Town Council - Regular Meeting

reach today's limit jazz groove listeners who donate get the member version including unlimited listening pure music with no talk hi

Yeah.

barely evading, avoiding getting wiped out by the British. The British advance allowing of Glover Field is on the Hutch. It's right on the border of Mount Vernon, and it's the big athletic field, and that's You know how in the Battle of Long Island they were being pushed and the British were about to lower the boom and they got out literally in the...

Yeah, ready to go.

You're working on my computer, but between you and Pam.

Your job primarily, hope, my love.

Yes, my dear.

To make sure I don't skip any of the resolutions.

Okay. All right, you got it. I have the agenda here.

Gary, here's a question. Put your thing vertically.

See what happens.

You're not going to hear an echo. You're not going to hear the mic or anything because we fixed the... Yeah, that's the latest one, so I'll use this one.

No.

Thank you.

Is it locked?

You can see it's on air over there.

We're on air.

Tommy.

Two, one. Is that what you want? Welcome, everybody, to the Rye Town Council meeting of Thursday, September 17, 2026. Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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.

Please remain standing. O Lord, bless this assemblage. Grant us the wisdom to make every decision fair-minded and the best interest for all its residents.

Amen.

Before we start, I would like to note that our town administrator is appearing via internet, Zoom, whatever it is, on the screen. She's in a place called New Orleans. And we'll be joining us right before she goes out to a... Mardi Gras.

No.

Plan B or whatever she's going to do.

Who do I know?

Call the roll, please. Okay. Councilperson Debbie Friedman.

Here.

Councilperson Pam Daffy.

Yes.

Councilperson Randy Sellier.

Here.

Councilperson Thomas Nardi.

Here.

And Supervisor Gary Zuckerman.

Here. adopting the minutes of August 20th. Unless someone has a comment, suggestions, deletions, additions, may I have a motion? Second. So moved. All in favor?

Aye.

Comments from the public regarding non-agenda items? Do we have anybody? Chance, our appointed assistant, now that Debbie's not here, are you keeping track of the internet? Do we have Facebook comments?

Not at the moment, no. Nor do we have YouTube comments.

Well, they lose their chance. They lose their chance, Chance.

That's clever.

I just thought of that. Our first item, we have a presentation. Rachel Fellenstein, is that you, young lady? regarding the Soul Riders. And we have a resolution to follow. Please.

Go back and behind me. And then you can start again.

This is not my forte. OK, perfect. Yes. As you can see, our flyer for our Tie the Town Pink campaign is up on the screen. I brought an example of the ribbon that you see. These are the ribbons that get tied throughout many communities during our campaign, Ryebrook and Rye being two of those areas. And the campaign supports our organization and our clients, who are people who are affected by any type of cancer at any point during their cancer diagnosis. So the campaign is to support and show awareness and bring awareness to to this community. Every year, we love being able to share the ribbons in the two public spaces that I'm here for tonight, both in Rytown Park and in Crawford Park. Makes us happy, and I know it makes a lot of the community happy to see the ribbons not only tied on people's homes, but to see them tied in the public spaces in the parks as well. So I am here this evening to request permission to yet again this year be able to tie our ribbons in both parks.

Rachel, we're very happy to do this. We've done it every year. At our Rytown Parks meeting last Tuesday, we passed a resolution for Rytown Park. And our resolution is on the agenda now. I just wanted for you to announce to people how they can get the What do we call them? Ribbons. That's a good one. Ribbons for their own homes, to put in front of their homes.

Absolutely. So I don't know. Is the flyer able to be shared with the community at all? Sure. Yeah. So there is a QR code. I don't know if it's able to be seen. There is a QR code at the bottom. But if that isn't accessible, people can go to our website, which is Soul Riders. It's S-O-U-L-R-Y-E-D-E-R-S.org. And right at the top, there's a link for Tie the Town Pink. And people can go right there to purchase ribbons. You can purchase ribbons for your home. You could purchase ribbons for the public spaces, which are Crawford and Rye Town Park. You could purchase ribbons for businesses. You can purchase a ribbon for somebody else. We have many, many options. Great. Yeah, it's really great. We love seeing just all the communities tied pink. through the month of October. It's really special.

It is. It's very nice to see the ribbons all over the place.

Definitely. Thank you. Perfect. Absolutely.

It's in the bottom right-hand corner.

Could we put that up on our website, Chance? Yeah.

I was even going to say, not only the website, but do it on our text code. You know, the text that we send out, textout.gov, and this way they can go right from there, too.

Right. And then maybe pop the newsletter and socials. Yeah, that would be wonderful. We appreciate it.

It's a great organization. It's a really good organization.

Thank you. We're very lucky to be able to partner with you to help us bring the campaign to the community. So we appreciate it.

Thank you for all that you do. You guys do a lot.

Absolutely. Our pleasure. Thank you very much.

May I have a motion and a second to approve the tying the ribbons at Crawford Park?

Absolutely, yes. And second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you very much for the work you're doing. Very appreciated.

Thank you. You do the same.

The next resolution is authorizing what is called a non-bid sole source contract for remediation of the Crawford Park Pavilion patio. We had this in our budget a year ago, and the project went out to bid. The work was not done appropriately, and I see Chance standing up there. So, Chance, why don't you go over what happened and what we're doing?

Right. In 2025, we budgeted $40,000 to make the repair to the park pavilion floor, and the project was inadequate. The work that was done was inadequate. We spent $14,150 on the pavers outside of the pavilion, and the remaining amount we did not pay for because the work was inadequate. Um, they were paid for the papers and they're fine. Yes, the papers are fine. The papers are fine, but the floor is not as great. And I know Vic can certify the work done.

Okay. We had started to get this work done in October of last year. The papers were done perfectly. They're fine. Totally fine. We spent $14,000 on it. The Pavilion floor and kitchen floor were not done properly. Now, if you know anything about doing a concrete floor, it's got to be scarified. It's got to be pressure washed, scarified. There has to be a bonding agent put down. Well, the floor wasn't scarified. We're not sure there was a bonding agent because we had to do all the work to peel it off. It bubbled. It came up. The people that did the job went back. They were blaming it on the product they used that was specified by our architect. And so here we are hoping to get this remediated. And we still have, I think, $26,000 towards a price of $35,000. But in the capital budget, we also put in for $10,000 for a camera in the cemetery. That's not going to happen. So if we pull the money from the camera, we easily cover the work.

I have a question. Is it the same company that did the pavers, did the pavilion?

Yep. Yeah, pavers were perfectly fine.

That's a whole different process, too. Yes.

Oh, yeah. It has nothing to do with putting down. It's pulling them out, putting in more stone dust or item four, and then resettling them.

Now, the compound that we're going to use on the flooring, is it the same company? No. I mean, I'm not talking about the guys installing the floor. I mean, the same company... Of the same product. No, it's a different product.

Yes, this is this was used in the bath house. Bathrooms.

Okay. Yeah. So it's going to be like an epoxy. Yes. Okay. What about our bathrooms are in the pavilion? With that floor. Is that going to be done too, or it's just actually the floor is fine. It's fine in there Yep, I haven't been there in a long time. Yeah, it's got grid. It's got you know.

It's not slippery okay It's fine because the epoxy is the best way to go yeah this resolution is called a non bid sole source because the company that's doing this is a sole source of this material and And that enables us not to need to get three bits.

So the company that manufactures this is the company that's putting it down? Yes. Okay.

How long is the warranty?

We know it works because they did this at the Rytown Park bathhouse.

Right, but that's been six months. So I'm just wondering how long the warranty is.

If the epoxy coating, if they do it the correct way, it's going to last a long time. Epoxy coating, as long as they do it the right way, if they scour, they power wash it and scour and put the adhesive on before they put the epoxy down, you do it that way, you should have no, we should have no problems whatsoever.

But I think Pam's question is a good one, which is how long is the warranty?

Yeah.

