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Record of Proceedings

Peekskill Common Council Special Meeting and Work Session - July 27, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, July 27, 2026
BodyPeekskill, New York
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, July 27, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 15:11

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

So good morning everyone.

0:04

Welcome to our COM.

0:09

Cal meeting of today, July 27, 2026.

0:12

We have a couple agenda items and then um executive session for discussion of matters.

0:19

Do we have executive session?

0:21

We do.

0:22

Okay.

0:23

Executive session discussion of matters for it's not on here.

0:28

HR or what uh this has to do with employment.

0:32

Oh for employment issues.

0:34

It's an uh yeah, employment and litigation.

0:36

Right.

0:37

Okay, perfect.

0:38

All right.

0:39

So at this time I'll turn it over to Mr.

0:40

Alexander.

0:42

Okay.

0:43

Uh good morning, Mayor and Council.

0:45

Good morning.

0:46

Morning, morning.

0:47

Uh today we we prepared this meeting for one item, and uh we have a two more that jumped on, and so would like to ask the city clerk if she could talk to us about a religious procession.

1:00

Good morning, Matt.

1:01

Thank you.

1:01

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

1:04

So the street closure um for the religious procession for the Assumption Church.

1:08

Um the assumption has submitted an application for this uh Sunday, August 2nd from 2 30 to 3 15.

1:18

They want to hold a religious procession El Senor de Giron, and it will be the first time that this is done in Peakskill.

1:26

So that is one particular reason why um Father Esteban, you know, kind of said, can we please get this on?

1:33

Can we please do this?

1:35

Um and in order to accommodate the requests, it is necessary to close the streets at the intersections that are listed.

1:42

And if you are in agreement with this, there is a resolution prepared for this morning as well.

1:48

Okay, council.

1:49

Any questions?

1:50

I'm good.

1:50

I just want to make sure the police have reviewed this.

1:53

Yes, the police.

1:54

Um and thank you so much, uh, Lieutenant Demondo, who helps me all the time with the street closures to make sure I have the right um intersections that will be closed.

2:03

Great, thank you.

2:04

And will they open up the streets immediately after it's done?

2:08

They'll open up the streets right after it around 3 15 then.

2:12

Okay, thank you.

2:15

Any other questions?

2:16

Good.

2:17

We're good.

2:18

Okay.

2:19

Okay.

2:19

Uh so that is prepared and ready for you.

2:22

I'm gonna let Dave Rambo talk to us about the WIA grant.

2:28

Thank you, Matt.

2:29

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

2:31

Good morning.

2:32

So I've been in front of the council many times regarding the Lower South Street uh sewer pumping station project.

2:39

And this is the project that started out.

2:42

Uh we did have a grant for $750,000.

2:46

There was a match.

2:47

We would have had to uh supply two two million dollars to offset uh you know to for that uh grant match and to uh cover the costs of that project, which was earmarked around three million or so, three plus million, but um that was pre-COVID, post-COVID, the number and uh after going to the health department and requiring them requiring us to uh relocate the piping that we wanted to go at down on uh North Water Street, and they said no, we need to go uh find a different route.

3:18

We were going into the uh riverfront park now, and that uh cost has now gone up to 11,347,000 in change.

3:28

So uh we are looking to uh rescind what what we're doing is rescinding the that 750,000 dollar grant, but we are applying for a new WIA grant, water infrastructure improvement, um, and we are applying for um the eleven million dollars and and change, but we're offsetting and there is a a 20 percent match, but we're offsetting that match with some other grants that we're getting um for this project.

3:54

So my ask tonight or tonight this morning is to um authorize excuse me a resolution to apply for the WIA grant and have Matthew.

4:06

I just want to uh make sure we've got this right.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Public Engagement█████████████████████23%
Water And Wastewater Management███████████████17%
Parks and Recreation█████████10%
Summary of Proceedings

Peekskill Common Council Special Meeting and Work Session - July 27, 2026

The Peekskill Common Council met on July 27, 2026, for a special work session followed by a special council meeting. The agenda included three resolutions: authorizing a street closure for a religious procession, authorizing a WIIA grant application for the Lower South Street Sewer Improvements Project, and authorizing a Greenway Conservancy Trail Grant application for Fort Hill Park. Council members also gave liaison reports. All three resolutions were unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned into executive session for employment and litigation matters.

