Board of Trustees

. Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting April 16, 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 Trustees Brian Sebring Larry Kraus John Ramos Dan Svarczkopf Lynn E. Thompson Absent: Faith Moore Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Kelly A. Kelly, Village Treasurer Robert Dickover, Village Attorney Superintendent Perna: This is Tara Bevins the new secretary. Mayor Rumbold: Attorney Dickover is counsel of record for this evening in place of Mr. Donovan. Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Section 256-24/25 Trustee Ramos made a motion to open Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Maple St Parking Lot. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to close Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Maple St Parking Lot. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing – Budget 2019-2020 Trustee Ramos made a motion to open Public Hearing - Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager Revella: I want to make sure the board was aware of final changes, you should all have a copy in your box. It shows where we were able to balance and not have to override the tax cap. Mary Ellen Matise: 54 Gladstone Ave, what's the final increase per thousand? Manager Revella: The library did go to their tax cap. Treasurer Kelly: It's less than a dollar. $.1646 to like $.1690 per 1000 assessed. April 16, 2019 1  . Mary Ellen: I just want to thank everybody for working so hard on the budget. It's nice that we're staying within reason. Trustee Ramos made a motion to close Public Hearing – Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Village Manager’s Report  Some of you know, I mentioned last time that we did have a meeting with some town officials regarding a potential Parks plan. We haven't seen anything in writing from them. From what I know from the last town meeting, they hadn't gone further with it yet. They may have done some drafts, but we haven't received them yet.  Going over resident e-mails and calls this morning for the shut off letters for water and asking for payment plans and also follow ups on snow removal bills. Some people have appealed. Working on those. Most have been responded to. Still a few outstanding  Had several budget sessions. Finalized the budget. Thankfully did not have to go over the tax cap  There was a large water main break last Sunday. That actually took a while, because it was on a state road. It was a difficult dig in a dangerous area. So, they shut down for traffic and work around that.  Did have some meetings with Special Counsel over personnel, contracts. We have a draft CSEA agreement that we will have the board review. If you're okay with it, we will send it to the CSEA and then depending on how they go forward with the CSEA contract. The PBA, we don't have our next meeting yet.  Did have a Youth Employment Committee meeting. The plan for this coming year is set. Applications are out. The Meet and Greet coming up that the Clerk is going too.  Had a good meeting with the county regarding CDBG going forward. There's a lot more constraints on CDBG projects. But there is some movement. We're advocating for them to include ADA compliance issues that they're not now. Right now, it's just the curb cuts. We want to include the actual sidewalk to be ADA compliant. It doesn't make sense to have a curb cut to nowhere.  We have new Toshibas coming in without any increase in costs. Our copiers are being upgraded to the newer models.  Went over vehicle maintenance issues with police vehicles with Chief Holmes  I went over to Citizens Foundation for presentation from the DOT on Main Streets. Most of the items were similar to what I go over every 2 weeks in my OCTC meeting. But it was good that a lot of other organizations were there. Everyone agreed that DOT is stagnant at times and needs to motivate them often. The DOT Rep obviously acquiesces to that. Trustee Svarzcopf: The Ulster Ave Project, do we have an actual start date, yet? Manager Revella: No, not yet. Trustee Svarzcopf: The vehicle maintenance report had a lot of holes in the sidewalls, replaced tires a couple times. Is that because of pot holes? April 16, 2019 2  . Manager Revella: No. Curbs. Trustee Svarzcopf: Did we contact the railroads about their crossings? Manager Revella: Yes. I also talked to the rep about it in the meeting this morning. I let them know that we're still waiting for response and some action. The blacktop plants are open and we need some progress going. State DOT is ready to do signaling upgrades on Coldenham Rd. They haven't put a project on the line for Grant St, yet. We do want to have some signaling upgrades there as well, because we have had some accidents. Low Impact and low speed, but still is a concern. Hopefully we get on their agenda for repairs. Trustee Svarzcopf: The signal updates, are they going to happen this year. Manager Revella: Coldenham Rd is supposed to. Grant St is not on the agenda, yet, but I'm pushing for it. Trustee Kraus: On the Grant St railroad tracks, someone drives over it and something happens to their car, do they have a right to sue us? Manager Revella: The Village? No. It's not ours. Trustee Kraus: I just wanted to make sure. Manager Revella: We don't have control over the crossing or the tracks. The crossing is DOT and the tracks itself are the road company, which is Norfolk Southern operated by Middletown New Jersey. Both say they're willing to work with us, but they haven't actually done anything, yet. They're definitely on notice. Trustee Thompson: This Summer Youth Employment Program, is our Clerk running that? Manager Revella: There's a committee. The Clerk is 1 of