Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting August 19, 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 Bill Taylor Absent: Ralph Garrison, Jr Cheryl Baker Also Present: Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk Dominic Cordisco, Village Attorney Public Hearing – Local Law 5 of 2025 – Outdoor Café Mayor Pearson: It is that the tables have to be permitted. The restaurants that have outdoor seating and also just the little shops that might have outdoor seating. The outdoor seating is for 2 chairs close to the building. The Building Inspector would be taking care of that part of it but they both have to be approved through the Building Department. They can start in January of the year that it's going to happen and it ends December, the end of that year. They can reapply every year. The permanent ones that are in, like Sweeney’s or Franco’s, they would be 1 permit for the time that they have the building there. The other ones would be paying yearly. You all read through this. You're comfortable with it. I'm good with it. I do want to set the fees though maybe at the next meeting. Attorney Cordisco: The way that the law currently reads is that the fees are actually contained in the village code. So, that means every time that you would want to change them or make adjustments to them, you would actually have to go through this process of having a local law, a public hearing, having to adopt it and then changing the fees. Instead what I proposed was changing it so that as part of your fee schedule, which you typically adopt at your annual reorganization meeting. But you can adjust it at any time. The fees there would just be another enumerated fee within your existing fee schedule for outdoor cafes. I can prepare a resolution for that as well as a resolution to adopt the outdoor cafes. I think the procedural step for the board to take tonight would be if there's no one that wishes to speak you could close the public hearing. Deputy Mayor Thompson: None of this then will go into effect this year. It's too late for any of the eateries with the temporary cafes. Mayor Pearson: Once it goes into effect they could probably come if they want to be open in the winter on the Main Street. I don't know, that's up to them. They just have to be permitted through that year. The fees that we had come up with before was $100 for the permanent ones and $10 for the cafes. 1 Trustee Mishk made a motion to close public hearing for Local Law 5 of 2025 – Outdoor Café. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Approval of Minutes – July 1, 2025, July 15, 2025, August 6, 2025 Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve minutes. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Mayor Pearson abstained from the 2nd set of minutes. Public Comment None School Resource Officer Contract Mayor Pearson: You all saw the new agreement that was done. I know John and the Chief went to meet with the Superintendent because we were behind on what we were doing. Number 5 got fixed and number 10 was okay for me as well and then the amount was $49,395 and change. That is for part time officers, 3 of them. We have 3 SROs in Walden Elementary School that will be there for in case there's an emergency or something bad happens in the school. That's what they're there for. The school district pays us back for those officers to be there. We use part time officers and there's no retirement associated with that. There is FICA, their salary, MTA tax, but I'm not sure MTA tax is still going on, but it was included in that price that they’re paying us for. Trustee Mishk: I have a problem with the salary. I applaud the Chief for lining up 3-part time officers. Again, they are part time officers, who knows what's gonna happen halfway through the school year. They get a permanent job and are not available to work that position anymore. Then we're stuck putting a full timer there at a higher rate of salary or even a full time officer on overtime to cover that shift. I would feel a lot better if we got at least as much as the Town of Montgomery gets to cover the officer. Putting all our eggs on the fact that a part time officer is going to be available whether it's 2, 3, 5 at any given time during the week, I think is a difficult case to make sure that it's always going to be there. Mayor Pearson: I don't know because I'm not in the Police Department. I don't have that answer for you. But I do know that we have pushed this out and it's belated now and they are letting us do this tonight, if we choose to, it needs to be signed and sent to the school by 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, is what I heard. I wondered who has to sign that, Dominic, if the manager's not here. Who would sign that? Attorney Cordisco: Who's authorized to sign things in the absence of the manager? Mayor Pearson: I guess Marisa would be. Trustee Mishk: Again, we've had part time officers here that have other jobs. Some of our part time officers work full time for another Police Department. They may not be available the days that they're scheduled and it’s gonna cost us a lot more money to pay someone overtime. Trustee Kyle: Is there a good solution to that? I feel like that's gonna be a concern no matter what. Trustee Mishk: It's gonna be an issue that's why I think we should get more money. They pay a lot more to the Town of Montgomery. I would rather see the Police Department get enough money for a full time officer to cover and he's permanently assigned to that position. I know we're shorthanded right now. Mayor Pearson: I understand your point but again either we do this or the town will come in and do the patrolling in the in the elementary school. That's the option you have so. 2 Trustee Mishk: What's the town going to get to cover Walden Elementary? I'd love to know. Mayor Pearson: They're going to get full time officers with their retirement and everything else they have to pay for. That's how I understand it. That's what I was told. I’m not going to argue it. Trustee Mishk: I hate to belabor this but I don't think that we're going to do it for that price. It's going to cost us a lot more. Mayor Pearson: Jean, do you happen to know what it was last year by any chance? What we were paid. Treasurer Degon: It was less last year. It went up 3%. The only thing we took out was pension. They did not negotiate that. Mayor Pearson: I thought we got like 55k last year as a total. Treasurer Degon: No. I gave the new one to Herlihy months ago, $48,585.60. Mayor Pearson: And they’re giving us $49,395. That's what I was told. Trustee Taylor: How did we cover it last year? Personnel wise. Mayor Pearson: I don't have that answer, I'm sorry. Manager's not here. The very first contract was more than that and I think it was the second year when we started having to use full time officers. That's where cost us more money and I asked can we get a breakdown of that. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Wasn't that your question right out of the gate? Why was the village of Walden getting less than other municipalities? Mayor Pearson: They're getting less because we're setting it up as part time officers. Not full time officers. They don't have to pay us retirement because those people don't get the retirement through our system. That's the difference. They're using those people salaries. 7 hours a day times 183 days in the year. They're multiplying that and that's what they get. No matter how many officers they have, that’s what they get paid. So, they could put 1 person in and tomorrow's another 1. The 1 person doesn't make all that money. It's divided up between them. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I get it, but I also can't argue Trustee Mishk's point of view because if the part time people aren't here. Was that added into the formula? I don't know. Was that discussed? We don't know. Mayor Pearson: I don't know; I wasn't at the meeting. Trustee Taylor: What are the ramifications here? Because here we are at the midnight hour. The questions I have at this point are almost rhetorical because why are we sitting here discussing this on the eve of having to sign this thing? That in itself is just unacceptable. I don't know who was responsible for making sure that this got done in a timely manner but obviously it didn't happen. We're talking hostage negotiations again. Trustee Kyle: I’m kind of on the same page as Bill. What are we supposed to say at this point? Like Lynn said, I do wonder if there couldn't have been just an adjustment to the part time officer pay. Maybe a little above, not so much as a full time, but just to cover the cost in case of full time 3 officer did need to fill in. Like a buffer. But what good does it do to talk about it right now if we have to make a decision for tomorrow morning? I don't really know what the solution is to that other than we have to just bite the bullet, make a decision or let Town of Montgomery do it. I don't know. Would it be detrimental to us to let the Town of Montgomery take it? Deputy Mayor Thompson: We'd lose our DARE program, was what I was under the impression from Chief. Trustee Kyle: Is there anything else besides that? I'm just asking. I'm not saying that's not important because I do think it is. I’m wondering are there other things that would affect us from us giving it to Town of Montgomery? They don’t do a DARE program? Trustee Mishk: Yes, they do. Trustee Kyle: They wouldn't do it for Walden Elementary? Deputy Mayor Thompson: Walden has already trained the officers to do the program and we wouldn't be doing the program if we