Board of Trustees

. Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting February 5, 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 Larry Kraus John Ramos Dan Svarczkopf Lynn E. Thompson Absent: Brian Sebring Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Kelly A. Kelly, Village Treasurer Dave Donovan, Village Attorney Village Manager’s Report  Had some legal matters to update. Still on going. Minor ones. 1 is going to settle soon and we can discuss in exec.  Snow storm, snow removals caught up. Other emergencies popped up. There was a watermain break delayed things a little bit with clearing downtown.  Went over financial matters, including budgets with the dept heads, as well as evaluations.  Edmunds training is coming up next week.  Rec Coordinator and Building Inspector coordinated snow removal for people that were in violation.  Meeting with Village Planner, went over Comp Plan and some grants. Still waiting for the county planning dept. to give us an update on tables and maps.  Had PBA negotiations. Will update in executive session.  Discussion with town supervisor regarding the senior group.  Had 2 transportation council meetings. One was for regular meeting and one was for transit. Reviewing busing services, try to make it more universal service through the county. Trustee Svarczkopf asked how many snow violations. Deputy Mayor Moore said that she was going to give that in her report. The snow parking event on 11/15-11/16, there were 40 tickets and 6 tows. On 1/19-1/20, there were 19 tickets and 7 tows. On 1/29-1/30, there were 5 tickets and 3 tows. As part of my report, February 5, 2019 1  . was going to residents that we do have snow parking emergency that gets posted on the website and there’s a phone number that you can call to find out when it gets enforced and when it’s lifted. Manager Revella mentioned that there were 36 properties cited for not shoveling. Deputy Mayor Moore added for the minutes, the number is 845-778-4919. Trustee Svarczkopf said that the previous clerk used to have a Facebook page that she would update with that. Deputy Mayor Moore explained that that was her personal Facebook. Manager Revella said that we have a Village of Walden Facebook page that we’re working on right now. Mayor Rumbold asked if there is anything that tenants that don’t have off street parking, do landlords provide them with information like parking regulations? Manager Revella said that he would say the good landlords would provide that. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if you can park overnight in the municipal lots or do you have to wait until 2” is called? Manager Revella said that you can park overnight now. Mayor Rumbold added that most people park in Orchard parking lot. Manager Revella mentioned that Oak St parking lot is 24 hours. Maple is 24hrs. Orchard is half hour and 3 hour parking, except from 11pm-6am it’s open without restriction. Approval of January 15, 2019 Minutes Trustee Thompson questioned about when we talked about the blue stone. Can you tell me where the correction is that we discussed? Manager Revella said that it may not have made the record. Trustee Thompson said I do not recall us voting and what we were doing with that stone and John said that we did. Manager Revella added that you voted on what you were going to do as to not go with the contract to replace the blue stone, but did vote to make sure to utilize whatever we could and we were going to try and get a price, whether to stack and store it or whether it could be used for other purposes. Trustee Thompson said that she just wanted to make sure of the information. Are you happy with how it appears in the minutes? Manager Revella stated that you can clarify it in these minutes. February 5, 2019 2  . Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve the January 15, 2019 Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee’s Committee Reports Village Offices Liaison – Trustee Svarczkopf Trustee Svarczkopf reported that we finalized a server. The computers should be coming this week, hopefully. First payroll should be on Edmunds on March 1st. Ordered a sample time clock that will link to Edmunds. Swore in a new ZBA alternate. Town of Montgomery & Library Board liaison – Trustee Kraus Trustee Kraus reported that he met with Ginny. The room is coming along real well. Electrician is doing well. Painting. The radiator out, they didn’t need it anymore. The kids are coming in for reading. Pretty cool. Mayor Rumbold asked if it was in the main children’s room. Trustee Kraus said yes and it’s coming along real well. Hopefully, at the end of March, maybe April it’ll be finished. Looks good. Planning and Zoning Boards as well as the Building Department Liaison – Trustee Thompson Trustee Thompson said that Dean’s report is self-explanatory. Had a brief conversation about clearing snow in the crosswalk with the resident who had been unhappy about snow removal. He thinks things were handled appropriately with that. Went to last ZBA/PB. Last night’s big topic was about senior housing. He’s where he wants to be with fire and safety inspections. Police Department and Justice Department Liaison – Deputy Mayor Moore Deputy Mayor Moore reported that she met with Chief. The MPB Dare graduation finally happened on January 30th. 13 students graduated. We received $4,347 for OC Youth Bureau grant for Dare. Chief confirmed that Kelly received that. Want to make sure that everyone is aware about car rotation and fuel usage. Car 6 is completely out of rotation. We will be taking the transmission, that is good, from car 6 and put it into car 4. Currently, only have 5 vehicles in rotation. There is a good rotation schedule to make sure that they are all being used. We continue to have the conversation that vehicles are not idling when it is not necessary to idle. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if we are replacing car 6. Deputy Mayor Moore said that at this time it is completely out and another time there may be a conversation where it can potentially be in the budget. Operating on 5. Trustee Svarczkopf questioned if we lost one of those 5, if we could still operate. Deputy Mayor Moore replied; absolutely. Recreation & Parks Department and Valley Central School Board Liaison – Trustee Ramos February 5, 2019 3  . Trustee Ramos reported that he met with Mr. Bliss. 128 participants for basketball. Pretty good. Online for soccer and tennis in the month of March. The guys have been busy with the clean ups. 36 properties, which isn’t too bad. School board, we’ve been reading a number of things in newspapers. I am in dialog with super intendant and couple of the board members. At this time, all we can do is share our support to them in their trying times. DPW Liaison– Trustee Sebring Absent Mayor Rumbold said that she couldn’t attend the town board meeting, but evidently they reversed the decision to close the parks. Mayor Rumbold read the community events into the minutes. Public Comment on Business of the Board None Action Items Resolution 19-18-19 – Tourism Funds Manager Revella explained that we were awarded a grant from OC Tourism for $2500 for Harvest Fest and it requires a resolution. Trustee Ramos made a motion to adopt Resolution 19-18-19 – Tourism Funds . Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. All ayes. Motion carried. Fees for PB/ZBA Mailings Treasurer Kelly explained that her and Dean spoke about certain costs and thought it may take more time we thought, depending on what’s gonna be done in the office, if we do the letters, printing them, researching who gets them. It’s more time. Trustee Svarczkopf said that the postage just went up to $.55. Treasurer Kelly said that the village has metered mail so it’s only $.50. Mayor Rumbold questioned that the applicant does nothing now and we do everything. Attorney Donovan said that it’s relative to the mailing. They still have to do the application. Trustee Svarczkopf said that we already had the research though. Manager Revella said that they got that from the town. Building Inspector Stickles added that the town’s mailing list would be between $25-50. They would go to the town and request a survey. And the town would charge them. We’re going to do it in house. Trustee Thompson asked if he was going to be the one doing it. Building Inspector Stickles said that they can do it. February 5, 2019 4  . Manager Revella added that the frequency of these applications isn’t that much, so it shouldn’t be too big of a burden. As they come up we will have time to get it done. Dean has certain maps in his office and we’re getting a copy in our office. It has all the parcels to make things easier for us. Attorney Donovan added that it would be a motion to amend the fee schedule to establish the mailing fees to $2.25 per mailing. Trustee Kraus asked what happens in 5 years, can we increase the prices? Manager Revella said that we can change it anytime. Trustee Svarczkopf questioned about a development. Like a 40 person apt. Are there 40 of these things that go out or do you send it to the owner? Building Inspector replied; the owner. Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to amend the fee schedule to establish the mailing fees to $2.25 per mailing. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. 5 ayes. 1 nay (Mayor Rumbold). Motion carried. Resolution 20-18-19 – Election Inspectors Manager Revella explained that we’re required to appoint election inspectors for each election. Read the names please and compensation. Mayor Rumbold read the and the compensation. Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to adopt Resolution 20-18-19 Designating Election Inspectors. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager Revella added one other thing to talk about in public. I was asked to find alternate contractors to clean the building. We did get a proposal and did review the entire building with that person and with the Deputy Mayor. The fees are comparable in the budget. If the board were inclined to make a change, would need your motion for that. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if the fees are the same. Manager Revella said that it’s budget neutral for us. Deputy Mayor Moore added that when she did the walkthrough, we had talked about areas that we weren’t happy with. I had nothing to do with price or estimate. I just walked through the building to point out those areas. Trustee Ramos asked if they were local. Manager Revella said yes. Walden. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if our current one local. February 5, 2019 5  . Manager Revella said yes. Walden. Trustee Svarczkopf questioned if we talked to our current one in the past and told them that we had some issues with them. Manager Revella said we had mentioned in the past and they said they would improve in those areas. Trustee Thompson made a motion to approve new cleaning service. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Becky Pearson, 167 Walnut St, asked if the DPW building was completed. Mayor Rumbold said that there was a small punch list at the end of construction. Manager Revella added that it is done. Becky asked if the developers agreement for Kidd farm was finalized. Attorney Donovan said the board approved it a year ago. January of 2018. Can’t say there hasn’t been requests for modifications. Becky mentioned that the meeting at the park went well. It was nice they allowed people to speak. John, did you meet with them about the parks? Manager Revella said no, it was canceled. Becky mentioned that we should generate some revenue from the snow tickets. How many tickets did we generate weekly for parking on the street. Are there issues still? Are people not moving their cars? It was going to be reviewed if it was feasible. Deputy Mayor Moore said that she just commented on the number of tickets and doesn’t know what happens to the tickets once they get into the court system or what their fines end up being. Becky asked if she gets a report from chief on how many tickets. Deputy Mayor Moore said yes. Manager Revella added that we shouldn’t consider giving tickets as revenue but as an enforcement measure. Deputy Mayor Moore said that she doesn’t have the number of tickets in front of her but will be happy to have it for next meeting. Becky said that she was also looking for the sidewalks and when the discussion was. You all accepted the bids for the sidewalks. It is going to be concrete. But you have not decided on what’s going to happen with the blue stone. February 5, 2019 6  . Manager Revella said yes the board said to find a way to best utilize them for the public. Becky handed out a picture of bluestone that her father bought. Worth a lot of money. Those sidewalk are probably going to be the same as what you’re ripping up. They’re priced per square foot. I don’t understand why we can’t take them up and store them and use them. Instead of giving them away, throwing them away and not taking the care to move them. Village ripped up sidewalks years ago, the contractor owned those. Curious to know in your contract, do you own the bluestone or the contractor own them? You can keep them and be profitable. You can make money off of them. Hopefully in the bid package you’re allowed to keep them. Don’t think the homeowner should get. A lot of them were down into the ground. The discussion should keep happening. I would like to know who owns those stones. Anita Vandermark, Highland Ave, mentioned that when you’re working on your website, put a warming station. Manager Revella confirmed that it was on the front page as well as a Facebook post. Anita said she’s concerned about the railroad crossing on Grant St. Have they been put on notice? Manager Revella said, yes. It is a topic that we brought up to Senator Skoufis. It’s the NYS DOT responsibility. Trustee Svarczkopf added that Coldenham is bad too. Manager Revella said that that’s slated for this year. Anita asked about an address. Manager Revella said Region 8, Poughkeepsie, NYS DOT, they can help with signaling and coordinating improvements. Mayor Rumbold added that we are having a meeting with Senator Skoufis on the 15th. Anita mentioned that the next Community Council meeting is going to be at Jacobowitz and Gubitz, next Wednesday. They are paying tribute to Gayle. She is moving out of area. She has done a lot for our community. Mary Ellen, 54 Gladstone, blue stone, if we get to keep them, we can use them to replace other sidewalks. Where are we with the well head protection from the town? 9 million dollar surplus, can’t they find us 150k to give us protection? The Culligan filters in Newburgh, we don’t wanna have to do that. Went to Albany and it doesn’t have immediate impact on us. Something we could support or when you see Skoufis. They’re trying to get state tax credits decoupled from federal tax credits. Smaller projects can be done just based on state tax credits. Tax credits could have been used to fix that up. Maybe you’ll mention that you’re supportive of that and mention that to him. Manager Revella asked her to get him literature. February 5, 2019 7  . Mary Ellen said she’ll email it to you. They talked about the commercial aspect of it. Who buys it? Banks, insurance companies and utility companies. Why don’t we revisit the local gov’t again? A lot of houses are old, 1915 or older. That would be a good way to offer along with other programs we have, village money. Give homeowners a way to maintain properties. A lot of foreclosures lately. Prices are going up. 57 Gladstone sold for 190k. That’s good money. It’s important for us to stay on top of the condition of our houses. It’s a good program. It opens a lot of opportunities. You have to have a set of commission to do it and maybe it’s something to do with the town. Mayor Rumbold questioned what capacity did you go to Albany. Mary Ellen said myself. Preservation Commissioner. 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 Trustee Svarczkopf mentioned he got the email that everyone else got about the snow outside. Corresponded with her a couple times. Trustee Thompson said she got the email about the snow. Deputy Mayor Moore added the same about the crosswalk email. Trustee Ramos said the same email. Mayor Rumbold added the same. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Svarczkopf asked about things with waste management meeting about the prices going up. Manager Revella said the tipping fees increased at the county level for the transfer stations. They already effect those that have roll off pricing. The others won’t be effected until June 1st when the contract is up. Can’t be touched until June 1st. Trustee Svarczkopf mentioned that last year during budgets, talked about pricing for summer program. Talk about it tonight? Manager Revella said that we can bring it up now. Trustee Svarczkopf said that he would love to set something up now so we can deal that now. Manager Revella said that he did get a proposal from the rec coordinator and can share that at the next meeting. Trustee Svarczkopf questioned the liaison positions. February 5, 2019 8  . Manager Revella said that the board decided to bring it up at the last meeting in March. Trustee Svarczkopf asked about the security. Manager Revella said that we got proposal for our office, about $9200 to get the front desk done. It seems reasonable. We have a building capital account that we can utilize. Trustee Svarczkopf asked if it’s ballistic glass. Manager Revella said yes. There’ll be 2 windows with 2 talk through holes and steel on the bottom. Trustee Svarczkopf asked how do we talk about that. Next meeting? Manager Revella said to approve at the next