Okay. Can I ask a, well, I have several questions, but how did we pick the original, that was just a bid process, the original people that were doing the work? And is it usual, I thought I read that we did not pay anything towards it, that they completed the work and that we did not yet pay for it. Is that typical that we don't put anything down toward a project until it's complete? So are we, is there any anticipation that we could be liable to them for the remainder of that money for the work that they did do? Okay, so they have actually agreed to walk away without compensation for that work. So they're in agreement that clearly they're in agreement then that the work wasn't up to par, that something was wrong, that something went wrong. So we're not opening ourselves to additional liability.

And even if what they're going to sue for defective product, we don't have to, you have a defense. It would seem to be futile for them to try to get paid for property.

Mike, a quick question. We will not be using them again or we will be using them again? Okay.

Are we going to be using them for the pavers or no? The pavers.

The memorial project.

Memorial project.

Yeah. This is a totally different paver project. The paver project that you're referring to for the donations is the one by Crawford Mansion down to the garden. The pavers here were the ones around the pavilion. Oh, OK.

And can I just ask another question, which it may have been in your memo. I scanned the memo briefly, but I didn't have a chance to read it in detail since we just got it. But actually, I don't even know if this was in the memo. The original cost that we were paying for this project for the floors, not the paver portion, but the floor portion, what was, can you just confirm again, what was budgeted or clarified? What had we budgeted for that? What was the original cost that we were going to pay? And what is the cost now that we are going to pay with this new company that's going to do the job. No, but about 34, not including the pavers, just for this portion of the job. Including the pavers, okay. So $20,000 was going to be what they were going to be receiving for this refinishing portion for the floors, okay. And now that has increased, and that has now increased to about 34,000 something. With the new company. Okay, and we are offsetting some of that by the 10,000 that we're not going to do the security cameras in the cemetery instead so that we don't end up going over budget. Thank you for looking at opportunities for savings so that we don't end up just adding expense without taking a look at it, okay. Okay, so it sounds to me like right now we're about 4,000 in the hole for this particular project over what? Well, it was 20,000 should have been, 20,000 would have been allocated. Right. Wait, how is $21,000 to $34,000, $8,000?

Okay, well, I'm going to explain it my way. Okay, we allotted $40,000. Okay, they came in at $34,000 and change. So it's still $5,000 plus there. Okay, so now we have $20,000 from what they didn't pay. So now we're at $25,000. The whole project's going for $34,000. By adding $10,000 from the cemetery, we cover it all.

So that additional $4,000 and $5,000 is coming from the original $40,000 that was budgeted, not from what we were originally going to spend once it was bid out.

Right. So we're spending nothing.

That was very clear. Thank you. All right.

Can I have a motion, please?

So moved. Second.

Call the roll.

Councilperson Friedman?

Yes. Councilperson Jaffe? Yes. Councilperson Sellier?

Yes. Councilperson Nardi? Yes. Supervisors are coming. Yes.

Resolution authorizing, excuse me, waiver of the non-profit resident booking fees for the 2026 Arts 105.73 event. This is by the Port Chester Council on the Arts to be taking place at Crawford Park. Are you going to explain this?

Yeah, I can explain it. Yeah. So it's not overly complicated. No, the Fortchester Council for the Arts wants to expand their project. They want to include a larger presence on Crawford Mansion, but also just on the campus itself. And the fee waiver to so we would be waiving four thousand three hundred and fifty dollars in nonprofit fees for this event. We would be paying approximately $940 in total staff expenses. The event typically, well, the event this year would be on October 25th. The event has taken place in many locations throughout its time, but again, we want to sort of expand it to the surrounding park and the larger campus. The 2026 program expansion will include a whole host of new things like performances. It also gives students to profess their acting abilities as well, which is pretty cool. Dance, musical theater, all that jazz. So it's a really big expansion from what they previously had. And waiving the fee means that the town, of course, will forego the rental revenue, which typically is generated from the use of the mansion. pavilion and rec fields, as well as the payroll expenses of bringing in additional park tenants who generally work at a rate of $18 per hour.

Any comments? What's the age group? Do you know?

Offhand, no, but I would assume it's targeted towards middle school. Yeah, high school. Yeah, schools. Yeah.

Okay. And this organization had... Been hosting these events years back at ice cream social. I believe his name of the space and unfortunately they lost the space due to lack of fundage. And they had a meeting with local leaders and Vic actually, um, was able to offer space for them to hold their annual Arts Fest here at Crawford, I love the fact that they've grown it. They're not an organization with a huge budget, and the fact that they're bringing in kids now kind of goes to the mission, as you said earlier, Gary, of Crawford Park.

Tom, just so you know, it's all ages. It's adults, it's children. Originally, it was an art show that just used the... Great Hall and downstairs. Now they're expanding to upstairs, the pavilion, and some other field areas. Okay, so that's the gist of it all.

Thank you. Sounds like a great event and we should do it. I move that we do it.

I am always a fan of something for the public good. Are you seconding? I'm seconding.

Can I just have a comment first? I also think it's a great idea. Definitely want to be supportive. do want to again back to the money this is not a lot of money for staff but overall when we're running events I think we might want to start looking at breaking even at least and you know waving but having them pay then for the labor costs of being able to host that event so we break even as I was looking through the notes also and we'll get to it later on but even with the numbers that we look at at Crawford and all the different events that we do we look at gross revenue But we never look at the cost of any of these things. And so I would really like to start seeing much more of an accounting. And again, $940 in the scheme of things when we're looking at millions of dollars now that we're going to be voting on tonight is not a lot of money. But we should understand at least what it is that it costs us to run all of these events, particularly if we're waiving the fees. Again, I'm in support of you know, of waiving this. I think it's great community organization. It's great to bring the arts here. It involves a lot of community members. I hope they have a really successful event this year and that the expansion really works well for them in terms of everything that they're trying to do. So I am certainly supportive. But I do think we need to start looking at the costs of all of these things as well and not just...

I think, Debbie, you raise an interesting point. And I saw up in PEM and I were discussing it just today, is that when we waive fees... for not-for-profits does that mean we also waive the uh the costs that we intended in this case the 940 dollars or so or do we set a policy and i think the time to discuss this is during our budget sessions which are coming up now and discuss it as a policy as to you know who would we waive fees for certainly all of us are agreement with Portchester Council for the Arts. But what about some of the other not-for-profits?

I agree. I think it's worth that conversation.

You know, what would we waive? On what basis? And the fact that we waive the fee to rent the mansion or the grounds, does that mean that we also expend the money for our attendance to attend, or do we make the not-for-profit at least cover those costs?

And I I'm in agreement that we need to discuss that and that we should probably have a policy. And sometimes there are exceptions to policies, and I recognize that as well. But we should definitely discuss that during budget. Thank you.

We have a motion and a second. Hope, please call the roll.

Councilperson Friedman? Yes.

Councilperson Daffy? Do you have a motion already and a second?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Councilperson Selyer? Yes. Councilperson Nardi?

Yes.

And Supervisor Zimmerman?

Yes.

Resolution authorizing a change order to the ad or video contract for Crawford Park. Debbie had sent that a memo earlier on this. Debbie, do you want to briefly just state what this is or would you like me to?

I'm happy to do it. So the cost of the resolution is not quite $8,000, but basically $8,000. The Due to a number of delays in the midst of the installation of our new video production facility. the Department of Labor changed its rate structure, its prevailing wage structure. The change in rates is somewhat customary and ADWR routinely absorbs those small changes between what was contractually agreed and what is the new rate. However, this year, without warning, they reclassified a scope of work Um, that that went right to the heart of the installation of our program of our of our equipment, and they moved from 1 schedule to another. The result of that was over a 15,000 dollar cost. It was actually more than that, but. before it was brought to my attention, they had already discounted it. And we pushed back pretty hard. Supervisor Zuckerman particularly, he plays a great vet comp. And we settled on this as a compromise. So they don't, this is a company that has been a very honored, honored, Time honored service provider. Um, they've done an excellent job. Um, both in the design of our 1st video production facility, and in our next and in various small projects along the way, we want to continue working with them. Um, and so we've reached this compromise. That we're essentially splitting the difference. And they're eating $7,000 of the cost.

