Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It is 8.39 and we're joined by Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason. Morning Chuck, how are you sir?
Chuck Mason: Good morning Paul, good, how are you doing today?
Paul Szmal: Doing well, doing well. Busy, busy agenda for the City Council meeting this week so let's get right to it with the first resolution being brought up having to do with the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and the Corridor Management Plan.
Chuck Mason: That's right and this is a project that's been being worked on for several years by the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State. It's a statewide organization made up of sites and organizations that are committed to telling the story of the history of the Underground Railroad and modeled after the byway of Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway that's in the state of Maryland. They've done a plan that's required to present to the state of New York for doing such a byway through the entire state of New York which would naturally lead to Auburn and Cougar County basically being right in the center of the byway map area and would really be a positive thing to help highlight the legacy and history of Harriet Tubman and her life as she lived it here in Auburn, New York.
Paul Szmal: So last night the City Council putting its unanimous stamp of approval on this resolution. Just in time Monday is Harriet Tubman Day and Mayor Genetino at the beginning of the night last night doing a proclamation for Harriet Tubman Day and we had Judith Bryant and Pauline Cope-Johnson on hand to accept that proclamation, Tubman descendants. So this was a great resolution to have on last night and the Council unanimously putting its support.
Chuck Mason: Now what the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State, what their steering committee will do is they're working over these next couple of months to get resolutions from every community that would be part of this byway system. They're looking for every community to pass a resolution of support and then they plan on taking this, it would need state legislation and they plan on enacting or asking the State of New York to enact the state legislation in the 2026 legislative calendar year so that'll be next year. So this has been several years in the making and Auburn City Council last night joining Cuyahoga County and several towns and villages in Cuyahoga County to put its stamp of approval and support for this initiative.
Paul Szmal: There were also some updates to the budget calendar. Would I be correct in assuming Chuck that this is just one of those procedural things that happens from time to time?
Chuck Mason: Yes. At the beginning of the year the Council adopted the budget preparation calendar. This is to prepare the budget for the July 1st, 2025-26 calendar year. The City fiscal calendar goes from July 1st through June 30th of every year. So to prepare the budget that'll start on July 1st of this year, the Council at the beginning of the year outlined the entire calendar and seeing what's going on with our state budget and how it's going to be affected by perhaps changes that are made at the federal government level, the Comptroller has asked for some additional time to prepare the initial budget presentation. So that's been pushed to April 24th and then an additional week at the end of the process to approve the budget that's been changed from June 5th through June 12th. So all keeps the budget process on track for adoption by, you know, we usually try to have that budget adopted by mid-June as it affects the July 1st start date and this keeps the Council on track and gives the Comptroller a few extra weeks to compile the numbers based on what may or may not come out of the Albany state budget, which is very influential on the decisions that we have to make here locally.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason recapping the most recent City Council meeting. There was also a reappointment of a member of the Auburn Human Rights Commission.
Chuck Mason: Yes, the Reverend Robert Wilson has chaired the Human Rights Commission for the last couple of years and he is a great chairperson for our Human Rights Commission and does a lot of great work out in our community. And fortunately, as Mayor Genitino reported to the Council last night, when Mayor Genitino asked him if he would accept another three-year term on the Commission, he said yes. And so the Council last night unanimously approving the reappointment of Reverend Wilson. We thank him for the work that he does on our Human Rights Commission and he will not only continue to serve as a Commission member, but he also chairs that Commission for us and we thank him for all the work that he does.
Paul Szmal: The next item up on the agenda was a change order for design services for the Rehabilitation Project for the Lake Avenue Bridge. What can you tell us about that, Chuck?
