(1) Town Board - Regular Meeting

Thank you for coming tonight and welcome you to the uh preliminary budget hearing for the fiscal 2026 uh budget. Would you kindly join me in the pledge of allegiance, please? 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.

Thank you very much. Uh Patrick, if you'd be kind enough to swing over to the big screen, we can show the folks what we'll be discussing uh tonight. Um we're starting off uh a half hour earlier than we normally do with the public hearing on the preliminary preliminary town budget. Um and then we have uh perhaps some decision making related to that. Uh we're also going to entertain authorizing expenditures from the water district's reserve fund for facilities improvements. Um, if you've been following along, uh, we had Hank Van Paris here talking about how the water tank needs some rehabilitation and so we are going to authorize, uh, the release of some reserve funds. Uh, we have a proclamation recognizing Eagle Scout Honor and our dear friend Roger Alhorn. Um, we are going to, uh, approve, uh, if you've been following along last few, uh, meetings, we're going to approve, I think, the community composting service agreement, um, which is basically the existing service that we've had, but it's a new owner and it's been upgraded to eight tubes. Um, we are going to extend um a an agreement from five years ago with the county regarding minor referrals and we are going to update our real property tax additional notice fee from $1 to $2. Uh we also are going to extend with the county uh intermunicipal agreement on shared services on occasion. They can be helpful. We're trying to procure um some service or items. We're going to uh authorize an easement for the

Cookingham solar uh project uh for Central Hudson uh so they can maintain um the area along where the poles are. Uh number nine will be uh entertaining approving a task order for uh the uh well rehab project that's separate from the storage tank. And then number 10, a task order related to the Cookingham West Solar Project, which is engineering services. And so with that being said, why don't we and with apologies for being a few minutes late, um why don't we go ahead, Diana, if you'd be kind enough to read the notice of public hearing, please. Notice of public hearing. Town of Red Hook. Please take notice that the public hearing will be held by the town board of the town of Red Hook at Town Hall 7340 South Broadway, Red Hook, New York on Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. local time to hear all interested persons on a preliminary budget for the 2026 calendar year for the town of Red Hook. All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at said hearing. The public is encouraged to submit written comments by email to town clerk at redhookny.gov or by mail to the town clerk or by dropping at a c dropping a copy in the town clerk's dropbox at 7340 South Broadway Red Oak for receipt in advance of the hearing by 400 p.m. the day of the hearing. Please note preliminary budget 2026. Please take further notice that copies of said preliminary budget are available for inspection by any interested party during town clerk's office hours by appointment only Monday through Friday [clears throat] from 9:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. at the town hall 7340 South Broadway Red Hook and the town's website www.redhookny.gov. Compensation to be paid to the following officers is as follows. Supervisor $64,196.

Town board members each $10,342. Town clerk $66,498. Town justices each $21,269. Highway superintendent 78,096 by order of the town board of the town of Red Hook dated October 22nd, 2025. Deanna Cochran, town clerk, town of Red Hook. Very good. Thank you very much, Diana. Um, at this time I'd like to entertain a motion to open the public hearing. So moved. Second.

Okay. And myself. I I'm going to try to quickly get through um a presentation for the public and for folks um who are watching at home. Patrick, it's all going to be up there on the slides for them. Uh with apologies. I know it's lengthy, so I'll try to get through quickly. But because it's how we spend your money, I think it's important that we uh make sure that everybody intersects with uh this information um at least uh once in a while. So, this is the preliminary budget. Um we uh talk about uh sort of flipping this the switch. I know that when I was on the town board years ago, there was a proposal to raise taxes in one year, 23%. Um, we worked on that budget and that increase was uh not what was adopted. Um, what we're trying to do now is really deploy your tax dollars in a way that enhances the quality of life and um also uh spending the money wisely. So, uh, we have almost 90 capital projects that have been completed in the in the last decade. Um, here are some of the stats. The preliminary budget lowers the tax rate by approximately 5.75% to help offset um, the trending in residential assessments. There will be a slight increase to everybody's bill um, as a result of this. This is the second time now in a decade where we've had um the taxes go up very slightly. Fund balances and credit rating uh remain strong. We won't know exactly uh what the fund balances will be until December 31st, but we know um the way things are trending that they will be strong once again. um taxes remain still lower than they