meeting. Just have to make sure I have final numbers. He had to check on 2 other things. It’s not in the budget, so have to vote on it. Trustee Thompson said her concern is why it wouldn’t include the court clerk window. Manager Revella explained that the court has their own rules and funds. Don’t want to step on toes. Did have the guy look at it with them. Trustee Thompson understands that but thinks it should be part of this dialog. If we’re going to go through the expense and secure the third floor area. Manager Revella added that they have greater funding than we do so makes sense to separate it. Trustee Thompson thinks there should be some communication with them. Trustee Svarczkopf mentioned that the building is kind of open and that’s the way we want to keep it, but maybe buzzing people in especially after hours. Mayor Rumbold asked if it included something for the dutch door on the side. Manager Revella said reversing the door. We hope to be able to do that in house. Trustee Kraus said that he has lived in the village for about 27 yrs. Any time it snows, all these intersections, I have to climb over a mound. I know we have 24hrs to clean up.We have to do something about it, especially around the school. I was in the office when the lady came in and she was a little upset. We need to enforce it or do something. Clear passage to go to the school, to cross the street. Can’t walk in street and get hit by a car. Whether we shovel and charge homeowners. I walk all around the village and I can handle it. But others can’t. Trustee Thompson commented on the stone. Agree it’s a beautiful piece of history. It’s a shame in other villages that it’s been destroyed or sold or tossed away. We do have some projects coming up. It would be nice if we keep it and recycle it. This is really a lovely thing. If the Community Center comes to fruition, would love to have it there. Planning soon February 5, 2019 9  . starting to do something at the Micky Millspaugh Park. Manager Revella said that we would just have to use it in areas that can be ADA compliant. Trustee Thompson said that she would really like us to use it. Everyone knows that John and I attended Wallkill Alliance RiverShed meeting. Heard back from Mr. West. He is planning on visiting several communities in OC because there is no one in OC that has signed on. It’s a great program. It would increase our eligibility. Next meeting is Feb 13th. At The huckleberry. Manager Revella added that the fee was 1k a year to join. Trustee Thomson said that he didn’t give us any paperwork. He would be very happy to meet with us to give us a little update on everything that’s involved. Would really like the board to get involved. Get on the environmental wagon Deputy Mayor Moore was going to thank Judge Mishk for his comments about the liaisons. I appreciated the comments. The liaisons reports are the only way getting that information to the public. Working with Tri County Partnership to set meeting to have a conversation regarding the Hope not Handcuffs program to get all the information to bring to Chief and this board. We sign to the program as well. Once that meeting happens and get the information, will bring it back here. Thank you for the invitation. Anita. I’m sorry, I won’t be able to attend. Doing a class on Wednesday nights for the next 4 weeks. Wanted to welcome our new Village Clerk to the Village of Walden as a new resident. Trustee Ramos reiterated the snow on the edges. I run and walk the village when these snow events come along. There is an issue at the corners. I know its difficult when plowing snow. We have rt 52 and NYS DOT plows with the 3 axle dumps pushes it along the sidewalks. It’s hard to come back to get out there and shovel it off. Been researching local jurisdictions and know it’s the property owners responsibility, but initially look at deploying a volunteer team, especially the areas we have to transverse to the schools. We have medical facilities in and around the area. 24 hours is a long time to allow the homeowners to clean up their areas. Some are diligent. Some are waiting for the 23rd hour 59 minutes and 59 seconds. Explore a volunteer team to hit those areas where school children are walking to school. We do have a heavy amount of kids walking to school. We do need to explore that. Need to make it a little more clear. Executive Session Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss PBA Negotiations, Personnel. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried Reconvene Trustee Ramos made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Kraus) Motion carried. February 5, 2019 10  . Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting February 5, 2019 Motions & Resolutions Approval of January 15, 2019 Minutes Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to approve the January 15, 2019 Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution 19-18-19 – Tourism Funds Trustee Ramos made a motion to adopt Resolution 19-18-19 – Tourism Funds . Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. All ayes. Motion carried. Fees for PB/ZBA Mailings Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to amend the fee schedule to establish the mailing fees to $2.25 per mailing. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. 5 ayes. 1 nay (Mayor Rumbold). Motion carried. Resolution 20-18-19 – Election Inspectors Deputy Mayor Moore made a motion to adopt Resolution 20-18-19 Designating Election Inspectors. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Thompson made a motion to approve new cleaning service. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore. 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 PBA Negotiations, Personnel. Seconded by Trustee Ramos. All ayes. Motion carried Reconvene Trustee Ramos made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Kraus) Motion carried. . February 5, 2019 11