Board of Trustees

. Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting January 15, 2019 Mayor Rumbold called the regular meeting of the Village of Walden Board of Trustees to order at 6:30pm. On roll call the following were: Present: Mayor Sue Rumbold Deputy Mayor Faith Moore Trustees Brian B. Sebring Larry Kraus John Ramos Dan Svarczkopf Lynn E. Thompson Absent: Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Kelly A. Kelly, Village Treasurer Dave Donovan, Village Attorney Public Hearing Introductory to LL#1 of 2019 ZBA/PB Mailings Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to open Public Hearing Introductory to Local Law#1 of 2019. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. Building Inspector Stickles asked if the fees would be set tonight. Mayor Rumbold replied; yes. Building Inspector Stickles questioned if we were going to 15 day mailing time instead of 5. Attorney Donovan said after a number of discussions, 15 days. Mayor Rumbold believes the fee was $ 0.55 per article. Manager Revella said that’s correct. Building Inspector Stickles asked if that takes in all the time. Manager Revella added that the applicant has to bring in the letter and envelope all ready to go. We’re just stamping and mailing it. Building Inspector Stickles questioned the postage and if it will be outlined in the Local Law what the applicant has to do. Manager Revella said that it is. January 15, 2019 1  . Attorney Donovan added for purpose of clarification, the last that we were here, Local Law indicated that the applicant would bring the envelopes with postage and addresses given by the village. There was a discussion, pursuant to which the Local Law was modified, the envelopes would be addressed and postage will be placed by the village at a cost to be paid by the applicant Mayor Rumbold mentioned that’s where we came up with the $0.55 per article. Manager Revella added not if we’re addressing them as well. It’ll be more. Attorney Donovan said that the Local Law indicates that the fee is going to be established by the fee schedule and you can amend it so that the fee is not part of the Local Law. Mayor Rumbold added because it’s going to change as the cost of postage changes. Trustee Svarczkopf said that the version he has says that it’s an employee of the village. Attorney Donovan said that the version back in December said the applicant would bring in the envelopes with the postage and the address. There was a discussion that we’ll do that, so that’s what this version reflects. Mayor Rumbold added so that it’s clear what the applicant needs. Attorney Donovan said the legal notices prepared by the village, envelopes, fixes a stamp and then mails it. Trustee Svarczkopf said that can’t be $0.55. Attorney Donovan said that as indicated in the last discussion, you can set a fee schedule. You can do that tonight or at your next meeting. Manager Revella mentioned that the law won’t take effect for at least 14 days because it’s sent to the state after this meeting. Mary Ellen Matise, 54 Gladstone, is confused. Don’t know how you want to do it, the fees are set at the reorg meeting, every year that’s going to change and will change during the year. But you still have to know how it’s going to work. I think it needs to change. Trustee Sebring made a motion to close Public Hearing Introductory Local Law #1 of 2019. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager Revella announced the new hires in the village that need to be introduced. Building Inspector Stickles introduced Darlene Ciardullo. She is to take over for Vicki when she retires in February. She’ll be the new secretary for Building Dept. Treasurer Kelly introduced Jessica Gonzalez. She is working with us part time from 9:30am to 2:30pm, Monday – Thursday. She has done very well for her first complete week. January 15, 2019 2  . Manager Revella added there’s a Part Time Dispatcher that started today, but they’re very busy. Village Manager’s Report  Been going over capital projects to make sure we’re on task. Had a couple outstanding CDBG projects and state projects that we’re making sure tracking for when the weather breaks. Ulster Ave will be starting soon as the weather breaks.  Contractors held their pricing and are on board to begin at the same time.  CDBG will be doing the sidewalks Maple, between Scofield and Walnut. Depending on how the pricing is.  Will also be doing sidewalks on Oakland Ave with funds from last year project. That lines up for the spring as well.  Met on the DEC consent order items. We have the projects lined up; the consent order gives a timeline to complete those. We are on the IUP for funding for environmental studies to obtain grants. Engineer estimates about 1.2 and 2.2 million to complete the 3 major projects.  Since last meeting we interviewed and made some hires.  Dept Heads have been discussing inventory for the year.  Started evaluations for their depts.  Their budgets are due by end of the month.  