
00:07
okay we're live folks
00:09
okay good evening everyone welcome to
00:12
our second meeting for august
00:16
and uh i guess we'll get the party
00:18
started
00:20
hey good evening and welcome to the
00:22
regular meeting of the council of the
00:24
city of long beach held tuesday august
00:25
18th 2020 at 7 pm
00:28
we have a roll call council member
00:29
delorey president
00:31
councilmember mandel president
00:34
councilmember treston
00:35
here vice president mcginnis president
00:39
president pendo president let the record
00:42
indicate the presence of city manager
00:43
donna gayden and corporation council
00:44
simone freeman will have a salute to the
00:46
flag
00:47
okay uh vice president mcginnis would
00:49
you please lead us
00:51
sure i pledge allegiance
01:10
visible with liberty liberty and justice
01:14
for all
01:21
all right thank you and um i guess we
01:26
will
01:26
start with the city manager report thank
01:30
you good evening everyone
01:31
um the first thing i'm going to talk
01:33
about in my report is that i had
01:35
stated earlier that we would have a
01:38
financial meeting
01:40
for the community to go over the
01:42
multi-year plan
01:43
and to go over where we are financially
01:47
um since we are not able to meet as of
01:49
yet
01:50
um in the public and um we're still
01:53
putting the final touches on the draft
01:55
multi-year plan we're going to move that
01:57
to like mid
01:59
september and hopefully we will be able
02:01
to meet in person
02:03
um on that my entire report is going to
02:06
be on the
02:07
ingo berman project so i will ask mr
02:10
mcnally
02:11
first to give us an update to make sure
02:14
everybody knows about the meeting
02:16
tomorrow
02:19
thank you city manager in case everybody
02:22
is not aware
02:24
the delayed public hearing or
02:26
rescheduled public hearing is now
02:28
scheduled for tomorrow
02:29
wednesday august 19th we are doing two
02:32
separate
02:33
spots uh dually in two separate
02:36
locations
02:37
uh the time slots are tomorrow from
02:40
three o'clock until five o'clock in the
02:41
afternoon
02:42
and then they're picking up again from 6
02:44
30 and they will run that portion
02:46
of the public hearing until no comments
02:49
are left to be made the meeting is going
02:52
to be held both
02:53
virtually via zoom which the link to
02:56
register for that and registering for
02:58
the virtual component is mandatory uh
03:01
is on the ida's website which is nassau
03:04
county ida.org
03:07
and then importantly and in part at the
03:10
city's requesting they are also holding
03:12
it in person at the alegria hotel
03:14
which is 80 west broadway for any of
03:16
those that were unfamiliar with it there
03:18
is no
03:19
currently no registration required to
03:21
attend
03:22
um but obviously social distancing
03:24
protocols will be in play the capacity
03:26
of the room will be managed
03:28
we ask that everybody wear masks and as
03:31
such
03:32
uh the city website also has had uh
03:35
we have a landing page essentially for
03:36
information which is the news in our
03:38
city
03:39
there is the top post on the news in our
03:40
city on our website
03:42
uh links to a number of documents
03:45
related to it it's both the proposed
03:46
abatement
03:48
or the requested abatement rather an
03:50
economic study by comoyne
03:52
an analysis that was done for the city
03:54
on the impacts to the city's finances by
03:56
our advisors cma
03:58
as well as the public hearing
03:59
information and a link to the ida's
04:01
website where you can register
04:03
so again that's tomorrow from three to
04:06
five o'clock
04:06
and then from 6 30 until close both via
04:10
zoom which can be registered for on the
04:11
ida's website
04:12
nasa ida.org or at the allegoria hotel
04:15
which is 80 west broadway
04:17
that's about it donna thank you
04:20
um the next person is going to speak is
04:23
tom busakis from cma
04:25
there are financial advisors and they
04:28
have been looking
04:29
at the whole project um
04:32
dave can you put this spreadsheet up
04:34
spreadsheet up okay tom
04:36
it's all thank you and good evening
04:39
everybody
04:40
as as the city manager mentioned my name
04:42
is tom vuzakis i'm with
04:43
capital markets advisors the financial
04:46
advisor to the city of long beach
04:48
uh we were asked to put together a
04:51
tax analysis for the proposed
04:54
development by engel bourbon
04:57
detailing the expected property tax
05:00
pilot
05:01
revenue and expenses that would be
05:04
incurred
05:05
by the city and see what kind of impact
05:08
it would have to the bottom line
05:11
so this analysis was based primarily on
05:12
two reports
05:14
one commissioned by the developer angle
05:17
merman
05:19
from nelson pope vorhees fiscal and
05:21
economic impact
05:23
as well as a subsequent report from the
05:25
national development council
05:29
i'm sorry tom james is there any way you
05:31
can make that larger
05:43
go ahead tom while he's trying to make
05:44
it larger thank you sure so the the
05:46
second
05:47
report was conducted by the national
05:49
development council
05:51
which assists local uh state and local
05:53
governments uh with
05:55
economic projects and developments um
05:58
so they conduct their own independent
05:59
analysis of the nelson pope and vorhees
06:02
study
06:04
so this is based on
06:08
first the condos which are
06:11
proposed to be built uh two condo
06:13
buildings
06:14
one that would be completed about two
06:17
years after the the start of the
06:18
construction period
06:20
which is anticipated potentially for
06:22
later this year
06:23
and then another year after that for the
06:25
the subsequent building
06:27
which would consist of a total of 200
06:29
units
06:30
as well as a rental building with about
06:34
240 to 250 units
06:36
that would be completed in in the two
06:38
the first two years
06:41
the numbers here are based on
06:44
the current assessments that that are
06:47
anticipated
06:48
as well as a pilot structure that is
06:51
currently being proposed
06:52
um although that is still subject to
06:55
some negotiation this has been proposed
06:58
by the the nassau ida
07:00
currently um the expenses
07:04
are based on the the number of expected
07:07
additional occupants in the the two the
07:10
three buildings
07:11
so the expected additional residence in
07:13
the city
07:17
so beginning in the 2024 fiscal year
07:20
that would be when
07:21
both the property taxes pilot revenue
07:24
and expenses would be
07:25
first realized which should provide a
07:27
small net positive
07:29
to the city of about five hundred
07:30
thousand dollars
07:32
it would we would expect it to to grow
07:34
from there as the additional units
07:36
come online at the end of the
07:40
25 year was proposed a 25-year pilot
07:43
period
07:44
we would expect a total net positive
07:47
impact to the city
07:48
of about 33.7 million dollars
07:51
so each year we would expect it to be a
07:53
positive impact to the city
07:56
from a revenue and expense side um
08:00
with a pretty uh good impact
08:03
at the end of this and then once the
08:05
pilot period ends
08:06
then the pilot on the rental would
08:09
expire
08:09
and those would be assessed at their
08:11
full valuation which is
08:13
an even greater amount than than what
08:14
the pilot would be
08:23
thank you mr bindo president mendo
08:28
okay thank you uh so what we are
08:32
trying to do here uh
08:35
tonight is give you information
08:38
that we have gotten so you can make
08:42
you know uh come to your own conclusion
08:45
about what you think about this in case
08:46
anybody wants to make
08:47
any comments at the public hearing
08:51
the city was not involved in any way
08:55
with er with determining what this pilot
08:57
is the first we heard from the ida
09:00
was when they sent us a certified letter
09:02
telling us that they were going to hold
09:04
a public hearing
09:05
so the city had no
09:08
involvement in any of the discussions on
09:10
this so we of course asked for
09:12
information
09:13
so we could convey that to you
09:16
so like i said you could be educated
09:19
about what's being proposed to be done
09:21
in our town and uh and develop any any
09:25
comments you may want to make
09:26
uh this is a flyer that that we put
09:29
together
09:29
just kind of summarizes what's going on
09:33
so again you have
09:34
an overall picture so
09:38
uh you've heard the name many times now
09:40
engel berman is the real estate
09:41
developer uh they also built that
09:44
building the aqua
09:46
uh which is a little uh a little east of
09:49
the
09:49
where the super block is it's that
09:51
luxury building
09:53
uh and they're now proposing to
09:57
buy the superblock from istar and
10:01
develop their project as tom pointed out
10:03
three buildings
10:05
um 200 condos
10:08
and 238 rentals two condo buildings of a
10:12
hundred units each and one
10:13
rental building with uh 238
10:18
so they are asking for a pilot
10:21
or a tax break is the simplest way we
10:24
