Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting June 17, 2025 Mayor Pearson called the regular meeting of the Village of Walden Board of Trustees to order at 6:30pm. On roll call the following were: Mayor: Becky Pearson Present: Deputy Mayor Lynn Thompson Trustees Liz Kyle Gerald Mishk Ralph Garrison, Jr Cheryl Baker Bill Taylor Absent: Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Ivan Bonet, Village Attorney Public Hearing - CDBG Trustee Kyle made a motion to open public hearing for CDBG. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Manager Revella: This is for the new round of Community Development Block Grants. The recommendation’s for sidewalks, ADA compliance. Only certain areas are eligible based on the census. 1 of those is not far from our office. In 2012, when we did Walnut Street, we were going to come back to do the sidewalks eventually. The idea is to improve the sidewalks in that area from Rifton up to as far as the money takes us. That's the recommendation. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What is the point of doing the sidewalks if they're going to leave these God awful telephone poles the way they are? We're going to do sidewalks and they're gonna rip the poles out and they're going to fix our brand new sidewalks? Manager Revella: Walnut Street, the side where the poles aren’t in the sidewalks. Mayor Pearson: I read through that CDBG booklet. How I read it is that you can do something other than just sidewalks. You can do something in the park, in the public buildings as long as it's for handicap accessible. Let me ask you. Manager Revella: This is for the new round of Community Development Block Grants. The recommendation’s for sidewalks, ADA compliance. Only certain areas are eligible based on the census. 1 of those is not far from our office. In 2012, when we did Walnut Street, we were going to come back to do the sidewalks eventually. The idea is to improve the sidewalks in that area from Rifton up to as far as the money takes us. That's the recommendation. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What is the point of doing the sidewalks if they're going to leave these God awful telephone poles the way they are? We're going to do sidewalks and they're gonna rip the poles out and they're going to fix our brand new sidewalks? 1 Manager Revella: Walnut Street, the side where the poles aren’t in the sidewalks. Mayor Pearson: I read through that CDBG booklet. How I read it is that you can do something other than just sidewalks. You can do something in the park, in the public buildings as long as it's for handicap accessible. Let me ask you. Manager Revella: I don't know if you can use it to do maintenance on the elevator. Mayor Pearson: No, replacement. Manager Revella: Replacing an existing elevator? I don't know, maybe. I’ll ask. But it's way more than what they have. It's probably closer to 400K. Mayor Pearson: Can’t do 3 years? Manager Revella: No, they don't do that anymore. If we want to do for the maximum amount. Mayor Pearson: There’s other things that you can use it for. There was public buildings that anything with handicap accessibility is how I read that on there. Manager Revella: You’re probably not going to get awarded for those things in our county because they’re not recommending those right now. Mayor Pearson: What's going on the Town of Montgomery is going to be putting in the blacktop thing at a park and that's because it's going to be handicapped accessible. Manager Revella: That's from the NY Forward grant not from the CDBG grant. Mayor Pearson: I’m not so sure about that. Manager Revella: They got awarded CDBG funds to do that? I don't think so. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I think she’s talking about the town. Manager Revella: I’m not sure what the town got awarded. Mayor Pearson: Are we just not looking deep enough for other things that we can use the money for or just sidewalks? Manager Revella: We're doing what the county recommends we apply for to get awarded and we've been lucky every year to get awarded. There are municipalities that do certain things, they may not get awarded. Mayor Pearson: How much? Manager Revella: Whatever the maximum amount is. I think it’s 125k. Mayor Pearson: How much of the sidewalk does that do? Manager Revella: 800 feet with ADA ramps. Mayor Pearson: Let’s use Walnut St as an example. Where do you start? 2 Manager Revella: Up near Rifton and you're going to go up to Grandview. Mayor Pearson: Whatever happened to Gladstone Ave? We were going to be working on the road. Why aren’t we not doing that? Manager Revella: That is 750k. Mayor Pearson: I'm talking about the sidewalks on that street. They’re worse than Walnut St. Manager Revella: Why would you start the sidewalks when you’re not going to do the whole project? Walnut St is done except for the sidewalks. If we get recommendations that change, obviously, we'll bring those to your attention, but we try to follow the recommendations to ensure that we get awarded. Mayor Pearson: We never even talked about the elevator. It is for handicapped people, it's not working properly. Manager Revella: I’ll ask. You need to make a recommendation for tonight. If we have to change that recommendation in the future application, then we can talk about then. We want to make sure we go forward with something. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I recommend we put in for the sidewalks and that's a decent area because the last time we did sidewalks over here, we tried to pick sidewalks that had a lot of traffic. The school is here, there's a lot of walkers on the sidewalk, lot of people with children in this neck of the woods, they ride their bikes, they play on the sidewalks. They don't play in the road. Trustee Mishk made a motion to close public hearing for CDBG. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Village Manager’s Report • Lot FOIL questions, which our attorneys can help them • Mayor and I have been discussing financial department updates pretty frequently, as well as the Deputy Mayor in her absence • Went over orders with the departments for the new fiscal year • Court activity from the Building Inspector, there were some things that were brought up after last meeting that got resolved • I went over National Night Out with Chief. He said that things are coming together very well • The AFR was completed, submitted, accepted and closed. The next one is not due until the end of August • Went over some maintenance questions with the Rec Coordinator and the Building Inspector on some lawn maintenance violations • Went over some personnel matters. Got the new Police Officer list to canvas. The list should be out now for Code Enforcement Officer • Went over financing with RBT as well as the treasurer to talk about the bank recs and pushing those forward now that the AFR is done • Went over policy updates and agenda items with the attorney • Rec Coordinator advise that indoor pickleball is going well at Wooster. Outdoor courts are open. S mmer camp filling up fast. As of the time to report there were only 4 spots left 3  • Building Department issued 24 new permits, violated 66 properties, 7 stop work orders and 1 CO report, 13 court proceedings that are ongoing and assisted with Planning/Zoning • Clerk’s been updating Facebook/website, 207c, FOILs. Now working with the web master, we're going to switch from the .org to .gov as required • Finance Department, worked on the AFR's, working on the bank recs, Edmunds, they've been taking in the water/sewer and commercial refuse, taxes this month • Public Work’s maintaining the vehicles, sludge and plant. Water Department did 23 mark outs, replaced 30 meters, 3 inspections. They are continuing to postcard properties to update their meters. They all went to a safety class. They've been doing tree stump clearing, patching pot holes, catch basins, flushing/jetting sewer lines • Police Department staffing is going well. Had a couple of minor injuries, will talk about it in exec. 410 blotters, 7 arrests, 169 traffic stops, 111 summons issued, 7 mvas and 14 parking tickets Trustee Taylor: Did we find out what the glitch is with the water bills? What was the issue? Manager Revella: There was a correction made. It was the water rate was not calculating correctly in Edmunds when the bills went out. IS was caught and corrected after a resident came to the front desk and said what's going on with this bill, saw it doesn't look right and it was fixed and then all the bills were fixed. Trustee Taylor: We communicated that to the residents that that issue has been resolved. Manager Revella: It was posted, yes. New bills went out for those that need it. Some were under and some were over. Mayor Pearson: Only went out to the people who were under? Or did it go out to those that were over as well? Manager Revella: The people that were underbilled got new bills. Mayor Pearson: They have to pay that by June 30th, I heard. Manager Revella: Correct. There’s usually some grace period as well. Trustee Mishk: I see that the Police Department has been very active. A lot of vehicle stops, tickets, however, from my personal observations, I've noticed that they're going for the low hanging fruit on the main roads. Nobody seems to be addressing these side streets. Week and half ago on Wait Street corner and Seely Street, if I hadn't used extra caution, I would have gotten T-boned by a kid on a dirt bike that was doing like 55 mph right through the intersection without even stopping. Wait Street speeders continue to go up and down the street and nobody seems to be addressing it. When I go out in the car and ride, I find one on 52 running radar. One on 208 or down at Coldenham Road. Can we see if we can get them into the neighborhoods? Manager Revella: I think that the goal is to create the deterrent on the main roads until it starts to calm down and then go to the tertiary roads and secondary after that. Trustee Mishk: The only problem with that that I see is that there's a real rise now that the kids are getting out of school. They're at it on dirt bikes. 