Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 28, dated March 29, 2019.



Hey, everyone. In this issue: a roundup of zoning board news, depositions in the Thevenin lawsuit, the revival of the city council's sustainability task force, and much more.



A little update: Troy Letter has nearly 700 free subscribers and



On Monday, I mailed via USPS all but one of the remaining TL-branded tote bags (with a magnet) to TL's earliest patrons. If you were due to receive one and didn't, please let me know. New patrons at or above $5/month, until I reach 200, are entitled to a magnet, which I am mailing via USPS on a rolling basis. (Feel free to email me if you haven't received one within a reasonable time frame.) Thank you again for your support!

. In this issue: a roundup of zoning board news, depositions in the Thevenin lawsuit, the revival of the city council's sustainability task force, and much more.A little update: Troy Letter has nearly 700 free subscribers and 114 patrons on Patreon , who, by committing to making a payment of $2 to $15 per month (that's the current range; most give $5), help to keep this project ongoing, discoverable/shareable, and free of advertisements. My goal is to reach 200 patrons, which would likely mean I'd earn a little less than $1,000/month from this work.On Monday, I mailed via USPS all but one of the remaining TL-branded tote bags (with a magnet) to TL's earliest patrons. If you were due to receive one and didn't, please let me know. New patrons at or above $5/month, until I reach 200, are entitled to a magnet, which I am mailing via USPS on a rolling basis. (Feel free to email me if you haven't received one within a reasonable time frame.) Thank you again for your support!

