ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The Elmira City Council held a workshop meeting to discuss several votes that will be happening Monday, August 26 at 5:30 p.m.
The council will vote on authorizing the purchase of a new gunshot detection system. Police Chief Kristen Thorne told council members the plan is to install a network of 40 microphones around the city. Chief Thorne says the system will cut down on police response times to shooting scenes. Chief Thorne says the system is designed to tell the difference between a gunshot and fireworks, or a car backfiring.
Mayor Mandell told 18 News the system does not pick up any other sounds, like conversations. “It strictly picks up sounds relating to gunshots based on the decibel sound that the gunshot makes, to distinguish it between gunshots and possible fireworks. So that’s what the actually the program does. It’s very beneficial for the police department to pinpoint where these shots are happening so they can respond quicker and catch the perpetrators of that are shooting the guns.”
The resolution is for approving “a two-year subscription from SHI for a police gun-shot detection system utilizing the Sourcewell Cooperative and using LETECH Grant funds for the purchase of the subscription price of $66,553.85.” The LETECH Grant is awarded by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services .
Last summer, Elmira received a $383,147 New York State grant for the “ Gun Involved Violence Elimination ” initiative. The money allowed the Elmira Police Detective Bureau to hire two full-time investigators to focus on gun crimes.
“I think it’s huge for the city to have this, to have the two investigators assigned to the GIVE Unit, and we’re going to continue it for as long as we can,” Chief Kristen Thorne told 18 News in May.
Public records show a 33% year-to-year drop in gunshot calls in the city of Elmira, in the first quarter of 2024. 14 gunshots were reported from January through May. That’s down from 21 reported gunshots during the same time in 2023. 18 News is working to obtain gunshot reports through August of 2024
A public hearing will also be held at Monday’s meeting on how to spend more than $1,000,000 in federal funding to improve housing and community development. As a designated “HUD City” Elmira receives money every year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The public hearing is a chance for people to weigh in on how the best way to spend the funds.
“That’s basically through HUD and Emma Miran, our Director of Community Development,” Mayor Mandell said. “She sends out a plan every year regarding our HUD plan and how we spend our money.”
“Is there a ballpark figure how much money HUD is providing?”
“It’s about 1.3 million, I believe, or 1.6 million per year,” Mandell said. “This year, we took a little bit less. Sometimes we get a little bit more. It just depends.”
We also asked Mayor Mandell about a resolution that was tabled last week involving homeless encampments in the city. The new law called for fines and possible jail time for anyone camping on public land, or on private land without permission.”
Elmira City Council tables vote on new homeless camping law that includes jail time Mayor Mandell says the city is reworking the resolution after hearing from a packed room of residents who disagreed with it.
“I listened to all the input,” the mayor said. “A lot of it came from individuals that were concerned about the mental health and the substance abuse, and why are we being punitive in nature, why we’re, you know, criminalizing these people.”
“So, we listened to what they had to say,” Mayor Mandell continued. “We’re going to table the resolution. We’re going to rework the resolution and the ordinance and put it into, hopefully, an upcoming meeting here shortly.”
“We have to do something with these unsheltered individuals that refuse the treatment and taking up housing in our city, so we have to address that, and this is one way we can do that. I don’t know what the ordinance going to look like when it’s all said and done, but we’re going to go back to the drawing board and write it up.”
We asked Mayor Mandell if possible jail time for people who are unhoused will be taken off the table. Residents who spoke up against the proposed law said the city was trying to criminalize homelessness.
“Do you agree with that description?” asked 18 News reporter Nick Dubina.
“I don’t agree with that at all,” the mayor replied. “We’re not criminalizing homelessness. We know people are homeless. What’s happening with these individuals, again, the non-compliant ones that are becoming a public safety issue, with their trash, urinating and defecating and things like that. We have to deal with these people. So, it’s not criminalizing homelessness, it’s criminalizing the behavior.
“So, you cannot confirm that if jail will or not be part of the next version of this ordinance” Dubina asked.
“We have to discuss that. I’d be in favor of obviously, still pushing through with something of that nature,” the mayor said. “But one of my colleagues on the Council brought up a good point. A good point. A lot of times they’re already committing crimes where they’re trespassing. A lot of them possess drugs, and a lot of them are in homes that are basically criminal trespass or even a burglary. So, crimes are already out there on the penal law to address a lot of these concerns.”
We also asked Mayor Mandell if the City Council is making any progress on drafting a new law that’s needed for Elmira Police to be able to start shutting down unlicensed cannabis shops.
“We’re almost to the point of getting the law completed,” the mayor said. We have just a couple more steps. The Office of Cannabis Management coming down and shutting down these stores, the State Police, we would welcome them here in Elmira if they would like to shut down the few that we have here left in the city. But until that point, we’re still working on the law. Once that becomes law, we will vote on it, possibly in the next couple of meetings. This has been a process. It’s been a lot more details to it than what we originally planned for.
Two illegal cannabis shops raided in Horseheads, Elmira Heights Another item on Monday’s agenda involves a piece of history that was discovered during clock tower renovations at City Hall. Crews found a World War Two air raid siren inside the tower. The city will now vote on donating the siren to the Chemung County Historical Society. We will take a closer look at the siren, and why our area was a possible target for bombing raids during World War Two, in a new report on Friday.
You can view the full agenda for Monday’s meeting below.
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