It's the one time the state moved really fast. So one time they moved fast.

Without an explanation. Just FYI. The change in prevailing wage rates, that happens in July. Yeah. I know it does. You have to check the new schedule in July to see what they are. This was a completely different situation.

There's no notice from what I understand.

That's correct.

Yeah.

It's not that they changed the wage schedule. They changed the classification of the workers. That was a surprise.

And they went all the way from M to A. They brought the workers for ADWAR up to the top of the pay scale.

So we also discussed this with Labor Council as to whether or not we could get grandfathered in because the contract that we entered into, predated this. He said, no way. This is what it is. We don't have a choice.

Right. So the bottom line is there is an expense mandated by the state, but you are able to negotiate something. But at the end of the day, if he refused to negotiate, the entire cost would be borne by us because it was mandated by the state.

Is that the way it is? No. One of the problems is that he was already in the middle of the work. during the installation. And if we didn't agree to something, technically, you say, well, I can't do the work anymore. I'll see you. Goodbye.

Right. So there was essentially no choice, but you negotiated it properly. Yeah.

We got them to meet in the middle, which is great. Yeah, in the middle. It's a great compromise.

Very good compromise. It's very fair. And we're going to use them again, hopefully, when we rewire the new offices.

There is a provider. Sometimes when there's no choice, there's no choice. I mean, this is beyond their control. I mean, they, you know.

I have another question not related necessarily to this portion of the labor wages going increasing. I understand there's an additional expense, incremental. It's mandated. We have to pay it. We've done a great job. Thank you for negotiating and getting that down so we're not paying that full amount. And it sounds like they also tried to do something on their end before we even got involved. But I do have a question. When we voted on the original authorization for the $133, I believe it was, $1,000, at that point in time, there was a very long list of itemized items. that we said would be replaced. And at that point in time, we said that there were potentially, that that was like the high limit of what we would need to spend, that we were authorizing the full 133, but that it was potentially likely that we would not need to spend all of that on this upgrade because they had recommended that we replace some TVs that we didn't need to recommend and various things like that. So I guess my question is, did we spend that full 133 amount that we need to now go back and go over to authorize additional expenditure to cover the wage or did we see some savings there that we had anticipated that we would see because we had quite a long laundry list of equipment and at the time we did not think that we would need to actually go ahead and purchase new

Every single one of those items new I'd say it's been an extraordinary year too and the fact that most of this tech equipment does come from overseas and I'm going to assume that at war and Debbie will speak to this at war kept to their number but I would assume the cost of materials was directly impacted by increased tariff fees and So given the time of the work, but I'll go to Debbie.

I don't know what their profit margins are, and I don't know what they are, whether their costs went higher or not. I don't know what they already had in stock of these items before they purchased. So we really don't, can't speak to that. I can only speak to we authorized a certain amount. And it's very possible that costs went up and that the same job we needed to go over. I'm not disputing that. But when we authorized it, it wasn't that long ago. It feels like. So anyway, I was just wondering whether we spent the full $133,000 on all of the capital expenses that were part of this project and all of the equipment that was part of the project, or whether we actually came in under.

We're just about at $133,000. And the answer is yes, we did have some savings. that we realized. I also brought in Cablecast as a service provider, which has enabled us to take control of our video feed and own it as opposed to leaving it to the limbs of YouTube and Facebook. So the choice to do that is ate up the rest Okay, that 133, I basically redeployed it for that purpose. Okay. And 1 of the reasons why. 1 of the reasons for the delay was my negotiating that as well.

And that was through them through. Yes. Okay. And do they provide that service?

Yes. Well, they don't. Adwar Cablecast, it's his own company. Okay. We connected with them through Adwar.

Okay. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Yes.

Thank you.

May I have a motion and a second, please? I'll make the motion. Second. Call the roll, please.

Councilperson Friedman. Yes. Councilperson Jaffe. Yeah. Councilperson Sellier? Yes. Councilperson Nardi?

Yes.

Supervisor Zuckerman? Yes.

We now have a series of resolutions having to do with the Otter Creek Bridge replacement. I know Debbie sent out a memo earlier, and I don't know how many people had a chance to read it. It's fairly complicated. So we'll go over these, and Debbie will explain what we're doing because, as a prelude, We have been discussing these resolutions and contracts at least for the last week. We've had meetings with HVEA, our engineering firm, and also with the state, who basically directed us and said, these are the resolutions that you must pass if you want to get your money. So there wasn't a lot of negotiation with that. So let's go one at a time. The first one is 6.5, resolution to authorize the execution of addendum number two to the South Barry Avenue Bridge replacement. Debbie, you want to explain that one?

I lost Debbie.

That's not a good thing.

Yes, this is the time that I'm getting power surge notifications on my computer. So I'm hoping I don't lose you. Okay, I'm going to not turn on my camera because apparently that is using more power. We hear you. So resolution number one, can you hear me? Yes.

Yes, thank you.

Okay, um, that is a resolution to, uh, sign addendum number 2 with, which will, which. Goes entirely to construction inspection. Um, the construction inspection is not only advisable from for our purposes. We want to make sure that somebody on our team is watching the contractor and making sure they're not cutting corners, but it's also mandatory for the, um. For federal aid projects, we must have that, um, the. And actuality, we had our original ask, um, when we submitted our engineers estimate for 2025, our original ask was, uh, assuming that construction inspection would be 90, 976,000 dollars. Um, the proposal before you. Is actually 747,000 dollars and that is because the scope of this work is such that does not believe it requires the 4 inspectors that the. Federal aid projects think a project of our size should use. So, their, their proposal is not to exceed 747,000 dollars. That's resolution number one.

Okay. Are you going to have votes on the Suriatim? Suriatim. Okay. Suriatim. Should I keep going?

No. I move we approve it. I was going to say, may I have a motion?

I will second the lovely gentleman from Reineck because he needs this bridge.

Please call me.

Councilperson Breedman? Yes. Councilperson Jaffe? Yes. Councilperson Sellier?

Yes.

Councilperson Nardi?

Yes.

Supervisor Zuckerman?

Yes. Real quick, did we have to do the same thing we did Hillside Avenue Bridge? We have to go through doing stuff like this?

Yes, we did.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We went through all this before.

We did. We did.

Yeah, OK. So this is nothing new.

It's not new.

Would that be different? Yes.

And frankly, even with, um, AI, all of their projects, they always have construction inspectors on site always. Okay.

So this is nothing new. This is just for formality that we have to do.

Okay, correct. The, the, there is a difference. It's based. The pricing is based on the time that they anticipate the project is going to take, because obviously you have to pay the inspectors for all the days that they're on site. And because we are keeping the bridge open, it's going to take a little bit longer than the hillside Avenue bridge project because we close that bridge.

Yes.

So.

And the other bridge we did to what the hell. On the other side, I forget.

Continental Manor?

Yeah, that would be. Yeah, anyway.

Footbridge?

No, not the footbridge.

Okay, let's move on. Let's move on.

Debbie, on that memo, just in the memo itself, utility reimbursement, that line item that was $0 and went to .095, did it go to .95 or should it still be at .095? The 2025 engineer estimate versus the 2026 actual are not to exceed.

It's just a hair. I think that's a typo. It should have been 95. It didn't change the. That's okay.

That was my question because it looked like a huge increase for that line item and I wasn't sure.

So which is the correct number? The point. The correct number is 0.95. It's 950,000 roughly. Okay. Which we. Pardon me 95,000 dollars 95,000 dollars under 100 you're talking about moving the water pipe.

Correct?

That is correct.

