Town Board - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the town board meeting of January 20th, 2026. I'd like to make a motion that the town board come out of executive session. Second. All in favor? I. And madame clerk, the executive session began at 5:00 pm for personnel um discussion of personnel matters interviews. Um, if everyone could please rise if you are able for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

So, I believe we posted the public hearing uh to begin at 6:15. So, we're going to skip to the consent agenda and just come back to that at at 6:15. We'll see how much we can get through before then. Um, on the consent agenda, we have a request from Comproller Connealy to approve um the abstract claims and paid criers in the amount of $778,716. We have number two, the acceptance of the monthly reports from our department heads. Number three, a request to approve appointing town clerk Ali Whan as marriage officer for a term of four years and town supervisor Ellen Kelvis for a term of one year. Number four, submission of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services application to apply for reimbursement of our summer employment camp opportunities of up to $5,000. Uh we employ around 250 summer um students um and young people who get an opportunity at summer employment. Number five, a request to authorize the supervisor to sign the four-year negotiated agreement with the police benevolent association. And number six, a request to acknowledge the notification of require retirement of Sergeant Frank Eglesen effective January 30th, 2026. Do we have a motion to approve the six items on the consent agenda?

Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? I. I. Motion carries. Um, and I'll just make the comment. Um Frank Eglesson has been with the Bedford Police Department for 20 years and we will um wish him all the best in his retirement, but um hope that we can celebrate his his long-standing service um before he leaves at the end of the month. Under new business, um we have a request that the board approve the 2026 South Salem Animal Hospital agreement. Um do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second.

Any discussion? This is for the short-term keeping of animals. We have another agreement with the SPCA for longer care uh if that's necessary if animals are not picked up in a timely fashion. Um and they have we have recently received their um a markets approval of inspection. They are um satisfactory conditions for keeping of animals. All in favor?

I motion carries. Uh we have request of approval of an agreement with Motorola Solutions for an alarm tracking and billing system to support the police department communication upgrades. This includes a onetime implementation cost of $8,542 and an annual fee of $86 that we covered by the um police or IT um the IT um budget. Um this uh is for the billing of false alarms and the police equipment tracks um the alarms that are connected to their systems and the false alarms that go off and then the system has to talk to the finance office to tell them to bill people for those false alarms under our law. Um so this system has not been working. Um it's kind of not been synced since the police upgraded some equipment. So we need to move to this to enable um that to continue. Um do you have a motion to approve?

So moved. Second. Any discussion? What is the bill? What do they get charged? They get charged. Um it's the first false alarm you get no charge. Uh, the second false alarm I think is two $100 and I think that then two or more three or more is $200 for each offense. [snorts] Thank you. I'm just checking if code. Yeah, I'm thinking. Sounds right to me.

Yeah, that sounds right. And people have not been getting build for the last couple of months. So, that should once this gets installed, that should resume uh in the middle of February. bills should go out um for the for the alarms that have gone off over the last few months. Um you're welcome. All in favor? I motion carries.

We were also discussing today how to enforce that because um when bills go unpaid, uh there needs to be a follow-up. And so that's something that we've been talking about how to get on top of so that those get paid. Um number three of a resolution approving a blanket official undertaking pursuant to town law section 25. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Um any comments, questions? I think this was uh something we're just doing to stay in compliance with um recent town law. Was it a change or we just needed to update it? Remember,

I think it was just updated. Just updated. Okay. All in favor? I

um number four, we have a request to renew the Tritown drug abuse prevention known as Thrive um agreement for fund and funding for 2026. Uh the I have the 2024 past agreement here. I couldn't find the 2025 one, but um it says in the agreement that it's subject to renewal annually. So um I'd like to propose that we renew that agreement and it's for the same terms and the same contributions from Poundidge Lewis Burough and Bedford that have been submitted uh in 25 24 and 25. So this is to um sign that agree to it and send it around to the other supervisors. Um I'll make the motion to approve. Second.

Any questions? All in favor? I motion carries. And we have a request to approve the Thrive um steering committee's recommendation to set the 2026 annual compensation for the coalition coordinator at $72,500. This compensation is fully funded through the federal drug-free communities grant. Um so it's not the money that we just approved come from the towns. This is from the federal grant that would that pays the um coordinator salary and then she's able to enact um the programs using the funding from the towns. Um do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second.

Any questions? I see that the head of the steering committee is here. Hi Sally. If you have any questions, we look forward to hearing a an update from Thrive coordinator soon. Um all in favor? I motion carries. Number six, we have request by uh the conservation board to adopt a resolution to support a countywide summertime ban on gas powered leaf blowers. Um do we have a motion to approve? So move.

We have a second um for discussion. There's a resolution in your packet that just articulates um the fact that the county is considering passing a ban on gas power leaf blowers in the summertime months. And while our ban is much broader than that, um I you know the resolution states that that would help enforcement and that would also help level the playing field for landscapers who find that you know they don't know the rules or people aren't following the rules. if it's um you know across the board in every community in Westchester for certain months it'll be much easier for everyone to adopt the technology amend you know the prices that need to be amended so that people are paying for the services um that they they want in the summertime um with the use of electric equipment or or [snorts] sweeping or other waste. So um any other comments or questions? Yes.