know it or a tax abatement
10:26
so what we wanted you to know
10:30
is hey so for those of you that were
10:33
involved with istar
10:34
um and that abatement and now are kind
10:38
of comparing it
10:39
so i start was only going to be
10:41
apartments rental apartments
10:43
no condos this is as i said 200 condos
10:46
238 rentals
10:48
um i saw i was going for a very
10:51
significant
10:52
height variance uh 50 percent
10:55
height variance 25 density variance so
10:58
they were going up to i believe it was
10:59
17 stories
11:00
when it zoned uh for for 10 but remember
11:03
two of those are parking
11:05
uh because of the new fema regulations
11:08
uh
11:09
i star ridgely was looking for a 129
11:12
million dollar pilot uh when that one
11:15
didn't
11:16
make it they went back a second time for
11:18
109 million dollars over 20 years that's
11:21
the pilot
11:22
that we had the public hearing for here
11:24
in long beach for that 109 million
11:26
dollar one
11:28
angle berman is seeking a 25-year pilot
11:31
for 49
11:32
million dollars um
11:36
another thing that may be worth knowing
11:39
is
11:40
that engel berman like i star was going
11:42
to do engelberman
11:44
will be replacing the infrastructure the
11:47
water and sewer lines
11:49
from the super block up to park avenue
11:51
where the main water and sewer lines are
11:53
for the for the city infrastructure
11:56
they will be paying for that upgrade of
11:58
that infrastructure if they do the
12:00
project that's about a four million
12:02
dollar cost
12:03
that they will pick up uh the city won't
12:06
have to do that
12:09
another thing is we're being told we
12:11
haven't seen anything in writing yet but
12:13
we're being told that uh you may know
12:15
that istar is suing the city for 100
12:18
million dollars
12:20
claiming uh the city didn't support
12:23
their pilot enough whatever you think of
12:26
that lawsuit but
12:28
um what we're told is that one of the
12:31
stipulations
12:32
of engel berman buying the superblock
12:35
is that that lawsuit would be
12:38
dropped and would go away
12:41
again we haven't seen anything in
12:43
writing but that's what we are we have
12:44
been told by angel berman it's a
12:46
condition that they have put on
12:48
the deal uh as john had pointed out
12:52
there's the uh the hearing times
12:54
tomorrow so this flyer we're gonna post
12:56
it online so you have access to it
12:58
and those uh numbers you see there i'm
13:00
gonna get into a lot a little more
13:01
detail in a second
13:02
uh dave if you could put the the next
13:04
slide up
13:07
so for those of you that were around for
13:09
i star you may know or may remember that
13:12
i was probably one of the most vocal
13:13
people in the city
13:14
about that pilot um so
13:18
for my edification i needed to do
13:22
an apples to apples comparison
13:25
of the istar pilot to the engel berman
13:28
pilot to see what
13:30
we were getting on this go around uh
13:33
that to me was going to give some
13:35
perspective
13:36
on what istar was and
13:40
and what might be the same now if quite
13:42
frankly if we were getting a bad deal or
13:45
not
13:46
so this is something that i developed so
13:48
if you look at the
13:49
the i star pilot side
13:52
you'll see a net fiscal impact to the
13:54
city what that basically is
13:55
is after istar pays their taxes and the
13:58
city provides the services
14:00
to the facility you know the building
14:03
site and the residence
14:06
does the city uh does the city come out
14:10
on the plus or the minus side so those
14:12
numbers you see there in parentheses in
14:14
red
14:14
mean that on all those years there
14:18
the cost to the city to provide
14:22
services to that site based on the
14:25
taxes that they would have paid
14:29
the city would have been come out on the
14:31
negative side meaning it would have cost
14:33
the city more to provide services to the
14:35
site
14:36
than they would have paid with their
14:38
taxes than they would have covered with
14:39
their taxes
14:40
so you can see they're out of out of a
14:42
20-year pilot on i-star
14:44
they that the city was subsidizing the
14:46
project
14:48
for 17 out of the 20 years and that
14:51
those numbers are not we didn't make
14:52
those up those came straight out of it
14:54
the report the ida did on the financial
14:56
analysis
14:58
of the project uh so what you will see
15:01
is after
15:01
20 years total that the length of the
15:04
pilot
15:05
the net impact to the city over 20 years
15:07
would have been just over a million
15:09
dollars meaning
15:11
city comes out i guess ahead after
15:13
paying all its expenses of
15:15
about a million dollars after 20 years
15:17
but what's important to note is that's
15:20
because
15:21
in year 20 you will see they were making
15:23
a large balloon payment in the final
15:25
year of the pilot
15:26
that brought it into the black otherwise
15:29
the city would have
15:31
like i said would have effectively lost
15:33
the money on that pilot
15:35
and that was one of the reasons there
15:37
was so much
15:38
angst over that pilot is that it just
15:41
was not
15:42
perceived to be a in the interests of
15:45
the taxpayers of the city
15:47
if you shift over you'll see that as the
15:51
net fiscal impact from the rentals alone
15:55
and then from the condos alone and then
15:57
a total
15:58
net fiscal impact to the city so again
16:00
that fiscal impact
16:01
is after the city after they pay their
16:04
taxes and the city provides
16:05
all its services did we spend more in
16:07
providing services than they paid in
16:09
taxes or did they pay more in taxes and
16:11
it cost us to provide
16:13
services so what you will see is on the
16:16
rentals
16:17
for about 11 years they are paying less
16:20
in taxes than we estimate
16:22
it will cost the city to provide
16:24
services those are based on the analysis
16:26
cma did that tom just talked about those
16:28
that we use their numbers
16:30
and you'll see like i said in in 11
16:32
years
16:33
we are subsidizing the project but now
16:37
if you take into account
16:38
the condominiums which
16:42
uh will pay full taxes there will be no
16:45
tax break of any kind on the
16:47
condominiums they pay full taxes
16:50
that the amount of taxes the
16:52
condominiums
16:53
pay does far exceed
16:57
the net fiscal impact meaning that from
17:00
the condos
17:00
does far exceed the net fiscal impact
17:04
from the rentals so as you can see there
17:07
you know for a number of years
17:09
the rentals are being subsidized in the
17:11
range of about forty four thousand
17:12
dollars
17:13
uh for a number of years but then you'll
17:15
see that the condos
17:17
the net fiscal impact from them is uh
17:20
after year one
17:21
is over a million dollars a year so it
17:24
it more than
17:25
offsets far more offsets the uh
17:28
uh the subsidy for the rental so you can
17:31
see the net fiscal
17:32
impact to the city there um
17:35
is uh about a million dollars a year
17:38
starting in year two and then it goes up
17:40
uh from there now this is also based on
17:43
an assumption that the taxes on the
17:45
condominiums
17:47
so the way the pilot works is the ida
17:50
assumes a inflation adjustment each year
17:54
the ida used 1.81
17:59
so the amount the taxes increase each
18:02
each year on the pilot is 1.81
18:05
that's a number that they supposedly use
18:07
on all their
18:08
their projects right at least right now
18:10
it's based on inflation right now
18:13
they used that same number for the
18:16
increase on the condominiums that being
18:19
said
18:20
the taxes on the condominiums are tied
18:22
to whatever the city budget decides the
18:24
tax increases each year
18:26
so if taxes go up three percent
18:30
the condo taxes go up three percent if
18:32
they go up one percent the condo taxes
18:34
go up one percent
18:35
so the condo taxes will will be
18:39
the increase on the condo tax each year
18:40
will be the exact same increase that we
18:42
all
18:43
pay each year on our taxes so it's not
18:46
tied to any inflation there is no
18:48
break given on the condos so i just want
18:52
everybody to be clear on that so you
18:53
have the right
18:54
information uh the engelberman pilot as
18:57
i said
18:58
is a 25 year pilot
19:01
so what i did here is i showed the first
19:04
20 years
19:05
so you could do a direct apples to
19:07
apples comparison
19:08
to the istar pilot and then i showed the
19:11
last five years as a kind of a separate
19:13
breakout underneath
19:14
so what you'll see is um i star
19:18
over the 20 years of their pilot would
19:20
have paid
19:21
uh 27 million 748 000
19:25
in taxes engelberman will pay
19:28
uh just over 88 million dollars in taxes
19:31
so uh engel berman will be paying about
19:35
61.5 million dollars more
19:38
in taxes over the 20 years than istar
19:41
would have paid
19:43
um as i said the net fiscal impact to
19:46
the city
19:46
over the 20 years from istar was about a
19:49
million dollars
19:51
and again that was mainly because of
19:52
that balloon payment in year 20.
