Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting October 7, 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 Gerald Mishk Bill Taylor Cheryl Baker Ralph Garrison, Jr Absent: Liz Kyle Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Marisa Kraus, Village Clerk John Cappello, Village Attorney Village Manager’s Report • We had a wonderful Harvest Fest. Well attended, everything went smoothly Going over payroll, journal entries • Went over projects and interviews with DPW. Have 2 new hires. • Went over permits and responses at the Building Department • Had a meeting with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the town reps with the CAC regarding the aquifer protections and then another meeting with the town reps and the Deputy Mayor, myself regarding the same thing. We'll keep progressing on that • Went over some issues with the insurance carrier to make sure they have the right forms for us and right coverage. They like to update once in a while to make sure that they have the right number of employees and vehicles and equipment covered • Went over some PBA matters with special counsel and chief, also with the committee. We're supposed to be meeting later this week for the PBA negotiations • Did some interviews with the chief for some candidates for full time and have some ready to go. We're just waiting on the background checks to get them in the Academy and get them started. Some part timers as well • Met with the financial consultant, progressing well on the bank recs. Did make sure that the rehab loan that was discussed last time was resolved. 11 Overlook, that was taken care of • I've been having a couple different correspondences with the new attorney about Lustig Court and with the easement concerns behind West Main Street • Recreation and Parks, teen center still going on Friday and Saturdays, indoor pickleball, events at the Community Center like cornhole and fitness programs going on. They had a sold-out trip to see The Jets versus the Bills. The monster bash for Halloween is scheduled for October 18th • Building Department issued 28 new permits, 16 violations including 2 of them for grass, 14 stop work orders, 24 CO reports sent out and 1 FOIL • Clerk's been making sure that we're updating Facebook and website, 207c, the one officer that's out has an IME set up for October 17th, processing payroll, FOILs, handicap and going over dig permits and IT with the Village Manager, along with the bimonthly calendar and helping out with canvas letters 1  • Finance, finished the AFR for 2025. Working on bank recs now. Retirement deductions, resident concerns, billing issues. We have another presentation for time clock/payroll company on Thursday, as well as NYCLASS tomorrow. BAN renewals were done. Edmunds programming and vouchers • Public Works been pressing sludge as they can, working on water service issues, meters, endpoints, postcarding, patching potholes, cutting back routes, cleaning the streets and catch basins. Flushing and jetting sewer lines and the company is in town now doing the repainting. They'll be back again on Thursday, because supposed to rain tomorrow • Police Department, we will have a coordinated walk out for Officer Conklin end of this month. They had since last meeting 498 blotters, 6 arrests, 73 traffic stops with 38 tickets issued, 2 MVAs and 11 parking tickets Trustee Mishk: On these stop work orders that the Building Department is doing, can we find out if these people had applications for permits in long term and now they're running down to the time that that you have to get it done and if so, for instance with roofing. I really don't think we should be charging them 3 times the price. They made every attempt to get a building permit. Manager Revella: I can try to find out. I know that certain situations, there's a few in particular, where they didn't get the right information in for the permits and went ahead anyway because they didn’t want to wait. Trustee Mishk: Well, if they didn't submit properly, I don't have a problem with that. The other thing did we correct the email that the title company sent us last month, of 2 houses that they were waiting to close on because the inspections weren't done? Manager Revella: The inspections were done, the issue was that they didn't correct the issues so they couldn't finalize the report. They were told. Trustee Mishk: Thank you. I noticed that there was a bill that we were paying a title company for title search for a rehab loan. Is that the normal? We pay for it? Manager Revella: We pay for it out of their money. It’s included in the loan. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Just curiosity, you have here that you attended monthly county legislative meetings, do you ever give us a report on if there's anything that pertains to the Village of Walden that perhaps we'd like to know about? Anything that's happening at the county level for us. Manager Revella: I couldn't tell you anything that's not public, but the one thing that pertains to us, is the county’s putting together a short-term rental list for everyone to share. It's gonna be on their website. They're paying a company to come and find all the short-term rentals in the whole county. They're going to divide it up by municipality so we can use it to search for and to go after. They know that municipalities have their own little rules and regulations but the county is going to tax them the same as the motel hotel tax. So, in order to do that, they have to come up with these lists to find out where they are so they can make sure they have the right revenue. When they have that list, we'll be able to use that for our enforcement purposes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Okay, just whenever you can share information with us, I would appreciate that because that's part of why you decided to accept that position because there should be some type of a benefit for our municipality. Correct? Manager Revella: Yes, for Walden and Montgomery. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Correct and just while we're on that, are you still on the transportation committee? We haven't heard anything from you in a very long time. 2 Manager Revella: Yes. We don't have another committee meeting. They cancelled the last 2 and we're supposed to have one for the 23rd but it got moved to next week as well. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I can't speak for everyone on the board, but I'd be very grateful if we could be kept abreast of anything that pertains especially to our side of the county. Manager Revella: Whenever I have those meetings, I usually have a small little blurb in my report about it. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Have we had any update on the municipal parking signs that we were trying to work with assemblyman on? Manager Revella: I haven't heard from the assemblyman back on those signs that we sent him. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Can we follow up on that please? And looking at the Building Department, I know there's some issues there, but 2 grass violations seem ridiculously low. When you go around the village it's an issue. I know they're busy. I know there's reasons, but that seems a little ludicrous for me. That number has fallen way off the map. Mayor Pearson: I just have 2 things. You talked about a presentation for the time clocks. You said you were going to have another presentation. Manager Revella: We have the quotes from the one company. They couldn't do a presentation in person, so we've just been on the phone with them. The other company is doing presentation Thursday. Mayor Pearson: What are the 2 companies? Manager Revella: Latham is the one you have the price quotes for. The other one is the one that the town is using. Recalibrate, it’s called. And they do time clocks and payroll. So, that'd be something we're looking to see what they can do and what they can’t. Mayor Pearson: The other thing was, you talked about the short-term rental for the county. We collect for short term rental here, they will be collecting from the village for short term rental? Manager Revella: No. From the owner. It's just that the sales tax on it. It's a 4% hotel motel tax Approval of Minutes – September 16, 2025 Tabled Payment of Bills Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve payment of audited bills with the exception of Drake & Loeb invoice. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Public Comment None Alcohol Waiver - Campos Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Campos Family. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Alcohol Waiver – Mason’s 3 Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for the Mason’s. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Auction Vehicles Trustee Garrison made a motion to approve auctioning the 2012 Ford F150 and 2006 Jeep. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. E-Bikes Mayor Pearson: Anyone have any comments on e-bikes from the last meeting? You were going to reread it, look at it again. Trustee Kyle: Thought we were sticking with like the NYS traffic law for those. Mayor Pearson: We said we'd bring it back to see if anybody wanted to add anything. There's a few things on here, I guess you don't ride on the sidewalks anyway, that's part of the law as well but I didn't know if we wanted to talk about it further or you're good with how it is right now. Trustee Kyle: I was okay with how it is. Trustee Baker: I wanted to add the options, I'd like some of the chief’s to suggestions that he had in the prior one, like add the fee and how we're going to deal with them if there are violations, first, second or third. I haven't heard anything from the community. I know we have brought up possibly forming a committee to see what the community's thoughts were. I don't know if the board thought of that or if they want to see that done or not. Mayor Pearson: Let's see how they feel about just following the vehicle traffic law or do you want to add more to our law that you think might be more prudent having it, fines and things like that that we need to add. Like first offense. Manager Revella: Local fines as opposed to state fines. Trustee Baker: And requiring that regardless of age you have to wear a helmet. I think there are some modifications on top of the motor vehicle law that we should consider implementing. Mayor Pearson: It says here that we can add sidewalk bans, helmet mandates and commercial delivery rules, but not create new classes of registration. So, there are things that we can add for our own local. What would you like in it? We like the vehicle traffic because that's standard. Do we want to talk about sidewalks? Do you want to talk about helmets on everyone? We were supposed to come this week to have that ready and what you wanted but if you're not ready yet, we can table it again, but I think we should just move forward a little bit. It says juvenile enforcement is limited. Can't ticket under 16 for traffic infractions, but can impound to refer to guardians. That can be part of the law, maybe in our local law. It doesn't have to be big. It's just kind of listing what our law would be and putting those statements in there. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Are you looking to go through these one by one? Mayor Pearson: We can, let's do it. The state enforcement is listed in the beginning, so we don't have to worry about that, because it's already there. What the Village Board can enact, local power. We have sidewalks, codify the e-bike operation on all sidewalks is illegal. That's simple. Helmet expansion, requires all e-bikers regardless of age and class to wear helmets within the village. Park trail rules may ban e-bikes in parks and playgrounds. Deputy Mayor Thompson: What do you want to do about that? I have seen them in the parks. 4 Trustee Kyle: I don’t know that I would ban it if they're riding that bike to the park. Deputy Mayor Thompson: To the park and through the park, on the trails where people walk and have their pets are 2 different things. Trustee Kyle: That’s specific to one park. Deputy Mayor Thompson: No, I walk in numerous parks in the village. Trustee Kyle: I know, but some have a roadway like the rail trail just has the parking lot. I wouldn't say for them to be on the rail trail, but to go into the drivable road at Bradley or Wooster’s Grove… Deputy Mayor Thompson: I'm talking about Wooster’s Grove. There's been people in there with bikes. Olley Park, there's been people with bikes. Bradley field there's been people with bikes. Mayor Pearson: I don't know really have a problem with that though. I went out West and I wrote an e-bike in Zion and that’s a park. You still can pedal. It's not like it's a motorcycle. You're still pedaling it. You're still using it. You still have to pedal to make it work. Sometimes it just doesn't carry you the whole time, depending on what type of bike it is. There are 2 different types. There's one that you don't have to pedal and which I would probably maybe restrict that one. But the one you pedal, I would say it’s fine. Deputy Mayor Thompson: That's what I'm asking, what do you want to do with bikes in the parks? Trustee Kyle: I would say maybe just restricted to being on a trail or a roadway and maybe not like through the grass or something. I don't know. Mayor Pearson: Not all over the park like Bradley Park going through all the dirt on the baseball field and that kind of stuff. Trustee Baker: I'm fine on the road, a paved roadway, but not on the trails. Trustee Kyle: I feel like I wouldn't mind them being on trails. They're still bike riding. Mayor Pearson: Let me use another example, my husband has really bad knees and he cannot pedal a bike. So, he took the one that he didn't have to pedal. It actually was really nice because we could go together if grandkids were with us. The grandkids would have a regular bike. So, there are things that older people cannot do that they may want to go on a bike ride and that's how they do it. It's not just young kids terrorizing things. Trustee Baker: Of course, you do have handicaps. Mayor Pearson: We do, but then that's for the police to deal with. I don't have a problem with it, at least the one that you have to pedal, but I would say both of them because now I'm old. I have to sometimes be assisted with things. I'm just thinking of an older generation that would be using it as well. Not just the young generation. I would just say to ban them within the grounds of the park, but not the trails of the park. Maybe word it that way. Is that something we can designate? Attorney Cappello: Yes. I think you could say with it even on bicycle. You can just say bike riding and e-bike riding on trails only. I don't know if the chief addressed it, but e-scooters are any different. 5 Manager Revella: Encompass. Can put any kind of scooter. Mayor Pearson: Let's go a little further, fines. This says first offense $150. Second within 18 months $300. I think it's a little steep, but that's just me. I think the first one you would just say, don't do it again. Trustee Mishk: I think the enforcement is done by the judge. I don’t think it’s done by the village. We can set the fines, the maximums, but the judge actually enforces them. He levies them. Trustee Garrison: It says less than or equal to. Mayor Pearson: No less than $150 and up to $300. But I’m not going to start at $150. I’m going to say $50. Trustee Garrison: If you read it says first offense, less than or equal to $150, which covers 0 to $150. Mayor Pearson: Are you all fine with the way it’s set up? All: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Do you have any thoughts on this cannot register locally? I felt like you tried to bring something up with the chief and I don't think he understood what you had in mind. Did you want to pursue that? Trustee Mishk: My thoughts were, they used to have most Police Departments used to carry a registration for bicycles. So that in case they were stolen or otherwise, they could recognize them when they saw them. They would take pictures of them and register it a number. My thoughts were on the same sense, that there were this way. This way if they were to register these e-bikes or even the scooters. The police aren't going to chase them if they recognize who it is, because they have a registration on it. Now a license plate. Not a motor vehicle thing. Just in our own database. The chief I think misunderstood me. He said we can always tell by past reports. Not everybody's e-bike or scooter or motorcycle is going to be in a pass report. Mayor Pearson: I don't know if I want to go to that extent. I think that's a lot. Trustee Mishk: Actually, it’s a great public service thing, because in the event that it is stolen, it can be traced when it is found. Otherwise, it ends up in a pile of scrap. Trustee Kyle: Enforcement of that seems very tough and setting it up to begin with seems tough. Trustee Mishk: It's not that difficult. My experience from doing it was an index card. It took 5 minutes to do. Wasn't that big of a deal. Mayor Pearson: The people come to the Police Department, fill it out and they sign their name and this is their bike that they have. Trustee Mishk: Their name, their address, this is the bike I have, the serial number. And that’s it. Not that big of a deal. Trustee Kyle: I feel like it shouldn't be mandatory. Mayor Pearson: That's a good point so anybody have any comments on that? 6 Trustee Garrison: I just don't think you should make it mandatory for kids to register anything. I remember bringing my bicycle up to the police station when I was 8 and doing the whole serial number thing and this was my bike and then my bike got stolen 3 weeks later and then 6 months later it was sitting behind the police station in a pile. Does it actually work? That's what I'm saying. It was on file, my name, my home phone number, my address, serial numbers and the bike was found and I never got it back. I don't know because I see a lot of kids enjoying these little e-bike things and they're having a good time and they're outside playing and nobody's getting hurt. Then you have the couple of kids that are ruining it for everybody. I just don’t think it's necessary to register and do all this. Mayor Pearson: You’re okay with the rest of it though? Trustee Garrison: Yes. Trustee Taylor: I tend to fall on the side of what Jerry was proposing. It's a little bit of accountability. It’s kinda like you're talking accountability when you talk fines so maybe if you are registering your e-bike, you also recognize that you're accountable for it as well and maybe that is a deterrent to the willy nilly and loan it out. Trustee Garrison: But how can you enforce registering something that doesn't have any law saying that it has to be registered? Trustee Taylor: Local law could do that. Trustee Garrison: But how do you enforce it? You stop every single e-bike and you ask them if it’s registered? Now you're just deviating police efforts from other things that could be potentially be necessary. I just think it’s petty. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I don't think that's the intent. I don't think it's a policing thing. I think it's just to have it on file and if there's any type of an incident or if your bike gets stolen, the information is here. Trustee Garrison: But how do you enforce it? Deputy Mayor Thompson: I don't think there's anything to enforce. Trustee Mishk: It's twofold. Number one, like I said, it's recognizable if there is a violation. The police are not going to stop every e-bike. They don't stop every car, every truck, everything that goes through the village checking the registrations. Trustee Garrison: No. They have a thing on the back of their car that does it. Trustee Mishk: It's when they commit a violation, they go on the sidewalk, they find out it’s not registered, then it's a violation. They're not going to stop every single one. They can also hand out at every registration a small brochure of what the rules are of the road and how to operate these things. Like I said a big public service thing and I think that a description, like if your neighbor or somebody has a problem, they call the police. They have something they can look at. Let's say the kid does a theft and he jumps on an e-bike to take off. He gets a description from the victim, now the police can go back and look at their database and say oh, this one matches. Let's check this guy out. I'm not saying he's guilty but it's a way to go. Trustee Garrison: It’s hard to prove. I understand what you're saying. 7 Deputy Mayor Thompson: Maybe it's something that Jerry feels strongly about, maybe he should have a meeting with the chief and discuss it further. I just feel like when it was initially brought up, I understood what you were saying. But I think the Police Department was thinking about motor vehicle, which I knew was not what Jerry intended. Maybe this is a topic rather than have a big committee for everything, it's a topic that maybe Jerry, since he's so passionate about it, can just meet with the chief and go over it with him and bring it back to us. Trustee Baker: I'm not for making it mandatory. I think it should be a voluntary thing. If someone wants to voluntarily register their bike for those reasons, I agree with that. Manager Revella: I just want to make sure you have some clarity for the attorney so he could draft something. From what we're understanding, the fine issues, we get that. The helmet universal, big. Equipment violations, big. And then whether or not we can do some kind of registration. Anything else? Mayor Pearson: I was talking about the enforcement of the state law, number one and then it goes in this next section of that would be fine. Do we want Jerry to speak to the chief? Do you want to have to happen? Anybody want to at least hear or not? All: Yes. Mayor Pearson: Jerry you want to do that and speak with the chief and bring something back? Trustee Mishk: That’s fine. Attorney Cappello: I'll look into whether it's allowed and I can include it as an optional in your packet if you want to adopt it. Produce it that way, if not, you cross it out and introduce it without it. Deputy Mayor Thompson: They're talking about sidewalk bans, delivery people, different rules for commercial deliveries. Mayor Pearson: Yes we're including NYS law but then adding the extra. Cannabis Mayor Pearson: I know that there are definite opinions on this about whether we should opt back in. I know that the committee did a nice job, thank you for the presentation. John, do you have anything to share? Manager Revella: Just that if the board was to opt in, they'd need to discuss the zoning for it which zone it would be allowed in because it right now there's not any zoning for it that would be more of a store, which would be anywhere. You would want to make it zone specific, it would be permitted in, if you were going to allow it. Otherwise, they could pop up anywhere. Mayor Pearson: I know what they were