The Syracuse City Common Council met in a study session to review a range of contracts, ordinance updates and program authorizations affecting parks, public safety, infrastructure and housing.

Councilors and department staff front‑loaded several operational and capital requests in advance of budget season, including fee changes for parks equipment rentals, purchase plans for fire apparatus, and new professional services contracts for climate planning and plan review.

The session covered many routine and policy items; staff sought permission or recommended ordinance changes but the transcript does not record council votes on the items discussed.

Syracuse Parks — bandwagon rental fee and event licenses
Commissioner Byrd (parks and recreation) said staff is proposing a higher daily rental charge for the city’s larger portable bandwagon and a new per‑day fee for a smaller unit newly acquired for community events. "We're raising the price of the current bandwagon that we have right now that's already out there in use in the community by $50, which basically covers the increase of labor and cost of delivery," Byrd said, noting overtime and additional staff are required for delivery, setup and safety checks. Byrd also presented park licensing agreements to allow copyrighted music at events, including separate license agreements with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and with a European stage authors society to permit movies and music in parks for the year.

Parks staff also asked to apply for a $10,000 American Trails grant to support seasonal trail stewards and maintenance and described a $100,000 asphalt‑art initiative planned for East Taylor Street in the Bloomingdale area.

Public safety — ambulance billing and fire apparatus
Mike Monza, Fire Chief, described a request to renew the city’s ambulance billing contract. "So the $75,000 is the ceiling that we should be spending per year. The 9% is for example, if, we bill somebody for a $100, the 9% is what we pay them for processing and handling all the paperwork," Monza said. He said the 9% fee is paid to the billing vendor out of ambulance reimbursements and $75,000 is a budget ceiling; any need to exceed that would be brought back for amendment.

Monza also summarized the department’s apparatus replacement plan, describing planned purchases: an aerial ladder (multi‑year delivery) and two fire engines. He said vehicles are replaced by mileage and use and that lead times range from about 36 to 48 months depending on the unit. He said replaced units typically serve as spares and are eventually auctioned.

Police — performer contract, psychological services and PAL photography
Sergeant Tom Blake, representing the Syracuse Police Department public relations team, requested authorization to contract with singer Sydney Irving (Sydney Irving Music LLC) to perform the national anthem at academy graduations and other events. Blake said Irving has performed for the city previously as a volunteer and that the city would compensate her for appearances when officers are unavailable.

Deputy Chief Julie Schulz presented a continuing services agreement with a psychologist (Dr. Norman Lehi) to provide evaluations for department members on an as‑needed basis. She noted the department also works with other clinicians for voluntary officer wellness and said staff would provide usage summary counts on request.

The department also sought a contract with a photographer to provide services for Police Athletic League events.

Public works and engineering — equipment, street‑cut ordinance and bridge activation
Anne Fordock, first deputy commissioner of DPW, explained an increase to a line item with 5 Star Equipment (the city’s John Deere dealer) to cover additional repairs to six wheel loaders. "Cost of repairs are getting higher plus aging equipment," she said.

Mary Robinson, city engineer, described an update to the street‑cut ordinance to add a right‑of‑way violation fee schedule and to modernize several provisions. "This is really to improve the condition of a right of way after excavation and help preserve the integrity of our infrastructure and hold our contractors accountable," Robinson said. She said enforcement would be a combination of DPW and engineering personnel and that the fee schedules are attached to the recommendation.

Eric Ennis (neighborhood and business development) described a proposal to combine two existing contracts for the downtown bridge activation project included in the city’s downtown revitalization initiative (DRI) grant so one prime contractor and one subcontractor would work in tandem; the change would also rescind earlier ordinances and cover additional surveying work tied to the project. Ennis said the railroad (New York, Susquehanna and Western) continues to operate across that bridge and the enhancements are being coordinated with separate railroad bridge work.

Planning and sustainability — climate action plan and monitoring well permit
Karina Freeland, sustainability planner, said the Division of Planning and Sustainability was awarded funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to produce a greenhouse‑gas emissions inventory and a climate action plan; staff recommended contracting with CNS for that work for a not‑to‑exceed amount of $99,896 through Oct. 31, 2026. "The work was advertised through the RFP process in October 2024," Freeland said.

Her office also requested authorization to continue a monitoring‑well permit with the New York State Department of Transportation for a small monitoring well in the Erie Boulevard median; staff characterized the annual fee as $100 and said the permit is required by work with state agencies.

Stormwater and right‑of‑way compliance
Robinson also presented the city’s annual membership renewal with the CNY Stormwater Coalition (managed by the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board) to support compliance with the city’s MS4 stormwater permit; the membership request was for up to $36,100 for the year.

Code enforcement and development support
Jake Dushaw, deputy commissioner of code enforcement and zoning administration, presented a request to authorize a roster of third‑party plan‑review vendors to supplement internal capacity and to provide expedited review lanes for applicants. He said the city has struggled to recruit plan reviewers and the $150,000 in the request would add external capacity for commercial building permit reviews.

Zoning and special permits
Dushaw also reviewed two special permit applications: a hot‑food expansion at the former Wilson Farms on James Street and a proposed mini‑storage facility at 639 East Seneca Turnpike. Dushaw said traffic impacts for the mini‑storage are expected to be minimal and committed to providing renderings and the traffic information to council members on request.

Housing and land bank items
Kimon Jordan, director of housing and neighborhood planning, presented a batch of properties (items 55–61) the city plans to transfer to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank after foreclosure processes are complete; staff removed one parcel from the list pending a tax‑trust payment. Kerry Quaglia, CEO of Home Headquarters, described a contract request to operate the city’s homebuyer assistance program to provide down‑payment and closing‑cost help and other flexible assistance for first‑time buyers; she said Home Headquarters had exhausted Federal Home Loan Bank funds and needs the city contract to continue support for new owner‑occupied construction and rehabilitation.

Utility billing adjustment
The finance commissioner presented an authorization request to reduce a high water bill for the Southwest Community Farm at 128 Bellevue after staff determined the spike was caused by a leak; finance sought to reduce the bill to a historical average.

What the council asked for next
Councilors requested follow‑up information on several items: a larger, readable fee schedule for the street‑cut ordinance, apparatus replacement specifics and anticipated unit retirements for the fire department, renderings and traffic details for the mini‑storage permit, the procurement/RFP materials for the third‑party plan‑review roster, and usage counts for police psychological services. Staff agreed to provide the requested documents and to convene committee meetings where appropriate.

The session concluded with motions to adjourn; the transcript does not contain recorded final votes on the items discussed.