19:55
uh the net fiscal impact for the city
19:57
from the overall
19:58
project on the super block both the
20:00
rentals and the condos
20:02
is about 24 and a half million dollars
20:05
um so you can see it as a significant
20:08
difference
20:08
in uh what the city would be getting
20:11
from one project
20:12
to the other over the 25 years of the
20:15
pilot
20:16
the net fiscal impact to the city would
20:18
be about uh 33.7 million dollars
20:22
with them paying 123 million dollars in
20:26
taxes
20:27
now one other thing just to note in
20:29
what's not shown
20:30
here is in year 26
20:36
which i know that's a long way off but
20:38
just another piece of information for
20:39
you to have
20:40
in year 26 the taxes on the rentals go
20:43
up
20:44
25 because the way it works
20:47
is the um the taxes
20:50
uh get adjusted each year the pilot
20:52
amount gets adjusted each year on the
20:54
rentals by 1.81
20:56
that inflation factor i talked about for
20:58
the first 10 years
21:01
so years one to ten in year 11
21:04
the taxes start going up five percent
21:06
per year
21:09
so what happens is when you get
21:13
to year 25 that will get them
21:16
to 75 of full taxes on the rentals
21:20
the pilot ends after year 25 so in year
21:24
26 they will see a 25
21:27
tax increase on the rentals
21:30
and then they will pay full taxes on the
21:32
rentals
21:33
from that point forward and of course
21:35
like i said they will be paying full
21:36
taxes the entire time on the condos
21:39
uh there's there's no break there so
21:42
again
21:42
this is just more information we wanted
21:45
to give you
21:47
so you can draw your own conclusions
21:50
again if anybody plans to to provide any
21:53
remarks you have
21:54
the data you need to make informed
21:57
remarks
21:58
rather than just go up there and
22:00
speculate now you have
22:01
the information uh to
22:05
go up there and speak with facts so
22:08
um i i hope you find this helpful we're
22:10
gonna post these on the city website
22:12
so you will be able to download them and
22:14
again
22:15
um use them and
22:19
um like i said i hope you find this
22:22
this helpful so with that i guess uh
22:25
donna if we have anything else we need
22:27
to know
22:29
the end of my report okay
22:32
then uh why don't we move on to the
22:34
agenda
22:39
okay one second okay
22:42
item number one is a resolution
22:44
authorizing the city manager to enter
22:45
into an agreement
22:46
for construction of the downtown to the
22:48
boardwalk resilient connectivity project
22:50
along
22:51
edwards boulevard and to amend the
22:53
budget
22:56
okay this i'm going to guess sounds like
22:58
a
22:59
john mirando thing so okay let me
23:02
uh john you're unmuted go ahead
23:06
okay so back in january we uh put this
23:09
project out for bid that we had a uh
23:11
one million dollar sixty six thousand
23:13
dollar grant from new york state d.o.t
23:16
uh and we had budgeted a million dollars
23:19
for the city the project came in at
23:20
about three million dollars
23:22
so we went back to nv5 the design
23:24
engineer
23:25
and we removed several items over work
23:28
we moved all
23:29
work south of the broadway with the
23:31
exception of the bike lanes and the bike
23:33
lane signage
23:34
removed all the landscape items which we
23:36
will do uh which will not just be
23:38
topsoil and seed
23:39
and somewhere along line we'll do our
23:42
own landscaping
23:43
we removed all test pit and water main
23:45
offset items which we'll perform if
23:47
it becomes necessary with our own water
23:50
personnel
23:51
we removed all the green surface
23:53
treatment and bike lanes as this was not
23:55
a requirement for
23:55
new york state d.o.t and we removed the
23:58
permeable pavers on beech street
24:01
to get this project in line so the
24:03
project was rebid
24:05
uh in june we received nine bids
24:09
the prices ranged in a low of uh two
24:12
million sixty six
24:13
thousand uh to a high of four million
24:16
four hundred forty seven
24:17
thousand a little bit with a i j allen
24:20
industries uh who have done several
24:22
other projects for us very successfully
24:25
and therefore recommending that this
24:27
project be awarded to them
24:28
all these documents and the bids were
24:30
reviewed by new york state d.o.t
24:33
and uh approved by them to proceed with
24:35
the
24:36
award okay uh john can you just i mean
24:40
you kind of talked about what was taken
24:42
out of the project can you just touch on
24:43
what will be done as part of the project
24:45
so people know
24:46
yes part of the project will be repaving
24:49
a new bike lane
24:50
from um park avenue down to
24:53
to the boardwalk uh it will include new
24:56
drainage features
24:57
green drainage in the islands and it'll
25:01
include
25:02
all new uh access access uh
25:05
ramps at every intersection uh
25:08
and uh all new markings on the uh on the
25:11
project
25:13
okay um i just have a quick question
25:17
commissioner miranda can you just
25:19
let us know the time frame from start to
25:21
finish roughly
25:22
this will probably be a three to four
25:24
month project
25:26
which will probably start uh sometime in
25:28
september
25:30
okay thank you
25:33
uh john just uh one quick question did
25:35
you say the name of the company was a
25:37
i j allen industry
25:43
just wanted to confirm that um
25:46
all right and dad mr morenzo can you
25:49
just
25:50
tell us um one of the projects that
25:52
they've done in the city
25:55
okay they just finished as a matter of
25:57
fact east fulton avenue
25:58
which was uh you know what i mean sewer
26:01
main
26:02
uh new pavement new curb sidewalks new
26:05
light fixtures uh they also had recently
26:08
done
26:09
um west hudson street with the new
26:12
bulkhead
26:13
next to lindell school uh that whole
26:15
island and that all included uh green
26:17
drainage also
26:19
um and several other projects before i
26:21
was here so
26:23
thank you
26:26
okay and john just one uh the the serial
26:28
bonds mentioned in the resolution those
26:30
are
26:30
the ones that are part of the capital
26:32
plan that was approved correct correct
26:34
correct okay um all right any other
26:37
questions from the council
26:41
okay did we get any questions from the
26:43
public okay
26:46
myself are we going to
26:49
will there be new drawings associated
26:51
with this project
26:52
well there were new drawings already
26:54
sent out with the bids this
26:56
this is not the design portion this is
26:58
the actual construction portion
26:59
of the project uh the design was done by
27:02
nv5 which we had
27:06
but they redid all the design drawings
27:08
and those are available up in uh
27:11
in dpw's office also
27:15
okay any more questions from the council
27:20
all right hearing none did we get any
27:21
questions from the public
27:23
yes there are two questions uh first one
27:26
from alison glanchet
27:28
bear with me here for a second so um
27:31
from allison
27:32
my questions and comments center around
27:33
flexibility of the vendor in the third
27:35
phase of the downtown to boardwalk
27:37
resiliency connectivity project
27:39
along edwards boulevard it is the third
27:42
base
27:42
flexible to incorporate new published
27:44
guidelines and recommendations for
27:45
design elements
27:47
that are in sync with bicycle boulevards
27:49
rather than traditional sharrows which
27:50
were part of the original design
27:52
following the spirit of a bicycle
27:54
boardwalk design will the speed limit on
27:56
edwards be reduced
27:58
the reach of this project is the south
27:59
side of park avenue will the community
28:01
development grant money for transit
28:02
oriented street safety enhancements
28:04
voted on
28:05
at the last council meeting be able to
28:07
address the center of the intersections
28:09
where edwards crosses park to fill that
28:11
gap
28:12
since the writing and award of this
28:13
grant there have been a few changes to
28:15
the new york state
28:16
vehicle and traffic law in addition to
28:18
published guidelines from national
28:20
association of city transportation
28:21
officials
28:22
in regard to bicycles scooters and
28:24
pedestrians i would recommend city
28:26
council keep that in mind when voting on
28:28
this vendor
28:29
so that you can make certain there is
28:31
flexibility in any necessary tweaks to
28:33
the final design i am very excited to
28:35
see this project finally realized
28:38
um and as an addendum she followed up
28:40
and said i just wrote
28:41
i want to make certain you understand my
28:43
intentions not to provide public input
28:45
on design but to provide
28:46
input on the need for having flexibility
28:49
with the vendor
28:50
working on the final design due to the
28:51
many changes new guidelines laws and
28:53
pandemic altering transportation
28:56
options
28:59
so do you want to take that one on
29:00
commissioner miranda well
29:02
just just in short this is a very tight
29:04
project uh this
29:06
is bid based on the design drawings
29:08
supplied by the engineer and
29:10
in addition design drawings approved by
29:12
the new york state d.o.t
29:14
and their feeling was that everything
29:16
that we resubmitted meets their
29:17
requirements
29:19
uh anything that we do change there is
29:20
no contingency in this budget
29:23
um this is going to be a very tight
29:25
project so any changes that
29:28
may come up are going to have to be
29:29
approved by new york state d.o.t first
29:31
and then we're going to have to
29:32
determine
29:33
if it's a net positive or net negative
29:35
to the total budget
29:37
and if it's a net positive to the budget
29:39
and the need to
29:40
just find more monies to to pay for
29:43
those changes
29:51
okay i guess did we cover all of them
29:54
then
29:54
all the questions um no there's one more
29:57
from roy lester
29:58
so according to the resolution we'll be
30:00
issuing bonds for over 2 million
30:02
for this project have these bonds
30:03
already been voted on with prior capital
30:06
project bonds or are they new ones and
30:08
then a second question is
30:11
uh what will that bring our total debt
30:13
to please include all liabilities
30:15
and lastly was aii allen the lowest
30:19
bidder or the lowest responsible bidder
30:23
they are both the lowest and most
30:26
responsible
30:28
okay and can you speak to the
30:31
the bond issue uh i the theme is on the
30:34
one
30:34
i think they'd better reverse that
30:36
mentioning but what it would do
30:38
is just one million dollars as we will
30:40
be reimbursed uh
30:42
for one one million sixty six thousand
30:44
from new york state d.o.t
30:46
in an already previously approved grant
30:49
[Applause]
30:55
hi how are you uh john please read again
30:59
from the top of that question when it's
31:02
talking about the
31:03
bonding if it's old or new sure thing
31:06
so according to the resolution we'll be
31:08
issuing bonds for over two million
31:09
dollars for this project
31:10
have these bonds already been voted on
31:13
with the prior capital project bonds or
31:15
are they new ones
31:17
and i guess if it's the latter what will
31:19
that bring our total debt to
31:22
these are not the new ones these are
31:24
from the
31:25
um prior year capital projects and
31:28
bond authorizations