Discussion Items

  • Street Closure for Religious Procession (El Señor de Girón): City Clerk presented a request from Assumption Church to close portions of Union Avenue on Sunday, August 2, 2026, from 2:30 PM to 3:15 PM for a religious procession. The police reviewed and approved the closure. Council members asked about immediate reopening after the procession, which was confirmed. A resolution was prepared.
  • WIIA Grant – Lower South Street Sewer Improvements Project: Dave Rambo from the Water Department provided an update. The project cost has escalated from an initial estimate of $3 million to $11,347,000 due to post-COVID costs and a required pipe reroute through Riverfront Park. The city plans to rescind an earlier $750,000 grant and apply for a new Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) grant covering 25% of the project cost (approximately $2.8 million) with a 75% city match. The match will be offset by other grant applications. The grant application was due by 4:00 PM on July 27. A resolution authorized the city manager to submit the application.
  • Hudson River Valley Greenway Conservancy Trail Grant: The city manager explained the city’s eligibility for grants: $50,000 for feasibility study, $75,000 for engineering services, or $250,000 for implementation. The city applied for a $75,000 engineering study for a trail expansion at Fort Hill Park. This could lead to a future $250,000 implementation grant application. The grant deadline was August 7, 2026.
  • Liaison Reports: Councilwoman Chang reported on attending the NACP National Convention in Chicago and meeting a representative from the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Heritage Byway project. The byway is in phase two, and a public meeting in Peekskill had low turnout. She encouraged residents to visit tubmanbywayny.org to provide feedback and submit letters of support. Councilwoman Talbot noted the Paramount Theatre facade restoration is progressing well. Other council members had no reports.

Key Outcomes

  • Resolution J1 (Authorize Street Closure): Unanimously approved. The closure will be on August 2, 2026, from 1:30 PM until the procession passes specified intersections on Union Avenue.
  • Resolution J2 (Authorize WIIA Grant Application): Unanimously approved. The city manager is authorized to submit the application for the Lower South Street Sewer Improvements Project.
  • Resolution J3 (Authorize Greenway Trail Grant Application): Unanimously approved. The city manager is authorized to submit an application for a $75,000 engineering study for Fort Hill Park Trail Expansion.
  • Executive Session: The council voted to enter executive session to discuss employment and litigation matters.

Meeting Transcript

So good morning everyone. Welcome to our COM. Cal meeting of today, July 27, 2026. We have a couple agenda items and then um executive session for discussion of matters. Do we have executive session? We do. Okay. Executive session discussion of matters for it's not on here. HR or what uh this has to do with employment. Oh for employment issues. It's an uh yeah, employment and litigation. Right. Okay, perfect. All right. So at this time I'll turn it over to Mr. Alexander. Okay. Uh good morning, Mayor and Council. Good morning. Morning, morning. Uh today we we prepared this meeting for one item, and uh we have a two more that jumped on, and so would like to ask the city clerk if she could talk to us about a religious procession. Good morning, Matt. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor and Council. So the street closure um for the religious procession for the Assumption Church. Um the assumption has submitted an application for this uh Sunday, August 2nd from 2 30 to 3 15. They want to hold a religious procession El Senor de Giron, and it will be the first time that this is done in Peakskill. So that is one particular reason why um Father Esteban, you know, kind of said, can we please get this on? Can we please do this? Um and in order to accommodate the requests, it is necessary to close the streets at the intersections that are listed. And if you are in agreement with this, there is a resolution prepared for this morning as well. Okay, council. Any questions? I'm good. I just want to make sure the police have reviewed this. Yes, the police. Um and thank you so much, uh, Lieutenant Demondo, who helps me all the time with the street closures to make sure I have the right um intersections that will be closed. Great, thank you. And will they open up the streets immediately after it's done? They'll open up the streets right after it around 3 15 then. Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Good. We're good. Okay. Okay. Uh so that is prepared and ready for you. I'm gonna let Dave Rambo talk to us about the WIA grant. Thank you, Matt. Good morning, Mayor and Council.

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