Paul Szmal: And FLX Morning continues here on Finger Lakes Newsradio at 8.40, cloudy skies, temperature at 64, and we are joined on this Friday by Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason to talk about last night's City Council meeting and more. Chuck, good morning. How are you, sir?
Chuck Mason: Good morning, Paul. I'm good. How's things over in Geneva?
Paul Szmal: Things are good. Things are good. And the City Council meeting last night had just a few items that we want to go over. We want to start with the Council Resolution that appointed members to the Public Arts Commission.
Chuck Mason: That's right. The City of Auburn has a Public Art Commission, it was formed about five years ago, and it is the commission that will review any proposals that there are for the installation of public art pieces within city right-of-ways or city parks. And so the commission, it doesn't meet all that often, it meets as needed over the course of time as these art projects will come up. But there's been a few art proposals that have been in front of the commission over the last couple of years associated with money that came in from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. And the commission serves as the official kind of mechanism that the city has to make sure that there's a thorough thought behind the placement of public art and that it's being done in an appropriate manner. So we appreciate the service that the commission members provide to our city. And last night, the Council reappointed some members and then appointed some new members.
And just one second, Paul, as soon as I can get my computer to cooperate here. I know that it's Arthur Hutchinson was one of the reappointed members. And then we've got Blake Chamberlain, who was a newly appointed member. And then we've got one second here, Paul. I promise you it's coming.
Paul Szmal: No, that's fine. No, no problem.
Chuck Mason: Janie Anderson. Janie is another Public Art Commission member that's reappointed. And Sam Genitino, another reappointment to the Public Art Commission. So a total of four appointments, three of those members being reappointed. And one of those members being a new member. So we welcome Blake Chamberlain to the board and we thank them for their service. And these individuals are all reappointed or appointed for the next three years on the Public Art Commission.
Paul Szmal: Right. All right. Let's continue on here. As we're reviewing last night's City Council meeting with Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason, there was a warning of a bid for the Auburn Police Department window replacement project.
Chuck Mason: That's right. So the Council originally financed this project several years ago. And there's been a lot of work underway at the Police Department this summer for the renovation of the old cell block portion of the building. So this is a continuation of the project that's been happening all summer. And this will be the replacement of windows in the building. Now the building is about 94 years old. It was built at the same time as Auburn City Hall was built back in 1930, 1931. And it's, you know, an older facility that's really served our community well. And it's always housed the Auburn Police Department. And so these windows will be going to MJ Field Construction. It's going to be the hired contractor. This is the contractor that came in. There was four total bids, but this is the MJ Field's contractor that had the lowest responsible bid. And the Council unanimously awarding this work last night, and we'll see these windows get replaced here over the next few weeks down at the Auburn Police Department.
Paul Szmal: So as we move on to the final resolution that was on the docket last night, was one to settle certain pending opioid claims.
Chuck Mason: That's right. The City of Auburn opted into these lawsuits and negotiations against these pharmaceutical companies several years ago. And fortunately, it has brought us some of the settlement funds money have come in to Auburn, have come into Kuta County, and Auburn will usually get a portion. In years past, Auburn has transferred that money over to the organization Nix Ride, Nix Ride for Friends here in Auburn. So there are some recent negotiations with some of the pharmaceutical companies as the state goes on and negotiates these things with the numerous companies that are involved out there. Every time there is a settlement with an in particular company, the Council needs to put its stamp of approval on there. The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma are the companies that have been settled with here. And the amounts are forthcoming. We don't know for sure yet what the specific amounts will be. But the Council will make further decisions at future Council meetings about how that money will be spent once we know the amounts that are received. So, you know, a continuation in this program that's been happening, Auburn is one of many municipalities across the state that joined in with the state to fight these companies based on the negative effect that they've had due to the opioid crisis.
Paul Szmal: And then there was one presentation that was given last night by Police Chief Matthew Androsco in front of the Council. What was that presentation about, Chuck?
Chuck Mason: The GIF program, Gun Involved Violence Elimination, is what the acronym stands for. And it is a state-funded program. The city first became part of the GIF program about two years ago. And it's a partnership program. The City of Auburn Police Department will receive some of the funding. But they work in partnership with other county and state agencies. So it's the Auburn Police Department, the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, the Cougar County District Attorney's Office, Cougar County Sheriff's Office, Cougar County Probation Office, the New York State Parole, and New York State Police. And what it is, is it focuses on people, places, alignment, and engagement. And it basically polices hot spots that have been identified in the community based on data that's been collected. Now, we've had a lot of success with the GIF program in Auburn. Chief Androsco was on hand last night to provide this presentation. But there's been a lot of positive, proactive elements of the program, such as it allows officers to be out in the community for community engagement projects. So the officers, over the last couple of years, have spent a lot of extra time at places like the Booker T. Washington Community Center. They've held a night in the summertime at the Auburn Double Days baseball game this summer. They've done the National Night Out for the last couple of summers up at Hoops Park, which is a great community event. And this GIF grant has allowed for our officers to take more opportunities to be out and about in the community. But it will also put the officers in this network of agencies out on the streets in a proactive manner. And it actually came in very handy with some of the unfortunate crime situations that were happening in the city this summer. We were able to quickly resolve some of these more unfortunate cases this summer because our GIF police officers were out on the streets in the community on the night that some of these events happened. So there's been a lot of success with this program. The city received here, again in 2025, $180,000 worth of money from the state of New York, which will go towards this type of policing. And Chief Androsco last night, giving this update presentation, the members of council discussing after his presentation with the Chief. And I'm very impressed with the results that have been received so far and very fortunate that the city is able to maintain this program through the state funding support that we will be receiving again this year.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, very good program indeed. I know, Chuck, you've got a couple of city recycling events coming up in October. Let's give those a mention.
Chuck Mason: That's right. We want to make sure everybody gets these dates on their calendar. We've got two fall cleaning days for our city transfer station. These are the days for City of Auburn residents to be able to bring items to the transfer station for free, with the exception of free-on containing appliances. There will be charges for any free-on appliances. But it'll be 7am to 11.30am on Saturday, October 18th and Saturday, November 1st. There's a complete set of rules and regulations on the city's website. And then the Cuyahoga County is holding a couple of recycling events at the same time. The Cuyahoga Recycles fall electronic recycling event will be Saturday, October 18th. There's pre-registration required for that event. The information is on our City of Auburn website, auburnny.gov. And then Cuyahoga Recycles will also be holding a household hazardous waste recycling event, pre-registration required for this event, which will be held on Saturday, October 25th. And all the information for all those great recycling opportunities for residents is on the City of Auburn's website, auburnny.gov. And we encourage people to plan ahead and take advantage of these great opportunities.
Paul Szmal: All right, Chuck. Thank you very much, sir. And we'll check in with you next week.
Chuck Mason: Thanks a lot. Have a great weekend.
Paul Szmal: All right. That is Chuck Mason, the Auburn City Clerk, joining us here on FLX Morning. It is 8.51.
