Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Welcome to our April 8th meeting. This is a dualpurpose meeting. Part one, well I guess triurpose. Part one is to um hold our the public hearing on the tenative budget. Part two of our monthly meeting and then part three is a bit of board business that we have to take care of. So if I could ask the clerk for a roll call, please. Trusty Bis. Trusty Boosezie here. Trusty Bozie is joining us remotely. Trusty Hall here. Deputy Mayor Woods here. Mayor Polley

here. Thank you. Announcements. We have a few. Leaf pickup starts this week. Butcher leaves out on Thursday. Couple of reminders. Can I just ask because I put mine out tonight because I saw others and it said pickup is April the 9th which is it is it is Thursday April 9th. So if you put it out today it'll get picked up tomorrow. So put it out tonight after four the night before the night after 4 the night before. That's right.

And here are things to know about how to put your your yard waste out. Leaves must be placed in paper bags. Um no plastic, no bins. The brush must be bundled and tied. The bundles can be no more than five feet in length. The sticks no larger than three inches in diameter and no logs. All good? Okay.

The fishing derby sponsored by the Nelsonville Fish and Fur Club is on May 8th from 8 to 4. It's a Sunday um at the Coffer Dam and uh Foundry Foundry Pond Reservoir on Fishkill Avenue. We are seeking members for the tree board after many years of dedicated surface service. A couple of the members are coming off. Um contact the clerk if you'd like to volunteer. Um the chair noted that civic-mindedness and a commitment to the public interest are all that you truly need. So clerk is bcs at moldspringny.gov. Um, and the last I think the clerk I'm not sure if he's actually put these up on the website yet to us today. Um, but the planning events for the marathon site are the last week of April. Um, Monday, April 27th from 6:00 to 8 is community engagement meeting at the chapel restoration. On Tuesday from 1 to 4 is an open studio at St. Mary's Rectory. The next day from 1 to 4, open studio at St. Mary's Rectory. and then another evening community engagement meeting on Thursday the 30th from 6:00 to 8 back at the chapel restoration and we'll get that stuff up and out to the public as well. So with that our budget presentation um so I am sharing and you have that the ones are ready for it. So what is the village fiscal year? It's from Hi from June to June 1st to May 31st. Refer to it by the year the the

fiscal year ends. So we are now in fiscal year 26. And tonight we're presenting the budget for fiscal year 27th. So we thought we'd do a little honor to Mayor Cotch tonight and ask how are we doing? So far, would you like to formally open the public hearing after the presentation? Yes. Can everyone see the screen or should I Okay. You're welcome to to shift down. Okay. Yeah. When we're ready for for the public portion, we will open public.

So, how are we doing as Mayor Paj asked? So, here are some of our achievements of this budget year to date. On the finance and management side, we ne negotiated and secured initial tax sharing with Putnham County. We established and worked under a highway um in municipal agreements with DPWs all across Putinham. We engaged a labor attorney to bring best practices to policies and practices across the village. Um we had a big year on the infrastructure and capital project side. We completed two FEMA disaster recovery projects. Um and some portion of each of those projects or of the fair street project um was partially funded by our own money for what FEMA did not cover. And we engineered two more FEMA projects which I'll talk about in a bit. Um we replaced long a long neglected significant storm water culvert on fair street. That is the portion we came out of our funds. We paved and repaired five village streets. We replaced sidewalks and added ADA ramps on multiple streets. And New York State DOT did the same on Route 9 D and 301. And we s successfully managed backbrook flooding this year. Um have an initiative coming up related to that that I'll talk about in a bit. But we learned a lot fiscal year 25 and applied it in fiscal year 26. On pedestrian safety, we made upgrades at three critical intersections, crosswalks, and traffic calming. We improved pedestrian visibility on main street sidewalks and around housing. On visitor management, we collected four quarters of occupancy tax from hotels and inscreased the garbage collection capacity, more bins on Main Street and the waterfront, and we advocated for resources from New York State Parks and the islands. So, how do we build the budget? Well,

there are three three portions. Build, listen, and finalize. Um, we start with a multi-session workshop process. For many of you, this is your first time with us talking about budget this season, but we have been talking about budget since midFebruary um in multi sessions. Um, we then draft and propose and revise and adjust and improve among the trustees and the staff. That's a collaboration among all of us and our department heads and in particular Michelle Escalo who's the village accountant.

And now we're on the listen. Yeah. Yay, Michelle. Now we're at the listen portion where after presentation we'll invite public comment. Um, and then we consider public comment and all of the things that that we may um the board may want to discuss after public comment, we finalize, make adjustments as needed and then we need to adopt to vote it. We need to vote to adopt by May 1st. So, we follow New York State's schedule. We have some overall goals for the budget process. To conduct the process transparently, which we have done and will continue to do, to stay within the New York State tax cap and to continue financial planning and design for capital projects. This year is all about capital projects this year coming. So to answer your question, yes, we have stayed within the New York State tax cap. Um increase is 3.7%. How does that work? It's because the New York state t tax cap isn't as simple as 2%. So I'm going to do my best to talk in layman's terms through how you calculate the 2% tax cap. And if Michelle needs to clarify, um she can't. Do you want us to turn the screen so you can actually see this slide or you're welcome to shift? Uh so we had a base levy in fiscal year 26. Um there multiple calculations that take into account a 1.64% tax base growth factor and allowable levy growth factor of 2%. Um then there is a carryover. Jane, if you'd like, you're welcome to you're welcome to shift or we can turn the screen if you'd like. Would you like us to turn the screen