were 10 years ago. In spite of all these inflationary uh things that we are encountering, we have for the second year in a row a perfect uh uh risk profile according to the comprollers's office. Um we uh maintain our double A rating which gives us preferential borrowing rates which will be important as we do borrow for uh the water storage tank for example. Um here are some of the projects uh that we either are working on or at least considering. Um very happy to report that many of these are well in process. Council person Solomon is handling our comprehensive plan update and uh we are looking at some of the options now for the bridge from Wreck Park uh to the Cookingham trails. Uh but we've made no decision on moving forward because we don't have any grant funding for the construction aspect. Uh we don't do this alone. We do it because of volunteers and we certainly do it because of partnerships. One of the things that we're proud of is that when people look at a grant application with the town of Red Hook, they know that if they give us the money, we'll get the project completed. These are just some of the grant amounts that we've received for some of the projects that you'll be taking a look at. One of the first things I did when becoming a supervisor was look at um our uh serial bonds. Uh we were paying a high rate, much higher than the market rate. So, we did what's called an early uh refunding and saved a bunch of money. Um, a lot of our clean energy projects are saving money now and certainly into the future. One of the things that we did do and we were the lead municipality in the Hudson Valley

was acquire the street lights. Um, something that still the neither village has done um many years ago. We own them. We've switched them over to LEDs and we're saving quite a bit of money associated with that. Um, and those savings will now start to pass on to the lighting districts as well. Here's the fiscal uh stress score. I won't go into it. It's it's very wonky, but basically we have a perfect zero score. That won't always be the case. Um, but uh it is good to highlight. Um, this chart basically shows you two things. um which is the tax rate which is this uh orange reddish color here and how it's trending down over this time period. Here's 2016 on the left, 2026 a decade later on the right. Um what you see in the blue is the median home sale price. And so prior to this we were seeing the opposite. We were seeing house housing prices not um going up and we were seeing tax rates uh going up. However, here's an here's a a real bill um just to show you because I know sometimes people get skeptical. They're like, "Oh, sure the tax le tax rate has gone down, but my actual taxes have gone up." This is the median household in Red Hook. There are a couple that are right at the median. And this is what um their value used to be. 287 here. This is what they used to pay $674 for town taxes. This is what they paid last year, $634, so $40 less. They're scheduled to pay $648 um in the 2026 budget.

Here's what that looks like in graph form. This is what they paid. This is what they paid last year and this is what they are scheduled to pay this year. So their actual taxes are still lower than they were a full decade ago in spite of these capital projects. I think um the prior administration with two capital projects were approaching close to 90. Um, it's not only uh what folks are paying, but also some of the programs that we've offered over time that can save folks money. Um, I have a stat here. If you had joined that first community solar farm, and I want to be clear that if you join this next one that were constructed, you won't get these types of savings. But had you joined the first one that went live December 31st of 2019, you would now be saving probably over $1,000. This was last year's figure, $890. So, you would be saving more money than you pay in town taxes just by joining them. Um, same thing if you're utilizing a transfer station as opposed to having a private hauler. You'd be saving a bunch of money. If you are sending a child or two or in one case four to our summer wreck program, you're saving tons of uh dollars. We're the only municipality I know of. I'm sure there must be another one um that offers free summer programming. It's all part of our effort to make sure that this community remains accessible to folks of all income. Um, here's the uh tracking the changes in the tax rates. Uh, 234 per thousand now down to 142 proposed for 2026.

Uh, not all of the rates are out for 2026, uh, school, uh, county, so on and so forth. So, I'll show you 2025 [clears throat] so you understand, um, what our piece of the pie is. If you're telling me that your taxes are still going up and they're still way too high, I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just here to tell you that our share of the pie is only 7% and it's barely 7% at that. Um, school taxes represent on average 80% of the tax bill. Here are some of the investments we've made. Uh, protection of uh farms, uh, open spaces. Here are some uh visuals from outside of Tivoli of farmlands that have been protected uh with community preservation funds, trails as well. Here's part of the Cookingham uh farm project. Here are the trails. Um over here, we'll be closing very soon, by the way, on the Rupco property here. Um which is these 12 acres of affordable housing. Um we uh have expanded our recreation facilities. This is Wreck Park West here. Entrance uh to the Salt Kill Trails. There's now a kiosk here. Um further development for rectangular fields will happen west of London Avenue. We did a safe connection across Lynen. Um we created a multimodal path. We received some grant funding for that as well. This is one of the visuals. This was the most popular uh input that we had from the community when we asked folks which bridge they liked. We didn't get a ton

