Council of
Albany
Neighborhood Associations
Meeting
Minutes –
October
2, 2002
Albany
Public Library
- Howard
Stoller, CANA Chair, called the meeting to order.
- Introductions
- Minutes
– Minutes of the
September 4 2002
, meeting were corrected to indicate that
Julie Elson’s address is 510 (not 50)
West Lawrence Street
and Mary Connair represents the Delaware
Area (not Avenue) Neighborhood Association.
- Guest
Speakers: Director David
Casciotti and Monique Wahba, Sr. Planner, of
the Albany City Division of Planning presented information and answered
questions about citywide and neighborhood planning initiatives.
- Arbor
Hill – The residents, city staff, business owners, and consultants who
make up The Arbor Hill Neighborhood Advisory Committee continue to
communicate their concerns, visions and needs at regular meetings and
design workshops. From those
workshops and meetings a neighborhood is being developed.
One or more public meetings will be held later this year to
communicate the Committee’s recommendations.
Subsequent to that, a draft of the plan will be presented and
revised in preparation for a final report.
Following that, implementation plans will be addressed.
- South
End – Several projects are underway in the South end such as work on the
Pastures project, renovation of several residences in the Mansion
neighborhood, and work on
South Pearl Street
. These
projects are the result of the collective work of residents, city
officials, business owners and community leaders.
- Waterfront
Development: The
Hudson River
waterfront is an asset to the entire
city, not just the neighborhoods surrounding it.
If wisely developed, it has the potential to benefit the economy of
the city. The present
Waterfront Revitalization Program calls for developing the waterfront from
the core outward. With the
completion of the pedestrian bridge connecting the downtown area to the
riverbank, the City will now concentrate its efforts to develop the North
Albany Waterfront Plan. The
City has applied to
New York
State
for funds to investigate the feasibility
of developing a marina in that area, which is the basin of the
Erie Canal
. The
State has not yet responded to the request.
Construction of housing in the neighborhoods along the banks of the
river is being considered. Whether
or not it will include a living history site is questionable.
Such a project is under the authority of
New York
State
.
- Accessibility
of Information: Maps and plans
for the Waterfront Revitalization are available.
Additionally, descriptions and progress reports of several
development plans are available on the City’s website.
- Downtown
Development Plan: The City is
awaiting the authority to fund this plan.
- Harriman
Campus: The City is involved
with
New York
State
’s in plans to convert the campus from government offices to a
research and development facility. Of
particular concern is the impact the conversion will have on city services
such as water, infrastructure, etc. and the access residents will have to
the site for recreational purposes.
-
University Heights
: The
City is not currently involved in planning in that area.
- Upper
New Scotland Avenue
: The
City is awaiting funds for the preservation of some areas in that
neighborhood before beginning to implement the current plan.
- Master
Plan:
Albany
does not have a master development plan.
The concept of municipal planning is a somewhat new concept to the
city, and presently the needs of each area/neighborhood are addressed and
implemented separately. The
City planning office is responsible for implementation of the plans it
develops.
- The
Home Store Involvement: The
staff of the Albany Home Store works cooperatively with city planners in
the development and revitalization of all neighborhoods.
Presently they are seeking a grant to develop procedures and
concepts to find buyers who
will renovate residences, small
businesses and commercial/residential combinations.
The income requirement for potential buyers has been expended to
encourage homeownership and development in the city.
The staff of The Home Store will be attending and participating in
neighborhood association meetings to give information and guidance to
potential investors. Members
expressed an interest in the possibility of expanding residential
development programs to include the conversion of larger buildings to
condominiums. This is a
particularly desirable and
practical solution to the potential increase in
Albany
’s population that will result from the building of the SEMATECH
facility and the number of individuals who will be hired to work at the
Harriman Campus site. Home
Store staff indicated the funds are not presently available for such
development.
4.
Communications and Announcements
a.
County
Executive
Breslin has requested the opportunity to speak to
CANA
on
November 6, 2002
. Mary
Witkowski will be contacted to schedule this or another date for the Executive
to speak.
b.
As of
September 23 2002
,
CANA
’s account balance at Charter One bank -
$1,453.29: +$.63 interest; - $26.65 stamps.
c.
The four individuals running for
election to the school board have been invited to participate in a candidates’
forum sponsored by
CANA
on
October 16, 2002
, at
7 PM
at the Albany Public Library Main Branch.
The Chairman will forward an announcement of the event after responses
have been received from all candidates.
d.
Amy Schindler, a new resident of
the Pine Hills Neighborhood, presented information about the M.E. Grenander
Department of Special Collections and Archives located at the
SUNY
Albany
Library
Building
. The
Department’s services of organizing, cataloging, preserving and archiving
written, videotaped, photographed and recorded materials are available to
CANA
and all neighborhood associations. Associations
interested taking advantage of this service may contact the Department at
437-3935. It was announced that
CANA
records five or more years old are forwarded to
the Albany Institute of History and Art for archiving.
e.
A resolution was adopted that the
Albany Common Council be notified of the present procedures of the Albany Zoning
Board and requesting that the Council address the situation.
Presently the public is not notified of Zoning Board meetings or the
scheduled appearance of any individual or group; there is either no agenda or no
agenda available; no records of meetings are available; there is no microphone
at the meetings that would enable attendees to hear the proceedings; and the
Board will not take questions from attendees.
5.
Committee Reports
a.
Committee on University and
Community Relations – Tom Gebhardt,
in light of the recent disturbance on
Hudson Avenue
, and the Committee and SUNY Albany
administrators are pursuing the possibility of the member universities being
notified of mischievous or illegal behavior of students off campus.
Procedures for disciplining students for such acts are being reviewed as
well. The condition of buildings in
that neighborhood is of concern and several may not have CO’s or ROP’s.
Enforcement of that situation is being pursued.
The Committee is in contact with landlords in that area, and notifies
property owners when they know in advance of a party or large gathering planned
in their building.
b.
Neighborhood Works Planning
Committee – Gene Solan
The Neighborhoods Work III Conference will be held
on
Saturday, November 23, 2002
from
9 AM
to
3 PM
at the
First
Lutheran
Church
,
646 State Street
. One of the themes of the workshops
will be to call for more planning and “bottoms up: approach to identifying and
addressing needs in
Albany
. Paul Bray will deliver the
keynote address and present information about how to partner.
The Quality of Life surveys will be converted to a useful document to
identify needs and strategies.
Albany
Law
School
has agreed to provide facilitators for the workshops.
The City of
Albany
has accepted the Committee’s invitation to participate; representatives of
New York
State
have not yet responded.
c.
Community Police Council
–
The last meeting was held on September 12.
Information about the term and procedures for “amber alert” were
presented, and the objectives of the Council were reviewed.
The meeting adjourned at
8:46 PM
.
CANA
MONTHLY MEETING
October 2, 2002
Attendees
