Troy's City Council held its final regular meeting of the year on Thursday night.
The city council unanimously passed several ordinances re-levying unpaid fees onto 2025 property taxes.
Unpaid water, vacant building, solid waste management, bulk pick-up, demolition, sewer shopwork services and legal fees were all re-levied for 2025.
Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello explained while unpaid garbage and bulk pick-up fees have risen significantly in the last year, up nearly $200,000, quality of life across the city has improved.
Mantello's Quality of Life Action Task Force has made debris removal and beautification a priority.
"Some lots literally had $8,000 to 9,000 worth of cleanup. It was just piles of debris and garbage. And we give the 48 hours, obviously, and they didn't clean it. So, our folks will go in after a certain period of time, we'll clean it. We'll charge, obviously."
The council also voted to approve a sub-recipient agreement allowing the city to receive funding for a Housing and Community Development block grant for the construction of a community piazza at the city's Little Italy marketplace. For years, the city has been envisioning a gathering space on what is now a vacant lot in South Troy.
Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly, a member of the Little Italy Quality of Life Committee, says the space would enrich the neighborhood.
"We have decorated for the holidays, improved the space with picnic tables, maintained the bocce courts, and coordinated events such as neighborhood garage sales, festivals, farmers markets, movie nights and many other events," Donnelly said. "We remain committed to learning from that history, engaging with current neighborhood input, and collaborating with our elected officials to create an improved vision for the gathering space."
Mantello also told the council to "stay tuned" for more information regarding the hiring of a comptroller. The city has been without a full-time comptroller since July. Since then, the city has relied on a private firm to handle the city's finances. The city is currently contracting with firm BST Co.
Mantello says the search has been narrowed down to two candidates and she hopes to have a comptroller in place soon.
Troy's annual financial report was submitted to the state comptroller's office, for the second time, on Wednesday following errors in its filing earlier this year, handled by accounting firm ProNexus.
In another long-awaited development, Mantello says the city council will hear more about a permanent home for city hall in mid-January. The city has been renting space in the Hedley Park Place building for more than a decade.
"We are paying close to $600,000 for our temporary space here annually. So, if you think about it, if it is about 10 mil, it'll be paid for in, you know, 1314, years. But saying that, not to throw out numbers, but we are paying a lot of money for this temporary space," Mantello said. "It's not permanent. And if you talk to first Columbia, they'll tell you, this was supposed to be temporary, and that was what, 1213, years ago."
As union negotiations continue, CSEA members and city employees spoke out during the meeting asking the administration to remember essential workers. Latasha Gardner says city-issued bills continue to rise with no increase in employee pay.
"I want to remind everyone that the infrastructure was also supposed to include the human resources, which are the backbone of this city. So, it's not just for the potholes, not just for certain neighborhood groups, but the people that run this city are also part of the infrastructure that supports this city," Gardner said. "I encourage you to support us in our fight for a fair and equitable contract. As of December 31, of this year, we're at the end of our contract. Come New Year, guess what? We have increase in taxes."
The Troy City Council will hold a special meeting to discuss disbursement of American Rescue Plan Act Funding on December 30th.