Yeah. I just wanted to note that the resolution also says that 33 of the 47 municipalities already have these summer vans. Oh, that's right. Yes. [snorts] Anything else? All in favor? I motion carries. I will forward that to the county. Um, we have a request to appoint Mary Hearnstat as a full member of the conservation board effective um today, January 20th, 2026. Um, do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Any questions? I think we appointed her as associate member and then realized we had an opening as a full member. So, we're promoting her. All in favor? I

I We have a request that the board appoint Gerard Vera and Kyle Beth Hilur as members of the board of ethics for 5-year term through January 20th, 2031. Do we have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Second. Uh any discussion? We have to thank u members who stepped down, George Al-Masi and um Amal Shady who both served the prior five years. George was on for a long time. Um and they [snorts] um thank you for their service. Um do we have a motion to approve? We did already. All in favor?

Motion carries. Uh, we have a request for the board to reappoint Shawn Cardy as a member of the Bedford Village Historic District Review Commission for a term of three years. Do we have a motion to approve? So [snorts] moved. Second. Any questions? Sean has been on that commission for a while and happy to return. All in favor? I. We have requests for the board to reappoint Meredith Black to uh the zoning board of appeals for a term of 5 years. Meredith's been on the board for 12 years and is a a lawyer in land use related, real estate related things and does a good job. Um, so I'll make the motion to approve. Second. Oh, sorry. All in favor?

I request to reappoint Bruce Yablon as a member of the Bedford Town Housing Committee for a term of three years. Um, Bruce has a background in construction, has been on the Blue Mountain and the town housing committees for many years, um, and is a big advocate for affordable, more affordable housing. Um, I'll make the motion to approve. Second. Any questions? All in favor? I I.

Motion carries. We've been doing a lot of interviews with a lot of great board members and happy, so happy that they are willing to step up and serve and do the work that they do of those important committees. So, thank you. Um to everyone who threeapp appointed and appointed for your service. Um number 12, let's see, I think we have time before our 615 hearing. We have the annual report of the Bedford Conservation Board and we have Janine Carlson here to share that with us. Hi Janine.

So yes, um the Dear Supervisor Calvis and members of the Bedford Town Board, this report is to the town board on the activities performed by the conservation board in 2025 and what we anticipate for 2026. As one of our required duties for Bedford'stown government, the conservation board reviews applications that come before the various town boards and commissions. In order to fulfill this requirement, our board assigns its members to attend all planning board, town board, wetlands control commission, zoning board of appeals, and open space acquisition committee meetings throughout the year. New reports in 2025, we launched the conservation board green awards in May of 2025, a project we had not undertaken for several years. applied for. We applied for a grant to update the natural resource inventory that was completed decades ago. We expect to be notified if we get a grant this spring. Even if we do not get the grant, we plan to partner with Westchester County Department of Information Technology to update the GSA um our GIS maps. If we receive the grant, we will also have digital wet man wetlands maps request re created along with the narrative national resource inventory analysis. We hosted a public viewing of the film the nature of nature biodiversity in the Hudson Valley in partnership with the Katona library. After the film, we had a panel discussion on the biodiversity of Bedford. Uh approximately 100 people attended the event and was also successful that we aim to host two films and panel discussions in 2026.

We have con uh contributed to Supervisor Calvis's weekly newsletter as well as Bedford [clears throat] loves nature. We had an information table at health healthy yards annuals or seed swap. We have a number of long-term and uh yearly projects that we have moved forward over the course of the year. The rain garden. The conservation board continues to maintain the rain garden. Amphibian migration. The conservation board continues to serve as the local lead for DEEC's amphibian migration and road crossings project. In 2025, we had several new volunteers joined and we saved many amphibian lives. Vine cutters. The conservation board continued our partnership with Bedford Riding Lanes Association and 2030 and Health and Healthy Yards on a vine cutting group to address rampant invasives in town. Much work has been done over many weekend hours to remove invasive vines. Hudson River Estuary Stewardship Grant. The conservation board applied for and was awarded a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to develop a wildlife corridor map corresponding uh and corresponding ordinance in 2021. Early in 2025, we shared the final map from the Myanis River Gorge with the town board and the final map uh delivered uh deliverables were provided in the spring. In 2025, we had a presentation and discussion with residents who live along the mapped wildlife corridors and another one with relative town committees and department heads. We are currently working with our consultant Ted Frink as well as Jessica L Young Bloodood on drafting legislation

that will support the preservation of the wildlife corridors that currently exist. We are currently discussing the preservation of wait sorry uh we are currently discussing the legislation this my line is half crossed out. We are currently discussing conservation subdivision legislation and plan to review how um fencing and dark sky legislation could be revised or amended to better protect wildlife corridors and all wildlife in Bedford. We participated in Bedford 2030's Earth Day celebration and shared games and information about habitat connectivity and the wildlife corridor project. In 2026, we aim to amend and update legislation related to wildlife corridors and bring it to the town board and relevant departments for review. continue to de develop our mapping Bedford project as well as updating the maps with assistance of the county department uh as well as naturalist healthy yards, our own prior habitat mapping uh endeavors and a public um and on publicly available natural resource inventory maps. I hold another hold another green awards ceremony to celebrate local roofs. Um [clears throat] and if the individual contributions to the environment in Bedford continue to advocate for improved tree protections including reviewing the tree ordinance and educating the public on the value of trees and forest and ecological tree

stewardship. Revive the discussion about how we can be done better about deer overpopulation about what can be done. Continue to lead vine cutting and amphibian migration volunteer programs. Create a conservation boardformational flyer for tableabling events. Continue contributing to Supervisor Calvis's weekly newsletter as well as Bedford Loves Nature. Continue participating in Bedford's 2030 yearly Earth Day celebration and table at events such as the seed swap. Participate and rev up Bedford's celebration of USA's 250th anniversary. As always, the conservation board will continue to participate in the town's review of applications and proposals, and we look forward to continuing to work with you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Marina Cubic, chair of the Veter Conservation Board.

