come forward and get your name for the record.

Kevin Rautenstrauch- I am appearing on Mr. Pawlik’s behalf. He is not able to be here this evening. I believe some of you are aware that he had surgery yesterday that weren’t necessarily expecting when this was placed on the calendar back on December 17.

Council President Koch- I want to note that we do have a comment for the record. I will turn it over to the Clerk to read it for the record.

City Clerk Kossow- This was dropped off late this afternoon by a resident. Her name is Marlene Tyrrell of 28 Longs Avenue. She just wanted to say thank-you for this opportunity to speak out on the rezoning. We have lived at our residence for over 55 years and this neighborhood is a great place to live. It has improved in many ways since we bought. Hopefully, these will not be low income apartments. Parking on the street from the property would also be a concern. Hopefully, this purchase will greatly improve our neighborhood even more. What a wonderful location overlooking the beautiful canal.

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Council President Koch- At this time we will now take comments and questions by the public. Please state your name and address for the record. You are just going to want to come up to the microphone so we can get your comments for the record.

Frank Cehulik, 80 East Niagara Street- I live right next door to the property. I’ve got one general question after reading this. Real quick, my family was part of the church that started in the 1980’s. We bought that building from Dynabrade back in 1990. I thought that at the time the occupancy had been changed from the industrial to I’m not sure exactly what the code was but is this correct that it’s always remained industrial?

Council President Koch- It’s currently zoned M-2.

Frank Cehulik- That’s what I’m saying so it was never changed back when our church had it. I just want to be sure that this is correct that we’re changing it from an industrial not from what would the word be non-profit church school.

Council President Koch Yes. It’s the current zoning that hasn’t been changed.

Frank Cehulik- That’s interesting. I didn’t know that. I’m waiting for a lot of other people to speak about it but I’m just Mr. Pawlik actually just purchased this property recently? Because I know it was purchased back in 2018 by another owner. I’m just asking so now it is transferred again to Mr. Pawlik?

Council President Koch- Yes.

Frank Cehulik- He is the contractor? He is going to be developing this property? Does he actually own it and going to be doing the construction?

Council President Koch- It was recently sold.

Frank Cehulik- Has he have any specific plans as to exactly what type of offices or apartments or anything about the building that he is planning to do?

Council President Koch- What I will say is he did meet with the Council a few months ago. But I will turn it over to his representative who can possibly give a better description of what his intentions are with developing and re-developing that building.

Kevin Rautenstrauch- I guess in respect of what type of commercial tenants there would be residing or using the property. I guess there is no specific tenant that the builder or Mr. Pawlik has in mind at this point. Both the apartments and the commercial space to my knowledge would be market driven. Until the project is done people can get in there to see the space. I’m not sure that he has an anchor tenant on the commercial side of it that has already volunteered to agree to lease the space. As of now, that is the plan for commercial space 4,000 square ft. with 14 market rate apartments.

Council President Koch- I want to make sure we get your comment on the record.

Frank Cehulik- The idea of the types of offices and the type of traffic that is going to be there 24/7 I guess there is a lot of concern about the traffic especially and again living next door to it I know I have concerns also about exactly what kind of tenants are going to be in there and is there going to be low-income section housing or is it going to be middle-income and be like the building across the street more like office loft type we’re just trying to get a good handle on it. The renovation is it going to be an expansion of the building or put extra stories on the building, demolition of the building what’s going to happen on the building? I think to the parking is going to be real issue to depending on what types of tenants are there. I don’t know where the parking is going to be because there’s not a lot of parking spaces around that building if you’re going to put 14 apartments in there and retail space in there. That’s just some of my general concerns. Does anybody else want to talk?

Council President Koch- Thank-you. Any other comments or questions? Please state you name and address for the record.

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Nick Battistella, 54 East Niagara- I guess my biggest concern is has anybody thought about the traffic. I live right there on the canal and especially in the summertime we got recreational vehicles and we’ve got motorcycles and cars and it’s a thoroughfare. It’s a very busy street. Has anybody taken into consideration what 14 apartments and several businesses might do to that situation? Will it impact in negatively? Council President Koch- Mr. Rautenstrauch do you have a comment to his question?

Kevin Rautenstrauch- I don’t have a traffic study in my possession. I don’t believe that Mr. Pawlik’s done one. I’m not sure that that is something I can directly answer. I’m sure there will be some effect on the traffic. At least as far as I have been made aware a traffic study has not been done. I would not be able to answer that issue.

Council President Koch- Any other comments? Yes, please come up to the microphone.

Mike McClure, 27 Fillmore Avenue- My question is about the zoning. Is that re-zoning only pertaining to that building or is it pertaining to the area?

Council President Koch- It’s the building.

Mike McClure- Just the building. I have the same exact concerns that he has. I’ve lived on Fillmore for quite a while now and there was no consideration given to landlords about the bike path. Now we suffer with that bike path because you got all those cars getting out or work down on East Niagara and they come up to the stop sign there where the restaurant is and where they built the extension and also where they had it open and closed it and they put high tables so you cannot see that stop sign over there. The traffic comes up and you want to go up to the light and right over to North Tonawanda other people work there. The problem is you’ve got the bikers who just don’t care. They’re going down the bike path riding their bikes and walking their dogs at the same time on the sidewalk too. Now, you’re saying you want all that traffic from there (Inaudible). I realize that I heard from somebody that you have a traffic analysis before you put the bike path in there. When we said something about that the Deputy Mayor said it’s the Erie County Bike Path. I said who owns the street? We own the street. We should have been at least notified or asked before we got a letter in the mail saying” Move your car.”Now you’re saying that you’re going to put apartment buildings in there and there’s going to be more cars. That street is just too small and so is E. Niagara for all that traffic. It’s too small a street. That’s all I have to say about that. Thank-you.

