Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting October 19, 2021 Mayor Ramos called the regular meeting of the Village of Walden Board of Trustees to order at 6:30pm. On roll call the following were: Mayor: John Ramos Present: Deputy Mayor Willie Carley Trustees Lynn Thompson Brian Sebring Cheryl Baker Patricia Maher Absent: John Elliot Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Gina Somma, Deputy Village Clerk Dave Donovan, Village Attorney Orange County Transit Anthony Mirando: We provided another monthly update on October 15th in writing to the board to discuss some of the status over the last month. Some good progress was made with the Planning Board. The board finalized that process in September. We got approved in August, went back to finalize the resolution in September, after it was the final resolution, was adopted from the Planning Board, that was filed with the Clerk September 27th. Since then, the project engineers filed a memo which was dated September 29th to the Planning Board Engineer because we have to address condition of the approval. We submitted that to the Planning Board Engineer, which is under review. We filed updated site plans consistent with that condition so that we can get those plans signed. Once we have those signed plans, then we go to the Building Department and we talk about hopefully starting some work. We can't do right-of-way work without the DOT sign off, and there's some limits on what logically what work you would do inside the site that's relative to what's at the right of way. You don't want to rip up half the site, leave it open because you can't do the rest of the work. Orange County Transit is going to talk to Dean about coordinating that work. I can also tell you that the owner, John, he already had surveyors out there surveying the property lines for the fencing and things like that in furtherance of hopefully starting some work with respect to the esthetic features of the property. In addition to that, we already had the Department of Health approval for the water connection and the water supply improvement that was back in September, and the DPW has reviewed the application consistent with the Planning Board process, and I believe that'll be addressed as part of the Building Department sign off. The DOT. We don't have anything from the DOT still. We did, and I believe I forwarded on the string of correspondence that we've been reaching out to them just for your own reference because you asked for it at the last meeting. Most recently, I actually sent an email to them, just kind of updating them on the Planning Board has completed their process. The County Health Department has completed their process. We're hoping to start work as soon as feasible. So please, we welcome anything you can get back to us with. I think we talked about last month, what we need to do is get their feedback, make sure they're okay with everything and then essentially you file that form for the actual permit to be issued. There are a couple of steps that we have to go through with them, but we don't have anything yet at this point. Mayor Ramos: I did have a conversation with Senator Skoufis' handler, Mr. Brendan Coyne. He's 1 eager to obtain some statistical data and information so that he can help the Senator possibly discuss it with the DOT higher ups, to see if we can facilitate this. I'll keep in touch with you. I know I emailed you about a chronological order of dates so that I can forward to them. Anthony Mirando: I actually put that together already. I certainly don't want it going to be calling out any people I know personally. But as far as touches go, we can we can go through that. It's been multiple submissions and submissions, I think 3 over the last 11 months or so. And I would say at least 10 contact efforts just by virtue of email plus phone calls. We've been trying to do it on a basically a monthly basis over the last year or so. But I'll get you some more details. Public Hearing - Local Law 5 of 2021 - Towing Trustee Baker made a motion to open Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded By Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Deputy Mayor Carley made a motion to Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded by Trustee Maher. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager’s Report Manager Revella: We've continued work down at the Community Center. I met with the DPW Super and the Engineer a few times down there to check on progress and make sure we're on track. Hope to at least have the skeleton up before winter, where they believe they're on track with that. There were a couple of delays due to materials coming in, but that's been corrected. Went over the indoor sports and COVID regulations with Rec Coordinator and the Village Attorney to make sure we're following guidelines. Met with Montgomery IDA again and Mayor Ramos regarding the Falcons Rest. They have the next meeting on November 9th, where they likely will vote on whatever they're going to give to that project. Encourage all to attend and voice your concerns. Went to the Transportation Council Planning meeting. We did discuss transportation updates in the region. The main focus that this study is on is rail trails and interconnecting rail