Board of Trustees

Village of Walden Board of Trustees Regular Meeting March 17, 2026 Mayor Pearson called the special meeting of the Village of Walden Board of Trustees to order at 6:30pm. On roll call the following were: Mayor: Becky Pearson Present: Trustees Deputy Mayor Lynn Thompson Gerald Mishk Cheryl Baker Ralph Garrison, Jr Absent: Liz Kyle Also Present: John Revella, Village Manager Kaitlyn Laux, Deputy Village Clerk John Cappello, Village Attorney Stand For Pledge Manager Revella: We have a new person in the o ice a new village treasurer you want to come up forward Roberta McBride comes to us from Town of Monroe. Welcome Roberta and thank you. She hit the ground running and was already working on the budget. Manager Report:  I met with orange bank and trust to make sure only current employees have access.  Went over part time assistance with the building inspector we do have one part timer who is working hard. We need another part-timer that can give us more hours.  Went over billing, escrows, and payroll, and went over budget with the di erent departments.  Went over some employee evaluations as well.  I did have a conference with the EFC, DEC and village engineers regarding the sewer project again.  Rec Supervisor, DPW super and I did go to Strasburg to accept our greenway grant. We are going to update the trails at Olley Park.   Chief and I went through the canvas list for a potential full time police o icer. We interviewed some but could not make a hire yet.  Covered for people with time o .  We got the retirement filings up to date with the treasurer.  Went over current events with some of the trustees.  Rec department, pickleball is going well, they’re adding other programs including youth pickleball, basketball is over now, the book club is going well, tennis program, and summer camp registration is open now, and the trout release is scheduled for April 8th at Wooster’s Grove.  Building department has been following up with the attorney on property maintenance. They issued 19 new permits and 1 violation, co reports and had 6 fire and safety inspections.  Clerk has been updating Facebook and websites form home checking emails and voicemails.  Finance department has been working on bank recs, resident concerns, billing concerns, working on Edmund’s programming, vouchers, and a webinar, budget updates, tax cap, retirement.  Public works, maintenance as usual, water department installed 3 new meters, 4 endpoints, 10-mark outs and 1 closing, trying to make road repairs from the winter, water break repair on Walker Street, and some issues with digs on Woodru Street.  Police department, we had a few retirements Sergeant Werner and O icer Hall, we look forward to some events for them in the future, there were 270 blotters, 8 arrests, 55 tra ic stops, 34 tickets issued, 3 MVAs, and 4 parking tickets. Mayor Pearson: You talked about the tax cap Manager Revella: We have been talking about that, and we will work on it with the attorney for April’s meeting. Mayor Pearson: Anyone want to make a motion to approve the minutes for February 17th? Trustee Taylor makes a motion to approve February 17th minutes, Trustee Mishk seconds. Deputy Mayor Thompson abstained. 4 ayes, motion carried. Mayor Peason: Any discussion? Deputy Mayor Thompson: I do I have been having a really hard time approving minutes that are so late, honestly, I can’t even remember anything in those minutes. So, I really don’t want to approve of them cause we need to do better. I don’t know if other people feel that way. Mayor Pearson: Payment of audited bills does anyone want to make a motion. Trustee Mishk: I’ll make a motion to pay the audited bills. Trustee Garrison: I’ll second. All ayes, motion carried. Mayor Pearson: Public comment Maryellen Matise Maryellen Matise: I have a complaint about the garbage I know you must vote on the contract. The cans are so big, and they leave them on the road. Mayor Parson: Thank you Maryellen. We are going to move on to park use requests. Does anyone want to make a motion? Trustee Baker makes a motion to approve the park use request for Espino. Trustee Garrison seconds. All ayes, motion carried. Trustee Garrison makes a motion to approve the park use request for Turcios. Deputy Mayor Thompson seconds. All ayes, motion carried. Mayor Pearson: Arbor day is going to be April 23, 2026. Does anyone want to make a motion to declare this year’s arbor day April 23? Deputy Mayor Thompson makes a motion to accept April 23 for arbor day. Trustee Taylor seconds. All ayes, motion carried. Mayor Pearson: We are on to fire hydrant clearing discussion. Trustee Taylor: Yeah if we discussed this several times over the last few weeks especially due to the snowstorms have we put together anything to put that word out there to residents I know it's redundant but it would still be nice and at least say hey we notified them Facebook doesn't seem to be working real well so