Edmunds has started their migration process.  Ordered new computers and trying to get the server.  Went over items with spec council. Personnel issues and policy updates, negotiations.  Went over some OC planning to make sure everything is on task. Including Ulster Ave project.  Great meeting with Wallkill River Alliance with Trustee Thompson discussed projects along the river. Utilization for regional purposes as well.  Covered for couple depts. over holiday. Trustee Svarczkopf asked the timeline for the Ulster Ave project. Manager Revella said 4-6 months. Should be done by the end of September. It depends on when they start or if there are delays due to weather or other issues. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if we had pricing for the server. Manager Revella said that we have pricing. Treasurer Kelly added that we need to see if we need 2 other bids or state contract. Manager Revella said that they did all the components and gave pricing on that. Treasurer Kelly said for just server, it’s around $8k, but needed some switches. Sysco ports. We have to get competitive pricing on. Trustee Thompson asked if there was any final determination on the old sidewalks. January 15, 2019 3  . Manager Revella said that the board decided that it would be made available to the public. Trustee Thompson thought that we still had questions about cost, stack them, and store them. Manager Revella said that some people would even take pieces. That was the board decision at the time. Trustee Thompson said that she remembers that, but thought that we would have to find out the cost. Manager Revella said to reuse, it would be at cost. To stack and store, would have to be maintained in usable form. Mayor Rumbold added that there’s no guarantee on the condition. Trustee Thompson thought it was contingent on how expensive it would be, but we’re just going to let people take them. Deputy Mayor Moore asked if the water and sewer billing issues were taken care of. Manager Revella said no. It was started to be corrected today. Just have to check the reports. Deputy Mayor Moore asked about the date for the software conversion. Treasurer Kelly said that they said it’s going to take 4-6 months and will be done in stages. Account and payroll first and gradually add everything in. Deputy Mayor Moore asked if it would be by our fiscal year end. Manager Revella replied; no. We hope so. Treasurer Kelly added that it’ll probably be sometime in June. Asked if we can do it faster and it’ll get done faster, but they have things need to do before they can convert the data. Deputy Mayor Moore questioned if we had any official response regarding the Town of Montgomery concerns about the Hill St Bridge. Manager Revella said no. Deputy Mayor Moore asked if we could have a conversation about sending another letter that we have not sent a letter or received a response in any official capacity since Sept 6th. Manager Revella said that’s fine. He did address the concern the public had with the use of the town parks, especially the Rail Trail. Can’t unilaterally close it, it’s open. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if the other parks are closed. January 15, 2019 4  . Manager Revella said that’s their prerogative. But the Rail Trail is open. Trustee Thompson is assuming that if they’re not maintaining it, they’re not plowing it either. Manager Revella said that’s his guess as well. Trustee Ramos asked about the traffic plan for Ulster Ave. Manager Revella replied; yes. Closing one lane at a time. Trustee Ramos asked if PD, FD, DPW have at least a copy of it. Manager Revella said that DPW has it. There is limited access during construction. They will keep travel flowing at all times, but keep it to one lane. Trustee Ramos added that it’s still going to be a hindrance for responses. Wants to make sure the PD and FD have it. Know that the Building Dept will be making house calls for inspections. Manger Revella stated that the Fire Chief has a copy. Trustee Ramos thinks the plan should be available to the public. Manager Revella said they will have to put boards up on both ends and put out notification. Trustee Svarczkopf asked about a detour. Manager Revella said that you would have to have no parking for 4-6 months on that street. And some people don’t have driveways on that street. Don’t know if that’s possible. Trustee Sebring asked if they made any arrangements for the delivery trucks to deliver at night. Manager Revella said that he talked to them about when shut downs would be. Waiting until we have a more definitive start date. That and the bus company are who we talked to. Mayor Rumbold asked if they said anything about the time frame to notify the residents in that area. Manager Revella said that they don’t really have a rule, but I thought to do it at least 4 weeks ahead of start date. Try to get notification out to the residents and schools. Emergency responders. Hopefully, by