Syracuse City Council Meeting on August 19, 2026
Syracuse City Council Meeting - August 19, 2026
The Syracuse City Council convened on August 19, 2026, to discuss a broad range of items including police and fire equipment purchases, housing incentives, park projects, employee benefits, and community honors. Many items involved waivers and bond authorizations.
Police Department Items
- Item 12-13: Amended original Schedule A for chip purchases without additional funds to add another piece of equipment.
- Item 14: Approved a waiver to purchase from specific vendors (not to exceed $200,000) for the asphalt plant to ensure quick repairs; copper prices have increased 100% in six months.
- Item 25: Authorized application for the L E Tech grant ($1,000,000) from New York State for police technology.
- Items 26-27: Approved an additional $1,000,000 (on top of $750,000 already bonded) for a new command post; Congressman Manion provided a $1 million grant, leaving $350,000 to be bonded. The old command post will be retained for warming stations or secondary use.
- Items 28-29: Approved a new cloud-based records management system (RMS) countywide to improve efficiency and officer response times.
- Items 30-31: Approved $3.3 million in vehicle replacements; discussed 165 take-home cars (half of the department), used by command officers and units needing immediate response.
- Items 32-33: Authorized a $54,986 contract with the Finn Institute to study the two-year residency waiver pilot; 33% of current applicants are minority (19% Black, 16% female).
- Item 34: Approved a $16,950 nighthawk subscription for search warrant software.
- Item 35: Renewed $25,000 for firearm range access.
Fire Department Items
- Items 36-37: Authorized bonds for communications equipment (headsets) for incident commanders and specialty units; $32,000 portion will be part of a larger bond package.
- Items 38-39: Authorized bonds for fire station and building repairs for 20 buildings.
- Item 40: Approved a waiver for Fleet Pride (local vendor) for fire truck parts.
Parks and Forestry Items
- Item 17: Accepted a $335 check (unrestricted funds) from National Grid as a rebate for planting low-growing trees under wires; trees cost $450-$550 each.
- Item 18: Allowed a third party to conduct chainsaw training with Onondaga Earth Core in parks (no youth involved).
- Item 19: Authorized application for a New York State DEC grant (under $600,000) to inventory natural areas.
- Item 20: Extended the contract with Green Infrastructure Center for six months (no additional funds, $20,000 balance remaining).
- Item 21: Increased background check contract with National Center for Safety Initiatives from $8,675 to $10,175 due to seasonal staff.
Housing and Community Development
- Item 43: Discussed adopting a new New York State Real Property Tax Law exemption to incentivize housing creation; a committee meeting was requested for further discussion.
- Item 46: Authorized application for New York State HCR funding to construct 10 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for homeowners under 120% AMI; interest expressed by about four potential applicants.
- Items 47-48: Approved awards under the city’s opioid settlement fund from indirect funding sources (total amounts same as withdrawn Item 49).
- Item 49: Withdrawn.
- Item 50: Granted permission for an emergency exit stair encroachment (4 feet) on Erie Boulevard, subject to permit.
Other Business
- Item 16: Approved installation of an honorary sign for Marcas, a community advocate from the North Side.
- Item 22: Extended the agreement with Northland Communications for connectivity between council chambers and WCNY.
- Item 23: Approved a five-year interagency agreement with Centro (Regional Transit Authority) to provide free bus rides for city employees at an annual cost not to exceed $13,500; approximately 700-800 rides per month.
- Item 24: Approved a resolution recognizing Marcas for his dedication to the North Side and new American communities.
- Items 41-42: Awarded a $15,000 grant-funded contract to Watson and Yates for long-term financial planning; introduced a local law to amend the capital planning charter section.
- Item 44: Approved tax roll changes for properties incorrectly billed (Euclid, Bissell, Morton, 400 Burnett Ave).
- Item 45: Taken to executive session.
- Item 51: Licensed a retail cannabis dispensary at 900 East Fayette Street (former Bury Acorn location) following police security evaluation.
- Item 52: Approved honorary street sign for Father Jim Matthews near St. Lucy's Church.
- Item 53: Adopted a resolution urging the governor and assembly to support Senate Bill S988 to address the shortage of licensed social workers and increase diversity.
Key Outcomes
- All items were discussed and advanced; many waivers, bond authorizations, and contract approvals were granted. The council requested additional data on employee shuttle usage and police response times. The meeting adjourned with a motion.
Meeting Transcript
Any other questions, comments? Thank you very much. Thank you. Counselor, thank you. Counselor McDuck. Thank you, Madam President. I have item twelve to fifteen. Who's taking these items? Counselors, Jefferilla, Fleet Director. I've got um twelve and thirteen, which are to amend our original schedule A from the um chips purchases that we presented earlier. We're not asking for any additional funds, but we've identified another piece of equipment that we would like to add to that list. Um so that's it for those two. Any questions? Um, number fourteen is to purchase off of a waiver for the vendors listed on the sheet here in an amount not to exceed two hundred thousand. These vendors are specific to our asphalt plant, and we need to be able to purchase quickly if that ever goes down, it needs to get right back up and operational. Any questions on it? Thank you. Is that state? That might be the authority. Okay, because I was asked by Jason Smorrell, and I said, I don't think that's city. No, I don't I know our lighting ends right there at that MBT. Yeah, because he we're looking if they're going towards uh the burn dairy plant. Okay. Okay, thank you. Terrorists. Do we have any like a report or data from last year as to you know the work that was done, the cost of it, and all of that at all? I can get that all that information to you. I know uh General Vendetti keeps a good track of all the invoices that we have, the lights that we purchased, the material that we purchase. Um the cost just changes on a consistent basis due to various factors. Electrical equipment and material. Um a lot of it is based on oil prices. So copper is skyrocketed at least 100% in the last six months. Yeah, I just want to just want to compare against you know what we used last year and what the amount of money we use last year. I'll get some information versus what we are doing this year. Yep. All right, and the other thing to remember too is there's more in this going forward because of the work that's being done on 81 that we're required to maintain after it's been installed and certified. So we're just gonna make sure we have enough fixtures on hand to purchase or to have on hand in case there's uh accidents, which I foresee there'll be a few with new traffic patterns. And the idea is we are waiving these, right? Yes, Spring City, Found Rock our solar, Spring Cities are decorative fixtures, Coopers are all our material. Uh we are working with Cooper to come up with a uh spreadsheet in regards to what they can hopefully charge us for the year. Some of that material they'll only give us a price for 30 days max uh because of the increases. Um deals with all of our high uh high voltage equipment that we use on the lines when we've got a change out of light. So all those are particular to street lighting itself. All right, thank you. Any quite any other questions? I just have one is not is not on this, is on not for you, Ken. Stephanie, can I ask you a question? Because I'm looking at the bonds, right? Is there any way, and maybe we already have it, that you can give me a total of how much we've bonded for this year? Absolutely, we can look into that and get back to you.
openpublica.com