August 2025 Corning City Council Citizen's Report

A Citizen’s Report

on

A Meeting of the Corning City Council

August 4, 2025

The Council for the City of Corning, New York held its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Council Chambers, Civic Center Plaza, Corning, New York. 

All Councilmembers attended the meeting except Councilmembers Muccini and Coccho. Counting City of Corning employees, nine members of the public were in the audience.

Committee Reports - New Executive Director of Corning’s Gaffer District

The New Executive Director to the Gaffer District is Catherine Price. She is moving to Corning from Geneva, where she has been, for three years, executive director of the Geneva Business Improvement District (BID). 

Background:

According to news reports, Catherine Price will officially start at the position of Executive Director of the Gaffer District on Aug. 11, taking the place of long-time Executive Director Coleen Fabrizi, who retired in June. Prior to her position at the Geneva BID, Price worked for FLX Hospitality, opening Quincy Exchange and Provisions, on Market Street.

A Saratoga County native, Catherine Price is a graduate of Hollins University, and veteran of the wine industry. She is a sommelier by training and has worked for Two For Seven and Roanoke Valley Wine Co. Joining the Geneva BID as its events coordinator, she spearheaded successful Cruisin’ Night and Garlic Festival events. The BID promoted her to executive Director when the position opened. 

News reports say that she brings experience in analyzing performance, increasing productivity and profitability, and training managers. These reports also tout her proven record of leadership, her passion for downtown revitalization, and her remarkable ability to cultivate strong public-private partnerships.

Visitors’ Comments – Public Art in Corning

Alisa Brown appeared representing the Corning Public Art, Incorporated. She shared that the Internal Revenue Service granted Corning Public Art 501 (c)(3) status in June 2025. “This is the first big hurtle, and now we will be filling out the board of directors, fundraising, and selecting our first project,” Ms. Brown said. Corning Public Art hopes to unveil the project by next year’s Glassfest. 

Ms. Brown also thanked the Council, the Mayor, the City Manager, and the Planning & Economic Development Director, Jen Miller, for their support of the Public Art Committee and the Public Art Strategy. With their continuing support, Ms. Brown pledged on behalf of the corporation to move forward to bring more public art to Corning.

Old Business - Adopting a Master Plan for the Civic Center Plaza

At its July 7, 2025, meeting the Council tabled the resolution to adopt a master plan for the Civic Center Plaza when there were not enough Councilmembers prepared to vote to establish a voting quorum. 

Councilmember ReSue asked if anything arising from this master plan will come back to the Council for approval. City Manager Ryckman said that the primary purpose of the master plan is to support applications for funding. The plan itself is multi-tiered. Infrastructure improvements will come first. Then capital improvements. Then art. All this requires funding which, in today’s budgetary world, entails grant approval. These will all come back to the Council for action. 

After this discussion, the Council unanimously approved the plan.

New Business - Amending the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget

When adopting its Fiscal year 2026 budget in June, the Council used estimates of the State of New York’s contribution to Corning’s street and highway projects. Now, because the New York State budget increased the amount of funding available for its Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), the Council needs to revise the city’s budget accordingly.

Previously, the budget estimated state aid to be $557,746. The state budget approved $607,715. The Council’s action today, amending its FY 2026 budget, incorporates the increase in state funding.

New Business – Authorizing the Creation and Funding of an Environmental Reserve Fund from proceeds of Class Action Litigation.

Background:

In December of 2023, the Council authorized the City Manager to enter a contract for legal services with the Law Office of Robert King PLLC and Stag Liuzza LLC to represent the City of Corning in AFFF/PFAS litigation.

AFFF stands for Aqueous Film-Forming Foam. PFAS stands for per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance. Fire departments have used AFFF containing PFAS for decades in suppressing fires or in fire suppression training. State Attorneys General, municipalities, and water utility entities as well as individuals have brought court claims against the product manufacturers, most prominently 3M and Dupont, which involve allegations of harm to water supplies, the environment, and firefighting personnel due pollution from or exposure to PFAS-containing AFFF. Claims include requests for medical monitoring, property damage and other economic loss. Some claims involve allegations that exposure to PFAS-containing AFFF causes certain types of cancer.as well as other diseases.

There are many thousands of current lawsuits involving PFAS-containing AFFF. With so many cases pending, the federal courts combined the lawsuits into one multidistrict litigation (MDL). The City of Corning engaged counsel to protect its interests in the MDL or to pursue other relief.

3M and Dupont, among other defendants, have agreed to pay $10.3 billion to resolve the municipality cases. The City of Corning has trace levels of PFAS in its municipal water supply far below the state standards, but these levels still entitle the city to funds from the litigation. 

The Council unanimously agreed to accept the first settlement payment to the city for $54,566. With these funds, the Council also established a new reserve fund called the Environmental Infrastructure Reserve Fund.

New Business – Authorizes Disposal of Surplus Equipment

The Council authorized the City Manager to dispose of surplus vehicles, equipment and supplies by sealed bid, auction, or inter-municipal transfer.

Background: 

While sales of surplus equipment are common, inter-municipal transfers are not. Intermunicipal transfers are ones which occur between municipalities or other governmental entities, like the Community College, to help each other. These are not internal transfers among the city’s departments, and they do not happen often.

New Business- Approves the Express: Free Community Dance and Jam

The Council authorized this event at the Civic Center Ice Arena on August 23, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mr. Ryckman said that the event will be alcohol free.

Visitors’ Comments

Amy Miller, a citizen who appeared at the July meeting to voice several concerns appeared again. She said that she received the letter promised her at the last meeting. She felt dismissed by the letter. She reiterated her concern for the poorly marked crosswalk on Park Avenue, which motorists routinely ignore.

She acknowledged that the city did deal with one of her prior issues and the city also claimed that it will consider situation at the crosswalk in upcoming planning. But she feels that the danger posed to pedestrians at the crosswalk can’t await action at some unknown future date. She feels that the city can do small things right now to make the crosswalk safer, such as painting the faded crosswalk markings. She also pointed out that there are no signs announcing the crosswalk to vehicles approaching it from the south, while there are two signs doing so for northbound vehicles.

She also expressed wonder that the city dismissed her concern for the weeds surrounding the pond at Denison Park, which she feels restricts the use of the pond and poses a danger. The city said that it cannot cut the weeds within three feet of the pond’s edge. This doesn’t make sense to her.

Ms. Miller asked for guidance about who she can talk to about these situations and what more she and other concerned citizens can do about these safety hazards. Mayor Boland promised a response from the city.

The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.

NOTES

• The writer of this report has presented items in an order different than the order at the meeting. 

• The writer has, except as specifically noted, amended, or cut comments and attribution for them. Unless the writer uses quotation marks anything reported is not verbatim.

• For brevity, the writer has not included all items on the agenda of the meeting. 

• The writer has added material for context or clarity and where it is extensive, is in italics and labeled “Background.”