saying last time, NYS, it's allowed. So, it's allowed in places, but there are places that is not allowed in. It is allowed in a place that is regulated by the state funding. You get money back from the state to be and that shouldn't be our sole purpose, but if the state is really going to help us close down other entities that already have it in this village that may be very helpful. And I'd like to ask if anybody knows how much of that they really do. Do they really come in here and help the Police Department? Maybe Vincent can help me with that. I know you're on that committee. Vincent Rouhotas: The state takes it very serious, cracking down on black market. I believe to date 8 there's been over 1300 inspections of facilities. But if you do opt in again, it opens up your Police Department to resources that are available from the state that aren't available otherwise to help crack down on it and that's state task force that will work together with your Police Department to crack down on the source. Mayor Pearson: How often will they come and how many stores will they have? If we have 5 here that are illegal then… Vincent Rouhotas: I don't have that information, I could get that for you and any questions that the board has. I'm not the most well versed on the regulation side of it, the committee Chair, Matt, he's the one that is more versed in that. I'm more on the economic side. But again, any questions that the board has that would like more clarity, I can get you our emails and we can get you all detailed answers for all of them. Mayor Pearson: I just didn't want to go too long without bringing it up again, because it was a nice presentation. I wanted to talk to people about it and see where their thoughts were. I know some are probably definitely nos. I don't know where the other people stand. John, where would it probably be? It would be in a business district. Manager Revella: Yes, absolutely. Would not want it in residential districts. It's a business Mayor Pearson: And it can't be close to a church. It can't be close to a school. It can't be close to daycares. Manager Revella: Correct. Vincent Rouhotas: It's a minimum requirement of 1000 feet from those, but the board can put their guidelines making 1500 feet 2000. Attorney Cappello: And youth activities. Vince, I don't think you can. I think the state, you can opt out, but if you opt in, I don't believe you can change the distance requirements. You can have an overlay. You can't make it longer. It's state rules. You can do an overlay, but you can't unreasonably restrict it. So, once you let in, you have to be reasonable. You can't say we're going to allow it and it’s going to be so restrictive, that we're only going to have 1 place. But you can probably do an overlay and certainly enforce the state regulations. Mayor Pearson: But our zoning may also regulate where it goes. Attorney Cappello: Yes, you can say only in the B1 or only in the B2. You can designate a district. You can't say only in the B1 subject to the distance requirements, subject to additional distance requirements. Where you get a map, it turns out there's one place. So, effectively you are prohibiting it. Mayor Pearson: Do you represent any municipalities that has opted in? Attorney Cappello: Yes. Mayor Pearson: How has it worked for them? Attorney Cappello: I haven't heard any complaints, but I know we are preparing some for certain municipals, we're doing an overlay district. I believe in Tuxedo. But there are municipalities that I 9 know of, Town of Newburgh has several, but I can't say for certain whether they're happy with it or not happy with it. Trustee Baker: If you can clarify, is this specifically for medical cannabis dispensary or a recreational or hybrid form? Vincent Rouhotas: Recreational, but I think it's also both. Again, I don't know 100% all the regulations, but I know for opting it would be recreational sales. Manager Revella: You can get medical at a recreational place. It's not vice versa. Trustee Kyle: I would be okay and open to it. It is legal in NY now and I don't have an issue with it. Trustee Baker: I look at it from the medical end. Having done elder care for many years and seeing the reprieve that people get from it. Whether it be pain or anxiety, PTSD or people with MS with the spasticity. Those that have the chemo nausea. I look at it from that benefit. I don't believe in restricting that access to those people. It's an adult choice and people have to make the decision that's best for them and their families. I don't believe that should be prevented for that. So for those reasons, I am for that. Not from the financial end. I've seen the benefit personally even with children that have severe autism that normally can't function like an everyday child, because of what they're going through and to see the difference that it has made, where they can function like a child. In saying that, if we were to opt in, do we have to worry about an explosion of like 5, 6, 7? Are we able to limit the number? Manager Revella: The market would limit it and the location would be limited by churches, we have a lot of churches in the village. Very hard for someone to get in here and if you say it's in a certain zone, that will restrict there as well. So, that's the only way you can restrict it. Though there's no limit on how many can be put in that specific zone, but the state's not going to give them permits if they're going to be 5 in a row. They're not going to be economically viable. It's not going to work. Vincent Rouhotas: They also have to be 1000 feet away from each other. You can't have 2 of them right next door, across the street. Manager Revella: Our village is only so wide, so once you get the churches in there and you do the circles around those, and the schools. It's probably pretty limited already. But the maps will show it. Trustee Baker: I do have a concern, I don't know how much of an impact, having a legal one versus the illegal ones that we have, because it's going to be mostly adults that have work, is that going to really put out the ones that are catering to the kids? Vincent Rouhotas: I would say that that's where the state resources and task force would come in, because a lot of the kids are getting it through the black market. By having a safer, legal option for people to go to, it kind of negates the black market side. Trustee Baker: But that's for young adults, 18 plus. What about those that are under 18? Your tweens, you're 16, 17-year-olds? How much of the enforcement with the resources that the state is providing, how much of an impact is that having on younger range. Not the adult range that can legally go in. It is more expensive, unfortunately. I wish the cost was more reasonable, especially for those that have chronic illnesses. 10 Vincent Rouhotas: I can't say where exactly kids are buying from. I do know that there's nothing stopping the under the age of 21-year-old from walking into a gas station and buy. It's being done. A lot of kids are getting it from these illegal spots. Gas stations. They're not requiring ID to purchase marijuana at a gas station or smoke shop. So, by helping get rid of that side of the market, I think that it would seem to impact on the end of your kids. Again, I don't know where they're getting it from and how they're selling in the schools, but if they are getting it from the gas station, which we do know that a lot of them are getting from the gas stations. By opting in and having a legal option and having the resources from the state to help crack down on that, you will see an impact on that side of it. Trustee Mishk: Touching on the basis of state resources. The state has had these resources in place. And if you want to call them resources, because they really don't have much, if we look back to the times before marijuana was legalized. Police have been trying to bust dealers for years and they weren't able to stop. I don't care what kind of resources that they're going to give us, there's always going to be somebody out there undercutting legal places selling. Then I consider the fact that in most of the towns around us, there's cannabis shops. I believe there's at least 2 in Town of Newburgh and 2 or 3 outside of Middletown. If they're adults, what's the big deal about going there and get it? Quite frankly, I spoke to a couple of different municipalities in regards to this, they said the profit that they thought they were going to be making, isn't that sizable. Nowhere near what we heard we could make the last time you spoke to us. The other thing to consider here in the village, most of our business areas in this village are surrounded by homes. I know I wouldn't want to live next to a pot shop. I don't want to have to the smell. I don't want to see the traffic going in and out. I want to be able to park my car where I want to be able to park it and not have to wait until the adult goes and makes his pickup. That's just my thoughts. Trustee Liz: How is it so much different than someone who's living next to a liquor store? Besides the smell. Trustee Garrison: Or how about a bar that's open till 2 in the morning, with music playing in the middle of Walden? Vincent Rouhotas: When you mention about the economic side of it, I know we have data from the Town of Newburgh. That one dispensary particularly there, is paying Town of Newburgh about a half a million a year in tax revenue. That's just one dispensary. Some of the newer dispensaries that come in, they don't have the data for those, yet because they're still new. But the one in particular that's been there in Newburgh, is every quarter is about 125k in tax revenue from the local tax fund sales. Trustee Mishk: I spoke to one indirectly through somebody else. I spoke to one of the, maybe it was a newer shop, he said he was lucky to bring in $1,500 in the first month. Vincent Rouhotas: I can't speak for how people do their business. But to touch on your point, what's stopping adults from going to other towns to buy it? If it's here now and there's towns and smoke shops and gas stations, a lot of them are buying it here and by opting in and creating a safer option, even if it is a little bit more expensive, again I'm not a user, if the difference of paying $10 more for a commodity that I know is safe, regulated and tested versus something that you don't know where it's coming from, it can be laced with something. I personally would take the more expensive option knowing that it's safe and regulated. Trustee Mishk: I don’t disagree. Referring to some of the kids, they don't care where they get it as long as they get it. 11 Vincent Rouhotas: Again, I do think by having those resources from the state and the OCM, it is a new state agency that it's been up and running for couple of years and it's only getting more efficient, I should say and they're getting more money, more resources for this. Having those resources available to crack down on the shops that are selling it illegally to kids, that will help combat kids getting their hands on it. I can't speak for the drug dealer who's selling at his moms house to kids. I don't know where they're getting from. I don't know they're getting from the gas stations. But I know a lot of kids, underage kids are currently getting from gas stations and smoke shops that are already here in the in the village. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I actually took the liberty of, what's the word, surveying my neighborhood to see what people thought about it. Nobody wants it near our neighborhood and I told them you don't have to worry about that, we have a church on our block so you're good with that. I have the whole age range in my neighborhood from newborns to 90 year olds. Most people didn't really have a problem with it and one of the comments that I heard over and over again was people are already traveling to buy the product. So, they're going out of Walden to buy it, they're bringing it back here and they're consuming it. Why don't you just have it here and they'll stay here and buy it here and consume it here? Vincent Rouhotas: That would be the benefit for the village to opt in, is the tax revenue. The job creations. It touches all aspects of your local economy. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I get it. Most of my neighbors are unhappy that we have so many vape shops in our neighborhood in our community to begin with. They liked the idea that if we have a legitimate dispensary, it can put some of those other businesses out of commission. Then the topic came up, if we drive those businesses out, what's going to take up those storefronts? Are we going to have empty storefronts, again? Vincent Rouhotas: I don't think gas stations and the smoke shops, just because they get cracked down on selling illegal marijuana are going to go out of business, because they're still selling gas or still selling smoke shop products. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I get it. One of the other things that one of my neighbors did bring up was, enforcement for people that are impaired that are getting into their cars to leave our community that maybe smoked before they left Walden. Are they putting people here at risk with the potential of driving under the influence and getting in an accident? I couldn't answer that. That is a question for the police. Vincent Rouhotas: I would say no, because they're already doing it. It's already legal NYS. Whether they are allowed to buy it here, they're allowed to buy in Newburgh. They can buy it in Newburgh and smoke it here. It's not against the law, so I would say it's already happening. Again, I would say if you do choose to opt in, you're not supporting cannabis, you're supporting a safer environment and a safer product and a safer commodity for people to purchase rather than having illegal options that are out there that, are not regulated or traced and can be laced with fentanyl or other drugs or you know you're really going out. Trustee Garrison: I'm just going to touch on a couple of things here, the first thing is we were all teens. We were all young and we all know that if we want to get something, we're going to get it regardless of how we get it. I remember being 17 and finding alcohol magically in the woods by my house, because somebody accidentally left it. Let's be honest, the younger kids, they're going to get it regardless if we have a shop in town or we don't have a shop. It's the same thing with alcohol. It's the same thing with tobacco products and it's going to be the same thing with marijuana. They're going to get it if they want it bad enough. What I like about this idea is getting rid of the illegal 12 sales out of the gas stations and the storefronts that aren't supposed to be selling it, because then it's regulated a little better. I honestly could care less about the revenue portion of it. I know that's a big thing for everybody. I've seen the effects of it. I know what it does for people with post traumatic stress. I know what it does for people that have anxiety and I know what it does for people that have cancer. I'm a big advocate for it. I think it's a great idea. I think that if you have one in Walden, all the people that are traveling out of Walden, are going to stay in Walden. We're all adults and we can go wherever we want to get it. I don't disagree. But if I could personally stay in Walden and buy it here instead of driving to go to New Paltz or the Town of Newburgh, then this is what I'm going to do, because this is where I live and this is where I feel the most comfortable. I'm an advocate for it. I think it's a great idea. I feel like we should opt in. I've said that since the beginning. But that's my personal feelings on it. As far as the youth and if they're going to get it or not get it, they're going to get it or not get it regardless on if we have a dispensary, if we don't have a dispensary. That's my opinion. Also if you look at the stats in Colorado, any car accidents related to people that were under the influence of marijuana is dramatically less than people that were under the influence of alcohol. Trustee Taylor: I pretty much gave my position on this at the last meeting. It's unchanged. I'm not enamored by the economical aspect of it. It's already here, we know that. I'm not looking for a dispensary to be the weapon to get rid of the illicit sales in the village. I'm not convinced that that's going to do that as well. Vincent Rouhotas: It's not the dispensary. It's opting in gives you access to the states task force. Trustee Taylor: I understand. I thank you for the presentation. Thought you did a very good job. One of the things that I brought up, was the advertisement. You go down 300 and you indicated that the state is really all over that the advertisement, it looks like the circus is coming to town still. So, where is the enforcement there? The advertisement aspect that the state supposedly, we've got a blowing up balloon down there, signs all over the place, big clown type structure. Who are we advertising to there? Vincent Rouhotas: Again, I can't speak 100% of the regulation side. Matt is the expert in that. But I believe that the last time we presented, he did mention the business is allowed to advertise their business. They're not allowed to advertise the products. I would compare it to a gas station having signs of Marlboro cigarettes having the cheapest price in town. That what they’re not allowed to do. Trustee Taylor: They're advertising the product, so I'm not buying into the fact that the state is all over that and trying to regulate. It’s here we are, come on in adults. We got a blow up clown going down there, who we advertising to? What are we selling? We're selling cannabis. How do we know? Because there's a picture of it, which I think the gentleman that was here last time indicated they're not supposed to be doing that. Vincent Rouhotas: Correct. They’re not supposed to be doing that. They're playing with fire, because the state doesn't take things lightly and if they do crack down, they can lose their licenses. Again, I don't know how the state task force works or how the chain of command happens. Or if they need enough public complaints about something to crack down on. I'm not aware of that side of it but again, I can have our committee send in a detailed email addressing any concerns that you have and how things work with the state side. Trustee Taylor: I don't have a lot of faith in the state of New York for a lot of issues, this is one of them. I’m not wanting to rely on the state of New York to come to our rescue. I'm a pretty simple guy, so I kind of look at this and I said how can I break this down in my head to where it makes a little bit of sense? I am completely aware of the medicinal aspects of cannabis. I'm not opposed to 13 that one bit. Doctors prescribe a prescription for that. I'm on board. I have family members that reap the benefits of that. I’m not going to argue the ins and outs of medicinal and recreational. It's none of my business. There's people more competent than me to have that discussion. This is our house and if we've got issues that need to be cleaned up. That's where I want to be. I don't want to rely on bringing in a dispensary to assist in that cleanup aspect. Granted that makes some sense, we're going to drive out the illegals. I get that. I'm not on board that that's gonna happen. I'm definitely not hooking my wagon to the economical carrot that's always dangled when this subject comes up. The state’s a big proponent of that. That's the selling point. The state doesn't push the medicinal aspects of it. What they're pushing is the economical reward that you could reap. And that's what I hear from the State of New York. I don't see a whole lot of literature out there about the medicinal aspect effects, which I think should be warranted if you're going to talk about the good parts. It's regulated when the prescription gets issued. I've had an awful lot of exposure to this. I'm not going to belabor this. Is a dispensary going to make my village better? I'm not convinced of that. I don't think it's going to be the vehicle to clean up our house. But that's just me and it's just my opinion. Mayor Pearson: I don't partake, but I do believe in the municipal part of it. Cancer patients, I know suffer so much. I do understand the youth and I know Jerry you said you don't want your neighborhood, listen the people in my neighborhood, next door, 12 at night I could be sleeping and it wafts in my window. 4 o'clock in the morning, it's in my window. I walk down the street and you can smell it. It's not something that that's not going to be here. It's right in my neighborhood every day. It's not something that I enjoy smelling. One of these days, I'm going to ask them if they could smoke in the front of the house instead of the back. My bedroom is in the back of the house so it comes in that bedroom window almost every night. I understand that part of it. I do understand people worrying about addiction. But it is here, I do believe we've had some worse issues on some streets that people were just selling and doing and hopefully those are getting cleaned up now. Hopefully, that's being addressed. I know that our Police Department has worked and closed down 2 of them. Twice. I think again they're back open. I don't know the state law on that either. John, do you know anything? Attorney Cappello: I just walked by the one, I know there's a big sign on one of them that says we've been busted. There's a sign, you can go in there, but it lets people know that it's a place I think that sold illegally. That's just from walking. Mayor Pearson: I think that yes, we do have our own house and our own enforcement issues that we need to deal with, but I think that if it is here, it is going to be regulated. If I was to partake in that and I have family members that would also. I don't know if they do or don't, but if they did, I'd rather have them buy from a legal dispensary instead of getting something that could kill them. In one touch and so for me, if they're going to have it, I would rather have it from something that's legal and being watched and oversight and yes, the money part of it. We'll see if that ever comes. I don't know, it may or not but I think , yes, it's here already and it's not going to go away. It's going to be here for a very long time. I think that I don't really have an issue, I don't think, as long as it’s in the right zone, I feel people will benefit. Hopefully, we would reap the benefit of getting the guidance to get other illegals out as well. I know it may not happen, but again it's up to our Police Department to do. I don't know the extent of that. John, have you had any other municipalities that have had to get other illegals out of their community? Have they had a hard time doing it? Attorney Cappello: That I'm not particularly aware of. The only thing I would add is if there's someone there who paid a license and is operating and went through the process, they're going to be part