Village Board of Trustees Meeting

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Village of Nyack Board of Trustees held at 7:30pm on Thursday October 22, 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 Trustee Elijah Reichlin-Melnick Trustee Marie Lorenzini Trustee ALSO PRESENT James Politi Village Administrator Jennifer Hetling Village Clerk/Treasurer ABSENT Walter Sevastian Village Attorney Meeting called to order at 7:31pm 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 October 22, 2020 Village Board meeting remains as scheduled and was held remotely. 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 October 22nd 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 October 8, 2020 – Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Louise Parker to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Public Comment Roger Cohen – He submitted paperwork requesting free shop small holiday parking and hopes that the Board will approve them to get people into the Village and support local businesses Action Items Resolution No. 2020 – 61 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board to accept the Audited Voucher Summary #15-2020 Motion by Marie Lorenzini, seconded by Elijah Reichlin-Melnick to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Resolution No. 2020 – 62 Resolution of the Nyack Village Boardreserving the dates for the 15th Annual Art Walk on June 18th – 21st 2021 Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Marie Lorenzini to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Resolution No. 2020 – 63 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board approving the Chamber of Commerce 2021 schedule of events Motion by Marie Lorenzini, seconded by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Resolution No. 2020 – 64 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board approving the Chamber of Commerce 2020 holiday parking dates Motion by Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, seconded by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a vote of 4-1. (Trustee Parker, nay) Louise Parker recommended not giving all the dates because budget is tight at this point in time. James Politi stated that parking revenue on a Saturday averages around $3,000. Marie Lorenzini stated that we have done this in the past but at this point we should modify the dates but we should give some to assist the merchants and be fair to the Village at the same time. Donald Hammond stated that he brought this up in his merchant meetings and the merchants said they need to at least have some dates and they also stated that the merchants said a lot of merchants and employees park in the streets not allowing for turnover. Louise Parker asked if we only gave free parking in the parking lots last year which Donald Hammond said it was but it didn’t work out last year. She then stated that the $3,000 loss in revenue estimate only applied to the parking lots so giving free parking Village wide would have a much larger effect on budget. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick stated that we have done just he lots for a couple years and asked what the complaints were that we needed to expand. Donald Hammond replied that people thought that free parking was village wide and received tickets. Donna Lightfoot-Cooper stated that the loss in revenue if it was just lots compared to Village wide is too much and she would support just the lots but not the entire village. Mayor Hammond stated that there was a concensus that free parking would just be for the lots. He polled that Board and it was decided that free parking would be offered for 4 dates. Roger Cohen stated that he would be ok with losing 12/26/20. Louise Parker stated she would be better if it was only 3 dates. Resolution No. 2020 – 65 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board authorizing the implementation, and funding in the first instance 100% of the federal-aid [[[and State "Marchiselli" Program-aid]]] eligible costs, of a transportation federal-aid project, and appropriating funds therefore Motion by Marie Lorenzini, seconded by Elijah Reichlin-Melnick to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Resolution No. 2020 – 66 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board establishing the standard work days for specific elected and appointed officials Motion by Marie Lorenzini, seconded by Elijah Reichlin-Melnick to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Resolution No. 2020 – 67 Resolution of the Nyack Village Board appointing James Politi, Village Administrator as Equitable Business Opportunities (EBO) Administrator (including state –aid and federal-aid projects) Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Marie Lorenzini to accept the motion as presented. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Public Comment Department Reports to the Board of Trustees Orangetown Police Department – The Mayor and some others met with the police about people in the park without masks on. The police chief and Mayor will be having a meeting with a local rabbi to see if he can encourage people to wear masks while visiting the park Village Administrator – He is working on getting a revised TAP project scope of work to the Board. The water improvement project is going well and work is progressing. Tomorrow night’s outdoor dining event is ready to go. Village Clerk – Treasurer – None Communications Rocktown Warriors request to use Memorial Park – Mayor Hammond stated that the request is for the Rocktown Warrior to use the park for football practice. Tyrone Williams stated that it would be on the bottom field for 3 days a week from 5pm-7pm. He also stated that the season ends in the middle of November. Mayor Hammond stated that he was in favor of this proposal but wanted to remind them to follow COVID guidelines. Nikki Hines asked if this passes and Tyrone gets harassed or if the police are called, will the authorities be informed that this is an approved event to which Mayor Hammond said that he will let the police know. Motion by Donald Hammond, seconded by Marie Lorenzini to allow for Rocktown Warriors to use the park. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Public Comment – Comments from the Village Board of Trustees Louise Parker – None Donald Hammond – The first police reform task force meeting occurred on Tuesday and it was an uneventful start. There is a lot to do on structuring it. The next meeting will be at the Nyack Center to encourage people to come and speak about community issues. He met with the Safe Haven Committee and the event will be marketed more towards the businesses to try to minimize large gatherings while helping the merchants. The committee spoke about doing Friday night events in November. The Mayor would like to continue if they continue to pay for the street closures. The committee is going to go to the businesses and see how they fell about continuing. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick –.None Marie Lorenzini - She agreed with Trustee Lightfoot-Cooper that the decorations look great. This week was the 39th anniversary of the Brinks robbery and the event was nice and well attended. Donna Lightfoot-Cooper – Stated that she did not attend the meeting on Tuesday and didn’t get the zoom info. She also stated that Halloween decorations look great and she thanked the DPW for their work. She also thanked James Politi for getting the road signs in place on Franklin and for the road painting in that area. . Executive Session Motion by Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, seconded by Louise Parker to enter executive session at 8:30pm. Motion passed by unanimous vote. Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Marie Lorenzini to exit executive session at 8:46pm. Motion passed by unanimous vote. Adjournment Motion by Donna Lightfoot-Cooper, seconded by Marie Lorenzini to adjourn the Village Board meeting at 8:46pm. Motion passed by unanimous vote.