31:32
this from the existing bond
31:33
authorizations
31:38
okay that was all of the questions mr
31:40
bendo
31:41
okay thank you
31:46
uh hearing nothing else let's move up to
31:48
the next item
31:49
okay item two has been taken off the
31:52
calendar
31:53
and three is a resolution advising the
31:55
city manager to enter into a contract
31:57
for the removal of accumulation of grit
31:58
and grease from the water pollution
32:00
control plant
32:01
with the lowest responsible bidder
32:05
okay i'm gonna guess that's mr morando
32:06
again
32:08
yes uh the first first process down at
32:10
the wastewater treatment plant is to
32:12
remove any grit and grease from the
32:13
waste stream
32:15
that grit and grease is uh carted into
32:17
dumpsters
32:18
and each we bid out
32:22
to remove those dumpsters and to a
32:24
licensed environmental koala
32:27
we received three bits the lowest being
32:30
twelve hundred dollars per pull a pole
32:32
is one dumpster
32:33
all being taken out and a high of three
32:35
thousand eight hundred and twenty
32:37
uh totally environmental was the low
32:39
bidder at twelve hundred dollars they
32:40
have been doing this work for us since
32:42
i've been here
32:43
and probably before that uh and it's the
32:46
same price as it was last year
32:50
okay any questions from the council
32:56
all right hearing none did we get any
32:57
questions from the public
33:00
yes one question from roy lester uh
33:03
how often do we have to remove the grit
33:04
and grease from the water pollution
33:06
control plant and is there a limit to
33:08
how much we would spend on this
33:11
uh following that would normal
33:13
maintenance stop this from accumulating
33:15
and if not why not and lastly was tele
33:18
environmental the lowest bidder or the
33:20
lowest responsible bidder
33:23
they were the lowest bidder and the
33:24
lowest responsible bidder
33:26
uh dumpsters are pulled every couple of
33:28
weeks we have enough money in our budget
33:30
to cover this every year
33:32
this is not something that we can change
33:34
this is part of the treatment train
33:36
uh we're required to remove the grid and
33:39
the
33:39
uh grease from the waste stream before
33:43
the before it goes into the next process
33:45
which is the primary settling tank
33:47
um what we do do though however is
33:50
uh try to stay on top of the restaurants
33:53
with the grease disposal
33:54
to reduce the amount of grease that goes
33:56
into the system
33:58
and in addition we use a bacteria
34:02
in many of our sewer mains and at our
34:04
pump stations to
34:05
reduce the amount of grease that's
34:06
produced
34:11
okay that was the only question on that
34:12
agenda item
34:14
okay um
34:18
all right so uh hearing nothing else
34:21
let's
34:21
move on to the next item item four is a
34:24
resolution authorizing the city manager
34:26
to accept and execute a grant on behalf
34:28
of the city of long beach from the new
34:29
york state department of health
34:33
okay is this going to be uh ms bourne or
34:36
donna who's talking on this one
34:42
should be uh commissioner mirando oh
34:46
okay
34:49
um last year i was approached by
34:52
actually a year and a half ago i was
34:54
approached by the new york state health
34:55
department
34:56
wanting to know if we would like six
34:58
hundred and eleven thousand dollars
34:59
towards replacement and removal of like
35:01
service lines
35:03
um i said certainly so i worked out a
35:06
program with them we finally got
35:07
approval on the program
35:09
the way this will work is uh we mostly
35:12
have we don't have a lot of lead
35:13
services straight leg services
35:15
where we have a lot of galvanized
35:17
services and what happens with
35:18
galvanized services at the main they use
35:20
what's called the let goose neck
35:21
to prevent the main from settling and
35:24
fearing uh and those need to be replaced
35:28
uh it's got complete uh we will do this
35:30
with our operating budget for materials
35:32
and supplies when we identify these and
35:35
each quarter we put in a
35:37
requisition to new york state health
35:38
department and they reimburse us
35:40
for uh our labor materials in our
35:43
overheads
35:45
we estimate we'll do we'll be able to
35:49
this year replace approximately 135 i
35:52
believe of these services
35:56
that's basically it all right uh any
35:59
questions from the council
36:03
mr delorey uh yes commissioner morando
36:06
thank you
36:06
how do you come across these goosenecks
36:10
when they appear
36:12
um like how would you know where they
36:14
are
36:15
well why our service records when we we
36:17
get a service that's replaced uh
36:20
we we put what you know we generally
36:22
replace it with copper
36:23
from the property line to the main right
36:25
but we have a record of what services
36:27
exist
36:27
and a lot of times it's pretty general
36:30
knowledge based on the years that the
36:32
service were put in
36:33
so we have a pretty good idea of the
36:35
areas that have them from previous leaks
36:37
things of that nature
36:38
but we we have a pretty good record and
36:40
we
36:41
will be able to uh determine where we'll
36:44
replace them and in addition when we're
36:45
doing work with contractors we'll write
36:47
it
36:47
it's written it will be written into the
36:49
contracts that when they come across
36:51
a gooseneck whatever the course is for
36:53
replacing that service we'll use that
36:54
also
36:55
to be in reimburse directly thank you
36:58
commissioner
37:00
any other questions from the council
37:04
okay i got a couple uh john the
37:06
resolution says that we could
37:08
complete about 139 replacements do we
37:11
have an idea approximately how many
37:13
lead water service lines there are in
37:15
the city
37:16
there's probably 300 to 400 of them
37:20
still
37:21
okay so how how will it be determined
37:24
which ones are replaced
37:26
well i think what we'll do is we'll look
37:28
at those those
37:29
uh areas where we have the most breaks
37:31
on service lines and try to get to those
37:33
first
37:34
and and people shouldn't panic right
37:36
away because we treat with lime
37:39
uh our lead results that we get every
37:42
year that we do are very very good we
37:44
we have very little leaching of lead and
37:47
that's because
37:48
you know many water systems use caustic
37:50
soda to raise the ph
37:52
we use lime and as a result lime coats
37:54
the inside of the
37:55
the service and inside of the main
37:57
inside of the brass
37:59
fixtures in people's homes so when we do
38:01
our lead sampling every year we end up
38:03
with very
38:04
good results okay and just
38:07
uh one final quiz somebody that may
38:10
might have one of these led service
38:11
lines if they have that brady risk
38:13
insurance does that
38:14
cover the cost of any of that
38:16
replacement i know the
38:18
brady risk is strictly i believe on the
38:20
uh sewer connections not on the water
38:22
connections
38:23
okay thank you but there are programs
38:26
out there by the way that people can
38:27
are taken by other companies that do
38:30
cover water services
38:32
okay uh so any final questions from the
38:36
council
38:38
okay did we get any questions from the
38:40
public not on this agenda
38:43
okay on to the next item item five is a
38:47
resolution authorizing the city manager
38:48
to accept and execute a grant on behalf
38:50
of the city of long beach from the new
38:52
york state department of environmental
38:53
conservation and
38:54
to amend the budget and this is greg
38:57
scott
38:58
okay okay all right you're unmuted go
39:02
ahead
39:04
um yes um
39:08
let's say that again dave what this is
39:10
for
39:13
dave yeah this item is a um executed
39:16
grant on behalf of the city of long
39:17
beach from the new york state department
39:18
of environmental conservation and to
39:20
amend the budget
39:24
with you and patty patty can you
39:30
this is the recycling grand greg oh yes
39:33
yes yes
39:34
oh yes um patty you're also unmuted as
39:37
well
39:38
yes uh well with this grant here um
39:42
we just um received
39:45
uh the approval for the award for the
39:48
one that we did about
39:49
three to four years ago um and this
39:53
particular grant is going to pay for two
39:54
of the garbage trucks that
39:56
we just purchased uh for the sanitation
39:59
department
40:00
and um we just
40:04
applied for a new grant um
40:08
that will be uh possible hopefully
40:11
approved in the next four years
40:14
for additional trucks and additional
40:16
equipment as well as
40:18
recycling bins and things of that nature
40:20
but
40:22
we did receive approval for the grant
40:25
uh two additional garbage trucks
40:31
and we need to amend the budget to
40:36
make sure that we can get that grant
40:38
money which we already paid for the
40:40
truck so
40:41
i put in all the paperwork to dec um
40:45
and just waiting for that right yeah
40:48
i'm sorry to interrupt you this is the
40:50
grant for the
40:51
um the education component of recycling
40:54
as we start to switch to
40:56
dual stream right it's
40:59
um this is paddy boyce uh greg
41:02
as greg said we are focusing and have
41:05
for many years
41:07
on reducing our waste stream and
41:10
recycling and eliminating waste and part
41:13
of the need for that
41:15
is to educate all of us on
41:18
the new processes and requirements
41:21
because recycling keeps changing
41:23
so this is uh for a person for staff to
41:26
reimburse staff
41:28
to and for expenses to
41:32
work with a residential customers our
41:34
commercial customers
41:35
our non-profits to talk to everyone
41:39
about how we can use training and
41:41
education
41:42
to reduce our waste stream which saves
41:44
us money helps the community
41:46
and it's something that we know
41:48
residents really want to do
41:50
the nice thing about this grant is it's
41:52
a reimbursement at 50 percent
41:54
so any activities we decide to take part
41:57
in
41:58
we will get reimbursed for half of it
42:00
and the way the
42:01
resolution is written is very good
42:03
because it says up to
42:05
which means we have the control of how
42:08
much
42:08
we need to use and we won't use any more
42:10
of this grant than we actually need
42:12
to be reimbursed for it to keep the cost
42:14
down we could see it include flyers
42:17
or mailings signage whatever we need
42:21
over the next couple of months to make
42:22
this work
42:23
now another part of the grant is that it
42:26
does sunset
42:27
i found out from tyler huffman who put
42:29
the application in it does sunset at the
42:31
end of this year
42:32
but we are going to monitor to see if in
42:35
october
42:36
they offer this grant again for next
42:38
year uh
42:40
and if they don't because the state has
42:42
limited and reduced certain grant
42:43
opportunities then we will go back to
42:45
dec and say can we expand the contract
42:48
into next year so we can have the money
42:50
available as we need it and the
42:53
key word there only as we need it to
42:56
minimize costs
42:57
but to use the funds to expand the
43:00
opportunities on recycling
43:05
[Music]
43:08
what do you mean calendar year or fiscal
43:11
year
43:13
it's the calendar year december right
43:15
now
43:16
at the end of the december 2020.