the heads. Trustee Thompson: I know the person who ran it the last time is no longer with us, so I was just curious how that's being handled this time. Manager Revella: There was a committee before, but there are different roles people are taking on. Trustee Thompson: Over by the Mobile Station, where the road Rt 52, who owns the blacktop before where the cement begins? Manager Revella: NYS DOT. Trustee Thompson: Have you seen that lately? Manager Revella: It's eaten out constantly. They fill it, it gets eaten out. They went through and just patched it. Trustee Thompson: It's deep. Trustee Svarzcopf: When it rained the other day, it just washed out onto the road. April 16, 2019 3  . Trustee Sebring: On the Grant St crossing, can you at least maybe have the DOT fill in that one big pothole that's probably 8 inches deep? Manager Revella: I can ask them. I know the answer. They're going to tell me to talk to the railroad company. If we touch it, it’s a railroad issue. Mayor Rumbold: So, if we can't repair it and they're not coming to repair it. Are we allowed to put the signage up? Manager Revella: Yes. Manager Rumbold: Do we have the wherewithal to do that? Trustee Kraus: And can we say on there to call the DOT or the railroad? Manager Revella: We can. Mayor Rumbold: If people aren't aware of the situation and they go down and they attempt to go across the tracks, you're going to lose a small car. I think to protect our residents and people visiting, maybe we should put up a sign that they need to be especially cautious around that area. We'll take a picture of it and make sure it gets on Facebook. It's ridiculous that they're not even attempting to fix this. Approval of April 2, 2019 Minutes & Reorg Meeting Minutes Trustee Ramos made a motion to approve the April 2, 2019 Regular and Reorg Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Kraus. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee’s Committee Reports Village Offices Liaison – Trustee Svarczkopf Trustee Svarzcopf: Edmunds is still going. We had budget sessions, so that took a lot of time. We're looking at putting KVS onto the new server. Trying to look at other options that are a little bit cheaper as well. We got Gina online for the Health Departments. Town of Montgomery & Library Board liaison – Trustee Kraus Trustee Kraus: I met with Ginny, she said that this week they have been busy. School is out. Also, Saturday May 4th, she's going to have a soft opening of the room that was just renovated and she says everyone's welcome. All the Trustees, Mayor, the Manager, the Clerk and everybody else. There'll be a lot of children's activities, light refreshments, face painting, Colleen Venable will be there. Will be a lot of fun. Planning and Zoning Boards as well as the Building Department Liaison – Trustee Thompson Trustee Thompson: I met with Dean and Darlene today. We still have some concerns about the 2 different computer programs. Everybody's trying very hard to be patient. We know there's a lot involved to get everything up and running. I think we seem to have a lack of communication from activities on the 3rd floor to what's going on in the building department. And I'm almost thinking we're at a point where we should have some type of a meeting. I just feel like the financial part, obviously the 3rd floor people know exactly what they need and what they want. But I don't think they completely understand how that piece of it affects what goes on in the building department. And there's a lot of frustration. Correct me if I am reporting it inaccurately. Everybody needs to be April 16, 2019 4  . on the same page and it's concerning because the new billing is going out for the fire and safety inspections and the letters. They’re really trying hard, that we don't duplicate services like the building department sends out the letters for everybody to schedule their appointments. And then there's another mailing to do the billing and it's just not flowing really smooth like a well-oiled machine. I think we're close. I think if everybody can sit down and talk about what's going on, what the expectation is, what the time window is. Treasurer Kelly: This is the first that I'm hearing about it. Trustee Thompson: That's what I'm saying. There seems to be a little bit of communication difficulty and I think that we need to facilitate to make that a little bit better. Building Inspector Stickles: I think with the billing for the fire and safety, Kelly makes the bill up, we send the letter out. Both of those go out together. Treasurer Kelly: I didn't know there was an issue. Trustee Thompson: I'm bringing to everyone's attention, there are some difficulties. So, I would really like to see us sit down together and just get that worked out. Brian Sebring and I split the last meeting. I had to be at another meeting, so I met him over there. Just the same ongoing issues. Lots of questions came up about our intermunicipal agreement with the park. As far as I understand, there board is not in favor of that. The structures that the buildings that are in very bad state of repair. They want a second opinion for an engineering report, yet they selected the engineering firm. I'm hoping to go to the meeting this week. We need to address the Rail Trail again. It's not good what's on the Rail Trail right now, but it's kind of a debacle because their DPW people don't feel that they're responsible and they don't have a parks department. So, who's responsible? Mayor Rumbold: The town. Trustee Sebring: When I was there, Councilwoman Melick, she had made the statement that the Town of Montgomery would like to not be in the agreement with us for the parks and what they were paid out to