Public Hearings, Science & Technology, Finance & Special Meeting
July 23, 2026 | Troy City Council
July 23, 2026 | Troy City Council
Two public hearings drew unanimous support for Local Law No. 4, a charter amendment that would rein in the mayor's emergency declaration power. Francis Sweet said a records request found documentation for only eight of the ten emergencies the mayor had declared: "So two of these were just completely made up," he said. The hearings followed the council's 7-0 vote on July 9 to override Mayor Mantello's attempt to block them. The Science & Technology Committee also closed out its review of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) moratorium, with a financial bond and stronger decommissioning rules still needed before a final ordinance, and Chair Struber flagged outdated ADA complaint forms on troyny.gov that may have left residents without a response.
The Finance Committee gave preliminary approval to the $50 million Monument Square development, approved a $125,000 downtown camera grant, and authorized a $15.5 million water system bond. Struber pressed police on how often the department's Clear data tool is audited, a concern residents echoed that evening at the Special Meeting over surveillance oversight.
Public Hearing #1 called to order at 5:17 p.m. All seven members present. Public Hearing #2 called to order at 5:30 p.m. Public Hearing clerk's minutes not yet published; proceedings from transcript.
Five speakers addressed the council on Local Law No. 4, a charter amendment that would replace the city's emergency declaration standard with language aligned with New York State Executive Law Article 2-B. Every speaker supported it.
Frankie, a Troy resident, called the mayor's emergency declarations a pattern of bypassing procurement rules and council oversight rather than responding to genuine crises. "We're wasting so much precious time on the mayor's fake emergency when thousands of Troy residents are facing actual emergencies," she said, citing housing, healthcare, and childcare costs.
Francis Sweet of District 6 catalogued ten declarations the mayor had issued, some announced only on Facebook with no other notice. A FOIL request turned up documentation for only eight. "So two of these were just completely made up," he said. His point: rules only work if everyone follows them, and Troy needs to close the gaps that let the mayor skip them.
Danielle Larose of District 18 joined online and said nothing in the administration's recent conduct gave her confidence the emergency power would not be abused again.
Bri Harrington of District 4 (10th Street) cited the $80,000 spent under the Flock camera emergency declaration. "We definitely could have used that $80,000 for other things." Noel Damash of District 2 (Oakwood Avenue) also spoke in support.
Committee called to order at 5:45 p.m. Council Members Struber, DiLorenzo, Favreau, Campbell-Cohen, and Council President Steele present. Science & Technology clerk's minutes not yet published; proceedings from transcript.
CivicPlus, the city's website host, can add two modules to bring troyny.gov into line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1): an audio management tool and a document accessibility platform called DocAccess. One-time cost: $22,910.80. Annual fee: $19,410.80, rising 5% in year two. Both are new expenses with no budget currently set aside for them.
The original compliance deadline was April 2026. A federal extension arrived one day before it came due. The new target is August.
Committee Chair Struber raised a more immediate problem: ADA complaint forms on troyny.gov have not been updated since 2017 and list a contact whose email may no longer be active. Any resident who filed an ADA grievance since the current administration took office may have received no response. Struber asked that those forms be corrected first.
The committee asked whether city departments could be trained to produce ADA-compliant PDFs before submitting content, easing the load on the city's two-person technology team, known as BIS. The administration said that was under consideration. The BIS team offered to arrange a CivicPlus demo so council members can evaluate the modules before a budget decision is made.
This was the third and final check-in under the BESS moratorium. Fire Chief DeWolf and Building Inspector Carlo Arzoumanian attended. Council Member McLaren also joined a recent fire department site visit.
Since the last meeting, Carlo connected with the Town of Warwick, which had a BESS fire in which one or two containers burned for four days. A school 200 yards from the site was evacuated. The suspected cause was water infiltration. The chief's concern is not the department's ability to manage an incident (Troy has the training) but the financial cost of a four-to-five-day, round-the-clock response.