43:20
and um and how will the environmental
43:22
board
43:23
assist you in implementing this grant
43:29
i i apologize but i have really very
43:31
poor service right now we had our power
43:33
out last night
43:34
could you repeat what just asked sorry
43:36
about that can you please
43:37
let me know how the environmental board
43:40
will work with you
43:41
to facilitate this grant
43:45
yes the environmental advisory board
43:48
has been a tremendous supporter for the
43:50
city very involved people
43:52
with a lot of experience and they have
43:54
great ideas
43:55
and they're aware of this grant and will
43:57
work with the city
43:58
to implement it and they're all
44:00
volunteers on that board
44:03
correct and finally does this mean we
44:05
have to find
44:06
dollar for dollar additional funds in
44:08
the budget to cover this grant
44:10
dollar for dollar is that correct there
44:13
are funds according to the resolution
44:15
uh in the publicity area
44:18
so we expect to use some funds already
44:22
in the budget i believe if that's
44:23
correct donna
44:25
yes that is correct in the resolution it
44:28
has
44:28
publicity miscellaneous and that's where
44:30
we would take it from
44:32
um i wanted to say greg i'm going to
44:35
take it as that you were a little
44:37
nervous
44:37
because you just grabbed backwards and
44:40
forwards
44:41
and we've talked about this many times
44:44
so um i'll just take it as you were a
44:46
little nervous tonight and you had
44:48
garbage trucks on your mind
44:50
yes i did but it's okay it's okay
44:53
that was more patty thanks for the help
44:55
paddy
44:56
i wouldn't think anything
44:59
appreciate it okay
45:03
all right uh any other questions from
45:06
the council members
45:08
uh i just have one uh question uh
45:11
patty uh is any of this
45:15
uh is any of the labor need to be
45:18
tracked for this grant or is it strictly
45:22
uh printing and materials
45:25
and things like that it says recycling
45:29
education coordination planning and
45:31
promotion
45:32
didn't know if yes because we can get
45:35
reimbursed with staff time for city
45:37
staff time yes
45:38
okay thank you
45:42
okay any other questions from the
45:44
council
45:47
we get any questions from the public uh
45:50
there's one question
45:51
from mr lester uh if i understand this
45:54
resolution correctly the city would
45:56
receive
45:56
up to forty thousand seven hundred and
45:58
eighty dollars to be used to expand
46:00
recycling programs and increase public
46:02
education
46:03
through such things as mailers and
46:04
signage as well as provide a salary
46:06
funds for the recycling coordinator
46:08
it's also my understanding that the city
46:10
would have to match it match the amount
46:12
it receives
46:13
please explain to me what needs to be
46:15
done to expand the recycling program
46:17
and increase the public education since
46:19
as it stands now
46:21
everybody has recycling bins they use
46:23
please also enlighten me to the fact
46:26
if we currently have a recycling
46:27
coordinator and if we don't
46:29
y1 is deemed necessary
46:33
now if i just before i'm not sure who's
46:36
going to take that one on but correct me
46:38
if i'm wrong
46:39
one of the issues we have is our
46:40
recycling rate is actually
46:42
not so great in long beach correct
46:48
commissioner miranda do you want to jump
46:49
in on this or would you like me to field
46:51
um because there's a couple of
46:52
dimensions at play as to why we
46:54
the education is necessary yeah
46:58
our recycling rate is about 14 to 16
47:02
of our total msw but more importantly
47:05
i think this is a golden opportunity to
47:07
improve that
47:08
because uh at the end of this year our
47:11
uh
47:12
recycling contract is over we'll be
47:14
working on new methods of recycling and
47:16
it'll be a good opportunity to educate
47:18
people
47:19
on what really can be recycled and what
47:22
uh the best way to dispose of it is
47:25
you know to to uh treat for it and uh
47:28
and to to increase the percentage of uh
47:31
recycling that we do a lot of
47:33
communities do anywhere from twenty to
47:34
thirty percent
47:35
uh fort so forty percent is really kind
47:37
of well
47:39
and correct me if i'm wrong but isn't it
47:42
cheaper
47:44
for us to get rid of the recycling than
47:46
it is for the uh
47:47
normal trash well it is right now
47:50
because right now we have a great deal
47:52
we pay 2050 cents for recycling
47:55
but because of the markets have changed
47:57
so much and particularly related to
47:59
glass
48:00
um and the types of plastic that you can
48:03
recycle now
48:04
uh it's going to be harder because
48:06
there's going to be less things that
48:08
really can be recycled so
48:10
in addition to what people throw as
48:12
recyclables we need to educate people
48:13
in the types of containers and things
48:16
that they buy
48:17
their foods in and their
48:19
[Music]
48:21
but we could see prices as high as 80 a
48:24
ton for getting rid of recycling which
48:25
is on par with
48:26
our msw so which is discouraging but
48:30
it's what the markets are right now
48:32
right but but but
48:34
in the short term we could see some
48:36
savings if people
48:37
improve their recycling since we're only
48:39
paying 250 a ton
48:41
absolutely and then as we get
48:45
um into the more complicated matters
48:47
like you said because it's getting a
48:49
little complicated with what they will
48:50
and won't take people are going to have
48:54
to possibly change their current habits
48:56
and have to educate them on that
48:59
right and it's not just educating them
49:01
on recycling we need to
49:04
educate them on reducing their
49:07
vocals and in addition
49:10
uh reusing some of their disposables
49:15
mr miranda this is liz uh correct me if
49:17
i'm wrong
49:18
but our the at that meeting that i
49:21
attended
49:23
uh a while ago regarding recycling
49:28
we were talking about that
49:31
there may be some legislation almost
49:34
that has to be statewide uh regarding
49:37
packaging and reduction
49:39
correct okay
49:42
thank you all right
49:45
uh i think i think we answered
49:49
his question did we miss any piece of it
49:54
i'm sorry i was having issues on muting
49:56
myself
49:57
the last one is do we have a current
49:59
recycling coordinator
50:01
and why if we don't why is one being
50:04
deemed necessary
50:05
um again this is another one that i can
50:08
answer this
50:08
quickly too because i've been part of
50:10
this one is this is
50:13
we're not necessarily going to be hiring
50:14
one we can use this grant as we choose
50:16
with any number of options available to
50:18
us so
50:19
um we may choose to have one if we deem
50:22
it necessary we may not
50:25
okay um
50:28
any other questions from the nope i'm
50:30
sorry we already got the counsel
50:32
so uh were there any other questions
50:34
from the public
50:35
that was it all right then on to the
50:38
next item
50:40
okay item number six is a resolution
50:43
authorizing the city council to enter
50:44
into a contract
50:46
memorializing the city manager's
50:47
employment
50:49
okay so uh ms gayden's contract
50:54
is up at the end of this month so
50:56
another
50:57
just under two weeks uh um
51:01
the council is uh very happy
51:05
with um her performance and
51:09
we have uh asked her to stay on
51:12
so and the fact that we let the air out
51:14
of her tires probably might have
51:17
made it had a little something to do
51:18
with it but um
51:20
she we're giving her a one-year contract
51:24
that commences on september 1st
51:27
and uh so this will be good too because
51:30
this
51:31
um again for those of you to kind of
51:33
follow closer
51:34
you know that the bond uh the credit
51:36
rating agencies that follow the city
51:38
um one of the criticisms was the
51:42
turnover in leadership so
51:46
now we're uh we're getting certainty
51:48
here for the next year
51:50
in that which is uh gives some
51:51
reassurance to the bond markets
51:54
um and it's again a
51:57
professional city manager um
52:00
not a political appointee so uh that
52:03
has actual municipal management and
52:05
especially the financial experience we
52:07
need uh so what's changing
52:09
because uh i'm sure people wanted
52:11
there's really only two changes
52:13
contract um one is
52:17
the salary it's going from a hundred and
52:21
seventy eight thousand
52:23
to a hundred and ninety thousand that's
52:25
a six
52:26
point five percent raise
52:29
um we think it's money well
52:33
spent and um kind of
52:36
on par with what uh a professional city
52:39
manager
52:41
uh would get the other change
52:44
is um because she's now staying
52:47
she you may remember with the last
52:49
contract she had her own
52:51
health insurance that was from uh out of
52:54
state
52:54
uh since she's now staying in new york
52:56
her out-of-state insurance will no
52:58