Council President Koch- Any other comments or questions?

Robert Hockenberry, 31 Longs Avenue- Being a fallout shelter it met the standards of burning that was required so therefore to my grandfather’s knowledge to build it. They sprayed the building seriously with asbestos spray for a fire deterrent for a fallout shelter. I personally went down there and tried to put my knees and tried to (Inaudible). We know that that material is there. I’ve got lots of questions. Right from there let’s go and see if it’s okay for you guys to put it in there. The roof should have gone to an asbestos dump. That’s not going to happen. No paperwork for it. Right there it sounds suspicious to me. This is just the beginning. The building was built when in 1900? Its’ got ¼” lead paint. How’s that going to be removed. I would like to see how the asbestos can be removed. I live right next to the building. Their drainage is really bad. The church got a quote of $100,000 to redo the drainage because Dynabrade used to drain it through my sewer. I cut them off and it really hurt the church and now the 3” pipe is flooding the street. They come and turn it on conveniently to get all that crappy water out of there. It’s unbelievable. The moss, the mold, the mildew, ice ponds that have been there, yeah, nobody ever shows up. That’s just the beginning bear with me because this is not over.

Council President Koch- You do have three minutes.

Robert Hockenberry- Okay. When anybody moved in no code enforcement on the height of the driveway. It went up two feet. It drained on everybody but themselves. They pushed all the snow against everybody. Their claiming that there isn’t every square inch of parking because they are going to have to for handicap and everything. Where is the snow going to go? If you get 2ft. of snow they legally can’t move it off the property right? You can’t push it across the street. You can’t push it to the fence. You have to pay to truck it out. Where’s the dumpster going to go? Is it going to go right next to my

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window where I get the small trash all the time? How are they going to do that? What time is the dumpster going to get picked? At the Remington they pick it up at 6:30A.M. in the morning. It wakes my mother up across the canal. That’s not very neighborhood friendly. The lights, it’s a nice dark neighborhood. The business moved down in the end of Longs Avenue. He’s got bright lights up there. I believe the city code is you can’t have a light brighter than the street light. It’s twice the street light code. You go down Longs Avenue at nighttime you get blinded. You try to turn on that side street and close your eyes. There is no code enforcement on that. Privacy, cameras there is none. We don’t need it. Nothing has ever happened to that building and nothing ever will. This is a very nice neighborhood. Now what they are going to start doing looking in my windows in backyard watching everything I do? Are they going to be considerate on the fence facing out, considerations. Mr. Cassata was very familiar with that and he was quite the gentleman because he used to own the bars. Okay what else? Again, traffic. The trucks when Dynabrade was in there they ruined the street. They collapsed a sewer. We all know that. They did a lot of work on it. It collapsed. The only loading bay for the trucks to come they would have to zigzag there. You are going to have to go down Longs Avenue and it is filled with children. That’s okay especially in the summertime when all that congested traffic is there. Kids go and play in the streets and lights and no one seems to care about any of that. I thought this was a resident friendly city. I’ve lived here all my life. I was born and raised here. Literally, I’ve paid my fair share. Cars, headlights, traffic patterns where is all the traffic going to come in and exit? Are they going to be allowed to use both exits? If so, Longs Avenue is a very narrow street and they can’t make the turn. The church tried and they ran into a telephone poll.

Council President Koch- If you could just wrap it up. Your three minutes are almost up.

Robert Hockenberry- I can have my brother come up and read if you want it doesn’t matter? Car alarms, we are talking 40 cars, beep, beep, beep at 5:30 A.M. in the morning. How many do you often hear fifty of them? That’s not even considerate. It’s not even nice. Maybe we need (coughing) to get the NYS Department of Health on this one. The fumes are coming to my house my son is a newborn. They are going to be coming over and mount meters to monitor the fumes. It’s going to take them a half hour to get in hot or cold. That is like 5 feet from my window. I got to close my house up? I got to walk out my door and get gas. Again, considerations there seems to be none. Do you plan on providing off-street parking across the street for these people because there is not adequate parking spaces? If you check the zoning and number of handicaps and lots. It’s going to be very close. When you consider the size of the dumpster and everything else. It’s going to be very, very close if you’ll only have mid-size and small cars. What is it going to cost the City in water are we going to have upgrade to accommodate this. As I know that sewer is 100 years old and it’s never been touched. I’ve lived here all my life. I live right around the corner and walked right here. So there not going anywhere. I need some answers and I’m trying to be very polite. Are they going to put up a fence? Are they going to be considerate and give us privacy or do they have to be considerate to the residents. These are certain considerations that you all do for your neighbors. When you go in your backyard you don’t hear beep, beep beep beep! That’s what I will hear. That’s not very considerate. What would you rather have all your life? Why the change? Just because a developer wants to get rich doesn’t mean the citizens of the City should have to give up everything because the City needs money so badly that you’re willing to do literally anything pretty much ignoring the citizens to make a dollar.

Council President Koch- So I just want to say that we’re certainly not ignoring the citizens because we are having this Public Hearing which affords the residents the opportunity to voice you concern. I notice that the developer’s representative has taken notes down. What I would suggest is that the developer or the representatives reach out to you because some of these concerns are not within the scope of the Council or an ordinance as far as a car alarm.

Robert Hockenberry- East Niagara is a very narrow street. You’re going to have delivery trucks going through the water for pickup for trash. These are all large vehicles. It is a truck route?

Council President Koch- So the Public Hearing is about the re-zoning of the building.

