NORWICH — The City of Norwich Common Council met Tuesday, July 20, for their monthly meeting and discussed a wide array of topics.

Most notably, council members voted not to appoint Mayor Shawn Sastri as Youth Bureau Director. This comes just weeks after the mayor resigned from his position in order to apply, then later rescinded his resignation after council members tabled their decision to hire him.

"The mayor has withdrawn his application for the position, and therefore to pass the resolution to appoint him to the position really doesn't make any sense," said Alderman Matthew Caldwell during the meeting. "So, I'm going to make a motion for the sake of moving this, moving past this, to appoint Shawn Sastri as Youth Bureau Director. We need a second, and then we vote 'nay,' and it's gone."

Council members all voted against hiring Sastri as Youth Bureau Director. The Youth Bureau is now accepting new applications for the position.

During the meeting, council members also voted to approve the purchasing of three Ferno stretchers and an AutoPulse for the Norwich Fire Department. The cost of the stretchers totaled $64,040.44, and the AutoPulse cost $13,140, according to the city.

Ferno stretchers are electric stretchers that have charging bases fitted into the ambulance. Firefighter Gerald Parry said they electrically raise and lower, which helps prevent injuries to EMS workers.

"It's an electric lift system, so it kind of assists with preventative measures of back injuries," Parry explained.

The AutoPulse machine will assist with chest compression given during CPR, according to Parry.

“It’s an automated system that, once it's applied to a patient in a cardiac arrest situation, it automatically performs chest compressions on the patient," he said.

Alderman Robert Jeffrey endorsed the purchase of the equipment, as he believes they will get plenty of use by the Norwich Fire Department.

"I just think again this is going be used a lot and it’s necessary as we, for lack of better words at this point in time, we are the premiere ambulance service in the county. So they're going to get a lot of use," Jeffrey said.

Jeffrey also alerted council members to ongoing efforts by Commerce Chenango to apply for the 2021 District Revitalization Initiative (DRI).

According to Jeffrey, DRI is a grant opportunity that could award districts with up to $10 million dollars in funds to go toward "economic development and growth."

"In a nutshell, it is a $10 million grant opportunity that's done through regional advisory councils throughout New York State, and the grant is up to $10 million dollars specifically for the downtown business districts," Jeffrey explained. "The city has applied in the past and they have had very competitive grant applications. But we're really excited to apply again this year."

Jeffrey said it is believed the application will be due in October, with state funds being awarded early next year.

During the meeting, council members also approved the in-kind assistance from the City of Norwich in the sidewalk replacement project facilitated by the Friends of the Museum District.

"It's actually their project and the city is going to do in-kind services by providing labor for the installation," said Ald. Caldwell. "They'll provide DPW staff to install the sidewalks."

According to city officials, the sidewalk replacement spans the length of the museum district, from Silver Street to North Broad Street. Caldwell said he believes it will cover both sides of the street as well.

The contribution provided by the city will be up to $50,000, according to Caldwell. But, he said if that is exceeded, he is open to seeing what can be done to provide more.

“If they exceed that, my recommendation or my hope is that they would let us know and we could determine if we would be able to provide more at that time," said Caldwell.

"It's going to be an awesome project," he added. "They're really working hard, and it's going to be amazing."