The Water & Sewer Department is requesting amendments be made to the city code to make property owners responsible for replacing their water meters at their own cost if those meters monitor water flow in pipes of diameter greater than one inch.

During a work session on Monday, Feb. 10, the Common Council unanimously voted to hold a Feb. 24 public hearing on the proposed amendments .

At last week’s council meeting, Water & Sewer Superintendent David Rambo said specific areas of the city code on “Water” had become outdated and required clarification to address issues and concerns raised by residents, Though Rambo did not provide details on those concerns, Interim Corporation Counsel Eric Gordon noted there had been disputes over the last year regarding ambiguities in the water code.

Current city code defines a water meter as a “mechanical device which registers and records the quantity of water supplied to the user.” Rambo proposes amending that definition to include the meter transmitting unit, which sends water usage information to the Water Department, and that all meters would be standardized to gallons.

The proposed amendments would have the most impact on property owners with water pipes larger than one inch in diameter. For these properties, the Water Department proposed that owners purchase and install the water meters themselves. Meter repairs would be undertaken by the city but paid for by property owners.

For properties with pipes one inch or smaller in diameter, the city would still furnish and install those meters at a cost to the owner, with those charges now specified according to the Water Department’s Consolidated Fee Schedule. Repairs would be undertaken and paid for by the city.

Rambo said they wanted to differentiate between the two cases, saying they considered meters on one inch pipes to be residential properties and those on pipes larger than one inch to be commercial. On Feb. 3, he noted that for buildings with three, four, or five inch pipes, the Water Department does not “have the tools to work on any of those and to do that kind of work.”

At Monday’s meeting, Robert Sullivan, resident and president of the Woods III of Westchester Homeowners Association, took issue with there not being clarification on what commercial accounts are, adding that commercial accounts include condominiums and co-ops.

“These are water meters that have to be paid for by people who actually live in those buildings and they’re very expensive,” Sullivan said. “For instance, a business like [Councilman Brian Fassett or Mayor Vivian McKenzie’s], if you have a water meter that craps out, maybe you have to pay for it, you’ve got one [but] we have 45 of  these meters and they’re not cheap.”

Sullivan said in 2017 the mayor and Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot agreed that condominiums’ installation of wi-fi water meters were to be provided free of charge when the city was replacing all the water meters.

“The issue that I have is [the city code] clearly says we don’t pay. You’re solving a problem where you’ve been charging people where you probably shouldn’t have by amending the statute to charge everybody,” Sullivan said.

The full amendments can be viewed here.

Project and Grants Updates, Quality of Life reports

City Manager Matt Alexander provided several updates to projects and grants.

This included continuing work on a comprehensive traffic safety action plan and on the winterization of Fleischmann Pier, for which they are awaiting delivery and installation of several items.

Work is also being continued on a $600,000 resilience grant project for drainage improvements at McGregory Brook and Peekskill Hollow Creek Basin, as well as preventing floods at the Peekskill Riverfront. The proposal awaits review by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

So far this snow season, there have been 13 snow days where the Department of Public Works has reported going out and using salt or scraping the roads. Next week, the city will present winter parking signage communication plans.

Alexander said he was pleased with the increase in attention to sidewalks to allow for safe passage by pedestrians.

The police department reported a vehicle and traffic arrest on 901 Main Street and assisted with an eviction there; made a drug arrest on the 300 block of North Division; made two arrests, one for an open container on James Street and one for someone failing to appear on a warrant; and made a traffic stop at 1225 Brown Street that yielded drugs and four class three felonies.

The city is also looking at replacing some parking meters with kiosks, with the ultimate goal, Alexander said, to follow the trend of more people using credit cards and online apps rather than currency.

Parking meters in the City of Peekskill currently accept both cash and credit cards.

Resolutions Passed

Of one local law and 13 resolutions, all were passed unanimously, except for one resolution.

Councilman Ramon Fernandez was the sole member to abstain on a resolution to authorize the removal of volunteers on the “Active Volunteer Firefighter List” due to resignation, death, or non-compliance with city code and fire department rules and regulations.

Fernandez did not respond to a request for comment on why he abstained.

Council members passed a local law to formally establish the Peekskill Arts Council, which will serve in an advisory capacity to the Common Council on matters regarding public art work in the city.

On Feb. 3, Planner Peter Erwin provided several updates on what the board has been working on, including a set of public art guidelines and a catalog of public art in Peekskill at peekskillart.com.

Council members also passed a resolution to transform Jan Peek House, a temporary housing facility, by bringing renovations and increasing the daily occupancy from 24 beds to 28 beds with a maximum occupancy of 38 clients.

A resolution to hold a public hearing on designating a bus loading zone for an early intervention program at 1200 Brown Street was passed, as was a resolution to accept Mercy House Cleaning Services for professional cleaning for the Section 8 program.

On Feb. 3, Director of Section 8 Jessica Ganus told the council five bids were made after it issued a request for proposals on Jan. 14. Of the five, Mercy House Cleaning Services was the lowest bidder with $125 per cleaning session. According to Ganus, they’d only need the services once a week, totaling $6,500 per year.

The council also passed a resolution authorizing City Manager Matt Alexander to enter into an agreement with Omnia Partners to execute a principal procurement agency certificate. Alexander said it would allow department heads to more easily order frequently used items.

“They would be able to look and see what the prices were in other municipalities and if that price was the most favorable in the city, we could use it without going through a longer bidding process,” Alexander said.

A full list of resolutions voted on can be viewed here.