their workers was $27k last year, which was utterly ridiculous. That doesn't even take in the benefits. They are going to hire a park superintendent. They're going to possibly buy pickup trucks for them. They're going to maintain your own mowers. I mean they couldn't agree on that the sky was blue at times. We'll see what happens with that. They're going to find out that it's going to cost them a lot more and it's going to cost us more in our taxes in the long run. They were talking about renting and a trailer for the DPW guys, because the building is unsafe out there and they couldn't make up their mind whether or not they wanted to lease one or buy one. But it did come down to leasing one for at least a year. Then they were talking about where they're going to put their equipment. They had that other building on top of the hill, but that's not big enough for them to do repairs on their trucks. Police Department and Justice Department Liaison – Deputy Mayor Moore Manager Revella: Just to let everyone know, Chief is away on vacation this week. Duties have been delegated to the Sergeant’s. The last couple of weeks were going over the budget with him. Going over some issues with scheduling, some 207c still and also filling in for vacancies. Also going over some training that's going on now. They scheduled a training coming up at the range. He's going to be going away for training upstate soon for Police Chiefs. Went over the new car with the Superintendent of Public Work's just to make sure the mechanic will be able to service whatever are we going to get. It's their job to spec it out. I think they're happy with the one they spec'd out. April 16, 2019 5  . Mayor Rumbold: I know in the past we had an issue with the cars with the shotgun mounts. Same issue with this car? Did they think about that when looking at these cars? Manager Revella: Yes, they do think about that. Sometimes what they look at and what they get is a little bit off and they have to move some stuff around. That's what they said they were doing. The Sergeant himself and the Chief as well. Mayor Rumbold: When we look at the price of the car, we do the state bid, we see what it's going to cost for lights, radios, computers, lettering. Now we have to do some work to accommodate shotguns. Now we had to do work in the back to be able to outfit with the medical kits. Are we looking at doing the same thing with this car? Manager Revella: They will be retrofitting the trunk. They should be able to use what they have. I'm not sure how much more they have to do. That wasn't a huge cost item. Mayor Rumbold: You know what those costs were and add that in so the board is aware of exactly what it's going to cost for this car? Manager Revella: Absolutely. Mayor Rumbold: We're not doing a ghost? Manager Revella: We didn't talk about that yet. We were talking about doing black and white. We'll see how it works. Mayor Rumbold: Why? Cheaper? Manager Revella: Yes, usually comes standard. Recreation & Parks Department and Valley Central School Board Liaison – Trustee Ramos Trustee Ramos: I met with Mr. Bliss a number of times these past weeks. We just finished our Easter Egg Hunt at Olley Park. Over 300 people attended. Had a wonderful day, it was a little soggy, but the kids enjoyed it. We've walked through the parks a number of times in the past couple of weeks. Parks are looking really good. Obviously, we've had some substantial rain and we've got some drying up to do. School district, I met with Mr. Xanthis on Friday. There's a couple issues that obviously he can't discuss with me, but they're working feverishly on the budget. They just recently had a budget, called symposium with the people who were invited. Senator Skoufis was there. He gave out a heads up on what Albany is going to give us which are absolutely minimal. Senator Skoufis reassured us that he is fighting up in Albany and he does not like what the governor has been doing and he will be continuing supporting the school district. DPW Liaison– Trustee Sebring Trustee Sebring: I didn't get to talk to Fred this week. I let him slide since I've been talking to him so much past 2-3 weeks. The DPW has been busy sweeping. They've been cleaning and patching the basins. They've been working on putting the sander rack together. They've been flushing sewers. They've been doing sewer jetting. They shut one house off that had a broken water meter that filled up the cellar. The mechanic has been busy doing oil changes and repairing the mowers for the parks and then he's been working on the sander rack with the guys. April 16, 2019 6  . Trustee Svarzcopf: In regards to street sweeping, is there any amount of time that a car can be parked on the street before it has to move? Manager Revella: No, not unless there's a timed parking sign in that zone and as long as it's registered. Mayor Rumbold read the community events into the minutes. Public Comment on Business of the Board None Action Items Public Hearing LL 5 of 2019 – Section 256-24/25 Trustee Ramos made a motion for Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to pass Local Law 5 of 2019 – Section 256-24/25. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing – Budget 2019-2020 Trustee Ramos made a motion to adopt Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution – 29-18-19 – Accept DARE Funds Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to pass Resolution 29-18-19 – Accept DARE Funds. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Anita Vandermark: 76 Highland Ave, wanted to thank Lynn for coming to 2 of our events over the weekend. Nice to see Trustees come out. I know this was a busy weekend for everyone. We have a lot of events coming up and I'd like to see more Trustees come out. As far as the meeting tomorrow night, the venue has changed. It will be up here on the 3rd floor at 7 o'clock. If all could come out for that, we're having Jeffrey Dosik, who is a Librarian that is with the National Park Service and he's doing an excellent program on Ellis Island. I think everyone would be happy to hear that. Thank you very much. There are many organizations that are having events, try to participate. Mayor Rumbold: Can we put that on our website that there's a change to the venue? Manager Revella: Yes and the Facebook page. Cathleen Muller: 61 Highland Ave, we've been residents here for almost 31 years now. Saturday night was the first night that we could sleep with the windows open which is nice. However, all the neighbors start burning. They start having their campfires. I'm all about a campfire. We used to go camping and to smell like smoke for a week, when you're camping, that's my choice. But when I'm in my house, I don't like the smell of smoke. Instantly, my eyes burn, my throat starts and a headache. Our house fills with smoke. I'm on Highland Ave and the smoke comes across from Wileman and Oakland and it comes right to our house. We have had our smoke detectors go off in the past, because the smoke gets so bad. We have had a neighbor, going back awhile, who was burning, I don't know what they were burning, but I was pregnant with my son. I was covered in April 16, 2019 7  . poison ivy. The doctor was thankful that it didn't go down my throat. I did miss a week's worth of work. I have called you. I have called the police. I can't tell you exactly who is burning, but all I know is that the way the wind comes, it comes into our house. One day, we had Officer Conklin help us. We had the hardwood floors redone in our house. So, we stayed on the other side of town. When we came to check on the house, all the windows were up to let it breathe. The house was filled with smoke. The smoke alarms are going to go off. We couldn't get in because you couldn't walk on the floors, yet. So, Officer Conklin was trying to help my husband and I break into the house to turn off the smoke detectors. It seems it's been going on for years, but it's just getting worse and worse and it's Saturday and the first night that you could sleep with your windows open and we have to close them, because instantly my throat starts. My eyes burn. It's just not right. Manager Revella: There's a burn ban in effect right now as well. Cathleen Muller: And there's a code, Chapter 144-11. Read code into the minutes. To me that's like no burning anything. On our street a while ago, there was a meeting with a police officer and this issue was brought up by other people, because of behind other people they have this big burning. I don't know if that's the smoke that comes up to us. But the police officer mentioned that as long as you have a bag of marshmallows next to your fire, it's ok. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm sure that people on Wileman, Highland and Oakland can afford a grill, can afford to cook on their stove. You don't need a fire pit with wood burning to cook your hot dogs. Roast your marshmallows on your grill. If you do have a fire pit, you're not going to sit right in front of where the smoke is blowing on you. You have a choice to move. I don't have a choice to move the way the wind blows, all that smoke comes into our house. It's just the way the currents are. And it's really bad and uncomfortable. Something needs to be stopped. There's even a code. If you have a fire pit in your backyard, which I know maybe some of you do, I'm sure you don't sit in front of the smoke blowing on you, but you have to think of your neighbors. It's going into their homes. There are kids with asthma. There are elderly that have breathing problems. It's not right. I wish this code was enforced. It would have been nice to sleep with the windows open. Manager Revella: Did you call the police on Saturday? Cathleen Muller: I did not. They ask me where it's coming from and I can't tell where it's coming from. So, the people don't know that this code exists. Somehow this code has to get out for people to know. And if we do call the police and the police find it, they need to be told. I think I know where this was coming from. But it was the same people that I called the police on in the past. Manager Revella: Have to have it checked out to make sure the right definitions in there and I'm not missing something. Mary Ellen: I was under the impression that the fire pits weren't allowed. Mayor Rumbold: We'll check that for you. Manager Revella: Especially on what can and can't be burned as well. Mary Ellen: In the audited bills, Bradley Park Pesticide Renewal for Rooney, is that screening for ticks? Manager Revella: That's his license. That's just the line it came out of. It has nothing to do with that particular park, it's for the whole village. April 16, 2019 8  . Mary Ellen: So, that means we don't have to hire somebody to do it. Does that apply to the weeds on Main Street? Manager Revella: Yes. He sprays it. Mary Ellen: If you FOIL the Town Clerk. She will send you the item they propose, that they mentioned in the last town hall meeting and everybody here should have it. Mayor Rumbold: Why? Mary Ellen: Don't you want to know what they're talking about? What their idea is? What their proposal is? Mayor Rumbold: I'm sure it's not finalized, but when it comes to us, if they decide to make a proposal, they will say what the proposal is. Mary Ellen: It was presented at the meeting. It seemed that this was a proposal. Mayor Rumbold: That's what their board was discussing, but we haven't