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Robert Hockenberry- Correct but to get it rezoned is the beginning of the nightmare. Once he gets it re-zoned as you know as you keep looking at him.

Council President Koch- No, I’m looking at him to make sure he is taking notes down.

Robert Hockenberry- As a matter of public record I would really hope you were all really interested in it. This is the City of Tonawanda. We are citizens here right? I’m not just here for myself here. All of these other people to consider.

Council President Koch- Sir that is why we have this Public Hearing so we take all the feedback that we learned from this Public Hearing and then the Council will have a future discussion on it.

Robert Hockenberry- Is the public going to be invited to that discussion? I mean no disrespect. Are we going to be invited or will it be closed doors?

Council President Koch- Full disclosure there will be an ordinance change and there will be a resolution which is public record.

Robert Hockenberry- So we get no say in the final decision? We say what we say here and go home and deal with it.

Council President Koch- Your say is your comments on the record right now and the Council will review those absolutely.

Robert Hockenberry- What actions will be taken and please respectfully if you don’t mind me asking?

Council President Koch- Of course. I am not prepared to say any action at this point because we are still taking comments from the public.

Robert Hockenberry- How are we prepared to re-zone it then if we’re not prepared to answer these questions?

Council President Koch- The Council hasn’t taken any action to re-zone it. The Council is only having a Public hearing.

Robert Hockenberry- So the City got away from the responses we presented and I’m sorry but I thought would have been common knowledge (interrupted)

Council President Koch- So, many of your questions about a car alarm and are you going to be able to back in or pull in (interrupted)?

Robert Hockenberry- The codes have never been enforced in this City. The City is looking to make money.

Council President Koch- We can debate, I’m not hear to debate that issue I’m here to have a Public Hearing on 72 East Niagara Street.

Robert Hockenberry- The minute you re-zone this you’re opening up a can of worms.

Council President Koch- Do you have any other comments for the record?

Robert Hockenberry- No, thank-you.

Mr. Hockenberry- I think what we are trying to say too that the occupancies across the street in North Tonawanda have a lot of commercial sections and a lot of commercial stuff, large buildings and apartments and all types.

Council President Koch- Excuse me, could we not have any side conversations. Our microphone is very sensitive so we want to get the comments on the record.

Mr. Hockenberry- Our strategy on the canal right now is residential. We just are worried that once you change things that if it becomes more commercial what’s going to happen

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down the road (inaudible) and a supposedly eight-story building. It seems to us like they are already offering to buy people’s houses out. It’s sound to us like they’re kind of changing and telling us we need to sell and get out of there because this thing is getting changed like across the canal.

Council President Koch- I just want to get one person speaking on the microphone.

Mr. Hockenberry- We live right next door to the building so it’s going to affect us. I have lived there for thirty years. So we are trying not to have our neighborhood changed to a commercial money making. We have high-rise building now. Again, the traffic is just horrendous. It’s one thing when it was a church. They would come there two or three days a week and even before that Dynabrade and prior to that the school. So it’s not like its’ a I just don’t think offices and apartments are really going to work around there. With everything that is going on with traffic and everything that is going on the whole general atmosphere. That is just going to start a snowball with people buying houses.

Council President Koch- Any other comments on the re-zoning at 72 East Niagara Street?

Councilmember Mileham- I have a question for the residents. Have you noticed an increase in the traffic in that area with the addition of the apartments?

Resident- (inaudible)

Council President Koch- I f we could just get his comments on the record.

Councilmember Mileham- This is my concern. The building has already been sold. It’s been sold.

Council President Koch- I just want to make sure we get everyone’s comments on the record.

Councilmember Mileham- It’s just like the sale of our house. We don’t have to inform people that we are selling a house. They bought it. The issue is what the impact is going to be on the people that live there. A lot of what you brought up Mr. Hockenberry are good points but they are a lot of what ifs. This is the reason we are having this tonight. This is so we can hear you and hear your what ifs because I think you brought up a lot of good points. However, this building has been sold. Now it’s almost out of our hands in a way. We are listening tonight to your concerns.

Council President Koch- Let’s take it back for a second. Hang on. Right now at this time we are taking any comments, questions on the re-zoning. If there are any comments or questions on the re-zoning please state your name and address for the record.

Jamie Kaye, 24 East Avenue- I just have a question on the re-zoning. If it doesn’t go through what can we do with the building as is with the zoning that is in place currently?

Council President Koch- Then it would remain as M-2 Light Industrial.

Jamie Kaye- So that’s like any small ….

Council Presdient Koch- Light industry. Yes. Any other comments or questions on the re-zoning?

Mr. Hockenberry- Why would an owner buy a building not knowing at all if he is going to get the zoning changed? Because if that doesn’t happen he just purchased the building for nothing. Is that something that I am not understanding here?

Council President Koch- The same thing as the previous owner who purchased the building who had a wish list. It never made it to a public hearing.

Mr. Hockenberry- Can I tell you something? The guy who bought the building is going to flip it. He’s already tearing trees down in front of the lot. I assumed he got fined. I hope he did. He didn’t buy it to develop it he bought it to flip it. I’ve read up a lot about the guy. He had no intentions of doing anything with that building. I talked to the previous

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owner of the church. I know the pastor very well. I knew he wasn’t doing anything with that building. In fact I think it was two days later that he put a “For Sale” out. I knew they had a couple of shoemakers trying to tear trees down. He got it flipped. He didn’t make anything that the thought he was going to make because he wanted to sell it for 600. I think he got 450. So now we got Mr. Pawlik to buy it. Why would Mr. Pawlik buy it unless he’s assuming that the zoning is going to be changed and he’s going to get what he wants. That’s what we are kind of worried about. Why wouldn’t he check it out first to be sure this is going to work?