2 nights ago 2 dirt bikes come down Wait Street with the front wheel in the air. Halfway down the street. If somebody was pulling out of the 4 driveway and there's a lot of blind spots there. That kid probably would have been killed. Not to mention the people in their cars. Mayor Pearson: I was going on 52, this is Hepper Street, with 2 of them on Hepper Street that came down and flew through the intersection of down and around onto 52. They’re just not stopping. Trustee Mishk: I know this board addressed the issue with the e-bikes and motorbikes and stuff like that, but there were no changes to local law. I really think because there's such an abundance of them out there now that maybe you might want to reconsider that. At least coming up with a law to confiscate those bikes because couple weeks ago down on Main Street, 2 scooters driving on the sidewalk. No helmets, no care. Probably 25-30 mph. Mayor Pearson: We got an e-mail and I sent it to the manager, from Mr. Ortiz about scooters and the legalities of it. We might want to bring that back up again if we want. Deputy Mayor Thompson: We initially said we would follow the state law, but we would revisit it if need be. So, it sounds like we are at need be. Mayor Pearson: I do know that the Village of Montgomery, maybe last year, put in a law about scooters and ATV vehicles because they have all the woods and traffic around them. I’ll look at that, too, to see what they put in. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I have to say, I appreciate that the police are out there and we're seeing them and they are running the radar where they're running it, but it's very bad on Walnut Street as well. It needs to be addressed. John the next AFR is due at the end of August? Manager Revella: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: How are we going to get on a schedule now so we stay on top of these things? Do you have a plan that you're working on with the Finance Department? Manager Revella: Finance Department is aware of the deadline that they have to meet. If they can't meet the deadline by the end of August, they are permitted to get an exception and an extension to the end of September. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would prefer we try not to get extensions. That we stick to our target numbers. So, whatever we have to do to make that happen, I think that's we should do and I know they have other duties now. Bank recs still have to be done. What is the goal for the next audit? When do we start worrying about that? Manager Revella: They already have them on audit tasks from RBT. The bank recs is the audit tasks for 2023. It’s the A fund, which is general fund, the water fund and sewer fund. Those 3 funds are the only things left to reconcile for the 2023 audit. Once that's done, they'll do year end adjustments and they can start 2024. Which they technically already started the 2024 with the small stuff and then they have to get back to the bank recs. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I just want to make sure we stay on a schedule as best we can because I don't want to see us so behind as we have been in the past. You said something about the Building Department, there's now a list to pick a new Code Enforcement Officer. What is your plan to replace the part time person? 5 Manager Revella: We will replace it with a full time person. Instead of having 2 part time, we’ll have 1 full time. Deputy Mayor Thompson: It says something on here about Edmunds programming. What are we doing to make sure that our people are continually getting the skill sets they need with Edmunds? Do they have a schedule? How are we overseeing that to make sure that the training is continuing and that everybody's learning what they need to learn? Manager Revella: I can say in public that the staff members that use Edmunds, call for assistance when needed to get that training when they need. Deputy Mayor Thompson: You can't schedule ahead, like if you know there's something you need help with. Manager Revella: They usually don't know until they hit that wall. Deputy Mayor Thompson: We have a meeting on June 23rd with our assembly person about the crosswalk and the parking signs. Is there anything you need for us to come to that with? Any paperwork, anything. I'm happy to do whatever I have to. Manager Revella: He's aware of the locations for those signs and the crosswalk. If there’s anything else besides those to bring up, should bring it up. Those are on the agenda. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Do we have any new information on the railroad tracks on Grant Street? Manager Revella: We don't have an update on the date yet from the DOT, but Fred's been following up with them. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Anything on Orange County Transit? Any updates? Any follow-ups? Manager Revella: They have not responded to us on any request to date. Deputy Mayor Thompson: So, what are we doing? Manager Revella: They didn't violate anything yet so I'm not sure what we want to do. Mayor Pearson: We're just going to keep letting them do water without sewer. Manager Revella: No, that's up to the board if they want to follow up with that issue. That's something to talk with the Village Attorney on how to do that process. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I'd like to have the board agree to follow up on that and let our attorney look into whatever needs to be addressed. Manager Revella: Attorney-client Approval of Minutes – June 3, 2025 Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve the June 3, 2025 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Mishk. 5 ayes. 2 abstentions (Trustee Kyle & Trustee Garrison). Motion carried. Public Comment 6 Mary Ellen Matise: I see in the packet here and it's not on the agenda. Fair Housing. Manager Revella: It's part of the CDBG application. Mary Ellen Matise: In other words, you have to agree to this in order to get that. I got you. But that whole thing with the Town of Montgomery, I heard from a reliable source that they'll probably get what they're asking for because they really haven't put in any applications in a long time, they don’t qualify. They can qualify for the municipal places and the park happens to be one of them. Maybe for next year we could look at what we need in terms of municipal assistance that would qualify. I just want to, at the risk of getting tomatoes thrown at me, outdoor cafe permits. I think all you really have to do because it’s only effecting a could of restaurants in the Village of Walden because we don't have many. Require a permit, but get rid of the fee or just charge a $10 processing fee. There's been an idea that was brought up I'm not going to go into it right now, you might talk about it later, but that's the simple solution. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Mendoza Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Mendoza Family. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Mayor Pearson: It’s nice when they attach a letter. We should make that mandatory. Manger Revella: We can. I’ll look into it. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Marriott Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Marriott Family. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. CDBG Trustee Garrison made a motion to move forward with the CDBG grant application for Walnut Street sidewalks for the maximum amount. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. Manager Revella: I just want to reiterate, if there is a need to change location, you're able to do that. Just want to make sure we have something in for now. Trustee Baker: The residents on Gladstone have been waiting a long time for their sidewalks. How much is it just for the sidewalks? Manager Revella: I don't have a separate quote for that, yet. I only have a full project that we were given last year. Mayor Pearson: Do you have a quote for Walnut Street? Manager Revella: Yes. It's 800 feet with that amount of money. Trustee Garrison: But wouldn't it be counterproductive to put in sidewalks before we do the road? I just don't want to see doing extra work and wasting the money for the grants. All ayes. Motion carried. 