or there's a packet here that has it all printed out so you can follow? That's right. I don't have these are the percent. This is visuals better on the screen. Okay, you can keep both. We're getting our studio audience in order for those who are waiting patiently online. Thank you. Um the percentages that I'm referring to are the

the factors that go into calculating tax cap. Um there's a pension exclusion and together all of these things make up the 3.7% um maximum levy which is within the New York State tax cap. Michelle, would you like to add anything to that? Um, I guess to clarify for uh listeners, um, the hot topic on the street is the 2% tax cap, but as you've mentioned, that's only one piece of a four piece puzzle. Um, so if you look at the chart, the 2% tax cap is right there. That's the 40,000, but because of the formula, we're allowed to go up to 3.7 according to New York State. We stay within the T. Um, it's an unstable economy and costs in every sector are skyrocketing into double-digit percentages. Um, and just as individual households are experiencing, the village is facing steep cost increases in materials, fuel, electricity, and more. We have prioritized the most essential services and projects to maintain our quality of life in the village. and uh the trustees and the staff have shaped this budget carefully to address rising costs, prepare for necessary major capital projects and again stay within the 10. So there the budget is actually made up of three separate funds general fund the water fund and the wastewater fund. So we're going to talk through each of them together. a build a combined budget of $5,594,246. We'll hit the general front first. Um the majority of village services including garbage recycling, um sidewalk and road and facility maintenance, clerical operations, including vital record man records

management. If you've ever come in to get a birth certificate, um permit processing, New York State and federal reporting and compliance, parks and maintenance, police and fire services. All of these are paid through this fund. And sources of revenue in the general fund include property taxes, occupancy tax, permit fees, parking fees, and rental of real property such as Cole Spring Boat Club, as well as regular funding from New York State grants. We secure intermunicipal agreements, franchise fees, and fines. So, we'll dig a little deeper into revenues. The largest portion of our revenues, 54%, is from property taxes. The next largest is state aid such as paving funds um and local government support at 11%. Interfund transfers 11% um of revenue is drawn from our fund balance. We have a healthy fund balance in proportion to our over overall budget. And in keeping with the recommendations of the New York State Controller, we generally make an allocation from the fund balance to cover one-time expenses such as large equipment purchases for the roadways and facilities crew, cruisers for our police department, repairs to our buildings. Um, you'll notice that parking revenue is just 5% of the villages income. And county tax sharing, which began formally in December, will add a minimum of 50,000 to our budget annually. We'll take it, but it's a drop in the bucket. It's 1%. It's a drop in the bucket compared to our expenses, particularly those related to visitation management. Michelle, did you want to add anything on that? We'll take comment at the end. Right now, I'm doing a presentation. Thank you. Um, so there are possibilities for new revenue generation um in the general fund. We can advocate for more county sales tax sharing. Um we've said right

from the beginning of the county executive that we considered it just the beginning. Um can bring short-term rental occupancy tax online. Um we can expand metered and residential parking areas. We can update our fee schedule. That's something we've been working on as part of the budget process so that it reflects um actual costs. Um, and we do have a property lease that we can renegotiate. The parking lot at the Hudson House no longer needs as many spaces as it did. Um, they can efficiently park their guests on one side and we can use the others for the other side for metered parking. That's something to look at for new revenue generation. Um, and general fund expenses. These are tentative. Um the total of our expenses is 3,854,280. The largest items in our budget are streets, parks, and infrastructure. That does include our staff um in that area, the police department at 19%. 16% for employee benefits and retirement. Um and it's important to know that we do uh the village and other municipalities have had generous retirement plans um in the past. So we are still sending payments every month to retirees all across the country and their surviving spouses. Um and I wanted to point out that we there is a 7% expenditure that I think we use very wisely that is strategically engaging engineering and legal expertise to address complex projects and run a modern municipality. So, what are our goals for the budget for the general fund in this budget cycle? Um, completing two more recovery projects from the July 2023 storm with the help

of FEMA in New York State. Um, the intersection of Fishkill and Mountain is next. Um, and the installation of flood safety measures in the Metro North underpass. People don't realize that Metro North owns the underpass, but we are responsible for it. It's a an agreement that goes back to 1931 with all um Hudson River towns, that the railroad maintained the tracks and the municipalities maintain the underpasses and overpasses, which might have seemed like a good idea in 1931, but we kind of get a raw deal today. Um we have plans for undertaking various paving projects around the village to improve travel on our streets. He'll be happy to know that Rock Street is one of those on our list for this summer. Um we are completing engineering condition study on the village dock. Um expanding um multi-day garbage pickup on Main Street in large in longer months to meet the growing visitor visitor season. Um, we're working on securing DOT permits for our favorite acronym, RRFB. Rectangular rapid flashing

beacons.