Thank you, Janine. Wow, that is a incredibly active group of people. Thank you so much for all of that work and for reading that whole letter. I appreciate [laughter] you doing that, but it was worthwhile for everyone to hear what the Conservation Board has done, and we look forward We have it. It's on the agenda. Yes. um my project wasn't working very well. Yes, we have copies and um we look forward to the year ahead with all of those promising projects. Um

yes, and I'm sure we'll we'll request more as we you know get underway. But um yes, the wildlife quarters project is wrapping up and we look forward to discussing the conservation subdivision draft that um has been worked on through that process. um finding out if we get the grant for the resource inventory and of course all the other wonderful educational and and we spent two hours on Zoom on Sunday on the tree or

two hours on Zoom on Sunday. Well, now you're discouraging people from joining the conservation [laughter] board. Um thank you. That's amazing. Thank you. And I think um the other item was to provide an update regarding um the opportunity for youth leaison.

Yeah, I can just do that quickly. Um so we are piloting a youth leazison opportunity with the conservation board for high school age students who are interested in environmental issues and civic engagement. So if there are students who want to apply and learn more they can email me at bbit bitkerbedford new york.gov. Um, students are going to be asked to attend a couple conservation board meetings, find out what the board does, how they can contribute, and meetings take place at 425 Cherry Street. Um, the conservation board chair is going to meet with them, and she's going to make recommendations to the town board and then we're going to talk about how to appoint applicants for this role. So it should be a mutual mutually beneficial opportunity where the students will be able to contribute with their energy and their ideas about you know environment. They're going to learn about civic engagement but it's also going to be really helpful to the conservation board which as you heard does a great amount of work in the community and they need you know fresh ideas and lots of hands and lots of people at all these different events. So, a flyer has been sent to Fox Lane High School, John J, and to Harvey. So far, we've gotten a few bites, but it would be great if we got more people. Um, but the ones who applied so far are really enthusiastic. They're going to attend some meetings coming up in February and March, and we would love it if people spread the word. We have a flyer that's been sent to the schools. It's going to be posted on social media. Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much. Okay, now it is after 6:15. So, um I would like to um provide an opportunity for the public to make comments on what has been published in the agenda. Um before we open a public hearing um I'll just say that there's been a lot of comments that we have received a lot um more departments weighing in on this and so um there will definitely be changes made this evening and a new version posted and this hearing will not be closed this evening. I'll be making a decision tonight. We will extend the public hearing to the next meeting as well um to incorporate changes and comments. So um definitely we want to hear from everyone this evening and we can take comments via email during the week and then we can hear from people again at the next meetings to really land on something that works um that we're finding the right way to regulate this. So um this is regarding um the parking of RVs in town rightofways on public streets and in commuter lots and it is propos a proposal to amend the local law uh in line with um commercial and industrial vehicle parking um to add uh some provisions for recreational vehicle parking and um a definition of that which is up for discussion and also a process, a permit that we could produce um that we can take longer to do. It's not part of the law, the permit, but it would establish um how to be able to apply to park and RV um should you want to do that. So, um do we have a motion to approve opening the public hearing?

So, move second. All in favor? I I uh is there any discussion by the board before we start taking comments? Okay. So, um, Sally, [snorts] you want to come up? And if when you come to the podium or if you raise your hand on Zoom, the town clerk can bring you into the meeting so we can see you and you can comment. Um, if you could just state your name and address for the record.

Hi everybody. Um Sally Corbettco, executive director at Stepping Stones, which is at uh 62 and 66 Oak Road uh in Kona. Um just to keep it simple, we you know, in a year we might get no R RV inquiries in terms of a visitor that wants to come to the town via RV or we might get up to maybe four, they call ahead and they're like, "Where can we park?" So we have been uh in the practice of uh telling them don't park in residential neighborhoods uh you know find a commercial or uh industrial area and then Uber or taxi in um you know so if they're with just us for a tour maybe they're with us four hours but if they want to dine and shop and do other things see other venues go to a play go to a movie in the area or something they might want to you know go to those things and then leave town. So, I they're not overnight folks, you know, they're not trying to stay in town overnight um in their RV. But, so anyway, the bottom line is I read the draft and I almost feel like I need somebody to read through it with me because some of it's a little confusing. I don't know if there's a staff person that I could go over it with to understand it better, but if there could be some way of building into it um the day visitors that come to town and want to park outside of a residential neighborhood to go do things, cultural venues, whatever in town, and then leave um without it being a big hassle because some of them are [clears throat] last minute calling that morning want to see if they could, you know, come to town that day and I so I we have sent an email. You have it. I don't need to retell it. The gist is to provide some uh short-term accommodation in

commercial and industrial areas for um for parking an RV to do some things, you know, part of the day in town, maybe even stay and and do some night activities. That's it. But I hope that's helpful. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Oh, and thank you for all of the Thrive related um approvals and things earlier. Appreciate that, too. Thank you for all of your work on that as well. [snorts] So, we did um Yep. Go ahead. Come on up to the [clears throat] microphone and state your name and address for the record. Thank you.