the time the project starts, the sign will be up and people will be aware of what’s going on. Mayor Rumbold added that we can also put a notification in the paper when its coming up, Village website. Manager Revella stated there will be a Code Red as well. January 15, 2019 5  . Approval of December 18, 2018 Minutes Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve the December 18, 2019 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee’s Committee Reports Village Offices Liaison – Trustee Svarczkopf Trustee Svarczkopf reported that we went over lots of stuff. Jessica is doing well. Started data extraction, don’t think we finished any part, yet. Treasurer Kelly said that they have all of our data out of KVS and they reformatted it so it fits their software. Trustee Svarczkopf questioned that they do all that and you test it. We ordered new computers and researched time clocks as well. Manager Revella added that we’re going to test one out as well, see how it goes and then get one for every dept. up here, one for PD, Public Works, Sewer, Parks, Wooster, Olley, Bradley. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if it will tie into payroll. Manager Revella said that’s the goal. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if that does go thru, wording in out rulebook that say “you’re not allowed to sign people in”. Treasurer Kelly added that it will be a biometric system and you can’t share your finger. Town of Montgomery & Library Board liaison – Trustee Kraus Trustee Kraus reported that Ms. Neidermier said she’s excited. The room is torn apart and getting ready to put lights in there. There’s new carpeting, shelves. She can’t wait. Probably the end of March it will be completed. They’re real busy. Kids are doing their thing. Planning and Zoning Boards as well as the Building Department Liaison – Trustee Thompson Trustee Thompson said that she has not met with Dean, but read his report. He’s been very busy. She has been attending the ZBA and PB meetings, pretty good agendas. The gentleman on Valley Ave was delighted to finally get his approval. It’s not really my report, but John and I went to the Wallkill River Alliance meeting and if we decide to sign on, we’d be the first municipality in OC to sign on. There’s benefit for us to do that. When you get involved in that, the organization itself, ultimate goal is to get all the communities along the river engaged. Would also get more alerts and notices for funding opportunities. It’s something I think we should cinder. Went to the Town of Montgomery public hearing about the warehouses. Good speakers and very valid concerns. Our engineers reviewed some concerns and was able to alleviate some fears that our wells will be okay and it will not impact the Tin Brook. January 15, 2019 6  . Manager Revella said that he submitted a letter in time for the meeting as well which addresses some of the concerns that were talked about. Water retention ponds. To make sure they’re not allowing run off. They didn’t address that in the report. Police Department and Justice Department Liaison – Deputy Mayor Moore Deputy Mayor Moore reported that she met with Chief and did address the concerns regarding running police cars. The only ones that are kept running are ones that have battery issues, as well as the vehicle parked in the crosswalk. The Dare Graduation for MPB is on January 30th, time has not been set yet. Did speak about vehicle rotation in making sure all vehicles are in rotation, however not ones that have battery issues on cold days. Recreation & Parks Department and Valley Central School Board Liaison – Trustee Ramos Trustee Ramos reported that he spoke with Mr. Bliss, basketball is up and running. More than 100 participants. Working on the permits for summer camp for Olley Park. Should be ongoing and submitted for March 1st. Nothing to report for the School District. Right now the kids are going through testing. Manager Revella wanted to note that he and Kelly are on the audit committee for the district. DPW Liaison– Trustee Sebring Trustee Sebring reported that spoke with Fred. The guys are jetting sewer lines as per DEC requirements. Cutting back tree branches on plow routes. Guys were sent out one day and salted roads. Filling pot holes, cleaning catch basins. Guys were picking up litter in the village parking lots and bus stop. The Water Dept put in 7 meters. The mechanic has been busy changing oil. Mayor Rumbold read the community events into the minutes. Manager Revella mentioned that Trustee Thompson questioned the slate removal and storage, which is something we’re still going to address. Either way we’ll make what we have available. Public Comment on Business of the Board None Action Items Introductory Local Law #1 of 2019 – ZBA & PB Mailings Trustee Ramos made a motion for a Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager Revella wanted to clarify for the board as well as for the public comments; the