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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Peekskill Common Council Work Session: Downtown Redesign, Grants, Vacancy Registry, and More | Sept 22, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, September 22, 2026

BodyPeekskill, New York

SessionMeeting Portal

DateTuesday, September 22, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:49:19

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

We have a presentation this evening and then quite a lengthy agenda and then 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.

0:23

So at this time, I'll turn it over to our city manager, Mr.

0:25

Alexander.

0:26

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

0:28

Good evening.

0:33

Tonight and so we are gonna start off with our planning department and Peter Irwin, the um assistant planning director is going to introduce downtown intersections, redesign, and uh Mike Kurt and Mike Hurt and Joe Camino.

0:52

And uh city manager, I've sent you a request to share my screen on the presentation laptop.

1:10

Yeah.

1:27

Thank you.

1:28

Good evening, Mayor and County Council.

1:30

Good evening, good evening.

1:32

So I will introduce our speaker in a moment.

1:34

Um, but this is a presentation really to update you on the capital projects that the planning department that the city is seeking to complete in three to five years.

1:45

Uh this is an excerpt from the capital plan that was approved earlier this year.

1:51

And uh tonight we will be discussing the downtown intersection improvements that will be funded through the momentum fund infrastructure program.

1:59

And those intersections are Main Street here at Nelson Avenue at Division Street and at Bank Street.

2:08

Just to set the table, uh, we consider these improvements to be critical infrastructure for our city.

2:15

These are the existing conditions.

2:17

These photographs were taken this week, and this is in the middle of our downtown historic core.

2:23

So the intention of this project is to install durable pigmented concrete crosswalks that hold up to the truck traffic we receive.

2:32

Um traffic signals that help uh uh traffic flow through the city more efficiently, and pedestrian signals that work in the long in the long run.

2:43

And um, so uh we feel it's important, and I just wanted to kind of make that that case before we get into the plans and the budget.

2:52

The project team is CHA Consulting Inc., which is an engineering firm that's done extensive work here in Peakscale in the past, and um the team that we work with is Joseph Semino, the project manager and Mike Hurt uh design manager, both engineers.

3:08

Mike is with us uh this evening to present the city is also represented by Ron Cassetti at Leyland Baptiste Engineering and uh for status um we are right now in the final design phases.

3:23

We have a 95% uh document set to present.

3:27

We expect after this presentation and any questions you have to come back with with a cost estimate and to seek authorization to bid the project, so we'll probably back to you in October, and then that would allow us to bid it by the end of the year and have a contractor start work early in 2027.

3:44

So a year from now, we could have all of the improvements uh ideally that you'll see tonight.

3:50

So uh the project area is at the top of the screen, and I'm gonna turn it over to CHA Mike Hurt to take you through each of the intersections with the improvements that we're proposing.

4:01

Thank you.

4:03

Thank you, Peter.

4:04

Speaking to the mic as we got evening, Mayor, Council, good evening, manager.

4:10

Uh my name is Mike Hurt.

4:12

I'm with CHA Consulting.

4:13

I am the chief engineer for our highway group.

4:16

Uh and we're up in Albany, New York.

4:18

But uh, I just want to say Peaksfield has a lot of roots for me.

4:21

Uh this is where my parents grew up.

4:23

Uh my grandfather actually built the house on North Division Street that had the old bike and gun shop in that and in the 30s.

4:31

Uh so I have a lot of families still down here in the area, so very familiar with the area.

4:36

I've also done other projects in the city.

4:39

Um a few years ago, I was the pro uh construction manager, the South Street Project and the Route 6 project.

4:46

So uh very familiar with the city, and we're happy to be here.

4:49

Um so yeah, we're gonna talk about the project.

4:53

Um Peter gave a little overview of the intersections uh that we're dealing with on the project, which is the Nelson Avenue, North Division, and Bank Street along Main Street.

5:08

So we'll first look at the Main Street Nelson Avenue intersection.

5:12

And Peter, is there anybody I can remove that?

5:16

It's right over my notes.

5:19

Um that works.

5:25

Thank you.

5:26

Uh so the goal, the highlights of the project really for all the intersections are to increase pedestrian safety and to improve the infrastructure that's on the street.

5:36

Uh so at Nelson Avenue, um, our plan is to install curb line bump outs in all four corners, and we'll do this without losing any parking.

5:47

But what that does is it increases the pedestrian space, beautifies that for better streetscaping, um, but it also shortens the pedestrian crossing distance.

5:57

So it might not seem like a lot, but bringing the crosswalks in or bringing the handicap ramps closer to the street makes the pedestrians visible and it shortens their pedestrian crossing times.