trails throughout the region, not just the county. They have a plan to do that over the next several years. Met with Chief Herlihy to interview potential part time officers. We did make 1 selection who took their oath today. They will be at the next board meeting for introduction. Went over Parkland Fees with the Village Attorney and the Mayor as well. We also had another meeting with the applicant about that. The Rec Coordinator has been assisting with the Wooster Playground updates for the anniversary celebration from the committee that started the Wooster Playground. Engineers trying to finalize the bid for the waterfront park so that bid can go out. Indoor soccer and basketball registrations are up. The Trunk or Treat is at Bradley Park on October 30th from 6-8pm. Trick or Treat is the next day from 6-8pm. The Building Department has been working on permits, reports, they did finally get some finality on a few court matters, so we got some things off the docket and hopefully those things get remedied quickly. Clerk has been updating Facebook, the website, helping out with the 207c and Comp. We worked on some MSD reports for the county to update positions and generally assisting with lots of things in the office. Treasurer has finalized the AUD report to the comptroller. We're waiting for the fiscal stress to come back from them to see how we're doing. It looks to be still well. Also, bank recs and cash reports being updated, as well as follow up with the internal audit. We did get a draft audit report from RBT and hopefully we can get that finalized and a presentation to the full Board soon. DPW is trying to get caught up. Cutting back routes before winter. So it won't ruin the plow trucks. They're working on the Community Center project and general maintenance as usual. Police have still been struggling to fill vacancies. We have a full time officer coming back tomorrow. Should help some of the void as well as the new hires. They're still working on trying to get saturation patrols into certain areas for speed and traffic enforcement. Keep working on that. Nothing different to report from the court or the library. The Attorney has drafted some memos for the Board as well. 2 Trustee Sebring: Any idea when you're going to start digging the footings at a Senior Center? Manager Revella: The contractor's digging those so we're hoping to coordinate this week to get them done. Then they believe a week after that to get the pads in depending on the weather. Approval of October 5, 2021 Minutes Trustee Sebring made a motion to approve the October 5, 2021 Minutes. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Carley. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Thompson). Motion carried. Public Comment on Business of the Board Becky Pearson: 167 Walnut St. You said you're having a meeting with the developer on the park fees today? Manager Revella: We had one. Becky Pearson: Just the Mayor? Who was involved in that discussion? Manager Revella: It was me, the Mayor and our Attorney. Becky Pearson: Was the whole Board was involved in the discussion or no? Manager Revella: Me, the Mayor and the Attorney was the first time. The second time it wasn't just me and the Mayor. It was the Trustee Sebring, Trustee Thompson and the Mayor. Susan Taylor: 80 East Ave. On April 4th, 2011, the Village of Walden Board amended the park fees for new construction to $2000 per unit from $1000. This was done after board discussion and input from the Parks Department. Despite what has been the argument by developers of new construction, residents of those developments are not isolationists. Those developers would have us believe that those residents shun develop parks in favor of amenities that are offered exclusively to residents of those developments. The truth is quite to the contrary. Those community members send their children to our summer camp, attend our outdoor concerts, use the ball fields at Bradley Park, throw in fishing lines at Olley Park. Their children enjoy meeting their friends and playing basketball at the teen center, or use the courts at Wooster Grove. They attend the Harvest Fest, use the playgrounds at Wooster, Olley Park, Midge Norman Park and Bradley Park. They enjoy walking their dogs on the trail at Olley and picnicking under their pavilions at Bradley and Olley. At the current rate, the park fees for Kidd Farm would be $408,000. At your last meeting, the owner of that property felt that $100,000 might be appropriate given the amenities that in this new development would offer their residents. I'm not sure what the going rate for 2 gazebos is these days, but I would venture to say that they aren't worth $308,000. He also suggested that a private meeting would be in order and that the board should limit the members present to 3. Otherwise, the meeting would have to be held in public. He wanted to avoid that as financials would be discussed. Where better to discuss those kinds of financials than in public. The taxpayers of this Village are more than entitled to know just how these things work and how their elected officials are seeing to their rights. Of course, the fees charged can be amended as the board sees fit, but for any land owner to suggest that debate should exclude any duly elected board