don't do the SRO. Trustee Kyle: Is that something that we could find out before the end of this meeting and maybe table it? If we would still have a DARE program? And if we don’t lose the DARE program, maybe let the Town of Montgomery rake it over. Mayor Pearson: He said that we would lose the DARE program if we didn't have the officers in here and I don't know why. Trustee Mishk: Village of Walden has conducted the DARE program at that school and at MPB school for many years before the school resource officer program was in effect. Matter of fact Chief Holmes did it for quite a long time. Mayor Pearson: Dominic, do you know anything about this or have you been told anything? Attorney Cordisco: No. I don’t even know anything about it. I wasn't even aware that there had been a revised draft of the agreement, which I haven't seen. Mayor Pearson: You didn't get the last draft, Dominic? Attorney Cordisco: No, I didn't. The draft that I had prepared, which was based on board's discussion at that time is that the village would have been reimbursed for its actual costs associated with this. That's how I had drafted it. That's what I thought that the consensus was of the board. When we communicated that to the school district, we were told that that was a non-starter for them. Mayor Pearson: That’s odd that you didn’t get that. Dan’s not getting back to me so we just have to make a decision. Trustee Taylor: Just by virtue of the fact that we've already had about 15 questions here that we've all had and as far as I'm concerned, this falls on the heels of whoever didn't get this done in the appropriate amount of time. I don't know who that is, but I'm not going to be forced the day before to make a decision if there's questions unanswered. Chief D’Elicio on speakerphone 4 Trustee Mishk: How do we know that these part time officers are going to be available all year? Number 1? Number 2, what happens if their permanent job makes them go to work? Do we lose them and how do we staff the position now? Chief D'Elicio: All 3 part timers are retired. They don't have a permanent job. We had 2-part time officers who were able to almost staff the whole time last year. That's why we added a 3rd. We have 3-part time officers. The MOU only allows them to work SRO. They cannot work patrol as per the MOU. Trustee Mishk: What about the limit on hours? Still limited to 20 hours? Chief D'Elicio: No, the monetary limit is like 30 something thousand. I don't have that and I believe it's 1200 hours. But don't quote me on that, I have to look that up. Trustee Mishk: They're all trained for DARE? Chief D'Elicio: They are not all trained for DARE at this point. We have our full time officer that does DARE separately. Trustee Mishk: If for some reason we didn't do the SRO program, we would still be able to do the DARE program? Chief D'Elicio: No. Why would we do the DARE program, we have one officer that's certified to do that. DARE is running through the school district so I imagine Montgomery would take over the program. Trustee Kyle: But there would still be a DARE program, it would just be running through the Town of Montgomery. Chief D'Elicio: Through whatever officer they chose to staff it. I think they would choose the Town of Montgomery, that's up to the school district. They can choose whoever they want to do the DARE program. Trustee Mishk: I just want to make a point that he wasn't absolutely sure that we would lose the DARE program. Mayor Pearson: Okay, but were you comfortable with what he talked about the part time officers? Trustee Mishk: I'm really concerned about part time officers, especially to the fact that I'm even more concerned that the retired police officers, not because they're not capable of it, they might just decide that they want to pull up stakes and move south. Mayor Pearson: That could happen to all of our officers. Trustee Mishk: And in lieu of our situation right now, I can't see us spending any more money than we already are. Mayor Pearson made a motion to approve the School Resource Officer Agreement. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. Trustee Taylor: The only comment I'll make again is the fact that we're currently staffed with 3 5 part time officers to address this. We can mash our teeth and wring our hands and play chicken little here and yeah, if something happens and one of them drops out or 2 of them are gone and it ends up costing us some extra money, that's unforeseen. I don't think we can base the decision on what could happen or what might happen. Right now everything 's in place to run it effectively. If that falls through and something catastrophic happens and we have to end up biting the bullet, then so be it. But right now we're staffed with 3 part time employees. The DARE program is in place. Trustee Mishk: Again, I am 100% for the school resource officer program. I'm just not for the amount of salary that the school wants to pay. I don't want to see us lose it. We’re already short officers. We are paying overtime as it is. We are looking at a budget overage already. And then if something goes with along with this, then we have that too. Roll Call: Trustee Taylor: Yes Deputy Mayor Thompson: Yes Trustee Mishk: Abstain Trustee Kyle: Yes Mayor Pearson: Yes Motion carried. Outdoor Fires/BBQs - Discussion Mayor Pearson: Dominic was going to put something together for the Village of Walden with the Warwick law. Attorney Cordisco: Yes, that is on my list. 98 South Montgomery St - Hearing Building Inspector Wallner: Significant issues with the property being properly secured. We're getting neighbor complaints and from the Police Department that there's kids having parties in the house. It's vacant. There's a very dilapidated, unsafe structure in the front part of the property. Mr. Tran said he was going to come get a building permit to demo the front porch. Need to stop having people in the building because it’s not properly secured. The lower level door has a significant opening for rodents and vermin. It’s a mess. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What are the things in the yard? Building Inspector Wallner: Alcohol bottles. There’s many of them. Mayor Pearson: How long has this property been abandoned? And the paperwork has been abandoned? Building Inspector Wallner: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Rob, do we know is water and electric and everything being used? Building Inspector Wallner: It’s not. I believe the water meter was removed. DPW did go there 2 years ago and boarded up part of and it’s open again. The sliding glass door is not securable. There’s a lot of security issues. Ultimately, I think we all would like to see a plan for rehabilitation of the structure. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I’m thinking rehabilitation or removal. I'm sorry. I look at this house 6 all the time. It's disgraceful, honestly. Mayor Pearson: Is there a reason why it looks like this? Mr. Tran: I sent my guy to secure it. But I don't know how the kids get in. I didn’t do it myself. Mayor Pearson: The Building Inspector brought this to us at 1 of our last meetings, so it's already been over a month before anything's been done and it still looks the same. I rode by it yesterday and it still looks the same as it did before. Why can't we do things to make things better? Is there a reason? Mr. Tran: I tried to call in this week for the permit, but nobody answered. Called me back so I talked to him about that and will do it this week or next week. Mayor Pearson: Permit for what? What would you like to do? Mr. Tran: Fix whatever, secure the front steps. Mayor Pearson: You have no realm of fixing it up inside and renting it out or anything? You're just going to leave it sit empty? Mr. Tran: *inaudible* fix the house. Mayor Pearson: Because for every year there's more money you pay for abandoned buildings. Every year the price goes up to have an abandoned building. Mr. Tran: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: How long has this been like this, Rob? Building Inspector Wallner: Since before I’ve been here. It’s been at least 2 and half years. Mr. Tran: *inaudible* Mayor Pearson: Do you have a plan for the house? Mr. Tran: No. Everything inside is fine. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Have you been in there since these people have been coming in and out? Mr. Tran: I send my guy out there. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Have you been inside, Rob or Keith? Enforcement Officer Roosa: No. I would reference chapter 213, which clearly states that we need to be able to enter the building make sure smoke detectors in the building. The property is supposed to have a posting saying who owns it, contact information and the whole list of 213 and none of that’s on the building. Also, a lot of 213 and 214 co-mingle, so there’s a lot of maintenance requirements that are not being done. Keep rodents out, number 1. Mayor Pearson: In those codes also, you can be fined $500 a day, also, above the abandonment fee if those things are not done. Just so you know that. I don't know if the board can do that or if we 7 have the right to do that or it has to go to a judge. I don't know where that stands. That says it in the law. It says it in the code that allowed to be fined and every day is another fine for the same thing that you're not taking care of. We don't really want to do that to you but just know that that money will multiply pretty quickly. Per violation. It is a big substantial chunk of money so we really want to see you do something instead of having to pay us money. Rob, what do we need done? Building Inspector Wallner: There's a lot of property maintenance that needs to be done. The deck needs to be removed in its entirety and then the building needs to secured. There is a basement, upper window that's easily opened and I think there's a possibility that that's where they're getting in. We need to make sure that we don't end up with a squatter situation. Mayor Pearson: To get into the building under code 213, we will allow that. The board can say that they'll get in to check the inside to make sure the inside is okay. There's fire inspections. What's our time frame? Deputy Mayor Thompson: To me, this 1 has to begin the process ASAP. Building Inspector Wallner: I want to see a building permit within the next 10 days. Mayor Pearson: Outside cleaned up and the porch, both of them taken off, right? All the wood pieces on the outside taking off? Building Inspector Wallner: I think that would be the safe option. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Removed from the property, not left in a pile. Building Inspector Wallner: Absolutely. Trustee Mishk: Are you going to meet with them, Rob to inspect the inside? Building Inspector Wallner: I think it's required by the zoning code, by the village code. Mayor Pearson: You have to make an appointment with the Building Inspector to meet there. Building Inspector Wallner: I think it's also important that you provide us updated contact information so we don't have to chase you around and send certified letters to try to track you down. Deputy Mayor Thompson: You have to give him the correct information so they can reach you. That's fair. That's business. Mayor Pearson: This is where I'm at, I'm with before the next meeting, because then we have a recourse to say you're going to start to get fined. So, this all has to happen before the next meeting. I’m sorry, let’s do the second meeting in September. Building Inspector Wallner: I would like to request that if for some reason this turns into another non reporting issue, that the board take action and secure the property. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Okay. Mayor Pearson: That's fine with me. September 16th. Building Inspector Wallner: I don't think September 2nd would be unreasonable. We’ve been 8 dealing with this for a long time. Mayor Pearson: Okay, September 2nd. Trustee Taylor: It's just total neglect as far as I'm concerned for this to get into this situation. This did not happen overnight. This is just neglect and it has turned into some significant safety issues that impact the rest of the residents of this village. I'm not going to be the guy that's going to be looking to help you out here. I'm going to be the guy holding your feet to the fire because this is just neglect. Mayor Pearson: Dominic, we can say that if it's not done before the next meeting we can send people in to clean it up? Attorney Cordisco: You would need an order to that effect. It should be added to the next board meetings agenda. This is the hearing, so let's say the suggestion is to see what progress is made between now and your next meeting which would be September 2nd and at the September 2nd meeting, if there hasn't been a sufficient progress made, the board would then close the hearing and then direct that the order be made so that the village can go out and do the work itself and charge against the homeowner the work that’s done. Trustee Kyle: The order, is that something that we can have prepared for that meeting? So, that it would take effect immediately. Attorney Cordisco: I think there would be recommendations from Rob as to what would necessarily be done as far as the board remedying things that are public safety issues there, because I would imagine that there are some issues that are public safety issues and some that are perhaps more aesthetic. Building Inspector Wallner: I would like to give Mr. Tran the benefit of the doubt that he is going to communicate with us and I will, let's say 3 or 4 days before September 2nd meeting, I'll have an update. And if there's been no activity then I'm going to ask the board to take action. Attorney Cordisco: Right and we can prepare that documentation. Mayor Pearson: But then does he have 10 more days or we can just make it happen. Attorney Cordisco: No, this is the hearing. So, you're making a decision following the hearing. 76-80 West Main St Update Andrew Concolino: I got busy from the last meeting. I watched the live stream. I wish I'd had an invitation to come, I would have come. I feel like the board is kind of picking on me. I knocked the building down. Yes, I have the plywood fence up. It's not the most sightly thing but every job site that I have been on has a plywood fence with a windows every 6 feet. That's the plan. I got an architect to draw up a preliminary plan. I have to get a site plan set up to bring to the Planning Board. *inaudible* that’s the next to go forward. Mayor Pearson: 33 by 48 by 25. Andrew Concolino: Yes, I want to cut it in so that we don't have to have the issue with the buildings being too close. 33 wide, in the front like on the sidewalk and then go 48 back and we go 25 feet up for 2 stories. 9 Mayor Pearson: Awesome. I think the board was really just looking to see where you were at because at 1 time they had said what are your plans. I know that the plywood is a little unsightly even if it can be painted or this something. Andrew Concolino: I can paint it. I haven't done it yet. I want to maybe get a color or I don't want to like do something and then I have to come back and redo it. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Does our code allow that he maintains a wooden fence while it's a construction area? Building Inspector Wallner: I don't think the code specifies anything like that. My concern is the way it is. This is a main thoroughfare and it's extremely unsightly. As I mentioned to Mr. Concolino, we have a couple of other vacant lots, the Napa Auto by John the Tailors, they removed the building, planted grass. The lot next to Lillo’s. I think it's important that we keep the image of our main business district clean. Andrew Concolino: I don't want to remove the fence based on the fact that there’s a hole in the ground. If I bring in dirt, I'm going to have to take the dirt away. *inaudible* kind of make it modern, put solar on the roof, maybe geo thermal. I could take the fence down and put a chain link fence up, but to bring in dirt and plant grass, I think it’s kind of pointless. It’s just going to get ripped up. Mayor Pearson: I think I'd be fine if it was painted. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I don't have a problem with the fence if he's willing to paint it and spruce it up. We're understanding it's temporary. Andrew Concolino: It would be temporary. Once the building goes up, there’s no fence there. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What does temporary mean? What temporary means to me could be very different from what it means to you. Andrew Concolino: The next step is to get a plan with a stamp from an engineer, then bring it to the board to get approved and then get a building permit to build. I don't know how long the process takes. I've never done it. I think the engineer would be 4 to 6 weeks out. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Once you get that put in place, your plan is to move forward with this project. Andrew Concolino: Go to the Planning Board meeting, try to get it approved right away. Deputy Mayor Thompson: If this goes along smoothly according to what he's thinking. What kind of a time frame are we talking about here? Building Inspector Wallner: My concern is that we're getting into the winter months before anything. And if we're taking the 4 to 6 weeks to get an engineered plan, we're going to have at least 1 Planning Board meeting for approval. Possibly zoning. Add 3 months on to the 2 months it’s going to take to get a plan and now we’re in December. Mayor Pearson: So, we're into spring, basically. Building Inspector Wallner: Do you want to keep looking at what's there until spring? The initial 10 conversation that I recall with Trustee Taylor was by February we were going to see something happening. My last conversation with Mr. Concolino was “I don't have the money to do it” Andrew Concolino: I knocked the building down in the 4 days by hand. Trustee Taylor: My concern when we had the initial discussion was that you were having some trials and tribulations associated with how it was going to be demoed. The board worked with you with that. But the second part of that conversation was once that activity was done, this is what the board expected to see. Andrew Concolino: That all costs money. Trustee Taylor: I understand that. Mayor Pearson: For me, if it was painted, I'd be fine with that, because I look at the 1 on North Montgomery Street that has the wire and everything in the grass and the tubes and the sticks, I'd rather not see that. I'd rather have something straight in front of that I don't have to see. If I'm looking at dirt in the back of that and a mess. I'd rather see something nicely painted. I'd be fine with that until we can get this up and going. I understand money. It's hard. Everybody's struggling. Everybody has the same issues. It's not just certain people. Everybody's working and trying to pay their bills and get it done. I am fine with that being there for right now and just make it less ugly. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Andrew, is this still a situation where you have no access from the rear? Andrew Concolino: I'm pretty sure there's still no access to the back, but there is a right of way on the deed that I am able to pass through the property. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I understand what he's saying. If he's just going to build something there anyway and he's not going to excavate. To make someone tear down the fence, bring in the soil, seed it, get the grass to grow. We're also getting late in the season, like you say. He's got a couple weeks, 2 months, 8 weeks to grow grass and then expect them to put up another fence and then take that fence down. I understand where he's coming from. I also don't have a problem with the wooden fence if you clean it up you. Can't leave it like that. Trustee Taylor: Structurally, Rob, is that going to make it through the winter? The plywood that's up there now. Building Inspector Wallner: I don’t see a problem with that. Trustee Thompson, I understand your point. I think if past history is any lesson to us, we need definitive timelines. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I agree. I think with a lot of the people that are going to come before us tonight, we need time frames. We need timelines. I get it with the money and you're working, I get it. But you have to get where we're coming from too. I agree with Rob, there's been and not just you, there's been a lot of empty promises village wide. We can't keep operating like that. We have to have a fairly clear plan and a fairly stable timeline. I think everybody up here would agree to that. Mayor Pearson: I agree. Trustee Taylor: That's what I was looking for in the first place. Trustee Kyle: I just want to say, I know the property owner for 121 Ulster came up and I thought that that was handled really well by the board. It showed everybody trying their best to do 11 everything they could to help and I feel like we either need to be part of the solution or we need to be consistent across the board if it comes to, no, you need to follow this rule and by this date and that's it. I don't think we can extend compassion and accommodations to 1 person and not another, especially someone who has also been trying to comply with all of our requests. That's my opinion. Mayor Pearson: I'm fine with the fence if you paint it and we can talk about a paint color. You can talk to the Building Department about a paint color. Timeline, you talked about a couple months. Let's say 4 weeks before you get your plans and then another 4 weeks before you get before the Planning Board because sometimes you have to go to the Building Department, that has to be put onto agenda and the agenda has to be cleared and has to go to Planning Board. They only have 1 meeting a month, so we're talking 2 to 3 months down the road. I would say October if you want that, but I was thinking probably November. We know that you're getting those plans together and you're before the Building Department between October/November and on an agenda for the Planning Board by November. I would be happy with that moving forward because he still can't do anything till spring, but we know the plans are moving forward. Spring is going to happen and maybe you'll have the funds to build. Trustee Taylor: Going forward I am going to be communicating with the Building Department and I fully expect that you are going to be communicating with the Building Department and I don't expect we're going to have this fall through the cracks again. Mayor Pearson: And remember that there are some design guidelines for Main Street. The Building Department can tell you that. There's some, but contemporary is not one of them. Maybe by the October meeting, just let the Building Department know where we're at and they can update us in October as well. 7 South Montgomery St - Hearing Enforcement Officer Roosa: This property has been posted for back taxes postings on the door. I have not heard from the homeowner at all. Main concern is securing the place because the back there is an open door. It's overgrown. Fire Department is worried about if there’s a structure fire, getting in there to put the fire out because the back part of the property is pretty bad shape. Also, have a chimney that is in bad shape. The roof is pitched towards the sidewalk so if something comes down, somebody will get seriously hurt. Mayor Pearson: Nobody's living in it. It's not being sold? Enforcement Officer Roosa: We don't know. We know that it's got a posting on front. Mayor Pearson: Bank might own it. Enforcement Officer Roosa: We're not sure. The Town of Montgomery posted it. We have not heard from her, although she does sign for the certified letters that were sent. She lives in Pine Bush. Mayor Pearson: Do we feel the home is empty? Enforcement Officer Roosa: Police Department called and we were there and we saw the door open. The Police Department went in and there was no one in there. I would board it up to keep people out. The front deck is bad too. It’s not just the back. Trustee Kyle: Is this something dire enough that this building would just need to be taken down? Mayor Pearson: I don't think you can do that. Dominic we could do what we did before, close the 12 hearing and set it up for resolution at the next meeting and have the people go in and clean it up and have chimney fixed? Attorney Cordisco: Yes. Trustee Mishk made a motion to close hearing for 7 South Montgomery. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. 121 Ulster Ave - Hearing *Inaudible with mask and not speaking into microphone* Diane Lagatella: I’ll admit it’s shabby looking. I got a violation early in the year which included my chimney. That I spent most of my savings on. So, I've got myself a brand new chimney. I am currently saving; my technique is not to take out loans. I have to work on the outside of the house. You were kind enough to send me a list of people, subsidiary of RUPCO. I called and have not had a response. I stopped by not too long ago. I'm reaching out to them to see if they can help out with the cost of refurbishing the outside. I have the lumber for my porch. I have been working on this and saving for it. As you can see, I'm having problem with mobility so it’s a little hard for me to get out to do my hedges. *inaudible* It’s been overgrown the last few weeks. I did get electric shears so I have to get out there again and take care of the outside and surrounding vegetation. So, I’m working on that. I’m saving towards getting the outside my house fixed up. I’m living on a limited income so it will take me a while to save. Enforcement Officer Roosa: I don’t have anything to add. Time ran out and had to take further action. Mayor Pearson: This is the home that people helped clean up, correct. Diane Lagatella: Yes. Trustee Taylor: Are there any safety issues, other than the chimney, that has been addressed. That has been reevaluated since it was repaired? Enforcement Officer Roosa: Yes, the chimney is good. That was a really dangerous situation so I'm glad you decided to do that. Trustee Taylor: Are there any other safety issues that are imminent danger at this point? Or are we talking aesthetics and that kind of thing? Enforcement Officer Roosa: Aesthetics. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Tell us, what is with the porch? I think about the mailman, things like that or EMS. Enforcement Officer Roosa: I didn't see any deterioration. Diane Lagatella: It needs to have paint, the floorboards replaced and that's why I got the lumber. Enforcement Officer Roosa: I don't know how good the roof is, haven’t been up there. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I'm not familiar, I know what RDAC is but I'm not familiar with their process. Would that be you're trying to get a loan from RDAC to help? 13 Diane Lagatella: I don’t know what they provide but hoping that they could set me up with someone. I don't know what their services are. I don't want a loan. My real goal is to just find a reliable person to help me out with my handyman kind of stuff. Building Inspector Wallner: They give grants more than loans. Trustee Kyle: There are some pretty good resources for finding and hiring contractors online. I can maybe put together a list for you and email them to you. If that's okay. Diane Lagatella: That would be great. Mayor Pearson: Also, Messco Lumberyard, they are very knowledgeable in people to help and they may be able to get you somebody to do that work there. I know the manager that's there. He's quite nice. What would be somewhat of a time frame for you? If we found you somebody to help you, what would happen? Diane Lagatella: I could start right away. If I could find someone that would work with me, I would begin right away. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would have to hear from the Building Inspector. What you think is a reasonable project to be tackled next and what type of a time frame before you would have to go and revisit. What do you think is reasonable? Considering you know the property owner, you've been to the house you do know she is trying. I just need to know to base my decision on what is a reasonable amount of time to allow her to try and do a few more of the repairs on her house. Building Inspector Wallner: It's difficult to say. There's a lot of compromised siding, the roof, when I was on it, was pretty soft. My guess is at some point the roof is going to fail. I would think you probably want to see some improvement on the roof and siding before winter. A lot of my concern, we were there the majority of the day, cleaning up all the growth of brush and weeds and stuff like that. The vegetation does deteriorate the siding so a lot of that that we removed in the Spring is starting to grow back. We offered you some resources *inaudible*. Diane Lagatella: The vegetation I can take care of. Building Inspector Wallner: We are really willing to help. Mayor Pearson: Can we see if we can find, you must know contractors and things like that. Building Inspector Wallner: And when we were there last time, we did have several people reach out to us and said they are always willing to help out neighbors. As long as we stay in communication, I think we can find a resolution. Mayor Pearson: What we're going to do, what I'm thinking, is that you're going to take care of the weeds and the overgrowth now. You're going to do that now. Rob will get in touch with you and give you a couple of choices of people. Trustee Kyle: I would suggest any recommendation you do get; Google is even a great resource because people are allowed to review companies on Google. I think that you'll get a good idea of a company by what their reviews on Google say. If they have a 1 or 2-star review and a lot of negative comments from customers, you say that you don't really think you should use them. I would just no matter who gets recommended to you just Google them, look them up, see what their 14 reviews look like. Mayor Pearson: What I'd like to do is have you come back like in a month, October and let us know where you are and the Building Inspector can keep us up to date with what's happening. Building Inspector Wallner: Ms. Lagatella has some issues with driving in the dark, so I would prefer stay in communication. Mayor Pearson: Okay, then you can keep us up to date, Rob. Deputy Mayor Thompson: 30 days, we could get some type of a report on how she's doing. Is it fair that in a month you can provide the Building Inspector with a progress report on how you're doing with getting a contractor, if there's a date that someone can start to do one of your projects. We just need to make sure that this keeps moving forward. Mayor Pearson: This is the plan, you're going to do your weeds and your maintenance on the front. The Building Department is going to get in touch with you with a couple of people and that's going to start and then they are going to let us know in a month where you're at. 4 Gladstone Ave - Hearing John Privitera: Within 30 days, I'll have *inaudible* and finish the outside. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Can I ask how we got here, because I have been sending pictures, phone calls, emails to the Building Department on this property for at least 6 years. It's looked how it looks now for years. Now all of a sudden because you've been called here, you're going to fix it. Why has it taken all these years if you've been the same owner? John Privitera: It's a 2 family, I have a single mom upstairs, that I don’t charge the going rate. It's hard to come up with money. The repairs on that building are probably going to be 15-20k. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I would imagine because it's like I said, it has looked how it looks now for years. I got to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised to see it on this list so we can get an explanation of what the heck has happened up there. John Privitera: I didn’t want to start anything until I can get into it and clean it. I don’t want any vinyl siding and the price of cedar is astronomical. Mayor Pearson: Are you going to re-cedar it or just going to repaint it? John Privitera: Some of the cedar curl too much *inaudible* Mayor Pearson: It's beautiful. It was one of my favorite. Even the rounded windows in the front. I love that house. Within 30 days, Rob, he said he's going to come see you, get a permit and he's going to do the work within 30 days. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What kind of time frame are we allowing here? Rob, to get started, completion. What do you want to see? Building Inspector Wallner: Mr. Privitera, what are you proposing? John Privitera: I'm going to do it myself, so I'm gonna need some. I will get a permit and start work within 30 days. 15 Deputy Mayor Thompson: Is that acceptable to you? Building Inspector Wallner: I think so. 7 Lafayette St - Hearing Mayor Pearson: This house has been an issue for a long time because I know the neighbors across the street, for 20 years were complaining about things on that house. It's been a long time. Tell us what you can do. Harry Edwards: I did the soffits. I did the roof. I cleaned up most of the debris around the house. Mayor Pearson: I saw a lot of overgrown bushes though. There's a lot of things in the front, I went by yesterday. Harry Edwards: That’s a rhododendron. I got to trim it down. I’m just doing it slowly. I did get letters from the village, but I went away for work in Houston. Got back a month ago. Mayor Pearson: What do you think your time frame looks like? Attorney Cordisco: Mayor, it might be helpful to ask what the long term plan would be. Does he intend to keep the house? Harry Edwards: I am going to short sell the house. Mayor Pearson: You think you’re gonna sell soon or you think you're going to fix it up more? Harry Edwards: I am going to try to fix what’s wrong with it. Building Inspector Wallner: Any progress on the short sell? Harry Edwards: They had offers but the mortgage company rejected it, but there is another offer out there. Building Inspector Wallner: I see a monumental task at cleaning this up. There's no way we can we could put a time limit of 30 or 60 days on it. It's not only going to take time, it’s money. Attorney Cordisco: It's just not feasible. Trustee Taylor: There are some significant unsafe conditions noted here. We're talking load bearing walls. We're talking potential collapse. This is an unsafe situation as it sits in the village. Some of these conditions that are that are indicated as unsafe, I'd be leery of anybody going in and out of there. When you're talking potential collapse, load bearing walls given way. To attach a timeline for aesthetically approaching this thing. I'm not comfortable with these conditions that you've identified here as unsafe. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Are we at a place with this property where we need a structural engineer to come in and say uninhabitable? Trustee Kyle: Have we had an engineer look at it? Building Inspector Wallner: I believe the gentleman would probably make that assessment itself. 16 If you're going in there and taking stuff in and out, at some point I would say it needs to be secured and I don't know how that would affect the short sale or for that matter how the mortgage company comes up with the idea of refusing an offer. In my mind, any offer is better than nothing. Mayor Pearson: That's a tough one. Trustee Taylor: What keeps people from going in and out of there at will? Mayor Pearson: It's secured. Trustee Taylor: It's secured but it's unsafe. Mayor Pearson: It's not unsafe if you don't go inside. Were you inside? Enforcement Officer Roosa: What you’re reading is a boilerplate from the code. We’re picking parts of the code that apply. Trustee Taylor: I'm not looking at stuff that you saw visually? Enforcement Officer Roosa: There's conditions there *inaudible* but I didn't go inside. I write down the conditions that I see. I’m quoting the code and then there's comments where I put in what I found. Mayor Pearson: You’re still in the process of selling. Is there a way to clean it up a little bit more before you sell it? Is that something we can count on that you could do? So, whoever buys it is either going to tear it down or fix it. They have to go to the Building Inspector to do that. There's no one living in it. If there's nobody living in it, I would just say keep it really locked and let's work on that sale. Give it a time frame. I don't know Rob, what do you think? Building Inspector Wallner: How long is it going to take to get your belongings out of there? Harry Edwards: Maybe 60 days. Building Inspector Wallner: I’m uncomfortable with deeming it unsafe and then still having people go in and out. Presents a lot of liability on the village. Trustee Kyle: Is it something that an engineer should look at? Are we deeming it unsafe without having been inside of the property? That seems a little preemptive. I don't know. Building Inspector Wallner: From what I’ve seen, I haven’t been in it or that close to it, but you can see the decay from the road. *inaudible* there’s no telling when you have moss growth like this, there’s no telling how much is decayed. If the board directed to have an engineer look at it to limit liability to the village, I’d be okay with that. I would like to see you gather what you need sooner rather than later in case there is something structurally unsafe. Attorney Cordisco: My recommendation would be to remove only those things that are personal items that you feel that you really want to retain for yourself and anything else could become part of the sale. It could be as is. Mayor Pearson: Are there family members that want things? Harry Edwards: I have sisters but they want no part of it. 17 Mayor Pearson: Are you going back away for work soon? Or are you here for a while? Harry Edwards: I’m here for a little bit. Mayor Pearson: So, you can get the things out pretty quickly. You have a place to put them? Harry Edwards: Yes. Mayor Pearson: Are you okay with taking that things that you want out soon? Like within the next 3 weeks. And talk to the Building Inspector, just let him know when you're going there. Harry Edwards: Yes. Building Inspector Wallner: And then have it boarded up and secured so no one else can get in. 27 