Treasurer and I will work on the fee schedule with new version. It’ll be more, but not too much more, for next meeting. Mayor Rumbold said this will go into effect prior to the reorg meeting, which is when we usually adopt fee schedules. January 15, 2019 7  . Manager Revella said that we can do fee schedules anytime, can do at the next meeting. Deputy Mayor Moore wanted to clarify, make sure that we’re voting on it being changed to 15 days prior to public hearing, such notice shall be prepared, addresses and mailed first class mail by the board secretary or employee or officer of the village, who shall complete and file an affidavit of mailing. All cost associated with the mailing shall be set forth in the Village fee schedule. Trustee Svarczkopf clarified that there is no other option. Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to adopt Local Law #1 of 2019 ZBA & PB Mailings. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution – Budget Transfer Manager Revella explained that the water and sewer lines that pass under railroad tracks only do so as per a lease agreement with the railroad company. We’re not allowed to have them there without their permission. They charge us a fee every year. They reviewed our records and we owe them more. They charged us $71 more than what we budgeted. Trustee Svarczkopf asked what the fee is. Manager Revella said he thinks it is $640. Trustee Svarczkopf said that’s about 10%. Trustee Kelly added that they compounded by the average CPI over the years. Will have to up it every year 2%. Manager Revella added that they can go back up to 6 years. We haven’t done it in several years, that’s why the jump. Trustee Ramos asked which railroad. Manager Revella said Middletown/NJ. Mayor Rumbold asked if we had a discussion about the railroad crossings. Manager Revella said that they have no control. It’s State DOT. Coldenham Rd is on their agenda to be fixed and upgraded with signaling. The one on Grant St is not yet, but they are aware of it. We did file a complaint with them about it. Coldenham should be done this year and Grant is not yet. We’re not allowed to touch it without DOT approval. Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to adopt Resolution 17-18-19 Budget Transfer. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Knights of Columbus – Car Show Request Paul Plate, Mills Rd, Chairman for the Car Show, presents our proposal to once again have a successful car show this year on Saturday, July 13th, with a rain date of Saturday, July 20th, 9-3pm. With a set up time of 7am. January 15, 2019 8  . Manager Revella asked if it’s the same request as prior year. Paul answered; same. Trustee Sebring made a motion to approve to Car Show Request. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. 6 ayes. 1 Abstention (Trustee Ramos). Motion carried. Trustee Liaisonships Deputy Mayor Moore said that it has come to our attention that there are questions regarding how we have our liaisonship structured. Trustee Svarczkopf and I have talked about it and would like to bring it to the rest of board to talk about regarding changing the way we perform our duties as liaisons to depts. heads and depts. In reality, all our dept heads report to the Village Manager and the Village Manager reports to us on the depts. We do receive reports from the dept heads that we can review. If the board has questions on the report, they can relay that to the Village Manager. There are some really good aspects that we perform now, that I propose we still continue, like outside groups. Continue with liaison to the library, to Town of Montgomery. Propose a liaison to community council, to make sure that there is clear communication with their events and there is clear communication across the board. Liaisons are still needed for outside committees and other outside things. Don’t see the importance of having liaisons directly with dept heads. That’s what we have a Village Manager for. Trustee Svarczkopf added that Ms. Vandermark mentioned the Teen Center. Deputy Mayor Moore mentioned that there are a lot of outside things that it would be very important for us to have liaisons that are a part of to be there and to communicate back to the board. Trustee Kraus agrees 100%. Trustee Thompson isn’t surprised that this came up. There has been casual conversation about it. What our roles are. The concept is good, it allows for communication and interaction. Can see it’s difficult because Dean has been working without his co-officer. He’s busy. So for him to take time out of his day to sit and talk to me prevents him from doing work for his dept. When first met with him, told him she didn’t want to tell him how to do his job, but anything you want attention to be brought to, I’m ok helping with that. Really it’s the dept heads responsibility to communicate with the Village Manager. Faith is right, we don’t need to be involved. There are things that are helpful that we