Village Board of Trustees Meeting

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Village of Nyack Board of Trustees held at 7:30pm on Thursday September 10, 2020 at Nyack Village Hall, 9 N. Broadway, Nyack, New York Hon. Dr. Don Hammond Presiding: PRESENT Dr. Don Hammond Mayor Louise Parker Trustee Donna Lightfoot-Cooper (arrived at 7:41pm) Trustee ALSO PRESENT Walter Sevastian Village Attorney James Politi Village Administrator Jennifer Hetling Village Clerk/Treasurer ABSENT Elijah Reichlin-Melnick Trustee Marie Lorenzini (zoom platform connection issues) Trustee Meeting called to order at 7:30pm Pledge of Allegiance As we continue to address our respective challenges associated with COVID-19, Village government continues to operate. And as there are matters the Village must continue to address as part of keeping the Village operational, our September 10, 2020 Village Board meeting remains as scheduled. As Village Hall is closed, the meeting will have to be held remotely (see below). We will be keeping the Agenda (see posting on website) to essential items. On March 7, 2020, in Executive Order No. 202.1, Governor Cuomo suspended certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law to permit a Village Board to meet and take actions authorized by law without permitting in public in-person access and authorizing such meeting to be held remotely by conference call or similar service, provided that the public has the ability to view or listen to such proceeding and that such meetings are recorded and later transcribed. The Village will be activating a remote meeting platform for the September 10th Village Board meeting, which will enable residents to phone in and listen to the meeting in compliance with the Executive Order. In the interests of the public's health and safety, the Village Board strongly encourages residents to utilize this platform. The Village Board appreciates your patience and understanding during this difficult and evolving situation. Please be sure to check in on the Village website for updates which will be posted on an ongoing basis. Adoption of Minutes August 13, 2020 - Motion by Louise Parker, seconded by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Public Comment – None Action Items Resolution No. 2020 – 54 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board to accept the Audited Voucher Summary #13-2020 Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Louise Parker to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Public Comment – None Department Reports to the Board of Trustees Orangetown Police Department – None Village Attorney – The is an application circulating to make the John Green House a historical location and will be coming to the Village Board. When it does the planning board and ARB will also give recommendations. He has the CCA contract and is currently reviewing it. The LWRP update is processing through NYS. There will be changes to the waterfront consistency law. A closing with Orange and Rockland on the street lights will be soon. Village Administrator – Parking meters are back online and enforcement has begun again. PSAP bids were opened today and they are being reviewed but the numbers look good. This project will enhance pedestrian safety at 4 busy intersections. The TAP project is back in review and the engineer is looking at it. Village Clerk – Treasurer – None Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Louise Parker to hold an executive session as it relates to the draft Nyack Parking Authority draft audit report. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin- Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Old Business Request for a public hearing related to section 250-2, boat launching, for October 8th at 8:00pm. Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Louise Parker to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) The CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) contract should be in place by November 1, 2020. All the requirements have been met and the community will start to be notified soon. Communications The Nyack American Legion, Post 310, wishes to honor the memory and legacy of Nyack native, and Post 310 member, Jerry Donnellan by placing a plaque in his memory on the wall on the north side of the lower level steps in Memorial Park. Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Louise Parker to place a plaque at the placement suggested by the Nyack American Legion Post 310. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Letter requesting a vending machine in Memorial Park and asked for the bathrooms to be reopened Request from Edwin Giraldo to use Memorial Park to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ on Sept. 12 and 13th from 5pm to 8pm. The board declined this request based on size and religious services are not allowed in the park. Request from Riverkeepers to use Memorial Park on October 17 from 9am to 1pm with approximately 10-15 people for the Riverkeeper Sweep Clean-Up. The board all agreed that this was a good idea and has been done in the past with success. Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Louise Parker to approve the event. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Correspondence from Shoprite regarding the “Help Bag Hunger Day” on September 17, 2020 and request for the board to bag groceries for 1 hour on that day. Both Trustee Parker and Lightfoot-Cooper will touch base with Shoprite and help out. Request from Brian McNulty and 2 other residents to have Front St. paved between 6th Ave and the border to Upper Nyack Brian McNuty spoke about the need for paving also stating that all the work in the road has been completed to the best of his knowledge therefore the road would not be opened up any time soon. Village Administrator will review the road work schedule to see where Front St. can fit in. Request from Rabbi Ehrenreich to host the High Holidays Service in Memorial Park on Sunday September 20, 2020 at 4:30pm for approximately 30-40 people Rabbi Ehrenreich has rescinded this request. Review of a request to pass a resolution opposing the Danskammer expansion The Village Board does not generally do memorializing resolutions but can write letters or make phone calls about issues like this. Mayor Hammond can contact state officials stating the Villages position about this project. He can also sign the Riverkeepers letter on behalf of the Village. Request from Jerry George to use Memorial Park on October 10 from 9am – 11am for a bridal party photo shoot of approximately 20 people Weddings and photo of wedding parties are not allowed in the park. Public Comment - None Comments from the Village Board of Trustees Louise Parker – None Donald Hammond – Met with OPD and asked for increased enforcement around the marina and some other buildings concerning the homeless population. Signage at the park will be changed to adjust the close time of Memorial Park from 10pm to dusk. The safe haven Friday nights have been going well. Next Friday the 18th is the start of Rosh Hashanah so they are rescheduling the event to the 25th. Then October 9th, 16th and 30th will be the other event dates. He has been doing zoom meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. The Thursday meeting have been about the business community and how to bring people into the Village. They have been good discussions. This coming Thursday, Art Clark of Visit Nyack, will be doing a presentation on their ad campaign. One issue that has come up in the Thursday meetings has been holiday parking. There are some creative ideas that they can discuss during a work session in October. The Chamber of Commerce has decided not to host the annual Halloween Parade. Donna Lightfoot-Cooper – The Housing Authority lawyer has questioned her about the property tax bill that the NHA is receiving. Attorney Sevastian replied that he would like to send him an email. Thanked Jim and the staff for continuing to serve the Village and keeping the residents happy. The last NHA meeting did not happen because they did not have a quorum. She would like to discuss more about it in executive session as it relates to personnel issues. Motion by Louise Parker, seconded by Donald Hammond for the executive session. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin- Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Executive Session Motion by Louise Parker, seconded by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper to enter executive session at 8:28pm. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Louise Parker to exit executive session at 8:47pm.) Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent) Adjournment Motion by Louise Parker, seconded by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper to adjourn the Village Board meeting at 8:47pm. Motion passed by a vote of 3 – 2 (Trustee Reichlin-Melnick and Trustee Lorenzini absent)