Two additions remain before the departments are satisfied with the draft ordinance:
On setbacks: Carlo said a 500-foot requirement would effectively ban BESS in Troy, since almost no parcel could comply without a zoning variance. Setbacks should be proportionate to the facility's size and measured from the battery units themselves, not the fence line. A facility can sit 30 to 40 yards inside a property boundary, so the real distance from neighbors may be much smaller than the stated setback. Even one or two containers burning produces the same air contaminants as a full-facility fire.
State codes training for fire and building officials is set for approximately October 23. The goal: a sit-down meeting with the administration in coming weeks, draft legislation at the August Finance Committee, and a final vote in September.
Finance Committee called to order at 6:23 p.m. All seven members present. In attendance: Mayor Carmella Mantello, Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly, Commissioner of General Services Joe Mazzariello, Corporation Counsel Richard Morrissey, Comptroller Michael McNeff, Communications Director Alex Horton, developer Christian Luizzi, Chief of Police Daniel DeWolf, DA Mary Pat Donnelly, Officer David Dean, Andrew Golden, and Chris Arzoumanian. Approximately 15 members of the public attended.
The council voted on Resolution 74 first so members of Crab Garrison 1954 could be present for the ceremony without waiting through the rest of the agenda.
C.R.A.B. stands for Chorelli, Ray, Ares, and Bevino: four servicemen from South Troy killed in defense of the United States. Three died in World War II; one died in the Korean War. Their families and neighbors founded the organization in 1954 to make sure those four men would not be forgotten. The Crab Garrison building on Liberty Street was purchased from the city for $1, with a commitment to serve veterans and the community. The organization now has more than 400 members.
Mayor Mantello said she grew up remembering the Crab Club and other neighborhood organizations as thriving institutions. The clubs declined as the next generation stopped joining. Now they're coming back. Council President Steele told the crowd she received a Crab Club award when she graduated from Troy High in 1971.
Commander Josh spoke for the organization. "A street name becomes part of everyday life. People will travel this road. They'll look up. Perhaps they'll pause. They'll say: 'What is Crab Garrison 1954?'" He called that question the door into the organization's story.
The designation covers the portion of Liberty Street in front of the building. A formal dedication ceremony will be scheduled.
Greg Lion of Second Street asked the council to postpone Resolutions 77 and 78, both of which expand police surveillance technology. He said the council spent six months scrutinizing Flock and should not approve more surveillance tools without first passing legislation governing their use.
Frankie returned from the public hearings to raise concerns about Resolution 76 and the Troy Local Development Corporation. The deputy mayor is the TLDC's executive director, and its board includes political allies of the mayor. With no independent distance between the two entities, she said she could not see how the TLDC makes independent decisions on city real estate. She also said the public was not being told the full extent of any tax breaks or subsidies attached to these deals.
Francis Sweet of District 6 asked about the guardrails on Clear, the AI-driven social media monitoring tool funded by the GIVE grant. The grant documentation says monitoring covers not just suspects but their affiliates, family, and friends: people who have not committed any crime. He asked where it ends and who counts as an affiliate. He also asked why Resolution 78 named no vendor.
Christian Luizzi of Louisiana Properties presented the Monument Square project: roughly 40,000 square feet of office space and 51 apartments, priced above market rate. Total cost: $50 million. The project would be built to the same standard as Louisiana Properties' development across the river where the Starbucks building stands. Parking will exceed the initial estimate of 107 spaces.
The riverfront behind the building would be redesigned as public park space, donated to the city and maintained by the developer. New York State grant funding is essential to the project's finances. Council Member Favreau, a member of the ARPA steering committee, noted that $2 million in ARPA funds are also going toward it and asked whether spending that money by year-end was a concern. Luizzi said it was not.