have a liaison. Frankly, sending someone from this board to Town of Montgomery has been incredibly important and has been helpful. We built a better working relationship with the town and it allows us to work better and more informed with what concerns our village. Manager Revella said he does talk to the town supervisor, but it’s good to hear all of them. Trustee Svarczkopf thinks liasionships create a void for us, like I don’t know what’s going on in DPW, because it’s not my liaisonship. I think all of us should be able to go any of them. Trustee Ramos said he was confused on what he meant by void. Are you saying that we’re restricting ourselves? January 15, 2019 9  . Trustee Svarczkopf said to an extent. We restrict ourselves to our spot and almost have to go to another liaison to check on another dept. We should have the ability to go to anywhere we like to look into things without having to check in with someone because it’s their dept. Trustee Ramos said that his definition of liaison is a conduit to my colleagues on the board. Information that is relayed to me from my contact, so that I can feed the members of my board and our people. If I didn’t have that, I’m not going to the PD or DPW or Library to just gain info. I’m going to rely on the board to help me understand what’s going on. 2 times a month we report and obviously report between emails, we shouldn’t hinder ourselves not being able to be present for specific areas. I enjoy being an assistant to Parks and Rec and to the VCSD and understand the outside activates to be beneficial. We serve the people of Walden and I would like to invite anyone to talk to me about what’s going in the Parks and Rec. I am fed information 2 times a month from my colleagues. I think it’s a tool for us. Do you have plenty of hours to explore DPW and PD? No. I work. I don’t have that much time, so I rely on the information that I obtain here or through emails, John or the Mayor, to make decisions relative to the village. Trustee Sebring agrees with Trustee Ramos. Each one of us were put here for a purpose. I have done nothing, but be a mechanic and construction work for my whole life. Everyone has their own specialty on this board. For me to go to the Treasurer, basically know what’s going on, but don’t have the expertise to ask questions. I feel as though that we should keep doing this. Personally, I think you would be asking John more questions of him in his busy day. If there is a problem, we would get a hold of him anyway. We as trustees have a purpose in this village and being a liaison is what we should be doing. Mayor Rumbold said that if you think dept heads are bothered by trying to make time to talk to their liaison, think that’s one reason this was set up to begin with because there’s 7 individuals who were asking questions of dept heads which took up a lot of time. That’s why we ended up w liaisons. Some people believe that trustees shouldn’t be asking questions of dept heads to begin with and everything should be going through the manager. There are 2 different schools of thought. Should trustees be involved with dept heads at all? I don’t know. If you think it’s better from 7 different people on any given day? That was one of the issues that started this. It’s a good discussing to have. We need to think about what our role is, if we want to continue in the manner that we are. I think it’[s something that we need to think about. It’s not decided until reorg meeting. Think there’s pros and cons. Everyone made good points. Think it is essential that we have people out of the town because their decisions that do impact us. We have to have representatives there. Library, school district. Sometimes we get more info for the public because of these entities. Think about it and put it on the agenda closer to the reorg meeting. Trustee Svarczkopf said that we get reports from every single dept head in our packet. If we did go down that road. Maybe summarizing the report. Main points. We all understand what’s happening and we don’t have to go and ask them and bog them down. We trust John to do his job. We were elected to be representatives for people of this village. Right now we are interacting with our employees more than other things that were suggested out in the community. Think that’s the difference. We already get those reports. Maybe stay as a cloud over top. We need to be out in the community more. January 15, 2019 10  . Mayor Rumbold said that there are a lot of us that do our liaisonships in the community. Trustee Sebring said that Faith being the Deputy Mayor and she’s liaison to PD, she can talk to Jeff on some issues that she can converse with Sue and John and don’t put that on paper. Some personal information that they should know in that capacity. Same way with myself and Fred. I know a little bit, not told everything. Somethings are kept out of report for reasons. And that should be kept to liaisons. Deputy Mayor Moore said