Tuesday's Common Council meeting recap
NORWICH – City of Norwich Common Council convened at its regularly scheduled meeting last night to discuss a number of things concerning the city.
City receives grant from NYS DFS
City of Norwich Mayor Christine Carnrike announced at last night's meeting that the city has been awarded a grant from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
“You may have seen an announcement late last week from Governor Cuomo's office, the City of Norwich was awarded a grant from New York State DFS for the inflow/infiltration project to the tune of $824,313––that's the max grant,” said Carnrike.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson said, “This is called the I and I to correct the infrastructure on the sewer. It does a couple things: it eliminates the water going down to the waste water treatment plant, which helps that immensely down there so you can take on additional customers; it eliminates I and I; it keeps the DEC from making you enter into a consent order; it gets this work done, and, 800,000 some odd dollars is a pretty good grant.”
Open Forum
Joyce Church first addressed the council during open forum to discuss her concerns regarding the current state of Plymouth Street in Norwich.
“Every other entrance to the city has nicely paved roads except for Route 23 on Plymouth Street,” said Church. She went on to describe the potential dangers of the road when considering its potholes and lack of sidewalks on the street.
Carnrike acknowledged Church's concerns, saying she has driven the road, and adding, “I think it's fair to say we have [Plymouth Street repairs] on our schedule?”
Ivarson confirmed this notion, saying repairs are on the schedule for 2018.
Supervisor of Wards 4, 5, 6 Bob Jeffrey then addressed the council to voice his complaint regarding the sale of a city-owned property at 61-63 South Broad Street.
“There are several things that are disappointing to me about the sale of this property for $25,000 less than the higher bidder,” said Jeffrey. “What is very concerning is a one percent increase on property tax on people in the City of Norwich is approximately $25,000 in additional revenue. So the City Council and mayor approved a bid that was $25,000 less than the higher bidder, and this indicates to me the city has so much money there's not going to be a tax increase to the city taxpayers.”
Carnrike replied, “We had two different offers from two different entities. They are not bids: they are offers. The city's directive with the Request For Proposals process is to go with the best use of the property; not necessarily the highest offer. The offers are not similar: one is residential, one is commercial. This council we had two viable offers and we decided what is in the best interest of the city for the future. We have an opportunity with a company (PharmAssist) that is going to bring people here who are going to patronize our downtown businesses with the future opportunity for them to locate in the city.
“If you want to go back through the RFP's that this council has had in my term and prior: it is not the highest offer, it is the best use of the property, and I'm delighted to say that since last week's article (Common Council sells property for $25,000 less than a top bidder offered in close vote) I have received 14 calls giving us kudos for our actions for something new.”
Designating Trick or Treating times, Halloween Parade, and Turkey Trot
The Common Council moved to designate this year's Trick or Treating in the City of Norwich to take place on Tuesday, October 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The council also approved two requests from the Norwich Family YMCA: one for the Halloween Parade and one for the Turkey Trot.
The council accepted the YMCA's requests for road closures and police assistance for its annual Halloween Parade scheduled for Saturday, October 28 at 11 a.m. on South and North Broad Streets, as well as for the Turkey Trot, scheduled for Sunday, November 19 beginning at 12:30 p.m.
(L-R) Front: Alderman Ward 6 Jennifer Morris, Alderman Ward 5 David Zieno, Alderman Ward 4 Walter Schermerhorn, Alderman Ward 3 John Deierlein, Alderman Ward 2 Brian Doliver, Alderman Ward 1 Matthew Caldwell. Back: Deputy City Clerk Agnes Eaton, and City of Norwich Mayor Christine Carnrike. (Grady Thompson photo)
City receives grant from NYS DFS
City of Norwich Mayor Christine Carnrike announced at last night's meeting that the city has been awarded a grant from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
“You may have seen an announcement late last week from Governor Cuomo's office, the City of Norwich was awarded a grant from New York State DFS for the inflow/infiltration project to the tune of $824,313––that's the max grant,” said Carnrike.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson said, “This is called the I and I to correct the infrastructure on the sewer. It does a couple things: it eliminates the water going down to the waste water treatment plant, which helps that immensely down there so you can take on additional customers; it eliminates I and I; it keeps the DEC from making you enter into a consent order; it gets this work done, and, 800,000 some odd dollars is a pretty good grant.”
Open Forum
Joyce Church first addressed the council during open forum to discuss her concerns regarding the current state of Plymouth Street in Norwich.
“Every other entrance to the city has nicely paved roads except for Route 23 on Plymouth Street,” said Church. She went on to describe the potential dangers of the road when considering its potholes and lack of sidewalks on the street.
Carnrike acknowledged Church's concerns, saying she has driven the road, and adding, “I think it's fair to say we have [Plymouth Street repairs] on our schedule?”
Ivarson confirmed this notion, saying repairs are on the schedule for 2018.
Supervisor of Wards 4, 5, 6 Bob Jeffrey then addressed the council to voice his complaint regarding the sale of a city-owned property at 61-63 South Broad Street.
“There are several things that are disappointing to me about the sale of this property for $25,000 less than the higher bidder,” said Jeffrey. “What is very concerning is a one percent increase on property tax on people in the City of Norwich is approximately $25,000 in additional revenue. So the City Council and mayor approved a bid that was $25,000 less than the higher bidder, and this indicates to me the city has so much money there's not going to be a tax increase to the city taxpayers.”
Carnrike replied, “We had two different offers from two different entities. They are not bids: they are offers. The city's directive with the Request For Proposals process is to go with the best use of the property; not necessarily the highest offer. The offers are not similar: one is residential, one is commercial. This council we had two viable offers and we decided what is in the best interest of the city for the future. We have an opportunity with a company (PharmAssist) that is going to bring people here who are going to patronize our downtown businesses with the future opportunity for them to locate in the city.
“If you want to go back through the RFP's that this council has had in my term and prior: it is not the highest offer, it is the best use of the property, and I'm delighted to say that since last week's article (Common Council sells property for $25,000 less than a top bidder offered in close vote) I have received 14 calls giving us kudos for our actions for something new.”
Designating Trick or Treating times, Halloween Parade, and Turkey Trot
The Common Council moved to designate this year's Trick or Treating in the City of Norwich to take place on Tuesday, October 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The council also approved two requests from the Norwich Family YMCA: one for the Halloween Parade and one for the Turkey Trot.
The council accepted the YMCA's requests for road closures and police assistance for its annual Halloween Parade scheduled for Saturday, October 28 at 11 a.m. on South and North Broad Streets, as well as for the Turkey Trot, scheduled for Sunday, November 19 beginning at 12:30 p.m.
(L-R) Front: Alderman Ward 6 Jennifer Morris, Alderman Ward 5 David Zieno, Alderman Ward 4 Walter Schermerhorn, Alderman Ward 3 John Deierlein, Alderman Ward 2 Brian Doliver, Alderman Ward 1 Matthew Caldwell. Back: Deputy City Clerk Agnes Eaton, and City of Norwich Mayor Christine Carnrike. (Grady Thompson photo)
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