City Council

Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday JUNE 26, 2023 8:00pm  Call to order Deputy Mayor Weiss called to order the Village Board Meeting at 8:06pm on June 26, 2023, 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 Isaac Ekstein – Legislative Aide to Mayor o Al Fusco- Village Engineer o Kerry Dougherty – Village Clerk o Absent o George Kalaj – Mayor o Scott Ugell, Esq. – Village Attorney o Joel Stern – Confidential Assistant to the Mayor  Correspondence • Kerry Dougherty - Vendor Permit Application – La Mexicana – Food Truck – It’s a vendor that has a food truck that they want to do it from their driveway. For the public. It’s in a residential area. There is also another one expected but I don’t have the actual application. Al Fusco will check on it. It was tabled.  Public Comment • Sue Anne Vogelsberg – This is regarding a resolution. I looked up a code for article XVI says Administration Enforcement. When using this company based in New Jersey, I’m just wondering what the cost is going to be for the village and we recently have Malka Millman. She was getting paid by the village to assist with plans. So is she terminated? • Sue Anne Vogelsberg – On Thursday June 22, 2023, there was a bear behind my house. One of the neighbors had sent a video. I could not forward it to the police. Having twice a week pickup for garbage is not working. There are people that are putting out bags in fact across the street from me the second pickup was today and there is at least 6 bags that are there and the bear will rip into them and have the garbage all over the place. So maybe put another robocall out just to remind people that cans are there for a reason. To put the garbage in the cans. 1  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday JUNE 26, 2023 8:00pm • Sue Anne Vogelsberg – Do we have an update on that A1S1 PR firm? I know it was bought up a couple of meetings ago. I see Mr. Ugell’s sign is here. Are we going to get a new lawyer? • Sue Anne Vogelsberg – Any updates on the counter lawsuit with the Mangin Road extension? • Sue Anne Vogelsberg – A couple of meetings ago Mr. Fusco talked about the Fair Housing Act and grants for the Village of South Blooming Grove. I wanted to ensure what that entails the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination of housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability and it seems kind of hypocritical to me that we are going to follow guidelines for the Fair Housing Act while the village, the planning board and zoning board are all composed of all white males. There is no diversity. So if we are going to go Fair Housing and having no discrimination why is are village government just composed of white men no people of color. • William Hewlett, Jr. – On the website there was a water main break so that was placed on the social media page. This afternoon at 2:00pm I turn on my faucet brown water, I flush my toilet heavily dark brown water. I know this is a problem that you inherited however the water not just for myself but for neighbors it cost me well over $150 a month. So the expenses are rising due to my family and surrounding families with basic right of just clear drinking water and going back to the social media post you mentioned that there was Shiva and your getting the tax breaks and everything else wouldn’t it be a decent idea somehow to address this with our tax resource. Somehow get a rebate or some type of reimbursement for the expense not just for myself but for other families who are paying for water to be delivered. Just a thought, once again I know you inherited this problem. It’s an ongoing problem. For example, I have an ice making machine and if I pour water from the kitchen sink into that dispenser it will make the ice but if that water is there for 1 to 2 or 3 days there is sediment on the bottom of it from the drinking water. So that’s an ongoing issue. • William Hewlett, Jr. – Another item was the garbage pickup as well so I have conversations with my neighbors. Marangi will only, and I mentioned this at a previous meeting as well, have the truck that they put in the garbage and the recycle. So my neighbor next door had a crib and you had to dismantle it and somehow put it in the trash can. It was outside for 3 weeks. On Sears Road there is a bathtub that’s been outside of the house for a month. It’s unsightly so Marangi I think just needs to be made aware of this. It’s going to cause a rodent problem if it has not done so already. • William Hewlett, Jr. – It’s nice to hear about the town shuttle. I know on Sunday it is mentioned in the social media that eventually they are going to go into Woodbury Common. • William Hewlett, Jr. - The last thing on this back to the social media we warmly embrace the presence and celebrate with the diverse tapestry of faith in our community. I just want to know as a Board what does this look like. What is a diverse tapestry and will there be outreach for the board and for the community to say come together to celebrate this diversity. We are seeing it on social media but what does this actually look like. 2  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday JUNE 26, 2023 8:00pm • Al Fusco – I am happy to announce that this Thursday we are having the village officials, myself, the Department of Health, Environmental Facility Corporation. We are having a meeting with our Bond Counsel and our Munistat or financial folks to set a closing. They need a few pieces of financial information from the village which hopefully getting by the end of the week and we will be able to submit that and they are going to