Beacons. Yes. That like Nelsonville has the pedestrian activated lights around how lane. Um, installing wayfinding signage, improve signage for parking on Main Street and in the residential zones. Talked about fee schedules. We've talked about how we are setting a course for expanding revenue generation. Um, and we are also restructuring employee hourly rates, stipens, and overtime to reflect best practices. So, this is a little vision of what the big capital projects um relating to the storm recovery from July 2023 is. This is the um intersection of Fishkill and Maine. Um it's a critical inter intersection because it allows us to um increase capacity so that when we make modifications further upstream on Backbrook, this intersection is ready to take u more of the water um that currently floods in the Nelsonville woods. So there are crosswalks, new sidewalks at this very busy intersection near the school. And highlighting another project is our wayfinding signage. We have a sample in the room. That's not the weight that they will be, but over by behind Marjorie. Um, we have designed a a system of wayfinding signs.

Yeah, that's right.

That will be installed. If you can see the screen, those of you who are online, it's easier, but um an example is uh near the um underpass directing people how to get to the West Point Foundry Preserve, how to get to trains to the other direction, etc. So, we have a system of these for all around the village. Um and hope these will come online this summer. All right. Water fund. water fund is1,27,000530. How are we doing? Like Mayor Poch again, um we negotiated and accepted the donation of property near our reservoir and we substantially completed a water filter upgrade at the treatment plant. That second was uh partially funded with arba dollars. It was of course more expensive um as as the project carried out. Um so some came from the waters the waters fund balance. Um but that's nearly done. And I have a photo here of George and Harriet Houston. They are descended from one of Philipstown's oldest families dating all the way back to the revolution. They had a large family farm including acreage near our reservoir. And when the village bought the reservoir from the foundry, they did not buy the land around it in part because the hustases gener generously allowed um village access for many many decades. Um they have a wood lot there and their grandfather always wanted to conserve it. Um and when we approached them about uh acquiring it so that we could secure um both both access and conservation um and preservation around our water source, they were they were willing to donate it to the village. And so we will be naming it in the spring, the George Hughes Memorial Conservation Area. And that's that's actually one of the um

streams that runs along the existing driveway down to the cottage by the reservoir. I'll put some pictures of that later. So water fund revenues um we have a roughly $8 million repair project for the upper reservoir. We've secured 2 and a.5 million in grant in a grant for engineering and construction. So, um, this year's water funds rates, the rate increases build in $200,000 for engineering and 42,000 in land acquisition payments for two parcels. Um, those are ban interest payments. Um, we needed to purchase for the construction. So, the the water flat rate, it's basically it's the charge for delivering safe drinking water. It's the everyone pays the same. um inside the village. That includes the operation and maintenance of five reservoirs and water impoundments, the operation and maintenance of the water treatment plant, licensed professional staffing who are on 247. Um and on average, uh the increase is $2 per month in fiscal year 27. The usage rate is how much water you actually use. So the more you conserve, the less you pay. On average, the increase in this fiscal year is about a dollar for every 5,000 gallons of water used. And as I said, those rates do include um capital project costs 200,000 for engineering and 42,000 in payments for band or land acquisition. Waterfront expenses um salary and benefits are are the highest. Um the debt interest and principal payments are nearly 20% of the

budget. It's what we need to do to repair our dam. It's been kicked down the road for at least the 20 years that I've lived here and can't be kicked down the road anymore. Um so we are doing what we need to do to protect public health and public safety. Um salary and benefits make up about 30%. Um and the source source of the supply and purification is about 41% of spending. That's you know the actual cost of delivering clean safe drinking water. So now um to orient you a little bit, I brought a a Google um map of the reservoir area. So this is out Lake Surprise Road um near the intersection with Foundry Pond Road. Um there are Let's see. Can I Oh, yes. So here is Foundry Pond Road here. Whoops. Um, Barrett Pond is here, Houston Road, and this is just, you can see a piece of Lake Surprise Road. Is my cursor showing?

Okay. Um, this is the upper reservoir. This is this one, right? You want to point it out? This one. Thank you. There's uh that's the Foundry Pond Road, right? at road at the bottom left corner is Lake Surprise. Thank you, Andrew. The lower portion where it gets squeezed in and narrow, that is where the actual um wall that needs to be repaired is the empoundment. And that next portion below it is the lower reservoir. Um that's the dam you can see from the row. That's the lower That is the lower dam. The upper reservoir is the the narrow point.

Um so we already have an easement. Andrew, could you pop up one more time? We already have an easement off FA Court that was established in 2010. FA Court is that curly queue just above the Exactly.

Um, it is a maintenance easement. It's a narrow easement. Um, it's intended for our small maintenance trucks. It's not big enough for actual dam construction. It also is, um, has a series of houses on it, so it's more disruptive. It would be more disruptive on that side. So that's why we set about um acquiring the land on the other side because of the um the limited capacity on the FA road FA court easement. So there are the Houston parcel is being donated and Andrew I'll so so along the roadway pretty much along this driveway. Oh you got it. You can see the

the Houston parcel. You see that? Um so that is the donated parcel. This area right here we are currently in contract to purchase. Part of the dam actually sits on that property. Andrew, I did think this was the Houston property here, right?