of the enforcement because if they hear rumors that a certain gas station is undercutting their sales that they paid and went through the process the right way. They're going to be likely calling in to get enforcement, because it's in there financial interest, but I don't know of a lot of activities. As everybody said, it's a weed you could grow in your backyard. It's really hard to totally say we're 14 going to stop it. Trustee Mishk: The issuing of permit to do this or a license. Let’s say the Village of Walden opted in and 25 people come forward and they want to open up a shop, can we limit that number of shops? I know we can do something by zoning a little bit. How is the choice made of who to issue that license to? Vincent Rouhotas: I don't have the answer to that. I can get the answer for you. Attorney Cappello: The state issues the license. The zoning, you control the zoning. One is, you have the ability to say zero, but once you say we're opting in, your law cannot unreasonably inhibit the location. So, you can control. Just as any application if I was doing a Dunkin' Donuts. You have to go to the Planning Board, demonstrate your traffic can be handled. Demonstrate you have parking et cetera. All those can be in a zoning law. You have state restrictions regarding the distances. Those buffers are set by the state. You can't increase the buffers, but you can do an overlay or you can regulate the areas in which they can occur. The phrase unreasonably impractical, that's going to make a lot of money for a lot of attorneys over the years as to what is unreasonably impractical. I think if you set a law and put a zoning so there was only one spot in the village that it was allowed. Then I think you would have an issue. I think if you had the thing where 25 people were coming in and you regulated so you only could have 3 or 4 potential, then I think you're probably more there. You can look at the zoning districts that you have and say this is where if we allowed in the new zoning districts how many facilities, given the distance requirements between the facilities themselves and the distance from schools. How many could we even reasonably permit? And then say there's 5 or 6 locations within that zoning district that would fit, they would still have to make sure the property owner who owns the property wanted to lease to them, they would still go to go through the Planning Board. I think you would look in your zoning to regulate and limit them appropriately. If you go from zero, then you got to at least allow a little more than one. Like you would you determine where restaurants or bars can go. There's distance in there. Whether the owner or proprietor is able to get a liquor license, that's state. You can't regulate that sale. So, it's similar to that. You can say where they can go. How they will be regulated. But the actual operations, who gets a license, how they get a license and what they can sell, that is the state. Vincent Rouhotas: It is a very expensive application process and very strict. It's not anyone can apply and get a license. It costs a lot of money, there's a lot of background checks and hoops you have to jump. Deputy Mayor Thompson: The explanation was if you opted in and then you decided this wasn't the right fit for your municipality, oh well, you couldn't get out of this. Vincent Rouhotas: Yes, once you’re opt in, you can’t opt out. Mayor Pearson: What I think I would like, is John and the attorney get together and maybe see what zone and how many that would allow. Manager Revella: I was thinking about the distances too, from all the different sites and circles. Mayor Pearson: I think that would make sense. Because you have to look at schools, churches, you have to look at distances, you have to look at what zone would put something in and where that might be. It may not even be allowable in the village depending on distances. I don't know the regulations of the distances, so if we can look at that and put something together for us, maybe just so we have an idea of what that looks like. 15 Attorney Cappello: You have a map that shows locations of where your churches, you just plot them and draw the circle around them and then see within the zoning period. Mayor Pearson: And I do like the idea of more employment for people. 17 people? Vincent Rouhotas: The average dispensary employs 17 people. NYCLASS - Discussion Mayor Pearson: I had brought this up to John a few years ago. I had spoken to Mr. Valk and he asked if we had this and I said no, I don't think so and John finally got it together. Manager Revella: It's an investment option for the village. And it's really a large class of municipalities that put whatever funds they have available at the time into this investment account. It's a higher interest earning account than what we have and then what banks offer. It can be temporary, long-term depending on what you have, what you need and so far we didn't see that there was a limit on the amount, but we have a call with them tomorrow just to confirm that piece of information. I know the board would like to know what we have available and we're going to work on that what amount of money we would be able to put in and how long and right now, we have an investment account with Orange Bank & Trust and I wouldn't see any difference in using whatever that might be for the time being, but we can go through that when we talk to the guy tomorrow. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Jean, did you know anything about this program or this is new to you as well? Treasurer Degon inaudible from the audience Mayor Pearson: I was also asking like it talked about authorization and how many people need to be authorized to be able to do that funding and transfer things. I didn't know if you needed more than one person, which you probably should. I don't know who that would be, how that's going to work so, I'd like to know the answer. I sent you some of my questions. I did send you all another part of that, because we got just the registration packet, so I just went through and just the overview of it and what to do. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Is it popular in other municipalities? Manager Revella: They really have started pushing it more in the last year. I know that a couple of people started jumping on. The town recently jumped on and confirmed that it was worthwhile. They were getting the investment that was advertised, so that's really what brought it to our attention. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I just feel like we really need to do our homework. Mayor Pearson: Mr. Valk had spoken to me about 3 years ago and he said you really need to do it. He had had it for years. I had known his from 20 years ago when him and I worked on The Rail Trail together. He said invest in it, it’s great. Trustee Baker: Short term, what is the time frame for short term? Manager Revella: We had asked, that we don't know. Just looking at it preliminarily and I've talked to the municipalities about it, it's a positive for us. The investment revenue is more than what we get now. It's not going to kill us. Just the question of accessibility is key. If there's no change, then I don't see why we wouldn't use it for whatever we have available for the time being. 16 116 South Montgomery Manager Revella: They got noticed to come to a hearing. If they don’t show up, you can take action or adjourn it. I don’t know what was told to them, there was an issue with that resident, but I’m not sure what was said. This needed some clarification, because I’m not sure who spoke to them. 74 West Main St - Update Attorney Cappello: I looked at the docs you presented and I also spoke to Lanc & Tully and their surveyor who confirmed that based on what he saw and based on survey he prepared, that the village does have ownership rights to part and easement rights to an alleyway to Oak Street that does cross that property. So, he highlighted on the agreements you had given me because they're scrawled in 1800s, so with that information from a licensed surveyor, what I can do is write a letter if you want, to the property owner advising, providing them the survey it since the village owns it. This is now the village enforcing its rights, it's not a private matter anymore so the correspondence you've received were regarding whether there were any private rights, which is a dispute between property owners. But it appears from here that this is the village enforcing its rights. There's no law against a village that says you could do a prescriptive easement or adverse possession, so even if they claim they use it and I don't know the history, they can't adversely do an adverse possession to abrogate the village’s right. Whether, whatever you call that structure, it's impeding a village right of way. That would be the position to remove it. I would also suggest, I can get with the Building Inspector, though one thing I haven't totally finished the research is, to look at what was in the approval of that facility. As I understand it said that area should be kept open, so they would also be in violation. It’s a separate enforcement action. Once again in violation of their site plan approval, so it doesn't matter how you classify it. If it wasn't on the site plan approval and they were required to keep it open and they didn't keep it open, that's a violation of their site plan. Which at the very least would require going back to the Planning Board. Mayor Pearson: It said drive to remain open. Attorney Cappello: If they change that, then they've amended their site plan and they're not in conformance with their approved site plan and there is occupants, so they do have the CO. But their CO could be revoked or they need to go back. Mayor Pearson: So, our next step is to write the letter, give them a time frame to get the gate and the fence down and allow passage or what? Manager Revella: And also regarding the violation of the site plan. That's 2 things. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Do we have a time frame? Attorney Cappello: I can get it within the next couple of days. I'll have to look at the code. You can fine and do enforcement, but you could do a Supreme Court action and you could remove it and charge back to the applicant. I will include language in there giving them a time frame. I don't know what that time frame is yet, to be honest. Give him a time frame to remove it or say that the village will go in and charge it as lien against the property. Mayor Pearson: On the original site plan, says there’s supposed to be green space because it's a senior housing. Our law says they're supposed to have green space. On one set of plans it shows the green space. On another set it doesn't. I don’t know which is right. Is everyone okay with moving this forward? All: Yes. 17 Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to authorize Village Attorney to draft letter as discussed. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. 