Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting July 16, 2024 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 Chris Batson Trustees Becky Pearson Ralph Garrison Jr Bill Taylor Kristie Hall Absent: Liz Kyle Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Dave Donovan, Village Attorney Chief Herlihy introduced Christopher Stinson as new Full Time Police Officer. Public Hearing – Local Law 9 of 2024 – Resident Requirement Trustee Garrison made a motion to open the public hearing for Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Sue Taylor: Thank you for extending it to Orange County. I think that's the smartest thing to do. Open the pool of candidates and hopefully it will be voted in. Thank you. Trustee Garrison made a motion to close the public hearing for Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Hearing – Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking Attorney Donovan: This is a continuation of the public hearing and the board has some questions that they were seeking responses to. Manager Revella: I hope the board received the copies of the responses from the Fire Chief and the head of the Ambulance Corps. There were 2 emails on the attachments. Just so the public's aware, both the President and Town of Montgomery EMS, Kyle Shorette and Chief McNealy mention that parking on both sides could impede the vehicles. Trustee Hall: I didn't see one. Was there one from the Police Chief? Manager Revella: No. The Fire Chief and EMS. Trustee Pearson: The Fire Chief didn't really say that, did he? He said he would go up and down the street. Manager Revella: He says, “I suppose there may be difficulty if there were two cars opposite each other at the narrowest part of the street.” And the EMS, “I would say vehicles parking on both sides 1 of East Avenue would impede emergency vehicles.” Trustee Garrison: We have one that would and one that possibly could. Manager Revella: Correct. Deputy Mayor Batson: Would that response hold true for every single street in this village? Almost like I just worry that it sets a precedent and if that's a precedent we need to have, that's fine. I just worry that if you ask that question of any street that that would unfortunately be the response. Manager Revella: That absolutely could be a response. That's why a lot of the streets don't have parking on both sides. My street you can barely get up with one side of the street parking in some spots. Trustee Taylor made a motion to close public hearing for Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Approval of July 2, 2024 Minutes Trustee Pearson made a motion to approve the July 2, 2024 Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Hall. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Garrison). Motion carried. Public Comment None Permit Fee Waiver – Eagle Scout Project Trustee Hall made a motion to waiver the permit fee for the Eagle Scout Project. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Pulice Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to approve the alcohol waiver for park use on August 10, 2024. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to adopt negative declaration in regards to SEQR. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Garrison made a motion to adopt Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. Trustee Pearson: I know I've discussed this ad nauseam for all of you, I apologize for that, but not really, because when we talk about residents and I looked it up again, I don't think our definition is still strong enough for what we're looking for. I'm all in favor of Orange County. I'm all in favor of what's happening. I just looked this up today and the difference between legal address and residence, basically the term domicile, legal residence refers to the same place the state considers your permanent home. On the other hand, your residence is simply where you're living at a particular time. So, I would like to add part of that to our definition. I don't know if it can be done now, but it just was not sitting with me and I kept looking and I found that and it makes sense to me and in our law somewhere are we going to be putting down what we're going to be looking for, that they live in Orange County, do you want a bank statement? Do you want your mortgage statement? Do you want your tax return? Do you want voter registration? What do you want to be covered for that living in Orange County? That's not in the law either. I know I'm a stickler. You guys can move forward if you want to, but I'm not comfortable with how it's worded right this minute so I would 2 like it to be a little stronger. I'm all for it, but I still want it to be stronger. That's my opinion. Deputy Mayor Batson: We're in no hurry for this, correct? Attorney Donovan: No hurry at all, no. Deputy Mayor Batson: Can you just cite where you found that information? Trustee Pearson: I looked up definition of residence in New York State. I copied it out. There's also one under taxation and finance. I can give you these copies and I just printed it out today, so I'm just wanting it to be stronger. Those are things that we probably should say what we're going to look for when they're going to live in Orange County, how you're going to determine they're living in Orange County. Deputy Mayor Batson: I agree with you. But what if they don't live in Orange County yet? What if they are going to move to Orange County? Trustee Pearson: Then that's a board decision because that's happened before. The board has allowed them to have 6 months to get here or a year to get here. The board would make that decision if that's who the manager wants to appoint. Then the board is going to be saying well, fine. We'll give you 6 months to get here or X amount of months. I'm just not finding it strong enough for me, that's just my opinion. I've said that all along, so not something new. Attorney Donovan: Mr. Mayor, if I can, apropos of that. Becky and I have had a dialogue on this and if I can be permitted, I want to read my e-mail to you from June 17th. *read email into minutes* Trustee Pearson: I'm not blaming you at all. It's just you got back to me. I just kept researching and I did not find the wording that I was looking for. Attorney Donovan: I'm not saying that you're blaming me. I'm all for making it better. If we can improve it, this is a group effort, I've said this before. It's your local law, not mine. I was just looking for a little help on exactly what you wanted it to say. Trustee Pearson: Maybe that is another definition to put in there with it. Can you read that again, John? Manager Revella: The difference between legal address and residence, basically the terms domicile and legal residence, refer to the same place. The state considers your permanent home. On the other hand, your residence is simply where you're living at a particular time, and our definition of this law, it says for our law, a resident is a place where you maintain a fixed, permanent and principal home to which the person, wherever temporary located, always intends to return. That is your permanent residence. Attorney Donovan: I didn't make that up. That comes from New York State Election Law. Trustee Pearson: No, I got. Attorney Donovan: That's not to say it can't be improved. I just didn't know how. Trustee Pearson: I was just looking again today and I get it. It's hard for me to put in words what I'm thinking. 