6:10

And all of the improvements that we're going to be doing are going to be fully ADA compliant.

6:15

And I'll talk a little bit about that in a second.

6:17

So we're also going to improve the sidewalks.

6:19

We're going to repair the sidewalks and the pavement condition.

6:23

So you kind of see where it's shaded on the roadway.

6:26

That's going to be um milling and paving of the road with new striping.

6:30

Um we're going to enhance the streetscape by adding the brick pavers.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████████████████26%

Zoning And Land Use████████████████16%

Traffic Management██████████10%

Transportation Safety████████8%

Parks and Recreation███████7%

Community Engagement█████5%

Water And Wastewater Management████4%

Active Transportation████4%

Public Engagement███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Peekskill Common Council Work Session – September 22, 2026

The Peekskill Common Council held a work session on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Common Council Chamber. The meeting included a detailed presentation on downtown intersection redesign, numerous consent and discussion items covering grants, contracts, local laws, and community events, followed by an executive session for personnel matters.

Consent Calendar

Recreation – Hispanic Heritage Street Fair: The council supported closing the 1000 block of Brown Street on Sunday, October 11, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for a street fair. A resolution will be brought next week. (No vote taken, but consensus indicated approval.)
Section 8 – Adopt Annual Plan: The annual plan was accepted with no questions.
Section 8 – Renew Mercy House Cleaning Contract: Renewal of cleaning services at $185 per week (up from $125) was supported.
Section 8 – Award FSS Coordinator: The council concurred with hiring Janice Reyes Sanchez as an independent contractor for $70,000, noting her extensive management experience and bilingual skills.
Planning – Award Nelson Avenue and James Street Garages Contract: The apparent low bid of $1,860,412 for structural repairs at both garages was deemed within the $3.8 million Momentum Fund budget. Council instructed thorough due diligence on the bidder before formal award next week.
Planning – Authorize Brand and Trademark Support: A contract with Cone, Liebewitz, and Latman for trademark registration of the city logo (up to $15,000) was supported. Council requested clarification of the cost range.
Planning – Authorize Agreement with Barton & Loguidice for Lockwood Drive Culvert Engineering: The council supported accepting two sources of funding (Westchester County flood mitigation and CDBG) to begin design. The project is partially funded and expected to be completed in 2026-2027.
Police – Accept 2026-2027 Police Traffic Services Grant: $12,647 grant accepted for seat belt, distracted driving, and general traffic enforcement.
Police – Accept 2026-2027 Child Passenger Safety Grant: $2,968 grant accepted to support proper car seat installation.
Police – Authorize 2026-2027 LEAP Contract Renewal: Renewed agreement with Peekskill School District for an afterschool program (two days/week, one hour/day, $7,688) starting October 1, 2026.
City Manager – Authorize First Annual Peekskill MycoBlitz Event: The council approved a citizen science mushroom identification event at DePew Park on Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 2 to 4 p.m. (The gazebo is off-limits due to condition.)

Discussion Items

Downtown Intersections Redesign (Presenters: Mike Hurtt and Joe Comino, CHA Solutions): The planning department and engineers presented a 95% design for improvements at Main Street intersections with Nelson Avenue, North Division Street, and Bank Street. Key features include pigmented concrete crosswalks, accessible pedestrian signals (APS), leading pedestrian intervals (LPI), curb bump-outs (without losing parking), removal of a median island at North Division, reduction of two lanes to one on the south leg of North Division to widen sidewalks, and installation of bollards to discourage diagonal crossing near the library. The project will be bid this winter, construction in spring/summer 2027, with work on one intersection at a time. The design coordinates traffic signals for better flow. Council expressed enthusiasm but raised concerns about truck turning radii, coordination with planned library construction at 41 North Division, and potential traffic backups near Monument Park. The presenters assured that traffic modeling and signal coordination will address these.
Local Law – Amend Chapter 435 (Vacant Storefront Registry): Corporation Counsel Eric presented a detailed draft requiring owners of commercial storefronts vacant for 60+ days to register, submit a vacant storefront plan, maintain the property, and pay a fee. Provisions include escrow up to $5,000, fines up to $1,500 per month, and exemptions (e.g., active building permits). Council discussed administrative burden, insurance requirements, and the need to use the registry as an economic development tool. Councilman DeGrucio, who initiated the proposal, praised it. Council asked to clarify exemption language for temporary pop-up uses and escrow replenishment. The law will likely be enacted in spring 2027.
Red Light Cameras – Update: Chief Renwick reported that the state authorized up to nine intersections. The city has analyzed crash data, met with vendors, and learned Westchester County is also implementing a program on county roads. The city will coordinate with the county to avoid duplication before finalizing locations and then proceed with a local law and vendor selection.
Amendment to Local Law Chapter 182 – E-bikes and E-scooters: Following the public hearing, Corporation Counsel proposed language to permit towing of child trailers and tow bars for children under 12, and to allow utility trailers for goods. The council debated enforcement challenges. Chief Renwick supported leaving impoundment discretion with police (second offense as policy) and agreed with the proposed language. Further refinements will be brought to the next meeting.