Right.

We approved that resolution last month.

Yeah.

The difference is that we were when we did our original grant. Submission and our original budget, we thought that. the water pipe was the utilities problem to solve. And what we've learned is the Westchester Joint Water Works will charge us for it. And they charge what they charge, if you recall. And the rate that they set is based on a bid that they do every year. So it's already preset. And it is $95,000. Excuse me. Yeah, under $100,000.

Okay, did we have a motion and a second? We did. Yes. Please call the roll call.

So, I'm sorry, so there's a typo in the last column, is that correct?

Just... $95,000.

Okay, are we talking about the same motion? I'm sorry. I'm confused. Yeah, I'm... Number one. We approve number one.

We're not approving the utility reimbursement now. It's just a question on the memo.

The next resolution is, I believe, Gary. The master resolution?

Right. And we do not have a motion and a second. Debbie, do you want to quickly explain this? This is the master resolution.

Yes. Okay. So there are two parts of this. There are two agreements. One is the master agreement. One is the supplement agreement with the DOT. They send us the language. It is a template. It's our job to fill in the blanks. They have the master agreement is necessary because we're being awarded an additional $1,714,000 891 in the commitment and therefore, rather than a, a, an addendum, we need a new master agreement.

We already we passed, we passed the master agreement a while ago. Yes, correct. This is a new 1, rip up the old 1, bring in the new 1. correct.

And it's necessary in order to formalize the town's commitment to fund the bridge construction project in accordance with the bridge New York grant parameters. Um, so the language sucks. It's language. We can't fix it. Um, but the in it, we specify that the will cover 95% of the project. The town is obligated to fund the remaining 5% of the project. Um, it's important to note that, um, at the moment, there are additional funds, um, that are bringing the towns, um, share up to 8%. Um. And it is, as we've learned, it's customary for projects that have been awarded additional funding from the transportation funds to make a submittal later on in the project when we have actual costs and ask for more money and receive that. So that is what we're planning on.

That would be the difference between the 8% and the 5% that we would ask for it. When we know what those numbers are?

Right.

Okay. No further questions? May I have a motion and a second? I'll make the motion. Second. Call the roll, please, Hill.

Councilperson Freedman? Yes. Councilperson Jaffe? Yep. Councilperson Sellier? Yes. Councilperson Nardi?

Yes.

Supervisor Zuckerman?

And now, number 6.7, resolution authorizing Again, the implementation and funding of the course of, 100% of the course of the project, which again is State Department of Transportation language, state speak.

And this was, we spent hours and hours and hours going through these documents, understanding them, making sure we understood every hour, every, every dollar that the, the H. V. A. Um. Uh, principal working with us had to sit through all of all those questions and answer all of them.

It's not just her didn't Giselle from D. O. T. also go. Right.

Well, Giselle Conrad wasn't asking the question. She was answering them.

Yes, but she asked for a revision. We asked a lot of questions, and she put forth to answer them.

Correct, and we requested a revision in the master agreement and received it.

Is there a chance that we don't get that federal funding?

The 95%? Yes.

because somewhere in, I don't know if it was the resolution we just voted on or the next one, it had said that, you know, if the fund, so is there a chance that we don't already get reimbursed and that we are going to be needing to pay for the full amount of the project?

They want us to commit to do the project, but What they've said is that this doesn't happen. Will it never happen? I don't know. But this is a project run by the state with federal funds, largely some state funds as well. I think the $1.7 million extra is state funding that we fought for and got because one of the things that happened is I threatened that we would, in fact, pull the project if we didn't get the extra money. Of course, our little $7 million budget can't handle an extra $1. out of pocket. So there we are. Motion to the second? So moved. Second. Call the roll, please.

Councilperson Friedman. Yes. Councilperson Jaffe. Yep. Councilperson Sellier. Councilperson Nardi. Yes. And Supervisor Zuckerman.

Yes. And now the fun one. The resolution to award Montesano Brothers of New Rochelle the construction contract to build this bridge. And their low bid price was $6.3 million. The next lowest bid was 8 point something. It was about a million, million and a half more, approximately. And

8.4.

Pardon me? 8.4.

8.4.

So almost 2 million more.

Almost 2 million more. So our concern was that this price was so low that maybe they wouldn't approve it. But as far as we understand, they will approve it. And this contract is subject to final approval by the state of New York.

I'm sorry, just you were concerned that because the price was relatively low that the state might have concerns and therefore reject it.

Yeah. All the other bids were over $8 million. This one was 6.3.

And do we know that this company has done this type of work and that they're?

They've been vetted. The engineers have reviewed their qualifications and recommend award of the project contract.

Yeah, they're well known. OK. They're well known to our engineers. They're well known in the industry. Okay. And they're standing by their bid.

Okay. And can you just remind me again overall for this whole project with all of these different elements, how much we're paying out of, expecting to pay out of pocket? Is it the five to potentially 8% of the 6.3? Or? More. So what are we expecting to pay?

I'd have to look at the final number. It's 5%. of the final number, which would include the construction, the construction management, the engineering fee. Do you remember what the, we have a chart in one of these exhibits.

So the 6.3 is just for them to do the work, and then the $747,000 or whatever we just voted on is on top of that for the inspectors. And then was there an additional cost on top of that?

There are a couple of The $100,000. Right. There are a couple of other costs. I think that in the end, this is what, about an $8 million project?

So about an $8 million project, and what are we going to be paying out of, or what are we financing on our own?

In the $400,000 range. Okay.

So we're about $400,000 of an $8 million project. We're going to be on the hook for it potentially. Yeah.

Figure with everything that's going to be said and done because there's always something that comes up. Figure between $500,000 and $600,000 is what we're probably going to have to pay. Because we can say, yeah, it's going to be $400,000. Stuff always comes up. Understood. And so you're going to figure a couple hundred thousand dollars more than what you're anticipating.

How are we allocating that?

We passed the bond.

Okay, so the money's there already. Got it.

The money's there because we already bonded for... Yeah, we passed it.

If you remember the bond resolution we passed a few months ago. Got it. So basically it almost becomes a revolving fund because once the work starts and we put in for reimbursement, we advance the money and then we get the money back when we get you know, when we submit for the grants, that's Alice's job, and she's always on top of it.

Yes, I can see that.

Okay, so motion and a second, please.

So moved.

Second. Call the roll, please.

Councilperson Friedman. Yes. Councilperson Jaffe. Councilperson Selyer? Yes. Councilperson Nardi? Yes. Supervisor Zuckerman? Yes.

You know, we've got to take into consideration this is an over $8 million project, and we're getting a brand new bridge. Even if it's a half a million dollars, we're getting a really good deal on this.

Thank you for all the background. I know that we keep coming back to this, and I think, for me at least, my brain is asleep sometimes, so I appreciate kind of the updates and the explanations, even though they may seem reiterative.

Better than the bridge falling into the water. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Because the next step, the state, they red-tagged it. It's just a matter, you know, you don't do anything, they'll shut it right down.

You don't want a mothman-type situation.

And then, by the way, and then when it's mandatory, you pass out a bridge. Then guess what the bids are going to be when they know that they have you by the you-know-what. Yeah.

Hi, Brian.

All right, let's move on. I know Randy has to leave. We have two more resolutions. The first one is authorizing an application for a grant to the Justice Court Assistance Program, also known as J-CAP. The grant was prepared by our chief clerk, Cecile Sia. And she's applying for approximately $30,000. I think that's what the maximum is. And in order, she can't just apply. The town has to apply. So we have to pass a resolution. And that's what's in front of us.

If possible.

So moved.

Second.

Call the roll, though.

Before you call, we had talked earlier in the year about digitization and the court. Does this cover any of that?

It might. She hasn't submitted the grant yet.

Because I know that it was a concern of yours to make sure that we were in parallel system.

Right, right.

Thank you. I'm pretty sure this is scanning.