At a previous public meeting, residents asked for a pharmacy, a public bathroom, a Trader Joe's, and a playground. Luizzi said the team recorded every suggestion and will respond to each as engineering and architecture work advances. Favreau, a former downtown resident, pushed hard for a playground: "downtown really needs one."
Resolution 76 is a preliminary approval only. A public hearing is required before any final sale of city-owned parcels to the TLDC can occur. Resolution 79 is the associated SEQRA Type II determination.
Chief DeWolf briefed the committee on the GIVE (Group Intervention Violence Enforcement) grant, now in its 13th year. It funds four positions: a field intelligence officer, an anti-violence coordinator, a non-fatal shooting sergeant, and a crime analyst, covering salary and benefits for all four. The total GIVE program runs about $1.2 million; this resolution covers the city's share.
Struber pressed the committee on Clear (Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting), a data aggregation tool in its second year with the department. Clear pulls public records, such as addresses, phone numbers, and prior associations, from multiple sources into one system. Five officers have access. Troy only queries Clear; it does not enter data into it. DeWolf said the main uses are fraud investigations and finding fugitives. Struber asked who audits access and how often. DeWolf said the field intelligence officer administers the system and that auditing exists, but he did not know how often it happens and offered to find out.
Anti-violence coordinator Carrie Hoover, a retired Troy officer, runs park walk-and-talks, community barbecues at the ICC, the Market, and Geneva-Pompy Park, and a quarterly parole re-entry call-in pairing recently released individuals with service providers. She also writes the grant and handles all reporting. The state's Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) publishes sanitized outcome data on its website.
The State and Municipalities (SAM) grant from DASNY will fund a $125,000 upgrade to the city's fixed downtown security cameras. The existing Eclipse cameras, installed roughly five years ago, have degraded to the point where footage is too grainy to hold up in court, a problem the DA's office flagged.
The upgrade covers 15 locations at downtown intersections. New cameras have pan, tilt, and zoom. Data is stored on city servers with local backups. No cloud storage, no facial recognition, no AI.
Struber moved an amendment naming Eclipse, a local vendor on state contract based off New Corner Road, in the resolution text. Corporation Counsel Morrissey added the language to the first "whereas" clause and the operative paragraph. The amendment passed with the resolution. DASNY has not made a final award; it requires council authorization before deciding.
The bond resolution authorizes up to $15.5 million for reconstruction of the city's water supply and distribution system. The authorization is required to apply for a state grant, the WE2 program; it is not a commitment to issue bonds at that level. The city's backup generator at the water plant dates to 1999 and would be replaced as part of the project. The system runs at 4,160 volts, too high for solar or battery backup.
The council designated the portion of Rensselaer Street west of River Street as Super 400 Way, honoring the 30-year career of the Troy band that has been active since 1996.
Struber said she researched the band after seeing the designation fall in her district and realized she had watched them accept an award at the Eddies in 2023. Favreau has followed Super 400 for 10 to 15 years, printed their merchandise, and taken piano lessons at their downtown studio. "A lot of the things they're putting on is free," she said, and encouraged residents to check out the Troy Music Academy. Council Member Spain-McLaren noted that guitarist Kenny's late mother, Bonnie, was her mother-in-law's first cousin. Troy is a small town.
Special Meeting called to order at 7:39 p.m. All seven members present. Same administration attendance as Finance.
Francis Sweet raised a pointed discrepancy: the GIVE grant documentation focuses on violent crime, but Chief DeWolf had emphasized fraud in his Finance presentation. He read a comment submitted by another resident: "If you spent six months establishing that Flock data sharing needed democratic oversight, why are you rubber-stamping a grant that funds a more invasive tool with zero local use policy attached?"
Greg Lion asked when results from the Flock 60-day and 120-day audit windows, which he said had already passed, would be made public.