longer cover her
52:59
in new york so uh
53:02
she will be going on to the city's
53:05
medical
53:06
insurance like like other employees
53:09
so those are really the only two changes
53:11
uh from the
53:12
from the previous contract and
53:17
any questions from the council
53:23
i don't i don't have a question but i
53:24
just have a little a bit of a statement
53:26
is that okay
53:28
okay okay um thank you
53:33
um i just you know i know that i've been
53:36
on the
53:36
council side now for eight months and
53:39
prior to that
53:39
i was a resident on the other side for
53:43
you know 14 years so i just took some
53:47
time today to really think about
53:49
how to describe donna so that you can
53:52
understand that this is a decision that
53:54
is not made lightly and that it's
53:56
something that
53:57
i and we truly believe in so so here
54:00
goes
54:01
um being this being the long beach city
54:03
manager means being the ceo
54:06
i.e the czech chief executive officer
54:09
of a 300 to 1 000 plus person staff
54:12
depending on the time of year
54:14
and a 100 million dollar annual
54:16
operating budget
54:18
and hundreds of millions in capital
54:20
projects
54:21
to me in this past almost six months
54:24
donna has proven to me
54:26
that she is a consummate professional
54:28
she treats everyone with respect
54:30
she is fair she's experienced she's seen
54:34
it all
54:35
nothing surprises her she knows how to
54:37
address problems head on
54:40
and she knows bs when she sees it she's
54:43
compassionate
54:44
she's funny she works 24 7.
54:49
don is also a savvy networker who knows
54:51
how to interact
54:52
and develop relationships with other
54:54
municipalities
54:56
and their leaders in order to get long
54:58
beach's fair share
55:00
she clearly understands that one should
55:02
not ignore the directives of the new
55:04
york state comptroller's office
55:07
she clearly understands that one should
55:08
not that she is accountable to all city
55:11
council members
55:12
regardless of their party she is truly
55:15
independent
55:16
which comes in real handy when she has
55:18
to respond to county and federal
55:20
requests for information
55:21
for their still ongoing payout
55:23
investigations
55:25
when i when i asked on a question i get
55:28
a thoughtful answer
55:30
donna doesn't lie to me i remember two
55:33
years ago at a city
55:34
council meeting when i asked an interim
55:36
city manager
55:37
if there were any stipends paid and he
55:39
said no
55:40
i know for a fact now that that was not
55:42
the truth
55:44
diana doesn't need to hide behind an
55:46
archaic city charter
55:48
or fancy legalese because she already
55:50
knows what she's doing
55:52
she doesn't have a chip on her shoulder
55:54
or act as though council members don't
55:56
know what they're doing
55:58
at the same time she helps me become a
56:00
better city council member
56:02
by providing context and insight on
56:05
complicated situations
56:07
and sound guidance on how to address
56:09
them
56:10
she isn't using this role to seek higher
56:12
political office
56:15
donna has already brought in hundreds of
56:17
thousands of dollars in grant monies
56:19
to the city because other levels of
56:22
government are finally confident that
56:24
the long beach city council consists of
56:26
five professionals
56:27
who while they may not always agree
56:30
embrace their fiduciary responsibility
56:32
to represent and protect the interests
56:34
of our residents first and foremost
56:36
and find and to finally hire a
56:38
professional city manager
56:41
the operational and financial
56:43
mismanagement that ms gayden and the
56:45
city workers were left
56:46
with by previous management teams is
56:49
embarrassing and downright
56:50
unexcusable i am proud that this council
56:54
had the courage to bring a complete
56:56
outsider
56:58
a genuinely salt of the earth good
56:59
person with an outstanding professional
57:02
background to to run this city
57:05
i also think that the city manager's
57:07
base salary needs to be distinguishedly
57:09
hot
57:09
distinguishably higher than her direct
57:11
reports this change is a start to make
57:14
that happen
57:14
and in my mind is still a bargain donna
57:18
thank you for all your work and
57:19
dedication to the residents of long
57:21
beach
57:21
and for helping us for another year
57:24
thank you very much i appreciate
57:28
everything you said thank you
57:30
[Laughter]
57:35
and and just to give some some context
57:38
uh
57:38
maybe some of you that weren't on the uh
57:41
last
57:42
meeting uh during one of the resolution
57:44
discussions
57:45
two long time employees of city
57:49
uh over 30 years each uh had both said
57:52
that they haven't seen the city run this
57:54
smoothly
57:55
uh in in in all the time they work for
57:58
the city
57:59
so um it's
58:02
you know it's slow it's steady but
58:05
progress is being made
58:08
so we need we need to keep that going we
58:10
need to get the city
58:11
back on track and uh and we're heading
58:13
in the right direction so
58:15
and don has been a vital component
58:18
of that um so does uh
58:21
any other questions or comments from the
58:23
council
58:26
okay did we get any questions from the
58:29
public
58:31
oh i'm sure you did
58:35
uh councilwoman tristan did you have
58:37
something you wanted to say are you
58:38
going to wait until later
58:39
no i'm i'm good character at all thank
58:42
you
58:43
thank you all right so uh roy lester
58:46
first
58:47
why is this resolution put on the agenda
58:49
when no one has seen the employment
58:50
contract that you are voting on
58:53
uh how can we ask questions about it if
58:55
it is shrouded in secrecy
58:57
why is a raise necessary after only
59:00
being here for six months
59:02
was such a raise promised when miss
59:03
gayden was hired
59:05
what are the other terms and conditions
59:07
that the city council shall deem
59:09
appropriate
59:10
has anyone thought of the message that
59:12
this is giving to the people who are
59:13
laid off because there is not enough
59:16
money and write all those down
59:19
so if you can
59:22
go through those one attack one at a
59:24
time you want me to bite size it
59:26
uh so i think the first two are
59:28
essentially related why is the
59:29
resolution put on the agenda when no
59:31
one's seen the employment contract that
59:33
you're voting on how can we ask
59:34
questions about it if it's shrouded in
59:35
secrecy
59:37
it's not strata and secrecy we just told
59:39
you what's in there
59:40
it's she's being treated like an exempt
59:44
employee
59:44
and we told you what her salary was then
59:48
that's that's basically it there's no
59:50
secrets uh
59:51
i assume anybody can foil for the
59:54
contract once it's approved
59:57
um but this is not the secret she's
60:00
being treated like an exempt employee
60:02
and uh the contracts defining the salary
60:05
and
60:05
uh that's
60:09
pretty much it so
60:12
okay so what was it and did he ask why
60:14
it's on this uh
60:16
no um no he did not so
60:20
why is a raise necessary after only
60:21
being here six months
60:23
was such a raise promised when miss
60:24
gayden was hired
60:27
no nothing was promised when she was
60:28
hired because
60:30
we didn't know when she was hired how it
60:32
was going to work she's being given a
60:34
raise because
60:35
it is talent we are trying to retain
60:38
and that is that's it in a nutshell
60:42
pretty
60:42
pretty simple uh what are the other
60:45
terms and conditions that the city
60:47
council shall deem appropriate as stated
60:49
in the resolution
60:51
there i think that's probably just
60:54
resolution jargon there's there is no
60:57
like i said
60:58
he's welcome to foil this once it's uh
61:01
approved there is no other stipulations
61:05
or anything there are none
61:08
okay and then lastly has anyone thought
61:09
of the message this is given to the
61:10
people who are laid off because there is
61:12
not enough money
61:16
yeah that well the message this
61:18
ascending is
61:19
we have a competent city manager that's
61:22
actually making a difference
61:24
in getting us back on a path of fiscal
61:26
solvency
61:28
and we need to keep that
61:31
talent to continue the progress
61:35
so spending a
61:38
six and a half percent raise to save
61:41
what could be huge amounts of money down
61:43
the line once we get the city's fiscal
61:45
house in order
61:46
this is i'm sorry but this is a
61:48
no-brainer this is
61:50
i mean i don't know what point we're
61:52
trying to make here with these questions
61:55
so uh i would just say that this is this
61:59
is a city council that works together
62:01
and we are we we have hired a
62:02
professional city manager
62:04
they're not the time a dozen and they
62:06
they can't make the same as other senior
62:08
managers
62:09
in in the city they have to make more
62:11
and we are lucky that we found ms gayton