she agrees with that and on occasion that happens, not everything is for public knowledge. Their reports are confidential. The way it’s structured now, sets it up that the dept head comes to the liaison and then we get John involved. I think it should be the other way around. The dept head should go to the Village Manager and then Village Manager says if that’s something that should come to the board or to the mayor and decide from there how it goes. I agree and Brian has done a great job and that happens because of your expertise and knowledge, you still would be a go to person regarding infrastructure and if the DPW dept head has an issue and brings it to the Village Manager then the Village Manager can get you involved and then you decide whether that should come to the board or not. Trustee Thompson mentioned that when she first got on the board and asked where she wanted, said where she wanted to be and didn’t get it and wasn’t happy. But this is my job. I knew nothing about what I was supposed to do, but this is my job and I embraced it. I knew nothing about the Library. Most of the people in the community. A lot of people in this room have not a clue about the importance of the library in the State of NY. How did I learn those things? I was assigned to go there and made my mind up I was going to learn it. We have a Library Director, who is beyond wonderful, took me to the time to teach me, tell me where to go to read and learn and other people to talk to. Met her board. We have an frickin awesome library in this community. I am so grateful Sue assigned me there. I learned so much. Hadn’t been to a Town of Montgomery board meeting in 20 years. It was brought up public dialog about the Hill St Bridge, Rail Trail, who’s in charge of this and that. We have a very dynamic Library Director who made up her mind and those people in the town are going to know the people from the Walden Library. That’s why Ginny finally got a decent budget this year. I got moved and got the Building Dept. I didn’t know the lingo, felt like a fish out of water. You have to educate yourself. Went to the SEQR things and it was the most boring things to sit through. But now I can talk to Dean. There’s so much learn. But when I hear John and Brian, you’re in a box. You need to not be the DPW liaison. Not be the School liaison. The way that we learn and grow is to get out of the box. That alone would be the reason why I would say the liaison to be beneficial. I have also crossed the lines and probably made some of my colleagues angry, but if I’m at the Grove and see something is wrong, I didn’t feel that I had to go to John. I’m a trustee, I felt that I can talk to Mike Bliss or John Revella. I can talk to them. Didn’t need another trustee to do that for me. Is that wrong? If I offended, I am apologetic. It’s not my intent to offend, it’s my intent to do my job as a Village Trustee. That’s why if we keep this. We need to learn all the different depts. And all the things that are happening in our village. Not stay in the same stall with blinders. We can do anything we want to do. If we are going to keep the liaisons, I agree with Faith. Maybe we need to redefine the role. Mayor Rumbold said to think about what we talked about will revisit it. Resolution 18-18-19 – Designating Place and Time of Elections January 15, 2019 11  . Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve to Resolution 18-18-19 Designating Place and Time of Election. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Becky Pearson, 167 Walnut, asked when the vote was for homeowners on Ulster Ave to obtain the blue stone. Manager Revella said the same time the board voted that they weren’t going to be able to afford to put the blue stone in. Mayor Rumbold added that this is public comment and can get back to Becky with any answers. Becky said that she doesn’t think its right that the town parks are closed. For the paper to know more about what’s happening in the Village of Walden than some of you. Mayor Rumbold stated that it was mentioned in the public meetings. Becky said that you’re also claiming that nobody really knows what’s happening. Mayor Rumbold added that until we get the IME, we don’t. Becky said that she hopes that people do show up to the meetings and voice their opinion about the parks closing because it is the taxpayer’s money. Mary Ellen Matise, 54 Galdstone, said that the Town of Montgomery is on notice of defect about the Hill St Bridge. They have been notified. The Town Clerk did receive it. I did query one person here; did you receive the email about 20 Oak St? Trustee Thompson said that she got it from John. Mary Ellen read the email into the minutes. Who is this targeted to? Is this blockbusting in the Village of Walden? These are questions we have to ask. Also sent you an article about Rockland County and no knock law. Before this starts in Village of Walden, we need to get a handle on this. Look at Rockland’s no