Yep. Along the driveway in that point is one of the parcels we are acquiring. There's currently a cottage there. Um and then the other is up along the edge of along the edge. Sorry, stay there. um on the opposite side of of the driveway up around in here,

the same family that owns the cottage owns a parcel in there. So, we are acquiring that um to prevent future development there. And we're surrounded by New York State Parks um otherwise. So, that makes the water supply um much more secure going forward and allows us to do the repairs that we need to do on the dam itself. Um this was these parcels were among the um uh priority parcels for the land trust um to preserve for watershed protection as well. Um, and the picture on the upper right, um, is standing on the upper reservoir and looking back toward the cottage. And the lower picture is the second parcel, um, which is undeveloped, um, that is owned by the same family that owns the cottage parcel. And we are in contract for both of those. Moving on to wastewater, the budget there is 712,436. How are we doing over the last year? Um, we have uh made sledge hauling more efficient. We have um one of our employees is now um in training to become a second licensed operator. We've made multiple plant repairs and replacements and that has driven us to the development with our consulting engineer of a capital projects plan that will guide the next year. So the the plant was built between 1968 and 72. Um and the neighborhoods were brought in neighborhoods around the village were brought in line. Um a number of neighborhoods if you see there are uh sewer covers that say 1971. You see them on White Hill and on Fair Street etc. Um, like a lot of things in the village, the water treatment plant has a lot of deferred maintenance. Um, it's an analog

plant. It's a biodigtor. It still works well, but requires a lot of of loving care um and coaxing. Um, we need a capital plan. We're developing the we have developed the capital plan to extend the life and make important upgrades and to make sure that we're meeting regulatory requirements. Um and also you know part of that is part of our thinking on in this budget year is investing in the staff and succession plans for that department. So the revenues nearly all the revenues come from the usage rates and again like water it's flat or a flat rate and a usage rate. Um and like the water fund we have debt principle and payment for capital improvements built into the rates. It's about 113,000 in debt payment. So, the flat rate includes that's the charge for treating the water um before discharge. It includes operation and maintenance of the nearly 60-year-old plant, meeting state and federal regulatory standards, licensed professional staffing. These guys are on call 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Um on average, the increase in the flat rate is $150 a month through fiscal year 27. the usage rate um is what is charged for waste water generated. So similar to water, if you're conserving water uh usage, you're generating less waste water. So it is very much um in your hands for usage on average um usage rate will increase 55 cents for every 5,000 gallons. um and covered rates. I just wanted to um show you some left that part. Um so the fund expenses the biggest portion is 46%

salary and benefits treatment and disposal and this is a cost that goes up year on year with fuel costs and me thank you um fuel costs landfill costs etc. That's it's one that goes and goes. And those are the two biggest chunks. And then our 16% on um our investment in capital projects. Uh and last I just I wanted to if you haven't seen the water treatment plant, if you're joining us online, if you could please mute yourself.

Steve call.

Okay. So, here's a couple pictures of the water plant. Um, it uh the facade. Um, and I wanted to show you Matt at work. Um, he is Matt is our water and wastewater superintendent. Um, and and Matt is a scientist in addition to being the guy who knows how to run equipment. Um, because our plant is a biodigestertor, the water is sampled daily. Um, and you'll see above his head there, there's where he's looking into the microscope, he's checking for microbes. And that is a chart of healthy micro balance in our wastewater. Um, so you see m you see Matt driving around in a truck um wearing a vest, but he's also a guy who works with microscope and and has a lot of science in his head. So stop sharing and um Michelle is there anything you want to add that um any discussion among trustees before we shift to the public comment period that was very helpful.

Sure. So um we're going to open the public comment tonight. Um we'll keep the spoken promp portion open through I would like to keep it open through the end of the meeting so if anyone joins late and wants to make comments um and then uh consider a written period um after that but for now um I'm going to go through some of our guidelines for public comment and then make a motion. So it's required under New York State open meetings law only for public hearings. Public comment um at our regular meetings is at the board's discretion and speak on topics that are on the agenda. Um speakers will be recognized by the presiding officer which is me asked to give your name, address, and organization. And you may state you may decline by stating I declined if you don't want to share that. Speakers will limit their remarks to three minutes. uh a one a one slot onetime slot of three minutes and we have a timer here to keep track. Um board members may with the permission of a priv presiding officer interrupt a speaker during their remarks but only for the purpose of clarification or information and I encourage us not to do that as much as possible. Your remarks should be addressed to the village board as a body and not to individual board members or to the public audience. The village board is not required to respond to questions or comments from the public, but may do so at its discretion. Um, interested parties or the representatives may address the board by written comment as well. And then here's the important part. Members of the village board, speakers, and audience members should please observe the commonly accepted rules of courtesy,

decorum, dignity, and good taste. any statements made during a public meeting or during a public hearing um made by the members of the board, village officials or employees or members of the general public shall not have um hate speech, obscenity or threatening speech directly or indirectly. Disruptive behavior will not be permitted. Members of the public should be advised that each meeting is recorded. We're recording now, creating a full public record of all statements made. So, I would ask that you conduct yourselves accordingly. So, are you ready to go on timer? Okay, we'll take comments from folks in the room first and then move to folks who might be joining us online.

Well, the list here to speak. I think there's people signed. I can call from the list or just invite anybody who wants to speak here. Mr. Yes, I'll make I'm making before we just properly make a motion to open the public hearing. Second. All in favor? I and we would ask you so that we can get you on camera. Thank you, Laura. Andrew seconded. Laura to come on up to the podium. Marre is not shifting the camera back and forth. Mr. Pew, do you wish to make a comment? Sure. You want me to go first?

