City Council

Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday February 12, 2024 8:00pm  Call to order Mayor Kalaj called to order the Village Board Meeting at 8:03pm on February 12, 2024, 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 George Kalaj - Mayor o Yitzchok Feldman- Trustee o Asher Guttman- Trustee o Joel Stern – Confidential Assistant to the Mayor o Isaac Ekstein – Legislative Aide to Mayor o Scott Ugell Esq. – Village Attorney o Al Fusco- Village Engineer o Kerry Dougherty – Village Clerk o Absent – Abraham Weiss – Deputy Mayor o Absent – Zalmon Rosner – Trustee  Mayor’s Opening Comments o Bad weather is predicted please remove all vehicle from the street as well as garbage cans, giving clear access to the plows. o There will be a second hearing regarding the additional garbage pick-up. o The village is planning on obtaining a fire truck, Island Time Supermarket are willing to give us a donation to get a new truck. o The sewer continues to get clogged and is costing money, please only flush toilet paper.  Correspondence  Public Comment o Bonnie Rum – She is curious who is Island Time Supermarket, is it the supermarket in Stonegate. Mayor no it is not. The idea that you can’t ask questions in a public meeting is ridiculous. The only public meeting where you don’t answer the questions is when they don’t know the answers. She has been to many public meetings. The idea of charging, she knows you are having a problem with that second sanitation, it was not done in, according to the legalities of a municipality as Mr. Ugell, you probably know or should know. There was no bid or anything like that so you will probably have a problem down the road on that. She also noticed that you are trying to say that you have eminent domain to expand a 1  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday February 12, 2024 8:00pm road, Mangin Road, that’s opened and the plans were allowed to be confirmed by the planning board they didn’t consider the traffic that would ensue. o Chris Maderia – his comments on the 2nd pick-up is he doesn’t understand what you are trying to accomplish; as a resident of the village which is also a part of the Town of Blooming Grove Town Wide Refuse District, “who I pay my taxes to for my garbage removal.” He got a bill for, I don’t know, no due date on it, no notice of interest, no notice of penalties. Its just a letter as far as he is concerned. It says he owes the village $309 which is funny because as a member of the Town Wide Refuse District in 2023 we would have only had to pay 21.75 a can per month and the rate for 2024 is only 23.00 for a second can so he doesn’t know what you are trying to accomplish here with the second pick up, because a second pick up is still one can so that is 2 cans per resident per week whether it is Monday and Tuesday, 2 cans on Monday however you want to divide it up its 2 cans under the Town Contract and I implore you, anybody in this room, especially Mr. Ugell to show me where the town bid and the town contract says you can piggy-back it, because Mr. Ekstein is wrong. There is no, nothing clause in the bid if anything they reserve the right, you have to ask permission and I have emails from you, you, Mr. Stern to Mr. Jeroloman, you knew this before, here’s the issue, you wanted to pull out of the waste district, you can’t because you don’t have the votes, because Washingtonville voters gotta vote so you can’t get out. So this is the scam of how you are trying to get around the law, I’m not stupid and blind, and I’m not gonna stop, so you keep sending me bills because the next thing we’re gonna go to Article 78 hearing, cause that’s where I’m going next cause this is foolishness, this is where did the $300,000 come from in 2023, where did that monies come from, anybody? Nobody voted on it, you just grabbed it so that’s all I got to say. o Tiawana Perez she has emailed the Mayor several times about the 2nd garbage pick-up, it is two of us and we do not need a second garbage pick-up. So this bill, I don’t know what you want me to do with it because you didn’t respond to my emails regarding the 2nd garbage pick-up. Her husband will talk about the recycle bin. On her block it is complete chaos, on her block there is a synagogue, there is garbage all over and it continues to clog the storm drain. She is worried about back up into her water, they are paying a lot of money and taxes, they are not selling their house, they both work in the school system. She has emailed about safety and the children in the roads. There needs to be order some type of organization and safety. The water we are not able to use and contributing to it is the drainage. 10-15 people walk on road and don’t move when you drive by. o Mr. Danoto Perez agrees with Mr. Maderia, he doesn’t understand the recycling and has video of them putting the garbage can with the recycle bin. The new neighbors are very inconsiderate, the children are throwing rocks at his dogs. He has gone to the synagogue, he cannot get in touch with anyone. He has reached out to the neighbors however most of them are inconsiderate to the point that the debris that is clogging the drains they have to come out before or after work to remove debris, garbage, construction debris, nails, etc. There is double parking along his street. o Bill Hewlitt he has attended meetings in the past, he has brought up recycling in the past and there is no recycling. Recycling is a law and it is clearing not being abided. To increase the communication he asked the Mayor his vision. Houses being demolished apartment buildings being built. Construction vehicle constantly on his block dropping nails and debris, he had to replace 2 tires. What is your vision is this a neighborhood of house or apartment buildings. Are more coming in the future and what is the method of communication for them to know if his neighbor sells and they build an apartment building. 