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. Counting City of Corning employees,
twenty members of the public were in the audience.
New Business – Redistricting
On March 7, 2022, the Corning City Council created a Citizens “Representation”
Committee (Citizens Committee) of five Corning residents to:
“Evaluate the current City of Corning Ward boundary lines and make a
recommendation to the City Council for possible changes to the City Charter
for Ward boundaries to assure equity in representation throughout the City of
Corning. [And] to reestablish equity of representation in the City of Corning.”
The Citizens Committee met seven times from March 2022 to May 2023 to consider
this and other charges (addressed in the next New Business item, below). After
meeting with eight of the nine Councilmembers in a Council Workshop and after
receipt and consideration of a synopsis of Councilmember views dated May 11,
2023, the Citizen’s Committee recommended to the City Council that it adopt a
resolution:
(i) Suspending further consideration by the Committee of its redistricting
charge; and
(ii) Charging the Committee to reconvene on a date certain, namely
January 12, 2026, to begin reevaluating plans to redistrict the council wards
of the City of Corning in a manner conforming with NYS Municipal Home Rule
Law § 10(13) as then constituted; and
(iii) Requesting that the Committee report its recommendations to the City
Council no later than June 1, 2026.
At this meeting, the City Council considered a resolution to amend the Citizen’s
Committee original charge as follows:
Postpone further consideration of redistricting until reconvening on January
12, 2026, to begin reevaluating plans to redistrict the council wards of the
City of Corning, and to entertain making further recommendations on such.
Councilmember ReSue offered a motion to remove the pending resolution from
Council consideration and to dissolve the Citizens Committee. The motion was
seconded by Councilmember Coccho.
Councilmember ReSue stated his rationale: There is no assurance of who will be on
the Citizens Committee in January 2026. There is no assurance of who will be on
the City Council at that time. No one knows what the City of Corning will look like
in 2026. Therefore, there is no need to “hold onto this committee” for three years.
Mayor Boland believes that the rationale for the recommendation of the Citizen’s
Committee, and for the proposed resolution that Councilmember ReSue hopes to
remove from consideration, is to assure that redistricting is not lost track of, but to
bring it back to a committee, which has already done much work, at a date certain.
He explained that appointment to the Citizens Committee is indefinite in duration,
but any members unwilling or unable to serve at that time will be replaced using
the ordinary process of the Council.
Councilmember Paterson asks whether the Council could just bring redistricting
back up anyway regardless of what happens to the resolution. It seemed to be the
consensus that it could.
Councilmember Clark stated that the designation of a date two and one-half years
away to reconsider redistricting is to accommodate the concerns of
Councilmembers. Certain housing projects are underway in the City that may have
a material effect on ward populations. The date may ensure that these are
completed before the matter is brought back.
After further discussion, the motion to remove the pending resolution from Council
consideration and to dissolve the Citizens Committee failed on a vote of five nays,
and 4 ayes. Councilmembers ReSue, Coccho, Hunt and Muccini all voted aye.
Thereafter the original resolution passed by a vote of six ayes and three nays.
Councilmembers ReSue Coccho, and Muccini voted nay.
For a copy of the Citizens Committee’s written recommendation containing an
explanation of its rationale, please email a request to paulebeltoft@gmail.com.
New Business – Mayor’s Term of Office
On March 7, 2022, a resolution was presented to the Corning City Council to create
a Citizens “Representation” Committee (Citizens Committee) of five Corning
residents to: “Evaluate and recommend to the City Council any changes to the Mayor’s
Term of office.” At the Council’s March 7, 2022, meeting, an amendment to this charge was offered and accepted which added the words “…and term limits.” to the end of the charge.
Thereafter the resolution, as amended, was passed.
The Citizens Committee met seven times from March 2022 to May 2023 to consider
this and other charges (addressed in the preceding New Business item, above). It
recommended to the City Council that: The term of Office of the Mayor be four-years, effective for the Mayor’s term commencing in January of 2026, and that a Local Law be developed for City Council consideration to change the City Charter to effect these changes.
No limit on the number of terms be established for the Office of Mayor. At this meeting, the Council considered a resolution to “enable the City Council, at its discretion, to further consider the [citizens]committee’s recommendation in the form of a Local Law.” The resolution further requested that the City Attorney develop a local law to implement the Citizens Committee’s recommendation.
Councilmember Resue stated his agreement with the substance of the resolution
but asked that the Citizens Committee’s Memorandum to Mayor Boland entitled
“Committee Resolutions/Rationale” dated May 22, 2023, be added to the minutes of
this meeting. Mayor Boland directed that this be done. Thereafter the resolution passed
unanimously.
For a copy of the Citizens Committee’s written recommendation containing an
explanation of its rationale, please email a request to paulebeltoft@gmail.com.
