Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting August 20, 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 Trustees Ralph Garrison Jr Bill Taylor Kristie Hall Liz Kyle (Late) Absent: Becky Pearson Chris Batson Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Dave Donovan, Village Attorney Village Manager’s Report Manager Revella: Just a couple highlights. Summer camp was very busy, very active and thankfully is now over. They had the end of the year picnic on Friday. Little over 500 people there. Went over projects with Highway Superintendent. Sewer projects, highway projects. There's a lot of stuff going on right now. Treasurer is trying to get a report to everybody, on the capital accounts and those projects, so hopefully we get that updated and to you soon. We did go over the Walker St project with the contractor. That should be starting shortly, just waiting on the concrete company to come and get ready and give him a date. Went over the rates and discounts with Lovell. Previously reported what those discounts are. Should be good. Went over invoices, payroll, some comp plan updates from the plan. Our next meeting is the 1st week of September. I sent that to the committee. Pretty sure it’s September 5th at 6:00 pm here. Met with the Building Inspector and some residents for rehab loans. RBT at Village Hall, reviewing some documents for audit. Did go to the Towns National Night Out and the Village’s National Night Out. Ours was very well attended. Thankfully, the weather held out. I did have a vacation as well. Everything seemed to go smoothly. Rec and Parks, flag football finishes this week on Thursday. The teen center is still going well. Indoor pickle ball is going well. Getting ready for Harvest Fest. They have outdoor soccer sign up is going on now. Some other programs that’s being worked on for the Community Center. You’ll see flyers going around for that. Building Department, issued 59 permits, 15 violations, 39 violations issued, 5 stop work orders, 6 CO reports. FOIL request responded to, 7 fire and safety inspections and then following up on 36 Orange Ave and 35-37 North Montgomery St. Clerk’s been updating Facebook, website, responding to FOILs, processing handicaps, updated pay rate slips. Transitioned payroll over to the new Deputy Treasurer/Clerk. Minutes, dig permits and responding to resident requests. Finance Department, went over invoices, Edmunds support calls, job duties, bank reconciliations, billing, journal entries, vouchers and meeting with the auditors from RBT, trying to get us caught up on audits. DPW, maintain the vehicles, pressing sludge at the plant, cleaning the stations, following up on complaints. Water Department did 60 mark outs since last meeting, replaced 26 1 meters, 63 endpoints, 5 closing, 1 inspection. Highway Department is very busy as well cleaning up from the storms. Sidewalk, pot holes. Did have a couple water breaks. Stump grinding as time allows. Catch basins, flushing and jetting. Police Department, did have their 3 academy candidates graduate and they are joining shifts. They were at National Night Out. Still looking for more part- time and full-time hires. Working on that. They did conduct 80 traffic stops, issued 71 tickets, 52 parking tickets, 8 mva’s, 29 arrests since last meeting and 657 blotters. Did want to report that National Night Out went very well and they’ve been doing more community policing. Trustee Taylor: What's the follow up on Montgomery St? Attorney Donovan: 35-37, I'm going to ask the board to table that so we can discuss in executive session. Some issues that have arisen that need to be reviewed. Trustee Taylor: We have a part time code enforcement. When did that happen? Manager Revella: Until we get an updated list from the county, that’s to try and help the workload. Trustee Taylor: When did we lose the one we had? Manager Revella: They resigned after last meeting. Trustee Taylor: RBT, what were they here doing? Manager Revella: They're working on audit. They did help with bank recs and they'll keep working on audit until done. 2 years to do still. They're going to be coming back. Trustee Taylor: Any feedback? Manager Revella: Not to me. They did talk to the Treasurer and gave her some feedback on a couple different things. I'm just not sure exactly what it was. She said that she talked to them about some things to improve. Trustee Taylor: Are they gone now? You're waiting to see if they come back? Manager Revella: No, they’ll be back. I'm just not sure what day. Treasurer is not here, she’s off a couple days. Trustee Taylor: So, you haven't gotten any feedback from the Treasurer in regards to any issues that they may have? Manager Revella: Just one thing that they talked about with the library capital accounts. They met with Ginny and had a conference about that and the Treasurer yesterday. I didn't really get a rundown yet but I’m sure they’ll give us a report. Approval of July 16, 2024 Minutes Trustee Hall made a motion to approve the July 16, 2024 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment None 2 Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Cabrera Trustee Hall made a motion to approve the park use request – alcohol waiver for Oct 26, 2024. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Bid Results – 35-37 North Montgomery Tabled to executive Local Law 10 of 2024 – Residency Requirement Attorney Donovan: After last meeting back in July, I made some modifications as was the board was looking for a little something more. I've given a little something more. Just so the board is aware, I did have some communication from Trustee Pearson. *read email into minutes* My only response to that, as we've discussed that before and I had advised against that and when you start calling out certain things, you're limiting yourself to those things. I also thought of another reason, personal to me, my son rents an apartment, which he pays gross rent. Which means that everything is included. He only pays the Wi-Fi. Water, sewage, heat, electric. That's all included in his rent. So, I don’t think it's perfect. With that regard, I did insert the definition of resident and residence, as was requested. Don't know what the board wants to do. Obviously, by my calculation at the last meeting was 3-3 vote. 4 members here tonight. I leave it up to your good judgment as to if you want to do anything or not. Trustee Taylor: I'm fine with the changes have been made. I would make a motion to accept the changes as delineated. Attorney Donovan: It would be to schedule a public hearing for September. Just remind the board, for 7 member board, there’s 4 here tonight. So, everybody needs to vote for the public hearing schedule on the revise law. Trustee Taylor made a motion to set Public Hearing for Local Law 10 of 2024 on September 3, 2024 at 6:30pm or soon thereafter. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Audited Voucher Policy Manager Revella: This is stemming from some questions and concerns from board members about what policy could be or should be for audited vouchers. There wasn't really one in our books, so Dave said that he had one from Goshen. Attorney Donovan: I just gave you, I didn’t make any changes to it, it's one that was given to Goshen a number of years ago. I did also want the questions, I did some research looking for the word voucher, which I could not find. I spent some time on the phone with the Treasurer from Village of Goshen, that I worked with for 15 years or more. She indicates that it's sort of saying the word is not used, but it is a method. There's a 20-page document put out by the controller for our local government management guide that she uses as her Bible, and the idea of the voucher was just so there's something in writing. Because you know every meeting, standard Village of Walden and every municipal board, approve audited pay bills and claims. But in addition to that general rule, it's a good idea to have some sort of policy in place that demonstrates that the trustees have actually taken a look at the bills and approve the bills by signing off on the voucher. If you have the majority of the board, I think it's helpful. I know it's helpful to the Treasurer, but also you're spending tax payer dollars, so you have to do share of your obligation to the taxpayer to make sure that you have at least looked at the bills before you approve for payment. So, this policy is a guideline. Whatever you folks say would be appropriate. I think it's good to have something in place. I did have some communication with Trustee Taylor. He questioned, we're supposed to do this. What’s the adopted policy that tells us that we're supposed to sign these vouchers. And the answer was and it's probably not a good enough answer, and it's probably a good time to revisit and whatever you want to do 3 with the policy. It's your policy. You can tailor it to make it tell them how you want to do business in the Village of Walden. With the ultimate goal being you have examined these bills before you authorize to pay these bills. Trustee Taylor: I reached out today because as of late, it has been difficult due to sickness, vacation, whatever, to garner the 4 signatures that have always been required. Hearing that and seeing the amount of bills that were piling up, I went to John and I went to the Finance Department, the Treasurer, and asked for a copy of the existing policy that delineated exactly what we do to pay bills and vouchers. As Dave indicated, we don’t have one. We've just always done that. I come from the background, a process with no policy is a sign of no process. Anybody that walks in the door, whether it be a new employee, an auditor or whatever, we should be able to provide them with a policy that clearly delineates the new employees the new employee’s responsibilities. What the responsibilities of each Trustee is here and be able to respond to that question in the affirmative. Further discussions with the Treasurer and other members of the Finance Department, they have the capabilities to electronically distribute with a print out the same information that we're getting when we sit down and we look at and then initial voucher. Every single thing that you see stapled together when that voucher is being signed, can be distributed electronically to each of the Trustees. We can either DocuSign or one of the members of the Finance Department actually had some good information about putting something together with a cover sheet that we can all just sign. The cover sheet that we have in fact review and approve the vouchers and/or bill. And like I said, that can be done electronically. It does a couple of things. One, it ensures that all Trustees have adequate time to do the review. If in fact there's a question about a particular bill, that bill is available hard copy here in the village, you can come down and take a look at it. I think that should be a serious consideration in any policy that you have. A couple of things, to solicit their input as well, because they're the ones that are trying to hunt us down and get us to review and sign bills and we need to do something to make that process more efficient, so I think we should seriously take a look at that. Dave, is there a legality issue as far as distributing that information in the e-mail? Attorney Donovan: No, it's all public information records. Taxpayer dollars. So long as they provide some methodology for you to be able to examine the bills and say that you did examinee the bills. Because it is 2024, so if you could use some sort of electronics, more benefit, more efficient. I’m all for that. Manager Revella: Important questions, just making sure that those things should be in the e-mail, wasn’t private information that couldn’t be distributed via email. Attorney Donovan: So, the concern would be that there would be a “hacker” that would get information. You must have privacy protocols to begin with because all that information is already in there. You have to have all that information if you’re paying a bill. As long as the protocols are in place to protect a data breach, you should be okay. Trustee Taylor: So we should look at the ways that we could possibly do that for like I said, a couple reasons. One, to have a more efficient process. We shouldn't have to be getting an e-mail because somebody's trying to hunt us down, to come down and look at a voucher or a bill and sign it because things happen. People are on vacation, sickness, family emergencies. There’s a plethora of things that can go wrong. The other thing is I want to speak on is every meeting we have a motion to pay bills. Now I'm assuming that those are the bills that have received the adequate review and signatures by a majority of the board, that those are the only bills that were approved at that time from the dais to be paid. Is that a correct statement? Manager Revella: Normally, it’s pretty common, that whoever makes the motion to make that clarification: those with 4 signatures. That's appropriate for now, that's been our practice. 