2  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday February 12, 2024 8:00pm He needs people to stop knocking on his door to buy his house, it is not for sale. O & R is replacing poles is there any way for us to know ahead of time? The board suggested he contact O & R. He mentioned apartments buildings, Mr. Ekstein briefly explained RB zoning allowing a single-family house and which can have accessory. o Dawn Chambers why does she have to pay for a 2nd pick up, it takes her two weeks to fill a can, she only has ½ the garbage. Landscapers blow the leaves onto the street, she has called this into the village hall, she pays to take care of her yard. This is her first home, she choose to live here because it reminded her of Jamaca, Country living and it is like going back to the city and she hates it. o Charlene Jackson She discussed the facility fee what is a facility fee for. There is nothing that warranted this additional facility fee. Why is she paying a 2nd garbage bill when she is paying it in her tax. Her children are in college and she is hardly home, they hardly use garbage. Sometimes it is 2-3 weeks before she needs to put out garbage. Where is the representation for the community. This should be equality, equal representation. How is the board chosen? The building going up next to her home, they are beginning work at 6:00am even on the weekends. The board advised her to call the police or the building department this is unacceptable She thought this was a residential area and there are public buses coming even late in the evening. o Alba Anes she agrees with the other comments this evening. She is concerned about the kids walking on the roads, they don’t move over and yell at her to slow down when she is driving very slow. She doesn’t need a 2nd garbage pick-up and it is unfair. o Phil Anes he agrees with all prior comments. He inquired about street lights and if that would increase our taxes. He notices a lot of people walking at night, not wearing reflectors and with the bus it is dangerous. The Mayor stated he is trying to make the village safer and street lights will help, over 1000 reflectors were handed out. o Princess Downey is concerned that on Saturdays why can’t we co-exist, but people walk in the road and refuse to move and she needs to beep. The children don’t know what to do when traffic is coming. There are toys all over the road and asked that people stop knocking on her door to buy her house, she is not selling. o Cardone He is not in favor of the garbage 2nd pick-up, it is just 3 of them. He moved from Brooklyn for the quietness. He doesn’t see any permits and these are not 1 family homes they are for multiple families and the community is changing into apartment buildings. Every week houses are taken down and high rise buildings are going up. o Inger Papas how can you justify 290 apartment complex and charge for an extra garbage pick-up. The residents of Rolling Hills have a community garbage. o Christine Papas asked the Mayor about the Supermarket that wants to come in Island Supermarket, Peppermint has not been so conscious of being kind to the community. If you go to 385 Lake Shore Drive one of their shopping carts are in there. Ducks, Geese are in there, she feeds them every day, there is a turtle. These are manicured properties that these people purchased, not any more. She told everyone in the room, if they are fed up with the garbage, call the DEC it is very effective. She called them Friday. 389 Lake Shore Drive is under construction for God only knows how long and they have no building 3  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday February 12, 2024 8:00pm permit. They have garbage blowing every day, no dumpster and every day the garbage goes further down the street. Maybe the board should reconsider the new supermarket. o Donna McGovern there is garbage everywhere, garbage in the lake, shopping bags in the lake, bottles and boxes everywhere. We pay for garbage, her and her husband don’t have a lot of garbage and don’t even need it weekly. She has to work an entire week to pay this bill. Its so sad, the lake is full of garbage. o Agatha Cabrera she does not need a 2nd garbage pick-up, she has been here for 20 years. The school buses are driving too fast like it’s a highway.  Business o Al Fusco explained that the village has an opportunity to apply for a grant with the WIIA Program and with the NYS Environmental Facility Corporation similar to the grant we got for the water, it’s a similar program. We have put in an application under the EFC intended use plan, so that we have some status and we are able to present a grant application and a loan application to upgrade the sewers. We are having a lot of problem with the sewers, a lot of infiltration in inflow where extraneous water from the ground gets into the pipes and/or the man holes and we need to investigate them and repair them and with that some replacement would be required. We have the opportunity at this point to apply for grants and low interest loans in order to upgrade the sewer system. We are talking about the existing district at this point. Towards that we are requesting himself and the Mayor to sign documents, prepare engineering reports and submit the application allowing us to move forward. o Resolution No. (15) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove authorizing Mayor and Engineer to execute documents with regard to sewer grants and improvements. Motion to accept by Trustee Feldman, seconded by Trustee Guttman. 3 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Guttman. 2 Absent Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner. o Resolution No. (16) – Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove setting a public hearing regarding local improvement expanding sanitation services. Motion to accept by Trustee Guttman, seconded by Mayor Kalaj. 3 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Guttman. 2 Absent Deputy Mayor, Weiss, Trustee Rosner. o  Discussion o Al Fusco discussed fees for different funds. There is currently Parkland Fees. In addition to that there is Water, Sewer, Sidewalk, Streetlighting and Road Improvements. We have established those funds, but we haven’t yet solidified how much we want to put into each one per development unit and per each 3,000 square feet of commercial. we need to discuss now or at a subsequent meeting how much we would charge, he did recommend $6,000 for water and sewer each per unit. Cumulatively, we may have 4  Village of South Blooming Grove Regular Meeting Monday February 12, 2024 8:00pm to discuss further perhaps $3,000 each. Now he recommends $5,000 for water and sewer each and discuss further. He will provide recommendations for next meeting. o Trustee Feldman inquired on how to control the mud and mess created by construction sites. Al Fusco discussed that on larger projects we are requiring Trac Pads and stabilized entrances. It is covered under the MS4 but building will take care of this. Al Fusco, we also need to improve how road opening permits are followed up and patched. o Trustee Feldman added that he will be considering all the comments. He advised that he too moved from Brooklyn for the residential living.  Abstract o Motion to accept the Abstract by Mayor Kalaj, seconded by Trustee Rosner, 3 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Guttman. 2 Absent Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner.  Adjournment o Motion to close the meeting at 9:10pm. by Mayor Kalaj, seconded by Trustee Feldman. 3 Ayes, Mayor Kalaj, Trustee Feldman, Trustee Guttman, 2 Absent Deputy Mayor Weiss, Trustee Rosner. Minutes respectfully submitted by Kerry Dougherty, Village Clerk 5