All items passed 7-0. All seven members present. Votes verified against clerk's minutes (_07232026-1853). Items marked † also adopted at the Special Meeting.
| # | Full Title | Sponsors | Notes | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Res. 74 † | Resolution for Honorary Street Renaming of a Portion of Liberty Street as "C.R.A.B. Garrison Way" | Steele, Spain-McLaren, McKee (Admin.) | Voted first so Crab Garrison members could attend ceremony; formal dedication to follow | 7-0 |
| Ord. 32 | Ordinance Amending the 2026 General Fund Budget | Steele (Admin.) | Finance only | 7-0 |
| Ord. 33 † | Ordinance Amending the 2026 General Fund Budget | Steele, Spain-McLaren, McKee (Admin.) | 7-0 | |
| Res. 76 † | Resolution Determining That Certain City-Owned Parcels of Real Property Are Not Required for Use by the City and Preliminarily Approving the Future Sale of the Parcels to the Troy Local Development Corporation Pursuant to an Option Agreement and Requiring a Public Hearing to Be Held Thereon | Steele (Admin.) | Preliminary only; public hearing required before final sale; Monument Square project | 7-0 |
| Res. 77 | Resolution Accepting a Grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Under the GIVE Initiative and Authorizing the Mayor to Enter into a Contract and Execute Documents Related to the Grant on Behalf of the City | Steele (Admin.) | Includes Clear data aggregation tool (5 users; fraud and fugitive apprehension); Finance only | 7-0 |
| Res. 78 | Resolution Accepting a State and Municipalities ("SAM") Grant in the Amount of $125,000 from the New York State Dormitory Authority ("DASNY") and Authorizing the Mayor to Enter into a Grant Disbursement Agreement ("GDA") and Execute Documents Related to the Grant on Behalf of the City | Steele (Admin.) | Amended to name Eclipse as downtown CCTV vendor (Struber); Finance only | 7-0 |
| Res. 79 † | Resolution Determining That Proposed Action Is a Type II Action for Purposes of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act | Steele, Campbell-Cohen (Admin.) | SEQRA determination for Monument Square | 7-0 |
| Res. 80 † | Bond Resolution of the City of Troy, New York, Authorizing the Issuance of $15,500,000 Serial Bonds to Finance the Cost of the Reconstruction of the City Water Supply or Distribution System | Steele, Campbell-Cohen (Admin.) | Required for WE2 grant eligibility; not a commitment to issue full amount | 7-0 |
| Res. 81 | A Resolution to Commemorate the 30-Year Career and Contributions of the Band "Super 400" to the Troy Community by Designating the Portion of Rensselaer Street West of River Street as "Super 400 Way" | Steele, Struber (Admin.) | Finance only | 7-0 |
All items passed 7-0. All seven members present. Votes verified against clerk's minutes (_07232026-1856).
| # | Full Title | Sponsors | Notes | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ord. 33 | Ordinance Amending the 2026 General Fund Budget | Steele, Spain-McLaren, McKee (Admin.) | Final adoption | 7-0 |
| Res. 74 | Resolution for Honorary Street Renaming of a Portion of Liberty Street as "C.R.A.B. Garrison Way" | Steele, Spain-McLaren, McKee (Admin.) | 7-0 | |
| Res. 76 | Resolution Determining That Certain City-Owned Parcels of Real Property Are Not Required for Use by the City and Preliminarily Approving the Future Sale of the Parcels to the Troy Local Development Corporation Pursuant to an Option Agreement and Requiring a Public Hearing to Be Held Thereon | Steele (Admin.) | Requires subsequent public hearing | 7-0 |
| Res. 79 | Resolution Determining That Proposed Action Is a Type II Action for Purposes of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act | Steele, Campbell-Cohen (Admin.) | 7-0 | |
| Res. 80 | Bond Resolution of the City of Troy, New York, Authorizing the Issuance of $15,500,000 Serial Bonds to Finance the Cost of the Reconstruction of the City Water Supply or Distribution System | Steele, Campbell-Cohen (Admin.) | 7-0 |