4 Trustee Taylor: I've not heard that as part of the motion. Manager Revella: Becky will chime in and say that. It’s not on a regular basis. Trustee Taylor: Basically, with the bills that are in there now that stack up with 4 signatures, that’s what we’re approving for payment. Because there's other bills in there that don't have the mythical 4 signatures of Trustees. It's probably protocol to make that part of the motion. Manager Revella: Yes, for now until we have a policy. I think it makes sense. Attorney Donovan: I think that, this is paying audited bills, so it wouldn’t be an audited bill unless it’s signed off on. The only exception, there's two exceptions in the law. 1 under those 05-524, subdivision 5, fixed salaries, debt service, amounts becoming due upon lawful contracts for periods exceeding one year, and the compensation for services of employees and officers regularly engage by the Village include wages by the hour, week, day, month or year, can be paid without prior audit. You can also, I think you may do this at your annual meeting. You may use subdivision 6 of the same provision, adopt a resolution authorizing payment in advance of audit, claims for public utility services, postage, freight and express charges. Utility bills. You don’t want to get a late charge. can because you want to make sure. Often times, John will send me a contract for reviews for some contractor that says you have to pay within 30 days, we always push that up to 60 just to accommodate to provide for the audit period. But those two items, one doesn't need a resolution, the other does need a resolution for utility bills. Trustee Taylor: I think the policy that you sent me in the mail is a good place to start. There's a couple of things that I would probably want to see in there. Attorney Donovan: Maybe if you can, if you just mark it up for me. Trustee Taylor: The other question I have, John, is that policy that we are signing as we speak, there's a line here that says ordered by. Who is that? Because it's never got a signature. Manager Revella: That's usually on the PO, not on the actual voucher. If you're in Edmunds, it'll say which department ordered it. It will have initials in it from the system. I'm not sure why it's on the voucher, it's on the back. Trustee Taylor: It’s on the voucher cover sheet. From an auditing standpoint. I don’t know who that is so I think we should take that off of there until such time that we have a policy. Attorney Donovan: And speaking as a consultant which bills need to be in voucher, I’m all in favor for very efficient. Anything I can do to help, just let me know. Trustee Taylor: I would not overlook the opportunity to seek some of the input from the Finance Department. I specifically spoke to Michelle, she threw some stuff together. So, she's got her head wrapped around this, how we can make it better and she's open to any recommendations. She's looking to make it as efficient as we can and it will provide the necessary checks and balances that we are responsible for as we sign these vouchers. Mayor Ramos: So, you're going to get the additional information. Attorney Donovan: Yeah. Trustee Taylor is going to mark up that policy. I'll turn back over. 5 Manager Revella: Anyone else has any comments, please get it to me and Dave. Trustee Taylor: I'll circulate any comments that I had to my fellow Trustees, see if they agree. We could make it as simple as possible, but to provide the necessary oversight that people would expect us to have. Bond Resolution Manager Revella: Yes. So, in order to effectuate the capital projects that the board approved during our budget, we need to pass the resolution to bond for those projects. The resolution is there. It's for $550,000 general fund improvements. About $350,000 in sewer improvements, but it also depends on if we're getting the CDBG funds for the general fund. That would change the number. That's why the attorney for the bond put in all the numbers so that you're able to do those projects if you get the funding, but if we don't we would exchange for those parts that they'll fund. Trustee Garrison made a motion to adopt Bond Resolutions. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment Ronald Davis, Sr: My issue is parking at 49 and 51 Capron with the back entrance to 48 Ulster Ave. It seems as though the resident at 51 thinks she owns the street. I've lived in my house for 31 years. I'm 80 years old and I'm a veteran and I do have a handicap tag. My question is she owns a limousine service in Montgomery. She supposed to garage the vehicle there and my thinking maybe I'm wrong or you guys can clarify. We go to park our car, we go out. Next thing you know, there's an empty driveway. There’s 5 vehicles. They took over the street. These are commercial vehicles and even took photographs of them. I just think that someone needs to take and look into this because I would think that the insurance company that she pays, must ask her a question. Where do you house these vehicles when they're not in service? I mean, that's common knowledge to me. But I would just like to know how did she get away with that and also she photographs and hears everything. Even if you're talking to the neighbor. She goes into our business. We can be out there talking to our family. I have a 91-year-old aunt who wants to come visit from Westchester County. I have no place for her park. It's very annoying and I'm sure, the Mayor, has spoken with one of the residents. That’s my understanding. His daughters, he or she would let you express. 51 is the residence. They rent that house and I asked the young man to move the car back so I could park my car. No answer. They ignore us. It's just not friendly at all. She's been disrespectful to the gentleman at 48 Ulster Ave also. And she was very disrespectful to me. I'm not going into that, but I just think it's best to bring this to the attention of the village. Manager Revella: The driveway for 48 Ulster is in the same area? Ronald Davis, Sr: No, I don't have a driveway. It's the rear end of their house. And then 51 is owned by a gentleman in Gardner, New York and right now there are 3 vehicles on the street of that are hers. An empty driveway, which is 2 cars. She leaves her vehicle in front of her house for weeks on end. I’m on vacation, came back. That car is still there and the gentleman in 48 said that he moved once and put it back. Mayor knows that story, but I don’t know. I had emailed you, but I know you're busy, man. Thank you. Sue Taylor: In April, the resident, Ms Brown, came to the board speaking about an issue with paving on Northgate, those issues have been resolved? Manager Revella: The majority of those issues were resolved. The paving she was speaking of was due to a water break. They patched and were waiting for it to settle. 