Council President Koch- I can’t speak for the purchaser. I can share with you that there is a process in order to re-zone it and the first step includes the public hearing.

Mr. Hockenberry- We are just worried that he already has got something going on here.

Council President Koch- It hasn’t been shared with the council.

Mr. Hockenberry- Okay it just doesn’t make any sense to buy a building when you don’t know if it is going to be re-zoned.

Council President Koch- Any other comments or questions?

Robert Hockenberry, 86 East Niagara Street – When would we be able to hear the results?

Council President Koch- The Council usually digests all the comments from the Public Hearing and we typically talk about it at out next meeting. Our meetings are open to the public.

Robert Hockenberry- Now down the road there where Octo used to be I don’t know how many new apartments down in there. What about all that traffic from there contributing to all this other stuff that is going on?

Council President Koch- So, I understand traffic is a concern and I will talk to our Council Liaison who sits on the Traffic and Safety Board and I’m sure she will take back what she learned from this public hearing as well as take it back to that board. I know the representative is here as well so we will certainly have questions for the developer as well.

Robert Hockenberry- The Octo thing what about all that traffic? Has this been considered?

Council President Koch- Not to my knowledge, not to my knowledge. Any other comments or questions?

Don Benoit, 40 East Niagara Street- You have spoken to me many times about my place. I own the restaurant. I’m just talking as a developer. I’m sure as the residents I understand both ends of the business, both ends having something moved into my backyard. The one thing is as a developer when we purchase a piece of property we purchase it with a risk factor not knowing everything up front. A lot of that is “yes” we are there to make some money. I did not purchase that property strictly to make money. I purchase that property because it needed to be re-developed. It was a poor piece of property if you look at its records the past fifty years of that building you would see years of neglect and fines. When you have another building that is already in your backyard and already exists you have choices to allow people to make a better neighborhood or you just leave it there and suffer with it or they will build in your backyard like we did with Prescott’s or what it was before me for fifty years. When you have a community that is struggling financially you cannot depend strictly on the residents. A business in the area actually costs less for the city because we don’t get free garbage disposal. We have to pay for that plus our taxes and stuff like that. We aren’t just developing ourselves. I’ve been there for a year and a half, plus a year of construction and nothing has gone in my pocket since I’ve done it. Its’ all been to bring employees. I employ many people in the area that actually walk to my business because they live in the neighborhood. When you take this building next door which is M-1 which is light industry it gives them quite a lot

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of freedom to do whatever they want in there as it is now. You take the Octo Manufacturing building down the street and it was already an existing building, already a business structure with businesses in there and traffic already existed. The difference is now you’re getting the resident traffic instead of industrial traffic and commercial traffic. You can consider some of the questions that you asked to understand that not all developers are here to take advantage of the situation. We’re actually here to help the community. Thank-you.

Council President Koch- Any other comments or questions on the re-zone?

Christopher Fisher, 413 Main Street- I would like to say I’m in favor of the re-zone. I was thinking the same thing he was thinking. I see what the City has planned a year or two ago talked about the bathroom and where its located and now with the closure of Young Street I see the plans what they plan on building with the archways and putting the green space in. So by developing this building and putting in residential units and putting in commercial space and then with Prescott’s Provision with the connection to Young Street having the bathroom with the bicycle issues that come up that bike path this is really good re-development for the City. It’s going to help re-brand the City. Someone did mention the financial state of the City. Well this is going to help generate revenue for the City from a different source. So I’m in favor of that re-zoning. Thank-you.

Council President Koch- Thank-you. Any other comments or questions on the re-zone? Any other comments or questions?

Kevin Rautenstrauch- I’m here on behalf of Mr. Pawlik. With respect to a couple of the comments that were directed at the building from a couple of the gentlemen that had spoken earlier with the asbestos consideration and all that Mr. Pawlik’s intention is to comply with all of the components of the City’s building code and all the different requirements that would be on that building permit. I certainly don’t think that will be a concern if there is any remediation issues. That will be handled in a way that is required by New York local laws. With respect to the traffic, again I’m not in the possession of a traffic study but it would be my thought at least from viewing it I guess not in the same scope as these folks but the traffic concerns that have all been made in some sense we are talking about possibly less vehicles being there. But again, I don’t know what’s going to wind up being in that commercial space. That would be also for Mr. Pawlik to determine if you were to grant this re-zoning. Fourteen residential spaces as opposed to an industrial building, a church or a school that have been in there before it seems to me that there would be less traffic to more maybe during certain times of the day . I don’t think that will be as much as a concern as may have existed on this property in the past. Lastly, if there is anybody who would like to speak to me or Mr. Pawlik I have phone numbers that I can grab anything other than first names and locations I will get your information and gladly take that back to my client. Lastly, with respect to the short form SEQR that was submitted by Mr. Pawlik previously the only thing that I would like to note for the board’s consideration is the Negative Declaration on the Environmental Impacts of this project that would be required in order for us to continue to move forward. I think that that may have been relayed in the correspondence from December 17 that got this on record. I just wanted to make that clear again today as I stand in front of you.

Council President Koch- Okay, thank-you Mr. Rautenstrauch. So with that said are there any other comments or questions on the re-zoning? Either comments or questions on the re-zoning? Any other comments or questions? I declare this Public Hearing closed. Mr. Rautenstrauch if you would like to go in the hallway I’m sure there are residents who would like to chat with you. Mr. Rautenstrauch will be meeting with any resident who is interested in the hallway. Thank-you sir.