Tuesday's ZBA Meeting

Thevenin Lawsuit Depositions

Madden on WOOC

Other News

(McCann absent).—in essence a detached expansion of the existing, multi-building Hudson Terrace Apartments complex—The project developer had administratively appealed to the ZBA, which last year approved area variances related to road frontages and density for the project, after the planning commission denied its site plan application this past January. The planning commission, according to the developer, erred in issuing this denial because it was "based on the density of [the] project," effectively undercutting the prior ruling by the ZBA.(Thursday night, the planning commission, following a short executive session, tabled the proposal "pending third-party engineering review." The commission did not solicit oral public comments on the project but invited interested parties to submit written comments to the planning department.), the new outfit based at 40 Springwood Ave. covered in TL26 . The approval is contingent on the farmers not using synthetic chemicals or "raw manure" as fertilizer. They will also not be permitted to raise livestock.(at the corner of Adams and Third streets). Phil Farinacci, who has already completed two such conversions downtown (and lives with his family in one ), is undertaking the project on behalf of the property owner., which has a power-purchase agreement with the city,. An April 2018 press release from the mayor's office said this expansion was "expected to be completed" by the end of that year.As it so happened, earlier that day (Tuesday), the ABR reported , citing a lawsuit filed Monday, that Pioneer Bank was "seeking to foreclose on a $3 million mortgage that helped finance Monolith Solar's failed headquarters in Bethlehem." I asked the company's CEO, Chris Stroud, who attended the ZBA meeting, about this news."We don't really have any comment on that," Stroud said. "We have already made public statements regarding that building and are heading down a path that we feel is very positive for our business, and plan to continue down that path." He said the company is "very excited" about the Troy landfill expansion project, which it expects "to happen within 2019."As the TU reported in an article on Troy police detective sergeant Randall French , the city of Troy recently filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit brought against it by the widow of Edson Thevenin , the man who French shot and killed on the Collar City Bridge after the DWI suspect fled a traffic stop in his vehicle.The city's motion for summary judgment is accompanied by a trove of depositions, including multiple ones given by French, that detail what allegedly happened before, after, and during the night of the shooting, April 17, 2016.French first took note of Thevenin's vehicle (technically registered to Thevenin's wife) after it made a wide turn onto Congress St. from Sixth Ave., French testified. The car then turned onto Fourth St. and parked on the right side of the street (Thevenin was apparently getting pizza). French pulled over farther north on the same street and reviewed information in his mobile data terminal regarding the car's license plate.French then drove around the block, saw the Thevenin's vehicle was still in the same place, then drove away. French ended up in the county office building's parking lot, where he remained for a few minutes. Then he was called to a house party in North Central or Lansingburgh. En route, he again encountered Thevenin, who was turning north onto Sixth Ave. from Fulton St.Around the time the two vehicles crossed Federal St., still heading northbound, French tried to pass Thevenin in the left lane to get to the party call, he testified, but Thevenin twice or thrice (unintentionally, as far as French could tell) swerved into his lane, at which point the sergeant pulled the motorist over. A description of what followed in their interaction (according to French) starts here , on page 157 of French's first deposition.The other depositions made public are those of (i) Captain Matthew Montanino , who pulled Thevenin from his vehicle after the shooting; (ii) Officer David Dean , who drove French to Albany Medical Center after the incident; and (iii & iv) two civilian motorists who happened upon the scene (here’s one and the other )."In essence, this action by Plaintiffs impermissibly seeks to second guess the split-second decisions which Sergeant French was compelled to make in the early morning hours of April 17, 2016, all through the 'vision of 20/20 hindsight,'" the city and French argued in a memo of law accompanying their motion for summary judgment The plaintiff must respond to the defendants's motion by April 2, according to the public court docket.Mayor Madden again sat for an interview with the Hudson Mohawk Magazine , the nightly, largely volunteer-produced news hour broadcast on WOOC 105.3 FM, the Sanctuary for Independent Media's low-power radio station.The mayor said he is still working with corporation counsel and the police chief to review current case law that relates to the proposed sanctuary city resolution, something he mentioned to WAMC back in January . (I had suggested HMM, on which I appear regularly, ask for an update on this. It seems like this review is taking a while!)The mayor also discussed the changes to parking downtown, downtown surveillance cameras, council president Mantello's contention that part of the funds allocated toward the zoning overhaul should instead be spent on those cameras or fixing potholes (I suggested this question), and the future of recycling. Listen to the first part of the interview here ; the remainder has not yet been posted online., a vacant, two-story building next to Jack's Auto Parts in North Central, after the project's contractor discovered "a monster of a problem with the masonry," TCLB executive director Tony Tozzi said at a board meeting on Wednesday night. The board had awarded a contract to Gallo Construction for the project earlier this year, as reported in TL19 "The contractor actually said, 'We don't feel safe working here,'" said Tozzi, who now believes it would be better to demolish the structure and build a new home in its place. The board did not vote Wednesday on any change of plans. Tozzi credited the contractor for its candor, given that it may result in the cancellation of the contract., the building that was relocated by Stewart's (and donated to TCLB) and that has been characterized as the best-quality home TCLB has ever acquired. The board delayed authorizing a potential sale on Wednesday night to allow for more time to receive proposals., the city's former economic development coordinator and a current board member of the Troy Public Library,—"a unique attraction in the Capital Region and a pivotal hub in Troy’s innovation district," Kennedy said in an email. "I’ve always been a huge fan of the Center of Gravity and am delighted for the opportunity to participate in the continued growth of the organization." People intrigued by TVCoG may attend a weekly Tuesday Social Night (6:30 P.M.), call for a private tour, or visit its website to join as a member., which was created in 2014 but "has been largely inactive since then," according to a press release. The body "is empowered to audit and advise the City on energy, waste, efficiency, and climate related issues," the city code states. If interested, send a cover letter and resume to the city clerk (cityclerk@troyny.gov). The council expects to announce its picks by April 21.On January 16, the PBA "filed a grievance on behalf of Comitale claiming that he was entitled to a payment of accrued but unused vacation time, compensatory time and personal time at the time of his resignation, under the terms of the [collective bargaining agreement]," even though Comitale had already, by executing a settlement agreement, "waived any and all rights to any salary and/or benefits supplied by the City upon his resignation," according to a petition recently filed by the city in state Supreme Court. After police chief Brian Owens denied the grievance, arguing that the PBA lacked standing, and after Mayor Patrick Madden upheld the chief's determination on appeal, the PBA filed its demand for arbitration this month.In July 2016, Brothers fell 20 feet from a ledge while trespassing at the city-owned, abandoned Leonard Hospital."All said, there is simply no question that the defendant City had actual notice of the dangerous condition, and attractive nuisance, of the abandoned former Leonard Hospital," Justice Zwack wrote. "Instead of effectively abating the hazards the property presented, or demolishing the vacant building, the City persisted in repeating the same inadequate measures—such as repeatedly placing plywood over the same windows that was repeatedly removed by trespassers—thus failing to properly secure the property. It was not until the plaintiff's injury that a fence was erected around the property."