62:14
she's a again a professional i'm tired
62:17
of
62:18
people that don't know what they're
62:19
doing as city managers
62:21
and that's why i ran in the first place
62:25
and one thing that's worth noting is
62:27
there are people who work for the city
62:29
who report to the city manager that make
62:33
more than the city
62:34
manager so keep that in mind too
62:38
um so i i think we covered roy's
62:41
questions uh were there any other
62:43
questions yes i have a series of
62:45
questions from juan marie brutus
62:48
um i'll go one by one is it true that
62:52
donna gayden is the highest paid city
62:54
manager in long beach history
62:58
all right i need to give people some
63:00
some context here um
63:03
first you need to understand who brutus
63:06
marie bruce is a male former city
63:09
employee um
63:13
that um uh
63:17
is is the principle on one of the uh
63:19
troll pages that
63:20
some people now like to read uh
63:24
he's been inundating
63:27
the city with foil requests uh
63:30
and uh and questions
63:33
uh trying to bog down the staff and and
63:36
basically waste your tax dollars
63:39
um uh you know the foil officer today
63:43
actually complained that she's unable to
63:46
do
63:47
her other job functions because this
63:50
person in particular keeps sending in
63:52
all these unreasonable and ridiculous
63:54
oil requests in an attempt to try to
63:58
gum up the works of the city's operation
64:00
so
64:03
i i guess i'm going to be interested to
64:05
see what these questions are because
64:06
this person often sends in and
64:08
kind of inflammatory stuff but
64:12
person's a troll so uh by the way this
64:14
person also will
64:15
will often post and send questions in on
64:17
the moshi brooks
64:19
and al albuquerque so uh
64:22
you have an idea who we're talking about
64:24
here but uh
64:26
okay so is dr gaiden the highest paid
64:29
i i have no idea um
64:32
i guess we could look that up and find
64:34
out i don't know what previous city
64:36
managers
64:36
made um i'm sure we can find out
64:40
uh i guess i would flip it back to uh
64:43
marie and ask where was your outrage
64:46
when you're
64:47
when your police commissioner friend was
64:49
making 225
64:51
000 a year so um
64:55
okay what's his next question uh
64:59
what has she done to her such a massive
65:01
salary increase during a pandemic
65:03
recession
65:04
i don't know if that one was already
65:05
asked and answered yeah we already
65:07
answered that as part of
65:08
mr lester's question why did you refuse
65:11
to release her contracts to the public
65:13
slash media
65:16
you will never ask for it if they want
65:18
to ask for it that's fine
65:19
we will never ask for it and first of
65:21
all how would this person know
65:23
that we refuse to release it to the
65:25
media
65:30
why does she have a policy of refusing
65:31
to speak to the media
65:33
doesn't i've seen her speak to the media
65:36
um
65:37
i know what she does like to do is she
65:39
has the most qualified person in the
65:40
city speak to the media when we have
65:43
an issue that needs to be uh
65:46
discussed often she's not i will say
65:48
this unlike uh previous
65:50
people that sat in her chair she's not
65:52
uh
65:53
looking to put herself up on a pedestal
65:56
or get herself
65:58
um uh
66:01
she's not looking for limelight or
66:02
notoriety like some others were
66:05
so she puts the most qualified person
66:07
out there
66:08
um and if it's her and she's spoken to
66:10
the media on numerous occasions
66:14
was she given a stipend for moving
66:16
expenses
66:19
here we go again all right asking this
66:21
question time and again
66:22
is not going to change the answer this
66:24
has been asked numerous times
66:27
no she was not given a stipend for
66:29
moving expenses
66:31
and continuing to ask the question is
66:33
not going to change the answer
66:36
maybe you think if you say the lie
66:38
enough
66:39
that eventually people will start to
66:41
believe it guess what
66:43
she didn't get a stipend next
66:47
was she given a stipend to pay for rent
66:49
no
66:50
she got no stipends of any kind
66:55
are there any stipends or incentives in
66:58
either of her two contracts i guess you
67:00
sort of like
67:00
okay i don't know how many times i got
67:03
this again i guess they think
67:05
this he thinks if he keeps saying the
67:07
lie enough maybe people will start to
67:09
believe it
67:11
since this salary wasn't budgeted for
67:13
where is the money coming from
67:15
it's going to come from the budget one
67:17
of the things that
67:18
the budget is now fixed so we are not
67:21
adding any
67:22
additional expenses so any adjustments
67:25
will have to be made from
67:26
cuts from elsewhere or and moving money
67:29
around appropriately
67:32
why not just let her work without a
67:33
contract schniermann had a contract and
67:35
we all saw how that worked out
67:38
and schneermann was your friend remember
67:41
that marie
67:43
um so uh because
67:47
she as a professional city manager she
67:50
asked
67:51
for a contract and we have no problem
67:54
giving her one it memorializes uh
67:57
what she's doing and um that way
68:01
we know we have some certainty because
68:03
we have her for at least now another
68:04
year
68:05
which again helps us with the credit
68:06
reporting agencies
68:09
uh last one why can't this wait until
68:12
next month when public meetings resume
68:14
i think that was basically answered as
68:16
well well one because a contract ends
68:18
the end of this month and two
68:21
a public meeting has absolutely nothing
68:23
to do with
68:24
this we're discussing it now so
68:29
that's unrelated
68:32
are no more questions from the public on
68:34
this agenda
68:36
okay thanks again marie i'm sure you'll
68:38
be sending more foils in
68:40
um all right next item
68:44
item seven is a resolution authorizing
68:46
publication for hearing of an ordinance
68:48
authorizing financing
68:49
for the cost of fiscal year 2020 2021
68:52
separation payments
68:53
two or for the benefit of employees of
68:55
the city upon separation from employment
68:57
stating the estimated total cost thereof
68:59
is two two million seven hundred
69:01
thousand dollars appropriating set
69:02
amount therefore
69:03
and authorizing the issuance of not to
69:05
exceed two million seven hundred
69:06
thousand dollar bonds
69:07
of said city to finance that
69:09
appropriation this item is for
69:10
publication only hearing will be held
69:12
september first at seven pm
69:14
and on that note um i'm going to call
69:17
for a floor amendment on this item
69:19
and just bear with me one second while i
69:21
put this up the amendment up on the
69:23
screen
69:32
okay
69:36
okay since we're um we may or may not
69:40
have a virtual meeting the next time
69:43
need to
69:44
uh replace the last two resolved clauses
69:46
with the three resolve clauses that are
69:48
up on the screen right now
69:50
um just so that way we have the option
69:52
to do either one
69:54
uh can i get anybody to make that motion
69:56
to replace the two resolved clauses with
69:58
this resolve with these resolve clauses
70:00
they make motion to do uh for those two
70:03
resolve clauses three do i have a second
70:06
second before we vote
70:09
sure because usually we would do
70:11
discussion now just one question
70:13
um it says the first resolved in the
70:16
modification says that a public hearing
70:18
shall be held but the next resolve says
70:21
we may not
70:22
have the live meeting it may be so is
70:24
shall the appropriate word
70:26
uh we're looking to have the hearing
70:28
either way so
70:30
whether it's going to be virtual or if
70:31
it's going to be okay that's fine then
70:32
that's fine i just wanted to make sure
70:34
that shell was not tied
70:35
to a lot no okay
70:38
okay um voting on the amendment council
70:41
member delore
70:42
uh yes councilmember mandel yes
70:46
councilmember treston yes vice president
70:48
mcginnis
70:49
yes president bandeau yes
70:52
okay and item eight is a resolution
70:55
authorizing publication of a notice of
70:57
public hearing
70:58
of an application wave or street parking
70:59
requirements requirement 901 west beach
71:01
street
71:02
for skin care and home goods retail
71:04
store this is for publication only
71:06
hearing will be held september 1st at 7
71:07
pm
71:08
item 9 is a resolution authorizing
71:10
publication of a notice of public
71:11
hearing
71:12
of an application wave or street parking
71:13
requirements for premise 240 west park
71:15
avenue for
71:16
a personal training studio this items
71:18
for publication only hearing will be
71:20
held september 1st at 7 pm
71:22
and again on these two items on both
71:25
items number eight and nine
71:27
i'm asking for the same um the same
71:29
language to be
71:30
put in except this time um to
71:34
um to replace the first and second
71:37