3 Manager Revella: What he has defined here is the legal residence. Just use the word resident in our code. Trustee Pearson: I know it. You guys do what you need to do. I already know what I'm going to do. Attorney Donovan: It's in me to try to make everybody happy though. At the bottom line, if it's a better local law for the Village of Walden, I'm all in favor of that. I don’t mean to be defensive. Trustee Pearson: I know people just want to be done with it. I also think we should put in there somehow how we're going to determine what we're using for. Attorney Donovan: On that point, I would recommend that you not do that because I don't want you to say you're going to determine it by the following five things and then it turns out three years later you decide there's something new that you can make reference to when you're not permitted to without revising the local law. I would keep your options open on it. Trustee Taylor: Dave, the way you have it written right now, it's in accordance with New York State law, correct? Attorney Donovan: For definition of a resident, yes, that's correct. Trustee Pearson: Resident and residency are two separate things. To me, a resident is a person who lives there. Residency is where they live. I've said that all along. Attorney Donovan: A residence is a place. A resident is a person. This person has to have their residence in the Village of Walden as defined in this local law. I'll do whatever you want to make it better. Deputy Mayor Batson: Can I just make sure I understand, in one turn you are saying that a resident always lives in a residence? Is that an accurate statement? Attorney Donovan: Yeah, the resident is where that person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home and to which that person wherever temporarily located, always intends to return. If that can be improved, I'll take any suggestions. Deputy Mayor Batson: I just want to make sure I understand the semantics. In that version, a resident always lives in their residence. Manager Revella: Correct. Deputy Mayor Batson: Becky's version, a resident can live somewhere outside of their residence. Manager Revella: That's correct. Attorney Donovan: But they still have to be a resident of Orange County. Trustee Hall: Is there a way that maybe just add in a definition? Attorney Donovan: You can certainly pass it like this and change it subsequently if you wanted to. Trustee Hall: Does it have to be into this particular? 4 Attorney Donovan: I don't think you can just add a definition of residence. Then you got to go back and incorporate that residence because that word is not used here. So you got to change the text. Roll Call: Trustee Pearson: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Hall: Yes Trustee Garrison: Yes Deputy Mayor Batson: No Mayor Ramos: No Deputy Mayor Batson: It just halts, right? Attorney Donovan: No, it fails. If the consensus of the board is to bring it up again. Deputy Mayor Batson: Then we want to bring it up again. We just want that definition clear. But we are definitely all in support of expanding it. Manager Revella: The board would need to give Dave direction on what they want to do. Trustee Pearson: I just gave what I thought what I'd like added. Manager Revella: But the information on your definition is already in our definition in the code. Trustee Garrison: I feel like we're walking in a circle here. Attorney Donovan: I don't want to chase my tail. It failed. So, anything that improves it. If you want to take another shot at it. What I don't want to do is take a shot at it, to say no, that's not it. Take another shot. No, that's not it. Trustee Garrison: You used the legal definition by New York State, correct? Attorney Donovan: New York State Election Law to be qualified to run for office. That's what I used. I can try to work the language a different way. I guess that's what I'm asking for assistance. Trustee Garrison: I’m not trying to discredit Trustee Pearson's source or any of that by all means. We're in New York. We're sitting in on a board, New York law. It's a New York definition. I don't understand. Attorney Donovan: But the law fails. Here’s the deal. Let me try to come up with something. Deputy Mayor Batson: Is it as simple as Trustee Pearson putting it in a sentence in that is in slight layman's terms rather than the legal resident under New York State law, where under column D, it just basically says i.e. the candidate must maintain a permanent home, principal home, a residence and must also reside in Orange County. Trustee Pearson: That's basically what I brought up the first time. Reside, residence and residents. 3 separate things. To have them all in there to me is fine. However, you want to put them in there because they all are different to me. They're different, even though it sounds like the same word. Attorney Donovan: But I can have a residence but not be a resident. I think that the purpose behind 5 the law is you want that person to be a resident. Trustee Pearson: We want a resident, we want a residency and we want to be a resident. We want all three here in Orange County. 3 different definitions. Attorney Donovan: I think it all already says that. If it's not clear to the other people in the room, then it's not clear. It's not clear to you. It's not clear the Deputy Mayor and the Mayor, then it’s not clear. Trustee Pearson: Mayor, how do you feel about it? Mayor Ramos: As always, I firmly believe your employment is based upon the geographical area of your employment. Where you work at. Take point. When I was working for the state, my job was within the confines of the State of New York. If I took a higher position, then I would have to, let's say, Albany and I would have to reside within 50 miles of the big headquarters. So just like us, Board Members are required to be residents of the village itself. The Chief of Police in question years ago, there was a law that was passed that he be a resident. The Chief bought property. Built the residence, raised his family here. I don't think we are sliding the caliber of people that we have here in the Village of Walden. If somebody lives in the Village of Walden, that later time would like to take on the position as Police Chief, that person should be held at the highest point in the selection process instead of all Orange County. Trustee Pearson: You're not even for Orange County, though. Trustee Taylor: Isn't the goal to get the biggest pool of candidates which would allow us to select the best possible candidate? Trustee Pearson: I'm not disagreeing with that. Trustee Garrison: Playing devil advocate, we have a good candidate in Walden that’s strong, but there's an even stronger, better candidate in Montgomery or Chester or even some of Pine Bush is considered Orange County, so we're going to pass up the opportunity for this great candidate because this person happens to reside a little bit closer. I think that's crazy. I think that we're losing and we're losing the opportunity for candidates by secluding ourselves to one specific small area. Manager Revella: The Mayor believes in that. But the other 5 of you don't. But you need to tell the attorney what you want changed. Otherwise, there's no change. It's going to be Village of Walden. Attorney Donovan: I feel a little like I never should have put the definition in because you know you survived without a definition of resident for like 50 years. Never had one before. Trustee Taylor: I'm not sure what word salad is going to do for us here. We're in compliance with New York State law. Whipping this thing to death is going to do what? Trustee Hall: It's not gonna do anything. Trustee Taylor: I agree. Trustee Hall: I think if somebody wants the job, they're going to find a way to be a resident and have a residence, whether they do or not. Trustee Pearson: But what's the difference? Residence and residents. 