I don't know if that's the vehicle but I think it would be prudent, hopefully you know we're done with the snow issues but it would be prudent to at least bring people up to speed you have a lot of new people moving in. You want to think it's common sense if there's a fire hydrant in front of your house, I mean that's the first thing I'm shoveling out but you know if there's one your neighbor may not know about, they just moved in that's all I'm saying it would be prudent to do that. Manager Revella: We do try to put that on the calendar in the beginning of winter, and on Facebook and website. Mayor Pearson: I would like our code to say single family homes as well. We can talk about this a little more at the next meeting as well. Mayor Pearson: Moving on to the discussion of Facebook vs. YouTube. Tonight we the meeting being filmed have you heard anything? Manager Revella: No. Mayor Pearson: This discussion came up because the towns are doing it and it’s a better way to keep meetings. Facebook only lasts a month when YouTube is forever. It does seem like there is an additional cost. Manager Revella: It’s not a huge di erence, if they needed to transfer to a server than it would be an additional cost. Mayor Pearson: Did Marisa send them the login? Manager Revella: He has it and we’re just waiting to see if the board wants to agree to this or not. Mayor Pearson: I’m surprised he’s not here tonight unless someone did not get back to him. So, board any thoughts, comments, or discussion? Trustee Taylor: Yeah, Madam mayor, I wasn't at the last meeting, what perpetrated the possibility of switching from one to the other? Mayor Pearson: No this was before. Just better, longer storage, keeping it longer for the community. Trustee Taylor: And what is the duration? Manager Revella: YouTube stays on as long as YouTube is alive, and Facebook does not. Trustee Taylor: I do see under duration of timing that additional hours beyond the 60 minutes shall be billed at $100.00 an hour I don't think I've ever been at a meeting that was 60 minutes? Mayor Pearson: That doesn’t change whether it’s Facebook or YouTube. Trustee Mishk: The other thing is the cancellation tonight he should be here. Mayor Pearson: Right and I told John he needed to check on that. Trustee Garrison: Are we able to put a link on our Facebook page that will bring them right to the YouTube live meeting? And are we still able to get public comments in real time? That is something we need to look into because I know we have some disabled residents that watch and that is how they get their information, and they will comment if they have questions. Mayor Pearson: Even if there is no live comment people can still write to us, email us or call us. Deputy Mayor Thompson: We started this over covid, and I remember we switched because we thought the state was going to make it mandatory. Attorney Cappello: I’m looking at the town of Goshen meeting on YouTube, and it does say live chat. Mayor Pearson: Does anyone want to make a motion to go from Facebook to YouTube for our live meetings? Deputy Mayor Thompson made a motion to switch from Facebook to YouTube for the live meetings and to also approve the contract with acquisitions marketing, Trustee Mishk seconds. All ayes, motion carried. Mayor Pearson: For the garbage bid discussion, I don’t have anything. Manager Revella: The discussion is whether you want the same format as the three-year contract, which is really one year, and what type of service you want. The attorney started the draft, so it is ready for the next meeting. Mayor Pearson: If the lid breaks o do the residents pay for that? Manager Revella: No, they don’t, they must call the village to get a new one. Marisa Kellerhouse: I’m from IWS and I’ve been with the village for thirteen years. I can see how the cans in the roadways can become a safety concern. The winter has been very challenging for the crew and not only this municipality but others, but that doesn’t excuse the issue. We have spoken with the crew and instituted a very strict policy. We do have supervisors that follow the crew, yours is Taylor. If you could have the residents provide pictures of the problem that would be very helpful, they can email that to me directly and I will leave my cards. Mayor Pearson: Moving on to MS4. Manager Revella: I just must announce publicly that the MS4 report is available on our village website. Mayor Pearson: There were a few things I wanted to mention about budget. The next meeting is April 7th; the first meeting is going to be the reorg at 6pm. The regular meeting is going to be at 6:30pm. Manager Revella: I was thinking April 8,9,14, and 15th for budget session. Mayor Pearson: Does anyone want to make a motion to have the reorg meeting April 7 th at 6pm? Trustee Garrison made a motion to have the reorg meeting April 7th at 6pm. Trustee Mishk seconds. All ayes, motion carried. Resident (Joe): I have a