Ulster Ave – Hearing Dennis Wageman: I was on vacation and I supposedly got letters about going to court. Then I supposedly got certified letters about being here. Which I never got. I was told that I rejected that letter. The post office said it was not deliverable because I was on vacation. Mayor Pearson: Do you live in this house? Dennis Wageman: I live in a lot of places. Mayor Pearson: Do you have another mailbox that we can send things to? Dennis Wageman: No, but that's good. The post office wanted to see the barcode because they said I rejected it and it was undeliverable because I wasn’t there. It’s problem. Mayor Pearson: Who brought you here? Dennis Wageman: I got here because I went to the Building Department and complained about going to court. Then I was told that I was going to have to come before the board. I got back last Friday, didn’t find anything. I went over and talked to the Village Manager and he said I was on the agenda for the 19th. But I didn't get those letters so being the 19th I showed. Mayor Pearson: What court were you going to go to? Enforcement Officer Roosa: He was scheduled to go to the Village Court. We were informed by Judge Hoffman that it was to go to the board. Dennis Wageman: What are we here for? Are we here for the vegetation? The chimney? Painting? Enforcement Officer Roosa: All of the above. Mayor Pearson read violation into minutes regarding chimney and peeling paint Dennis Wageman: In the paperwork I never saw what you read. You said chimney and paint. I didn’t know what to expect here tonight so I didn’t bring the original paperwork with me. In spring, I went to talk to the Code Enforcement Officer because I was a little concerned about the about the chimney. I was looking for what standard I was rejected to and what standard I had to rebuild it. This is really brickwork. I went and looked at other people’s chimneys. I saw deterioration on other 18 people’s chimneys. I thought, do I really have a chimney problem or a brickwork problem? I started looking at brickwork. Where do you find that? Right in downtown. Then you hear things like they’re willing to help. Well, I couldn’t get the standard for rejecting my chimney and what I have to rebuild. Then it went to you can’t be looking at down town buildings, you can’t be looking at other people’s brick work. I don’t know if I have a crack in my chimney. I was told that I have a crack. If you’re looking at cracks, you have to look at the Fowler building. Mayor Pearson: Are you going to fix your chimney? Dennis Wageman: What standard? Mayor Pearson: I would think you'd have to get somebody to put some new bricks on there and they usually have a cap on the top. I had to do that with my chimney a few years ago. Dennis Wageman: The big if, is, talking to other people about chimneys, which I'm not supposed to do, you get into leaning chimneys. *inaudible* Deputy Mayor Thompson: Why don’t you get a chimney person to come and do an assessment of what needs to be fixed? Dennis Wageman: Then you got the other problem. You talk to people about fixing my chimney and what do they do? They’ll put a cap or whatever, they’ll parge the side of the chimney. Deputy Mayor Thompson: They didn't do that to my chimney when it needed to be fixed. Mayor Pearson: They didn't do that to mine. Dennis Wageman: Parging is almost a structural repair. Is that acceptable to a brickwork standard? I don’t know. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Just get a chimney expert to come and tell you what needs to be done. Dennis Wageman: I asked if it’s a chimney problem or a brickwork problem. It appears to be a brickwork problem. If you look at the all the brickwork around the village…. Trustee Mishk: The other places around the village aren't being brought up here now. We are talking about yours, please. There's been other chimneys cited here in the village. Let's just go with what you're gonna do to fix it. Mayor Pearson: Dennis we are not here about the other building. We are here about your chimney and your facade of your home, your woodwork, the painting. Trustee Kyle: You don't know what the circumstances behind that other building are or what citations they have been issued or where they are in the process. So, that's not really a fair comparison. Attorney Cordisco: And if I may, it's not a defense. It's just not a defense to say well what about this over here, what about the other guy that was speeding down the street? You didn't get him. Why do I get a ticket when that other guy was driving faster than I was? It's just not. So, the question is, how much time the board really wants to spend on this tonight? *Back and forth discussion* 19 Mayor Pearson: Dennis, the board will make a decision on what's going to happen. You need to fix your chimney. It's not safe, even for you it's not safe. Dennis Wageman: When do you want it done? Mayor Pearson: Also, the painting on your house. It's a beautiful house. It's gorgeous. I love that house. I love the fretwork on it. It's beautiful. The double doors. It needs help. It needs some love and care. Dennis Wageman: The fact that this house is brick, it's unfortunate that somebody painted over the brick. Mayor Pearson: I'm not talking about painting the brick. I'm talking about painting the woodwork and the wood around the windows, around the porch. For me, I don't have a problem with the brick not repainted, because I look at other old buildings that have paint on them that are brick and are not repainted. I don't have a problem with that. That's just me. I'm only one member on this board. Trustee Mishk: Did you start working on this already, because I see in 1 of these photos there's a picture that looks like a lift? Dennis Wageman: I brought the lift there, I took down some ivy around the drain. Then the main cylinder on the lift blew out. That's a big repair for me. Another problem, I've got a major health issue and that slowed me down a lot. Mayor Pearson: What can be your time frame for your chimney? Dennis Wageman: I have no idea. The big hole in my chimney, I could take off the top layers of brick. That’s where the standards of brickwork come in. Deputy Mayor Thompson: That's why you need a chimney expert to come and tell you how you can repair your chimney. They'll give you options; you pick what you're going to do. Mayor Pearson: The Building Inspector has a problem with the chimney. There's a big thing in the top of your chimney that should not be there. I have a problem with your chimney. Your chimney needs to be repaired and you do know that, Dennis. Trustee Taylor: Madam Mayor, where are we at here? Mayor Pearson: Mr. Building Inspector, do we have a standard for chimneys? Building Inspector Wallner: There is. Has to be a certain height above the peak of the roof. Mayor Pearson: Can we get that standard to Mr. Wageman and maybe he can find somebody that can work with that standard? Keith is going to get you that standard for you. Then you'll find somebody that works within that standard to fix your chimney. Deputy Mayor Thompson: And we're going to scrape and paint the wood trim on the porch. Mayor Pearson: And the windows in the back. All the wood that's exposed. Building Inspector Wallner: Any peeling paint needs to be repaired. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Do we have a time frame? 20 Mayor Pearson: Dennis, do we have a time frame? Can we make it before winter so that wood can kind of be protected? Dennis Wageman: We can try. Mayor Pearson: Can we do the chimney before winter? Before the furnace has to come back on. Dennis Wageman: I could probably do that. Mayor Pearson: Board, how many months do you want to do? Trustee Mishk: I think that this actually is a case that should be moved to the court and address there. Mayor Pearson: Why did they say it had to come here? What was the reason for that? Building Inspector Wallner: I think because there was so many cases that really we wanted the board's intervention to kind of help move things along. We're not here to hammer anyone. We just want everybody to kind of collaborate and help Mr. Wageman make a decision and get this safe. My biggest problem and first of all, again, this is on a main thoroughfare through the village. It really looks awful, but even more importantly than that is the loose bricks on the chimney. If those bricks come loose and fall on somebody, they’re going to die. Deputy Mayor Thompson: The other thing also, this is dated October 24, 2024. This issue has been an issue for going on a year. It's been a long time so I think it needs to be addressed in a short time. Trustee Mishk: I think the work should commence within 30 days. Trustee Taylor: I agree. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I'm fine with that as well. Trustee Kyle: I'm okay with that. Mayor Pearson: That's fine. Then the vegetation. Dennis, you're going to talk about that. Dennis Wageman: The vegetation, it’s overgrown. It doesn’t bother me. It bothers the village. Mayor Pearson: It's not just the village. There's people that live there that have to look at it. There's people that go by every day. It's not just us. It's the village itself. We're trying to make things better. And we hope that we can count on you to do that too because she's a beauty. Dennis Wageman talked about different vegetation growing Mayor Pearson: I know that I had a brick guy come to my house because I have cement around the bottom and he said you really should take that ivy off of there because it's really not good for the bottom of your foundation. I take it off all the time. It does grow there, but I keep pulling it off. I love it too. I don't pull weeds. I have growth but it doesn't affect me, but I will not keep it on my house because of what he told me. It was not going to be well for my foundation. So, I'm trying to protect my house. 