6 Sue Taylor: Back in May, I spoke about a speech that Senator Skoufis gave regarding the MTA and asked the board to send a letter to him in support of his position. Was that ever done? Manager Revella: Probably. From May. I’ll have to check. We sent a couple letters. Sue Taylor: I think it was the same meeting that we discussed, $327,000 in unpaid water sewer bills. Was that entire amount made whole by tax time with the county? Manager Revella: They were all put onto the taxes. Sue Taylor: Are we putting anything in place to try and remediate those kinds of delinquencies so that the water and sewer funds can meet expenses on a monthly basis and not be in danger of having to borrow from the general fund? Manager Revella: I think that the implementation of new meters, the 5g cell in the new meters is helping alleviate a lot of that. Sue Taylor: Are building owners, do you think are aware that there is a New York State relief program to help with unpaid water and sewer bills if they meet a certain criteria? Manager Revella: There's not enough publication about that. Sue Taylor: Do you think maybe that's something that we can either put on our newsletter or on our website to help people know that there is that kind of program in New York State? Anything new on safety measures for the municipal building? Anymore incidents? Manager Revella: Police sweep the building when it’s closed at night. Make sure everything is secure. Sue Taylor: We were Millspaugh Park recently. Looks great. Do we have any plans for their landscaping there other than what's there now? Manager Revella: They're going to be reseeding in the fall. Fixing the driveway deficiency, ADA signage, silt fencing, vegetation established on uphill, clean debris and silt fence for deficiencies on the drainage outlet. Erosion wash out on the sidewalk, filling holes in the octagon, monitoring the landscape and insulation growth, cleaning drainage. General site cleaning. There's extra baskets that were put in for the drainage on the Rifton side. Sue Taylor: Date yet when the docks going in? Manager Revella: I don't yet. Sue Taylor: Will there be smaller, I know the dock’s going to be there. We had a gentleman that happened to be there when we were and he was looking for a place to fish. Do we anticipate putting maybe any little platforms on the shoreline that maybe a couple fishermen could be there and not be on the dock? Manager Revella: There are plans for two different docks being put out off of that. Piers. Sue Taylor: I'm looking at the parking spots there. I'm going to assume that once the dock goes in, there's going to be more usage for the park and optimum times parking is going to be limited. Have you ever had any discussion with the school district about possibly utilizing their small parking lot 7 there on off school hours? Manager Revella: Since the school seems to be staying in Walden, I don't know how much they'll be open to having that parking available to us, but we'll try. Just during summer. Sue Taylor: During the summer, vacation times, whatever. When the weather is good, maybe we could talk to them about maybe using that parking area. Trustee Kyle: They don't use it during the school year. If school is not in session, I wouldn’t see an issue. I don’t think they would. Sue Taylor: Can you or Dave explain to me what a parking waiver is in relationship to…? Attorney Donovan: The Planning Board application, as I recall is looking for a parking waiver. This criteria, which I don't recall from top of my head, that I know the Village Engineer has asked. If the applicant you’re talking about, the one building is looking for a fairly substantial waiver. He'll be back probably for another appearance with the Planning Board. Sue Taylor: I'm really referring to the one that was granted for 1 space in the Oak Street parking lot. For the person that's doing the, I think it's senior housing in the old Town of Montgomery building, Mr. Lulash. 1 space. They gave a parking waiver in Oak Street parking lot. Attorney Donovan: There's a provision that I can't quote verbatim, that says if you're within a certain number of feet in the municipal parking lot the Planning Board may be able to grant the waiver. I’m paraphrasing, but there is a provision in the code. Sue Taylor: The gentleman that's developing 100 to 116 West Main, they're anticipating he may need 63 parking spots in that area. He says, no, but given the space that the two buildings are going to be occupying, the kind of businesses he's putting there, he's looking for a parking waiver for the Oak Street parking lot as well. They haven't granted anything. But I was just confused how public land can be promised to someone with a business or tenants. I just didn't understand how that worked. Because if he needs that parking spot to be able to do the development as he wants, it's part of the criteria for parking. I don't know how we can grant that. Because the space may or may not be there on any given time, or how you could grant public space to somebody with a private entity. Attorney Donovan: At some point in time, the Village Board adopted legislation that allows the Planning Board to have discretion if there is proximity to municipal parking lot. Again, can’t recall exactly what it says, so that is the guidance from that provision adopted by the Village Board. Manager Revella: It’s not exclusive. It’s part of the waiver. Not saying this is his spot for this lot. Not how it works. Attorney Donovan: That's correct. Sue Taylor: I understand that, but it's still public property and I just don't understand how. I guess if the board did it, it should have been legal. If the attorney went over it. Attorney Donovan: Right. The Planning Board didn’t make it up. The Village Board authorized that through legislation. Sue Taylor: Yeah, that I understand, but I'm thinking the board may want to reconsider what we want to do with the Oak Street parking lot, because I know a lot of tenants park there now. This 8 gentleman doesn't anticipate using 63 spaces as an overflow for the businesses. Could happen. May not happen. And I can kind of see maybe like a parking wars thing going on in there if you have tenants that are using it because there is no off street parking where they rent. And if you have this business, who sounds like these two buildings are going to have three or four businesses in them and they are looking to get a parking waiver for the Oak Street parking lot, pretty soon it's not going to be a municipal parking lot anymore. It's going to be tenant/business parking lot and residents who may need to utilize that parking lot for something may not be able to get in there. Maybe we want to stop it being a 24-hour lot and make it like the one on Orchard Street where it is monitored time during the day. You may want to meter it. Taxpayers do own it. They're entitled to use it. But if it's being compromised by or utilized by tenants and now businesses that are planning on going into 110-116, may want to reconsider making that 24-hour lot and making it like the Orchard Street lot that's time during the day. So that people just don't park there. There was a truck there, probably, I don't know, 3 weeks with a flat tire. Just kind of sat there. So I don't know whose truck it was, but it was there for that amount of time. So you may want to consider changing what we do with that parking lot so that it remains in the municipal and that there is a flow of parked cars that go through there so others can use it. Where are we with the codes? Mayor Ramos: We’ll be starting up again in the next month or 2 so that the comprehensive plan committee will still be working on theirs and hopefully we’ll be able to team up. Sue Taylor: Because people are wondering why we have codes. I've seen some pretty disturbing posts on Facebook lately. John, I think you responded to one on a pool in a backyard? Manager Revella: Cesspool. Sue