Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 9, dated Nov. 9, 2018.

[Note: I am publishing this issue today, Nov. 10, on Medium because it’s been held up by TinyLetter for reasons not entirely clear to me.]

Hello! I don’t love the idea of raising the prospect of next year’s elections after another fairly fatiguing election cycle just ended — ICYMI, Donnelly and Weaver won — but I think it’s worth mentioning that next year’s will likely be a bit livelier locally, since the mayor and city council will be up for election. (The county sheriff, too.) And so, please be advised that it’s not too early to let me know, if you know, who’s running and who’s not (or who should run and who shouldn’t).

This week’s TL has lots of Troy police-related stuff, ideas from a farmers market public workshop, and other assorted items. Enjoy, and, as always, feel free to email me if you have questions or opinions.

TPD’s 2019

Last night, Troy Police Department Chief Brian Owens appeared before the city council’s public safety committee to answer questions about the department’s $20.2 million budget for next year. Here are the highlights.

Body-worn cameras. The department intends to have a body-worn camera program fully in place within the next few months, Chief Owens said. A draft policy has been completed. The department hasn’t received a final answer from the state attorney general’s office regarding its application for a grant through the CAMS program, “but they did request additional information,” Owens said.

The grant, which requires a 25 percent local cash match, wouldn’t pay for the entire program but would offset some costs. Assemblymember John McDonald has told the mayor that he will attempt to secure state funding to help pay for part of the program, too, Mayor Patrick Madden told the council.

In January, the department will finalize its selection of a vendor and begin a pilot program for a month or two, rotating different units through the program. The department would then finalize its policy and fully implement the program.

Later this month, the city council finance committee will consider a resolution to authorize the issuance of bonds worth $250K to pay for BWCs and storage.

Next year’s budget includes a new, $44,190-a-year video clerk, who will handle the BWC footage.

Other grants. Owens said that the department will continue to pursue the various grants it has secured in past years, as well as look for new ones. But “the grants have always been very competitive,” Owens said. “It seems now that the total funding available for grants, just looking at the ones that I used to work on, the funding has decreased.” Capt. John Becker is now the department’s grant writer, the chief said.

More vehicles. At the aforementioned finance committee meeting later this month, the council will also consider bonding to pay for 14 police vehicles: six patrol SUVs, four unmarked SUVs, three sedans, and one van. (The general practice of bonding for vehicles was discussed in TL8.)

“We do have an aging fleet,” Chief Owens said last night. “Right now we have main patrol cars, in zones, that have over 160–180,000 miles. In years past, we never kept them that long.” He acknowledged that vehicles last longer these days, but maintenance costs increase with age. Used police vehicles tend to be passed on to other city departments, like code enforcement or public works, “so you still get continued use after we’re done” with them, the chief said.

The department currently has an estimated 70 total vehicles in service across all units, the chief said.

Facility improvements. Now that a remediation of the impound lot at the north side of the police station has been completed, the department intends to build a steel structure there for evidence processing and long-term storage, Owens said. (Currently, vehicles are processed for evidence at a sally port at the station that is also used by law enforcement to bring prisoners to and from city court.) The 36' x 90', “minimally insulated” structure will cost an estimated $120K to build.

OT increase. Projected police department overtime costs will increase by $100K from the current year’s budget, from $850K to $950K. Councilmember Anasha Cummings asked the chief about the extent to which OT costs are driven by staffing levels versus an uptick in big cases. “Anecdotally, I think most of it is staffing-driven,” the chief said. The recent settlement of the PBA contract also contributed to the projected OT cost increase, the city’s deputy comptroller said.

Department size. The proposed budget includes an additional police officer, bringing the department’s total of sworn officers to 131. The department currently has six vacancies, a figure Owens expects to see increase soon. Council President Carmella Mantello asked the mayor if there has been any movement on a potential study on increasing the total size the police force.

“There was no statement that there would be a study,” the mayor said. “There was, I think, at best, a rumination, wondering whether the police force is appropriately sized for what we’re trying to do. We’ve had some discussion around that in weekly meetings with the chiefs, but we’ve not gone further than discussions at this point.”

Drug unit revival. “Our plan going forward is to restore” the department’s drug unit, said Owens, who disbanded the unit earlier this year. Last month, two former members of that unit pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in connection with a warrantless search they carried out in 2017.