21 Building Inspector Wallner: He did do a fair amount of cleanup. There was a lot of poison ivy last fall. Mayor Pearson: Anything else, Rob? Building Inspector Wallner: I don’t think so. Mayor Pearson: We’re just concerned about your chimney and paintwork to keep your beautiful house beautiful. So, within 30 days is to start your work and get her going. 129 West Main - Hearing Building Inspector Wallner: After our conversation with Ms. Lagatella in the spring, Keith and I did go visit Robin. Offered to help clean up. We've seen no progress. We've seen no communication. Obviously, she didn't show up here today. Deputy Mayor Thompson: This is another property; this is not a new issue. This is years. Building Inspector Wallner: Absolutely and she admits that too. She apparently doesn't want anybody to help her and I have a problem with these dilapidated buildings being on our main thoroughfares. This brings down out the entire image of the village. Mayor Pearson: Does she have a plan? Building Inspector Wallner: No communication. She's very nice and we had a nice conversation when we were there, but then but then nothing. Mayor Pearson: Does she live by herself? Building Inspector Wallner: Yes. I also gave her a list, RUPCO and Assemblyman Maher and Habitat for Humanity and different resources to rehab. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Did she get the rehab loan paper? Building Inspector Wallner: She has not. Mayor Pearson: Has she been told about it? Building Inspector Wallner: Yes. That was definitely part of the conversation. But can’t force it. A lot of the things on this list today, Keith and I are at the point where we just feel like we're spinning our wheels and we're not getting any results. 1 of the reasons we really refrain from taking them to court, the court has the ability to fine them. What's the point of fining some of these people that already can't make ends meet? The court does not have the ability to compel compliance. Mayor Pearson: Yes, but the if they're not even willing to come to a meeting and let us try to help them in a certain way, then what are we to do? That's part of the process. If they don't want to be a part of that process, then what do we do? We send them back to court? That's what I would say. Dominic, am I wrong? Attorney Cordisco: No, you're right. Mayor Pearson: So, if they don't want to come and be heard and why they need a struggle, as I 22 said people are struggling, it's not just certain people, it's many people and we can maybe try to help and do something different. But if they're not here to explain their situation, then I would say send it back to court. Building Inspector Wallner: Fair enough. 192 Ulster Ave - Hearing Building Inspector Wallner: The directive of the board was to return today. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Did you get any correspondence from him? Building Inspector Wallner: Zero and it's gotten worse. More car parts in backyard. More dilapidated vehicles in the backyard. More in the driveway. Mayor Pearson: Dominic, what can we do about that as a board? Attorney Cordisco: You can close this hearing and for the September 2nd meeting we will have a decision in order which allows the village to remove the vehicles and charge the cost back to the homeowner. Trustee Taylor made a motion to close the hearing for 192 Ulster Ave. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 116 South Montgomery St - Hearing Tabled Annual Candle Light Vigil Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve the annual candle light vigil. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 44 First Street – Child with Autism Sign Mayor Pearson: We got an email from John about this and I forward it to you. She is at 44 First Street and she has a 2 children with autism and would like to have a sign put on the street. I got a n email from John today that they have to have 4 signs. Dominic, do you know anything about that? Attorney Cordisco: Mr. Revella had asked me about this quite some time ago and I had researched this issue and had reported back to him. In my understanding is that this is on village street and so you're absolutely correct, the information that you circulated relates to the DOT and what would be allowed on state owned roads. Certainly possible. My response to John is that the village can certainly do this. If they want to do this, there are no standards involved. So, if the village wants to pay for and have the village employees erect the sign out there for child with autism, you are certainly empowered to do that. Mayor Pearson: He said they that if we did 4 signs they'd be like $440 and he said they were roughly $100. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Why do we need 4? Mayor Pearson: We don’t know. Dominic said that's for the state road. Attorney Cordisco: Is this is this a 2-way street? 23 Mayor Pearson: It is a 2-way street; you'd have to have 2 signs. Trustee Mishk made a motion to purchase and install Child with Autism signs. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Veterans Day Ceremony Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve the Veterans Day Ceremony request. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. 4 ayes. 1 abstention (Mayor Pearson). Motion carried. Livestream Mayor Pearson: We have an email. $50 increase in our live streaming, which is coming up to be September 1st. *read email into minutes* Trustee Kyle: Is that something that we have a contract and can be reviewed? Mayor Pearson: Marisa said was no contract and sent that to me, I can show it to you. Trustee Kyle: We have issues with the microphones. People not being able to hear. Everyone who's watching the live stream. I work in the corporate world and there's big board rooms where there's a little tiny circular thing on the middle of the table and everyone is heard perfectly fine and then half the people are virtual. I just feel like there’s a lot of issues. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I agree and we've addressed it before. I had asked at 1 point for Mr. Ibberson to put something up about troubleshooting. Not a good experience with the live stream. I hear it repeatedly from people that the quality is not good. The screen freezes all the time. There’s a delay. If we are to continue with the service and get a price increase, I don't disagree with you Liz that we need some things taken care of. Mayor Pearson: Do we want to direct the manager to talk about that issue with the supplier and get back to us by September 1st? Trustee Kyle: I would like to be a part of those conversations. Mayor Pearson: September 1st is coming up and our next meeting is September 2nd, so whether we don't move forward for now…. Trustee Kyle: Can I get with you and then we'll talk about reaching out to them and setting something up? Mayor Pearson: I'm going to leave that up to John and you. Attorney Cordisco: There is no obligation that the meetings be live streamed. I know that there's a significant public benefit and I'm sure that there's people at home that are watching and take advantage of the live stream and the recordings as well. But the board will have to make a decision as to what's in the best economic interest of the village and so if there's alternative means to provide that service or whether it's another company or it's something that the village itself wants to take on or if this in light of that the lack of alternatives that this is a reasonable proposal. Mayor Pearson: I am going to leave that with you and John to talk to the company and they'll decide what's going to happen for the next meeting. 24 Public Comment Dennis Wageman: The certified letters and I wish the Code Enforcement Officer was still here. I got a Village of Walden Building Department notice of violation dated 8/8/25. That’s the date of the letter. It was in Albany on the 12th. It has a compliance date of 8/14. I received it 8/15. Is there anything that can be done to get these dates of letters in the time in the mail and the compliance date more in line? It should be at least 5 days after you receive it or something. They don't know when I receive it but the time frame just doesn't fit the mail delivery. Mayor Pearson: I'll bring it up, Dennis. Dennis Wageman: I had a snow removal violation. I asked for the pictures. I asked for what was done. No reply. This was by Dean Stickles. He said to talk to the Village Manager. Tried talking to the Village Manager. Wrote a 1-page letter. No reply. Kept digging into my snow removal situation. Come to find out, it really didn’t snow. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Kept digging and go the timesheet from the village. Time sheet didn’t list the time. Village code is pay by time and materials. No time listed. Did that stop the billing department from making a bill? No. To me that’s a tremendous problem. You end up with a fraudulent bill. Then that bill was certified and added to my taxes. I was forced to pay that bill. Mayor Pearson: What are you questioning? Dennis Wageman: The bill is supposed to be based on time and materials. That’s arrival time. They didn’t spend 12 hours 20 minutes. Trustee Kyle: I'm pretty sure there is a standard rate that they charge for removal per property. Mayor Pearson: Dennis, I’ll bring it up. John Owens: It's my first time her. Building Inspector left, I’m coming here with a complaint so I was hoping he would have stayed. 