Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 31, dated April 19, 2019.

The city council appointed six members of the public to its Joint Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Smart Practices in Community Planning: John Johanson, Caity Tremblay, Michelle Rogat, Gary Nelson, Kiani Conley-Wilson (non-voting), and Steve Leibo (non-voting). The mayor has yet to appoint a chair and, potentially, other members.



Council member T.J. Kennedy said that a goal of the committee will be to help the city become a certified



Interestingly, it appears that the mayor's administration is concerned about the committee possibly interfering with its ability to get things done on the sustainability front. Speaking just before the council appointed the members, deputy mayor Monica Kurzejeski said the city has made strides in sustainability over the past seven years and will soon be entering into an energy savings performance contract and procuring new LED streetlights, among other initiatives, all of which will advance regardless of the committee's input or go-ahead. She said she wanted to make sure that the committee doesn't "hinder progress."



The city council is also poised to revive the Environmental Conservation Commission, another defunct entity. (This should give you a sense of just how defunct: Last night, the council's finance committee removed all mentions of the "City Manager" from the : John Johanson, Caity Tremblay, Michelle Rogat, Gary Nelson, Kiani Conley-Wilson (non-voting), and Steve Leibo (non-voting). The mayor has yet to appoint a chair and, potentially, other members.Council member T.J. Kennedy said that a goal of the committee will be to help the city become a certified Climate Smart Community , a designation from the state that "recognizes high-performing communities for their leadership in reducing emissions and adapting to a changing climate," according to a NYSERDA fact sheet.Interestingly, it appears that the mayor's administration is concerned about the committee possibly interfering with its ability to get things done on the sustainability front. Speaking just before the council appointed the members, deputy mayor Monica Kurzejeski said the city has made strides in sustainability over the past seven years and will soon be entering into an energy savings performance contract and procuring new LED streetlights, among other initiatives, all of which will advance regardless of the committee's input or go-ahead. She said she wanted to make sure that the committee doesn't "hinder progress.", another defunct entity. (This should give you a sense of just how defunct: Last night, the council's finance committee removed all mentions of the "City Manager" from the appropriate code section .) The commission "looks well structured to deal with some land-use and other, long-term planning issues around parks and trails," said council member Anasha Cummings. The council will need to appoint eight members to two year terms.

. Among other things, the amendments (i) expand the categories of city employees/officers who may not bid on city-owned property without prior council approval, (ii) allow the Troy Community Land Bank and Troy Local Development Corporation to acquire surplus property outside of the proposal sale process, and (iii) permit the city's property review committee, which is made up of city officials and forwards recommended potential buyers to the city council for approval, to consider bidders' "history of code compliance" (something that is apparently already done but will soon be codified). A red-lined version of the pending changes to the law is available in the meeting agenda packet , which would have required city council approval of any release of the so-called reverter clauses that the city includes in deeds. (The clauses essentially say that the city may retake title if the property isn't brought up to code.) She characterized the proposal as adding an "additional safeguard" to ensure that reverter clauses are not released without their terms being met. Members of the council majority and administration, however, pushed back.The mayor releases three to five reverter clauses per month, often on short notice in the context of closings, he said. Adding this new condition would inject "an element of uncertainty" in a process that might make parcels with reverter clause–containing deeds less alluring to potential buyers, the mayor said, since their release would become "subject to the whim of the council." (The current protocol involves a site visit and determination by the code enforcement office that is then verified by the corporation counsel and signed off on by the mayor.)In light of the mayor's concerns, and after the administration offered to provide the council with a list of recent reverter releases and a list of city-sold properties' compliance with what buyers detailed in their proposals, Mantello agreed to table the proposal.. The city will pay GAR $75 to $250 per permit, depending on their complexity.(outlined in TL27 ), after Peter Grimm, a Democratic county legislator and member of Friends of Prospect Park, apparently expressed reservations to council members about the committee's top recommended dog-park spot (in the northwest area) within the park.