I mean, the court system is gradually moving to digitizing all of their process, eliminating paperwork even in the village courts and town courts. Supreme Court, you don't file papers anymore. Right, Randy? Correct. Everything is done online. That has not yet gone down to the town and village justice court level. But it's heading that way.

It's heading that way, and we'll be ahead of the curve.

Always. I think I asked for a motion.

Second. All in favor?

Aye.

And now the last one.

It could be against the possibility of free money.

And there's no matching funds on this.

We've been successful with JCAP.

Resolution declaring certain electronic equipment surplus and authorizing its lawful disposition. Debbie, you want to tell us what this is about?

Part of our plan for 2026, it was in the capital budget, is we have upgraded a number of computers that were old and needed to be TAKEN OUT OF USE, AND THAT WORK HAS BEEN DONE. SO THE OLD EQUIPMENT THAT HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS NEEDS TO BE SURPLUSSED.

AND PROPERLY DISPOSED. CORRECT.

WITH SOME OF THESE ELECTRONIC DEVICES, WERE ANY OF THE The computers, for instance, they can be wiped clean or any of the schools, the elementary schools interested in any of them to use. So the kids can learn basic computer skills.

Well, I haven't I haven't reached out to the schools at this point. 1st day, the equipment has to be surplus. And then we can, we can see whether there's any use to them. I don't know if the schools would want old computers, but.

Well, I was just thinking, like, the elementary schools, this way they can do simple programs. You know, they can upload, you know, you can wipe it clean, and then they can do simple programs.

It probably depends on what the equipment is and how old the equipment is. I don't know.

My guess is they probably already have the most sophisticated computers. Their problem is a lot bigger than ours. I would suggest...

I would suggest some nonprofit organizations like the Salvation Army or the Carver Center.

I think that makes more sense.

Yeah, I like the idea of asking Bosco or Carver. Right. Okay.

Motion and a second? So moved.

I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Okay, report.

I apologize, I had to excuse myself.

You said 7 o'clock?

Put it towards the matching funds for the bridge. I see Charlie's not here.

No, he's on Zoom with me. Charlie, are you here? Yes, I'm here.

I don't have a report this month. I just wanted to let everyone know that the final assessment role is on the town's website. You can get it on the 1st page. All the determination letters from the board of session review have been mailed out. And, um, that's pretty much everything that's going on the assessment world.

Thank you, Charlie. Thank you. Crawford Park, do we have a Crawford Park report?

She's here.

If not. She is here.

Hi. Hi, Candy. How are you? Hi. We're good. How are you? That's awesome.

I think that one's July and that one's August. It's just August.

I thought they were all on there.

That's a different presentation. Oh, OK. OK, so for August, Crawford Park. We have for August of 2025 versus 2026 of this year with the private events versus the waived fees that we've done this year. For this year, we've been a little higher than last year with the gross for private events. We've had $129,413, and we've also had a lot of waived fees. higher than last year. This year we've had 167,390. That's based off of the camps that we've had during the summer, the fire departments being here, having their private events at the end of the year. So we've had a lot of events that have been from different municipalities coming here, the fire department, the police department, also the schools, the teachers having their teacher meetings that we've waived. So roughly, we're about the same with the number of events from last year and this year. We're up by seven events, which isn't A LOT, BUT I MEAN, WITH THE REVENUE IT IS, WE HAVE BEEN RENTING OUT MORE OF THE HIGH TOPS AND THE NEW BAR THAT WE ORDERED SINCE THE OLD BAR WAS PRETTY MUCH FALLING APART. WE WERE ABLE TO BUY A NEW ONE AND WE'VE BEEN RENTING THAT OUT AS AN ADDITIONAL FEE FOR NOT ONLY FOR THE PAVILION BUT ALSO FOR HERE INSIDE THE MANSION. And then this is the breakdown of the private events, the different municipalities that have been here using our facility, also the concerts, the Eco Fest that we've had, and then the programs that we have that have just started this week, the breakdown of what we've had so far this year.

I think it's great that we have so many community organizations, police, fire, and schools that are using the park and the mansion. As much as I know it's nice to get revenue from private events, I really think it's great that community members are really coming here and that our service members are coming here and using the park. So I think that's great. I don't know if you heard earlier we were talking about something else, but I would really like to see going forward not just the gross revenue, but the cost on a monthly basis, whatever, just to get a feel again so that we have a fuller picture, because revenue is one piece of the picture, but it would be very helpful to know how much it costs us to host these different events as well. Can you explain to me what you're asking with that? I don't know if there's incremental costs in terms of attendance and labor costs, cleanup costs. I don't know how much of these events are staffed by full-time people that aren't salary. versus how much we're paying, right, for each event.

Most of the staff that are here that work those events are part-time seasonal staff. So depending on how long the event is, obviously they have to show up prior, set up. Right, so there's a cost.

Yeah, there is. So I think that it would be helpful when we're looking at any revenue numbers to understand cost numbers as well. Just to have a broader picture of of what these numbers mean, because revenue in and of itself doesn't really tell us the story. I know this isn't the case, but for argument's sake, if you bring in $100,000 in revenue and it costs you $200,000 to bring in that $100,000, net net, you're down $100,000. Those are big numbers, and I'm not implying that that's the case here. But it would be helpful to know where we stand from the cost revenue perspective as well. And I think, again, that's in a lot of things that we're we're looking at.

This is a metric that we have tracked in the past. And one of the questions that I'm looking forward to discussing at our budget workshops when we develop a policy is what kind of expenses are we going to track for this? Is it straight labor or is it also overhead? For example, is there an overhead rate that we're going to attach to, you know, it isn't just $18 an hour, right? Are we Are we also putting the expense of running Crawford? There's an overhead rate, right? Is this what we want to be doing? So how do we define net? I think I'd love to hear John Priscitelli's view on that as well.

It's going to be a fun budget season. I think that's very relevant, and it's a good question. Keeping in mind that The main function of the park is to provide service for the community. As Debbie mentioned, police, firemen, teachers, schools, all of it, scouts, Council for the Arts. All of those things are important to the community. And even though you can measure it in dollars, I don't think the value itself can be measured in dollars. But especially when we're dealing with the for-profit element, if we're charging somebody X amount of dollars for the mansion and we have to provide 10 attendants and we're providing electricity and then we have to clean up afterwards, what is the true cost? It's not the gross revenue, but what is the net revenue? And how much is it worth? Because that becomes a basis. Should we raise our rates if it's costing us too much? And if we raise our rates, will that mean that people will no longer use the facility for their birthday parties or weddings or things like that? So all of these things need to be balanced out. We can't do anything until we know what the numbers are. Okay. Thank you, Candy.

Also, just wanted to let you guys know that the crosswalk has been installed. So now people won't get hit by cars and, you know.

And the button works. I tried it one of the, like the first day or two when I walked. I tried it. I walked over and I pressed it. I'm like, oh, lights up. It's great. Yeah.

That assumes that the cars will honor the crosswalk. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a good start. It's really, it's great. It's been needed there for so many years.

Right. This is a project of the village of Rybrook. Thank you. I think they did a really, really good job.

While we're on the subject of crosswalks, is it possible to see if we can get some help in freshening up the Rainbow Walk right across? Sure.

The one that's right here.

I think the time to do that would be the spring.

I know, but still, I'd just like to get it on the... Not before the winter. Yeah, but just want to get it on everyone's minds. That would be something that would be nice to have a little budget and a little time against.

Is that something that Clay Art Center isn't the right, but that one of these organizations might be able to donate the time and the expertise to do that for us?

We had student volunteers. We had Paul Rively, who unfortunately has other commitments and time, and then my entire family were the ones who basically painted it in the first place.

So I'm happy. I would just like some help.

I don't have as much family at home anymore.

I agree. It's getting warm, and it's great addition to the park, and it's very welcoming for everybody.

And the car show is coming up on October 4th. And the rain date will be October 18th.