52 Walker St *Trustee Garrison left dais* 7 Ray Lustig: I will reiterate my understanding. Mayor Pearson: Did you get a copy of this? Manager Revella: He said he sent it to your e-mail from his e-mail. *Mr. Lustig took a copy to go over* Ray Lustig: Yes, I would agree to combining the properties or otherwise making sure that the landlock piece of property is otherwise combined or otherwise my existing property or the neighbors property. Yes. And that one house effectively would be built on the property. I can buy into that. The verbiage bothers me a little bit. I just want to have an understanding with the board that the verbiage with the attorney is sufficient. I didn’t like the verbiage that they're going to renounce any sort of rights and interest in the property so that it passes with the assessor and all that. It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Because I could run into the cart before the horse. If we have good faith around here, I think it's all gonna work out just fine. Is this the resolution itself that you’re voting on? Manager Revella: Yes, the actual resolution will get adopted and filed. It would be given to you to file with the county. It’s giving up our offer of dedication under these conditions. Ray Lustig: This would be in the title book. It just seems so convoluted. I just think it could be done in one paragraph. Also for this to be an effect, someone would have to attest to make sure that there is only one house and that the other property was combined. I don't understand how this will clear title to the property when there's contingencies involved. Manager Revella: Those contingencies will become the covenant and run with the land and be part of title. Ray Lustig: All I’m saying is providing that it works. I don't want to have my hands tied after this is all said and done to then go this doesn't work because of some verbiage. I just don’t want to have to revisit this again. Manager Revella: They don't either. If there's a minor minutia that needs to be corrected, I'm sure the board would be happy to correct whatever that minutia is to not have to deal with this again. Ray Lustig: Dominic said that he spent about 15 minutes doing this thing. Are there any other charges that I should be expecting? Because it seems laced with I have to pick up any fees charges and everything else. Manager Revella: If he billed us for 15 minutes, his hourly rate is $250 an hour, so it'll be 25% of that. Ray Lustig: I think we have a deal folks and it's a pleasure. I want to thank you for all the hard work and efforts that went into this. Trustee Kyle made a motion to adopt resolution 3-25-26 – releasing 52 Walker St offer of dedication. Seconded by Mayor Pearson. Roll Call: Trustee Taylor: Yes Deputy Mayor Thompson: Yes 8 Trustee Mishk: Yes Trustee Baker: Yes Trustee Kyle: Yes Mayor Pearson: Yes Motion carried. Code Review Mayor Pearson: We were doing chapter 74 and 291 was part of it, vehicles and traffic. We were going to take out 74-4. 74-5, we were going to check on that, so I don’t know if we did or not. Manager Revella: The attorney was checking that. I'm not sure he found. Mayor Pearson: Also, talked about the 74-7 and we don't have a Bureau, so most likely take that out as well. Trustee Baker: Do we want to leave it in just as a fail safe in the event we do decide to establish one? Manager Revella: I don't think so. I don't know why it was in there in the first place. Mayor Pearson: The Traffic Bureau shall keep records, is that really just in place of the Police Department? Is that what we should be putting in there instead of the bureau, putting the Police Department? Deputy Mayor Thompson: You mean everywhere it says Traffic Violations Bureau, just add the Walden Police Department. Mayor Pearson: Yes, something like that. Manager Revella: It makes sense. We have to check and make sure. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Is it always switched to Police Department? Nowhere does it have to be switched to Justice Department to the courts? Manager Revella: He's gonna have to go through each line and make sure. Deputy Mayor Thompson: There are some that I wonder if it has to be involved with the court as opposed to the Police Department. Trustee Mishk: I think most of this is covered by state law. Deputy Mayor Thompson: It's just the wording to get rid of that. Mayor Pearson: Whether we need it at all, that's my question and I was asking the attorney last time, with the big question mark so maybe he was researching. Trustee Mishk: I think that it should be removed. I don't think it's necessary to our codes. Each one of these sections of the duties of the bureau, which we don't have, is basically covered by state law. Mayor Pearson: Power of Attorney, 74-8. I don't know if that's necessary or not either. 9 Trustee Mishk: Even 74-6 is unnecessary here. Deputy Mayor Thompson: That phrase appears everywhere in here. Mayor Pearson: 74-4 was unnecessary, we crossed that out. 74-5, we were checking it out. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Then it appears again in 74-6. Mayor Pearson: The whole thing is Traffic Violations Bureau. Maybe the whole thing needs to be questioned marked. We’ll put that to the attorney for the next meeting. 291-1 Speed Limits. Trustee Garrison: It says speed limit in parks is15 mile per hour. Why is it 15 mph? Personally, I don't want my kids in a park where the speed limit is 15 miles an hour. Our park roads in and out aren't that long anyway. Is 15 really necessary? Do you think we should lower that? I'm asking. We don't really have a park with a long strip of road. Bradley has the one going but I don't know. I think 15 is too high for parks. Deputy Mayor Thompson: It's 10 up at Benedict. Trustee Garrison: It is 10 at Benedict. It's 10 in Montgomery. I think 10 is sufficient. I think 15 is a little high next to where kids are playing or walking. Manager Revella: It is. I don't know how low you can go on public streets next to the park like outside like on Alfred, Midge Norman Park. You can restrict speeds there as well. I think your minimum is 15 though. I don't know if you can do less. But inside the parks, I think you’re allowed. We’ll check. Mayor Pearson: Are we all good for 10? All: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: 291-3, John, it came up at the last meeting about the signage being moved over on Sherman, East Ave, over in that area. Are we going to be moving that? Manager Revella: It's done. There’s a sign on Sherman. The sign on Grant is gone. Mayor Pearson: 291-5.1. I do have a question, nothing to do with the routes itself but we used to have officers that were trained on trucks on streets. Do we have anybody that is doing that now? Manager Revella: We have a new officer that's getting sworn in that is trained. Mayor Pearson: 291-6 loading zones. Manager Revella: Has anyone seen the loading zone there? No. Can we get rid of that? Mayor Pearson: Yes. I also asked you to look at 291-7. Manager Revella: I did. A and B are good. F is good. The rest I don’t think is necessary anymore. Will check the language for F. Mayor Pearson: Take out C, D and E. And will check on F. 291-8, getting rid of that. 291-9 – one way streets... 10 Manager Revella: There's just one question I have on there, Andrew’s Court actually goes through the triangle. It says it’s one way the entire length. That’s not true. The section over here is both way, on the right side of the triangle. That's Andrew’s Court, also. Behind the building is Andrew’s Court, one way. This is also Andrew’s Court but it's not one way so it shouldn't be the entire length. *No comments for 291-10 through 291-16* Mayor Pearson: 291-17 limited parking zones. I do have a question. 2 hours from 9am to 9pm. The building isn't open at 9pm. The library isn’t open at 8pm. Does it need to be 9pm anymore? Local businesses used to be open until 9pm on a Thursday night and that's why it was probably put in there but the businesses are not open late anymore. I don’t know if that still needs to be 9 o’clock. Trustee Baker: Blue Fox Books has events and things, it goes past 9 o'clock. Mayor Pearson: Yeah, but they can still park there. Manager Revella: The restaurants are all open till 10. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would leave it. Mayor Pearson: 291-18 - parking for handicap person. Trustee Kyle: For L, the Pine Street handicap spot. I know we had talked a while back about the trouble with the buses trying to come up from the back street of the school. Is there somebody that we know that has to use that spot? Deputy Mayor Thompson: It was for the synagogue. It is one parking spot for people that go to temple to worship. Mayor Pearson: I do have a question on letter C. Why do we worry about the Thruway Market handicap parking spaces? It's a private business. Manager Revella: The village, if they designate certain areas handicap, they can regulate it and the town actually can tow from parking spaces in private lots. Fire lane, handicapped. Trustee Mishk: I think we have to leave that. Mayor Pearson: 291-19 – no parking, standing, stopping anytime. Scofield St, that's all removed so there's nothing next, but I’m looking at the bottom of that. Manager Revella: Repealed. Mayor Pearson: The only that’s left is southwest between Gladstone Ave and Ridge. Then why don't we just take them all the way out of the book? Manager Revella: Because you have to show that the law was repealed. Mayor Pearson: Taxicab parking. Trustee Garrison: There’s no taxi company there anymore. 