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR

Letter from the Mayor reappointing Joan Horn to the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals with a term to expire on December 31, 2024

COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITY OFFICIALS AND CORRESPONDENCE

Fire Department Monthly Activity Report for November 2019

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Letter from James Goede to the Common Council regarding the City’s approach to technology-related investmentsCommunication from Treasurer YTD Overtime Report thru December 26, 2019Letter from City Attorney re-appointing Brittanylee Penberthy as Deputy City Attorney with a term to expire on December 31, 2023Letter from City Attorney to Mayor requesting a waiver of Residency Requirement for the Deputy City AttorneyCity Clerk yearly report for 2019Board of Appeals December 2019 Meeting Minutes

Referred to the Committee of the WholeOrdered filed

COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC ON RESOLUTIONS

Council President Koch- Happy New Year Mr. Zahm.

Mark Dennis Zahm, 33 Grove Place- I wished you a Happy New Year as you came in.

Council President Koch- Yes you did.

Mark Dennis Zahm- The letter from James Goede to the Council regarding the City’s approach to technology-related investments what is that about?

Council President Koch- So it is not on the resolutions. I’ll let it slide because it is the first meeting of the year. So he had reached out to the Council to talk about some IT possible internet upgrades that we can make to the City. So, Councilmember Sean Rautenstrauch and Councilmember Dave Mileham are in the early stages reaching out other municipalities to kind of see if there is an interest there in joining forces. The company is called Green Light so as a resident you can sign on express your interest. But, right now we are kind of just hitting the ground running reaching out to other municipalities. Mr. Rautenstrauch is going to reach out to Erie County as well. So, that was the purpose of that e-mail.

Mark Dennis Zahm- Thank-you.

Council President Koch- You’re welcome. Any other comments or questions on the resolutions? Okay, let’s roll.

The Tonawanda Common Council, in an effort to conduct business in a timely fashion and maintain an open line of communication with the public, welcomes comments on resolutions and other City business.

Persons wishing to speak and be recognized by the President of the Common Council are to be courteous, respectful, non-repetitive and brief.

All questions and/or comments should be addressed to the President of the Common Council.

Please state your name and address clearly for inclusion in the Common Council minutes. In the event any person wishes a response outside the confines of the Common Council meeting, please leave all necessary contact information with the City Clerk after the meeting.

Persons may address the Common Council during (2) separate sessions of the meeting for a total of 30 minutes per session. Once prior to the resolutions and also after the resolutions prior to Common Council comments.

Individuals may speak a total of (3) minutes per speaker per session. The President of the Common Council will adhere to this (3) minute guideline in an effort to allow everyone an opportunity to speak who wishes to do so.

The President of the Common Council reserves the Council’s right to limit or expand upon these limits as he/she may deem necessary and prudent.

Usage of cell phones other than for emergency is prohibited during all Council Sessions.

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MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

1. By Councilmember Newman seconded by Councilmember MilehamResolved, that the Common Council minutes from December 17, 2019 be

accepted as filed.

Ayes: Newman, Kammerdeiner, Rautenstrauch, Mileham, KochNays: None

Resolution declared adopted

2. By the Council seconded by the Council Resolved, that all departments and department functions in existence as of

December 31, 2019, as long as they are not inconsistent with the current Charter, are hereby ratified as provided in Article 3, Division 1, Section 3.005 of the City Charter.

Ayes: Newman, Kammerdeiner, Rautenstrauch, Mileham, Koch Nays: None


3. By the Council seconded by the CouncilResolved, that the Rules and Orders for the Government and Procedures of the

Common Council of the City of Tonawanda for the years 2020-2021 are hereby adopted.

RULES AND ORDERS FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND PROCEDURESOF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TONAWANDA

FOR THE YEARS 2020-2021

PREFACE

The Councilmembers of the City of Tonawanda and the President of the Common Council shall constitute the Common Council, and the President of the Common Council shall be the presiding officer thereof.

REGULAR MEETINGS

Regular meetings of the Common Council shall be held in the Council Chambers on the first and third Tuesdays in each calendar month; such regular meetings shall convene at 7 o’clock P.M. Regular meetings shall be open for the transaction of any business which may properly come before the Council. Dates and times of regular meetings may be adjusted by the majority vote of the Common Council.

ORDER OF BUSINESS

At the hour appointed for the meeting of the Council, the President shall call the meeting to order, and direct the Clerk to call the roll, the Clerk recording the names of all Councilmembers present and noting the absentees. If a quorum is not present, absent members shall be sent for in the manner prescribed by law.

1. Roll Call by the City Clerk

2. Pledge to the flag

3. Opening prayer

4. Results of bid openings

5. Communications from the Mayor

6. Communications from City Officials and Correspondence

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7. Presentation of Petitions

8. Resolutions to be acted on by the Common Council at its Regular Meeting shall be submitted by the appropriate Department Head and/or Mayor’s Office to the City Clerk’s Office no later than 3:00 P.M. on the Thursday preceding the meeting. Said draft resolutions will be delivered to the members of the Common Council by e-mail, mail or personal delivery no later than the Saturday preceding the meeting. Any Councilmember having objection and or questions to said resolutions shall consult with the Department Head. Objections to the resolutions shall be conveyed to the Council President and City Clerk expeditiously. Resolutions submitted past the deadline will not be considered unless deemed by the majority to have such urgency.

9. The Tonawanda Common Council, in an effort to conduct business in a timely fashion and maintain an open line of communication with the public, welcomes comments on resolutions and other City business.

Persons wishing to speak and be recognized by the President of the Common Council are to be courteous, respectful, non-repetitive and brief.

All questions and/or comments should be addressed to the President of the Common Council.