Tommy's expecting 5,000 cars. Wow.

The car show, the car show's, yeah, it's, we got food trucks, we got...

Vendors.

We got all kind of vendors, food trucks, ice cream, dessert. It's, if you have a... Hot rod, a van, motorcycle. We have no cutoff year. Everybody's welcome that wants to show their car. It's $20 a day of the show. Spectators are free. So if you just want to come with the family, you don't want to show your car, it's for free. You got the playground for the kids. It's also great to walk around and show them the different vehicles and what people are doing. So there's going to be trophies. For the show cars, 8 o'clock check-in. Judging will be from 11 to 1. After 1 o'clock, that's it. There will be no more judging. And the trophies will be handed out at 3 o'clock. There's going to be over 100 trophies given out for all different things. So we're hoping for nice weather on the 4th. If not, we'll have it on the 18th. It's from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. So come on out and have a good time. We had a big blast last year, and we're hoping for the same thing this year.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Tommy is head honcho, along with Vic. Vic is always head honcho.

And then after the car show, we'll have the trunk or treat on October 23rd. The trunk or treat will be from 5.30 to 6.30 and then followed right after with the movie.

Okay.

Toy Story 5.

Yes. It's a good movie.

That is a good movie. What is it, Toy Story 5? Yeah. I didn't know there was a 5.

Well, I think I'm back at one or two.

It just came out. That's a good get.

And again, with both of these events, I think it will be helpful for us to have the cost side of it. How much is it costing us to run these events, and how much revenue are we getting from these events, particularly these bigger ones that are, you know.

We don't charge for trunk or treat. No, I know that.

The car show, we get revenue when people sign up for their cars, right? And I know there's also the raffle tickets.

Yeah, but the raffle's different. The raffle goes to, the raffle, 50, half of the raffle goes to the winner, and the other half goes to the Friends of Corporate Cars. Which is great. We cannot get any money from the raffle. That has to go to Friends of Corporate Cars. Crawford Park.

That's okay. That's still supporting the park.

Yes.

So, um, but just to have an idea of how much it costs us again to run this event and host this event.

Well, we, the company, the people that are judging the cars, 914 Muscle Cart, they're, they're doing it for free.

Nice.

They're coming. Um, we have a DJ, uh, Bobby Bounce, who does a lot of the car shows. He's really well known in the car show circuit, uh, does a fantastic job. Um, He gave us actually he helped us out. Nice. So, yeah, we're paying him, but it's not easy.

I know we have a lot of stuff that's going to be working that day. Yeah.

And we're, you know, it's going to be what it's going to be. It should be, you know, we had almost we had like 275 cars.

I was there. I came by. After the fact, we should have an accounting of what it costs us. I don't know if the food trucks, if you have a certain minimum, I don't know. All those kinds of things need to be accounted for after. Clearly, we should have a budget going into it. But at this point, this particular event is planned. We should understand afterwards what what the cost was to us and what the revenue, understanding that there may be other costs like overhead that we want to allocate to events. Basic, basic, just what it's costing us for labor and cleanup and all of that kind of stuff.

Last year was a learning curve. Last year was a learning curve. This year we're having all our registers, all the cars that are coming in, every register is numbered. So it's going to start with one all the way down to, I think, to 300, three or four. I forget how many we're doing. So this way we have a record. So when we go to do the trophies, we know exactly how many cars came and paid.

And what were we charging them? $20.

$20.

$25. Was it $25 last year or was it $20?

I feel like it was $25. Last year we did it different. We did a pre-registration, which was a flop. Because we only had like six cars pre-registered and everybody else registered because it was $20 if you pre-registered in 25 days of the show. Get it. It was too much of a headache. It's easier to have them come because most people with the car show, they like to pay in cash. They don't, they're not one for pre-registering because the thing is, if it rains, because they might not be able to make the following, you know, the following car show, you know, the next rain day. So it was just easier.

So what made us go down from 25 to 20 on the day of the show for registration?

Excuse me?

What made us go, if it was 25 on the day?

Because we're trying to get a head count. We wanted to do a $20 pre-register, $25 the day of the show.

I understand. I'm just wondering why this year you didn't do $25. No, we just did $20.

We went to $20 just to keep it.

Pre-registration from 2025 was $15.

Enough cross-talk. We will, it'll be $20. It'll be $20. And next year when we do a post-mortem, we'll decide whether the following year should be $25. We're 50.

The average is $20 is the average for all the car shows.

That's the question.

That's the thing.

OK, so that's the generally accepted.

We were trying to get people to pre-register. It didn't work.

No, no, I understand.

That's the reason why it stayed at $20.

And around the, and so it goes from $15 to $25 kind of in the $20 is your sweet spot for what people normally pay.

Yeah, it's the average. That's the average for the car shows is $20.

Makes it easier for cash, too, if it's $20 and not $25.

Yeah.

OK.

And before I forget, the theme for the trunk or treat will be like the red, white, and blue. But it's boo.

Red, white, and blue. Red, white, and blue.

So the idea is to kind of incorporate the 250th with Halloween. So hopefully we get. What do you mean when we do?

Chances upon my presentation. It's a perfect segue.

Okay, I'm done. Thank you. Thank you. Fun stuff at the park.

This is about what I've been waiting for. Oh yeah, this is what I've been waiting for all night to talk about. So, with the help of Carissa, who's hiding, she'll be out in a sec, we've decided to When we came up with the idea of Halloween planning, we decided to incorporate America's 250th anniversary in some aspect. And we were able to, well, Carissa was able to come up with a great marketing term, red, white, and blue. It's very cute.

Very catchy.

So we do have a plan. And the general layout is to... Continue with the trunk retreat. Have more cars. So we would expand the trunk retreat to the front of the Crawford Mansion. And so we would direct the foot traffic around the circle into the inside of the Crawford Mansion into this little diagram here. And this is a hallway. It's not a haunted house. Instead, it's more patriotic than that. We allow the kids to go into this really awesome maze. But it's a one-way maze. of American eras. So you start out in the colonial era, you then enter the Wild West, the 1950s, and then to the modern era. And we do have a really cool opportunity to have a local resident join us as well. Here is sort of the concept art that we came up with. So I'm sure that our design will look just like that. It'll be really cool. And right now, Chris and I are actually doing a shopping list to come up with everything that fits this theme here. And I mentioned a local resident that will be joining us as well, Doug Carey. He is a teacher in Elmsford, I believe. And he is an amazing guy. He's so cool. He's so much fun to talk to. And he is very excited to dress up as the town supervisor in 1776, Dr. Haviland. He'll be greeting families that are entering the mansion from the colonial era, and he'll be presenting props like his handy-dandy compass, a booking quill, and a lantern, which will be lit by an electronic light, not a full flame. So... He'll be giving kids and families a fun and exciting history lesson as they finish their trunk retreat. And when they're done with this experience, they'll then go into the back of the mansion where the movie will be playing. So they'll have the full shebang in one go.

And it's amazing because it actually is pushing people through and getting them to go to the movie, which last year we had attrition. So this was a nice... way to devise a path and have people stay at the park. So thank you, too. I hope it's a nice day. Yes.

Well, it'll be a lot of fun for sure. So that's our plan.

Thank you, Carissa. Thank you. You're welcome.

Jan, since you're up there, can you just throw that thing up?

Okay.

I'm going to start off with I'm hoping that employees are watching this. I'm going to start off with. In order for us to make this a small segue into the building, we need more cars. So we'd like to get more employees back there into the building.

We need more cars to get more employees back there. And this year, I'm on a business trip. You're using two cars. No, it's nine of us, eight of us. Nine of us back there. I don't know, I'm just saying. Okay, as you can see how busy we are, where everybody parks today. All the sports are busy. We're running fully right now. Our indoor programs are running fully right now. A few weeks ago, I think maybe we had the last meeting. We had the culinary kids go out to harvest. I believe we had that culinary kids. I think we showed it. I think we showed it the last time. I believe we had that. There was a little, there were pictures. I think we showed this. Harvesting.