You're first on the list, so if you'd like to. It's me who sent you the email. Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Oh, you want to? I'm Bill Pew. Um, not associated with anything. So, first I want to thank the board for their efforts on the budget. I know how hard it is to do a good budget. I've got a lot of experience doing them. Um, Michael Turpin's recent headline, cold spring eyes are 3.7% tax increase is attention grabbing. The facts are the proposed budget is 5.2% above the current budget and the current budget is spending about 20% less than it's budgeted. Assuming the trend continues, the proposed budget is 25% more than our current spend rate. Michael Turtton's article, No Wiggle Room, quotes Mayor Foley saying, "Resigning and adding the new village hall roof is a must, but the tenative budget has village hall repairs at $5,000, a 97% reduction." This doesn't make a lot of sense. There are many things in the budget that don't make a lot of sense. In addition to the 97% reduction in village hall repairs, there's a 38% reduction in parks and recreation, a 40% reduction in Christmas decorations, 28% reduction in tree maintenance, a 10% reduction in street cleaning, a 4% reduction in storm drains, a 900% increase in the sale of village property and equipment, and a 31% increase for the mayor. Reducing things the village residents care about increasing the sales of village property and increasing the mayor's compensation is disingenuous. Increasing the budget over 5% while under spending the current budget 20% risk creating a slush fund for wasteful spending. Publicly stating you're going to make repairs to the village hall while cutting the budget for repairs to near zero is either a terrible misquote or deceitful. The proposed budget and public comments are either a lesson in misdirection, offiscation, and deception, or a cry for help from the village board. I prefer to think it's the latter, a cry for help. Sure, you're all very busy. I may not have the time, expertise, or

experience to dive into the details of the budget. I do, and I'll happily volunteer my time, the board, to go into all the details of the budget and create a budget which is good for the residents and good for the taxpayers. You all have my contact information. I can start tomorrow morning at 8. I can commit my calendar from now until the budget is due. I look forward to hearing from you. Who'd like to share that? Email it to you because that's what you send for email to comment.

Um, okay. Thank you for sharing. Just a uh clarification for the public record. The roof on the village hall is being covered um by a member item grant from Sandy Gaiff. So it was a terrible misquote or misunderstanding. Um and some of what you see in sales for village equipment is um auctioning surplus items. Who else would like to speak? Miss Tim,

it's just to get you on the count. It's not too big. That way the folks joining us online can see you.

I'm Jane Tim, a long time village resident and I have a shop. And I have a shop where many, many people ask to use the restroom. I'm glad this sign says restroom information, particularly because they're children and they're in babies here. And I I'm coming like I did two years ago to ask the board, ask you all to open up the restroom. It's not freezing now. I don't know why it's closed, but people get off the train and need the toilet. I would need the toilet if I got off the train. So, I'm just requesting please open up the two toilets. That's why they're there. I'm very embarrassed because I visited a friend in Greenwich Village and her doorman knows. He asked me where I live. I said, "I live in Cold Spring." He said, "Oh, that's where the restrooms are closed and the men know where to go and I don't know what the women do." And I was very embarrassed, as you can imagine. And I did see a very brown spot when you come off the train path behind the entrance to the tunnel. There was a brown spot as big as this. It's grown over now. So, I hope we open the restroom, please, so there won't be a brown spot in the grass and the men who come up on the train or however they get here won't use outdoor facilities.

Thank you. I'm just so I know we'll be talking about opening the bathrooms later in the meeting. They were um prepared by the um roadways and facilities crew this week. Um so they will be open by the weekend. Oh, thank you very much. You're welcome. See, you ask and you shall receive the Jane. Anyone else asking to speak? Mr. Thompson.

Yeah. Thompson. You haven't got the starter yet. Jump the gun. I'm on this time anyway. In the old days, one second. I'm sorry. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. Well, I guess first off, I have to confess that I find this stuff interesting. I just being a CPA. I love G.

Yeah. So that's being a CPA. That's uh obviously budgets is is one of the things that um we constantly have to tackle every year. Um thanks so much for all the efforts put in to the tentative budgets. I'm I'm well aware of the very hard choices that have to be made. Um, and I think you've made some tough choices and I think the choices are fair choices for for all of the village residents. Um, I'm not going to pick through any of the de the the detail. Um, I have to say I only took really quite a cursory glance through the figures, but I got a general impression uh that it was along the right lines. I have to confess and respond to the first respondent that um I think given the amount of time and effort that the board puts in. I think the remmeneration is incredibly modest. I don't think you'd find people of your caliber doing this kind of work and and and put having to put up with with some of the misguided criticism. I think what the board is faced with and I think all of us that are in the village long enough can appreciate this is is a problem of legacy, a problem of chronic underinvestment in the past which has resulted in you having to do catchup projects um as well as having to deal with with high running costs of of outofdate infrastructure. Um I think the budget is a step uh towards fixing that legacy. Um I think going forward um I really only have two minor suggestions. Uh one is of course that we are an incredibly popular place to visit. Um, I

know that we look hard at visitor management, but I would encourage as far as possible to think about how we can best leverage our local environment. Um, in terms of perhaps trying to think what type of visitor we want coming to the village, preferably visitors, I assume that arrive by train, not by car. Visitors that tread lightly. Visitors that spend heavily. um and villages that leave the visitors that leave and tell a good story of how they were welcomed by people in the village. Um so you know visitor management you may want to just reflect on on kind of what how you position the village in terms of what the kind of people you want to attract. Um, second suggestion is just and and a figure that you guys know this already. Is that

uh it's just really you you've got no econom economies of scale obviously. So I just encourage you as far as possible to work collaboratively with the village of Nelsonville and Philipstown which I know you do to a degree but maybe there's other ways you can do it. Thanks very much. Thank you. Hey, is there anyone else in the room? Is there anyone online who'd like to make a comment?

