City Council

Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday DECEMBER 12, 2022 8:00pm  Call to order Deputy Mayor Kalaj called to order the Village Board Meeting at 8:04 pm on December 12, 2022, 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 Abraham Weiss – Deputy Mayor o Yitzchok Feldman- Trustee o Asher Guttman- Trustee o Zalmon Rosner – Trustee o Joel Stern – Confidential Assistant to the Mayor o Scott Ugell Esq.- Village Attorney o Kerry Dougherty – Village Clerk o Absent - George Kalaj – Mayor o Absent - Isaac Ekstein- Legislative Aide to Mayor o Absent - Al Fusco, Village Engineer  Correspondence o None  Deputy Mayor’s Comments o It is anticipated that the traffic light at Mountain Road and Route 208 will be turned on tomorrow.  Public Comment o Sue Anne Vogelsberg – A couple of weeks ago she asked about the school 206 Prospect and residents at 212 and 216 Prospect. They have big lights that are facing into the road. She stated that if you come around Round Hill Road coming up Prospect the lights are shining on the road and they are blinding. They just need to turn them a bit. The clerk advised that code enforcement did go out and will be asked to go out and review again. The meeting states trustee comments and should adjust agenda to reflect same. o Sue Anne Vogelsberg – I’ve been noticing Trustee comments and I should have noted long ago but I didn’t but Joel and Isaac speak during most of the time. They are not trustees. They are not elected officials so at the end of the meeting make something else in the agenda that they are not speaking so what’s been happening when the two of them go to speak they are also doing verbal 1  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday DECEMBER 12, 2022 8:00pm resolutions and stuff like that. Scott Ugell stated they are authorized by the mayor to give comments. o Sue Anne Vogelsberg I don’t know what this ANUE means can we discuss it. Joel Stern stated basically all the sewerage comes from the top station and from Chester and goes downwards towards Airplane park in the town and village of Monroe. Then there is a light connector over there and from there it flows to County Sewer Plant District 1. It has been over the past year terrible odor coming from that area which was directly tied to a certain methods of our pump stations processing the sewer and how Chester is processing their sewer. The remediation for this is to pump in oxygen and ozones and what not which helps remediate the smell. It also helps save the village a lot of money. It also saves chlorine and salt that you put into the system to process the raw sewage. The county requested that we both sign on that was like last year this time we said we want Chester to be the guinea pig and try it first and spend the money first for us to see if this is effective and they did the pilot test and it was effective. This past summer we did the pilot test where we hooked up a special trailer in the middle of the sewer to check its effect for remediating the smell and it does. Chester did their part and now it’s our point to do our part of the request of the county sewer district we will install this system which will remediate the smell and at the same time will save. It’s not going to cost anything more than it costs us right now for all the chemicals that we are pumping in at this point in the sewer station and to process the sewer. This will remedy the smell the odor as well. Sue Anne Vogelsberg – Is this just at airplane park or is it going to be here too. Joel Stern states it’s going to be here too. It’s a small container that is installed on the ground and it’s just a pipe flowing from the intake through the pumps and then back to airplane park. We tested it and it works and at year end we need to purchase it so let’s have another resolution right now. Also I was on the phone with Village Engineer Fusco before the meeting. The resolution mention $300,000 for bonding for the system. We want to increase it to $350,000 when we will install the system. This is a certain method when you put a device into the existing sewer line coming from this pump station to airplane park which cleans up all the corrosion and stuff that’s stuck over the past I don’t know how many years. It’s a device that can be tracked with GPS so they know exactly where it gets stuck in the process. It can also add some explosives next to it because sometimes it gets stuck and it’s impossible to get out so they can do a control explosion to just bust the pipes up. It’s a very interesting concept. Sue Anne Vogelsberg has some other questions with it so the people that are getting charged for this is only going to be the people that are part of the sewer district right. Joel Stern stated yes it’s going to be South Blooming Grove. Sue Anne Vogelsberg states she has a well and septic Im not getting charged for this am I. Joel Stern states she won’t be charged for it. Sue Anne Vogelsberg also asked if airplane park is involved how come the Town of Monroe or the Village of Monroe involved in this as well. Sue Anne Vogelsberg says it’s our stuff and Chester’s stuff that is causing the problem. Joel Stern states Chester is covering half of the cost and that’s fine. Discussion o Joel Stern states Mr. Stahl wants of CSB Contracting that does the salt cleanup. We don’t wants to get stuck with a big plow gets stuck and no one can come and get out the salt. Emergency repair we 2  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday DECEMBER 12, 2022 8:00pm are approximately $35,000 to repay it’s a little more expensive than usual because it’s multi-weather it needs to be 6 inches thick. We have some quotes we are considering. Joel Stern we are dealing with a life safety issue in the village every single day county Route 44 and state Route 208. We have openly discussed this at Village Meetings several times and we have placed the issue as a top priority of the agenda since this administration took over. Status quo most vehicles and traffic from local residents coming into the village and utilizing that intersection access multiple times of day. We are working actively with the Village Engineer and the Village Planner in cooperation with the landowners of Route 208 plus the state and county DOT and the planning and execution of widening state Route 208 from Exit 130 through Round Hill