Taylor: Exactly. That's a safety hazard given the issues that we've been having in this country with mosquito populations. I would think that would have been taken care of. People showing pictures of sitting on their decks and looking at trash in the neighbor’s yard across the way. They're wondering why we spend time on codes when they don't seem to be enforced. I think it's a legitimate question, especially the pool. I think that's a health hazard. And it should have been taken care of. Manager Revella: They got cited. Sue Taylor: I think the comment was that they were cited, but it never got taken down. So, is it just a follow up issue? If we cite someone, do we go back to that site to make sure that that was done? Manager Revella: When I was approached with the issue, I asked the Building Department what was going on. The new Building Inspector wanted to make sure it wasn't something else. Another pool in the same area that did get taken care of and was taken down. This is a different pool. He went to verify and confirm. He looked at the history. He did see some correspondence and there wasn’t a follow up. So, he did update the violation. Sue Taylor: Yeah, because that is a safety hazard. Great National Night Out. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend. I was a beneficiary of the fireworks because I can see them and hear them from my deck. Many thanks to everyone who participated. Made the night the happen especially Bob Reynolds and Brenda Adams. We were lucky enough to attend the Chicken BBQ that the Masons had on Saturday at Olley Park. BBQ Pit is great and I'm sure it's going to enhance the park experience for anyone that now wants to have an event there. Thanks. Regis Sonner: My name is Regis Sonner. I live on Wileman Ave in the village here. I've been here for 35 years. Recently, we in our neighborhood been notified that there's going to be, allegedly, 9 private event taking place down at the far corner. I live at one end by the entrance to the Rail Trail and down at the end of Wileman Ave there is expected to be a garage show with 3 bands playing. My understanding is that Mr. Revella is aware of this, as is the Walden Police Department and I'm not sure who Robert Wallner is, but he also is aware of it as well. This family lives in very close proximity with houses, the house on Wileman Ave are very, very close together. They're catty corner down at the end. It's a tight area to make turns at. They have posted this in local stores, Stewarts, ShopRite, Mobile, I believe the Sunoco, the other one at the corner there, and they have announced that they are hosting a garage show at their residence at 66 Wileman Ave and they want to give you guys a heads up to expect loud music and crowded avenues on Sunday, August 25th, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. Supposedly this is a private event, although they have invited the public by posting these flyers. No invitations went out, just a broad invitation for everyone. I can tell you from personal experience, a friend of ours who lives in Pine Bush had gone away for a weekend and told his girls that if they were going to have a party and they were supposed to have a small group and they posted it on social media. This also has been posted on social media. I believe approximately 200 children, young youth showed up at that residence and there was a fatality at that event because things got out of control. 66 Wileman Ave is a very small piece of property. We also have a noise ordinance. We're going to have bands playing. They are definitely going to exceed the noise ordinance within the village. From what I understand, the noise ordinance says that it is unlawful for any person to emit or cause to be emitted any noise beyond the boundaries of his or her premises, in the excess of the noise levels established. No person in the residence shall emit noise beyond the boundaries of his or her premises exceeding the level stated herein and applicable to the adjacent residential business and industrial zones. Within 30 feet of this home on each side are other homes. On one side there's a family with 3 small children, 5 years and younger. Across the street, there's a home with 2 children in it, 5 years or younger. Between the end of Wileman, where Sadlier goes up the hill, which is where they're located and Jessup St, there are at least 12 children on that block that are under the age of 5. This is in my opinion, unacceptable. From what I understand, there is various stuff goes on with this house on a regular basis. I have not vetted it and I cannot prove it, but there has always been talk in our community that this is not a place that you would want your children hanging out at. The music that comes from this house is full of profanity. I know I don't want my grandchildren hearing the profanity. My kids live on the same street. My kids grew up on our street. My daughter and her family live in that section between Jessup and Sadlier. I don't want them being kept up at night so they can hear F this and F that and the profanity comes from this music coming from this house. Not to mention, where are they going to park? I guess we're supposed to be inconvenienced because they just wanted to give us all a heads up and I don't see how any of this is acceptable. I don't see how we can allow it. I don't see how they can be continued to be allowed to play the music they are and only be given a summons, but nothing else can be done about it. And as soon as the police leave, they start to play the music again so you call the police back, but they stop playing the music before the police get there and we have this whole cascade of nonsense going on from this residence and I don't see why taxpayers and the good people of Wileman Ave, Sadlier, Highland Ave, Valley Ave and Jessup and further on should have to be subjected to this on Sunday, August 25th. I don't see how it's going to be allowed. I don't know where these people are going to park. The property is extremely, extremely small. I can't imagine that there's not going to be drinking, and I can assure you that there will probably be plenty of drugs going around on this property too. They're going to be overflowing into the streets. If not into the neighbors’ yards and what recourse do they have? Call the police is what we hear. But that doesn't really resolve the issue. They get slapped in the hand and in the meantime, you've got the residents having their property being intruded on, not to mention their homes are being intruded on. You can’t close the windows and the music still comes through the windows. You have no peace of mind. You can't even shut them out. They make so much noise in the garage with the door closed. It's not soundproofed. I get it, kids want to be in bands, they want to play their music, but on some level you have to have respect for the other people that live in your community and you have to draw a line and say enough