6 Trustee Hall: A residence is when you have a home. My address is my residence. I am the resident. Trustee Pearson: You have a residency. Trustee Hall: If I want the job that bad, I'm gonna make it work. Trustee Pearson: I'm not disagreeing with that at all, but it’s just not strong enough. That's why I voted differently. Trustee Hall: I don't think trying to find words and trying to, I don't think it’s going to make much of a difference, honestly. But that’s just my opinion. Deputy Mayor Batson: If we change it here, we have to change it everywhere. I'm just looking up other code and for example, if I look up the supervisor, the wording is almost the same, except there's no definition of resident there, which basically just says, citizen 18 years of age and a resident of Town of Montgomery. That's not a defined word in several other sections either. So if we change it here, we probably have to change it or add that definition in numerous places. Manager Revella: Do you want Dave to do something else or no? Trustee Pearson: I would be happy for that. Trustee Taylor: I'm fine with stand in compliance with the state of New York. Trustee Hall: I'm fine with the way it is for the State of New York. I don't think you're going to really find a better way to do it. We can try to mix words. We can try to but I don't think it's going to work. Manager Revella: Is someone changing their mind? Trustee Pearson: Maybe somebody might change their mind. I'm not gonna change mine, but back Chris might change. Deputy Mayor Batson: I don't disagree with you that it just simply needs a sentence. Trustee Hall: I don’t disagree with her. I don't think it's going to work. Deputy Mayor Batson: I do think it will work because if you give her that sentence she will change it. Trustee Hall: But what sentence do you want? Deputy Mayor Batson: I think just simply a sentence that maybe perhaps expands the definition and again whether we're right or whether we're wrong just simply says the intent of this is that the person both lives and owns a home within the area. I don't think it's more complicated than that. Whether that's right, whether that's wrong, I don't know. But I don't know that it's more difficult than just simply breaking it into those two things. Trustee Garrison: Be careful with the wording of owning a home. Deputy Mayor Batson: Whatever is here, of course. 7 Trustee Pearson: Reside? Deputy Mayor Batson: Yes, that's it. It's just simply that they reside as well. Attorney Donovan: Then if I can try to put a point on this. Subdivision A provide such person is a resident of and maintains a residence in Orange County. And the same in subdivision B. And then you have a definition of resident and residence. Trustee Pearson: Perfect. That's what I've been saying all along. Attorney Donovan: If that makes you happy. I'm happy to do that. I don't believe it changes the local law. You're saying in subdivisions A&B person must have a residence and be a resident of Orange County. And then you have a definition of resident and residence, even though I think that the definition of residence is included in the definition of residence, since it talks about a fixed, permanent and principal home. Manager Revella: So, those changes are good? You'll vote yes? Trustee Pearson: One is the resident is a person or an individual who is living in Orange County and the residence is where they're living. So, yes. Manager Revella: That's correct. Attorney Donovan: Yes, I don't know how you can have one without the other but if that makes it right. Trustee Pearson: But you can have one without the other, because people do have residences that they don't live in. That's how. They can have a residence and not live in it. Attorney Donovan: That's why you require them to be a resident. Trustee Pearson: Yes, that's why we need both of it in law. Manager Revella: If you start changing the function of the law, you will need another public hearing. Attorney Donovan: No, it definitely needs another public hearing. Manager Revella: Just so you know from the public, there are five or six responses so far. Courtney Vasquez, thinks it should be resident of Orange County. Kathy Passineau, the word slicing is ridiculous. Use the state definition, look for the best candidate. Michael Felong, reside in Orange County. Lynn Thompson, housing options in Walden are not so great. If you can't find adequate housing, you're forced to pass on the job. Get the best candidate for the job in this village. Maybe the best candidate will be in Walden. Where you live does not make you a better employee. Follow the New York State law and put this to bed. Good grief. Cheryl Baker, this is beating a dead horse. Trustee Pearson: I'm agreeing that, but I just voted no, so I don't know. You guys can do what you want. I agree it should be in Orange County and I said that all along. Trustee Taylor: I thought I understood this verbiage that was here, but what is changing these 8 words going to do for us? I don't see what that does. That's about the only thing I'm garnering right now from this conversation. Trustee Pearson: Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean you have to make me happy. You do what you want to do. Manager Revella: They can't pass the law without you. Trustee Pearson: If people showed up to meetings we might be able to pass a law. Sorry. Trustee Taylor made a motion to adopt Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement as written. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. Roll Call: Trustee Pearson: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Hall: Yes Trustee Garrison: Yes Deputy Mayor Batson: No Mayor Ramos: No Motion fails Deputy Mayor Batson: I would not change my vote. If I could just answer Trustee Taylor's question, my belief is that, I don't want to speak for Trustee Pearson, but I believe that the intent is that there has been a potential historical precedent where someone owns some type of dwelling that's in a geographic area, but does not live there. And that is the intent is to stop people from circumventing that. Mayor Ramos: Get back to the drawing board. Manager Revella: That's up to your board if you want to address again. Trustee Hall: Why don't we try the sentence that Becky suggested and see if that sits better? Attorney Donovan: I'll get something back to you at the next meeting. I think I'll start there. There may be additional things that I need to do if I get a chance to look at it or when I get a chance to look at it. Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to adopt negative declaration in regards to SEQR. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Taylor made a motion to adopt Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. Trustee Hall: Is this going to cause issues now with everybody parking on one side? Is there going to be complaints now you can't park in front of your own house because there's people across the street are parking? Manager Revella: Right now, there's not a lot of cars parked in the same area at the same time. I don't imagine it would be a huge issue. Deputy Mayor Batson: Does anyone up here worry that this, our voting yes on this would be 9 inconsistent with the way that we voted on the 1st parking when all of the concerns were the exact same? The vast majority of the people on that road had the same opinion and hypothetically every emergency service has challenges getting down the road. I struggle with us being inconsistent in our votes from one street to the next with the scenario being virtually the same. Trustee Hall: I am. Manager Revella: I just want to make sure the board is aware again that you're on actual constructive notice of a potential emergency issue on this street. I'm not worried about another street, but you're on notice for this street, so just be aware of that. I'm not sure if you want to ask the attorney what that means. Attorney Donovan: What the manager is referring to is the communications you've had from emergency service people. You've had a relative to these two streets. I don't want to speculate on what may happen if there is a call for service in the future because there could be facts and circumstances specific to that I don't want to speculate on, relative to the issue of precedent. You know, you're a legislative body, so you do have wide latitude and precedent. You familiar with the ZBA and the ZBA is bound by law to follow their prior precedent. You're different as legislative body when you decide what's in the best interest of the people of the village, as well as the residents of that street. So, I would be less concerned about setting a precedent relative to parking than I would be about addressing a specific situation on East Avenue and how you feel about that based on the information that you have. Manager Revella: You have one comment from the public that says safety issue. Trucks need to get through. One side parking, from Mike Felong. Trustee Hall: Was Mike at the meeting? Manager Revella: I don't know if he was there. Mayor Ramos: Yes, he was. Trustee Hall: My concern was there wasn't very many people at that meeting and those who were there were more concerned, that I took away from it, more concerned about the speed going down the road. The issue of parking really didn’t seem to be an issue from those residents that were there. Aside from maybe one, maybe two. It was more of the speeding, especially with camp coming. And the emergency services were not invited. They were not there. I understand they sent letters, but they weren't there. I don't know, that's just my issue with it. Deputy Mayor Batson: My issue is really with the quality of the assessment of the emergency services. To me, they were speculative. I'm not going to disagree with them because most likely are experts and I need to respect their recommendations but the emails were challenging and not as decisive I think as I would have liked. Things like “may”, “perhaps”. Trustee Pearson: Where are we with those cars parked on the side of the street that everybody has a concern with, in the village easement? Manager Revella: They're allowed to park there. Trustee Pearson: How come? Manager Revella: They are allowed to park there because there's not a no parking sign there right 10 now. We cannot remove them right now. Trustee Pearson: You don't make sense to me because the last time we asked about that, you said that they're not supposed to be parking there. All of a sudden, they're allowed to park there. Manager Revella: They shouldn't be parking there because it's harder for snow removal and for cars to get by. Mayor Ramos: You indicated that it is the village right a way. Manager Revella: They're in the right of way. Trustee Pearson: So, I can just go park on the sidewalk over here and not worry about it on my yard? Manager Revella: Parking on the sidewalk is actually a citation. Trustee Pearson: I know that, but if I didn't have a sidewalk, I could just park in front of my house like that? Manager Revella: I don’t think you’re allowed to park in a front yard, depends on where you're parking. Trustee Pearson: What is that? That's a front yard. Manager Revella: May not be. May be the right of way. Trustee Pearson: What is it? Does that yard not go up to somebody's house? Trustee Taylor: No. Roll call: Trustee Garrison: Yes Trustee Hall: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Pearson: Yes Deputy Mayor Batson: Yes Mayor Ramos: Abstain Motion carried Orange County Transit Manager Revella: There was progress that I'm aware of from them. They had done a pre- construction meeting with the New York State DOT and with the village for their permits to dig the water and sewer connections last week, so they should be doing that soon. They have their permits and everything's ready. I don't have any official letter from them yet. They said they were sending one. It may be in the office. I didn't bring that out here. But we did get correspondence from DEC about an issue at that location. Nothing to do with the permits. Deputy Mayor Batson: Does our Building Department need to be engaged in whatever? Manager Revella: Yes. 11 Trustee Pearson: Their extension is up as of the 18th and do we need to worry about anything about that? Is there something that we need to address? Manager Revella: I don't have a request from them for an extension unless someone else got something. Deputy Mayor Batson: Is that just a potential oversight? Or do they intend to have it done by then? Manager Revella: I don’t know. They’re aware of the deadline. I asked them who was coming tonight and I didn't see an answer. Trustee Pearson: What happens July 18th? Manager Revella: The paperwork that's there goes into effect. The agreement that was signed between the village and the property owner. Mayor Ramos: Okay. Parkland Funds Manager Revella: I had that one minor issue, Mayor. It was to use Parkland funds. We're trying to redo some of the fields at Bradley Park. We'd like the board to authorize up to $7500 of Parkland funds to redo some of those fields to get them up to snuff. Attorney Donovan: In an amount not to exceed. You're allowed to expend Parkland funds for, among other things, capital improvements as described to me, these satisfies capital improvements. So if the board satisfied with up to $7500, then you're authorized to do that. You need a resolution. Trustee Pearson: How much is in that fund? You should have gotten something from the departments. Manager Revella: We did. There’s a lot from them. There's well more than that right now. Trustee Pearson: I thought you did reseeding and dug it out. Manager Revella: We have. We're doing the other fields with dirt and that's what really cost that. Trustee Pearson: And how many players? What type of teams are playing on there now? Manager Revella: There's a bunch of softball teams signed up to play there. Trustee Pearson: Till when? Manager Revella: August something. Trustee Pearson: You did the work on the field already, did you not? Manager Revella: No, that's the field to make grass. The other fields aren't done yet. We didn't do anything yet. Mayor Ramos: They also have fall ball, too. 12 Manager Revella: They'll probably sign up again for that. Trustee Pearson: What will the money do? What specifically are you using it for? Manager Revella: We're going to level the field, relevel it and put the field dirt. It's like field clay, in that area to make it usable again. Trustee Pearson made a motion to approve the use of Parkland Funds in an amount not to exceed $7500. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Sue Taylor: Kitchen in the Anita Vandermark Community Center. What's up? Manager Revella: None of the work will happen until camps over, but they have the specs out, ready to start as soon as camp is over. Sue Taylor: What do you mean the specs? We did bids? Manager Revella: No, they did the specs for the bids. Bids won't be back until end of August. Hopefully start work in September. Sue Taylor: I thought we were told bids were out. Manager Revella: For the parking. Sue Taylor: Just the parking. I thought we said the bids were out for the kitchen. Don't let me look up the minutes. Manager Revella: That's correct. I was told that, but that's not true. We had the specs together for the kitchen, but the bids weren't out. The bids were only out for the parking. I thought they out for both. They weren't. Sue Taylor: It would have been nice if you clarified that because people were assumed that those bids were out for the kitchen. Manager Revella: Yes. Either way, the kitchen won't be started until September. Late August or September. Sue Taylor: Really missed opportunity. And I've heard so many times that we have bids out. We have bids out, we have bids out. I'm starting to get the feeling that people don't want to do business with the Village of Walden. That we have trouble getting people to put bids in. Now, as far as I recall, we used to pay our bills on time. We were really a place that people wanted to work in. What happened? Manager Revella: The economy changed. There's not a lot of bids anywhere for anything. Unfortunately, it's not just here. Sue Taylor: People don't need work? Is that what you're telling me? Contractors don't need to do work. Manager Revella: Apparently. Or there's less contractors, I'm not sure, but it's very difficult to get contracts in to get people to bid on things. We're getting less and less bids each time. Sometimes for 13 a project, we used to get seven or eight bids. Now we get one or two, it's pretty sad. And it's not that we don't pay our bills on time, we pay them on time. We've been paying our contractors. As soon as it comes in from the engineer, goes right back out. Sue Taylor: It's interesting because I still know a lot of people in other municipalities and I've asked them, they said they have no trouble getting contractors. I'm starting to wonder if it's us, this village. Manager Revella: There's one place not too far from us that doesn't follow the procedures the same way we do. I can't do that. That’s not legal. Sue Taylor: I know. That was an issue back in the day. But it just seems odd that nobody wants to work in the Village of Walden. I find that interesting. Millspaugh Park. What's up? Manager Revella: It's ready. Sue Taylor: Are we ready to get a dock and get people out on the river for Millspaugh Park? Manager Revella: The two docks that are going to be built and the gazebo are part of phase two and we're looking for funding for that. Sue Taylor: The dock is going to be handicap accessible. Manager Revella: Yes, come right off the sidewalk straight. ADA. Sue Taylor: Good. The last time I remember, we've seen many people come to rent a venue in the Village of Walden and I believe our policy says residents pay 1 price, non-residents pay another and we've had several people come in front of the board and get permission to rent a venue. But they're not residents. They own a home here that they rent out so they're not residents, but they own a residency in the village. Are we going to have to change that verbiage as well? Manager Revella: That's up to the board to decide if they want to change anything. Sue Taylor: I think anybody at any given time can interpret wording and verbiage. Dave Donovan will tell you that people get sued all the time because somebody reads something and sees something else. You can go over this a million times. You can change the verbiage a million times. Somebody's always to find an issue with it, because somebody's always going to try to beat the system. That seems to be the American way. Dave Donovan can write his little fingers right down to the knuckles. And you're going to sit here pleased as punch and all thrilled with yourselves that you battled over words and verbiage. There could always be a challenge to it, and that's why you have more than one attorney and Dave Donovan's not the only one that's around. You're always going to find somebody to have an issue. Somebody's always going to try to beat the system. I think it gets a bit ridiculous to argue over words and argue over this and that there's so many things that need to get accomplished in this village and it just seems like we get caught up in certain things and spend an inordinate amount of time. It just boggles my mind sometimes. Get used to street issues. Our streets were not built for the size of vehicles we have today. For the size of fire trucks we have today. I don't know if you've ever seen the pictures of the little fire trucks we used to have out in front of this building. Horse drawn. This is going to be what's going to happen in this village. We didn't have the size of delivery vehicles we have now. The pickup trucks are huge. SUV's are big. You might have to revisit and I can remember revisiting Albany Ave. There was a gentleman that parked his truck in front of his house and we actually had a fire truck and I stood in the street where the car would be. The truck couldn't get by. Not because of my thighs, because it was where the car 14 would be. So, we had to revisit parking on that street. You're going to have to do it because this is what it is. A lot of houses in this village don't have driveways. They have apartments in them. People have to find off street parking when it snows. That's why Oak Street is filled. Orchard Street gets filled. Orchard Street which was built by the businessmen. The land was purchased, it was put in by the businesses in the village so their customers could have parking. We have apartment buildings on Main Street. The landlords, when they rent those apartments, say, yeah, here’s parking. It's a municipal parking lot. It wasn't meant for that, but it's used for that. That limits the parking. Is parking an issue in this village? Yes. There's a lot of villages in this state that have the same issue with parking, and it's going to have to be addressed. If you have to go street by street. When you're notified that there's an issue and there was an issue. Had to call an ambulance, could not get in from one end of the street. Had to go the other way to get into that street. Now, was it a heart attack? Was it something like that? No. But you don't wait for something like that to happen and future boards are going to have to deal with the Village of Walden because like many other little villages in New York State and around the country, wasn't built for the amount of traffic and the type of vehicles that people drive today. The streets weren't built for the weight. That's why we have weight limits on certain village streets because they weren't built to sustain the kind of vehicles that people are driving today. Future boards are going to have to deal with it. I sit in this room and I've sat in this room for many years. And I look at the paint peeling on the walls. Look at the curtains that were put up, I don't know, turn of century. How old are these curtains? The carpet? This has been here forever. I'd like to think that at some point we've changed the flooring. We would also look at this room. It has a lot of history. Been here as long as the building's been here, but it's been neglected and I really would like to see in a future budget. Restoring this building, painting it. The Dais is beautiful. We spend a lot of