Hi, everyone. Uh I'm Reverend Martin McGee. I'm a resident at 86 Edgemont Road and the pastor of Katona Presbyterian Church at 31 Bedford Road. And I appreciate all the uh the hard work and time that people have spent on this issue. Uh I've I've moved here about two years ago and I have found this to be such a kind and caring community and it's such a privilege to live here. Uh I would speak against the the ordinance [snorts] uh simply because it appears to me to to be a solution to a problem that is about one individual and uh I happen to know that the individual is is trying to not be unhoused and has gotten a job and is is seeking uh a different path and this doesn't seem the kind and caring way to solve this problem. And so I would like to make myself available if any of the residents uh would like to come visit with me and we could maybe talk about other solutions to help this individual uh instead of passing a law to get rid of them. uh which which doesn't seem to me to be the most caring thing to do. Thank you very much. I appreciate everybody.

Thank you.

Anyone else? Come on up. Just come on up.

Hi, I'm Mara Spiller. I reside on 61 Edgemont Road where we got new sewer hookups. Yay. With big big vehicles there for half a year. Okay. And [clears throat] I too would want to second what Pastor Martin just said. Uh the history of this changing of the town law really is about one struggling individual [snorts] in a hopefully temporary really bad situation with one big vehicle. And I would like to appeal to the town board not to change the law for everybody. And I read the draft. I mean it's it's a mouthful. I'm I'm not a legal person. I'm a scientist so I feel this [clears throat] isn't necessary and it's just my personal opinion. I thought about that person and I thought what could we do and I would appeal to your kindness. I was thinking of this big commuter lot. I don't know what number it has coming in from Route 35 into Katona on the right hand side. There's ample space. It has never been full after CO. Couldn't the town just give this person a temporary permit to park this big vehicle in a corner there? You know, it it wouldn't be a safety issue where somebody needs to drive out of a narrow driveway on Edgemont Road and and vision is impaired, you know, sight is impaired by the vehicle. It would be safe. It wouldn't would be in nobody's way. It doesn't require changing the laws. And I I just hope in my community something like this can

happen. I'm appealing to your kindness. Thank you for listening.

Other comments? [snorts] Hello.

Hi there. My name is Gary Mckendry. I live at 82H Mount Road, Katona, right next to the church. Um I think well I speak for a lot of residents on the street and I'm sure a lot are online. Um this has been going on now for well over five months for us when you add the two blocks of time together. Um the last thing I think anyone wants to be is unkind. I think the people in this town are very kind. The people moved to this town because of the community spirit. Everyone lives close together. Narrow roads, houses with small lots, and people get along. But I think the people on Edgemont have been uh living slightly differently than a lot of other people in the town. Uh there's two vehicles actually and they've been coming there now for well over four and a half months. Everybody was told it was only going to last part of the summer. It's been here now all of the winter. I think it's a real problem because these vehicles have heaters in them. They have gas in them. I'm assuming they have bathrooms in them and they have been staying overnight on occasions. And I don't I think you know while it looks cruel to say it's for this one person, it actually isn't. If this thing gets out in van life that a village just outside Katona lets anyone park in their streets at any time, you're going to be swamped. And that's not right. So I think the people of H1 Road been very kind. No one has ever made this about one person, but that one vehicle is a sign of what can happen. And people don't want to be swamped. It's blocking access. It's blocking parking. I personally have had tickets written for me for parking my car the wrong way in Katona. So why should it be any different for anyone else? I'm sorry, but the local people are pretty worn down by it. So um the last thing I would like them to be thought of as unkind and that's why I

came up tonight. So um thank you for all you've done. I haven't read all the details of the documents and I know it's in flux. So um we appreciate we very much appreciate you looking at this document and taking it seriously. Thank you. And as I say, we're very proud to be part of the town, but we just don't want to be held differently than the rest of the town by having someone changing the way we live. Thanks a lot. Thank you. [snorts]

Okay. Good evening. Hey. Hello. We can see you.

So, sorry I'm traveling at the moment. Wanted to make sure I was able to to comment on this. Um, uh, Gerardo Mendes, been a resident for, uh, coming on 14 years. Um, I live in, uh, in Bedford, uh, off of Indian Hill. Um, I wanted to provide some quick comments on the legislation. I don't know or the draft legislation. I don't know the whole history behind it, but it seems there's obviously a very, uh, specific situation that is been the genesis of this legislation. Um, but from a from an outsider looking at what's being drafted, I wanted to provide some specific comments because outside of of this particular situation, I think the always concern for new uh uh regulation regulation legislation is the potential for abuse. Um, and I know there's been comments that this is going to be reworked, but uh I'd like to provide a a request for additional specificity in the legislation. Um, I'll take a step back and say that I'm not particularly fond of this legislation. I I'm not sure I see a need for it. Um, so initially my my inclination was that I don't see that this being a necessary part of the town uh uh and the need for a a permit, but if it is going to be part of it and and requires additional comment, I'd like you to consider some some additional thoughts here. Um, specifically the need for more specificity, uh, for example, what exactly is considered an RV? Is that defined? and I didn't have a chance to look at the rest of the code to see if that's defined, but there could be some some variances as to what people consider to be an RV. Um, the second is, uh, you know, there is this this idea of of being able to move one block to another block and how is a block defined? Is it one particular street in which case a person could indefinitely park you know their you know a vehicle across the street from itself and stay there you know and just move every 14 days from one side of the street to the other thereby bypassing sort of you know kind of a permanent uh or creating their

