A dozen residents came to Peekskill City Hall on Monday night, July 14, to share comments on a variety of issues including parks maintenance, city spending, and a proposed sculptural pavilion.

Two residents, Rachel Bushner and her husband Brian, criticized the state of Pugsley Park, including insufficient garbage cans and a lack of bathrooms, as well as “human feces” found in the park.

“They’re defecating in Pugsley Park every single day,” Brian said. “It’s being used as a bathroom…. Seeing human feces all over the side of a Presbyterian Church at a public park is a really bad look. That’s something that haunts me and it’s not something that children should be around.”

Resident Jen Zawacki said a music event held at the park on Saturday, July 12, was awesome and exactly what the park should be used for, but criticized garbage she said was left everywhere.

“While I was picking up empty beer bottles where my kids were dancing and having a fun time,” Zawacki said,  “I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t someone from the city come and do a sweep of this park that morning so that these kids didn’t have to play in and around garbage and human feces?’” 

City Manager Matthew Alexander said the city has talked about bringing port-a-potties into Pugsley Park for the summer time. The city has also brought in additional Department of Public Works to assist in garbage pickup.

“[The DPW] knows to check the parks,” Alexander said. “I myself check parks early in the morning and late at night, and I can tell you that 30 minutes after I’m seeing a park that doesn’t have any garbage, I can drive back by it and see piles of garbage.”

About six residents raised concerns about the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) Civic Hub and Connectivity Project, which would replace the Peekskill gazebo on North Division Street and Central Avenue with an expanded plaza space and sculptural pavilion.

The city said the goal of the project is to create an expanded space that can withstand more programming and attract people to it, but many residents have voiced their dislike of the proposed sculptural pavilion.

In a blog post, MaryAnn McCarra Fitzpatrick, a resident who was in attendance at the Council meeting and encouraged public comment on the pavilion, questioned both the aesthetic and narrowing of Park Street, noting the street already suffers from double parking.

“Narrowing this street will only serve to exacerbate an existing problem,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “Extending the sidewalk will not change human behavior, as double parking is a chronic and consistent feature of our downtown streets, regardless of the fact that it is discourteous to other drivers.”

Resident Arne Paglia shared a list of signatures from 16 business owners adjacent to the Civic Hub that requested the city hold off on proceeding with the project until meaningful discussion could be held with the city. Resident John Hodgins said the project would create a traffic nightmare and critiqued what he described as “no public input” on the sculptural pavilion.

The city held open houses at the Mother’s Yay market and downtown during two weekends in May, attended by more than 100 people, Planner Peter Erwin previously said at a meeting. Erwin said the city also received community feedback on the sculptural pavilion via a survey. Out of 46 respondents, 42 percent liked the design, 21 percent were neutral, and 30 percent disliked the design.

The Common Council voted unanimously on July 14to authorize itself as lead agency for the coordinated environmental review of the Civic Hub and Connectivity Project.

Two public hearings: cannabis microbusiness and indoor soccer facility

The City of Peekskill held public hearings on referring to the Planning Commission special permits for a proposed cannabis microbusiness and an indoor soccer facility.

Westchester Sports Arena LLC proposes to convert about 18,000 square feet of an existing large commercial building to three fields, practice space, restrooms, and office space. Other current uses in the building include a skate park and truck maintenance. Developers propose 100 dedicated parking spaces.

Flavio and Edwin Zhingri, brothers and applicants for the project, currently run a traveling soccer academy with 120 youth players in Cortlandt Manor, Peekskill, and Yorktown. The brothers described the proposed facility as a homebase for players of all levels, ages 2 to 16.

Edwin said his brother was so passionate about the project that he quit a six-figure job as a software engineer to dedicate himself fulltime to his dream of having a home field and being able to develop youth players.

“Let’s give the kids a place to play at home, versus having them travel somewhere else, and have other teams from different places come to us to play here,” Edwin said.

Mayor McKenzie commented favorably on the project.

“Thank you for choosing Peekskill for this,” McKenzie said. “I think children are really important and soccer is a huge sport here… I think it’s a great idea.”

The second hearing was on Grand Street Cannabis Co., which seeks a special permit for a cannabis microbusiness for cultivation use at 710 Washington Street. The proposed business would have no retail on site and cannot engage in any consumer-facing transactions. 

One resident, John Hodgins, asked about security plans and what safeguards would be put in place. Director of Planning Carol Samol said the applicants have provided a full security plan, and they will know exactly how much product is coming in the door and how much is growing.

The public hearing remains open and in August applicants will be present for another hearing to answer any questions.

Council selects consultant firm for $20 million Momentum project

The Peekskill Common Council voted 5-2 on July 14 to authorize a consulting contract for the city’s $20 million Momentum project.

The selected firm, Laland Baptiste, has proposed not to exceed a fee of $1.3 million, to be charged on an hourly basis for each of the activities required, for five projects up to five years. 

On April 28, the Council officially accepted the $10 million Mid-Hudson Momentum Award from New York State Empire Development, which requires an equal match of $10 million from the city, to fund essential infrastructure for housing.

Projects include improvements to the James Street and Nelson Avenue garages, an addition to James Street garage, downtown street improvements, Riverfront Green Park improvements, and Railroad Avenue improvements.

The dissenting council members were Dwight Douglas and Ramon Fernandez, who both expressed concerns on July 7 about individual projects. Fernandez said it felt like they were putting the “cart before the horse.”

Two residents, John Hodgins and Arne Paglia, also shared concerns to the Council about the project costs and public input.

“The planned expansion of the James Street garage also warrants further review and discussion and input from the public, as this project is being funded with us taxpayers as the guarantors,” Paglia said. “Because the Momentum project is a gamble until that $10 million comes back.”

Earlier in the meeting, Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley said each part of the Momentum project will be reviewed by the Council, which can decide whether to go through with a specific project.

“We just want the public to understand that this money that was granted, this is the way it has to be done to accept the grant,” Riley said. “But each project will be reviewed. And if there’s something we decide that’s not going to go through, then we have time to decide.”

The council removed a resolution from the agenda Monday night authorizing the engineering firm WSP a contract for the structural design of the two garages. Director of Planning Carol Samol said her department had questions for the firm after the “price went up a lot.”

Additional items requested by the city raised the anticipated project costs to $4.4 million, compared to the $4 million it projected it would borrow via a bond anticipation note last May.

Samol said she could return the agenda item in August after having conversations with WSP.

Council passes resolutions on pier repair, street closure, flood mitigation study

The Common Council passed 19 resolutions on July 14, including…

• Authorizing the city manager to award a $600,000 engineering consultant contract to Barton & Logiudice for flood mitigation study projects.
• Authorizing the city to approve a refrigerant management plan, a tool to inform future procurement guidance, develop a refrigerant inventory, provide policies for proper disposal and reclamation of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), and prepare plans to replace equipment that uses HFCs, as well as provide leak management and preventive management guidance.
• Authorizing the appointment of Veronica Taylor to the Parks Advisory Board.
• Authorizing the street closure of First Street from Union Avenue to the Easternmost border of 911 First Street for the Feast of The Assumption Church Fair from Wednesday, Aug. 13 through Sunday, Aug. 17, between 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., each day the fair is operating.
• Approving the issuance of a special use permit for a proposed woodworking business at 898 Washington Street.
• Authorize the city manager to award a bid to Madeline Marine Inc. for the repair, modification, re-installation of two floating docks, piling repairs and kayak dock modifications and reinstallation at Fleischmann Pier.