time on that but I just feel like it's the little things. We're in charge of preserving these things. These buildings, the history of this village and far too many times it's ignored. It's done haphazardly. You slap a coat of paint on it instead of fixing it. You are the stewards. We are the stewards of the history of this village. Sometimes I think that we don't think about that, it all comes down to money. We're willing to redo fields so people have a nice place. We built the Community Center. That's nice. But I really think we need to start thinking about the historic buildings that we have in this village. And we need to take care of them. I think a conversation may need to happen between the Historical Society and the village. It took a lot of time and effort to get Walden House purchased by the Historical Society and Shafer House next door to it. We just lost one of the Historical Society members, Anita Vandermark. We lost Mickey Millspaugh. The people that have taken care of that building. What's going to happen to it if something happens to the Historical Society? We spoke at one time about possibly having them transfer if that organization becomes defunct. Transfer ownership of those two buildings to the village so they're not sold. We could be caretakers. I really would like to see Mr. Revella, if you can somehow reach out to that organization and have those discussions. Something has to be done for the future so those buildings are not lost and they remain in possession of people who will see to them and preserve them for generations to come. Thank you very much. Manager Revella: Just so the board knows, I did get a quote for doing the paint in this room I'll bring at the next meeting. Cheryl Baker: I just wanted to mention that I did get the questionnaire from Carl Aiello for the summer series and the paper for businesses that wish to have their business profile, their bio about the owner and their businesses in Walden. It's a wonderful opportunity to highlight something really awesome and some of the new businesses that we have here. If you're interested in participating in that, please contact me at the waldenbusinesscouncil@gmail.com so I can get that out to you. If you don't have access or an issue with e-mail, I will be going around to the businesses and handing out by hand, but in the meantime, if you would like one, please just reach out and I will get one out to you. 15 Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Garrison made a motion to approve payment of audited bills. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Garrison: The Mickey Millspaugh Park looks great. I can't wait to till it's completely finished. I did sit out there on one of the benches. It's lovely if you haven't been down there yet, please go check it out. Looks really, really good right now. I just want to give a shout out to the DPW guys. Saw them on Wait Street on a water break yesterday and it was hot out there. Those guys are definitely out there working. So, if you see him, just give him a courteous wave, let them know you care about them and what they're doing. It's good to see new Police Officers coming in. I've known Officer Stinson for a while. I'm glad that he's here now. He's a great guy. He's going to fit in really well here. If you see any of the new officers out and about, give them a little wave and a handshake. They appreciate that stuff too. Trustee Hall: I apologize for being a little late today I had an appointment. Somebody just mentioned online the Harvest Fest application is outdated on the website. Is it possible to get that on? Manager Revella: Cheryl responded to them. Trustee Hall: Did you answer the questions for the Millspaugh Park that were emailed to us? Manager Revella: No, he emailed them to John Queenan to respond to. Trustee Hall: I was down there as well and it looks like it's coming along nice. Trustee Taylor: Project updates. Last meeting, we passed a motion that your report, John, would include projects and some verbalization as to where they stand, completion, what's outstanding, punch list items, estimated completion times. Manager Revella: What kind of projects? Trustee Taylor: Millspaugh Park. Manager Revella: Like only capital projects or everything we work on? Trustee Taylor: Anything that's germane to what we've been discussing for the last several months, i.e. Community Center, Millspaugh Park, yes, it's coming along, looks beautiful. No argument there. But we're looking for some verbiage in the report and I did not see it. Manager Revella: No one told me to do that. Sorry. Trustee Taylor: We passed that motion. It's on page 18 in the minutes. Deputy Mayor Batson: I’ll own that. I will. I committed to it, I will own getting a meeting with Jean and John on the capital project piece. The other piece I will not own. The report and the excel sheet for capital I will own. Trustee Pearson: Did I miss something? You didn't do your report tonight, John. Are we taking that off? Manager Revella: She forgot to put it on the agenda. Sorry, I just want to make sure you want me 16 to do it in my report? It looked like it was something for the Treasurer’s report. Trustee Hall: I think Chris was going to get with the Treasurer when he had time. Trustee Taylor: There were two parts to it. Manager Revella: We talked about it in the office. We can talk after about that. Trustee Pearson: You said bids for the kitchen are going to be later on, but you said bids for parking. What are you talking about, bids for parking? Manager Revella: The parking lot at Olley. To pave it. Trustee Pearson: The big parking lot down below. Tell me what's happening on the one above that was a mess and still a mess. Are they going to rip that out and redo it? Manager Revella: I don't know if ripping out redoing it, but they do need to expand it like I told you last time. They have to expand to the left. I don't know if they're repaving the whole thing or just expanding to the left, but they do have to redo the entrance and expand to the left. Trustee Pearson: I find that unacceptable. It's a brand new parking lot and it has patches all over it and I don't find that acceptable for the money that we spend to have it done. It's not our fault that they couldn't figure out how it wasn't going to sink into the ground. Manager Revella: Do you know how much we spent to have it done? Trustee Pearson: Yeah. Why isn't it done right? That's my qualm. Why isn't the engineer saying do it again the right way? And what happened? Manager Revella: They did. Trustee Pearson: What happened? Manager Revella: They're not doing it yet. Trustee Pearson: We patched it. Manager Revella: Yeah, we did not patch it. The contractor did. Trustee Pearson: You told me because I asked the question when I saw the pictures and you said it was going to be redone. Is what you told me. Manager Revella: Yes. Trustee Pearson: That's what you call redone or you just call it patching? Manager Revella: No, it's not redone yet. I told you the contractor will come and redo it when they're expanding to the left and redoing the entrance. Trustee Pearson: So, the upper parking lot that was just done is going to be redone? Manager Revella: To the left. 17 Trustee Pearson: To the left of the facing the building. Manager Revella: It needs to be expanded to the left and a new entrance put in. Trustee Pearson: Why a new entrance? Manager Revella: Because it's in the wrong spot. Trustee Pearson: Was it supposed to be there or that was a mistake? Manager Revella: Mistake. It's going to be a little more to the left, I'm pretty sure. Trustee Pearson: Who's watching all of this when it gets done? Why are we not knowing that it was a mistake? Manager Revella: It costs a lot of money to have an engineer on site at all times and for a small job like that they weren't on site at all times. He went to inspect, noticed the issue and told them this is not right. You have to do it and expand it back and they said yes, we understand. We’re going to come down. Trustee Pearson: The whole parking lot is going to be redone. Manager Revella: I don't know that. I did not say that. Trustee Pearson: That's what you said to me in the beginning. Now it's patched and now we don't know what's going to happen that either. Manager Revella: I didn't say that either. Trustee Pearson: So, what's going to happen? Manager Revella: They were going to fix the hole for now, which they did. And then they need to come back and expand to the left and fix the entrance. Trustee Pearson: That's not acceptable to me because it looks like a patch job. It's a brand new piece of parking lot. Why is that allowed? Why do we allow that to happen? Manager Revella: It may not happen. It may get completely ripped out. I don't know yet because he's not there yet. We haven't had that meeting, yet. Trustee Pearson: Who is going to be in charge of knowing what's going to happen there? Manager Revella: Me and the engineer. I don't have the answer yet because we didn’t have the meeting. Trustee Pearson: I would like to see it all redone because it's a patch job and we spent a lot of money on it. So, as far as I'm concerned, those people should be knowing what they're doing and do the job correctly and if they can't do the job correctly, then we get somebody else to do the job. Manager Revella: We have to get more bidders. 18 Trustee Pearson: I know you talked about the dock on Waterfront Park being the gazebo and the docks are going to be second phase. When is that phase happening? Manager Revella: When the board tells me how much money I have to use to do that. Trustee Pearson: You said we have money in Parkland fees. Why can't we use that for Parkland? Manager Revella: We don't have that much money yet. That's over six figures. Trustee Pearson: For a gazebo and a dock? Manager Revella: Yes. That’s why you took it out of the bid when you guys voted on the bid, remember? Trustee Pearson: We also voted to bring the dock back from Olley Park over there. Is that gonna happen? Manager Revella: When it’s possible. That’s what the vote said. Trustee Pearson: When's it going to be possible to do that? Manager Revella: We'll see when the punch list is done. I don't want to interfere with the punch list. We'll see what we can do. Trustee Pearson: There was a pole in the parking lot that got knocked down. I believe the Orchard Street parking lot. Where the light post was knocked down. I read that in your notes, do you know? Do we have cameras and do we know who did it? Manager Revella: No. No cameras yet. Trustee Pearson: I thought our cameras are up and running. Manager Revella: Not out there. At the parks. Trustee Pearson: The sewer smoke testing. I have people asking me how far up on the street and how far up Valley Ave are you going. Manager Revella: It's on the map. Trustee Pearson: They got but the map looks like it's cut off. Manager Revella: The map’s not cut off, it’s highlighted. The first block is highlighted on the map. Walnut Street stops at Rifton on the map. Valley Ave was only to the back of mobile, really where it comes down because the line that ties in behind there. Not even to Woodruff. Trustee Pearson: A while back we had a standard work day in our packet. Is that something we're going to look at again or no? Manager Revella: When the Treasurer brings it up again. She hasn't brought it up yet. She's been working on things with retirement. Trustee Pearson: I've had people complain about the weeds down the streets, like growing up in 19 the sidewalks and stuff, do we do anything with that? Village sidewalks and Main Street. Manager Revella: Those aren't our sidewalks. Trustee Pearson: We don't own village sidewalks. Manager Revella: It depends on which street. That’s what I'm asking. Trustee Pearson: Main Street. Manager Revella: We don't own those sidewalks. That’s the state right of way. Trustee Pearson: We can’t maintain them? Manager Revella: Us personally? No, but we can make the property owners. If there's an issue, we could cite them. We usually spray when we can. The weeds on those sidewalks along the main corridor. Trustee Hall: The property owners are responsible for maintaining the sidewalks? Manager Revella: In front of their properties. Trustee Pearson: They can get a fine for that? Manager Revella: Yes. Just like you can for not shoveling your sidewalk. Trustee Pearson: I just had someone else ask me about the lower bridge and all the graffiti. Manager Revella: Me too, Jean asked. I told her it's the county bridge. We notified the county, we notified about the homeless person. They cleaned that up, but they haven't gotten the graffiti yet. Rob helped make sure that they got down there and cleaned all the junk up. Trustee Pearson: Also on Cross Street, the limbs of the trees over the sidewalk. Manager Revella: They cited them. Trustee Pearson: Walker Street was supposed to start in July. Is that happening? Manager Revella: We have our pre con meeting Friday. Trustee Pearson: Planning Board appointments. Are you thinking about anything like that? Manager Revella: When there's an opening. Trustee Pearson: Who's your alternate? Manager Revella: Cesar. Trustee Pearson: I don't see him there either. Manager Revella: He notified us he wouldn't be there. 20 Trustee Pearson: And I did send you the grant. Manager Revella: I sent it to our grant writers and I sent you a response from them. Deputy Mayor Batson: I'd like a copy of the final budget as we close off fiscal year. I would love a hard copy. Trustee Pearson: Me too, please. Manager Revella: They're on the website. Deputy Mayor Batson: Hard copy would be wonderful. Manager Revella: Who else wants a hard copy so I can get it ready? Deputy Mayor, Trustee Taylor, Trustee Pearson. Deputy Mayor Batson: I do promise that by the next meeting I will get the project list in your hands. I will do that. We did talk about it briefly with Jean, but I will get that to you. I promise on that. Trustee Taylor, during our discussions, one of the conditions, as we did discuss sending a letter to a particular trucking company that is a significant offender of the weight limit on that street. Is that still something that we want to do? Trustee Taylor: When we catch them, I think, yeah, definitely we should do that. Deputy Mayor Batson: I'll work with John on that as well, but I may need some information from you on that. I don't necessarily have all that information. Trustee Taylor: I don't have any of late that I've picked up on the camera. Those that I did have, I forwarded to the manager and the Police Department. They were 18 wheelers that the cab number was identified, so you should still have those pictures. Deputy Mayor Batson: Do we pause on that letter now or do we press forward with it? Mayor Ramos: Press forward. Trustee Pearson: We used to have officers that were trained in DOT. Do we have any of that? And legally, can we do something with trucks that are overweight without having that in our Police Department? Manager Revella: We don't have a police officer certified right now in commercial that's an active Police Officer. But we can always call commercial division from DOT to come. They will come help us, but they prefer that we have someone trained. The plan is to get one of the officers trained in it that's new so we have them for a number of years. Trustee Pearson: If Mr. Taylor calls and has a camera and he's got everything there, then what happens? Manager Revella: They can stop them and check for regular offenses, but if they want commercial truck inspection issues, they'd have to call someone in that’s certified and that’s usually State Police. Deputy Mayor Batson: I apologize, I don't have the address. The house that had the asbestos issue. 