TPD members have been serving on a drug task force with federal agencies, but those partners “tend to focus on the larger drug connections,” Owens said. “And what we see is a lot of nuisance-level drug dealing that’s certainly very disruptive to people in the neighborhood. It also leads to violence, potentially. So we need to have our own unit.”

Owens told the council that the department wants to make sure that “everyone has solid trust in that unit” following “prior incidents that might be fresh in people’s minds.” I followed up on this with Owens after his appearance before the council, asking how the department would restore this trust. He said:

One of the things we want to do is make sure that we staff it properly, make sure that everyone is properly trained, given the resources that they need, just to make sure that the conduct of that unit is above reproach. I can’t get into any particulars on how I would do that because I really don’t know yet. It’s just a matter of making sure that we do it right, that there’s sound policy in place, that there’s training in place, and there’s supervision in place. And I’m not speaking particular to that last incident, but I just want to make sure, going forward, that there’s no question as to any of those.

Councilmember Mark McGrath told me after the meeting that, at least right now, he wouldn’t support the revival of the unit. “I don’t think there’s a lot of trust there,” he said.

Comitale’s comments. I also asked the chief if there was anything he’d like to tell Troy residents who might’ve been alarmed by comments made by Officer Dominick Comitale to North Greenbush police. Here’s what he said:

I’ll say this: At the time of the incident — when we became aware of the incident — we opened an internal affairs investigation at that time. That’s still ongoing. We expect that to be completed very soon, the end of this week or potentially next week. And then we’ll move forward based on our investigation. Comments that are inappropriate or inflammatory are not acceptable. And we’ll look into that, as we have been doing. Unfortunately, I can’t get into the particulars of a personnel matter, but we do take those allegations very seriously.

Farmers Market Future

The nonprofit Troy Waterfront Farmers Market held a public meeting Wednesday night at Franklin Plaza to solicit input from patrons, vendors, and other interested parties on the popular, once-a-week market’s future.

The meeting was led by the Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit that the market has hired as a consultant. PPS devoted a substantial chunk of the two-hour session to a presentation on farmers markets in other cities and what one of its team members called their “chain of evolution,” which ranges from open-air markets (least evolved) to market districts (most evolved). The consultants also talked about markets’ benefits (creates active public space, promotes public health, etc.) and ingredients of successful ones.

Then, for the finale, the dozens of attendees were encouraged to answer four questions, each written on easel pad sheets, by writing their responses on sticky notes and affixing them to the appropriate sheet. At the event’s end, I photographed each sheet and have reproduced all the answers (with minimal editing/consolidating) below. There were no small group breakout sessions that sometimes happen at these sort of events, so I thought by transcribing these sheets you’d at least get a sense of what attendees were thinking.

What are the market’s goals?

Fresh food from local farmers

Bring in people to Troy / local sales

Support for healthy local food 1st

Quality foods / Support local farms / connect people in a vibrant space

Long term financial viability, growth with the city, [indiscernible] differentiation from competing markets in Saratoga & Schenectady

Be a food bridge / farm -> city / nutritional privileged -> less so

Can the market support Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun from 5/31–9/30?

Incubating new enterprises

Permanent year-round location with shelter from elements AND open air feel

Needs to support itself so it can pay for the space(s)

Remember that there are many supports to other values in city not accounted in “paying for the space

[other sticky note overlapped] a village-scale economic revitalization (depends on establishing satellite markets)

Vendor profitability

Grow and change slowly enough that failure is difficult

Be a heart of the city

Add space for public/private functions

Expand to include more exhibits / children’s activities

Ideally — an indoor/outdoor location as pictured

Increased quality of life for Troy residents, downtown businesses, and vendors + farmers

Attract visitors and residents to the city — encourage livability

Who are the market’s potential partners[*] and how can they help?

[*Obviously, anyone could write any entity down here, so it doesn’t mean the entity has actually signed on to help out.]

The city, obviously. After all, part of our current renewal is due to the market.