New Business - the Council Unanimously:
Authorized the City Attorney to stipulate to a refund of: $32,928 representing adjustments for tax years 2019 through 2023 to Rite Aid Corporation because of the settlement of its petition to reassess its property at 100 Conhocton Street, Corning; $6,275.84 representing adjustments for tax year 2022 to Corning Federal Credit Union because of the settlement of its petition to reassess its property at 1 Credit Union Plaza, Corning; and $376.55 representing adjustments for tax year 2022 to 207 WPS LLC because of the settlement of its petition to reassess its property at 207 West Pulteney, Corning.
Transferred $24,000 from the City’s contingency fund for tree stump removal. This will enable the City to hire a private contractor to remove 119 stumps in the City and “catch up” with the removal project that fell behind due to the current staffing level of the Public Works Department.
Appointed Councilmembers Clark, Telehaney and Coccho to be members of the Surplus Land Disposition Committee to deal with an undetermined number of parcels of City land that are currently unused and appear to be surplus to the needs of the City. Fifteen such parcels have been identified. As the process of review continues, this number may grow. The current fifteen are described as “scraps of property” by the City Manager. Councilmember ReSue inquired about the process. Mayor Boland and the City Manager explained that the Committee will make a recommendation about which currently unused parcels the City should keep and which it should dispose of. The Council will then consider the Committee’s work and pass a resolution regarding the disposition of unused properties to be disposed of. Then the legal status of each piece of property to be disposed of will be researched by the City Attorney to determine what needs to be done to achieve the desired ends of the disposition. That will take some time. Each time a particular parcel’s review is finished, and the most proper disposition arrived at, it will come back to the Council for consideration. If approved, the City Manager will be in charge of assuring disposition in the manner intended.
Reappointed Robert Avvampato and Richard P. Puccio to the Loan Committee for a term expiring June 30, 2025.
Appointed Jan Harvey to the Loan Committee for a term expiring June 30, 2025.
Permitted Alcohol consumption for the: United Steelworkers Union Local 1034 picnic on September 9, 2023, at Denison Park; Crystal City Police Benevolent Association and the Corning Firefighters Benevolent Association combined picnic on August 24, 2023, at McKinney Park.
Committee Reports
Councilmember Hyde and Mayor Boland told of progress on the work of the
Public Arts Committee. They expect that the Committee’s recommendations
will be finalized in the fall and that matters requiring Council action will be
considered prior to year-end.
Mayor Boland reported on the work of Barbara Blumer on the history of the
mural in city hall called “The People Wall,” which went up in 1976 for the
Bicentennial of the United States and the opening of the new city hall. A
book will be forthcoming.
Mayor Boland reported on the status of the Code Committee’s work regarding
the placement of cannabis facilities within the City. Local Law #6 is currently
in place. It will not be changed until there are final regulations published by
the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The comment period on OCM’s
revised regulations for adult use dispensaries and other matters has recently
closed. Once made final, the City Attorney will develop a Local Law that will
assure compliance. That Local Law proposal will be considered following
ordinary processes by the City Council.
Visitor’s Comments
A representative of GreenRush, seeking to open an adult use dispensary asked
what the City of Corning will require of them to locate here, in addition to the go-
ahead they have already received from OCM. Mayor Boland said that Local Law #6
outlines their current location and operation requirements, and their application
must be submitted to the City’s Planning Commission before it reaches the Council.
However, Local Law #6 may be amended, as he previously explained at this
meeting, to conform to new regulations expected to be promulgated by the Office
of Cannabis Management. When asked when this change in the Local Law might
occur, Mayor Boland said that when the final regulations are issued, the Code
Committee will meet promptly and make its recommendations to the City Council.
Martin Horn, a resident of Corning, appeared to say that this is the third
consecutive monthly meeting of the Council that he has attended. At each, he has
risen to ask why the City does not close its offices to honor Martin Luther King Day.
He stated that, at each prior attendance, he has been told that he will receive an
explanation of why this is the case. He has not gotten the explanation. He wants
one now. Mayor Boland said that Mr. Horn will receive a response to his inquiry.
City Manager’s Report
City Manager Ryckman stated that there is a high bar for public commendation of a
City employee. However, Assessor Barbara Roberts has met and exceeded that bar.
The City Manager read a statement congratulating and recognizing Ms. Roberts for
conducting an open and fair city-wide reassessment project for the City. Mayor
Boland added that she overcame the challenges of reassessment, a process often
fraught, with a high degree of professionalism and willingness to work extra time to
achieve a positive outcome for the City and its citizens.
Announcements
Mayor Boland said that the Civic Center Ice Rink, which has developed into a multi-
use venue, recently hosted the concluding concert of the Endless Mountain Music
Festival, which was very well attended and very well received.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
NOTES
The writer of this report has presented items in an order different than that
in which they occurred at the meeting.
The writer has, except as specifically noted, amended, or eliminated
comments and attribution for them. Unless quotation marks are used, the
comments reported are not verbatim.
For brevity, the writer has not included all items on the agenda of the
meeting.
Some material has been added by the writer for context or clarity.
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