Key Outcomes

The council directed staff to bring resolutions for most consent items to the next voting meeting on September 29, 2026.
For the intersection redesign, the design team will return in October with final cost estimates and seek authorization to bid.
The vacant storefront registry will be revised based on council comments and brought back for adoption.
Red light camera implementation will pause until coordination with Westchester County is complete.
The e-bike law amendment will incorporate towing provisions and impoundment policy; final language expected soon.
The council received liaison reports: the CAC reported 81 native trees to be planted downtown and near schools; the Parks Advisory Board discussed beach volleyball feasibility; the Senior Advisory Committee requested later afternoon classes; and the mayor announced a $3 million state grant for upstream flood mitigation and an engineering grant for sewer system improvements.

Meeting Transcript

We have a presentation this evening and then quite a lengthy agenda and then 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. So at this time, I'll turn it over to our city manager, Mr. Alexander. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. Tonight and so we are gonna start off with our planning department and Peter Irwin, the um assistant planning director is going to introduce downtown intersections, redesign, and uh Mike Kurt and Mike Hurt and Joe Camino. And uh city manager, I've sent you a request to share my screen on the presentation laptop. Yeah. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and County Council. Good evening, good evening. So I will introduce our speaker in a moment. Um, but this is a presentation really to update you on the capital projects that the planning department that the city is seeking to complete in three to five years. Uh this is an excerpt from the capital plan that was approved earlier this year. And uh tonight we will be discussing the downtown intersection improvements that will be funded through the momentum fund infrastructure program. And those intersections are Main Street here at Nelson Avenue at Division Street and at Bank Street. Just to set the table, uh, we consider these improvements to be critical infrastructure for our city. These are the existing conditions. These photographs were taken this week, and this is in the middle of our downtown historic core. So the intention of this project is to install durable pigmented concrete crosswalks that hold up to the truck traffic we receive. Um traffic signals that help uh uh traffic flow through the city more efficiently, and pedestrian signals that work in the long in the long run. And um, so uh we feel it's important, and I just wanted to kind of make that that case before we get into the plans and the budget. The project team is CHA Consulting Inc., which is an engineering firm that's done extensive work here in Peakscale in the past, and um the team that we work with is Joseph Semino, the project manager and Mike Hurt uh design manager, both engineers. Mike is with us uh this evening to present the city is also represented by Ron Cassetti at Leyland Baptiste Engineering and uh for status um we are right now in the final design phases. We have a 95% uh document set to present. We expect after this presentation and any questions you have to come back with with a cost estimate and to seek authorization to bid the project, so we'll probably back to you in October, and then that would allow us to bid it by the end of the year and have a contractor start work early in 2027. So a year from now, we could have all of the improvements uh ideally that you'll see tonight. So uh the project area is at the top of the screen, and I'm gonna turn it over to CHA Mike Hurt to take you through each of the intersections with the improvements that we're proposing. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. Speaking to the mic as we got evening, Mayor, Council, good evening, manager. Uh my name is Mike Hurt. I'm with CHA Consulting. I am the chief engineer for our highway group. Uh and we're up in Albany, New York. But uh, I just want to say Peaksfield has a lot of roots for me. Uh this is where my parents grew up. Uh my grandfather actually built the house on North Division Street that had the old bike and gun shop in that and in the 30s. Uh so I have a lot of families still down here in the area, so very familiar with the area. I've also done other projects in the city. Um a few years ago, I was the pro uh construction manager, the South Street Project and the Route 6 project. So uh very familiar with the city, and we're happy to be here. Um so yeah, we're gonna talk about the project. Um Peter gave a little overview of the intersections uh that we're dealing with on the project, which is the Nelson Avenue, North Division, and Bank Street along Main Street. So we'll first look at the Main Street Nelson Avenue intersection. And Peter, is there anybody I can remove that? It's right over my notes. Um that works. Thank you. Uh so the goal, the highlights of the project really for all the intersections are to increase pedestrian safety and to improve the infrastructure that's on the street.

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