Raise your hand. Seeing none, um I'd like to uh make a motion to leave the verbal comment portion of the meeting open until the end of the evening. Um and leave the written time for written comment through next Tuesday at 5. that leaves two business four business days and two weekend days for people to write and um gives us the opportunity to come back again on Wednesday to discuss anything we need to discuss. So that is my that is my motion

second my motion to the clerk to to write to vcs clerk at coldspringny.gov if you have any further comments or thoughts. A motion is on the table. There is a second. All in favor? I are you on the train? Just got on to Metro Nor. I

mean, I hope not. Okay, shifting gears. We're heading into our monthly reports. um we're going to accept them as written, but I wanted there points I want to pull out and ask um board members if there's anything you would like to discuss. Um under highway, we are continuing with pothole repairs. Um every street and every municipality took a beating this winter. Um so we're patching where we can and then as I said um we'll have further discussion about uh paving projects in the coming weeks. Um the visitor center Bugsy has the bathrooms ready. Um we are seeing the village be quite busy during the week already. Is everyone any opposition to having them open this weekend?

Okay. Um and just a note that we're looking for two employees um and one of those employees would be shared with the water and wastewater um department. Great opportunity for skill building um and advancement. So, if you or someone you know was interested in working with their hands and um working outside in the fresh air, maybe not so much at the wastewater plant, but but otherwise, please send them our way. On the water and wastewater front, let's see. On the wastewater side, the SCADA Aqualogix um software has been installed and integrated that allows um improved remote monitoring. The filter upgrades continue. Um they've had a a challenging time getting one of the coatings to stay. Um but it is still in progress. On March 27th, Central Hudson, we lost power to the water plant. Um and the power plant ran on the generator all weekend. I just wanted to say thanks to to Padala for keeping the fuel deliveries coming through the weekend. Thankfully, the the problem was on the Central Hudson side, not on our side. Um but we do have um another item to talk about under board business um related to generators. Um actually we can uh we can bring that up at this stage if you if you want to while we're focused on water proposal. Um so the the generator that's there we have a contract for all of our generators with um tech. Uh this was an issue that was identified in February when they were installing uh when they were dealing with the oil pan at that time. Um they recommended the replacement of the radiator hoses and gaskets. We do have a

service contract with with Gentech which is why it's not a bid project. Um thankfully they made it through the 27th when we really needed it, but this work needs to be done. Um, so the uh quote is $4,881.93. Discussion. None. Hearing none. We have a contract for this isn't included in the contract.

So there are Michelle can answer these questions better than I plan, but there are baseline services for the generators and then we pay an amount beyond for parts and labor when there are used to be done. So they we they do inspections of all of the generators, regular maintenance, but when something needs to be replaced, we have to buy them.

I did mention that. Yeah, we're taking it up out of board business. You might not know. I'm just curious about how old that generator is. I don't know the answer to that in my head. Michelle probably does. She comes back in the room. We can we can ask her. Um we have newer generators at wastewater and at the um tunnel one was repl one was replaced after July 23 generator at the water plant. Oh that

you don't know like it's like old like automat so 1997 is when that plant was opened. Okay. So, would anyone like to make a motion relating to the radiator hoses and gasket updates? Um, yeah, sure. I'll make a motion to approve villages contracted generator service provider Gentech Limited quote number 148005. Just noting that there was no um

no no confrontation during the point when we were not recording. Go ahead, Andrew. Um, so I'll start again. I make a motion to approve the villages contracted generator service provider Gentech Limited's quote number 148005 dated March the 3rd, 2026 for proposed servicing required of the water treatment facility generator in the amount of $4,881.93. A second. All in favor? I.

Thank you. Um you'll note that the police report has a new format. Um this is a result of the um the new CAD system that we are that we have um through the generosity of the county. We do we do pay um software fees. Uh the the heaviest lift came from the county. Um, so we're able to see more data as we slice it and dice it different ways. Um, so we can now see um peak busiest day, peak hours, um, calls of the day by week and as we expect as we get toward the spring. Um, Saturday is the is the biggest day has been the biggest day over the last month. Um, and traffic stops are the highest number. And I just wanted to read out from Matt's report. Um, oh, and to say too that we are we are beginning given what we saw in the data from from last year, we are beginning to add additional um patrols on the weekends beginning um in April until about midsummer. Um then things quiet down a little bit midsummer when it's really hot and it picks up again in the fall. So we'll be adding officers then fall again. Um, but from the officer in charge, I would like to congratulate Officer Barrett Magestro on the recent publication of his children's book, How I Found Hope. I found hope. How I Found Hope is a true story written by Officer Magestro about an abandoned pitbull he rescued while on duty. Sort of the the the gist of the story is that pitbulls and cops are both misunderstood. They can both be pretty great creatures. Um, so the books the book is uh is available online and through the bookstore and officer magister is also scheduling readings

with local schools starting in May about a wood chop too. Um, it's a very it's a very sweet book.

