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The Syracuse Common Council appropriated funding from the American Rescue Plan Act during their meeting Monday.

Signed into law by President Biden in March, the American Rescue Plan Act provided relief for the continued impact of the pandemic on the economy. The city of Syracuse received $123 million in pandemic aid, which Mayor Ben Walsh initially planned to use as a basis for a strong economic recovery.

The Council appropriated funds from the act to recruit unemployed Syracuse residents for specialized training and apprenticeship programs, including electrical or mechanical maintenance, sidewalk maintenance, construction, advanced manufacturing, software development, and heating, ventilating and air conditioning. This program, proposed by Councilor Khalid Bey, was added as a supplemental portion to the agenda.

Walsh expressed his desire for this recruitment program earlier this month.

The Common Council also appropriated funds from the act for the purchase and maintenance of new police cameras, referred to as Criminal Observation and Protection System (COPS) Cameras. The goals of the cameras are to deter criminal activity and aid in investigations, according to the Syracuse Police Department’s website. These funds will be spent throughout the city over the next three years.

Additionally, the council approved a resolution during the meeting Monday that decided Saratoga Associates, a landscape architecture firm, would continue to provide professional planning, design and engineering for the project to improve the waterfront at the Onondaga Creek and the Seneca Turnpike.

The initial contract for the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program was initiated in 2017 but was amended Monday to increase the scope of services required of Saratoga Associates.

Owen Kerney, the assistant director for city planning, said in a letter to the city clerk’s office that the project was already underway and that the new ordinance would extend the end of the contract date from July 31 to Dec. 31.

The entire contract amount will be fully reimbursed to the city via a grant from the New York state, Kerney said in the letter.

Bey proposed the ordinance, and the council voted in favor.

Bey also proposed a permit for a prenatal care home owned by Joseph’s House for Women, which the Council also voted in favor of. 

The City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the request in December 2020, the meeting’s agenda said. The agenda said that the care provided to residents at the home would include mental health counseling, group counseling and spirituality classes for the residents.

The city granted contracts to GHD Consulting Services and Environmental Design & Research for the replacement projects of the city’s chlorine system and Mosley pump station, respectively, on behalf of the city’s Department of Water. Councilor Joseph Carni proposed both contracts on Monday.

Published on September 13, 2021 at 9:54 pm

Contact Richard: rcperrin@syr.edu | @richardperrins2