seen anything yet through the town. So, I don't know what their proposal is. Mary Ellen: The nice thing would be if they formed a committee with the town, the village, with some residents that are stakeholders and talked about it. It's really turning into a nightmare. Payment of the Audited Bills Trustee Ramos made a motion to pay the Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Correspondence Trustee Kraus: I received an email, from a resident complaining about her sidewalk being cracked. Manager Revella: We got that. It's on the list. Trustee Thompson: Just some texts from Becky Pearson about the IMA and the comp plan. Have an email from Jason West from the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance asking about proof of insurance to submit to us until we have officially joined that organization. Did he provide it? Clerk Kraus: I have not received it. Trustee Thompson: Ok, I'll reach out to him again tomorrow, because there's a meeting on Thursday evening. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Svarzcopf: I would like a copy of the IMA. Trustee Thompson: I would just like to say I did attend the Egg Hunt with Trustee Ramos. It was a very nice morning for everyone. The Parks and Rec crew did a very nice job. Our Police Department was there. Went to the indoor vendor sale. I was incredibly glad that I went. It was a very nice event. There was an issue with parking though, because it was such a beautiful day, April 16, 2019 9  . everyone who wanted to use the Rail Trail, filled that parking lot. So, some of the vendors were a little unhappy, because people probably didn't stop, because there was nowhere to park their car. They would like us to perhaps consider that if they have an event like that in the same location again. And I took the opportunity to spend the better part of the afternoon there and I actually talked to almost every single business owner that was there. I had no idea we had somebody pop up businesses in our village. There is interest in trying to get the business owners association up and running again. So, it was kind of exciting to hear from everybody and they have a lot of optimism about getting their businesses to continue here and be successful. I also ran into a lady who lives in our village, who is a landscape design consultant. She asked me if we have any plans for our parks or beautifying our Main Street. She is willing to provide her service for free, since she lives in our village. As far as consulting or helping to plan something. I gave Mr. Revella her card. I attended the Ambulance Corps Installation Dinner because our mayor asked me to go. It was very well attended. It is very nice. Thank you for sending me. I took the opportunity to walk the Rail Trail, I took some pictures and I would get those over to the town hall. As far as I know they have still not implemented any kind of maintenance program for sealing the Rail Trail and the pavement is really beginning to look very, very worn. They did a lot of brush cutting and tree removal and cleared nothing. It's kind of a hot mess out there. So, I'll get something over to the town Highway Department about that. And then just that we have a meeting on Thursday evening with Wallkill River Watershed Alliance to discuss specifically the Tin Brook. If anyone would like to come. Trustee Ramos: I attended the Easter Egg Hunt. Wonderful day. I also attended the Blue Night Out. It's to support autism, over at Otterkill. Very well attended by a lot of influential people and hopefully they were kicking in some wonderful donations to help the program and hopefully the stoppage or the cure of autism. I intended the Senior's Luncheon today. Wonderful group again. It's always nice to be surrounded by wonderful ladies. Mayor Rumbold: I missed the Egg Hunt for the first time in 14 years and also the vendor sale. I had family commitments this weekend, but I heard everything was wonderful. I did also attend a Senior Luncheon. Always nice to see all the members and get to chat with them and they're very appreciative of everything that the village does for them. They feel very much taken care of by all of us. So they were very happy today. Executive Session None April 16, 2019 10  . Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting April 16, 2019 Motions & Resolutions Approval of April 2, 2019 Minutes & Reorg Meeting Minutes Trustee Ramos made a motion to approve the April 2, 2019 regular and Reorg Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Kraus. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Section 256-24/25 Trustee Ramos made a motion to open Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Maple St Parking Lot. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to close Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2019 – Maple St Parking Lot. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion for Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to pass Local Law 5 of 2019 – Section 256-24/25. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing – Budget 2019-2020 Trustee Ramos made a motion to open Public Hearing - Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to close Public Hearing – Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Ramos made a motion to adopt Budget 2019-2020. Seconded by Trustee Svarczkopf. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution – 29-18-19 – Accept DARE Funds Trustee Svarczkopf made a motion to pass Resolution 29-18-19 – Accept DARE Funds. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of the Audited Bills Trustee Ramos made a motion to pay the Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session None April 16, 2019 11