members and exclude the taxpaying public is ludicrous. Any discussion about fees that were duly set and voted on by the Village Board in public should be debated in the same venue under the same public scrutiny under which they were adopted. My second issue is was the meeting before, Trustee Thompson said something about the lack of record of a public vote when the salary of the Treasurer was amended. If my memory serves me, when I was charged with replacing a Clerk that had resigned. I was informed that the new hiree would have to be hired under the same salary and that if we wanted to make the salary different, we would have a discussion and the board would take a vote to do that. I 3 don't know whether the rules have changed since April, but if Trustee Thompson is accurate and there is no vote by the board to amend that budget, why? I guess the salary has been amended by seven hundred and something dollars. If there is no vote and that shouldn't have been amended or it was amended in error, I don't know how it was amended and there is no board vote to amend that. Then you owe the Treasurer money. Seven hundred and whatever dollars should be added to her salary. If the board decides they want to amend it, then by all means take a vote. I would like to know that since it was amended, was there a budget transfer for the seven hundred and change that was in that line? Was there a budget transfer to transfer that to another line in the budget? And where did it go? The last thing is, I'm the maker of the 2 houses in this cabinet. I was proud of them when I made them and now I'm embarrassed about them because they're falling apart. They look horrible. So, when people come in this building, I think that same cardboard box has been sitting there. I know we have a new Historian, it would be nice if she could come in and maybe change these and please throw out those houses. Now I'm embarrassed that I made them and they look horrible and you're going to get mice. Mary Ellen Matise: 54 Gladstone. Thank you, Sue, for saying $408,000 and then $100,000 is what they're willing to offer. Maybe $300,000 dollars of benefit to the local residents at their facilities could be negotiated. How about that? Action Items: Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing Trustee Sebring made a motion to adopt Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Maher made a motion to adopt Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Resolution 5-21-22 – Village Property In the Town Manager Revella: Every year we have to adopt a resolution to exempt our properties that are in the Town from taxes. We have our well properties in the Town. Mayor Ramos: Do we have to make a resolution? Attorney Donovan: The Clerk had sent me the resolution. We do this every year. This is to exempt tax parcels. The certified copy of the resolution goes to the County Legislature. County Legislature exempts municipally owned properties throughout the county, but they need the resolution from us. This is for tax year 2023 and we do this every year. The County Legislature wants to have it by the end of November. So, if you do that tonight, then I'll just pencil in the resolution, because it's the same tax parcels, you just change the year. Mayor Ramos: So, not having the resolution document is suffice? Attorney Donovan: Suffice for you to make the motion, because I'm going to just fill in the blanks of that resolution that the Clerk had sent to me. Deputy Mayor Carley: What have we done in the past? I mean, respectfully, we trust you. But we don't have it before us. Manager Revella: You're approving a resolution that says the section block and lots to exempt from tax. That's the only thing it says. That's all you're approving. Attorney Donovan: Otherwise you get a tax bill from the Town of Montgomery for these parcels. 4 Deputy Mayor Carley: I agree with it, but we don't have it. Do we have enough time? Mayor Ramos: I'd rather have the resolution in hand. Deputy Mayor Carley: Will there be still enough time? Mayor Ramos: Have the resolution to us by the November 16th meeting. Trustee Sebring: I know that we've done it every year since I've been on the board without the resolution. It's cut and dry. Send that to the County so we don't have to pay taxes on that. Trustee Thompson: If you want to wait for the resolution, that's fine, but I agree with Brian and Dave that we have the parcel numbers here. Us waiting for this particular piece of paper isn't really going to change or impact anything. Trustee Maher: I just saw the email, so I'm good. Trustee Baker: I agree. I don't see the need to wait. I think we are fine to do it now. Trustee Sebring: I'm fine with it. Deputy Mayor Carley: I just didn't read it and typically if I vote on something, I've read it then I can stand by it. But I do agree that if it's cut and dry as everyone said then it's ok. Trustee Sebring: We even did it when you were on the board. Attorney Donovan: Would the board feel better if I read the resolution? I found Marisa's email. When the letter came in from the County, it was sent to me and I said this is a standard resolution from every year. I asked Marisa if she had it. She said she responded, yes and here it is. All that needed to be done was to change the dates. *read