City Council

Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday May 9, 2022 8:00pm  Call to order Mayor Kalaj called to order the Village Board Meeting at 8:02pm on May 9, 2022, via Zoom Webinar ID: 83403359856 for the Village of South Blooming Grove located at 811 State Route 208, within the Village of South Blooming Grove, and having a mailing address of Monroe, New York.  Roll call The following persons were present: o Mayor’s George Kalaj – Mayor o Abraham Weiss – Deputy Mayor o Yitzchok Feldman- Trustee o Zalmon Rosner – Trustee o Asher Guttman- Trustee o Joel Stern – Confidential Assistant to the Mayor o Isaac Ekstein- Legialative Aide to Mayor o Al Fusco, Village Engineer o Scott Ugell Esq.- Village Attorney  Discussion o The Mayor advised that we had another sewer backup on Tanager Road. Do not flush wipes or other items as they cause backups in the sewer. o Engineer Al Fusco explained the re-bid process, there were not enough bidders for one project and bidders had conflicting information on the other. This would not be acceptable therefore the Village will be re-bidding the projects for Prospect and Merriewold. o Attorney Ugell is researching the open meetings laws pertaining to a hybrid meeting approach. A public hearing is scheduled for May 23, 2022.  Public Comment o Sue Anne Vogelsberg – there was some talk before the meeting about those grant applications for the work on Prospect Road and Merriewold, so she guesses that we got rejected from them but you can explain more with that. She is wondering, just like we talk out a bond to finance the extra money that the vehicle cost and that only really services a small number of people but the work on Prospect and Merriewold would benefit more, so hopefully you can pursue that. What is happing with that body of water that is on the former Lemko Resort Property, it looks like it is drained, that something happened with the dam. It also looks like there is construction activity at Clovewood and she is wondering why that is happening because she didn’t think the FEIS was approved. She didn’t 1  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday May 9, 2022 8:00pm hear anything about that. Also, the construction at Stonegate Drive, what is there now doesn’t look like what was on the site plans, the building wasn’t that close to Route 208 and now all that foundation seems pretty close to Route 208, so she is just wondering about that. What is the time frame for the traffic light, she believes that it was Mr. Stern that worked on it, we were going to get a traffic light at Seven Springs and Mountain Road, she is wondering what the time frame is for that. What is the date for the annual Village Community Day? Usually it is held in June, that is next month so she is just wondering what is happening with that. That was a lovely letter that Mr. Lowy wrote, but she is just wondering what the criteria is for residents when they correspond with the Mayor that it become correspondence, the Mayor and the Village Board, how did his letter get in there when other residents have written things and it doesn’t become correspondence, thank you. o Engineer Fusco advised that the Prospect and Merriewold bids are to be opened May 24, 2022. These are both grant projects and have not been rejected. o Bonnie Rum – Mr. Lowy’s letter was wonderful, she is just curious as to, how was the UJC contacted? Was it through 911? It seems like their response time was incredibly quick compared to the fire department and she is wondering was there a call made to UJC first or was it 911, was the dispatcher sending things out incorrectly, she is just wondering what the disparity was in the response time. Mr. Ekstein advise that the UJC so far has no direct line yet, they will have a direct line where people will be able to call. Right now they basically listen to the scanner and when they hear a call in the community, they go. They heard a structure fire so they went and the reason why they were there faster is because the way they respond is not to go to a garage and wait a few minutes, they just go to the scene and take care of business, so that is how fires are being prevented.  Business o Resolution No. (053) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove setting a public hearing for May 23, 2022 at 8:01 PM regarding open meetings and videoconferencing was confirmed see Minutes April 25, 2022. Motion by Mayor Kalaj, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 5 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Guttman and Trustee Feldman. o o Resolution No. (056) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove authorizing bid to furnish the Tanager Ballfield with outdoor playground equipment, benches, gazebos, etc. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Deputy Mayor Weiss. 5 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Guttman and Trustee Feldman.  Trustee Comments o Trustee Rosner congratulated Simon Schwartz from the Town Council on the birth of his baby girl! Mayor Kalaj and Scott Ugell congratulated, Mazel Tov!  Abstract 2  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday May 9, 2022 8:00pm o Motion to adopt the abstract by Mayor Kalaj, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 5 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Guttman and Trustee Feldman.  Adjournment o Motion to close the meeting at 8:19pm. by Mayor Kalaj, seconded by Trustee Rosner. 5 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Guttman and Trustee Feldman Minutes respectfully submitted by Kerry Dougherty, Village Clerk 3