Peekskill Common Council Work Session - January 5, 2026
Peekskill Common Council Work Session - January 5, 2026
Meeting Overview
The Peekskill Common Council held a work session on January 5, 2026, at 6:30 PM in the Common Council Chamber. The meeting featured three presentations (2024 audit, Conservation Advisory Council annual report, Fire Department operations), followed by several action items and council liaison reports. The council then entered executive session for personnel and litigation matters.
Presentations
Finance – 2024 Audit Financial Statements
Jeffrey Shaver, CPA of PKF O'Connor Davies, presented the annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended December 31, 2024. The city received an unmodified (clean) audit opinion. General fund revenues totaled $50,865,000, exceeding the final budget by $2.1 million—largely due to $2,282,000 in one-time ARPA stimulus revenue not originally budgeted. Expenditures were $51.7 million against a $52 million budget, a $300,000 underspend (less than 1% of budget). Net general fund fund balance decreased by approximately $140,000 to $14,326,000, as the budget had planned a $2.5 million use of fund balance. Unassigned fund balance increased to $6,125,000 from $4.1 million in 2023. Total outstanding debt was $36.6 million, with 82% scheduled to be paid off within 10 years. Council thanked department heads and staff for tight budgetary management.
Planning – Annual Report of the Conservation Advisory Council
Jan Melillo, Chair of the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC), presented the 2025 annual report. Highlights included the completion of a citywide tree inventory, which identified significant canopy gaps. The council responded by increasing the tree planting budget and forming a Tree Board (the CAC will have a seat). The food scraps drop-off program (24/7 on South Street) is seeing high usage. The city maintains its Climate Smart Community bronze status. The Mayor's Monarch Pledge initiative included seed giveaways and a garden walk; two more events are planned for 2026 (seedling planting with scouts and a follow-up winter sowing event). The CAC helped identify a grant for an invasive species removal machine at Lake Mitchell. A first annual Mothapalooza event was held. The city was awarded a $1.8 million grant for the Paramount Theater HVAC system, attributed in part to the completed Climate Action Plan supported by the CAC and sustainability coordinator. Council praised the report and will prepare a resolution to accept it.
Fire – Fire Department Operations & Services
Chief James Seymour presented an overview of the Peekskill Fire Department. The department has 33 career staff and 33 volunteers, organized with six career lieutenants and minimum staffing of one lieutenant and six firefighters per shift. In 2025, the department responded to 3,041 incidents, an increase of over 1,000 from 2024 due to a procedural change: the fire department is now dispatched simultaneously with the ambulance corps on EMS calls to ensure a faster first responder. The department is part of Westchester County and FDNY mutual aid plans and the Westchester Special Operations Task Force (hazmat and WMD). Non-emergency activities include training (101 hours minimum annually for career staff), equipment/infrastructure checks, building pre-plan software, free smoke detector installations with the Red Cross, and community events. Upcoming equipment: a new ladder truck (expected delivery March 2026), a new engine, a fire rescue boat funded by a $688,000 port security grant and $100,000 state match, and a new rescue truck funded by the sale of current Rescue 134. Future needs include replacement of self-contained breathing apparatus ($250,000–$300,000—seeking grant), expansion of command staff (goal of two officers per shift), and continued staffing growth to match call volume. Council thanked the chief and noted the significance of the equipment acquisitions.
Discussion and Action Items
Recreation – Parking Request at Peekskill Stadium
Jonathan Zamora presented a request from McNamy Construction Corp, which is performing the Louisa Street Bridge rehabilitation over Metro North Railroad through November 2026. The contractor requested six parking spaces at Peekskill Stadium for materials storage and worker vehicles. Staff negotiated a total cost of $9,000 (based on $1,200 annual permit per space at the nearby St. Joseph's commuter lot, plus a premium for 24/7 access). The contractor will add fencing to secure the area. Council voiced support and directed staff to return on January 19 with a memorandum of understanding for approval.
Water – Annual Dam Certifications
Dave Rambo presented the annual dam safety certifications required by the NYS DEC for three dams: Hollowbrook Dam (intermediate hazard), Upper Wiccopee Dam, and Lower Wiccopee Dam (high hazard). The city has a watershed inspector visiting twice weekly, written maintenance and inspection plans, and updated emergency action plans for 2025. Staff requested a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign the certifications. Council agreed to bring a resolution to the next meeting.
Youth Bureau – Accept Grant Awards
Tuesday McDonald, Youth Bureau Executive Director, announced three grants: Invest a Kid – $55,000 over three years (with a 10% match, down from 30-35%); OCFS Build a Boat and Summer Lift – $12,166 (no match). The Invest a Kid grant funds two part-time staff. Council expressed support; resolutions will be prepared for the next meeting.
Planning – Esther Street Closure Extension
The temporary closure of Esther Street (in place since 2020) expired on December 31, 2025. Staff recommended extending the closure to December 31, 2026, calling it a positive downtown amenity. Council member asked to survey new businesses on the street about their opinion before proceeding. Staff will gather feedback and bring a resolution along with information for possible permanent closure considerations.