21 Manager Revella: 35-37 North Montgomery. The bids are due on Thursday. Deputy Mayor Batson: Have we gotten any? Manager Revella: No. Deputy Mayor Batson: That's what I was worried about. Manager Revella: Yes, so far nobody wants to touch the asbestos, but we'll see by Thursday. Deputy Mayor Batson: What happens if we don't get any bids at all? We just continue to bid it? This is my challenge. I mean this was such a massive safety issue that we're going to ask for the demolition of the house and then we can't again follow through with it. Attorney Donovan: Yeah, if no one bids, you'd have to rebid it. I don't know where the bids were circulated. There are generally construction journals. There are people, contractors that would be known and you could send them a copy of the bid specifications. Deputy Mayor Batson: Are there any additional safety measures that need to take effect if we are unable to get bids to have this place demolished anytime soon? Manager Revella: Is it secure enough safety wise to not be a hazard to those around it. I know it's a hazard someone go in, but what about those around it? Deputy Mayor Batson: We get a lot of challenges around speeding in the village. According to this latest report, this is the most traffic stops that we have ever seen, along with the most summons we've ever seen. A huge thank you to the Police Department for taking that feedback and responding and also this UTT Report, which is a list of traffic violations that appear in our packet, is fantastic. I would love to continue to see that and the last thing is, can you just clarify who will answer the questions on the Millspaugh concerns? Manager Revella: John Queenan. He has the punch list. Trustee Pearson: They'll be answered back to your e-mail? Manager Revella: I don't know if he's going to answer back. He's not obligated to answer him, but if I make him, he will. Trustee Pearson: We're not necessarily answering the e-mail that was sent. Manager Revella: None of us work for one individual. It's the board's consensus to do something then it will be done. We try to be courteous to everybody. The person isn't a resident, contractor, Trustee, employee, that's asking questions. Anything that's FOILable. Respond as if it was a FOIL and give the information is what we try to do. Trustee Hall: Would we be able to get the answer for the questions? Manager Revella: He asked the questions. I got the information, we sent the information back through the Clerk as if it was a FOIL. What we have so far. There’s nothing else to give them. We didn't answer all the questions though. Change orders haven't been done yet. I couldn't answer that. But he did ask for some bids or something else. We gave him whatever we had. 22 Trustee Hall: I do have one question for Chris, the letter that was talked about to send to the trucking that keeps going down East Ave. Was that one trucking company or several? Deputy Mayor Batson: It was one particular offender. Trustee Hall: That's the one that is over that way, correct? Manager Revella: It's going to AMPAC. Estes? Deputy Mayor Batson: That's correct. That was the one that was identified. Trustee Hall: My question is, does that tractor trailer have trouble going up and down all the time? Manager Revella: It won't anymore. Trustee Taylor: Actually, the answer to that question is yes. One of them actually backed out to Route 52 because he couldn't get through. Deputy Mayor Batson: That is an excellent question. Trustee Pearson: Did we say that the letter has been sent or not been sent? Deputy Mayor Batson: It has not been sent. Trustee Pearson: Who's sending it? Deputy Mayor Batson: I think we can work with John on it. I don't know who sends letters. Manager Revella: I'll send the letter. I just need to who send it to. I heard Estes in the notes. I just don't know who that is. Is that the one in the video? Trustee Taylor: We have to go back historically. Mayor Ramos: Estes was there when we were there. Trustee Taylor: It's a 5-ton limit. Mayor Ramos: For everyone out there, the village is looking for two people to fill the Ethics Board. If you send resumes or just a letter of interest to the village. We'll be happy to review it and make the appointments. *Read Community Events into Minutes* Adjourn Trustee Garrison made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. 23  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting July 16, 2024 Motions & Resolutions Public Hearing – Local Law 9 of 2024 – Resident Requirement Trustee Garrison made a motion to open the public hearing for Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Trustee Garrison made a motion to close the public hearing for Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to adopt negative declaration in regards to SEQR. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Garrison made a motion to adopt Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. Roll Call: Trustee Pearson: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Hall: Yes Trustee Garrison: Yes Deputy Mayor Batson: No Mayor Ramos: No Motion fails. Trustee Taylor made a motion to adopt Local Law 9 of 2024 – Residency Requirement as written. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. Roll Call: Trustee Pearson: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Hall: Yes Trustee Garrison: Yes Deputy Mayor Batson: No Mayor Ramos: No Motion fails Public Hearing – Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking Trustee Taylor made a motion to close public hearing for Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to adopt negative declaration in regards to SEQR. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Taylor made a motion to adopt Local Law 10 of 2024 – East Ave Parking. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. Roll call: Trustee Garrison: Yes Trustee Hall: No Trustee Taylor: Yes Trustee Pearson: Yes 24 Deputy Mayor Batson: Yes Mayor Ramos: Abstain Motion carried Approval of July 2, 2024 Minutes Trustee Pearson made a motion to approve the July 2, 2024 Minutes. Seconded by Trustee Hall. 5 ayes. 1 abstention (Trustee Garrison). Motion carried. Permit Fee Waiver – Eagle Scout Project Trustee Hall made a motion to waiver the permit fee for the Eagle Scout Project. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Pulice Deputy Mayor Batson made a motion to approve the alcohol waiver for park use on August 10, 2024. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Parkland Funds Trustee Pearson made a motion to approve the use of Parkland Funds in an amount not to exceed $7500. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Garrison made a motion to approve payment of audited bills. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. Adjourn Trustee Garrison made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. 25