own permanent uh uh you know parking spot for the RV. You know the other one is there's no limit on the number of vehicles. uh for example, let's just say, you know, a 100 vehicles decided to descend on Bedford and each applied for a permit. What is the mechanism for limiting the number of vehicles coming into town? Uh uh and is there a limit on which lots are allowed to? Are there some areas that are going to be excluded from parking such as, you know, do we want to allow parking on on uh on historic streets? So I I think that I think the the idea itself seems like there's some obviously some controversy around it, but if you're going to actually do something like this, I think the legislation needs a lot more specificity to avoid abuse, not just at the moment, but 10, 15, 20 years from now when when the initial intent is no longer exists.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Is there anyone else? Because I can elaborate a little more. So, we did have a definition. Um, it's very very broad. I think uh we need to, you know, we we kind of had a discussion about this threw together. You know, the our attorneys put it all sort of in um in a law that captured what we had discussed, but it is it is a little um clunky the way that we've we've kind of put it together. So the um we would want to make sure that it's very clear what it means and um what is available and what is not. The definition that is referred to um is probably overly broad. I mean I think the concern from um and we've heard this not we've we're hearing it now because one street has had an RV on it for five months. um moving every four hours to avoid getting parking tickets. But um we have had this complaint in the past where large RVs are parked in residential streets. It's hard to see around them. It's hard to back up out of your driveway and see around them. It's um you know, hard to drive around them. And uh temporarily, I think everyone's fine with that. But to to store a recreational vehicle um or to have someone living in a recreational vehicle um for a very long time in one's neighborhood I you know is very similar to the decision that we made to restrict commercial vehicles. So the the wide or um box body or wide or long or trailers and things that um really are more properly stored on a on a parcel as opposed to um in the street. So this is very much in line with what was passed

there. And there was a industrial vehicle definition added that included a lot of those descriptions of what was sort of inappropriate about an industrial vehicle being on a residential street for a long time. And um it doesn't apply to this because it said a commercial vehicle that has those characteristics. And um we didn't consider at the time that a that an RV could be exactly that you know sort of shape and size and and burden on the the street. Um

but there are there is a a lot of sentiment that it is um burdensome. So the recreational vehicle definition that we put forward is probably overly broad. Um, it pretty much covers just anything that you could sleep in, which would be very hard to enforce as well. Um, so I think we we have a definition maybe from Greenwich that was um

more narrow. Greenberg actually Greenberg. That's what it was. Greenberg um which you know may be more suitable. It provides um an exception for um automobiles which which we realized when we were looking at the definition of of recreational vehicle that it didn't actually accept automobiles which again is not the intent right so in trying to capture the intent and in trying to capture you know the public's comments I do there is there is room I think to tighten up that definition certainly.

Yeah. Um, right. Cuz it is perhaps we could find some exceptions that um smaller vans or trucks that have been modified the back um things like that, right? Or any any anything that you're storing something on. Right. I I just think there there are ways to um uh narrow again what what is what is already been proposed.

Okay. So we can look at what um Greenberg has proposed and maybe some others. Um the other thing just to Sally's point um what so so I had a call with um Eric Gordon um and Suzanne today and we talked about just separating the commercial vehicle and the industrial vehicle parts so that it was very clear what applied to what. Um [clears throat] industrial and commercial are not allowed on public streets. they can go in town lots um with a permit. Uh and but those that are over 20 feet really can't get a permit because they don't fit in a parking spot. Um so but we do allow in some situations where commercial industrial vehicles can get a temporary situation there if they with authorization from the town they're we've had instances where people are like moving a

um what's it called? like a like a modular home and there they need to stop for the night and we let them put it there on a Sunday or something. Um so it would it would be a new section under under A for commercial and industrial. Um a recreational vehicle um on any would not be allowed to park on any public street or town right away in a district zone residential. So, Sally, if you were directing people to industrial, there would still be spots there, right?

Um, except for a recreational vehicle parked temporarily for the purpose of visiting a residence or business or in the immediate vicinity thereof, um, without first obtaining a permit from the town clerk. And in what we've put with the town clerk, um, I think we brainstormed last time that it would be like a 14-day permit

that a resident would apply for. So, it couldn't be, you know, people flocking to town to just apply for permits and park, you know, all on the same street. That wouldn't get approved. It would have to be tied to a property owner um who would provide their, you know, agree to having a vehicle um in front of their house um or in in the area. Um and it would be for up to 14 days, but then there would need to be a it wouldn't be allowed to apply again for 30 days. So they couldn't just move to another street or um just apply again or over and over move, you know, they would have to take a go take a month break break and come back for a two week period. So that those were some of the things that um might have answered um Mr. Mendes's concerns. Um and then uh we so that would be for the streets what I read before there would be a permit. Um then the next part would be recreational vehicles shall be permitted to park in town lots 2, three or seven in accordance with posted regulations. Now seven may be too small um but we may you know across from seven is Railroad Avenue. um which what we call it we call it the parking area Railroad Avenue, but it's industrial zoned parking. So it could be um we could just say recreational vehicles shall be permitted to park in town lots two and three in accourse in accordance with posted regulations, but shall not be permitted to park in other town-owned operator maintain public parking lots where the recreational vehicle exceeds 20 feet in length. Um that would mean that a recreational vehicle could go in a parking lot and just pay the daily fee. Um that's the