resolve clauses
71:38
do i have somebody to make that motion i
71:41
will
71:42
second i will voting council member
71:46
delorey
71:47
uh yes councilmember mandel yes
71:50
councilmember truston yes vice president
71:53
mcginnis
71:54
yes president pendo
71:57
okay the amended items will be posted on
72:01
the website tomorrow
72:03
and let me stop sharing my screen and
72:04
we'll go to the voting
72:08
bear with me one second here
72:11
okay
72:15
okay so item number one is the
72:16
resolution authorizing the city manager
72:18
to enter into an agreement
72:19
for the construction of the downtown to
72:21
the boardwalk brazilian connectivity
72:22
project along edwards boulevard and to
72:24
amend the budget
72:25
we'll just remove the adoption of this
72:26
item
72:28
i shall second
72:32
all right well all right customer
72:41
vice president mcginnis yes president
72:44
bendo
72:45
item two has been taken off the calendar
72:47
item three is a resolution authorizing
72:49
the city manager to enter into a
72:50
contract for the removal of
72:51
accumulations of grit and grit
72:53
from the water pollution control plant
72:55
with the lowest responsible bidder
72:57
we'll introduce and remove the adoption
72:58
of this item i will
73:00
second taco
73:09
[Laughter]
73:12
[Music]
73:14
yes uh councilmember mandel yes
73:17
councilmember tristan
73:19
yes vice president mcginnis yes
73:22
president bendo rock paper scissors with
73:26
councilman mandel over that one
73:27
uh yes okay i'd enforce the resolution
73:31
authorizing the city manager to accept
73:32
and execute a grant on behalf of the
73:34
city of long beach
73:35
from the new york state department of
73:36
health introduced a move the adoption of
73:38
this item
73:39
i will second
73:44
who got that one karen karen okay
73:48
and councilman de laurie yes
73:50
councilmember mandel
73:52
yes councilmember treston
73:55
vice president mcginnis yes president
73:58
vandal
73:59
yes item five is a resolution
74:01
authorizing the city manager to accept
74:03
and execute a grant on behalf of the
74:04
city of long beach from the new york
74:06
state department's environmental
74:07
conservation and to amend the budget
74:09
i'll introduce a move the adoption of
74:10
this item
74:13
second i will
74:17
anyone i will okay
74:20
voting casper with the lorry yes that's
74:23
remember mandel
74:24
yes i'm attracting yeah vice president
74:28
mcginnis
74:29
yes president bendall
74:32
96 is a resolution authorizing the city
74:34
council to enter into a contract
74:35
memorializing the city manager's
74:37
employment
74:38
looking for some adoption of this item
74:40
kylo
74:46
i'm very happy to vote yes on this uh
74:50
uh professional and i'm proud to uh
74:54
to thank you
74:58
uh councilmember mandel i echo
75:00
councilman de laurie's statements i vote
75:02
yes
75:03
uh councilmember trusted i continue to
75:06
echo
75:07
everyone's approval i vote yes vice
75:10
president mcginnis
75:12
i uh proudly vote yes thank you donna
75:16
and president hey heartfelt
75:19
yes i bet okay
75:24
item seven is a resolution authorizing
75:26
publication for hearing of an ordinance
75:28
authorizing financing for the cost of
75:30
fiscal year 2020 2021 separation
75:32
payments two or four the benefit of
75:34
employees
75:35
of the city upon separation from
75:37
employment stating
75:38
the estimated total cost thereof is two
75:40
million seven hundred thousand dollars
75:42
appropriating set amount therefore and
75:44
authorizing the issuance of not to
75:45
exceed two million seven hundred
75:46
thousand dollar bonds
75:47
of said city to finance said
75:49
appropriation we'll introduce and move
75:51
the adoption of this item
75:54
i will second
75:57
i will voting council member delorey
76:00
yes let's remember mandel
76:04
i didn't get excited uh councilmember
76:07
truston
76:08
yes vice president mcginnis yes
76:14
um um
76:19
going too fast yeah uh vice presidentis
76:21
that was a yes correct
76:22
yes okay president panda yes
76:26
okay and item number eight is the
76:28
resolution authorizing publication of a
76:29
notice of public hearing
76:31
of an application of all street parking
76:32
requirements for premise 901
76:35
for skincare and home goods retail store
76:37
won't you just move the adoption of this
76:39
item
76:39
i will but before we do we just if
76:43
you're not speaking can you put yourself
76:44
on mute there's way too much
76:47
shuffling of papers going on thank you
76:49
yes david
76:51
okay uh and who will second
76:54
as amended there we go again
76:58
[Laughter]
77:00
too slow councilmember de laurie
77:06
councilmember de laurie i couldn't hear
77:09
you um
77:10
what was the res what number is this
77:12
eight as amended
77:14
okay yes um councilmember mandel
77:18
yes councilmember preston yeah vice
77:21
president mcginnis
77:22
yes president bendel yeah
77:25
and finally item nine is a resolution
77:27
authorizing publication notice of public
77:29
hearing of an application wave or street
77:30
parking requirements
77:32
for premise 240 west park avenue for a
77:33
personal training studio
77:35
we'll introduce a move the adoption of
77:36
this item as amended i will
77:39
second i will
77:42
voting councilman delorey yes
77:45
councilmember mandel
77:47
councilmember truston yes vice president
77:50
mcginnis
77:51
yes president pando yes
77:54
we'll make a most closed meeting uh
77:56
before we close the meeting
77:58
i believe our city manager wants to send
77:59
something
78:01
um yes i just want to say thank you all
78:03
for um
78:05
honoring me with another year contract i
78:08
look forward to working with everyone
78:10
um and we have a lot of work to do
78:13
um and we will get it done and i want
78:16
the residents to know that we have been
78:18
transparent even though there are some
78:20
who believe
78:22
that we have not been transparent enough
78:25
we are transparent and more so than ever
78:28
before
78:29
once we can start meeting in public we
78:32
will
78:33
have that financial meeting so people
78:36
can know
78:37
where we are and my management style has
78:40
always been to be to work as a team
78:43
so for that question why i don't do
78:46
uh media is that it is not important for
78:50
me to be seen
78:52
just to be seen we have several people
78:54
that work in this municipality
78:57
for the public and i want people to know
79:00
who's working for them
79:01
and they have the best knowledge and
79:03
that's why i put those people
79:05
in front because it's not always about
79:07
me it's really about the residents and
79:09
that we're doing the best job we can
79:12
to moving the city forward so once again
79:14
i just want to say
79:15
thank you for trusting me for one more
79:17
year
79:21
oh hell if i unmute okay um
79:25
so uh with that now dave we can motion
79:28
to close who may who make a motion close
79:32
i will second
79:35
i will voting council member delorey
79:41
yes yes thank you councilmember mandel
79:45
yes councilmember yeah
79:48
vice president mcginnis yes president
79:51
pando
79:51
yeah okay okay i'm
79:55
going to assume we got good and welfare
79:58
questions are we going to be doing
80:00
like uh before we'll post the questions
80:03
any answers
80:04
online correct sir um so the
80:08
questions from the twice delayed but
80:10
ultimately held on
80:11
august 11th meeting are currently up on
80:14
the website just in case anyone has
80:15
trouble finding them
80:16
it's city council meeting so go under
80:19
government
80:20
city council meetings 2020 city council
80:23
proceedings
80:24
um and the answers from there plus the
80:26
previous several meetings um
80:29
all in it's probably answers and
80:30
responses to
80:32
three four 500 questions are all
80:36
there for the entire public to see uh
80:39
questions that have been posed or
80:41
statements that were made
80:43
this week will be responded to in
80:44
advance of the next meeting and they
80:46
come from
80:47
boyce brooks dave palpatine stacy
80:51
shiotis sorry if i butchered your name
80:53
stacy
80:54
lynia romano doran lyon
80:58
catherine demonda john wall mueller and
81:01
roy lester
81:03
okay so uh
81:06
all right so look for those answers on
81:08
online
81:10
and thanks folks for uh joining us
81:13
and i guess we will talk to you next
81:16
on september 1st oh oh oh go ahead liz
81:21
dad please fill out your senses
81:25
it's very important you need help
81:27
filling out your senses
81:29
call the office call me and
81:32
let's get this done we need to be
81:34
counted long beach
81:36
we're going to be ten years we're gonna
81:38
get your backlight liz and it's gonna
81:39
say census and we'll
81:41
shine it up in the sky um
81:45
okay so i guess we'll uh we'll see you
81:47
next on september 1st uh so
81:50
uh take advantage of uh the rest of the
81:53
month
81:53
uh and we'll talk to you next time
81:56
take care have a good night