shed in my backyard, and I know the laws have changed since then. There is a section in chapter 3 that still says 20 feet. Manager Revella: The intent was to have it 3 feet so we will talk to the building department about that, sorry. Joe: I emailed the building inspector, but I learned he retired a few weeks ago. I will reach out to the manager. Manager Revella: I will reach out to Joe and we will coordinate. Mayor Pearson: Correspondence, we all got that email about the sidewalk on Gladstone Ave. It’s still not wrapped up, is it? Manager Revella: We will be discussing Gladstone during the capital projects on the budget. I sent it to public works, but it was windy so we will probably do it tomorrow. Mayor Pearson: That’s all I have for correspondence, any comments from the board? Lets start with Bill first. Trustee Taylor: I am disappointed that we don’t have a live stream because I just wanted to make a statement to the residents of the village. Serving as a trustee has been both an honor and a significant responsibility, which I have approached with utmost seriousness from the outset. My candidacy for this office was rooted in clear principles, a dedication to transparency, fiscal responsibility, measurable outcomes, and the restoration of public confidence in our local government. Throughout my career, I have consistently relied on three guiding principles, fairness, consistency, and honesty. These values are integral to my character and remain uninfluenced by external interests. My service has been dedicated solely to the residents of the Village of Walden. I have not acted on behalf of the manager, mayor, or any other party. Every decision I made was based on factual information obtained through due diligence, never on rumors, hearsay, or conjecture. It has been a distinct honor and privilege to serve as a representative for the residents of the Village of Walden. Thank you for the opportunity thank you for those people that have held my hand for 2 years and guided me when I was astray probably going to miss that aspect of it because I tend to get a stray a lot but other than that thank you all so much and not moving yet but you never know. Deputy Mayor Thompson: John, do we have any updated information on the maps? I feel like we must keep moving forward. And what’s our next step? Manager Revella: Mark has them and he has them ready. Next, he must make the change in zone. Our committee needs to work on which ones, and we go to the town with that. Deputy Mayor Thompson: I was down at Wooster’s Grove Park today and the doors and frames that we installed were roughly $15,000. The doors never operated properly, and I was under the impression that someone was coming back to put door stoppers on them, I found today chunks of blacktop inside and outside and a rock holding the door open. I have a real problem with that, and I don’t understand why it has not been fixed. Manager Revella: I will follow up with the recreation department tomorrow. Mayor Pearson: March elections are tomorrow. There is no bus, but dial-a-bus is available so they will be making their rounds to village hall. Please get out and vote. I was at the planning board meeting last week and only 2 people showed up so the planning board could not do their business, we need people who are going to be dedicated. I don’t know who’s on the board anymore. People were not heard and they had to go home. To me that’s unacceptable. I know these jobs are unforgiving but it’s about being dedicated. Mayor Pearson: The policy for time o , I was talking to john, the labor attorney, and NYCOM about the appointed o icials, the board is to allow them time o not the manager. This board must talk about that because it’s never been done before and all of this is coming to head and we need to deal with it. There should be a policy for time o for appointed o icials. Do we talk about this in executive session or in public? Manager Revella: The policy itself can be in public if there are reasons why you are making a policy and if it has to do with an employee then it needs to be in executive session. We go based o the CSEA policies and we also have our own village policies. Deputy Mayor Thompson: How do you guys feel about putting together a committee to present something to the board and go from there, maybe two or three people. Trustee Garrison: That’s a great idea. Deputy Mayor Thompson: Okay, that committee will be me and Ralph. Mayor Pearson: I think that is it, except thanking the board members who are not here this evening. I do have something for Trustee Taylor, thank you for everything you have done, thank you for the fun times and maybe the not so fun times, and this is for you. Mayor Pearson: Does anyone want to make a motion to enter executive session for personnel history of a particular employee. Trustee Garrison made a motion to enter executive session. Trustee Mishk seconds. All ayes, motion carried.