resolution into the minutes* Trustee Thompson made a motion to adopt Resolution 5-21-22 – Exempt Properties. Seconded by Trustee Maher. All ayes. Motion carried. Overlook at Kidd Farm – Parkland Fees Mayor Ramos: The last board meeting we had discussed this. The developer had come up. Now this is for us to continue discussion and we can make a decision tonight. Attorney Donovan: The board can do whatever they want, but weren't we talking about at another time at a subsequent meeting? Manager Revella: Discussing tonight's meeting and making a decision at the next meeting. Mayor Ramos: Yes, open discussion now and then pass decision. Attorney Donovan: I just provided a memo to the board this afternoon. I wouldn't have expected anyone to have read it and digested it at all. I thought this was just for discussion then it was a decision at a subsequent meeting. Trustee Maher: I was not at the meeting that everyone else was at. Can we get a little synopsis of what was discussed. 5 Trustee Baker: I thought the amount that Mr. Jacobowitz had offer with the $100,000 was a bit of an insult. If anything concerning that how long ago that the amount was decided, the $408,000 actually it should actually be increased to accommodate the additional costs and changes in time. I don't think anyone would find it realistic that children are going to be happy hanging out at a gazebo all summer. They're going to want to go to Bradley Park use the skateboards, our wonderful parks, the Rail Trail and those things need to pay for it. It's going to be additional people, additional wear and tear, additional staff, maintenance. Trustee Sebring: With what he's offering on his development, there's nothing but amenities to me. We here in the Village have a lot of activities, the parks, like former Mayor Sue Taylor had said that we supply everything for the kids in the Village. They can go to any one place at any one time, which they will do once that project is fully complete. They will exercise their use of it at no cost. But back then, when that new rate was put in force Mr. Jacobowitz is well aware of it. He sat in with that committee from start to the end. So, he knows exactly what is said, what's being done and now coming to the end. That was an insult of $100,000. I'm in favor of having him paid $2,000 per lot like everybody else. Unfortunately, that's a lot of money. He's building a big development that costing him millions. I'm in favor of sticking to the original agreement of $2,000 per unit. Trustee Thompson: I also agree. This project has been in the discussion mode for how many years now. We agreed to $2,000 per lot. I do understand what Trustee Baker is saying. Perhaps we should even reevaluate that number because expenses for everything have gone up since this original amount was agreed upon. One of the things that disturbs me, I think everybody agrees there is quite the need for housing all over the County. It's my understanding that the Village welcomes this project because it would be beneficial not only to Walden, but to the Town, to the County as well. I'm really getting weary of feeling like our communities are giving everything away to developers. These projects are coming with the idea of enhancing our communities, bringing good things to our communities. I just don't think that we should have to continue to make concessions to get people to come here and put in these developments. I think we should be the ones that are getting the benefit from these projects. I agree, the number that has been thrown around $100,000 is just not even realistic. It's not fair. Deputy Mayor Carley: Just to be fair and have a balance of this, Mr. Jacobowitz, he said he started at that. He didn't just say, here's $100,000 and let's move on. He said, start at that. And that was talking about negotiations. John, did you all meet concerning those negotiations? Manager Revella: We met yesterday and he explained what benefits he's giving the public from his development. We had some questions back and forth. He explained why he wanted to split it between parkland and public benefit. We were in consensus that we didn't feel any of it should be towards a public benefit. All should be towards parkland because that was the intent. We have plenty of parkland things that we need improvements on that the money can go towards, however much that dollar amount that the board decides it to be. Deputy Mayor Carley: Was there another dollar amount? Manager Revella: No. Deputy Mayor Carley: That was his final offer? Manager Revella: He didn't say that either. Deputy Mayor Carley: That's what he said, so I thought it went up from there through 6 negotiations, you come up with a number, as the honorable Mayor Taylor said. It can be adjusted. However, I guess it wasn't adjusted. Trustee Thompson: Basically, it was just him giving us information. He was sharing what was on his mind with us. We didn't really have any discussions about negotiating back and forth about moneys. Deputy Mayor Carley: Okay. Definitely $100,000 is too low. Then the law does state that it's $2,000 per unit. It comes out to $408,000. We stick by that and we don't want to create a precedent every time somebody builds something as Trustee Thompson said, we're always getting the short end