posted regulations. Um and it would be free on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays just like all the other vehicles would be free during [clears throat] those times. Um so it wouldn't need a permit. It would just follow the rules of the parking lots. So if you're there during a weekday or a non-h holiday, you have to pay the Right. Okay. There has to be room in the lot and then then you would pay the daily fee or whatever the other rules are of the parking lot. Um and we were talking about whether we would put on, you know, it's a pay by phone. It's like an app. So,

um we could have RV parking if they were taking up two spots to pay double if it was more. But I think we could just if there's room in lot three, as there usually is. Um, that's the one that Margot mentioned. There's always room in that lot. Then it would just be a the $10 fee. Um, during the day, I mean during the week. Um, so that's those are the the ways that we worked on trying to make it more clear of what it meant. Um,

I think I think the one of the challenges would just be if someone's coming to go to Elemento like riding down the highway and wants to come to Elemento P for a cup of coffee, like you got to figure out where you can park this RV. Um, I think we, you know, you could park it in two lot or three with a $10, you know, daily permit or if it was a Saturday it would be free. um for people who are having friends come to stay who want to park their RV or their own RV in their um street, you know, we just have to make it an easy process so that it's it's not going to take weeks to get a permit. It has to be very easy to get a permit. Um other thoughts? Um, when this came up, I did suggest that I felt like I didn't want to do legislation that was targeting one person or one incident. And I also, you know, think that there are multiple issues that make this feel more urgent, you know, regarding it's not just the parking, it's also the living. Um, and I do think that that is something that's not going to be addressed by the legislation that's being proposed. And when I said this, the response was this is about safety. So if we go back to safety, the question is when is it safe for an RV to be parked on any public street in our town given I'm just curious given that we do have narrow roadways and things like that. Um, my in-laws, they do not park their RV in the driveway anymore, but they did

for quite some time, and that's where their RV was. I'm just But they also had the RV life. And if you are an RVER, you're not just going through life randomly, you know, saying, "Oh, let me run to this little town and I'm going to go to Elemento P." You're looking at maps. You're checking the GPS. You are making a plan. It's similar to having an electric vehicle. You're not like, "Oh, let's just drive for 400 miles." You're like, "Let's drive and let's make a plan." So, I do think that we have to be mindful that RVers are not just going to happen to be here randomly and not know what their options are. Typically, they know that they can spend the night at Walmart. They can spend the night in, you know, certain camps and things like that. And so I whatever we decide and how pursuing this legislation, I do think we have to be mindful that they're not naive. If you have an RV, you've really thought about that lifestyle and what that means for you. And it doesn't typically mean you can park anywhere. It doesn't typically mean you can even drive anywhere.

So if we're going back to safety, you know, I and and we are looking for simplicity. you know, is it possible that we just don't allow people to park RVs on our roads and and I do think it's reasonable for people to be able to use parking lots. We can tell them which ones they can use and for how long or whatever. If we're concerned about like people living there, then, you know, we can articulate that as well. Um, but I do think that we can make this simple and I don't think I I want to be kind. I really do. But I do think that we have to be safe.

Thank you. So, um, if we were to prohibit RVs on all streets for safety and because roads are narrow, would that apply only to those RVs that are larger than a standard size automobile and truck or van? So, you know, RVs come in different classes, right? So, we can certainly talk about that. I think you know similar to you know anywhere else just like we say we can't have p you know trucks over x number of pounds except for deliveries we can certainly accommodate loading and unloading you know and so forth but I just think right

it seems like it could be easier if we just said you can't park [laughter] on these streets if in fact the concern is safety because it's really about ensuring that emergency vehicles can get I like that. Um, other thoughts?

Sorry, those are all my thoughts. I like the thought. No, I think that that um solves a lot of the questions that we just had about the definition, some drafting problems. Yes. Um and it makes it simple um and also provides right for an arrangement. It's not a and would provide for some lot parking, right? And um almost complet Yeah. Completely eliminates the need to have a whole other permit. Um I mean I guess I could imagine, right? If you don't have a driveway and a friend comes to visit, they just have to go park in the the commuter lots.

Yeah. And we can and you we can even ask DVW if we want even want to get down as far as to stripe two stripe two line two two spots. No, [laughter] it's good. It's it's never it's never I love everyone think it's a joke. Um [laughter] I'm serious. The lot one of the times it it's not full. Lot three is never full. large vehicles, you know, over 20 whatever feet. It's very common.

So, we can look to our industrial vehicle definition. I think there are a lot of there's a lot of good language in there about what an industrial vehicle is. And, um, an RV that meets those industrial vehicle standards probably is too large for parking on the street. Um, but could go in the lots. Um, I like following the regular rules of the lot. makes sense for anyone parking there.