Please state your name and address clearly for inclusion in the Common Council minutes. In the event any person wishes a response outside the confines of the Common Council meeting, please leave all necessary contact information with the City Clerk after the meeting.

Persons may address the Common Council during (2) separate sessions of the meeting for a total of 30 minutes per session. Once prior to the resolutions and also after the resolutions prior to Common Council comments.

Individuals may speak a total of (3) minutes per speaker per session. The President of the Common Council will adhere to this (3) minute guideline in an effort to allow everyone an opportunity to speak who wishes to do so.

The President of the Common Council reserves the Council’s right to limit or expand upon these limits as he/she may deem necessary and prudent.

Usage of cell phones other than for emergency is prohibited during all Council Sessions.

10. Motions and Resolutions

11. Closing remarks by members of the Common Council.

12. Adjournment

Note: With respect to written questions or comments referred to in numbers 9 and 11 above, responses will also be in writing done in a timely manner.DUTIES OF THE PRESIDING OFFICER

The President of the Common Council, as Presiding Officer, shall possess the powers and perform the duties as herein prescribed, viz:

1. The President of the Common Council shall preserve order and decorum.

2. The President of the Common Council shall decide all questions of order, subject to appeal to the Common Council. On every appeal she shall have the right in her place to assign her reason for her decision; but any member may state the grounds for their appeal.

3. The President of the Common Council shall, with the consent of the Council, have the right to invite to the floor, and to extend the privilege of addressing the Council, to such persons as shall request the privilege.

4. The President of the Common Council may vote on any question submitted to the Common Council.

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5. The President of the Common Council may introduce or second any matter that can come before the Common Council.

6. The President of the Common Council shall be the ex-officio member of all committees.

7. The President of the Common Council shall appoint all committees, chairmen of said committees and determine the number of members of all committees.

STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL

The following liaison(s) have been appointed by the President of the Common Council at the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Common Council. The Council Representative will act as a liaison between Departments and the Council:

1. Police - Mileham2. Fire - Newman3. Public Works - Rautenstrauch 4. Parks & Recreation - Kammerdeiner5. Finance – Newman/Mileham6. Engineering - Rautenstrauch7. Land Sales - Kammerdeiner8. School – Mileham/Kammerdeiner9. Building Inspector – Mileham10. Plumbing/ Electrical - Newman11. Youth Board – Rautenstrauch12. Traffic & Safety – Kammerdeiner13. Main Street Program - Kammerdeiner14. Civil Service – Rautenstrauch15. LED Street Light Program – Newman/Koch

RULES

1. Every member of the Common Council, when they speak, shall address the presiding officer as “Madam President”, and shall not proceed until recognized.

2. The Presiding Officer shall call for a voice vote of the body, or the Clerk shall, upon order of instruction from the Presiding Officer, call the ayes and nays on all questions by law required, which shall be entered upon the minutes of the Council. If any member requires it, on any questions, a like call shall be made, and the result likewise entered. In calling ayes and nays on any question, the members shall be called in the following order: Newman, Kammerdeiner, Rautenstrauch, Mileham, Koch. The Council President shall vote last. Exception: A motion to “waive the reading” shall be voted on by a voice vote of the body, aye or nay.

3. Every member shall vote when a question is stated from the Chair, unless excused by the Chair after stating substantial reason and or conflict of interest.

4. When two or more members rise at the same time, the Presiding Officer shall name the one who is first to speak.

5. Any member may be called to order, in which case the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, the point of order shall be stated at the request of the Presiding Officer, by the member raising the question of order, and shall be decided without debate, before proceeding to other business.

6. If any question contains several distinct propositions, it shall be decided by the chair at the request of any member but a motion to strike out and/or insert shall be indivisible.

7. Any member may have any paper in possession of the Council read, unless the reading of the same shall be objected to by some other member, and then question shall be determined by a vote of the Council, without debate.

8. Every member, upon presenting a petition, memorial, resolution or other paper, shall move some action thereon.

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9. All petitions or other papers addressed to the Council shall be considered by the Common Council.

10. A motion to amend or amendments, lay on the table, or for the previous question, shall be decided without debate, and all question of order, and all questions relating to the order of business, shall be decided without debate. The several motions to postpone, or refer, shall preclude all debate on the main question.

11. When a question has been once put and decided, it shall be in order for any member who voted with the majority to move for the reconsideration and possible rescinding of that question. 12. A motion for reconsideration, if lost, shall not again be repeated at the same meeting of the Council, nor shall any question be reconsidered more than once.

13. When a question is pending, no motion shall be received, except as hereinafter specified, and these shall have preference in the order stated, viz:

A. For an adjournment of the CouncilB. To lay on the tableC. For the previous questionD. To postpone indefinitelyE. To postpone to a certain dayF. To refer to a standing committeeG. To refer to a special or select committeeH. To amend

14. After the roll call upon any question has been commenced, no member shall speak on the question, nor shall any motion be made until after the result is declared.

15. Upon the presentation of any claim or account, it shall be referred to the Audit Committee, and no account or claim shall be audited or allowed until it shall be examined and reported on by said committee.

16. A majority vote or more of the whole Council and not a majority of the members present shall be necessary to the appointment of any person to any appointed office.

17. Every motion presented to the Council shall have a sponsor before it is placed on the agenda.

18. All readings of the resolutions that are provided in the written agenda at Council Meetings will be waived unless requested to be read by a member of the Common Council or the public attending. Every motion or resolution may be withdrawn at any time before decision, commitment, or amendment by majority consent.

19. No standing rule or order of the Council shall be repealed, rescinded, or changed except by an affirmative vote of at least three members of the Council; nor shall any new rule be added thereto, except by a like vote; but they may be suspended at any time by the consent of the majority of the whole Council.

