Fulton Common Council Discusses Sludge Disposal Agreement, Police Satellite Stations, Bird Scooters

FULTON – The Fulton Common Council met last night, Tuesday, August 2, when it discussed a sludge disposal agreement with the county, proposed police satellite stations, and introducing Bird scooters to the city.

During public comment, two county legislators representing Fulton, Frank Castiglia Jr. and James Karasek, spoke with updates.

Castiglia started out by recapping a legislative meeting in which Council President Audrey Avery spoke to thank the county for thinking of Fulton in voting for an agreement between the county and the city regarding leachate treatment and sludge disposal. During the July 12 common council meeting, Castiglia recommended a representative from the council to attend the July 14 legislature meeting to thank the county.

“Many times there are things that are done for a city or a town and nobody comes in front of the legislative body and expresses their thankfulness for even thinking about doing anything for them,” Castiglia said.

Karasek later congratulated the city on this agreement, saying it will be mutually beneficial for both the county and city. Mayor Deana Michelas said the sludge has been piling up for years because the city could not make a dent in disposing of it without outside help.

Castgilia then brought up questions regarding a request for $60,000 in ARPA funding from the county to be granted to the city of Fulton for two satellite police stations. He said he did not vote in favor of this request at the committee level.

“The reason I’m not in favor of this is the city of Oswego is double the size of the city of Fulton and they do not have a satellite station. The city of Oneida is three times the size of the city of Fulton and they do not have satellite police stations,” Castiglia said. “I see what the city of Fulton needs and what we would like to have, and I just see better use for ARPA funds than two satellite police stations that will not be manned.”

He said the police department could use computers and wifi at other emergency response departments.

Mayor Deana Michaels responded saying the police chief and deputy police chief put this on the department’s “wish list” for uses of the ARPA funding to make the department grow and advance, and they found it to be necessary to have some satellite stations for the police to use in case of emergency. The spaces could be used for the drug task force, off-site meetings, training purposes, or simply as a gathering point in the event of a city-wide emergency.

“[The police department has] not been an accredited agency in many years… This helps to become an accredited agency,” Michaels said. “Honestly I hope we never need it, but we don’t want to be caught in a situation where we’re not ready.”

Michaels said the city will use part of its own ARPA funding to go toward the cost, as part of its emergency services. She said the space does not need to be a brand new building, and could be set up in the DPW building, the War Memorial, etc., but the reason for the higher asking amount is because the cost of everything has increased with inflation.

“Let’s ask for $60,000. If we don’t get it, we don’t get it. We have to deal with what we get. If we get nothing, then we go back to the drawing board,” Michaels said.

While Michaels said she is not a police officer, she believes the chief and the department when they say this is something they need.

Legislator Karasek said he was pleased to see ARPA was able to work through the process. He said there is a reporting process for municipalities for when the use of the grant is done to let the county know what was accomplished.

Also speaking as a legislator, Castiglia inquired about toxicity level samples of water from Lake Neatahwanta from SUNY ESF, saying the county legislature has not seen these samples in a few years. Michaels responded, saying the city receives weekly updates and said the email also gets sent to Oswego County Soil and Water. She said the most recent samples have shown low or minimal toxicity.

As a citizen of Fulton, Castiglia expressed his concern with the city looking into bringing Bird electric scooters to Fulton, saying he has seen residents using gas-powered or electric scooters about 30 miles per hour in the street, on the sidewalks, going the opposite direction of traffic, and a child between the ages of 10 and 12 riding one.

“I really feel that we’re about four or five years ahead of where we need to use these scooters,” Castigla said.

He also expressed that he is worried about adding another thing for police to regulate when they are already stretched thin. He asked if the city will get enough revenue from them to cover the cost of police regulating them.

Matt Fragale, owner of Port City Scooters and Fulton resident, spoke in response to Castiglia’s concerns. He currently works with the city of Oswego by acting as a third party vendor for Bird scooters, in which his company also collects the scooters and puts them back in hot spots on a daily basis. There are 250 scooters in Oswego and the company just made a deal with SUNY Oswego to bring in electric bikes to the campus.

Fragale said the difference between the scooters and bikes Castiglia has seen in his neighborhood and the Bird scooters is that the latter are regulated to not be able to go over 15 miles per hour, have GPS tracking, and the rider must have an app to use the scooter.

For the app, there has to be a picture of the rider’s license, a credit card on file, and acknowledge that they are 18 or older. He pointed out that kids in Fulton also ride around on bikes and scooters unsupervised and without helmets already.

“As far as the police force having to regulate it, we don’t see that in Oswego,” Fragale said. “They have minor incidents, but for the most part, they don’t have to deal with the day to day, any of that stuff.”

He said the municipality can report any issues to him and the company.

He also said for Oswego’s recent Harborfest, there were about 5,000 Bird scooter rides recorded and there were crews of workers picking them up throughout the day and night and bringing them back to a pick up spot.

Legislator Karasek later said while he has seen Bird scooters in odd places, it did not take very long for them to be gone.

Also during public comment, resident David Phares said he is in support of multiple food trucks to have contracts with the city for more options.

Legislator Karasek then spoke about the state’s recent legislation to strengthen the rights of New Yorkers with disabilities, noting the issue of people parking in spaces designated for those with a disability and the striped off spaces next to them. He said there will be county-wide education on the topic. He also gave kudos to the Fulton Fire Department for responding to fires outside the city limits and usually showing up first.

The council then moved on to approving all items on the agenda.

• The public hearing opened during the July 12 meeting regarding city code chapter 640-17, C2A “Central Business District” was closed.
• The minutes for the July 12 meeting were approved with the correction to show Councilor Macner was “excused” rather than “absent” from the meeting.
• Authorize the mayor to sign an agreement between the city and Bird Rides, Inc. The agreement will be in effect until August 1, 2023.
• Approve the clerk’s report for June 2022 in the amount of $12,343.50.
• Authorize the city clerk/chamberlain to advertise for a public hearing on proposed new local law entitled “Retail smoke, vape and alcohol moratorium” to be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6, in the Community Room of the Municipal Building.
• Authorize the city clerk/chamberlain to advertise for bids for the Route 481 paving project. Bids are due in the clerk’s office by Wednesday, August 31 at 2 p.m.

Councilor Comments:

First Ward Councilor Dan Farfaglia: excused from meeting

Second Ward Councilor Doug Chapman thanked the attendees for coming.

Third Ward Councilor Don Patrick Jr. thanked the county for its help in pulling water chestnuts from the Oswego River and the city DPW for their work.

Fourth Ward Councilor Ethan Parkhurst gave no comment.

Fifth Ward Councilor/President Audrey Avery gave no comment.

Sixth Ward Councilor Larry Macner thanked the legislators for keeping them and the public informed. He also said he is glad neighborhood streets are getting paved, the recent ward blitz went well, and hopes to soon see a drinking fountain at Van Buren Park.

Mayor Deana Michaels gave some updates, including that there has been no air quality concerns from the silo fire in Volney, the former Nestle site was put on the market as of August 1, said the block blitz was successful and the city now has a to-do list of issues to address.

She also addressed the comment on food trucks brought forth by Phares, saying having food truck festivals and lots of options is a “cool experience” and would like to look into it, although it is a new topic for the city.

“I think we can come to some kind of compromise, some kind of common ground where we can make this work,” Michaels said. “I think we really have an opportunity there because food trucks attract a lot of people.”

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