Um, okay. So, we will reddraft this. We will leave the public hearing open. Um, you know, I will also add to, um, we really, uh, have been trying very hard to get this person the support services that they need, the help that they need. Um we have been I can tell you there is more communication than you can imagine um with this person and um not all of the options have been accepted or desired by this person and that has made it um has kind of pushed us to a situation where if this person isn't willing to take some of the help that's been offered um you know we we can't let this go on forever. So there there are a lot of upset residents about this and it does make sense. It's not unheard of. Um other towns have, you know, other people who are on living on the edge and and staying in places that they, you know, they're working around how to help people. um if there are any private residents who would have a large property who would be willing to have this person park it on their their their yard or their parking lot. Um if it's something that the churches are very concerned about that's um you know the emergency shelter partnership if they're able to accommodate an RV when they house people. Um there are you know maybe other ways that this person can get help. Um, and no, I'm certainly not interested in kicking someone out of town, but the way that it's happening now, um, moving the car every four hours and getting ticketed, eventually that vehicle is going to get towed for having too many tickets. So, um, you know, there are rules and this person's trying to follow them, but, um, I certainly don't want that that to happen either

because that's going to be, um, that's not going to be good for her either.

And may I make one comment? Um, there have been a few comments about how we're legislating one person, one problem. And since my background is policym, I really wanted to comment on that. Um, I like policym to be proactive and not reactive. And I think a lot of times what happens is sometimes you don't see a potential problem until it happens. So, it could be that this is something that has happened numerous times and didn't grow into a bigger problem. It could be that this is something that could become a bigger problem and you may be seeing it one time and it became a big enough problem that it caused a number of residents some real upset. So, it's not that we're legislating some against something that happened one time and will never happen again. It could be that there's a safety issue that brought, you know, was brought to our attention in one case, but it's not that we're legislating against a particular person because as you heard, you know, we want to help somebody, bring them services, whatever. So, I think that's kind of a misconception and I really wanted to correct that.

Bobby, I agree with that. I was going to say sometimes you don't realize you have an issue until you see that little hole. Well, I'll just use that as an example. And I want to be very clear about what I said before. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. We have an opportunity here if we allow RVs to park in a parking lot of our town to locate them and if we stripe the lines in a certain way, not saying RV only or forcing them, we have the opportunity to place them and somebody had mentioned it earlier and to me that is something that um I would look into. I think then the question is uh one that safe

well that board member McCain brought up is then do we pass um separate legislation not sure it goes about sleeping in RVs on in the lots um because the way this is drafted what we've discussed right now the rules of our lots are that they are free overnight and so but we don't have um a restriction on someone staying in that vehicle overnight Okay. I'm just saying the location of the actual vehicle within the lot. That's all I'm saying. Okay. That's it. So, somebody had mentioned it. Great. Designated parking. Designated parking. That's it. Striping it in the color that says, "Hey, listen. You can you're you're good here. We're good. Just you got to be over there." Okay.

Tom wants spots like the buses at the museum. [laughter] Yeah. For safety. But if I just want to make sure I understand what you're saying. So, I mean, if somebody if if we're letting them use the rules of the parking lot, I mean, we're we would have to have some I mean, they people would want to be staying in them overnight. Yeah. I mean, so are you I'm not sure. Would we have So, that is what right between uh 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. our lots are free and on weekends um and holidays. So they are open and free to all um during those times. Um

so would we so the so we would have to decide whether or not we wanted to add anything about the rules around staying overnight. Right. Okay. Right. Or parking overnight. Maybe there was a rule that Right. Right. You can park there but you can't sleep there or we we leave it alone for now. Um, since you know that's that's I [snorts] do believe that Walmart has limits to how long you can stay overnight. Gotcha.

And with the assumption or presumption that people would be sleeping in their vehicles, but you're not allowed to do that indefinitely. And I I am ashamed to say that I know this much about this topic.

The Walmart provision, so look it up. Okay. Um, yeah, I agree with Bobby. I mean, I think all most of the time, um, your legislation's brought to your attention or because of something that's happening in your community. I also don't think this is going to, you know, result in someone being kicked out of town. I think there will just be another place that you know now we're saying okay now we're [laughter] um this this is a resourceful and very intelligent person and who knows the laws better than than all of us. So there are definitely other places to park um that will be found. Um but for now uh I think this is good to have this added and I we will um Suzanne's already probably got it drafted. um to make sure it's prioritizing safety. Recognizing we have a lot of narrow roadways, looking at the larger class sizes and weights so we can identify that more are more in line with the industrial vehicles and um identifying which parking lots they could go to according to the normal parking lot rules and um prohibit them on the streets, residential streets, not industrial streets. Okay. Um, great. Thank you. We will uh continue the public hearing uh at our next meeting. Um, so do we have to

Last time I was here, I advised that you vote to continue the public hearing. I don't see why not. So, I'm glad you're here. [laughter] Um, I would like to move that we continue the public hearing at our next meeting on February the 3rd at 6 PM. Second. All in favor? Motion carries. Um, I would just like to uh mention a couple of things. Um, or do we have any other public comment while people are here? Anyone Ally on? No, not on.