of the stick. I'd like to be nice too, but we got to be men in business. He had the numbers up front. I say we stick with the numbers. Mayor Ramos: We just went before the IDA and we fought a good battle and we won. This is another issue with developers wanting to enter our area and try to pay as less as possible. I understand the need to make money, but this project has been going on for 13-14 years. We've taken steps to help this process. I was a Trustee on board, an honorable Mayor Taylor was in. We thought about it really hard and we came up with the $2,000 per unit. We thought that was fair. We're getting 204 units on an average 3-4 members in each family. So, we're talking about a significant amount of more people traffic in the Village. Our parks are great, the upkeep is fantastic, but we like to do certain things and our conversation with the developer said that we have too much. Their statistics and their data, which wasn't provided to us, said that we are above the national standard. I beg to differ. There are amenities and things that we need for our parks. This $400,000 would suit additionally to our needs that we can use. By specifically giving a figure amount wasn't the right way to do it. If you're going to negotiate, you find out what both sides of the table are looking for and then you see what their needs and their wants are. I would welcome anybody to come out and figure out what the needs of our parks are and for everybody on the board that we should be consistent with the dollar amount that was stipulated in our April 4th meeting. Still remain at the $2,000 per unit for 204 residences. Manager Revella: Just to clarify for the public, 2 things. 1 is that the Planning Board did adopt and declare that there was a need for a contribution to parkland. So, that's been decided. It was agreed upon by the developer as well, so they know that they have to pay something. Another thing that was agreed upon by the Planning Board, which was nice of them, the developer only pays the first half upon issuance of the building permit and the building in phases. So, he's not paying the whole amount upfront. It's over time. As they get building permits, which phase one is about 25, that's only $25,000 upfront. And then the second $1,000 of the $2,000 per unit comes in upon issuance of the CO. It's hard to say there is a financial strain when there's been a lot of give on behalf of the Village already. I just want to make sure the public's aware the Planning Board did say that in their declaration. Attorney Donovan: In their resolution, they made specific findings that are required by state law, by our local code that first of all, the law requires that you provide parkland in a residential subdivision. If you can't provide parkland, the law provides that you provide a fee in lieu of parkland so long as the Planning Board makes specific findings, which the Planning Board did. The only issue really for the Village Board is the amount. Trustee Baker: Does the board have to stick with the 408 and not be able to go above that? Manager Revella: I don't think we can go above that now because the development's already been approved. They would be under whatever amount you had adopted at that time. 7 Attorney Donovan: Correct. There's certain advice that I would like to give to you in attorney- client when the time is appropriate for that related to the amount. Trustee Maher: I agree. I think that the $2,000 per unit is definitely suffice, but I think to say that we're higher than the national standard, that really doesn't come into play. We live in a time where things are ever changing, especially in the real estate and considering where we are right now, I think that maybe even dig a little deeper as far as what's going on around us and other developments. How much are they getting per unit. It's booming right now. This is where everyone wants to live, so this is going to be obviously a project that we welcome and respectfully to the developer, I think that we want to make sure we do whatever we can to see this to fruition, but more is needed. Manager Revella: It's on the agenda for next meeting. Mayor Ramos: If anyone has other input, please get it to the Manager and we can discuss it again on the next meeting. Trustee Thompson: There was concern about the time frame, the dates. Are you comfortable that we have enough time between now and the November 16th meeting, or is this going to be something where we may have to have a special meeting noticed? Manager Revella: The time constraint isn't on the board, it's on the applicant. Surplus – 2010 Ford, 2007 Ford, Wood Chipper Trustee Sebring made a motion to surplus 2010 Ford Crown Vic, 2007 Ford Crown Vic and 2008 Salsco Wood Chipper. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Becky Pearson: Going back to the last meeting with the letters that I gave you, the 1 about confidentiality, and I do believe in open government, I think that should be. I really liked the conversation you had tonight about the Kidd Farm. Awesome. That's what it should be like all the time. I think Trustees do have a right to comment and to voice their concerns without someone trying to tell them they can't speak, especially their Board members. That being said, debating issues. Great. Debate them. It's not being able to say you can't say that, but debate. Trustee Thompson had mentioned a couple of meetings ago that she wanted the Attorney to possibly look into about confidentiality and what constitutes that and what information you're getting. I don't know if you've gotten that yet. There's been no discussion further on that. I don't know if the Attorney's given you information. Is there information to have? What's confidential and what isn't? Has there been any information? Mayor Ramos: Yes. Becky Pearson: Okay, thank you. 1 of the other things to address, and Mayor Taylor pretty much said it perfectly. I didn't know she was going to be here tonight, but thanks for showing up, Sue. That was nice. Because we work under Article 15A and our law states of the Clerk, Treasurer and Attorney shall be appointed and salary and compensation set by the Board of Trustees. When will that be done for setting that salary? We've discussed this meeting after meeting. We've established that we are working under Article 15A, which means we are working under our laws, not for 4-400. So, my question to this board is when are you going to vote on the salary for the position of Treasurer. Is there an answer for that? No? You're not voting? You're not going to vote on anything that would be out in public and talked about in public in open government? 8 Mayor Ramos: Not today. Becky Pearson: It's been months. Open government on Kidd Farm, it was nicely spoken tonight. Thank you for that conversation because that's really what open government is about. Talking about why and why not you should be doing something. And the public really appreciates that when you do speak like that for us, so thank you very much. Maybe we'll get some answers on that vote for the Treasurer salaried position. Thank you. Mary Ellen Matise: I want to talk about the Climate Smart Committee. I'm on the committee. I want to number 1, start out by complimenting Trustee Thompson for all the work she's been doing on that committee. Thank you. Also Manager Revella. She's been doing a tremendous job. The Village is like charging ahead with being on the Climate Smart radar screen. Getting the charging station, unbelievable, Lynn. Maybe we're the first municipality here in Orange County that got a charging station. I'm not sure, but thank you. Trustee Thompson: Well, don't thank me. Mary Ellen Matise: I'm going to thank you because you were the coordinator of the Climate Smart Committee. Trustee Thompson: Please thank Mr. Revella and Kristen from Lanc & Tully. Mary Ellen Matise: We started this November 2019. We approached the CAC and we said we will operate under the CAC and then Lynn agreed to be the coordinator, and it's been moving right along. The Town's not doing as well. Along with that, I want to bring up critical environmental area. The CAC has a committee that I've been sitting in on. What they've decided to do is to focus on the Tin Brook aquifer. This is of course, so important to the Village of Walden. Without protection of the Tin Brook aquifer, we have no water. That's our water supply. Every one of our wells draws on that aquifer. And if there's any contamination, we're in trouble. So, this critical environmental area is going to mainly focus on the Tin Brook aquifer and it will develop ideas of things that can and can't be done. It'll work along with the Town's new comprehensive plan. Why I'm bringing this up to you is that the first Town board meeting in December, the committee and the CAC are going to present the CEA, the Tin Brook aquifer to the Town Board, seeking their acceptance and approval of that. It's really important that the Village speak up and have input to the Town Board about it and support it and make sure we get it to be as strong as we can possibly make it. We've been talking about this now for years. 15-20 years. We never got our wellhead protection, which is in the Tin Brook aquifer. The Town just always dropped the ball on that which again could be revived under the CEA. So, that all of our wells are protected. I guess there'll be a CEA meeting next week. Mr. Revella, if you're available, maybe you want to come because Gretchen will be there and she'll give us an idea of whether she's got it. In fact, so to background yourself a little bit on this and it should be on the Town website by now, the CAC did an update on their natural resource inventory. Which would include all of the resources that would be part of the Tin Brook aquifer. The Town did adopt it twice. They adopted it in the comp plan and they adopted it separately so that they could get Climate Smart recognition for it. It's available on their website. If it's not, then it would be on the CAC website. That should give you a good background on all of that. Pretty impressed that Karl would put in a guest editorial last week. The Daily Gazette in Schenectady ran this editorial. It's about the committee on open government. The committee on open government has been snoozing. Since Robert Freeman is no longer there and Becky and I knew Bob Freeman pretty well. You don't hear anything much about it. That's what this editorial is about. I don't know if you all read it, but just because it's snoozing doesn't mean it's dead. All of their opinions still