I believe we had that.

There was a little, there were pictures. They went out and pissed more herbs and are continuing to use it. They went out and pissed more herbs. Cemetery. They had an update on the cemetery. We had a large tree field now. Cemetery. We have a large street here now. It's going somewhere so somebody watched over it because it was a huge tree Going somewhere so I already show you a picture Perfectly go with that in the middle of October we should be receiving the new stone

And I don't know what's going on with the museum and how... We have a meeting next week. Carissa just scheduled it. That's right. So that's all I have. You know, just everybody get out and help us out with this trunk or treat. You know, make it a new... You're welcome. Gary's throwing me off.

Hang on. We have a quick thing that didn't make an answer.

You move so fast away, you don't want to do it. Now, I mentioned something, and right away, you know, what?

Speaking of needing help, I want to bring Brian to the podium for a second. Sorry, John, because we have our community cleanup coming up.

Sure. On the other one.

Good evening, everybody. I'm here again to talk about another community cleanup that we've been organizing. We're going to have it this fall on October 17th, which is Saturday. It's a month from today. So we're really gearing up to get people to sign up and participate. We're going to have four locations this time. Typical Port Chester, Ryebrook, and Rytown trio. We're going to be cleaning up downtown Port Chester again. We're going to be clearing out invasive vines along Bowman Avenue. Rytown is going to be doing a fun cleanup, I think, along the promenade down by Rytown Park near the beach. And then we are working on developing a site with Rye City. We just got a new captain on board. His name is Rob Motto. So if Rob or any of his friends are listening to this, thank you very much.

Why not the city of Rye and the town of Rye together at Rye Town Park?

Just because we tend to.

I think they have the desire, right?

Yeah, I mean, they have the desire. So we can typically get more people involved overall. That's the gist of it. But most exciting is after our cleanup this time around, we're going to be having a shindig, let's call it, at the Portchester Rybrook Public Library. We have gifts sponsored by some of our local businesses for raffle. We're going to have tickets to Capitol Theater shows. We have, Pam, I think you know these details better than I. I have that stupid planter. We have a large... large raised planter that's been in Pam's garage since we planned to raffle it off back in the spring and then we got rained out. So we have that and a nice watering can filled with seeds. And we'll have pizza for everybody courtesy of the Colony Grill. And we're going to have two speakers come along. One is going to be talking about His name is Brandon Hermosa Ricci. He's going to be talking about rain gardens and how to harden your local environment against these, let's say, downpours we've been having recently. And we're going to have Bridget Dix come and talk about the work that she does at Cottontail Classroom. Yes. So that's all about rescuing local animals and tending to them and what you can do if you encounter wildlife and how you can keep your, I'm not going to say home, but your property safe for animals while also safe for you, basically. So we have a pretty stacked event, I think, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. If you can scan that QR code, I hope, I'll zoom in on it. If you scan that or you go to the town website, you can sign up and you'll get onto our mailing list. You can join us. It's going to be a great time. We have a variety of activities going on for the cleanup. So I think there's something for everybody. And yeah, it's October 17th. That's a Saturday. Tom, I'm sorry. Our rain date is also the 18th. So here's hoping we don't get rained out. Yeah, we hope we don't get rained out on the floor. We're playing for a nice day. Exactly. But yeah, I think it's going to be a great day.

I don't think the cleanup would interfere with the car show.

On the, we have to tell somebody, but on the registration, Rybrook is down as Basilipo, which was the spring planting.

I will tell them again. We'll get it handled.

Thank you. And thank you. This is going to be a lot of fun, and you did a lot of work for this.

Thank you. Everybody's chipped in. It's been a team effort to get it done. Thank you very much.

It's going to be a lively day.

Certainly. Thank you, Brian. Thank you. Nice to see you again. Nice to see you too.

Okay, great. And where are my reports?

It's Bowman, but on the registration it says Basilico because they do the planting there in the spring. But you did, right?

Yes. It's supposed to have the measurements on the inside.

Good morning. I'm going on tour with an author. She asked me to be here.

Can you keep that up? Four classes.

With a ton of projects due October 20th.

Oh, really? I thought you did.

I'm on October 28th this month. I'm going to meet some interns.

Okay. Reveal.

Okay. I thought it was the 80th birthday on the 28th.

I'd love to be gone, but I'm not here.

Ready? Ready.

Can we show the spreadsheet up on the screen?

Oh, it is up now. Okay, sorry, it wasn't there before. Okay, sorry, sorry.

So again, in Ramsdale, this year, $1,491,000 versus $1,701,000 last year. So again, really moving in the right direction. We got a big interim payment this month, about two payments of about $460,000. So really moving in the right direction. Same thing with Queens, this year's, this month's total is about $1,448,000 versus last year at $1,705,000. So again, moving in the right direction, really happy about that. Really a lot of hard work is going into these collections. Any questions on these collections? But I do also want to go into the in-rem summary, and here you go. Again, these are the actual individual items that are reflected on the receivable summary report. So again, the movement this year, or excuse me, this month was in Schedule D. The 111 South... 111 South Ridge Street, which is the Valentia property, was collected this month, as well as another smaller property. So again, really moving in the right direction. Schedule D, that came down by about $460,000. Any questions on receivables?

I just wanted to point out what Carla had said. That apparently Willow Street is being sold, so you're going to get a very big collection there.

That's great. Yeah, that is in Schedule C. So we've been looking at that for a long time. That'll be great if we can get all that money. So again, a really good month. Very happy with the trend in receivables. Very happy with the trend in REM and liens. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Carla, you have anything? Taxes coming up?

Carla Pugliese, Receiver of Taxes. Just a reminder that school taxes are due by the end of this month. It's really important if you're mailing to get them in the mail as soon as possible because by law, we do have to go by the date that the post office stamps them. If they don't stamp by the 30th, then they're delinquent. The better idea would be, obviously, to pay online, which we keep pushing, and people are, so that is a plus.

Carl, have you detected an appreciable difference over the last six months with people? I'm not talking about people paying necessarily through their banks, but people who are paying their individual taxes Not paying so much by check and instead moving towards the ACH payment?

Well, it's usually any check because that's the cheaper payment. And honestly, it's usually Rybrook that pays the most of all the municipalities. We see the trend with Rybrook.

ACH, you mean?

Yeah. Well, online period. We see the trend there more than anywhere else. I can next month give you a breakdown, ACH and credit cards if you want. Any checks?

I think that would be good because we're trying to encourage the individual taxpayer to use ACH as much as possible. It's quicker, more convenient. You get... credited immediately, you don't have to worry about the post office. And just like people are talking about what's gonna happen with ballots by mail, the same thing with paying the tax payments by mail. If you send your tax payment, you put it in the mailbox, you don't know if it's gonna get stamped on time. You have to really say, I'm gonna gotta pay it a week ahead of time.

If they do that, they have to go to the window. to make sure it gets stamped right in front of them. Otherwise they'll have, don't avoid a problem. A lot of people like to come in to see Hope though. So, you know, I can't stop that.

We're gonna hide Hope away.

I don't know how you mean that you're doing that. They call for her, so. But yeah, I'll get a breakdown for you.

Can we charge people extra? To see hope? If they want to see hope, we get a special fee. I don't know.

I think that's a resolution maybe.

That's it. Any questions?

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, town attorney. Jeff, you have anything for us? Anything happening in the world of in-rem court proceedings or tax court proceedings? We're having a tax cert settlements coming up? Costco, for example?

We are, but I just don't know the exact date. Costco is settled.

Jeff, we can't hear you.

We're

Just getting final confirmation on one large settlement, which has to do with the Costco property. I'm just waiting to hear back from their attorney, who indicated to me that it's most likely his client will accept it. But beyond that, I really don't want to discuss any details at the moment. Other in rem litigations are ongoing. And as they settle or as we go to trial, I'll keep you updated.