20. Whenever any questions not covered by these rules arise, this Council shall be governed by the majority rule of the Common Council.



4. By the Council seconded by the Council

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Council President Koch- I want to thank Mr. Kossow for his service to the city not just as a councilmember but as our City Clerk. He’s always responsive to me anytime I call him or e-mail him he is a great addition to our team. I thank him for all he does for the city.

Resolved, that James P. Kossow be appointed City Clerk for the City of Tonawanda, effective January 1, 2020, with a salary as per budgeted, term to expire December 31, 2021, or until such time after December 31, 2021, an appointment is made.



5. By the Council seconded by the CouncilResolved, that at the recommendation of the City Clerk, Laurie L. Schultz,

Account Clerk-Typist in the City Clerk’s Office, be appointed Deputy City Clerk for the City of Tonawanda, effective January 1, 2020 with the additional annual stipend as per budget, term to expire December 31, 2021, or until such time after December 31, 2021, an appointment is made.



6. By the Council seconded by the CouncilResolved, that Laurie L. Schultz be appointed Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics

for the City of Tonawanda, said two year appointment to expire December 31, 2021, or until such time after December 31, 2021, an appointment is made.



7. By the Council seconded by the CouncilResolved, that at the recommendation of the City Treasurer, Coleen Overholt,

Senior Account Clerk in the Treasurer’s Office, be appointed Deputy City Treasurer for the City of Tonawanda, effective January 1, 2020 with the additional annual stipend as per budget and term to expire December 31, 2021, or until such time after December 31, 2021, an appointment is made.



8. By Councilmember Mileham seconded by Councilmember NewmanBE IT RESOLVED, that Key Bank, N.A. headquartered in Buffalo, New York,

JP Morgan Chase NA/Buffalo, New York, M&T Bank/Tonawanda, New York and Citizens Bank/Tonawanda, New York, are designated as authorized depositories of this corporation; and be it further RESOLVED, that all drafts, checks, or other instruments or orders for the payment of money drawn against the account or accounts of this corporation with said depositories shall be signed by any 1 of the following:

Treasurer, William J Reece Mayor, Rick Davis

And be it furtherRESOLVED, that said depositary is authorized to place to the credit of the

account, or any of the accounts, of this corporation, funds, drafts, checks or other property by whomever delivered to said depositary or agent thereof for deposit to the accounts of this corporation, endorsed with the name of this corporation, by rubber stamp, facsimile, mechanical, manual, or other signature (and any such endorsement by whomever affixed shall be the endorsement of this corporation), or otherwise endorsed, or unendorsed, provided that if any such item shall bear, or be accompanied by,

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directions (by whomever made) for deposit to specific account, then such deposit shall be to the credit of such specific account: and be it RESOLVED, that said depositary is hereby directed to accept, and/or pay and/or apply any draft, check, instrument or order for the payment of money, or any proceeds thereof, drawn on such account or accounts when signed as required by these resolutions by manual, rubber stamp, facsimile, or other mechanical signature (by whomever affixed) without limit as to amount, without inquiry, and without regard to the disposition of any such item or any proceeds thereof. Further, said depositary shall not be liable in connection therewith notwithstanding that such item may be payable to the order of a person whose signature appears thereon or of any other officer or officers, agent or agents of this corporation, or such items or any proceeds thereof may be used or disposed of for the personal credit or account of any such person or persons, officer or officers, agent or agents with the depository or otherwise



9. By Councilmember Mileham seconded by Councilmember RautenstrauchWhereas, a Special Events application was received by the City Clerk from the

Roswell Park Alliance Foundation; andWhereas, the application was reviewed and commented on by all appropriate

department heads to insure the safety and well being of our residents; and Whereas, all details for the above named event must be coordinated with Police

Captain Fred Foels and the event chairperson, now, therefore be it Resolved, that permission is granted to Roswell Park Alliance Foundation to hold the Ride for Roswell Saturday, June 27, 2020, at 6:00 A.M. and be it further Resolved, that any overtime that is incurred during this event will be paid for by Roswell Park Alliance Foundation and be it furtherResolved, that a Certificate of Insurance naming the City of Tonawanda as additional insured be filed with the City Clerk no later than June 13, 2020.



10. By the Council seconded by the CouncilWhereas, the City of Tonawanda Policy Manual gives the Common Council the

authority to appoint members to the Ethics Committee. Now therefore it be resolved that the Common Council appoints Christopher

Fisher, Joseph Kancar and Karen Carman to the Ethics Committee for a term to expire on December 31, 2023; and

Further be it resolved, that Christopher Fisher is hereby appointed Chairman of the Ethics Committee for a term to expire on December 31, 2023.



11. By the Council seconded by the CouncilWHEREAS, the Mayor has determined that the Building Inspector, City

Engineer, Assistant City Engineer, City Clerk, Director of Parks and Recreation, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Superintendent of Public Works, Mayor’s Executive Secretary, Deputy City Attorney, and Civil Service Secretary receive raises commensurable with all the other bargaining units throughout the City, now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the above mentioned positions receive a 1.5% raise retroactive to January 1, 2020.



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COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC AFTER RESOLUTIONSNo comments

COMMENTS BY THE COUNCILMEMBERS AFTER RESOLUTIONS

Councilmember Newman- Thank-you Madam President. I hope everybody had a great New Year! I want to welcome Sean aboard again. I’m looking forward to working with you. As far as the Public Hearing I appreciate everyone’s input. We are all going to take it to the table and talk about it. My only concern is we have developers that are spending millions of dollars to rehab a building that has been kind of sitting doing nothing. For whatever it is worth I would rather see apartments and some offices than some light manufacturing in that location from a residential standpoint. That is all I have Madam President. Thank-you.