Road with an additional 30 feet per side this will take a couple of years to accomplish and there will still be a collective 3,000- 4,000 plus local vehicles, trucks and buses frequenting and travelling through that intersection commuting too and from the village on a daily basis. On top of this county Route 44 is an extreme hazard during the winter months and almost every time when there’s a snow during the winter season the county DOT is forced to close the corridor from state Route 208 through Seven Springs Road because this section of the road is just not travelable even with the best plowing and de-icing procedures. We have to come up with a solution to take off as many vehicles off state Route 208 and use alternative ways and needs to get to and from the destinations in the village without having to utilize the congested and dangerous corridor and intersection county Route 44 and state Route 208. We have looked extensively into many options some more practical than the other and we have come up with a tangible and efficient solution that can be implemented immediately without any logistical and or financial burden to the Village. A move which will alleviate 90% of the local vehicles, trucks and buses frequenting and travelling through that intersection. The project summary is to reopen the previously existing road connection between state Route 208 and Seven Springs and Mountain Road. There is a road connection from the US 208 before 208 was built to Seven Springs Mountain Road which is now county Route 44 which was for whatever reason abandoned over the past couple of years. The location and port of entry of the road are well documented and filed with state and county of a variety of maps etc that I will attach to the communication that I will send to the Village which includes a map of the United States geological survey of 1985(?) and 1953 officials only met Town of Blooming Grove 1970 officials. These follow-up with the county and states clerks office in 2004 when the Gonzaga Park was dedicated as a state park and the road was still designated on the current county website when it mentions all the different roads leading into and out Gonzoga Park. Upon thorough inspection of the abandoned road over the past months we have found that the road is 75% intact although unpaved there is an additional cleanup required for the 25%. We have had discussions with the private property owners surrounding the road about taking part of a fair share initiative towards a full cleanup and paving cost involved in which they are willing to partake. Honorable Steve Neuhaus as well as the County Legislator Chairwoman Honorable Katie Manelli and our county and state officials about theseis initiatives of the past months. Sue Anne Vogelsberg said is there no discussion on the Resolution 153. She said there’s nothing to discuss you are talking about Gonzaga right. She says he’s not a Trustee he brings up a resolution and you guys rubber stamp it. This is serious business. 3  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday DECEMBER 12, 2022 8:00pm Simon Gelb says if you remember in 2013 or 2014 I was here in this room in front of the village board and the first thing they asked from me when I came in with Lake Anne Clovewood because in the village code there is a whole section in the Village of the South Blooming Grove code that every person whatever they are trying to do any development from the side of 208 they should make sure that there is roadway in the connectivity from one side to the other side in case of an emergency if whatever reason the main road is closed off people should be able to drive through and around and come out on the other side. So this what Mr. Stern described a couple of minutes ago I believe that falls in 1,000% into the requirements of the Village of South Blooming Grove roadway interconnectivity code and the requirement that the previous boards used to ask from me. Mrs. Vogelsberg used to be on the board and always demanded from us to do now that the village is doing it I believe there shouldn’t be any. #2 Specifically on this road I used to be here only 7 month at the board meetings and all of a sudden for a couple of months Mr. Perato didn’t show up and when he came back I asked him what happened he told me he lives on Mountain Road and Sleepy Hollow which is right off 208 he came out his car and slipped on ice and lied 45 minutes he told me waiting 45 minutes for the Blooming Grove ambulance to be able to get up that small drive from 208 to his house which is a drive of half minute. A couple of years ago both boards approved the project in that document that both boards approved the SEQURA covered this idea of the manual connection. Sue Anne Vogelsberg said this is a big deal this brings back my point from before presented properly in a resolution which is printed that we can read it and discuss it. When you present something like this and do a verbal we got no paperwork. This happens too many times.  Business o Resolution No. (150) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove authorizing the mayor to sign a contract with Anue and a bond resolution be prepared. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 5Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Feldman and Trustee Guttman. o Resolution No. (151) – Resolution of the Village Board to authorize the mayor to approve $35,000 to repair the Salt Bin. Motion to accept by Trustee Feldman and seconded by Trustee Guttman, 4 Ayes and 1 absent o Resolution No. (152) – Resolution of the Village Board to Execute Public Transportation. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Deputy Mayor Weiss, 4 Ayes and 1 Absent. o Resolution No (153) – Resolution of the Village Board to pass Authorize the mayor to perform all actions required to reopen Mangin Road to Seven Springs Road. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner and seconded by Trustee Weiss, 4 Ayes  Abstract o Motion to adopt the abstract by Trustee Guttman, seconded by Trustee Rosner, 4 Ayes and 1 Absent 4  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday DECEMBER 12, 2022 8:00pm  Adjournment o Motion to close the meeting at 8:31pm. by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Trustee Weiss, 4 Ayes, 1 Absent. Minutes respectfully submitted by Kerry Dougherty, Village Clerk 5