OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Syracuse City Council Study Session - September 2, 2025

Public Meetings — Tuesday, September 2, 2025
BodySyracuse, New York
SessionPublic Meetings
DateTuesday, September 2, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 20:27

Transcript — Verbatim
5:21

We are going to start our study session.

5:25

Counselor Hogan.

5:27

Thank you, President Hudson.

5:29

This local law is ready.

5:31

Thank you.

5:32

I have 10 and I am withdrawing it.

5:36

Counselor Carwell.

5:37

See?

5:38

Thank you, Madam President.

5:39

Blessings all.

5:41

I have items 11 through 22.

5:44

They're already, but I was hoping Commissioner Bird or someone from parks was here.

5:49

Anyone?

5:49

Anyone?

5:53

No fun.

5:54

I wanted to talk about 14.

6:01

Okay.

6:02

We'll come back.

6:03

We'll come back to it.

6:04

Yeah, we'll come back.

6:04

Unless you have some information on it.

6:06

Um top of my head.

6:08

Do you have a question that I can follow up on?

6:11

Um just like it has 450.

6:15

The bid came out.

6:16

I already told them out to see 500,000.

6:19

Like what happened?

6:20

Do we know?

6:21

And then we found it for 6,000.

6:24

It um by looking at the short description, it appears that the original project cost was 450,000 and with a slight increase, and I'll get that information back to you.

6:34

No.

6:35

She's here, she can explain it.

6:36

Thank you very much.

6:40

Okay.

6:42

Thanks, Commissioner Burr.

6:43

You made it.

6:43

Sorry, Commissioner.

6:44

Okay.

6:44

Saisha Bird, Commissioner Park.

6:47

I had to find parking.

6:50

Um I think the question I had was um thank you for sending the email and Iverson for sending the email on the trees.

6:58

That was um understandable.

7:01

But the 14 the skate park?

7:05

Yes.

7:07

So there was only one bidder um for this project, and it came in high.

7:13

And so we had to increase the amount we were asking for.

7:18

So let me ask you a um uh question, and me and you talk a lot about the parks and how we're gonna how we want to make sure that they're beautified.

7:26

With this going with the skate park, this is just the five the 450,000, 500,000 is just for that one piece.

7:34

It's it's to the expansion of um the entire park.

7:40

So there's already one park laid out, one part of the skate park, it's to increase the size of the skate park to add more elements.

7:52

And do we have any other plans on doing anything else at that park?

7:56

Um, not that I'm aware of at this time.

7:59

Okay.

8:00

Do we have to accept that bid?

8:02

Um Joe, is that something like is it are we able to put it out for rebid to extend the extend the the time to make it something?

8:16

Yes, uh Joe Barry, first assistant corporation counsel.

8:20

Uh with competitive bidding, you uh you're not bound by the middle of the bid.

8:26

The purchase division can rebid it.

8:29

Um you can also negotiate with the low bidder to try to get them to come down, but that can prove to be difficult.

8:38

Um do you know the time frame that the the process was going on?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procurement█████████████████████████████████████████████52%
Parks and Recreation█████████████████20%
Personnel Matters█████████████████20%
Public Engagement███████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Syracuse City Council Study Session - September 2, 2025

This study session of the Syracuse City Council on September 2, 2025, addressed several agenda items, including a skate park expansion bid, scheduling of public hearings and committee meetings, and a request for departmental vacancy lists. Council members held, withdrew, or advanced various items, with no public comments recorded.

Discussion Items

  • Skate Park Expansion (Item 14): Councilor Carwell inquired about a bid for the skate park expansion. The original project cost was $450,000, but the only bid received was for $500,000. Commissioner Bird confirmed the shortage and that Sonic committed $200,000 to the total project cost of $750,000. Councilor Carwell asked about rebidding; First Assistant Corporation Counsel Joe Barry noted that the city is not bound by the bid and can rebid or negotiate. The council discussed the need for more information and community input.
  • Scheduling of Public Hearings and Committee Meetings: Councilor Nave clarified that a public hearing for item 25 (DFR) is scheduled for September 17, 2025, at 5:30 PM, with a committee meeting to follow at least two days later. Councilor Holman noted that items 37-39 (housing tax exemption agreements) will have committee meetings scheduled soon.
  • Item 62 (Held): Councilor Nave explained that item 62 was held because a required resignation letter was not received. If the individual does not resign, the council would need to proceed with a removal process.
  • Vacancy List Request: Councilor Nave requested a concise list of vacancies in all city departments, noting that residents have difficulty accessing job applications. The administration indicated that the information is not easily obtained but may be provided after the new HCM system is implemented.

Key Outcomes

  • Item 10: Withdrawn by Councilor Hogan.
  • Items 11-22: Discussed; item 14 (skate park) held for further information; other items ready.
  • Items 23-30: Item 25 held for a committee meeting scheduled for September 17, 2025; other items ready.
  • Items 31-33: Item 31 held, item 32 withdrawn, item 33 ready.
  • Items 34-39: Items 34-36 ready; items 37-39 to be scheduled for committee meetings.
  • Items 40-53: Item 45 held; items 52-53 discussed in executive session; all others ready.
  • Items 54-59: Items 54 and 55 held (waiting on resolution); items 56-57 to have regular updates; items 58-59 ready.
  • Items 60-61: Item 60 (public hearing advertisement) scheduled; item 61 (appointment to CRB board) ready.
  • Item 62: Held pending resignation letter.
  • Meeting adjourned with a unanimous vote.

Meeting Transcript

We are going to start our study session. Counselor Hogan. Thank you, President Hudson. This local law is ready. Thank you. I have 10 and I am withdrawing it. Counselor Carwell. See? Thank you, Madam President. Blessings all. I have items 11 through 22. They're already, but I was hoping Commissioner Bird or someone from parks was here. Anyone? Anyone? No fun. I wanted to talk about 14. Okay. We'll come back. We'll come back to it. Yeah, we'll come back. Unless you have some information on it. Um top of my head. Do you have a question that I can follow up on? Um just like it has 450. The bid came out. I already told them out to see 500,000. Like what happened? Do we know? And then we found it for 6,000. It um by looking at the short description, it appears that the original project cost was 450,000 and with a slight increase, and I'll get that information back to you. No. She's here, she can explain it. Thank you very much. Okay. Thanks, Commissioner Burr. You made it. Sorry, Commissioner. Okay. Saisha Bird, Commissioner Park. I had to find parking. Um I think the question I had was um thank you for sending the email and Iverson for sending the email on the trees. That was um understandable. But the 14 the skate park? Yes. So there was only one bidder um for this project, and it came in high. And so we had to increase the amount we were asking for. So let me ask you a um uh question, and me and you talk a lot about the parks and how we're gonna how we want to make sure that they're beautified. With this going with the skate park, this is just the five the 450,000, 500,000 is just for that one piece. It's it's to the expansion of um the entire park. So there's already one park laid out, one part of the skate park, it's to increase the size of the skate park to add more elements.

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