Chuck Mason: Yes, this is a project that's been a topic of discussion at several Council meetings over the last couple of years. We've had this bridge on the construction schedule and been planning for its rehabilitation. The project has received a Bridge New York grant from the State of New York to the tune of about $4.5 million. However, what has happened over the last five years is the costs of the project have escalated quite a bit. So the Council has, over the past year, applied for other state and federal grants to try to offset the cost of construction of this bridge and looked at some of the other road program monies that we have from the State of New York and here in the City of Auburn to figure out how we can put the entire funding package together for this bridge. To move forward, there was some additional work outlined by the engineer. When you started the process four years ago, they discovered some additional deterioration to the bridge project, which has partially led to the increase in the scope of the project.
Last night, the Council unanimously approved an additional $50,000 for the engineering component of the project to CNS Engineers, the contractor that's on the design services for this bridge project. This was passed unanimously by the Council last night, but it definitely took the most time at last night's Council meeting. There was quite a bit of discussion with our city engineering staff and the project contractor and the Mayor and the City Council. Mayor Genentino last night really stressing to the contractor that we've got to hone in on keeping the expenses of this project within the budget that the Council has currently agreed to, which is an entire project of about $8 million, which is going to be grant funded to the tune of $4.5 million. You will see this in the news and back on our Council agenda a few more times. We're looking at a 2026 construction for this bridge. They're looking to put this out to construction bid later this summer and fall. It'll be back scheduled before us over the next several months as we get ready to pull the trigger on executing the actual construction of this bridge project. But last night, the Mayor and Council having a pretty rigorous discussion with the contractor about making sure that we keep this project within budget.
Paul Szmal: There was also an awarding of a contract for a lead service line for GIS services. What is that one about, Chuck?
Chuck Mason: Yes, so what the City is doing, and this is another grant funded project, is we are doing the required by federal and state government lead service line inventory for water lines. Part of that process is we are in the process of mapping out all of the water lines as they exist here in the City of Auburn. So we have a lot of good information on about 50% of the existing water lines and the way that they connect to water mains from individual properties out to the City's water mains. But we've been communicating with the other 4,000 properties that we need more information on. So we sent a letter to all those properties back in November, and we've asked property owners to reach out to us to provide us with a little bit of information that we need to identify the materials of their water intake pipe. That process has been going real well. We've received a good initial response, but there's still a couple of thousand water lines that we're still looking to identify. So the work with the GIS mapping is going to be part of this project over the next three years. So the Council last night awarded this $50,000 contract to the firm that's going to provide us with the technical expertise to do this component of the project. And again, this is a 100% grant-funded project through the Lead Inventory Replacement Grant that the City has received from the State of New York.
Paul Szmal: There was also a land sale resolution for 30 Seminary Street, and finally, some opioid settlement funds were awarded.
Chuck Mason: That's right. And both of these are unanimous. The 30 Seminary Street is a vacant lot, which is being purchased by an adjoining property owner. So that works out really well. A vacant lot that's not needed any longer by the City of Auburn that they had previously acquired through tax foreclosure. And then the City, a few years ago, entered into one of these class action lawsuits against the companies that are responsible for the opioid epidemic. And the City has received $34,000 this year, of which the Council last night made the decision that half the money will be allocated to the Auburn Police Department, and the other half of the money will be allocated to the local organization Nix Ride for Friends, who work with people in recovery from addiction. So great use of the funds. From time to time, we get these settlement amounts, and this Council decides what to do with them. And we've had a strong partnership with the people that work really hard down at Nix Ride for Friends, with their great work to help people that are recovering from addictions. And the Council last night unanimously put in its stamp of approval on getting these funds out to the Nix Ride organization.
Paul Szmal: And the next City Council meeting coming up?
Chuck Mason: One week from last night, we will be back in action next week. And we've got a lot on the agenda next week as well. We're going to have an overview of the 2025 Road Program, and then we're going to take a look at the five-year capital plan for the City. So another hefty agenda coming at us next week, Paul.
Paul Szmal: As always, Chuck, thanks for the recap. We appreciate it.
Chuck Mason: Paul, thank you. Have a great weekend, everybody. It is 8.52 on FLX Morning.