knock law, so agents can’t come here and harass our residents. Trustee Sebring questioned if she asked the owner. Mary Ellen said that she didn’t call the real estate agent. Trustee Sebring said that you can check into a lot of things, why don’t you ask the owner? Mary Ellen said that she found it on the internet. I care about the village and take good care of the properties that I own and don’t want to see this happen. Deputy Mayor Moore said that she received the email, but hasn’t had time to review it and will continue looking into it. Read the entire email and attachments, but haven’t done any additional research. January 15, 2019 12  . Mary Ellen mentioned the PB mailings, thank you. Think that’s fair to our applicants. And encourages them to do the mailings easier and not a financial burden. Thing about the liaison discussion is interesting. It started after we were on the board. When we were on the board, the issue was talking to dept was taboo. You said at meetings that it interfered with the manager doing his job, which was to be in charge of the dept heads. That’s one part of the liaison function that has evolved here. Will just address the other part, meeting with the outside agencies is a great idea. Used to go to the senior club meeting so they would have a connection. And a number of other groups. The going to the outside agencies, don’t follow county level and maybe we should. I really appreciate the board members coming to the ZBA meeting and should continue that. Don’t have to speak up, but at least you’re able to come back to the board in a timely matter when you recognize an issue that needs to be addressed. The reports in the packets, if information is not confidential, share with the public so we know what the depts are doing. People don’t understand what the board does and what the manager does. But the public doesn’t understand the role that the board members have. Because you’re elected, you can talk to anybody. All across the board. I’m glad to hear you’re having a discussion about it, because when things go on for a long time, they get into a pattern. Robert Walther, 5 Gladstone, not quite sure, got as much information to try and get a copy of the law that was just passed, where the homeowner is responsible from the shut off to the main. Quite frankly that’s horrifying. If it happened to me I would go bankrupt. It’s going to cost thousands to dig up the road. That’s my total reserve. Would have just enough money to get by. Couple times asked people, there are a lot of people that are horrified. Could you possibly reconsider revisiting this law? Mayor Rumbold said that we clarified what was always done in the village. Glad you came here to get this information because there is a lot of misinformation that people are passing on to other residents. Village residents have always been responsible for the laterals. Trying to find out why the village started repairing what belongs to the homeowner. Those laterals are part of the original infrastructure that was put in when the houses were built and when they decided to tie into the village lines. Not everyone was tied into the village lines. Some people had separate septic. Some had wells and then eventually everything was tied into our system. According to State law the laterals are responsibility of the homeowner. Trying to find why and can’t find anything in village law or resolutions, that say the village was going to be responsible for the laterals. In fact, everything that I have found up to this point, refers to if pipes froze from the shut off valve to the main, the village would come and thaw them at the homeowner’s expense. Historically, those laterals were the responsibility of the homeowners. Manager Revella added that the problem was for some reason the village started repairing service lines at the village’s expense with no legal justification. We saw the cost going up every year and dept head said that we can’t afford to keep doing this and other projects. We need to clarify it. Assumption at some point in time, the village said we’ll come fix it and bill you and for some reason the village stopped billing people. Before I was here or this board and that’s what the mayor was trying to research as to when that took place. Deputy Mayor Moore added that we were aware that people weren’t aware of this clarification, but it was put on the water bills to let everyone know that this clarification was done. January 15, 2019 13  . Robert said that it sounds to me that everyone is happy with that. Mayor Rumbold said that we’re not happy that we have to inform residents that there’s another expense. But at the same time if the village was repairing property that did not belong to the village and were billing entire village for those repairs, that’s not fair either. Attorney Donovan said that the issue that you have is the one lateral serves only one house, where the main serves everything. Manager Revella added