Um, and fire. Um, so new pagers and radios are on the way from the fire company. These are above and beyond the limited number that the county supplied. Um, just want to note that these are bought with um, firehouse funds largely raised through fundraising. And I just checking a text from the chief. I asked him amounts. Um, six radios and six pages. The pages are $600 a piece and the radios are $7,000 a piece. So please when you um your annual appeal from the firehouse and I also would like to make comment um we had we had a very serious accident um that closed 9D for a long stretch of time. I'm sorry Route 9 for a long stretch of time during the week. Our fire company um was there in addition to North Highlands. Um there was some very sort of abusive um behavior on the part of some folks not listening to traffic direction. Um some pretty foul language used with our fire company members and it's just reprehensible. They're there to keep you safe, all of us safe. Um we know you're in a hurry. You'll get there when you get there, but um public safety takes precedent. So, please be respectful of our people who give their times, give of their time and are away from their family to keep us all safe. Couple notes from the boards. Um, I noted the HDRB is updating resources available to the public. Um, and they're looking to schedule another educational lecture in the coming year. Um, I apologize. rep delivered a next version of its survey and I didn't see it in time to get it to you guys for tonight so I can look at that for next time. Reminder that community day is 620.

Any other comments from board members regarding monthly reports or anything else to report? Um we are not simply because the village does not have budget and the board we're not party planners. Um wreck has limited resources. They are focusing their energy on community day. Um I know that the history museum um and the county are looking at something for Labor Day around Rev 250. Um but that will be put together by volunteers and on and fundraising effort. I know that um sorry I can't think of her name right in the moment. Um a volunteer from the history museum recently met with the rec committee to talk about the possibility of doing it on the celebration on community day. Um and they felt that it would be best as a standalone event so it would have a singular focus. Um so they said the history museum is looking to Labor Day. Okay, moving to board business. We did move item one up and we've already addressed that. So, discussion. Um, the New York State Liquor Authority lets local municipalities know when a liquor license has been applied for. There is one being applied for um at 72 Maine, what is now um the Delhi, Nobody's Deli. Um it is a dumpling shop which is very exciting. Um but they're also looking for a liquor license to serve there. Um we don't take any action on these. We don't make determinations um as a board. We've simply are notified by New York State and are asked to provide any comment. The only comment that I see is as with

the last one um they're requesting a sidewalk cafe and do not own the sidewalk. So, we'll have to address that um in the planning process because it goes through review. Well, we couldn't do that because there's no consumption on those streets. That's that's exactly why we would have to give special permission. This is our third application for a liquor license. One is one is the location that where where Pette was. She already had a liquor license. Um, and this one Pat you may be thinking of the dispensary application. No, I thought there was three for for liquor but okay dispensaries off off the table.

We haven't heard from them again. Um, so same as in this one. You are correct. The village code, the streets and sidewalks chapter prohibits consumption of alcohol on village owned sidewalks. Um, so we would, the property owner going through the planning board process would need to have a conversation about that. We would need to, if if the board were so inclined, we would need to give permission to do that.

Also, there was the question of, you know, I think we will all have to talk about also the question of liability as we own the parcel. This could be one of those locations where we still sell a stew. lease lease or lease or whatever. We'll get into that later. Thank you. Well, this this is the application for liquor license. I'm not acquainted with the full details of what the establishment may be. There hasn't been an application yet other than this is all that's what we see first from New York State. They describe theel you mentioned the dumpling shop. They describe themselves here as a tavern, right? So

the liquor co. So that's the description comes from the property, the building owner that it will be a dumpling shop. When you fill out these forms online, there's a drop-own box of items to choose from. And that was that's the closest match. But you'll see it does say food service, full food, full food menu, full kitchen run by chef cook. Yeah. And wine, beer, and cider. Right. Like I said, we don't have any yes or we don't have any thumbs up or thumbs down in this situation. This is just letting us know that someone has applied for a liquor license and there will be an application coming forward. New York State approves liquor licenses.

Um so are are you comfortable with me um corresponding with them about the sidewalk cake cafe like we did at Pettes? It's still got to go in front of the public. Not the public. It's got to go through that process. All right. So, I'll copy you on on that email to the record. Well, last um is a proposed resolution. Do we have a number 16?

Um this is we have our bill of attorney with us this evening. Uh John first is joining us online. Hi, John. Um after discussion with our attorney um seeking counsel, board members have felt that uh findings of the final generic environmental impact statement for the Fur Trail um fall short of um protections for the village um and full consideration of impacts in the village. we through the seeker process we have a small window to contest those findings and ask for um a revisit on those findings and that window closes on um May 7th. So we have before us a resolution tonight to determine to file an article 78 proceeding um against New York State and Hudson Highlands yard trail. John, do you want to add anything to that? Um, no. I mean, yeah, essentially you've got four months to challenge any of the findings from the U. New York State Parks Department. And so that involves filing what's called an article 78 proceeding in Putham County Supreme Court. And uh, you know, put the papers together. So this resolution is just uh we need authorization from the board to commence the lawsuit and um you know and that and that's pretty much straightforward.