Councilmember Kammerdeiner- Thank-you Madam President. First I would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year! Second, please keep our military men and women in you thoughts and prayers while we endure hopefully it will be over soon. Again, I am glad they all spoke to the Public Hearing this afternoon for 72 East Niagara Street. I will take everything into consideration. Thank-you Madam President.

Councilmember Rautenstrauch- Thank-you Madam President. As we all know I’m not a man of many words but I just want to take the opportunity to address the council. I am excited to be back. I’m here to put my head down and work together with all of you. I know we have a great deal of talent here. I’m honored to be back up here serving. Thanks for this opportunity and I think I have had the advantage of two years off the council looking here on the sidelines and I think it was a great opportunity to see this from a different perspective. I look forward to moving forward. Thank-you.

Councilmember Mileham- Thank-you Madam President. First, welcome back Sean. It’s good to see you. Second, for the residents of surrounding 72 I think there were some pretty interesting points brought up tonight. I think that is the power of that public hearing to bring everybody together so we can hear those “what ifs” people who are actually living there would experience. I would like to thank them for coming out. I wasn’t going to say anything about my comments in the Informal Meeting prior to Christmas about the manger scene on public property. Due to the way that my comments were misconstrued I feel I need to address that. In no way was I saying that there should not be a manger scene out there. My main concern was that this was not inclusive of everybody that is in the city. There are so few things that bring people happiness anymore if that brings people happiness we have to do that. My concern was it was for one section of the city. I wanted to see everybody represented. So that was where my comments came from. By no means do I mean to imprune anybody’s thought processes anything like that. If it is something that you believe in and have a strong faith towards I respect every single person that has that. I just wanted to make sure that everybody that had beliefs and I don’t even know what the word would be were represented on city property. In no way did I mean to exclude anybody and if my words were taken incorrectly I just wanted to address. So, thank-you for the time and I’m looking forward to another good year with everybody.

Council President Koch- Thank-you Mr. Mileham. Mayor.

Mayor Rick Davis- Thank-you Madam President. I would just like to thank all our sponsors, our Police, our Auxiliary, our Fire Department and the Explorers for the job that they did on New Year’s Eve. We had about 600 people there at the Ball Drop. Grunge Box was belting out our City Assessor’s Wonderful Greatest Hits of the 90’s. It was a good time had by all. I want to thank everybody for their efforts. Jenna’s birthday is on the 10th so I would like to wish Council President a Happy Birthday! The other day our Police were joined with the Erie County District Attorney on the sentencing of Mr. White and from reading the social media post from Jessica’s family I know that this his sentence isn’t going to bring any closure to the family. I know his sentence is probably not going to prevent another heinous act like this from happening again but I want to thank both our Police and Fire Departments for all their efforts in gathering the evidence that brought this individual to justice and I hope that Jessica and her family can finally

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move on in small steps from this ordeal and a sense of normalcy. That’s all I have. Thank-you Madam President.

Council President Koch- Thank-you Mayor. Just to piggyback on what the Mayor just said I want to thank the Police and Fire for assisting in helping serve justice to the Cameron family. I actually printed out what she had said after the sentencing because she spoke so eloquently and I wanted to share that with you all.“Today justice was served to the best of the law’s ability. A huge weight has been lifted off of us knowing he can not harm us anymore. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change any of the after effects of this attack. Today was not a win for us because our family still lost a lot. All we can do is move forward as best we can. A drop of hope. Its okay to feel scared, its okay to feel lost, its okay to struggle, its okay to fail, its okay to be going through something difficult, its okay. You are okay. Do not give up. Do not stop hoping. Do not stop believing. You are on your way to change to grow to the other side of this. I know you can’t pretend that this isn’t hard but hope isn’t about pretending hard times don’t exist it’s about believing that darkness won’t last forever. It’s trusting that your heart will heal. It’s choosing possibility over unfeasibility. So please, just ditch logic, ditch the odds and hold on to hope. A single drop of hope can be a very powerful thing. The universe loves a persistent heart.”Wow! This is inspiring! May you all continue to keep Jessica and her family in your thoughts and prayers. She’s an inspiration to so many of us. Thank-you again. It’s difficult to switch gears but I would like to thank Lt. Matt Burke for his service to our city and I wish him all the best in his retirement. I want to thank Mr. Sheldon for his service to our Civil Service Commission. I want to thank Chief Strassburg for meeting with the council this evening to hear his opinion on the bail reform. It certainly is a discussion that the council and the Mayor’s office is going to continue to have. I hope that NYS is listening to the many stake holders and residents in the communities regarding this. Last but not least, Chief Strassburg every month will send the report on our overdoses that we have had in our community. Since 2016, we had 13 fatalities and 61 non-fatal overdoses. I’m happy in a way to report that we have seen a decrease since 2017 but we still have more work to do. In part it’s about educating the community on the dangers of drugs and continuing to educate our first responders on using Narcan because it is proven to save lives. So before you leave us today, please remember the words of Jessica Cameron and that there is hope. With that said, the Council will be meeting in the back for a little bit. Thank-you for coming out.

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ADJOURNMENT

13. By Council President Koch seconded by Councilmember NewmanResolved, that this Common Council adjourn until January 21, 2020.



_____________________________City Clerk

_____________________________Mayor

_____________________________Date Filed

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Documents

Reorganizational Meeting - Tonawanda 7, 2020.doc · Web viewJamie Kaye, 24 East Avenue- I just have a question on the re-zoning. If it doesn’t go through what can we do with the