Planning/DPW – Lockwood SEQR Lead Agency
The city is seeking a grant from the Westchester County Flood Mitigation Fund for replacement of the collapsed Lockwood Drive culvert that caused flooding and erosion. As part of the application, the council must be designated lead agency for State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR). Staff will prepare a resolution declaring the Common Council as lead agency for the unlisted action. Council approved direction.
City Manager – Termination of Westchester Power ESA
Sustainable Westchester has discontinued the Westchester Power community choice aggregation program due to new state regulations. The program ended in November 2025. Residents will automatically revert to Con Edison unless they select an alternative energy service company (ESCO). Council expressed concern that residents have not been directly notified and that the termination could affect the city's Climate Smart Community bronze status. Staff was directed to prepare a termination letter and to create public information (website, social media) to alert residents, in coordination with the CAC.
Key Outcomes
- Adopted direction for staff to: prepare a memorandum of understanding for Peekskill Stadium parking (return Jan 19); draft a resolution for dam certifications; prepare resolutions to accept the three youth bureau grants; draft a resolution for Esther Street closure extension (pending business feedback); draft a resolution for Lockwood SEQR lead agency; and prepare a termination letter and public notice for Westchester Power program.
- Council thanked all presenters and department heads for fiscal discipline, conservation work, and fire department operations.
- Mayor directed formation of a Holiday Decorating and New Year’s Eve Committee to begin planning for 2026.
- The council then entered executive session for personnel and litigation matters.
Liaison Reports/Concerns
Council members welcomed three new members, thanked staff for the swearing-in process, and highlighted the successful New Year's Eve celebration. Councilwoman Chang noted high flu activity in the state. Mayor announced military tribute banner ordering through March 1, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
January 5th, 2026. We have a few presentations this evening and then a small agenda, and then we will go into executive session for discussion of matters concerning the medical financial credit or employment history of a particular person, persons, or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person, persons, or corporation, and discussion of matters concerning pending litigation involving tax matters. So at this time, I'll turn it over to our city manager, Ms. Alexander. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. Uh tonight we have our auditors with us tonight. And so uh Tony Tracy is going to introduce them to, and they're going to talk to us about the fin the annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended 2024. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. Good evening. So tonight we do have our auditors here. So I have Jeffrey Shaver and Chris Koff, both partners of PKF O'Connor Davies. Good evening, Mayor, members of the city council. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Um thank you for the introduction, Tony. Again, my name is Jeff Shaver, partner with PKF O'Connor Davies. Happy to be here to present the results of the audit for the fiscal year end of December 31st, 2024. I'm just gonna quit start by taking you over to an overview of the audit, and then I'll take you through financial highlights, focusing on the general fund, talk to you briefly about some of your other funds, and um follow it off with the debt service that's outstanding. We like to, as auditors, talk about auditors' responsibilities versus um the city's responsibilities or management's responsibilities. Um it's important to note that management's responsible for selecting and implementing the appropriate accounting policies, as well as prev uh fairly presenting the financial statements in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, also establishing and maintaining effective internal controls, compliance with laws, regulations, and provisions of contracts, and also providing all the information to us as we request them as your auditors. Um we as auditors are responsible primarily for expressing an opinion on the financial statements. We have issued what's known as an unmodified opinion on the financial statements in layman's terms. Sometimes we call that a clean opinion, and that's the most favorable opinion that you can receive. What that means is the numbers in the financial statements are um accurate and fairly stated in all material respects. Uh we also perform tests of the city's compliance with provisions of laws, uh contracts, and grant agreements. We communicate uh in writing deficiency any deficiencies in internal controls, advise on the appropriateness of accounting policies. We would be required to communicate any fraud or illegal acts that were uh brought to our attention or discovered during the conduct of the audit. I'm happy to report there there were no instances of fraud uh noted during the audit. Um we didn't have any disagreements with management and we as auditors were required to be in fact in appearance independent uh of the city. We are um we are a firm hired by the city, but we're we're required to be independent in accordance with our professional standards. Focusing in on uh some of the financial highlights, this is a snapshot. It's highly summarized. Uh general fund revenues and expenditures compared to the budget. I'll just note that it does not include the fire service award program activity and the ambulance service award activity. Uh the accounting standards require that those uh two LOSAP funds uh get combined with the general fund for the purposes of the audit. Here we've separated it out just so you can see the the budget to actual activity without those funds involved. Uh this is a four-column presentation. The first column is the original budget. The second column is the final budget that would encompass any board approved transfers or amendments made during the year. Third column is the actual revenues and expenditures, and the variance column is the difference between the final budget and the actual revenues and expenditures. So you can see on the revenue side of the budget, actual revenues for the year were 50 million eight hundred and sixty-five thousand, representing a positive budgetary variance of two point one million dollars. On the next slide, I'll take you through some of the details on how that happened. On the expenditure side of the budget, the revised spending plan called for appropriations of $52 million. The actual expenditures were slightly under that, $51.7 million, representing approximately $300,000 underspending of the budget or positive budgetary variants. There's also other what we call other financing sources and uses, which don't meet the uh definition of revenues and expenditures, um, namely in the case of the city, it's transfers to and and from uh other funds, and that was uh a net amount of six hundred and seventy-one thousand, uh, a shortfall from the budget of about $76,000. You can see on the the far right hand side, the total, the bottom number on the variance column, uh $2,390,000. That's the net positive budgetary variance achieved during 2024.
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