I I personally feel that if we don't do this we are remiss in our fiduciary responsibilities to the village given the long-term costs. Sorry. I think the town and there's a couple other organizations that are also doing the same thing. lot of support for it. The town has a similar resolution on its agenda for tomorrow night. This is obviously we control our decision. So this is this resolution refers to our process. Would someone like to read it? Would like to to make this is a roll call vote um and it should be read into the record. Would someone like to read the resolution into the record? Sure. Go for it.

Um I just read it or am I making a motion? Yeah. Um you are reading it into the record and making uh and the clerk is taking a roll call vote. Okay. On your the resolution.

Proposed resolution 16-2026 um board of trustees of the village of Cold Spring authorizing commencement of article 78 proceeding challenging the Hudson Highlands Fuel Trail SRA process. Whereas the board of trustees, the village of Cold Spring um has reviewed the final generic environmental impact statement FGIS and corresponding finding statement prepared in connection with the proposed Hudson Highlands Fuel Trail project. And whereas the Hudson Highlands Fuel Trail project is being advanced by Hudson Highlands Fuel Trail, Inc. as sponsor and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation as lead agency. And whereas the village board and its consultants have identified significant concerns regarding the adequacy of the FGIS, including but not limited to its analysis of environmental impacts, infrastructure demands, traffic, parking, public safety, and consistency with the local land use controls. And whereas the village board believes the FGIS and corresponding finding statement failed to comply with the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act secret. And whereas the village board further finds that it is in the best interest of the village and its residents to seek judicial review of the FGIS, the finding statements and related determinations. Now therefore, be it resolved that the village of Cold Spring Board of Trustees hereby authorizes and directs the commencements of a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 against Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, Inc. and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, Historic Preservation, and any other necessary parties to challenge the legal sufficiency of the FGIS and any findings or determinations issued in connection therewith. And be it further resolved that if the town of Philipstown commences a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to challenge the legal sufficiency of the secret process the fuel trail, it has been determined that the two municipalities will jointly file

the lawsuit with the town taking the lead on preparing the necessary papers and be it further resolved that the village attorney is hereby authorized to review, prepare, execute, coordinate and file all necessary pleadings and papers and to take any and all actions necessary to effectuate such proceeding on behalf of the village. So that is the motion. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Before we vote, any further discussion among board members? Yeah. Would there be a cap on the fees to do this? I mean, how do we

throw off a clip with this? Yeah. We have an estimate we have an estimate from the village attorney for the initial filing of what was it 5 to7,000 John correct assuming that the town Philips town is taking the lead as previously discussed

um and where it goes from there we will have to see um we are obviously this this is a David and Goliath position um we are up against very wellunded um organization and a state agency. Um but we we need to have sovereignty. We need to have say over our own um our own waterfront and our own community. Um and if we don't do this filing, we don't have another chance. So this is this is our line in the sand and we'll have to figure it out from there is the answer. Not not a terribly satisfactory answer, but that's what it's going to be. We have to figure it out from there.

And that we're entitled and fully within our rights to do this. Absolutely. I think I mean it's a little like in the village, we have laws and regulations governing what you can do to your house, how you can develop it, and you know, we have to abide by those laws. We're simply saying that we contend that under SECRA which is mandated by the state to protect the interests of residents of the state from an environmental point of view. We contend that the findings and the FGIS were insufficient in that regard. So this is the process as it's supposed to work. We expected of people in the village. So we're taking it on to the the state stage to make exactly the same arguments.

Yeah. May I have a roll call vote please? Bartis. Hi Rusty Boosezy. She's on mute. Hi. Lis co-host if she's been on the whole time. Yeah. Um Trusty Hall. Yes. Deputy Mayor Wood. Hi. Mayor Foley. Hi. If we the resolution is oh 500 Z it is with no joy.

It is with no joy that we take this position against another level of government but we've been left no choice. Okay. Um who has the bills this evening? Um we're going to make the motion to approve them. Yes. Okay. I uh make a motion to approve bill batch number 8423 in the amount of $103,340 43 cents. Yeah. All in favor? Thank you, Laura. None tonight.

I know you're working on um Okay. So, now we'll check back. We left the the spoken portion of the public comment open until the end. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on the budget public hearing? Seeing none, I make a motion to close. Oh, Donald just got in there in time. Go ahead, Donald. You have to unmute yourself now. Can you hear me? Yes, absolutely. Okay. Um I I couldn't I didn't know how to raise my hand and I was literally raising my hand which is ridiculous.

Um so I just wanted to say on the comment about salaries the live village is lucky as can be to have the caliber of the people village board and the village clerk working for us and I know you guys work late into the night. we all see it and um I just disagree with the previous comment in the public hearing. So, thank you very much for all your efforts. Much appreciated. Thanks. No, no, thank you very much indeed. And the treasurer, too. And the treasurer, too. Yeah, we're very lucky to have the caliber of the of Marjgery Gage. That is very very true. Here. Here.

Thank you very much, Donald. Mr. McDonald. Um, so, uh, you had nothing to say about the budget, right, Donald? Kind of my budget. He's coming for a permit. So, with that, I will make a motion to close the verbal portion of the public hearing. Second. All in favor? I. And I make a motion to keep the written Thank you, Laura. I make a motion to keep the written portion open until 5:00 PM on Tuesday the what is that? Today's the 8th 14th. Second. All in favor? I I I. Thank you. I will make a motion to adjurnn.

Second. All in favor? I I Good night. Stay home, Laura. It's lovely to see