48 Wait Street, I have 2 stairs that go up to my porch, 25/26 inches to the ground. But because of my cane and I have neuropathy and a cage in my back and neck, it’s difficult to go upstairs to begin with. I explained that to the Mr. Keith Roosa. I have a handyman that is putting in the 2 stairs, not making any modification. Just replacement so I can go up. He called me to say the Building Inspectors, Keith, saying he can't do the work. I said put Keith on the phone and I asked what's the code because I looked at the code, anything under 30 inches in state. And state doesn’t refer to municipalities. He said that I need a permit. I asked what’s the code. He said the same as before. I asked what was the parameters. He said that he already told me once and when he handed the phone to the handyman, he called me an a*****e. All I wanted to know was the code. I had to come over here to see what was going on. I had the guy rope it off because the bottom says punishable by fines or prison. Went to the Building Department to talk to them directly. Nobody’s there so I went up to this office and spoke to Ms. Marisa here. Very polite, professional. Went back to talk to the Building Inspector and Keith was there. I asked him where was the code. From the ground to the top is only 27 inches. His words to me were, “I have better things to do”. The Building Inspector was behind the door dealing with a contractor and the police were there too. I said that I live here, pay the taxes. You guys work for us. If you’re going to give me something like this, I need to know why. His words, “if you’re paying my salary, I need a raise”. I don’t like coming here doing this. I’ve been here 20 years. Never go to a board meeting. I’m retired now. I’m injured. A Veteran. I keep the place reasonable. They call me the flag house. I apologize for coming here with this kind of talk. Mayor Pearson: We appreciate people telling us what happens, because we don't always get to hear that. Did you ever get the code? 25 John Owens: I got the answer online. Attached to the order was the Village of Walden code, 121-6 and 121 exemptions. I wasn’t changing anything. It’s not structural. A stair breaks. You replace the stairs. I had 2 stairs break. They were so professional here and I get this. Brenda Adams: Thank you for giving us permission to have Veterans Day Ceremony. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Mishk: I've seen a few conflicting bills in there that I think we need to look closer at. There was a bill there for a truck part. There were 3 invoices attached to it. They were all for the same part number. I think the amount was $160 and the last page of that said credit for $160. Meaning that it was the wrong part. It said wrong truck part on it so I don't know why we're paying that when it's actually a credit. I put a sticky on that. The other one, I guess were addressed? Mayor Pearson: Marisa said they were addressed today. Marisa had to do John's job while he wasn’t here so she was checking the bills first, to sign. Trustee Mishk: Last thing, is that there's a lot of late bills in there and I'd like to know why they're all late? Some are from credit cards. There were stickys going all the way back to February that bills weren’t paid. Treasurer Degon: We did transition from BMO credit card to Orange Trust credit card. Not everybody got their cards at the same time. That was a little bit of hairiness with getting to know our lines. The website wasn’t up to date yet. At this point, they did a real push to get them all in. Trustee Mishk: If I’m not mistaken, again, there were a lot of bills in there to look. Treasurer Degon: Lanc & Tully comes as a stack. Trustee Mishk: I think some had accumulated interest as a result of them being late. Treasurer Degon: Credit cards. Trustee Mishk: Are we having to pay that interest? Treasurer Degon: It's not on auto pay. I have to go in and pay it myself. Trustee Mishk: Why are we using the credit card that much? Some of the bills I looked at today for credit card bills, some of those are purchases that should have been preapproved before they were even made. Treasurer Degon: I guess some of them have to be paid for. There's certain situations like office supplies. Trustee Mishk: I get it when it’s an emergency, but a can of paint is not an emergency. Trustee Kyle: We would have to look at it case by case to determine that. Mayor Pearson: That might have to be addressed with John and how he wants to make that work or between the 2 of you. Trustee Kyle: Is there a reason why as a board we don't want to do automatic payments? 26 Trustee Taylor: That was discussed at length and Madam Mayor was one of the proponents not to have that on autopay credit cards. Mayor Pearson: I just feel that that the credit cards can be looked at monthly and monthly bills should be paid monthly when they're due. I get that there's a process to it and you're working that process out now so it's getting a little bit better. So, if you go buy something at the Thruway Market that goes to your department. But it shouldn't make for something to be late though. That's where if things are going to be late because of that then they need to change the system and I'm not going to do auto pay. People need to be more responsible to get their bills on time. 4 ayes. 1 no. (Trustee Mishk). Motion carried. Correspondence Mayor Pearson: The only correspondence I got was the email that came from the person who actually showed up tonight. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Deputy Mayor Thompson: I attended the end of summer picnic down at the park. Was well attended and very nicely done. Whoever the caterer was, they were excellent. Everybody, the children, their families, the employees, everybody seem to be having a very nice time. All of the families had nothing but rave reviews about camp. They're looking forward to coming again next year. I just want to make sure everybody in the community knew we still have a few concerts left for Music in the Grove. We were rained out was it last week. You need to come down and visit. The concerts are great. We're selling the cars for Harvest Fest for the Derby. There's all kinds of good stuff. National Night Out, because the special meeting that we had was not televised, that was another wonderful event, very well attended. Terrific fireworks. Again the community seemed to really enjoy that the Police Department and all the other different departments, various organizations all came together to put that on. Community Council. It was a really nice event. Mayor Pearson: Picnic was wonderful. It was a great turn out. They really enjoyed camp this year. It was nice. National Night Out was fun. Music was good, it was just a really nice night and it cooled off enough. Fireworks were great. Marisa is still asking for bios and pictures for he web page. Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, Attorney Client Trustee Kyle made a motion to enter executive session to discuss personal history of particular person and attorney/client regarding Oak St Alley. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thomopson. All ayes. Motion carried. 27  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting August 19, 2025 Motions & Resolutions Public Hearing – Local Law 5 of 2025 – Outdoor Café Trustee Mishk made a motion to close public hearing for Local Law 5 of 2025 – Outdoor Café. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried Approval of Minutes – July 1, 2025, July 15, 2025, August 6, 2025 Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve minutes. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. Mayor Pearson abstained from the 2nd set of minutes. School Resource Officer Mayor Pearson made a motion to approve the School Resource Officer Agreement. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. Roll Call: Trustee Taylor: Yes Deputy Mayor Thompson: Yes Trustee Mishk: Abstain Trustee Kyle: Yes Mayor Pearson: Yes Motion carried. 98 South Montgomery – Property Maintenance Trustee Taylor made a motion to schedule a hearing for 98 South Montgomery St for August 19, 2025. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 192 Ulster Ave - Hearing Trustee Taylor made a motion to close the hearing for 192 Ulster Ave. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 7 South Montgomery St - Hearing Trustee Mishk made a motion to close hearing for 7 South Montgomery. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Annual Candle Light Vigil Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve the annual candle light vigil. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. 44 First Street – Child with Autism Sign Trustee Mishk made a motion to purchase and install Child with Autism signs. Seconded by Trustee 28 Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. Veterans Day Ceremony Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve the Veterans Day Ceremony request. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thompson. 4 ayes. 1 abstention (Mayor Pearson). Motion carried. Payment of Audited Bills Trustee Taylor made a motion to approve payment of audited bills. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. 4 ayes. 1 no. (Trustee Mishk). Motion carried. Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, Attorney Client Trustee Kyle made a motion to enter executive session to discuss personal history of particular person and attorney/client regarding Oak St Alley. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Thomopson. All ayes. Motion carried. 29