hold sway. All of the opinions that Bob Freeman wrote. He was on top of it. He even continued working there after his retirement, like on a part time basis. Local governments lost 9 a great advocate with Bob being fully retired. But it doesn't mean that the committee isn't there for us and that whatever the committee says is minimized because it isn't. Brenda Adams: 31 Valley. Just want to clarify something that Manager Revella said in his report tonight. I believe at the last board meeting, you said that the tax was not being granted for the Falcon Rest project. Manager Revella: Correct. The PILOT is not being granted. Brenda Adams: Okay. Because you mentioned tonight that we should show up. Manager Revella: Yes. Even though that's not being granted, the IDA is still going to vote on exemptions, mortgage tax and sales tax. Brenda Adams: Okay. That was November 9th and you're looking for the public to show up and be supportive? Manager Revella: Absolutely. There's no more tax exemption, but they're still are looking for mortgage and sales tax exemptions and it's always good to voice our opinion. Brenda Adams: 1 other item, I just like to mention, I have to agree with Becky. That was a great discussion on Kidd Farm tonight. There's 1 thing that nobody's mentioned at all. And now you might have mentioned it among yourselves, but not publicly. Is that a few years ago, when the board agreed to reduce the standard of 20% affordable housing to 10%, it was requested not to have to change the size of those of that 10% that was becoming a market value. And I don't know the total numbers in real estate, but I would imagine the best guess, is that when that went from affordable cost, that 10%, which is 20 units, to market rate. I would say that his sales value for that project probably went up close to a million dollars. I'm just going with $50,000 per 20 units. Again, I don't know what the market rate is for the townhouses, but that project become a little bit richer or more profitable by the Village reducing to the 10% affordable housing. There was a good give that he received versus what he doesn't want to give now. Thank you. Mayor Ramos: This is why we're all steadfast on the 204 units at $2,000. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Sebring made motion to approve Payment of Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. Correspondence Trustee Sebring: I received 2 emails from 2 different people in the Village about different items that they were sort of upset about. I don't know if everybody else got them from Dave Ohlmer and Daniel Case. Trustee Baker: Same email from Daniel Case. Trustee Maher: I received that email, as well as the ones from Becky. Dave Ohlmer regarding the office hours and I received another correspondence from a resident regarding all this speeding in the Village. Very concerned. Trustee Thompson: I received the same 2 emails that Brian did and the 1 from Mrs. Pearson. While I did not get correspondence, I did get approached about, the clock. It's even been on Facebook. For whatever reason, the clock's been broken for quite some time, but that seems to be a 10 bone of contention as of late. People seem to be unhappy about it. I also have had numerous people approached me about speeding in the Village. Deputy Mayor Carley: I just rereading because I want to make sure about the correspondence of the 2 I had. I do have a question, do we contact or do we contact people who put forth a request to be part of a job opening? Manager Revella: Yes. I responded to the gentleman and I believe the Mayor did as well. Trustee Thompson: The 1 email from the gentleman. I do see his point that if we know in advance that a department is going to be closed, I think we should put that on our web site. I think we should. I could understand that. I do know there's a conference coming up for the Building Department that I've been trying to help Dean get scheduled with the County. And if it's approved, there may be a possibility that only the secretary will be in the building that day. I'm going to encourage him to let you know. Maybe we could put that on notice so people would know that that's just not a good day to come into the Building Department for certain things. Manager Revella: Limited staffing, we call it. Deputy Mayor Carley: No, that's fine. But I feel like the public gets a little bit annoyed about that, that we don't put that in a place where they can see it and then they come into town and there's no one there and they get a little perturbed about that. I think we can do a little better with our communication to our Village residents. Mayor Ramos: I received the same 2 emails from Mr. Case and Mr. Ohlmer and numerous complaints of speeding and garbage. But that seems to be working out pretty good. Marisa's been taking care of that issue. Mayor Ramos read community events into minutes. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Baker: In regards to the garbage, it seems to be a continuing problem with the waste cans on West Main Street. The day they're emptied, they're jam packed again with trash that's clearly coming from an apartment. I know when I go by with my dog every night, I bring a garbage bag with me and I'm picking up trash along the side. That's a nightly occurrence. Perhaps removing that particular can and does not have a can there since the residents in those apartments seem to not want to use the dumpsters in the back for some reason and want to use that little garbage can. Trustee Sebring: I saw who was putting it in there one day. Manager Revella: They're getting removed soon, all of them. Trustee Baker: Even the 1 by me, there's a woman, I caught her every morning with a target shopping bag, dumps her kitchen trash in that. That's not what they're there for. Trustee Thompson: John, I'm sorry, when you were talking about the extending different rail trails, have we heard anything more from the Town of Montgomery about what's going on with the Town Montgomery rail trail? Manager Revella: We don't have a date, but they are supposed to have a date for paving. Trustee Thompson: Is it too far into the season this year? Now we're looking into the spring or it's 11 going to still happen? Manager Revella: They can still pave all the way through the end of November. Trustee Thompson: Since we're talking about that, has there been any update on the Hill St Bridge? Manager Revella: No. They were hoping that the infrastructure package from feds would have included something. I asked at the Orange County Transportation, about Bridge New York and there was no update on Bridge New York. Trustee Thompson: I just wanted everyone to know we are still forging ahead with our Climate Smart Initiative. There's a lot of work to do. John and I had a very productive Zoom meeting with Kat Carroll, our regional coordinator. We have a lot of data that we need to collect for her and I did reach out to Dean and he already gave it to me today, so I was really happy about that. Things are really moving ahead with that. And if anybody has been down to the Grove, the meadow project is moving along. We actually have signs of life down there now, so hopefully that's successful. We'll find out in the spring. Trustee Sebring: The only thing I know about the rail trail is that they put the pipe in the past 2. What Shaun had told me was that they're going to seal it and by what he was told from the outfit that was going to seal it, he asked what would be the temperature that you could put it down without it being cold. That he didn't say, but you know, they are going to seal it. They're not going to pave it. Mayor Ramos: The PBA did a phenomenal job on the bike rodeo at Wooster Grove. A lot of smiling faces with the kids receiving bicycles, helmets, way to wear their helmets from Garnet Health and Officer Dave Kurtz did a nice job with the serpentine around the parking lot and kids learned a lot. Nice job Walden PBA. Executive Session – Attorney Client Trustee Maher made motion to enter attorney client session to receive legal advice regarding Parkland Fees as they relate to Kidd Farm project. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All in favor motion carried. Reconvene Trustee Sebring made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Carley. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Thompson made a motion to approve the engagement of special council to oppose PBA Arbitration through Section 75. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. 12  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting October 19, 2021 Motions & Resolutions Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing Trustee Baker made a motion to open Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded By Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Deputy Mayor Carley made a motion to Public Hearing Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded by Trustee Maher. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Sebring made a motion to adopt Negative Declaration. Seconded by Trustee Sebring. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Maher made a motion to adopt Local Law 5 of 2021 – Towing. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Approval of October 5, 2021 Minutes Trustee Sebring made a motion to approve the October 5, 2021 Minutes. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Carley. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Thompson). Motion carried. Resolution 5-21-22 – Village Property In the Town Trustee Thompson made a motion to adopt Resolution 5-21-22 – Exempt Properties. Seconded by Trustee Maher. All ayes. Motion carried. Surplus – 2010 Ford, 2007 Ford, Wood Chipper Trustee Sebring made a motion to surplus 2010 Ford Crown Vic, 2007 Ford Crown Vic and 2008 Salsco Wood Chipper. Seconded by Trustee Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Sebring made motion to approve Payment of Audited Bills. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session – Attorney Client Trustee Maher made motion to enter attorney client session to receive legal advice regarding Parkland Fees as they relate to Kidd Farm project. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All in favor motion carried. Reconvene Trustee Sebring made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Carley. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Thompson made a motion to approve engagement of special council to oppose PBA Arbitration through Section 75. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. 13