NYBDC / ENYA [?] / ESD

RPI Environmental Studies / Science — agriculture & global influence

RPI School of Architecture — vendor/street layout, circulation, & student impact

Local Architects — Mosaic Associates, 3tarchitects, architecture+ — design & spatial analysis

Rensselaer County Historical Society

The Arts Center of the Capital Region — shows/sales, craft market, classes

Other downtown vendors

Local medical — walk w/ a doc, yoga, healthy food [indiscernible]

Capital Roots — healthy community, outreach to assist food insecure population

Owners of unused spaces (eg: a few of Troy’s many unused churches) could be donated for this purpose)

CDTA

Russell Sage

Private/Public Partnerships will make the most sense

Collard City Growers

Unity House

Rensselaer County

NYS Ag & Markets

Agricultural Stewardship Association

Could the city of Troy run the trolley during the market to promote shopping in the city?

MVP or CDPHP? Marketing or financial support

Local businesses within the market footprint

What are your concerns & issues for the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market?

Parking & Access

Make “food” vendors permanent members of the 501(c)(3) organization

Keep it on River Street

We have the best market in the region. Don’t mess it up.

Maintain the festive, diverse, urban market environment of the current market on River Street, while working [?] on growth and a “permanent” market

I love the “[indiscernible]” I go to once a week. I’m terrified it will become a grocery store that is ignorable.

Recycling/composting efforts.

Must keep dog friendly

Also, dog control!

Not enough cost sharing among vendors. Need common fund for infrastructure.

Integrate move with nonprofits in the city.

Keep simple & basic.

Priority for local food.

Easy in & [overlapped, but looks like it says “out”] for customers & vendors

Emergency vehicles access within market footprint

I worry it will build [indiscernible] that puts it out of business.

Don’t ruin a great thing.

Change State Street to two-way traffic the whole length of it (to improve access to lower River St.)

Diversity — include more craft people

Public transit access

Improve utilities for vendors

Leaving footprint for growth of vendor count, a leading driver of market health and customer turnout

Public restroom

More space between vendors so it’s not congested

[re: dogs] loan & require 4' leashes. Ban thin cord retractable leashes.

A permanent home should not remove the market from River St.

Downtown location is key…on nice weather days.

Maintaining an architectural motif consistent with downtown Troy’s historic buildings

Farmers’ market not be overwhelmed by other markets

Change of location twice a year (indoor/outdoor) causes confusion for shoppers who don’t know

What if dramatically changing economic realities (due to peak oil, climate change, etc.) obviate prior experience?

A location on the river would be nice

Love outside

Where are the brown, the black, & the poor people?

How can a city that is broke be of any help with this project? What other sources are available?

Inclusive of entire downtown small businesses?

Blocking traffic to lower river Street

The majority of Trojans are too poor to shop at the market in its current form

Permanent location so customers can plan

I hope the market will always, or at least partially, remain sited on street space due to the unique and pleasant transformation of car-space.

Sustainability — don’t over-build, don’t reach beyond grasp

Allow traffic to drive around Rice Building

Wish it reflected more of the whole city + its citizens

What are your hopes & wishes for the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market?

To be bookended by the Uncle Sam Garage & State St. Garage

Drive & leave trucks & equipment [?]

Same location summer/winter

Have we had a market wedding yet? (Sounds like a marketing (sic) opportunity!)

More than 1 day/week

Add an additional weekday market

Book market & library component

Hoping it stays out on the street in summer/spring/fall & not inside a building

Encourage people’s link to waterfront via access to boat tours, kayak rentals, etc.

A few spaces kept for local nonprofits on rotation

Fri & Sat — indoor & outdoor place

Space for kids — the waterfront water sprout area is wonderful!

Keep it a working market. Not a yuppie or hipster paradise or “destination” [lol]

That it doesn’t lose its focus — to try to be everything to everyone. Local food first.

Keep the great attitude — fun/friends over bags of $$

Space for socializing & chairs

Reconfigure Atrium (remove central stair?) to make it more adaptable for market and other uses

That the market could appeal to the average (lower income) shopper

That they stay outside in the street

Keep growing / indoor/outdoor space / Connect with River St, river, park

Integrate with waterfront / Develop boat-based “booths” for outdoor season

Tai Chi / Qi Gong for kids and for 50–90

Expansion

A solar panel shed roof parking lot used as a market on weekends

Do not overstructure

Continue to focus on local food

To integrate smoothly w/ the future of 1 Monument Square as a central civic space

Wherever the vendors are best served for their needs. I’ll find them & buy

I would like to see multiple neighborhood markets. I hope they would stimulate economic revitalization on a village scale, therefore lead to less dependence on fossil fuels

I hope the market REMAINS CROWDED!