11 Manager Revella: Correct. Is everyone okay with repealing that? All: Yes. Mayor Pearson: 291-22 – parking during school hours Trustee Kyle: That's where Pine Street comes up again. I see that it says Pine Street and it was repealed. Do you know what was there before? It doesn’t show what was repealed. Manager Revella: It would have been repealing a timed parking area. I don't know. Trustee Kyle: I feel like that's the issue that they had with the buses. This is a while ago that we talked about maybe prohibiting parking on one side of the street just from like 8:30 to 9:30 and then 3 to 4. Just the hours in which the buses are to drop off and pick up. Manager Revella: That'd be something to consider if you wanted to for timed parking. Trustee Garrison: I just don't think we should take away the parking for people that to have to pick their kids up from school that park there. There's not enough parking there for parents now and a lot of parents park there and then walk up to the school to get their kids and then come back and leave. Trustee Kyle: It’s no further away than parking in the municipal lot. Same distance. Trustee Garrison: But why are we restricting parents for pickup to accommodate buses that have been making that same drive for, 25 - 30 years. Same route, same buses, same moving. Trustee Kyle: Not without complaints. I feel like the bus drivers are having an issue with it. And it's not giving parents a further walk. I've never had an issue parking in municipal. I have on Orchard Street, it’s a fight to get a parking spot. Trustee Garrison: I don't know. I'm just not one for taking away from one group of people to satisfy another group of people in a situation like this. Trustee Taylor: I made that turn with the bus numerous times. It is cautionary, absolutely. But that's what the bus drivers trained to do. Mayor Pearson: John, maybe you know this answer. They used to park in the front, the buses used to be in the front. Why did they move to the back? Manager Revella: Because you don’t want all the kids to come out the same doors, because then kids may go on the bus that were supposed to be picked up or kids get picked up supposed to be on the bus. It’s confusion. Mayor Pearson: Why don’t they put the buses back out front and the walkers out back? Manager Revella: There's not enough space to have the walkers waiting out back. *No comments for 291-23 through 291-28* Mayor Pearson: 291-29 – traffic lanes and crosswalks 12 Trustee Kyle: It says here that the Chief of Police has the authority, but we do not on state roads to put a crosswalk in, because I know that Ulster had come up in discussion. Manager Revella: Correct. We are not authorized to paint on the state road. These are regulations for village maintained roads. *No comments on Chapter 291-30 through 291-35* Mayor Pearson: Next time we'll go from 90 to 105. Consent Order Modification Manager Revella: The DEC just wanted updates on our consent order since the deadlines are coming up. The delays were due to DEC not approving the plans that were submitted for the Tin Brook Pump Station bypass, which was a big part of the requirement for the EFC and the DEC. Now the EFC and DEC has given large grants over $3,000,000 to do those improvements and hopefully now that we've got our AFR done, we can move forward with the planning approval and funding approval process before the end of the month. The consent order had to be modified to make sure we can meet those deadlines. The engineer met the deadline of the 16th, that's in here. Those plans were submitted on time. The rest of the deadlines he believes are obtainable as well. Mayor Pearson: You had a meeting with these people on Monday? Manager Revella: They cancelled the meeting because they got the plan. They were just concerned that we weren’t getting the plan in place. I asked to reschedule just to have an update. I'm meeting with the engineers on Thursday afternoon to get an update and try and plan that. Mayor Pearson: How do you feel about this your plans? Manager Revella: We want to get this done as soon as possible, so the first part would be doing the head works to get those aligned and reset so they can take the additional flow from the former Tin Brook site. Once that's in place the tunnel will be put in place, Tin Brook Pumping Station will be taken offline. It'll be a direct flow into the plant. No more bypass. Trustee Garrison made a motion to authorize Village Manager to sign the consent order modification. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. SRO – Contract Review Mayor Pearson: I know that the attorney gave us some information last time. Got an email from the chief. Deputy Mayor Thompson: We only need, in my opinion, 1 SRO. Mayor Pearson: We got the contract for 1 SRO and then all of a sudden when I spoke with the manager and chief, decided they needed 2. Manager Revella: From the school. Trustee Kyle: There should definitely be an alternate backup. Mayor Pearson: How many SROs do we have in house? Manager Revella: That we can utilize right now, 3. We have one more coming in, we’ll have 4. 13 Trustee Mishk: They want 2 of them? Or they want 2 to be available? Mayor Pearson: They want 2 in the school. Trustee Mishk: No. Trustee Garrison: No. Trustee Taylor: No. Deputy Mayor Thompson: No way. Trustee Garrison: What's their reasoning? Mayor Pearson: The chief said there's a vestibule being put in every other elementary school, except for Walden, because Walden is on the table to be eliminated, so they're not putting it at vestibule. I don't know, we have had no real issues before about it. Trustee Mishk: If I remember correctly, the front door of the school is still controlled electronically. Mayor Pearson: It’s locked. Can't get in until somebody comes to that door. Trustee Mishk: And they do screen people before they come in. On the other hand though, they're paying for the school resources, correct? Manager Revella: Correct. Mayor Pearson: Yes, but then we have to pay for another uniform, another this, another that. We have to supply all those things. Trustee Mishk: Would you have to increase the number of officers that work for department? Manager Revella: Yes, to do 2, you have to increase, in the contract it would be per officer. Mayor Pearson: I did a little research on this and one of the villages that has school is paid by the rate of the officer. The other one has a lump sum. I don't know what is better. I didn't reach out to the town to see what Berea and East Coldenham had. I did FOIL for it. I talked to her yesterday and she’s pretty sure that there’s 1 officer at each elementary school. 1 is paid by wage of the officer. I don’t know how it works. Trustee Mishk: Middle school and high school, they have additional private security company. My last trip to the high school yesterday, this private security was assisting at the vestibule. If they want extra people to take care of it, let them have their private security. It would save them money in the long run, too. Mayor Pearson: Jerry brought up number 5 in the contract about the Superintendent of schools and you wondered why the Police Chief and the Police Department was not in charge. Trustee Mishk: Let them educate. Let the police, police. 14 Mayor Pearson: That has to change. Page 2 number 5. Trustee Mishk: In that section, Police Officer is obligated by law to enforce the law. Can't not enforce it because the Superintendent of schools says. Mayor Pearson: We also have to talk about salaries and what would you it want to be. I don't know which is better. Whether it's being paid for what the officer gets paid or whether it's a lump sum. This one says $55,536. Trustee Mishk: The only issue with the salary is it’s not always the same paid officer. It might be a sergeant one time. Mayor Pearson: We had many times that a Sergeant was there. That’s one of the questions I asked. Nobody could really tell me how much money we spent over top of what we really were being paid. And I know we were because we were paying a Sergeant to sit there. Trustee Mishk: Don’t we have figures from the last 2 years? Mayor Pearson: I have this from Jean from 2024 that I asked for. It’s our cost estimate and we've always gone up 3% from the last year's month number and FICA, MTA taxes are no longer, correct? Manager Revella: I don't know what day it goes into effect. Mayor Pearson: Then your pension, you have workers comp. That is how they came up with this number, $58,163. That was last year. I guess we didn’t get paid that last year. I’m questioning how we want to get paid. You want it to be as a wage or do you want it to be salary? Trustee Kyle: If we had somebody that was out and then there was another officer that was working overtime, now they’re getting paid overtime. Does that take into account also? It does say in here that they should be responsible so I don’t see how a lump sum *inaudible* Mayor Pearson: The attorney did write something about having the payments not having us to have to do it every month and bill the school and that the school automatically sends us the money, but I don’t know how that would work. It would work fine if we had a lump sum, but it’s not going to work fine if it’s going to go to the wages of the officer. Trustee Kyle: Maybe using the past data, come up with a figure and then they would just be responsible if it goes over that threshold. Mayor Pearson: I don’t know, that would be a discussion for the board. I just brought it up because I found this in my old emails. I asked recently and she didn't have time to do it which I understand completely, but I did also ask the chief. Trustee Mishk: I think it's important to point out that the salary paid last year and compared to this contract, this contract is less. They're already trying to give themselves a decrease in the cost. Manager Revella: Cross that out. Trustee Mishk: What is the town doing? Do they cover all the other schools? Mayor Pearson: I FOIL’d for the information. 