is enough. I don't know what's going to happen. I will let you all know 10 the police are going to get themselves busted on that night, cause they're gonna get called over and over and over and over again. And if something's not done about it, I'm very happy to call Blaise Gomez from Channel 12 News and have her come and check things out. And I don't think the village wants that to happen. I'm not trying to be a beotch, but I am trying to preserve my neighborhood, my kids, and the other children that live in my neighborhood as well. From what I see that the village is aware, “we do not regulate private parties on private property” and that they have to be compliant and not charging a fee. I don't see how that is just enough. Colleen Space: I'm the neighbor that lives right next door. The police have been coming every single night. No respect. They came last night. They came the night before. I felt bad for the 2 officers. They're standing out there in the pouring rain. I felt bad. They walked down. They tell them to stop. They do. They leave. They just have no respect. This was in Stewarts. You have discussed it with the gentleman, the neighbor. They put the email on the back that says the event. So you know it’s not a private party. Manager Revella: It is a private party. Regis Sonner: How? I'm not trying to be confrontational here, but at what point do we draw the line where it's private or not private? If I announce a death to the best of my knowledge, if I say my father passed away and I'm going to have services at Millspaugh Funeral Home on such and such a date. And I've announced this in the newspaper, but I say I don't want Joe Blow over here to be allowed to enter. As far as my understanding is I can't allow that to happen because I made it public notice. If I wanted it to be a private event and I don't want somebody to come, then I have to say that services will be private. I don't understand how you can say something is private because it's on their property and yet they have been invited, I didn't get an invitation, but it’s on social media. How is it private? Colleen Space: Mr. Revella, my question is to you, your e-mail to him it says “as discussed the village does not regulate private parties on private property”. I get it. Graduation parties. I get it. Also says “the village is aware the Police Chief is copied here. As long as you are compliant”, which they're not being because I've been calling every night “and not charging an entry fee, we do not regulate events as you proposed”. He proposed an event here. Manager Revella: Private party. Colleen Space: An event as a private party, okay. Manager Revella: That's all he told us. Colleen Space: I don't think you got all of it. Trustee Taylor: Something. Is there a definition between a private party…? Manager Revella: It doesn't really matter in this case because we don't regulate it either way. Trustee Taylor: You didn’t let me finish, is there a definition between a private party and a proposition of a show? Is a party private if the public's invited? Manager Revella: For us the entry fees have differing factor. If they charge admission fees. Trustee Taylor: I've gone to restaurants looking to go and eat. Private party and can't get in. I guess I'm asking if something is a private party, does that include the public or is it by invitation 11 only to those that are going to attend the private party? That's my question from a legality standpoint. Attorney Donovan: So, I really don’t know the answer to that. They're many things. There are open houses that real estate brokers have, where public persons are invited to be there. I think the issue here is whatever occurs needs to be complied with village law or penal law. And if it's not, there's subject to punishment. That may not be the answer that everyone wants to hear. But that's the answer. Trustee Kyle: If the homeowner *inaudible* for them to have a party, even if they put a flyer out. Being a homeowner, you can say you're allowed in or not. It's basically kind of up to them. Attorney Donovan: We’re speculating details. Trustee Kyle: The Flyers, even if it was a public flyer. I feel like they can turn people away because it’s their private property. Colleen Space: Have you seen this one? That's all around town, in your villages. This was in Stewarts. They put it in all the stores. *gave flyers to the board* Trustee Hall: When the cops are called, are the meters working? Colleen Space: The meters working because they've come and shut them down 3 days in a row. This is at your Mobile and this is on the front door. You might not be able to see it and they're having 3 bands at night. Their band's name is Kill My Darlings. The next band is called The Shwings and then No More Sun. No More Sun Facebook page, it's on social media. And here's the No More Sun. They're an established band. They played at the Chance last night, so I can't imagine they're coming to 66 Wileman and they're not getting paid or something out of this because if they're 2 established bands, why would you come? Regis Sonner: Whether they get paid or they don't get paid, but the fact is that it's a band. I get that they wanted to have it at their house and it's not like they're just having a group of kids that they went to high school with and they'll play some music in their yard. Which is the size of a 2 by 4. This room is bigger than their front yard and backyard put together and the house. I don't know where all these people are going to go, but they're going to overflow into the street and they're going to overflow into the neighbors’ yards. Colleen Space: I have a picture. My house property is 5 feet from their driveway where they're having this. About 30 feet from their garage and the garage door is down. My house is 64 Wileman. I have to drug my dogs every day. I do have sound. Listen from my living room. *plays video with sound from neighbors’ music* this is with the garage door shut, in my living room. My house with 2 air conditioners going and the tv blasting. Trustee Taylor: It is extremely congested. I drove down there yesterday to take a look. Colleen Space: I don't understand; they're parking on the corner. I don't know why no one parks in their driveways. I don't understand that. Sadlier, they're right where Sadlier goes up. You have a car, which they've been doing because the band has been coming to practice, on this side and this side. There's a reason why the school buses don't go up there and we get them on 52. It's because they can't make that turn. How is a fire truck going around? I drive a school bus so I can't make that turn. If 2 cars and I understand there's parking on both sides of the road, whatever, maybe there shouldn't be, but for now there is. That night, when all these kids are flowing into the road, I don't want to 12 keep calling the police. My husband just texted me now, he said little drummer boy is going at it now. When I go home, I can