27 Ulster Ave - Update Dennis Wageman: I thought I was going to make significant progress and then I ran into the Building Department. I've tried quite a few times to get a building permit and it's always been denied as incomplete or whatever. I put a couple foil requests in. I'm requesting the chimney building permits, the repair permits and all insurance related documents provided to obtain the permit for the repair done to the 2 properties and that was for 121 Ulster Ave and 19 William St. I wanted to see these because they obviously got building permits and they had their chimney repaired. That was essentially denied because they didn't have enough time to do it. The reason I wanted this is, I was going to actually take an either cut up the building permit or actually copy what they wrote so that I could get a building permit. That didn't occur. I put in another request. It was for any approved building permit with the documentation showing the insurance that these people got that I could copy it. Never got that. I received a response of more time was going to be available. I've gone through this before with this. More time is going to be needed and I've never gotten responses. It's a problem. My wife sent me some information and it applied to affidavit of exemption to show specific proof of workman's compensation insurance. I went and I filled that out, I got it notarized and I went back to the Building Department and the Building Department told me it was incomplete. Every time I get in a situation like this, if Building Department tells me, all I want to do is argue about things. It's a state form right that I gave to the Building Department. It was like the Building Inspector was like a deer in headlights. He took a glance at it and said “incomplete”. What I expected to find out with the insurance form that it would be added to my previous application for a building permit. That didn't happen. I went and I filled out another complete building permit with everything that was required. I put my homeowners declaration page in there, which according to the BP-1, isn't required. I filled out the form and I tried to hand it in. The Code Enforcement Officer, without really looking at it told me it was incomplete. Trustee Baker: Did he tell you what was incomplete or what was missing? Dennis Wageman: They tell you it's incomplete, they never tell you why it's incomplete. They never offer to help you fill out the incomplete form. Mayor Pearson: John, I asked you last week that, for Dennis to get his building permit finalized, what did he need to do and you told me he should take his contractor and himself to the Building Department and fill it out and be done with it and that's what would happen. Manager Revella: I don't know if that's happened. Dennis Wageman: BP-1 says I do not have to do that. It's specifically says, I become the general contractor, I'm responsible for everything after this. But what happens when I go to the Building Department? You've got a piece of paper, read the piece of paper. When I showed it to the Code Enforcement Officer, I laid it out at that little window there and I was going to point out this was the written in. This is what it says. No, no, no, I don't want to read it. I want you to tell me what it says. I got the impression that the Code Enforcement Officer couldn't even read the damn document that I laid in front of him. Trustee Garrison: Are you doing the work by yourself or are you hiring a contractor to do the work? Dennis Wageman: I am hiring a contractor. 18 Trustee Garrison: I may be incorrect on this, but if you're hiring a contractor to do the work, I believe that they have to provide their liability and workers comp to complete the work for the building permit. Dennis Wageman: Did you work at.... Trustee Garrison: I can't advise you where I do or do not work. That's irrelevant to the conversation at hand. Dennis Wageman: You ever talk to these guys about this insurance? Trustee Garrison: I don't write commercial insurance. Dennis Wageman: Read. This is what somebody needs to get those guys. Read what the law is. Understand the law and stop giving me crap. Trustee Garrison: Is it the Village Code law or is it NYS law? Dennis Wageman: NYS. Trustee Garrison: The village has its own code also. If I'm not mistaken and I believe in that code, I believe when you're applying.... Dennis Wageman: Then show it to me. Trustee Garrison: Are you going to allow me to finish talking to you or are you just going to talk over me and yell? I'm just asking if you're gonna let me finish. Thank you. When you're submitting a building permit and you have a contractor doing the work, I'm not 100% on this, John please help me, that contractor as per village code has to provide workers comp and general liability to get the building permit approved. I had to do it when I had work done on my house. Dennis Wageman: I don't know if that's true. I haven't found it. I found this. Then where does this affidavit of exemption to show specific proof of workmen's compensation insurance? What does that mean? Trustee Garrison: I believe that's if you're doing the work yourself and you're not hiring a contractor to do the work, you can submit your homeowners insurance as proof of liability. Dennis Wageman: Please note that for building permits only certain homeowners, pretty sure I fall under that certain homeowners. 1, 2, 3 or 4 family owner occupied residents serving as their own general contractor. Trustee Kyle: But you're not though. You said hired a contractor. Trustee Baker: Is your contractor unable to produce workman's comp? Dennis Wageman: That's why I wanted these other building permits, because I don't see where I am reading this incorrectly. Why am I not serving as my own general contractor? Trustee Kyle: Because you're not. You're not the one doing the work. You're hiring somebody. 19 Trustee Baker: Is your contractor able to provide the insurance requirements? Can you not just get them and then submit them to the Building Department? Dennis Wageman: That's why I wanted the ones that were done because I don't believe this would ever done with the other. This seems like something that I cannot get past. Mayor Pearson: Dennis, you're saying that this person has done work on other people's houses without having insurance forms? Is what you're thinking, but you don't know for sure. Trustee Baker: Are you opposed to asking your contractor for the information just to provide it to the Building Department to get it done? Dennis Wageman: *read part of the requirements into the minutes* Am I not meeting that requirement? Trustee Kyle: I see your point in that. You're opting to take the responsibility of carrying the insurance as opposed to the contractor. Mayor Pearson: If I'm a general contractor, I hire other people to do work for me. Like if I'm building a house. I'm the general contractor. I'm going to have somebody come in and do the tile work. Somebody come in and do the windows. Manager Revella: Then you can't waive workers comp if someone's working for you. So, they’d have to have worker’s comp insurance. Just for example, just pretend you're the general contractor for now and you're saying you want to waive the workers comp. That's if you're doing the work. Once you hire someone else, subcontractor, whoever else, then you have to provide workers comp for them, if they don't. Attorney Cappello: NYS building code, there's a building council. I would suggest you call them, get an opinion from them and show it for me, telling you that you don't need workers comp. I'll look at it and if that's what it says, I’ll advise the board. Dennis Wageman: Why don't we do it this way, send me to court. I'm willing to go. Mayor Pearson: Dennis, why don't you just take your contract to the Building Department and then get it done? Then he can do the work. You've already paid the man part of the money. Dennis Wageman: I don’t read it that way. Attorney Cappello: The state will tell you. There are people there that's their expertise. Let them give you an opinion, that it’s telling you that you're right. If you submit that, I'll look at it and I'll advise the Building Inspector. But if you're going to tell me to read.... Dennis Wageman: This is the problem I'm having all along. I would love to get something right but I can't get it writing. Mayor Pearson: Can you talk to your contractor? Can you both go to the Building Department, make an appointment to Building Department. I'll tell John, that he's going to get an appointment with the Building Department. Dennis Wageman: But the contractor said, he would work on this from his end and I'm trying to work on it from my end. 20 Mayor Pearson: Work on it together and then come together, go to the Building Department to get your permit. and then you can do the chimney. Trustee Garrison: Dennis, when you talk to your contractor, tell him you just need a certificate of liability and a waiver of subrogation for workers comp from his company. Bring that with you when you do the building permit and that should be sufficient to be able to get your building permit. Dennis Wageman: Could someone please get the Building Department? Can I somehow get these FOIL requests answered to see what they say? And It's unbelievable to me that I cannot read this sentence. I cannot read the instructions. That go along with this. I’ll reread it. Mayor Pearson: I understand. You already paid this gentleman some money you showed the check. I want you to have your chimney fixed. So, why don't you do that and then deal with this afterwards? And if go to the Building Department, call John, set up an appointment with your guy and you and John. If you want to call whoever you need to call first, that's fine. But if you'd like to get going before winter and have it done, please contact John or you can contact me and I'll contact John. 20 George St - Update Table 7 Lafayette St - Update Ms. Alicia: Things are fairly, I'd say. We've got about 60% maybe 70% of the items and things out of the house. He actually showed me that the pickup is coming up, so that's fantastic. Our storage unit is full. I'm trying to secure a second unit. We found that there is an offer on the short sale, so pray to whoever please. We have actually contacted numerous places, but every place I go to look for housing or whatever I can afford, get snatched up before I know it’s even know it’s on the market. We constantly, constantly calling and hopefully we'll have something good about this short sale. But we still do have a little bit to clear out. We are keeping up with the yard because we've got cited before. Like stuff on the side yard or whatever. We're trying to keep the property looking is good as we can. Trustee Garrison: But you're making progress? Ms. Alicia: Yes. Manager Revella: Just make sure that the things being left outside, aren't put out until the 19th of October for the bulk pickup. Mayor Pearson: Let's check back in a month. Outdoor Fires/BBQs - Discussion Mayor Pearson: This was supposed to be part of what we are waiting for in the code. Does anybody have anything else that they want to add to that? Deputy Mayor Thompson: I just had a question about the distance from structures. I don't understand why it's one distance for a fixed fire pit and another distance for a portable fire pit. I need someone to explain that to me. Why would it matter? Manager Revella: Fire is a fire. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I think 25 feet is far. I think 15 feet is sufficient for both. 21 Trustee Garrison: I think it should the same distance. Manager Revella: 15 feet from what? Deputy Mayor Thompson: From a structure or combustible material. Trustee Garrison: I think 15 all around. Mayor Pearson: John C, you're probably going to get these codes. Well, we're going to get them, too, from the past council or from John. If he has this amount in here, we can just change that before we see it again. Anybody have anything else that they wanted to add because we were pretty much taking this one from the Village of Montgomery. We were making sure grills are allowed for cooking. We were adding no outdoor furnaces. Deputy Mayor Thompson: We were going to stay away from outdoor kitchens. Code Revisions Table Time Clocks Table Yard Sales Mayor Pearson: Question came up on yard sales. I don't know if it needs to be changed. I know we talked about it last time and whether we wanted to add or subtract anything for yard sales. Trustee Kyle: It says that no person shall conduct or hold a sidewalk sale, auction sale or sale on village property without a permit. The “or” sale at the end.... Manager Revella: Wait, that's on village property though. Not private property. Mayor Pearson: That would be at a park or at something else. Trustee Kyle: What about all the people who meet up with other people to sell something on Facebook. They just can't do it on village property? Manager Revella: That’s what it says. Trustee Garrison: I think we should put a safe space then. Like Town of Montgomery has in front of the town. Manager Revella: A lot of people use the front of this building, because the police station’s there. They do child changeovers, everything. Trustee Garrison: What about the municipal parking lot? Manager Revella: Whatever you guys want to do. Attorney Cappello: I would want to look at that, because if you specifically authorize this, then something happened during the transaction, village is all of a sudden... 22 Mayor Pearson: How does the board feel about that? Take it out, leave it in... Trustee Garrison: I think if we take it out, we open up a bigger can of worms than if we leave it in. Mayor Pearson: You can list other sales. There's also auctions. All kinds of stuff. Trustee Garrison: Do we really want to just take it out? I don't know. I'm afraid of it opening up to more than the intended purpose of it. Trustee Kyle: Then I think that we should maybe add something in there that there is somewhere that they are allowed to conduct a sale. Trustee Garrison: I'm just afraid of the word sale, to be honest with you. I know people may be like, well, I can meet here and sell whatever I want because.... Trustee Kyle: Well, you can't sell something illegal. Trustee Garrison: I’m not saying anything that’s illegal. I could park a used car there and be like hey, this is a spot available in the village for me to sell something. Trustee Kyle: No, we would have to specify that a meeting spot to conduct a sale, not a place things for sale. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Are we overreading this thing? Mayor Pearson: I think so too. *Discussion and overlapping voices* Manager Revella: This issue came up because of the yard sale permit requirement. That's where we should try and focus our energy. Trustee Kyle: Some of the conditions of the yard sales seem pretty stringent. I don't know, they're a little bit overkill. You're allowed to start a yard sale at 7 o'clock in the morning, but you can't put a sign up any more than 8 hours prior. That's 11 o'clock at night. Mayor Pearson: To put it up in the morning, 6 o’clock. You're up getting stuff out of the house anyway. Trustee Kyle: But what if you wanted to post a couple of signs the day before? As long as you took them down. If they don't, we have the address literally written on the sign. Manager Revella: If 30 people did that, you'd have 30 signs on the corner for 3 days. It starts getting cumbersome. Trustee Kyle: That's like an enforcement thing Manager Revella: If 30 people can do it 2 days before, that’s why it’s regulated to 8 hours long. Trustee Kyle: Not 2 days before. Just based on the hours, I would at least give them a 12 hour window instead of 8. 23 Manager Revella: That's up to you guys. Mayor Pearson: 7 to 7? Trustee Kyle: I feel like that's fair. Trustee Garrison: Fair Mayor Pearson: I also think they can have a little bit more time taking him down. I would say, 24 hours. Trustee Kyle: I would be fine with 24 hours. Trustee Garrison: One thing I hate about yard sales, honestly, is I hate seeing the signs on the telephone poles for like a week. Mayor Pearson: We're talking 7 to 7. 24 hour window to take your sign down. Trustee Kyle: I feel like you should get a little bit more time to have the sign up. Manager Revella: You just said 12 hours for that. Trustee Kyle: I know but then she said 24 to take it down. So, why not 24 to put it up? Mayor Pearson: But you have not more than 8 hours to take it down. Take that to 12 hours. Trustee Kyle: Okay. Mayor Pearson: We're not permitting. That whole section is coming out. 228-5 Manager Revella: You have to change 3. Mayor Pearson: Okay, then change 3. Manager Revella: The second sentence can’t be in 228-3. About having a permit. The rest seems to reflect your wishes. Mayor Pearson: We have to talk about fines. First violation we said none. Enforcement by PD. The next was $75 each day after something 5 times. We also talked about how many yard sales a year. How many? Deputy Mayor Thompson: We talked about that. We have 2 that the whole village can participate in with bulk pickup. So, if you want to keep it like all these other communities that are allowed 6 a year, that means we would allow people to have 4, because they already get 2 for free with bulk pickup. No permits. Nothing. Mayor Pearson: I have 2 notes here. First violation not to exceed $100. Second or more after $250. But then we have first violation was not anything. Each day after $75. Maximum is 2 consecutive days. This is the one. Night Sky 24 Deputy Mayor Thompson: I've had some experience with this from going to the Town of Montgomery Planning Board meetings and if anyone remembers here, we had the Winum family come in often for light trespass. A little different because it was commercial light flooding onto private property. But it did get resolved. There is a home in my neighborhood that I'm happy to show anybody the pictures, it's an insane amount of light and it's really difficult to see when you go outside, because the lights are angled right into your face so you can't see in your own yard and the illumination is crazy. I think it’s better than an airport runway. And the light shines above a 6 foot tall fence. It's just a lot to endure. I read some of the light laws that are out there and I guess I would need maybe Mr. Cappello to explain it a little bit, because I thought it said you're not even allowed to have motion sensor lights. Is that right? Manager Revella: I don't know. Deputy Mayor Thompson: People have them in our neighborhood and they're fairly bright. But they come on and they go off it's very short. Is it obtrusive for a few minutes? Yes, but this is for hours. Manager Revella: I think the main point is, they should also be directional. That's what you're not having in your neighbor’s yard. Downcast and directional. Deputy Mayor Thompson: And I've noticed it's happening though, I've seen it in other neighborhoods because now I'm paying attention. I really think we need to address it because it's problematic. I could see someone stumbling, falling getting hurt, because you really can't see and it's very obtrusive. If someone has a bedroom, how the heck are you supposed to sleep with that kind of light flooding into your room? Attorney Cappello: There's a couple issues. One, the easy one, is any new development, you could put something in your site plan regulations or in your zoning code that requires any application going before the Planning Board, just as you have traffic. One of the conditions is night sky compliant lighting and that's pretty much standard. For new residential, you can have it becomes like a lot of the issues we discussed before. You can have a general lighting code, like you have a general noise code. It would get a little tricky for people who have existing lighting to have to replace it. But certainly any new lighting. If it's lighting that doesn't require a building permit, it's another thing. You're just going to have to enforce it like a noise ordinance by calling the Building Department and getting enforcement so we could write it up. But you’re going to have a plan on how to enforce. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I just think it's something we should explore. Manager Revella: Is it okay if the attorney drafts up something, put something together, we can try and work on something for next meeting? Attorney Cappello: Suggest 2, one would be something that would Bb inserted into your zoning code that would regulate new development, whether it's commercial or subdivisions or multifamily and then another just a general lighting code. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I almost think sometimes it's the type of light they use. If they used a different type of lighting directional... Attorney Cappello: Yes, definitely. *inaudible* through in Town of Montgomery ad nauseum with you know one of their Planning Board Members *inaudible* color spectrum. 25 Public Comment Wenda Heaney: I know I haven't been here for a long time to know what you've been doing, but if I had known public comment for the business of the board and about the e-bikes, I would have said something, because I think we could have seen my reaction. Mayor Pearson: You can say it now. Wenda Heaney: I understand you've got a lot of people on the e-bikes. For one thing, they're motorized, so they shouldn't be on the rail trails at all. There's no any kind of law or anything. As far as going behind Olley on the trails back there, I think people said it would be fine. I walk the trails back through there all the time, I walk all the trails around here. With the dog, if an e-bike came around some of the curves or over some of the hills, the dog would go crazy. There's people back there that are walking babies and carriages. there's no like mph for the e-bikes. If you have young kids, they're going to say, yay I can go just like they would go through the sand. That's my concern. Down by Woosters, again, I walk down there every day. And if you're gonna have them maybe just riding around where it's paved. If you're going to take them into the back, forget it. It's crazy to let them go running wherever they want in the village, in the parks. I agree, should have something. Helmets are great. Adults should have helmets. But the idea of just letting anybody go roaming with the e-bikes through the village parks, I am completely against. That is as a person that uses the parks all the time. It would be a concern for the people with the dogs and yes whether you have a dog leash law or not there's dogs back there without leashes. 75 Maple Street Mayor Pearson: Can we get an update on 75 Maple street? Manager Revella: It's vacant. There's been arrests made for trespass on a couple of occasions already. And will continue to monitor. They've been going by every shift to make sure there's no one inside. The neighbors been pretty good about helping out and keeping an eye as well to let us know if you they somebody. I know that the attorney for the estate is still trying to push the sale to get that done quickly. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Can I ask why the yard has not been cleaned up? I thought that the village was going to take all that upholstered furniture and all the swimming pools filled with water and all the junk in the backyard. Manager Revella: I know that there was, he sent a notice for those. It should be the time frame now. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I'm thinking it's over the time frame. Manager Revella: Yes, up to 30 days. I got it. Correspondence Mayor Pearson: I did send this to Marisa today to post. It's the NYS gas and electric rate increase as of May first, which is very, very high. 35%. We posted it so you can call, you can write. Manager Revella: It does help because the Public Service Commission requires them to supply with all comments. So, the more complaints you have the better it is. The Public Service Commission is the one that says if they can raise the rate or not. 26 Mayor Pearson: Yes, there's phone numbers on there, there's who to speak to. So, we did post it on the Facebook page and we did post it on our website as well. Hopefully, you'll take some time to maybe reach out and give them your thoughts on that. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Is there any way we could put something on the next water and sewer bill for people to do something with the electric bill? Manager Revella: We can always make a note. Mayor Pearson: I also got correspondence from a company that does and I'm not saying it should be this company or anything but I just want to remind people out there that may be watching, that you are responsible for your water and sewer connections to the main of the village streets to your house. There are insurance companies, check with your insurance company, it gets very costly if there's a water main break between your house and the main. Also your sewer line from the from your house to the main. So please call your insurance company to see what your rider could be. If you can't get a rider, there are private companies that will also give you that insurance. They will help pay your bill because it does get to be $10, $12, $15k to fix those. If you're on a state road, it's even more than that. Double. Businesses are not allowed to get this. I'm hearing from insurance companies. I think it’s only residential. Trustee Garrison: You cannot get it for commercial buildings. There are some companies out there that will do it for like a landlords policy, if you're a landlord and you own an apartment building in a residential area. There are some companies that do have it, but it's mainly designed for homeowners insurance. Mayor Pearson: I just plead with you to do that, because before you know it, something could happen or our pipes are old, your pipes are old, mine are 100 and some years old. So, just think about that. My rider on my insurance is not very expensive so I have the peace of mind that I will be able to hopefully afford it if something does happen to my line. Miscellaneous Comments from the Board of Trustees Trustee Garrison: I saw the DPW out doing some manhole work and some work on some of the drains. Just be aware when you're driving through town there's a lot of work going on and be slow going around those guys. Parks and Recs doing a great job. My daughter’s playing soccer in the parks program that they have. Always wonderful. If you guys aren't busy on a Wednesday night, come down to Bradley and watch the little kids run around play soccer. Police, I've seen a lot of patrols in residential areas now. I think they're finally getting the message that we need them to be up there and moving around seeing them drive past my house quite a few times over on the Princeton, Alfred side. Good to see that cold weather has come in faster than we wanted to. We're in October. Just be weary, start preparing for the cold now if you have anything in your home that needs to be fixed, replaced, plastic your windows, make sure your heaters and everything are working because I don't want to have any issues when you have to fire that thing up when it's getting real cold. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I got the report from the consultant we've been using and the Finance Department. Since Jean’s here I just want to ask, things are going full steam ahead? You're happy, work relationships good? Everything’s going well. *Inaudible from the audience* Deputy Mayor Thompson: Do we have any update on Orange County Transit? Nobody's mentioned them for quite some time. Is there anything going on? Anything new? 27 Manager Revella: I just have to wait till next week for Fred to get back to see if he's got any correspondence from them on the connection. It's just a sewer connection left. The pipe is in that's going to make the sewer connection. Mayor Pearson: What does it take to get that sewer connection? Manager Revella: The state has to approve it because you have to cross the road. I don't know if he's talked to Fred about that. Fred will be back Tuesday. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Can we just stay on top of that? I would like closure on this project. I know some residents had something to say, the home at the foot of Pine and Maple, it’s being renovated. It is a disaster. The dumpster is gone, there's moldy insulation laying on the street, there's Styrofoam insulation in the front, the home is not secure. Windows are open, screens are torn, there's a door on the side wide open. The people we had some difficulty with, were hanging out down there at our beautiful new park and it's very unsightly to look at that from our park. In my opinion it's not the most ideal situation. I know it's been brought up. Maybe you could follow up on that please. Manager Revella: They have an open building permit. I’ll make sure that they secure the site. Deputy Mayor Thompson: People have been mentioning to me and I really don't pay that much attention, but now I'm more observant, because residents are complaining. We seem to have signs and banners and flags flying everywhere. I know we have laws about that. One was the one in the new building across from Popp’s. There's some flags or something flying there. Someone said it obstructs their vision on River Road. I didn't go and look at that, but I think we need to take a look at that our flag laws whatever. Thank you for meeting with us. Becky was away, but we're making progress with the Town of Montgomery Conservation Advisory Council, working on our aquifer and wellhead protection. It's a lot of work. It's more involved I think than we realized, but the CAC is really taking the lead in that and I think we're going to make good progress. Mayor Pearson: A couple of things with this shutdown, the federal government CDBG funding maybe delayed and stopped and see if John has heard anything. Manager Revella: No effect on us for the last funding. This funding was denied for the coming year, but our funding for Pleasant Avenue is still confirmed. The funding should be in hopefully by the end of the month. We'll be able to do the project in the spring. Mayor Pearson: What were we doing on the next one? Manager Revella: Sidewalks on Walnut. Mayor Pearson: I thought Gladstone was worse than Walnut. Manager Revella: Pleasant Avenue is confirmed. That's the year before we have funding for that. We're just waiting for the contract. The new one, whatever it was, it was sidewalks, it was denied because they're not sure of funding. Mayor Pearson: We were denied, because of the federal funding or because of what we just did? Manager Revella: I don't know why. They didn’t say what the reason was. They just told me denied. I don’t have the letter yet but it might be from the fed issues. 28 Mayor Pearson: Have we ever been declined before? Manager Revella: Yes. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Doesn't that have to do with income levels and whatnot? Manager Revella: And how much money they have to distribute. They may not have enough. Mayor Pearson: Can you tell us about the other grant that you submitted? Have you heard anything from them? Manager Revella: The WIAA grant? Not yet. We don't have a response yet. It's not going to be for a little while. But we do have the EFC funding lined up now. We have forms today to fill out to get the funding lined up to get released to us. Mayor Pearson: What funding was that for? Manager Revella: The other 3.25 mil. We’ll have 5.25 total. We lost 2 from one funding source. We switched to a different funding source, which they told us we would get the full funding from that too. The WIAA will be 2mil. It’ll still be the same total, but less regulated. Mayor Pearson: Kitchen. Where we at with the kitchen? Manager Revella: They're only waiting for the countertops to come in. Everything else is done. Mayor Pearson: We've been waiting for the countertops for like 4 months now. Manager Revella: I don't make countertops, I don't know how long they take. The cabinets are in. Appliances are all in. Everything's in and working. Should be any day. Deputy Mayor Thompson: While we're talking about Olley Park, what happened to the parking lot? I thought those cutouts were there to get the lighting in and now the cutouts are paved over and it looks like a patchwork quilt. Manager Revella: The lighting is still there, available. The electric is there. They're just waiting for a company to give us a price. But they're having issues with people driving into it causing a hazard. It was dangerous. Deputy Mayor Thompson: It's a shame that's a brand new parking lot and it looks horrible. Manager Revella: Once the lights are in it won't look that bad. Mayor Pearson: Mr. Schoonmaker does pumpkins at the bottom of the park for Halloween at the waterfront park. He was looking for pumpkins. I have not been able to get ahold of him, so I don't know if anybody wants to donate pumpkins. Just a thought. He cuts them out for the path to go from one street to the other. Harvest Fest, thank you to the committee. It was really a nice day. I'm happy it's back in the square. Was really well attended. A lot of hard work and we thank the Rec Department and Community Council and DPW puts everything up and Police Department were there. All of our services, Jean and Marisa, they all help out and get something done. I appreciate that. It was really a nice day. Thank you to everyone. 29 Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, PBA Trustee Garrison made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss personal history of particular person and PBA negotiation. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Motion carried. 30  Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting October 7, 2025 Motions & Resolutions Approval of Minutes – September 16, 2025 Tabled Payment of Bills Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to approve payment of audited bills with the exception of Drake & Loeb invoice. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Alcohol Waiver - Campos Trustee Mishk made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for Campos Family. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Alcohol Waiver – Mason’s Trustee Kyle made a motion to approve alcohol waiver for the Mason’s. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Auction Vehicles Trustee Garrison made a motion to approve auctioning the 2012 Ford F150 and 2006 Jeep. Seconded by Trustee Kyle. All ayes. Motion carried. 74 West Main St - Update Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to authorize Village Attorney to draft letter as discussed. Seconded by Trustee Garrison. All ayes. Motion carried. Executive Session – Personal History of Particular Person, CBA Trustee Garrison made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss personal history of particular person and CBA. Seconded by Trustee Taylor. All ayes. Reconvene Trustee Taylor made a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Trustee Baker. All ayes. Motion carried. 31