I know you will because I'm on you.

No, that's fine. And you sometimes come to court, which is even... It's okay, too. Really nothing else to report at the moment. Collections are going well, as John said. I'm involved in that because, you know, I work with the taxpayers to get the money in-house. And it comes through my office.

So... And the next scheduled in rem, the, why can't I think of the word? The redemption date is December 31st.

Right. That's coming up.

Right. And those who have gotten notices and haven't paid by December 31st, they will get a petition in foreclosure probably in the second week of January.

A lot of them have paid. A lot of 2025 liens have been paid, as John has said.

So that group will probably whittle down to 10 or so, maybe even less.

Over 2025, you only have six on there right now. And we know when it's going to be sold soon.

So I'm talking about the 2026 in rooms It'll it'll it'll whittle down to a manageable, you know ten or so maybe even fewer But we pursue them I Don't want people who watch this

on video think that we're being overly hard because if a taxpayer doesn't pay their tax bill, that falls on all of the other taxpayers to make up the difference. So we want everybody to pay on time and that way all of the school districts and villages, the town, the county can be fiscally

But I think I think what the taxpayers who are in arrears should also know is that we try very hard to work with them. To not take their property, taking their property is a last resort.

We don't want their property. If you're in arrears, we don't want your property. We want you to pay your taxes.

And those in distress. After doing this for a few years now, you know, I can say to those who are in distress, you know, call my office and we work it out. We can't discount, but we work it out in other ways, in time and what have you. So I get very involved and my office gets very involved in the facts behind each case. So I can't afford to do that.

Thank you. You're welcome. Can I say I just We're entering into September October territory and I just noticed the line item under court clerk for one day marriage officiant and

licenses, and I was like, oh, is this new this year?

It's a new law. And it's a new thing.

And I thought that was pretty exciting because we're actually getting on a lot of them.

And it's very popular. People who wish to have a family member or a dear friend perform their ceremony for their marriage. Or hope. We can have hope. We could always have hope. Yes. Hope is the click. They could apply for a one-day marriage. Efficient license for $25 as long as they get the they could apply with us as long as they get their marriage license with us If that is so cool, it is cool And that's it Yeah, it's a healthy number All right, and I have a question Given that we give out so many license dog licenses most of which of the 400 a month are Tommy's What happens?

What happens if you happen to have a very vigorous dog who loses his tag, but you still have his certificate? Is he okay?

That is no problem. We could always issue a replacement tag, and he still has his license number. But when we give you a new tag, we have to give you a new number.

So, in other words, don't worry about your dog losing their tag. He has his license, right.

Okay. And a reminder, if your dog does lose its tag, you should replace it. Because otherwise you would have an untagged dog subject to... That's illegal. That's subject to confinement, prison, dog prison.

Good luck getting New Rochelle to actually take it off.

Because it has our telephone number.

Yeah.

And we work with the police as well if they pick up a stray dog. We let them know who owns it and... They return the dog to the house.

Also a good idea to get your dogs chipped. Definitely get your dogs chipped. Because if they get lost, you know, especially when it comes to 4th of July with all the fireworks, that's the biggest day of dogs running loose and getting away. At least if they're chipped, they can be checked and then they can contact you. It's a lot easier. It takes a lot of stress out.

Good point. I hate to interrupt. I made a grave mistake when I talked about Mr. Doug Carey. I accidentally said he works at Elmsford School District. He is 46 or 47 years at the Spring Valley High School. So I will not make that mistake again.

Corrected you, huh? He's watching and he corrected you. Yes, he did.

Yes, yes, he did. His daughter, his daughter works for Rytown Park. Correct, did you?

No? No, you can see my phone.

We're having a guessing game. And while we're on that subject, before we adjourn, can I just mention something? When you had up the red, white, and blue, it reminded me and talked about him coming to speak that this is not necessarily town-related but county-related. Westchester County owns an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and spent a lot of money to have it preserved in a special air temperature safe case and everything like that. And there is an absolutely beautiful exhibit at the Neuberger Museum right now. It's going to be purchased there through the end of the year. Our office, well, my other job, Nancy Barr's office, you know, has arranged tours. And if there's a group of people that is interested in touring that, we would be happy to facilitate. To arrange that tour, you can also call the New Bergen Museum directly. It's also open to the public. The museum is free all the time to the public, but it is really a beautiful exhibit, really interesting and worthwhile going. It's there for sure. It's a pretty impressive document. And it is our Declaration of Independence. And this particular copy was read on the courthouse steps in White Plains when it was signed. So and I learned a whole bunch of stuff during this tour that I never knew because New York apparently did not sign the declaration with everybody else. The other colonies signed it first. New York was on the fence. They weren't sure. And they added something else on the top. And then they actually signed it. And it was very, you know, by person or. I don't know, maybe by boat across the Delaware, you know, by horseback, whatever, to New York. So it's a really historic document. It is now being preserved forever, and it's a beautiful exhibit if you have the chance to go to the New York Museum. Can I ask you a question about that? Yes. I may not be able to answer, but...

I'm just curious. When you say an original copy, is this something that was printed?

It was printed, yes. And it is... Not original by hand. It was not original by hand. It is, let me just find the name of the Holt Broadside document. So it's Holt that printed it. My understanding is the order was for 500 copies that were printed. There are just a few known copies that are still known that we know that we have. And this exhibit shows you kind of the history of this document and where it resided, but they don't quite know, you know, there's some gaps. But there was a lot of research that, you know, done in terms of, you know, how it ended up where it ended up. And I think there's always a caveat that there may be other, you know, copies out there because it's possible somebody in their attic, you know, ends up with a copy that we did not know. But I think the number is six. known copies or under 10 or whatever it is. So there's very few. And it's really interesting to read if you haven't read the Declaration of Independence. Most of it is grievances against the king. And it's a really fascinating document that we should all know and all read. But in case you need to refresh yourself, it's a great exhibit.

And most of those grievances form the basis of the Bill of Rights in order to correct those grievances when the Constitution was made, they went back and... And it is very relevant when you read it today.

Yes. I do have a comment actually from Facebook, from Jim O'Hanlon. He asked for the council after our meeting today to come to St. Paul's Church for our fall fling.

Thank you, Jim. I can pass around the information. When is the fall fling?

After this meeting.

No, I don't know the date off the top of my head, but I'll forward it to everyone.

I believe it's after, actually, I believe it's after the cleanup, the community cleanup. Okay, that makes sense.

Well, if he is still listening, he should let us know so we can mark our calendars and give us the specific information. Thank you.

Speaking of democratic places and preserving copies of important documents, The Port Chester Rybrook Library is celebrating, everyone knows, I hope, its 150th anniversary year. This week, just this week, they launched tickets for their library fundraiser gala. which will be taking place on November 14th at the Harrison Meadows Country Club, 630 to 930. They're selling tickets as of this week and sponsorships, and I can pass around information. That would be really nice for the town to post as well and support the library.

Thank you, Pam. And they did bury a time capsule in honor of there, and it will be dug up in 50 years, and it was quite... Interesting to stand there as they were burying it and to think I will absolutely not be here in 50 years when that time capsule is done. So there were some young children. So there were some young children there and It's a great thing the library did. They put some special things in this time capsule. And it is buried. And there's a little area with the plaque in front of the library. So stop by and see it. Yeah. And hopefully, young people will show up in 50 years and see what it was like in, what are we, 2026. Who knows?

Yeah.

Yeah.

When in the course of human events.

OK.

With that, thank you, everybody, for a very productive meeting. Our next meeting is October the 15th. And may I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. All right, I'm dragging my tired booty home.

Good night, everybody.

Thank you, Debbie. Enjoy your time away. Thank you. I'm officially going on vacation now.

Enjoy it. Bye-bye.