Market is too crowded!

I hope it grows. Inter-vendor competition is vital to this. Allowing more similar vendors may even lead to TFM as being known for something unique.

Continue outdoor musicians and add to tables for eating.

Many businesses are blocked off from traffic on Saturday

Whew! I’m not sure if all this points in any decisive direction, but I suppose it’s PPS’s responsibility to figure that out. I asked the market’s interim operations manager, Steve Ridler, about next steps, and he sent me this statement: “The Market will be working with PPS to review what they heard from the community workshop and other meetings and site visits. There will be follow up discussions with community groups and vendors to examine opportunities and issues that were identified.”

“The Market looks forward to hearing back from PPS as to how it should evolve successfully in the future,” the statement concluded.

This past summer, the market made a very public push to secure a place in the newest iteration of 1MSQ. It now seems that, while that option remains possible, the market is open to alternative ideas, too.

Other News

Brookses buy row house from Sage. Russ and Jody Brooks, who also own 155 River St., the future site of a long-planned boutique hotel, have purchased 37 First St. from The Sage Colleges for $560K, according to a deed filed with the county clerk’s office this month. “Jody and I are very pleased to be finally moving to Troy and living at 37 First,” Russ Brooks said in an email.

In a statement, the president of Sage, Christopher Ames, said the building was not currently being used by the college and that a “survey of our facilities identified it as a surplus property not contiguous to campus that would be better transferred to a performing asset.”

What changed in 1MSQ vision? I missed Monday’s meeting on the future of 1MSQ — this was separate and apart from the farmers market meeting discussed above — but I recommend reading All Over Albany’s writeup. We still don’t have any firm projections on cost or completion date. The renderings look very similar to what we were shown this past summer at the end of the three-day workshop. I asked Margaret Irwin, a member of the consultant team, to specify exactly what changed between then and now:

Lots of minor refinements and adding floors to the main building and making the restaurant a bit bigger based on developer feedback that they’d need more SF [square feet] to make a project work. Given that the public likes the size of the plaza any additional sf would need to be vertical […] We did not have a negative comment (expressed publicly at least) regarding the height ([eight] stories or about 15 feet higher than the apartment building across the street, lower than the monument and much lower than icons like the TSB [Troy Savings Bank Music Hall].) we consider that a maximum height.

There are four projects on next Tuesday night’s ZBA agenda, all of which are fairly minor.

FYI: Troy City School District BoE meeting videos are posted here. This seems like another area of undercovered city news, one that I intend to keep an eye on going forward.

Links

Churchill: Troy’s mistake could be a market opportunity (TU, 11/4). Next year is the Atrium’s 40th anniversary.

Recording: Troy cop disparages N. Greenbush chief, female witnesses (TU, 11/5)

RensCo GOP chairman blames vandalism on politics (TU, 11/6)

Here’s the new concept plan for 1 Monument Square in downtown Troy (AOA, 11/6)

Sage College’s new strategic plan to re-vision its identify (TR, 11/6). Here’s the college’s rationale for the plan, which essentially calls for Sage to become a single, coed institution, albeit one with two campuses. Among the purported benefits of this approach? “Increased housing occupancy in Troy,” per the rationale.

Rensselaer County Unofficial Election Results (RensCo BoE, 11/6)

For developers, ‘devil is in the details’ of One Monument Square [$] (ABR, 11/7). This features interviews with Sam Judge and Sonny Bonacio.

Rensselaer County DA-elect to consider office staffing (TU, 11/7)

Also, I wrote about a coffee operation that uses its proceeds to promote publicly financed elections for this month’s issue of Chronogram, a Hudson Valley magazine.

Events

See a Belle-Skinner / Girl Blue / Zan Strumfeld show tonight at SMCo. Alternatively, barhop with your downtown councilmember or celebrate Lucas Confectionery’s sixth anniversary. Tomorrow night: see jazz in North Central.

(Monday is Veterans Day, and city hall is closed.) Tuesday night, tell stories at the Ale House. Watch a documentary on NYPD whistleblowers Wednesday night at the Sanctuary. Or swap clothes at Psychedelicatessen. Thursday and Friday (11/16), see DESCENT at EMPAC.