call the police again. They're going to come with their meter. They're going to go there, they don't even have to go down there, they stand at the road, they can come down on my property, but they stand in the road. They do it, they tell them, they kind of laugh in their faces and they just leave. Makes me more angry is the parent is there. These are 18-19-year- old kids. I get it. I had children. They're grown, gone, thank God. And I get letting them do certain things. This started about 4 months ago. I went to Sergeant Werner and I said to Sergeant Werner, I can't take it. This is just before all this concert, he says I'm going to send 2 officers. It did quiet down for a while. I mean still pain in the neck, but it was tolerable. You know what I mean? Put your TV up loud and it's tolerable, but then now we started with, we're going to have concerts. The garage doors are not even up. And they're building a stage. We watched it. What do we do? Do we let it happen? It took the Police Officers, because from what I understand, they told me last night and this is not an emergency. Took them 40 minutes to get to me last night. With that night, if you take 40 minutes to get me. How do I know a brawl's not going on? Are they going to be all over my property? Because I also have it documented, don't trespass. So like the police said, 1 kid walks over that wall, it’s trespassing. I’m going to have him arrested. I don’t need my husband out there. Who’s going to be liable for my property? Regis Sonner: Who is advocating for the rest of the people of Wileman Ave? We've got advocates for the family of 66 and the drummers and the bands. I think they're saying that. I don't know personally, but there are some people in the neighborhood that are just turning a blind eye to it, saying I don't want to get involved. That’s fine, you don’t have to get involved. I want walk away feeling like the Trustees give a damn about the rest of the people in the community and not just 66 because after all, it's a private party. *Overlapping conversation* Colleen Space: I'm representing across the street. On the other side of this. We've talked to a lot of people, a lot of people do not want to get involved because they're afraid of repercussions of their house. Will my house might get bombed out? I don't know. I have 2 dogs. They alert me when someone is near my house. It's close. Trustee Kyle: People are too scared to speak up or not wanting to speak up. But I feel like that's the difference of people advocating for this property. I don't know about anybody else on the board, I don't think anyone is specifically advocating for this property or for what they're doing. We weren't aware of what the issue was because nobody was coming forward. Colleen Space: I have tried for a week and a half to have this discussion with Mr. Revella. I spoke with the Village Clerk, left my name and number. Mr. Revella, for whatever reason, did not get back to me. You'll have to ask him why he did not call me back or e-mail me. Mayor Ramos: Let's work on this. This is a problem. Let's work the problem. Colleen Space: So, what do we do about it? Do I just have to deal with it that night and then keep on having Police Officers there? Mayor Ramos: Keep calling the police and if someone enters your property, you document it, take a photograph, person locked off and have the person locked up. As for the party, we're going to constantly go there with the meter. If there's 200 people there that's not a party. We’ll work the problem. Trustee Hall: They brought up a question or concern about emergency vehicles not going through 13 because of parking. We've come up with that issue before. Something had to be done because that concern was brought up. Something has to be done because it was brought up. What if something cuts her arm or something and needs to go to the hospital? Colleen Space: I’m actually a type 1 diabetic. Could an ambulance get to me? Mayor Ramos: That's the plan that we can work on. The Fire Department, the Police Department work together to get us to work together. Colleen Space: I'm just afraid it's going to get too much out of hand and you're going to be calling other people in to help you because the way this sounds and I mean it's Kill My Darling. So you know what kind of band it is, right? It's not a nice band. I just don't want it to get to the point where there's, I don't know. The other band is from Wappingers. I don’t know if Newburgh is coming here. You don't know if, you know they like carrying the guns here. We don’t know who’s coming into our village and from what I understand there's only how many Police Officers on a Sunday afternoon. It took them 40 minute to get to my house last night because they were at a car accident. What if they had a gun to my head and I was outside and my husband’s calling. Do I have a right to protect my own property? You’re going to tell me no. Can’t go out and do my second amendment law because we can’t have that in the Village of Walden. How do I protect my property? How do I do that? How do I get them flowing into over that wall? Am I supposed to say excuse me? You know what that's gonna be like. Trustee Hall: Can the village being held liable? Since it’s been brought up. Attorney Donovan: You're asking to speculate. I don’t like to speculate. Mayor Ramos: Let's work the problem. Mary Ellen Matise: We have a lot of quality of life issues in the village. The noise is the problem. Having to live through that is the problem. We had to do it up on Gladstone. You pay good money to live in Walden. Not cheap to live here anymore. Houses are expensive. I didn't catch anything about people on Capron St. because I figured I was gonna get up and talk about parking and I think that maybe this is for John with dealing with the comprehensive plan. I think that we need to really look at what's going on with parking in the residential area. I think there isn’t enough in the R5 zone and the older zones. I just sent you an issue. People are obstructing on street parking. The garbage company definitely is obstructing whatever limited on street parking we have in residential neighborhoods because they don't put the cans back on the curb. I'm sick of complaining about it. We're not making any headway against some of these issues and I don't know what Ron said about Capron Street. If the woman's running business in that zone, not supposed to be running a business. Whether it's limos or whatever it is. So that needs to be addressed if that's creating the issue. If these kids are charging, even if it's by donation, or if they're making a living at their band, they're running a business at a residential neighborhood. The only business you can run is a home office. It’s quiet with computer. I think there's a lot of issues and I think parking issue, we should look at in the comp plan meetings and really go over the list we have now instead of taking more parking away. There have to be ways to add parking. I don't like to park on the street because I feel like somebody is going back into me, so I always park in the driveway when I have to. I have to jockey because it's a single lane and then when you have to jockey cars out of the driveway, there's no place to put them. It's really rough. I want to do that with the comp plan. 14 Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Hall made a motion to approve Payment of Audited Bills that have been reviewed and signed. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Taylor: The Masons put on a great chicken BBQ. Summer camp picnic was attended by a lot of children and adults. They also did a tremendous job. National Night Out was, in my opinion, a huge success. I was able to make about 6 laps around the entire facility when I was down there, stopping at every booth, thank them for coming and thank them for their participation and thanking them for making it huge success. Trustee Kyle: National Night Out seem to go great. Great time. It was awesome with the bike give away. All the raffles that they had and thought it was very well done. Everyone did a great job. Becky isn't here tonight. We have had talked and there were some things that we wanted to discuss, but her and Chris aren't here, so we were going to hold off on some issues until we have the whole board together. My apologies for missing the last meeting. I heard there was some comments about like the Code Enforcement. I think that the Code Enforcement has been doing a great job. I know that there's people complaining and I think the people complaining are the ones getting citations. I do think the Code Enforcer is doing a really good job giving out citations where needed making sure that things are kept on top of. I have noticed a lot more of the police presence in the area and they've really been stepping it up. Kudos to them. Trustee Hall: I, too, was at National Night Out. It was a good night. Fireworks are great. Great job. In case everybody doesn't know or somebody doesn't know, if you drive South Montgomery St going towards River Rd, I think it's Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Greater Love Deliverance Center is doing free lunches. I don’t know how much longer. Saturday 8/24 the Ortiz family is doing another backpack giveaway down at Wooster Grove from 12:00 to 4:00. I stopped down at the summer camp picnic, It looked like there's a lot of kids down there. They have good time. Bouncy houses and stuff. I did miss the Masons BBQ. I was at training that day. I heard it went very well. Cameras. Where are we with them? Manager Revella: We got the agreement with NYSEG now, so we can try and coordinate the poles. The camera contractor is working with them and the electrician and staff. Trustee Hall: The waterfront park. I was down there not long ago. It's nice to kind of just sit there, especially when the sun's going down. It's nice to go over there. Andrew had sent the e-mail. Kind of wanted to go over a little bit. The phase 2. The docks that were referred to as phase 2 of the projects were actually elevated walkways that extend over the water, like the peers and that was different and separate from the floating dock. But you said you're waiting on a date to put that dock in. I know you kind of beat that garage to death, but I can't disagree with those ladies. That would drive me insane. I couldn't do it. I hope to figure something out there. September 11th. There will be a ceremony on September 11th at the Walden Firehouse at 7:00pm. It will be out on Facebook in the next week or so. Invitations will come to the board the next week. They built a memorial of their Firehouse. Trustee Garrison: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make a lot of the events here around Walden. I was out of town a lot and getting other things together. I did hear good things about National Night Out. Glad we were able to coordinate that this year. Again, unfortunately I've got a lot going on, so I've been out of town a lot and bouncing back and forth. I do apologize for not seeing my wonderful face out there at these events, but I will try to make more as we go forward. Mayor Ramos: I did attend the summer camp picnic. Over 500 kids. Phenomenal job. Camp 15 Counselors. Mr. Bliss all hands on deck. Food was great. Was abundant. The kids had a great time. Shout out to Shawn Meres for coming to the Village of Walden to pave the boy scout camp. He did a phenomenal job. He assisted on another area with paving on Oak Street. What day was the storm? Wednesday. Had the privilege of being down at the summer camp for the 5pm dismissal. When the storm came, it was really frightening for a lot of kids that were still there waiting for parents. We had 18 counselors there. They were steadfast in their calmness and the kids that were there, lot of tears, people were scared. We were in the bathroom to hunker down until the wind stopped. Mr. Bliss and his team did a phenomenal job protecting the children that were there. We got a few emails from some of the parents. The Masons BBQ was awesome. Knights of Columbus did a fantastic job for National Night Out. The PD and the rest of the Law Enforcement Agencies that attended and showed the toys that they had. Executive Session – Attorney-Client Session 35-37 North Montgomery St, Walker St and Certain FOILs Trustee Hall made a motion to enter Executive Session for Attorney/Client Session to discuss 35-37 North Montgomery St, Walker St and Certain FOILs. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Reconvene Trustee Garrison made a motion to reconvene. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. 16  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting August 20, 2024 Motions & Resolutions Approval of July 16, 2024 Minutes Trustee Hall made a motion to approve the July 16, 2024 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Cabrera Trustee Hall made a motion to approve the park use request – alcohol waiver for Oct 26, 2024. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Local Law 10 of 2024 – Residency Requirement Trustee Taylor made a motion to set Public Hearing for Local Law 10 of 2024 on September 3, 2024 at 6:30pm or soon thereafter. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Bond Resolution Trustee Garrison made a motion to adopt Bond Resolution. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Hall made a motion to approve Payment of Audited Bills that have been reviewed and signed. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session – Attorney-Client Session 35-37 North Montgomery St, Walker St and Certain FOILs Trustee Hall made a motion to enter Executive Session for Attorney/Client Session to discuss 35-37 North Montgomery St, Walker St and Certain FOILs. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Reconvene Trustee Garrison made a motion to reconvene. Seconded by Trustee Hall. All ayes. Motion carried. 17