15 Trustee Kyle: Could we maybe get an average of what a salary is? Trustee Mishk: I think you have to take the median. Manager Revella: We did do the median, that's how we come up with the number in the first contract. Then just depends, sometimes we'll make out. Sometimes they'll make out. It would cost us less if we are going to give them a reimbursement. Gotta be careful with that. With salary and benefits, depending on who we have in there, it could save us money. Just depends on staffing. What the mayor we talking about was when we had the staff it with a Sergeant. It's not cost effective for us. Trustee Kyle: But it does say additional costs should be reimbursed to the village, fingerprinting costs, overtime premiums. It does stipulate that here. Mayor Pearson: There's a whole lump sum they get paid a big amount, if it’s 5 of them. There's 1 in Berea, 1 in East Coldenham, 1in the middle school, 1 in the high school and somewhere else. Do our officers go there for additional events? Manager Revella: Yes. Mayor Pearson: Coverage for additional events or outside the coverage discussed will be billed at $34.02 an hour. This was 2023. I don't know why don't we do something like that, too? Do they go to field day with them? Manager Revella: Just during the school day. We're talking about if they want them there for conferences, after hours, those are that should be billed. Mayor Pearson: This is for discussion. We don't have to do it yet. Doesn’t have to be done right now. The attorney also did write about billing and non billing. I don’t know where you are with that everybody. Trustee Mishk: Let me make a suggestion. Why not pass this contract, our attorneys already looked at it, but also include what the town does and compare and make additions or deletions accordingly. Mayor Pearson: John, I'm going to leave it up to you so I don't have to FOIL to get the contract from the town. She s.id it was signed by the board and went to the school district. She was waiting for it to come back. That’s why she couldn’t send it to me. If you can get that, that would be great. Thank you. Trustee Taylor: We also talked about page 4, item number 10. If the SRO determined that if additional investigation personnel was required, they got in here that they want that SRO to be the bridge between them and the arriving police and the attorney agreed that if police are summoned. They're in charge. Period. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I agree with that. Mayor Pearson: So, we're going to look into money, how it’s paid, another contract from the town, new one 2025-26. Deputy Mayor Thompson: And we want 1 SRO not 2. 16 Trustee Baker: Number 15, the disposing of evidence according to district policy. I think that needs to be *inaudible* anything that's confiscated and anything that shouldn’t be disposed of *inaudible* Trustee Mishk: I think that falls under the duties of a Police Officer. Trustee Baker: Correct, but in here it’s giving the district the choice. Trustee Mishk: If it’s evidence of a crime, the police make that determination. Give all opportunities that any interested parties to inspect that. It's all covered by the state law and if a Police Officer allowed the board to order the destruction of something, they could be held liable. Trustee Garrison: I don't think we're interpreting this the same. I think if you take a second look at it, it says that if there is something confiscated, that the SRO does the confiscating and disposes it according to district village policy and applicable law. It does not say in that section that the school district determines if there is or is not charges being issued. It states that if there are no criminal or juvenile charges, not that the school is determining that and then it says that the SRO was responsible for confiscating whatever the contraband is and disposing it based on the policies written by the district, village and law. Trustee Baker: But the district policy shouldn’t matter. They shouldn't have a say. Trustee Garrison: There is definitely a district policy regarding how things are taken out of the school is what this is probably referring to. I don't think it has anything to do with what happens to the student. Dress Code Policy Mayor Pearson: We were supposed to get something from our attorney. John, do we have something? Trustee Garrison: There is something. There was an e-mail. Manager Revella: It was in the last meeting with notes on it from last time. You guys didn’t make any decisions. Mayor Pearson: Yes, we discussed this last time. It's in the minutes. We directed the attorney to put a policy together. Trustee Baker: And have some changes that based on that. Manager Revella: You guys didn't vote on a couple of things, Casual Fridays... Trustee Mishk: That doesn't refer to the dress code. Manager Revella: That would be in the dress code. Mayor Pearson: What do you all want? Trustee Taylor: Like I said at the last meeting, this is a business here. It should look like a business. It should sound like a business. And it should act like a business. So, as far as business attire, business casual is the appropriate dress to wear. No jeans, no T-shirts, no flip flops. If anybody needs a good example of what good business attire looks like, walk on down to Walden Savings Bank and go in there and you will see glaring examples of business attire. 17 Trustee Garrison: Casual Fridays. You can wear jeans and an appropriate top and sneakers. Mayor Pearson: What is appropriate top? Trustee Garrison: Appropriate jeans, no rips, no tears fitting properly, not you revealing. Don't know if jeans can be revealing. Sneakers are acceptable on Casual Fridays. Trustee Kyle: What kind of footwear during the week? Trustee Garrison: Men should wear closed toed, dress attire shoes. Whether they are slip ons or laced up. Women, I can't speak for women closed toed shoes. Trustee Kyle: Those are sandals, not flip flops. Trustee Garrison: If you could see your toes, they are not business casual. I'm not a woman, so I can't speak on this, it was the first thing I lead with. I know people in my office wear slip ons. When I say sneakers, you're not going to come in here wearing a pair of Adidas or Nikes or running shoes or vans. That's not business attire. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Did you get the, I sent it to everyone about OSHA and PESH and foot protection. Manager Revella: I'm always in line with complying with PESH and OSHA. Deputy Mayor Thompson: It clearly says open toed shoes, flip flops things like that are not allowed in the workplace because there's potential for injury to the feet and then that's on us. It clearly says that sandals, flip flops, open toed footwear is prohibited in the workplace. Trustee Taylor: That's pretty standard and business attire. If anybody thinks that you can't sustain a workers compensation issue because you work in an office, you're sorely mistaken. Trustee Kyle: I understand very well that yes something can happen anywhere. Trustee Taylor: We're talking about people in the office. Let's look like a business here. This is not the counter at Lowe's and Home Depot. We are the face of the public. Let's look like it. Let's present like it and let's act like it. Trustee Kyle: I feel like there are business casual and formal wear for women that would include open toe shoes. That's just my opinion. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would defer that to the Village Manager. Is this for all of our offices in the village? Manager Revella: For anybody not covered by union contract. Deputy Mayor Thompson: So, the administrative people in the Parks Department, this does not apply to them because they also perform another role. They sometimes have to be Rec Aides. Manager Revella: Correct. Deputy Mayor Thompson: So, they would not have the same rules as the Building Department, the 3rd floor office and DPW. 18 Manager Revella: There's only 1 person that's non union. Trustee Mishk: I don't think in any of the union contracts, does it refer to wearing sandals or open toed shoes. Manager Revella: No, it doesn't. But we can discuss those conditions outside negotiations. For the record the Village Board is only talking about non union people. Trustee Garrison: For all of the non union workers in the village, I also believe that as a member of the board and if you are elected into a position on this board, that this dress code should also apply to you. I feel like we are also a direct representative of this village and we should also address accordingly as well and I feel like we should adhere to the same dress code standards that they do. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I don't disagree. Trustee Garrison: I don't think it's fair for us to sit here and to establish a dress code for people that are being seen by the village and their profession, that we shouldn't adhere to the same dress code. Trustee Mishk: Refer back to PESH rules and regulations. It's a worker's comp case you can have. Women can be crossing her legs behind her desk and cut her foot on the bottom of the desk. Now it’s a worker’s comp case for who knows how long...they’re out. Trustee Kyle: Something can fall on a woman’s foot with closed toed shoes and she can still have a workers comp case. Trustee Mishk: You're right, anybody can get hurt in any type of clothing. But the idea is you go by the rules of PESH, because that's what we're governed by. That's the rules that the village has to adhere to for all its employees. Trustee Taylor: And you want to mitigate the potential for injury. Mayor Pearson: So, we have business attire, no jeans, no T-shirts, no flip flops, no open toed shoes. We have Casual Friday, jeans are appropriate, no rips, no tears. Appropriate tops... Trustee Garrison: No graphic t’s. Trustee Kyle: I would maybe say something about like how low cut a shirt is. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Why don't we get all of the employees the village polo shirts that they can wear on Fridays? Did we purchase them? Manager Revella: Yes. Trustee Garrison: To go with the shirts for Casual Friday, no tank tops, no spaghetti straps. You still have to be professional. Mayor Pearson: Let's just say they could wear jeans with their village shirt. Trustee Garrison: That’s fine too. 19 Trustee Taylor: There's 1000 websites that will clearly delineate what Casual Fridays look like. Mayor Pearson: We'll leave that up to whoever is going to draft the policy. They'll critique that once it's done. I know that's what we discussed last time, so if the attorney can put something together for us or John. John, do you want to do that for us first and then we can go over it and involve the attorney later? Manager Revella: We'll work on that together. Outdoor Café Permits - Discussion Mayor Pearson: There were some concerns about people’s tables on the sidewalk and where they could be, what they could be. We do have a law that states that they have to come and pay $100 and the board has approve it. Over here when Barnside was here they used to have 2 little tables out front. They had to pay a fee. Also, the comp plan committee were talking about doing 2 different things with the businesses that actually have outdoor seating and things over the top of it and everything, would have a different process than the little cafe tables. But we haven't done that yet so they're all the same. Trustee Garrison: Mary Ellen made a good point. These smaller places that don't have permanent outdoor, why are we charging them the same? Maybe, like she said a $10 processing fee just to take the paperwork and it still has to come before the board to be approved, but if you just have 2 little outdoor tables in the summer like Tres Leches. They shouldn’t be paying as if they have 5 tables and an awning. Mayor Pearson: Do they still need to be approved by the board or can they go to the Building Department? Trustee Garrison: I think coming before the board is the same process for all of them. Because what we're going to run into is a similar problem that we ran into with Empanada Nirvana. It gives us a little bit more control over what is and isn't happening and where they are and aren't going. We have to make sure they're not in the fire lane. We have to do our part as the board. The only thing in the process I think that should be changed is the amount that they have to pay to do it. I don’t want to take anything away from the Building Department. Trustee Kyle: I do feel that it does take something away from them. Maybe if there was an issue then it could come before the board. That’s why we have a Building Department. It seems like something that would be in their scope of work. Trustee Garrison: Then why are we approving the other ones? Trustee Kyle: Honestly, I don’t know. Trustee Garrison: It’s either all of them or none of them. Manager Revella: You should treat them equally. Trustee Garrison: I have no problem with it either way. My only thing was if we're going to do some, we have to do them all. Trustee Baker: I think they should be with the Building Department. I don’t think there should be any fee for the small ones like Blue Fox Books. 20 Trustee Kyle: I don't know. I'm kind of thinking that maybe it is better to have it voted on than just 1 person saying yes or no. Mayor Pearson: They can come to the board if they don’t the decision. Trustee Mishk: We're trying to build businesses up in the downtown. We're trying to make the village more appealing to outsiders, that they come in and what many communities that I've driven through have these quaint little places sitting outside. As a stranger driving through you look at that and say wow, this it looks like a friendly little village and maybe a place with some businesses. It actually makes the businesses look busy too. One of the reasons I asked for this to put on the agenda is I think that we need to not only give them an avenue to take to get their get tables out there, but encourage them. I'm not against the $10 application fee. I don't think we should change the $100 fee for maybe 2 months of using tables outside. I would like to see it as a check walk like most outside venues do. Come before the board for approval, especially if it involves an SLA license. Why not let the Building Inspector take the application, make sure it conforms with the measurements of the sidewalk and then bring it before the board. Trustee Garrison: Great idea. Mayor Pearson: I'm fine with that too. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I agree 1000% with everything Jerry said. Trustee Taylor: I definitely think the Building Inspector should be involved because there's a lot of things that he's looking at other than an application. He's looking at the area, he's looking to see what's involved, he's looking at potential safety issues. I'm fine with it going right to the Building Department. Mayor Pearson: I just came back from vacation and when I go on vacation I just don't look at buildings, I look at flower pots and benches and flags and everything. I took a video of a little mountain bike park for kids, it was awesome. I take pictures of everything. I’m even okay if someone wants to put a small bench out. Every bench is different. It was cool. There were old benches and benches that were made out of old wood and it was just really interesting. I think those personalities shine. Everybody had different flowers out front. I love to encourage businesses to put more flowers out front. Hopefully, if we start with those little things with little tables and more people want to put them out as long as they're compliant, it would be great. We did talk about also changing the bigger businesses are not charging them every year but one flat fee and then they have to come and get an approval for the next year but they don't have to pay another fee. This is really just for discussion and whether we want to change something, whether we want to move forward with little cafes to begin with and go from there. Manager Revella: There's a couple of provisions in the code that need to be changed by local law. I gave the attorney the notes of what the board had consensus on about the fee and about who approves. So, we're going to look through that section and make sure it's consistent throughout about the fee and who approves. There is a provision there about appeals. The Zoning Board Appeals, so I'm not sure how that came about because the code makes sense. You go to Board of Trustees for approval and if you get denied, you go to the Zoning Board. That's usually how it happens so I was a little confused. It may have been that it used to be approved by the Building Inspector and it got changed and they forgot to change this section. We have to go through that for consistency as well and maybe draft something up if the board is okay with that. Mayor Pearson: Talking about a fee. Everybody want $10? $20? It's not a lot but there is paperwork involved. 21 Building Inspector Wallner: I have a couple of thoughts on this and not really a whole lot of opinion. I think the things that should be considered as permanent seating versus temporary seating and also if they have table service. That's a big draw for summer. Blue Fox probably will not have table service. We also have to consider number of tables and the width of the sidewalk. We don’t want to create a safety issue. I think it's probably not a bad idea to have the application submitted to the Building Department and if it meets all the criteria that you folks put in place, then there's really no need for an appearance from the applicant. The board can decide based on the completeness of the of the application and provide some pictures of what it’s going to look like. Fees, I think there are 2 businesses that I'm familiar with that have permanent outdoor seating, seasonal of course. Sweeney’s and Franco’s. Maybe their fees are going to be different than somebody that has 2 metal chairs. I don't think it's unreasonable to let them put their table and chairs outside. It takes a lot of cupcakes to make the $100 fee for a table. Mayor Pearson: You're fine with the fee the board comes up with? Building Inspector Wallner: Absolutely. Manager Revella: Just want to make sure that the consensus of the board is to draft an update a local law with those provisions where there's a nominal fee, maybe some distinction between permanent and temporary. If you want to do that first and then going to Building Inspectors as oppose the Board of Trustees. Those are the main things. We didn't answer if you want the permanent seating to have a different structure than the temporary. I think it's consensus at $10 dollars for the temporaries. Permanents, keep it at $100? Mayor Pearson: Let's just work on the temporary. Make it 2 separate things. 1 would be a cafe and 1 is a restaurant with outdoor seating. Manager Revella: I don't think that the permanent outdoor seating should even be an outdoor cafe permit. It should be part of the planning process and the site plan approval. Makes no sense. If it's permanent, that's the site plan. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I agree. Trustee Mishk: 1 thing I think should be included is that for these smaller places, the tables be removed at night and placed inside the store. Mayor Pearson: Let's talk about the fee. What do you want fee to be, $10? All: Yes. Mayor Pearson: $10 and they have to meet certain guidelines. Manager Revella: They're in there. Mayor Pearson: We'll deal with the other one next time. Time Clocks - Discussion Manager Revella: Time clocks or app or is there anything in particular? Trustee Mishk: I think whatever we have as far as time clocks, whether it be an app or a physical time clock. If we use an app, it has to be location based. It can't be activated from home. It has to be 22 activated in the office. Actual time clocks in case the app isn't working. I don't mean punch a card either because we don't want anybody punching a card for somebody else. I think it should be like the Police Department, fingerprint. I think that's the foolproof one. When somebody comes into the office they put their fingerprint on the reader and they're clocked in. Same thing when you leave. Trustee Baker: This would be just for non union employees because you can't do it with the unions. Manager Revella: Correct. Trustee Baker: It should be included in their contract negotiations. Manager Revella: We've had an arbitration about if you want to have a change in workplace conditions like a time clock, it’s a negotiated item. Trustee Mishk: I think we should start with the non union and explore the rest, because I don't think it's fair that, for many years, as long as I have been involved with this board, I think 2013, the only ones to punch a clock in this village is the police. I think that's crazy. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would just like to say whatever we're going to consider, I think in this day and age, it would be something that will also be able to make payroll be generated electronically. It should all come into the computer system and be done electronically. Manager Revella: The comptroller requires us to have those paper copies in the office. Deputy Mayor Thompson: You can have a paper copy, but you should be basing your work on whatever comes through the time clock. Manager Revella: I agree. Trustee Garrison: I have a web based time clock for my job. I have an app on my phone and a website on my computer that I can log into. It’s multi factor authentication so there's no issues there and then every 2 weeks or every week my manager goes in and has to approve it and if there's any missing punches or any of that stuff that can be addressed. The only way I can punch in is using my phone. You have to allow location and it gives a latitude and longitude of where I am when I punch in. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Who does all that research? You? Manager Revella: I can get pricing. We looked at a couple of time clocks already. The app, e didn't really look at too much. We can look at those. Mayor Pearson: Next meeting, we’ll have some information? Manager Revella: We’ll have some pricing. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Anyone that has any information, send it to John. Public Comment Dennis Wageman: I don't want to go into a lot of background but for years I tried to get a second driveway in 27 Ulster Ave. When the sidewalk was changed, the sidewalk was moved over so I can't even get a full size car or truck into the driveway without opening the door. It was no, Mr. 23 Wageman, you cannot have a second driveway. What happens down Oakland Ave? Now people can do a little research into 2 Oakland Ave but everybody I talked to and I agree it's a driveway. I think if the board went down there and looked at it, everybody on the board would say yep that's a driveway. There’s 1 person that says Mr. Wageman, you don't understand. That's not a driveway. Is that an ethics question or what kind of situation do we have here? If I was to do the same thing as on 2 Oakland Ave, you can bet it would be a driveway. You've got 1 person saying it's not a driveway and it sits there. I don't know what I do. Do I go in and just do the same thing? Do I put an application in? Which probably 2 Oakland Ave didn't do because if they did it wouldn't be a driveway. That becomes a big issue. 1 of the issues for me. Back to my original situation with the water bill. I'm sorry this whole thing with the water bill the generated into a $75 fee. I said to the clerk I'm willing to pay $150 if everybody else pays their 75. How many times have I heard tonight, well if the board approves, if the board says I can do this, if the board does that? My issue initially was the fact that the code has specific wording in it. When you look into what goes on with wording and people want to change a word, something like that. In this case what happened is the board passed a resolution. Be it right or be it wrong. It was passed. It doesn't give the offices over there and especially the 2 billing clerks and I believe that's the correct term for them, the right to go and change what's on the bill. When I read through the village code is tampering with the bill or tampering with the law. Unless, I've got it wrong. To me that was tampered with. Which allowed these 50 some people not to be charged. You didn't hear well we've got to go over to the board and get this changed. They just did it by themselves. That created a problem with me and the clerks, I shouldn't be talking to the clerks. I should be talking to the Village Manager. The Village Manager wasn't there. The people behind the glass over there that supposedly had the village offices said oh we'll have the Village Manager give you a call. I knew that wasn't going to happen. Manager Revella: Mr. Wageman I did meet with you at the window. Dennis Wageman: We'll get to that. Now what happens is I get in the discussion I shouldn't be having with the billing people and what happens? Police Officers start showing up. I have a discussion in front of the window with someone who was going through the same thing I was going through. I get the word from behind the window, you want me to call PD? I wasn't even talking to the window at that point. I've talked about the police blotter. My name would appear on that police blotter. I wanted to find out why the police came and I was told you'll have to FOIL for that. I probably will FOIL for that. My bigger problem is, yes you met me at the window. The police had been called and arrived and it was a pretty awkward situation. The first time Police Officer opened the door and said you're creating a public disturbance out here. I didn't think I was strictly creating public disturbance. I was trying to have a discussion which I should have had with the Village Manager or the board. The second time 2 Police Officers arrived. They probably stood around the corner and listened to what was being said and walked over. They stood there and I said hey I was expecting you were going to show up. It was really strange because nothing was ever said. They kind of went back down the elevator. I walked over and I went down the stairs mainly because there's no use having a discussion you know when the people you really want to or the person you want to have a discussion with isn't there. The biggest issue is the fact that I met with John at the window. We had a little bit of a discussion and at that point I brought up about the police being called when I was at the window. What I got was sorry to hear about that and walked away. I don't know whether anybody over there has been reprimanded. That's what's needed over there. People need to be put in their place. Over there they are clerks, billing department. They're not the village office. Any place else you go you normally find the Village Clerk. Village Clerk can answer simple questions. When it goes beyond that, I defaulted to the billing people over there. That shouldn't have been the case at all. What emboldens people to take this kind of action? They don't get reprimanded. Or nobody's there. No supervision. It’s a real problem. It all comes down because the law says 1 thing, the billing department decided they were going to change it. I didn't say waive, I said they weren't charged a fee. That's where the whole fee came in and the problem really exists 24 that the village offices over there changed the code and didn’t want to admit it. Is that any reason to call the police on me. I mentioned something about everything is electronic and has cameras, in order to prevent this kind of stuff, you need to have a camera behind the glass over there. A camera in the front and I will guarantee you attitudes would change drastically. Trustee Garrison: I think everybody's perception on an incident or somebody getting angry is different. So, it's hard to say. I'll be honest with you, you sound very angry here and if I was working and you came into my business like you are here. I would probably ask you to leave, too. *Discussion continued* Mary Ellen Matise: I went up to Delaware and Hudson Museum Sunday in High Falls. I picked this up, High Falls business directory. There’s nothing in High Falls. I'm gonna leave this with whoever. I know this is something we talked about numerous times. We used to have the area guide. We don't anymore. I guess we rely on Carl doing the Almanac to highlight things in the village. I don't know if there's a value to doing something like this again or just doing it electronically. The other that was interesting about the D&H Museum is that they aren’t a Mid Hudson visitor center. They're so far off the beaten track and I said to them can this be accessed electronically? They said no. They covered the northern part of Orange County so we would have been on it, if we had something to get them to talk about us, tell people what we have here. Also how much promotion or not how much promotion Orange County is doing. I think we've all gotten stuff in the mail recently from Orange County Tourism. Maybe I'm being unfair, I looked at the ice cream tour had 1 stop in the north part of the county. Everything else was south part of the county. There was another thing that they sent out, big glossy mailing, the UFO festival was on it. Everything else was south part of the county. I don't know about their vision of what they think, where they think Orange County ends, maybe somewhere south of 84. Maybe the quick way. Didn’t include us. Didn't include things like Lynn’s Farm Crawl. Community Council can't be the only one controlling this. It needs to be promoted more and it just comes back to us tooting our horn and getting information out there. I don't know if this helps or at least electronically, it might help. I don't know if businesses would be interested in promoting themselves again. Trustee Baker: Walden Business Council has spoken about doing a flyer. Mary Ellen Matise: I do want to bring up something else too because these came up at the Community Council. These are 2 events that the Rec Department is doing, but what also are we doing? The mayor of the Village of Montgomery went to Town Board meeting and asked the Town Board to give him the 15k for senior programming. What are we doing? Are we getting money from the town for any kind of programming? They didn't vote for anything yet. Manager Revella: I was under the impression they were splitting that money between the municipalities. Mary Ellen Matise: Club money is different. They did ask me who to contact for the club so I guess they're trying to deal with that issue. But the 15k and that group doesn't do any programming here in Walden. I don't know. I think we need to promote ourselves more. I'm trying to do as much as I can as your historian. We're doing the Hudson Valley Ramble again. We get our name in the booklet that goes out and on the website. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve payment of audited bills. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. 25 Correspondence Mayor Pearson: I have spoken to Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Robinson on Maple Street. Mrs. Sullivan hasn't heard back from anyone. Manager Revella: She has. There is supposed to be a meeting set up. She told me she'll let me know if Brian doesn't let me know that there supposed to have a meeting set up. Said let me know when it is so I could be there. Mayor Pearson: Meeting with who and what? Manager Revella: The state and assemblyman. Mayor Pearson: Mrs. Robinson, we spoke but I didn't tell her anything what you spoke about. Manager Revella: We talked about Maple street issue, have to wait till the end of the month for that issue. That's what we're planning to do and I have the bills in so we'll put that on that notice and that will be it. Mayor Pearson: They have to be noticed for how long? Manger Revella: 10 days. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Baker: Our Flag Day was very lovely. Thank you to all those that showed up, the Veterans Community and volunteers that make our park look absolutely awesome. Thankfully the rain held off to have a beautiful day. Trustee Mishk: I agree with Cheryl on Flag Day and take a little bit further. I had the honor of emceeing the ceremony. Was definitely a privilege. Park was beautiful. Community Council did a great job. John we never heard back on the cost of the smaller SUV's for you and Fred. We discussed it during budget. Have you gotten a price on those yet? Manager Revella: I thought that Fred shared that with the mayor. I'm not sure. Did Fred talk to you about that? Mayor Pearson: I haven't seen any number. Manager Revella: I’ll make sure. Trustee Mishk: And a suggestion for out front, there's been complaints about people going around the wrong way on the monument. I see the arrows are there on the roadway painted although they need repainting, which I know that's coming up. But have you ever given any thought from the center of the monument almost all the way to the light putting a double yellow line so people know they can't cross over? Manager Revella: We did discuss enlarging the monument area to make it a little more apparent that you have to go around. We just need a majority of the board to approve the project to do that. We'd be happy to do that. We have plans, different sketches, different ideas. There's 1 member of the board that opposed to it but I think the rest of the board members are in favor. I hope. Mayor Pearson: We have no money. 26 Manager Revella: It doesn’t cost a lot to paint lines. Mayor Pearson: But when we're not talking about lines. Talking about a whole project. Manager Revella: So, that people have to go slower around the monument. I’ll talk to Jay about doing something. We have a map so we know the distances to do the lines. Deputy Mayor Thompson: You asked about correspondence. I received an e-mail from an Avrom Schwimmer. He said he was coming here tonight but he's not here. Manager Revella: I would just advise that that's a litigation matter and would be discussed in attorney-client if we do need to discuss. I think that it would be good to ask Rob to come. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I also would like to say Flag Day was very well done. Jerry did a great job because the mayor was absent. I had to give a speech. I think it went okay. The park looked great. The Veterans Park Committee does a nice job. Community Council, Mike Bliss helps with that. It was very nice so thank you to everybody. Trustee Taylor: Flag Day was well done. I had another commitment so I could not stay until the end, but everybody here has quite eloquently described how it went. We talked a lot about crosswalks. I gotta be honest, I'm hard pressed to find people using crosswalks. They are cutting across these roads in this village any way they can to get the other side. If we're going to talk about getting crosswalks and jumping through hoops to get them placed here and there then let's make sure that they're being used for that. Mayor Pearson: Sorry I missed this Flag Day. It's the first one I've missed. I was away and I did watch. It was nicely done. Jerry was excellent. Lynn, thank you. Thank you for those that showed up. Thank you for the community that showed up. It's always a job to get to be done but Brenda is our park manager. I'm not the leader she is, but I have to thank her for that. It was beautiful. Thank you. I do have a question on videotaping these meetings, how long do those videos last? We have them for future reference? Is it something we keep? How long can you attain that? Manager Revella: They're on Facebook. I don't know if Facebook had changed their policy, I'm not sure. Clerk Kraus: I’m working on uploading them to YouTube. Mayor Pearson: That is forever? Manager Revella: We hope so. Mayor Pearson: I was just wondering because we spend a lot of money on this and I don't know where it's going to go. I know Marisa does wonderful minutes, thank you Marisa. I'm not taking anything from your minutes but I just wondered what happened to that. All the cameras are up and running? Manager Revella: Yes. Mayor Pearson: We got an e-mail on the poles, that they may be switching out. Have you gotten any more information on that? 27 Manager Revella: They were pushing that forward now. I've seen them come around. They've been doing the wire moves. The other companies. Mayor Pearson: Who is taking the pole out? Manager Revella: Whoever's last. That’s the rule. Mayor Pearson: National Night Out, I still haven't heard anything else. Do they need any help from the community? What is happening? Manager Revella: They've reached out to the Community Council and other organizations already. There's about 45 different vendors already approved to go through. I didn’t talk to anyone, chief did. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Okay, there was nothing discussed Wednesday at Community Council. Manager Revella: I know he talked to Deb. But she does the vendor fair. He talked to Debbie Robb for sure. Mayor Pearson: I have to remember there's a street meeting on Thursday night at 6:30 on Overlook Terrace. It’s open to the public. Manager Revella: If you go to the first Overlook, go all the way to the end. Don't turn left, just go straight to the end and it will be right there. Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, CBN for PBA, Attorney-Client Trustee Mishk made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss personal history of particular person, PBA negotiations and attorney client session. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Reconvene Trustee made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee . All ayes. Motion carried. 28  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting June 17, 2025 Motions & Resolutions Public Hearing - CDBG Trustee Kyle made a motion to open public hearing for CDBG. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Mishk made a motion to close public hearing for CDBG. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Trustee Garrison made a motion to move forward with the CDBG grant application for Walnut Street sidewalks. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Approval of Minutes – June 3, 2025 Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve the June 3, 2025 minutes. Seconded by Trustee Mishk. 5 ayes. 2 abstentions (Trustee Kyle & Trustee Garrison). Motion carried. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Mendoza Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Mendoza Family. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Park Use Request – Alcohol Waiver - Marriott Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Marriott Family. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. 52 Walker St Trustee Kyle made a motion to adopt resolution 3-25-26 – releasing 52 Walker St offer of dedication. Seconded by Mayor Pearson. Roll Call: Trustee Taylor: Yes Deputy Mayor Thompson: Yes Trustee Mishk: Yes Trustee Baker: Yes Trustee Kyle: Yes Mayor Pearson: Yes Motion carried. Consent Order Modification Trustee Garrison made a motion to authorize Village Manager to sign the consent order modification. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve payment of audited bills. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, CBN for PBA, Attorney-Client 29 Trustee Mishk made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss personal history of particular person, PBA negotiations and attorney client session. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Reconvene Trustee Mishk made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 30