tell us what else they need to do in order to close. Then I believe the grant will be closing in September or October. In the meanwhile we can start doing design. What we did is we are going to look for new wells. We are going to look at old wells and we are going to fix the water supply. We are going to upgrade some of the treatment and we are putting in a new 400,000 gallon storage tank up by Fort Worth. The pressure will increase we will have fire protection. In addition to that we are going to run supplies in the wells in the treatment. We are going to upgrade the treatment. That is Phase 1. Phase 2 we are applying next year to replace every pipe in the village – upgrade. Yes it will be free. • Bonnie Rum – I’m hearing a lot about the water restrictions you said sometime ago that Clovewood they are going to drain those wells and for the village to use. When is that happening? The Hydrologist hasn’t done his evaluation to determine. So I don’t think we have the ability to withdraw from the wells. Do you have a timeframe of when that would happen because that might help the situation considerably one would think. • Bonnie Rum – The grocery store that opened and had the fire. What was the cause of the fire? Al Fusco – I can’t tell you the cause. The county does the inspection. Bonnie Rum – It was supposed to be inspected, if it was an electrical thing, what was going on, was it not properly inspected? Are they back in operation? - Village Board - They are rebuilding. Hopefully it will be open in the next couple of weeks. Sue Anne Vogelsberg – Do they need to submit new plans to the Planning Board? It looks like it is bigger than what it was. Village Board yes they do. • Isaac Ekstein – The DEC is in the process of finalizing the water. • Bonnie Rum – The fire company is that about the same thing you were talking about a second ago. Are there going to be 2 fire companies in the village? Potentially yes • Simon Schwartz (324 Lake Shore) – I want to thank the village for ensuring the safety of our kids. I know over the last few years this village has been transformed from a more mature population to a younger population with kids so the issue is coming up again and again. I know there is supposed to be a public hearing in July. I want to address another safety concern which is Merriewold Lane North, Lake Shore Drive and Red Bird. All of the exits from these streets the view in the summer is blocked by trees. I witnessed this week I was coming from Merriewold Lane South I saw someone trying to turn from Merriewold Lane North it didn’t see a car coming around from Washingtonville. Whether the village or the state or the owners needs to trim the trees. Kerry Dougherty – I’ll call the state and they will put it on a schedule. • William Hewlett – Just on the issue of safety with the warmer months coming up in regards to children. I have it on videotape child unattended in the middle of the street 68 Duelk Avenue and 3  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday JUNE 26, 2023 8:00pm the parents did come out but more importantly I have been complaining about this Orange County Bus Company on the corner of Sears and Houston Avenue they make after the left turn and they let the children out. These are toddlers. Once again my neighbor on 12 Houston Avenue we had a discussion kids just running up and down the street. If OC Bus would be more responsible and do the drop off in front of the home then they back up and down Houston Avenue. I want to make this board aware of that.  Business o Resolution No. (47) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove Setting a Time and Place (July 24, 2023) for a Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Local Law of 2023 – Amending Chapter 235 of the Village Code (Article XVI). Motion to accept by Trustee Feldman, seconded by Deputy Mayor Weiss. 4Ayes, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Guttman. 1 Absent Mayor Kalaj o Resolution No. (48) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Millennium strategies LLC, grant writing assistance. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Trustee Feldman. 4 Ayes, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Feldman, and Trustee Guttman. 1 Absent Mayor Kalaj o Resolution No. (49) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove Consenting to the Incorporation of The Village of South Blooming Grove Fire Company No. 1, Inc., a Village Fire Company. Motion to accept by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 4 Ayes, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Rosner and Trustee Guttman. 1 Absent Mayor Kalaj  Discussion Trustee Guttman - There was an article today in the Mid-Hudson news that the Village of South Blooming Grove was the lowest tax levy in Orange County. The lowest village tax. We are trying to bring more grant money and not to burden our tax payers on the budget. So this is another writer and another grant writer to make sure we are getting grants for the all the upkeep and maintenance we want to do.  Abstract Motion to accept the Abstract by Trustee Rosner, seconded by Deputy Mayor Weiss, 4 Ayes Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Feldman and Trustee Guttman. 1 Absent Mayor Kalaj. 4  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday JUNE 26, 2023 8:00pm • Adjournment o Motion to close the meeting at 8:40pm. by Trustee Feldman, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 4 Ayes, Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner, Trustee Feldman, and Trustee Guttman. 1 Absent Mayor Kalaj. Minutes respectfully submitted by Kerry Dougherty, Village Clerk 5