City accepts $75,000 Archives grant to begin digitizing building records amid questions about scope and costs

The council accepted a $75,000 grant from the New York State Archives to begin digitizing building‑department records and authorized entering an agreement with the vendor named in the packet, Siri Systems (contract materials discussed in the meeting).

Staff said the building department holds roughly 315,000 business documents and 83,500 large‑format plans tied to 9,666 parcels; the grant will prioritize zoning files first, with staff keeping original paper copies in storage as work continues. Program leads said the grant is 100% funded and that the vendor expects to complete its project tasks within months though the city has up to a year for grant performance.

Several residents raised detailed procurement and cost questions: one commenter pointed to differences between documents in the grant application and the vendor price‑concurrence sheet (discrepancies between 31,000 vs. higher file counts and different counts of large format plans), questioned per‑scan pricing (citizen readouts showed ~19¢ per scan in packet materials), and asked whether city staff could perform scanning in‑house more cheaply than hiring an outside vendor. Staff responded that the packet distinguishes the original estimate from the vendor quote and that this phase represents a start; the city intends to pursue additional grants and to evaluate whether internal scanning could be cost‑effective for future phases. Several public speakers urged the city to return with a cost‑per‑project update after the initial phase.

Council supported accepting the grant to begin the prioritized work, with staff promising to provide clarifying cost breakdowns and to pursue future funding.