that when we did our research maybe 1% of the village per year had issues with the laterals. Probably 20 or so because most were on the other side of the curb box because homeowners did their own repairs and would repair to the curb box and stop and when they did that, they disturbed the ground on the other side. Robert stated that he’s not happy. Jerry Mishk, Wait St, wanted to make comment about the liaisonships after being a former trustee, think it’s an important part of your job. We rely on the village manager for lots of things. Listen to dept heads and get one part of the story. That’s where the liaison comes in and can be somewhat of a cheerleader. Reports were mention, they do a very detailed report and we wanted them to justify their salaries and how much time they put in. Those reports are not put out to the public. Only what they hear is what the manager says in his report, which is him reading off his daily functions. When you consider this idea, keep in mind, we got elected to do a position and it’s not too much to ask that every 2 weeks to go to the dept head. Let the dept head belly ache a little bit. Payment of the Audited Bills Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to pay the Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried. Correspondence Deputy Mayor Moore mentioned the email from Mary Ellen about multiple properties for sale in the village. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Kraus said that he had some residents wondering why the village can’t have Verizon Fios in the village. Manager Revella said that Verizon won’t put the lines in. We’re not paying for the lines. Spectrum owns the fiber optic lines and Frontier does as well. For them to come in, they will have to piggy back on their lines or put in additional lines. We’re not stopping them. Trustee Thompson questioned about Frontier supposed to be speaking to someone to be competitive with Spectrum. Have we heard anything about that? Attorney Donovan said that he doesn’t know what happened to that project. They came into Goshen and they approved it and they never came back. Trustee Thompson mentioned that she had several residents ask about the fire horn. January 15, 2019 14  . Manager Revella said that the fire horn is maintained by the FD. They have been by a couple times to check on it. The board and I have met with them several times to find alternates to the fire horn and were met with resistance. Would love to have something more modern. They were not in favor of that. Trustee Thompson asked if there was any feedback from the special glass. Manager Revella said that he’s working with his engineer to get specs to us. Trustee Ramos said that he had a great lunch with Senator Larkin. They’re spinning up for the new Purple Heart Headquarters here in Walden. He is still adamant that he’s just a phone call away. Hope to see him more soon. Mayor Rumbold said that Senator Elect Skoufis is going to be sworn in on Sunday. John and I were invited to go. Down to go unless weather isn’t good. Congrats to him. Executive Session Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss Personnel. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried Reconvene Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. January 15, 2019 15  . Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting January 15, 2019 Motions & Resolutions Approval of December 18, 2018 Minutes Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve the December 18, 2019 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing Introductory to LL#1 of 2019 ZBA/PB Mailings Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to open Public Hearing Introductory to Local Law#1 of 2019. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Sebring made a motion to close Public Hearing Introductory Local Law #1 of 2019. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion for a Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to adopt Local Law #1 of 2019 ZBA & PB Mailings. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution – Budget Transfer Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to adopt Resolution 17-18-19 Budget Transfer. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Knights of Columbus – Car Show Request Trustee Sebring made a motion to approve to Car Show Request. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. 6 ayes. 1 Abstention (Trustee Ramos). Motion carried. Resolution 18-18-19 – Designating Place and Time of Elections Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve to Resolution 18-18-19 Designating Place and Time of Election. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of the Audited Bills Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to pay the Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss Personnel. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried Reconvene Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. . January 15, 2019 16