Okay. Um, and we're using our new web webinar format. Um, so thank you Ally for monitoring. Um, we just uh just a couple of updates. Um, we have had, you know, with the Zoom bomb, we've updated to the webinar version and that seems to be working for the various boards. We had a pornographic like horrible episode at our last meeting. So, um, now the people in the waiting room can be let in to speak, but um, we don't have the risk of having that happen again. Um, we also have had some scams, people trying to scam the town. um they have taken what's been put on public agendas and bye Marga and um tried to trick people into making payments to the to what they say is the town and it looks very legitimate. They're talking about your application before the zoning board and they make it sound realistic and they tell you just you know click this link and you know pay the town you know $10,000. So, we are um working I'm working with the comproller. He's helping develop some policies and procedures that we will make very clear, you know, clarifying to the public. We have the policies and procedures already in place, but we we need to document them so everyone knows what they are and make sure that's very clear on our website. You will not get an email asking you to click some weird link. You know, we will have, you know, a way that you will be you pay fees and it's usually it's through a portal. you usually will be directed to a landing page on the website for that department that will explain the payments and then provide that link. So, um and some tips about making sure you know who the email is from and if you hover over it, you can see if it's a fake one or not. So, just trying to make sure that um you know we're helping to make sure people aren't falling prey to scams um based on information that we're putting out there. Um

did you want to say something? No. No. Um, we also at the zoning board meeting a couple weeks ago, there was an application for some signs in a business district. And uh, it was very hard for the zoning board to grant a variance or understand um, how to apply the sign law because as we've heard from a lot of people, there are a lot of sort of illegal signs out there. our sign ordinance um is is pretty restrictive and in a lot of cases, you know, you're only supposed to cover 20% of business windows in certain districts with signs and you know, especially there's, you know, you drive around and see some new businesses have covered every square inch of their windows with signs. Um, so there needs to be some enforcement, but um, the zoning board sort of asked that we ask the business associations if there should be any modifications to the sign ordinance before um, you know, we we do need to do more enforcement. But there's definitely some, you know, those sandwich board signs that are out on sidewalks that um, direct people to different businesses and I think they they are helpful. or there's other kinds of signage that aren't allowed in the law, but people are doing it and maybe there's a way to make it work. So, we we'll await um recommendations from the business associations on what might, you know, might change in the sign ordinance and then we will have a work session with the town board and open up to the public to hear more about what might be um appropriate for building signage. And it's different in every district. So, um, what's what's okay in Bedford Village is very different from what's okay on um, you know, Route 117. And, um, strangely enough, like the industrial district like on Adam Street is very restrictive, but it's like a lot of industrial buildings, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but um, so that is something we're working on and, um, you

know, happy to have help from the board in working on drafting some ideas for that. Um, we have just I do want to mention thank you to the town, the DPW crews, parks crews, building crews. They were all out this weekend just as over and over and over it kept snowing. So, [laughter] they um they did a great job and it um took a lot of resources. So, thank you to all of them out there keeping everyone safe on the sidewalks and the streets. Um the second half of school taxes are due um before 4:30 on February 2nd. And this is the big one. If you don't pay on time, you get a 10% penalty. So, remember to pay your taxes. Um, on Thursday night, we have a first responder community info night at the Bedford Hills Community House. Uh, we have representatives from each of our four agencies coming. And if you know anyone at all who's interested in helping other people or supporting people who help other people, um, please ask them to join us. Um, there will be pizza. Um, I'm also hoping to get a nice list of volunteers who might be willing to help during a power outage, um, or a emergency in town. You know, sometimes we just need help, um, staffing a warming center or handing out dry ice or calling seniors, making sure they're okay. So, um, those kinds of things are also available. It's not all running into fires and doing scary things. Um there's a lot of opportunities to support uh the town and also first responders that don't um require that level of training. Um but it's really helpful. Um so 6:30 Bedford Hills Community House Thursday. Um on the 29th next week, uh the mobile clerk from the county is coming. Madame clerk, is there anything to say about the services that they offer? Um, the biggest service they offer

there, they do walk in nuteries, but we do that here every day also, but they do passport applications, which is the biggest thing for residents typically. Okay. So, it'll be at the Bedford Hills Community House from 11 to 1:30. Yes. Question about that. I'm sorry. Question [clears throat] about that because people always ask, do they do renewals or just new applications? I believe it's just new applications. Okay. And children's. Yes. Thank you. And we have the paperwork in the office if anybody needs that prior. We'll share it online as well.

Oh, great. Thank you. And then um on January 30th, we have the 1776 tavern night for the Rev Up um launch of the Coalition events for the year. It's going to have uh at 7:00 at historical hall. I think tickets are only $30 and it's they're going to turn the historical hall into a tavern and there will be some characters from history there doing little vignettes like John J and Sarah J and um some other uh people and costumes are welcome but it's really to um kick off all of the activities are going on throughout the town um with all of our coalition partners who are using this theme of rev up 250 um which is really to lean into some of the principles of the Declaration of the Independence and um understand you know what do they mean now you know in the past and now and in the future and obviously that's been a big changing target but um it'll be fun to see how all the different organizations think about that theme and one of the projects that will be announced that night and shared um is a student video contest that will be um asking uh high school students to make videos that represent I think the prompt is what is the what is the American dream look like for you or I think there's another one you know where how do you think we're doing with our um you know with our with our um what the declaration you know proposed um so that will be a fun opportunity for young people to get involved and think about those same principles and then I think we already have a date for the playhouse to to showcase the winning videos. So, that'll be a fun thing to do throughout the spring and maybe some filmmakers in the room could get involved. Oh, no. [laughter] Um,

[gasps] so, um, any other announcements from the town board? No. Okay. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for