of input, but of of the responses we got, this was the one. The steel bridge project we're working on now and hope to close uh in the coming couple of months is the trailer preservation project, Camp Rising Sun in the south. There's that connector. We have a trails map. This is the hard copy. Um we're happy to report that more trails are coming online. You can go on our website and you can get um the update of the trails map comes from the county. Actually, the county has a really terrific trails map you can uh access. Here's some of the design uh sketches for the Ruckco affordable housing complex. St. Margaret's is almost ready. I feel like I've been saying that for a while, but there maybe a week or two away and we'll uh be happy to open that up as a cultural center for the community. And here are some the photo examples. Um the building inside was almost almost to the point where you could condemn it and now it looks terrific. Um some of the uh programs we're expanding free access for residents uh to our transfer station. We've added as you see tonight um food waste composting and recycling of the refrigerants which are very harmful to the ozone. Uh dog park, we took over maintenance. Uh you'll hear us talk about uh town properties that we maintain. Um the golf park is one that we inherited. Uh Ryback

was no longer willing to keep it open. Um we took over maintenance and uh we've made some improvements to it and people are enjoying it. Um clean energy is a focus of uh this town board and we have through grants installed many of these items and received award monies from New York State. We retrofitted town hall with uh clean energy and uh to make it energy efficient. We have a new generator. We also got a new generator through grants uh for the community center, new parking lot, new septic system. Uh we had to do that on an emergency basis here. Highway garage, same thing. Retrofit. Um PV basically the garage does not pay a lighting bill. Now, um this is an old stat. We're close to $2 million in equipment um that we've authorized for u the highway department. One of the things they were experiencing is they were uh sufficient with staffing, but they had very little to work with as far as changing equipment. Um we've had significant increases in wages um through that department as well. And there's that $2 million figure. Community center. Um, we've got a lot of public private partnerships you hear us talk about all the time. We, uh, folks don't know that we provide funding for the programs that happen at the community center. Uh, as we uh, indicated earlier, uh, we came to find out that, um, it's a friendship center, office of the aging, but they actually had no generator for warming or cooling. Um we applied for grants and got them a very large

generator. Uh one of the first projects, in fact the first project um that I was involved with uh many years ago was this sidewalk right here in front of town hall all the way down to Holy Cow. Um our programs we had, I think 24 people sign up as the last number I remember for the summer program. Um, here are some images. Here are all these dedicated volunteers who helped out. I think it rained seven out of 10 days or something like that, right, Jacob? Um, [clears throat] the wreck park, which we didn't even own until the mid 1980s, had very little investment made in into it. Um, we have almost completely overhauled all of uh, Wreck Park. Um, you've seen lots of articles related to the enjoyment that people are having, taking advantage of some of these new activities that we have, whether it's this new field with professional lighting or pickle ball courts, brand new basketball court that was did not have proper drainage. So, it had cracks. Same thing with tennis courts. Uh, pickle ball. Think I have a slide that says, "Was their life before pickle ball?" We're making all of our facilities as much as we can. We did town hall first. Um, wreck park uh ADA accessible. Um, and we're able to get grants for a lot of this work. um rebuilt dugouts, new parking lots, once again, more recreational facilities. There's our most recent

project. Uh again, volunteers really are the engine of this community. We have security. We've needed security. haven't needed it recently, but um to keep people safe and to keep your investment safe as well, we've expanded. This is the west side as you've seen it before. Um we've also purchased land next to uh the highway garage so they can expand their operations there. New dugouts. Um the stuff that's not so exciting but important, infrastructure. Um, we've had some studies done to help us assess where we're vulnerable and we are fixing up bridges also with grant monies. We've received over $2 million for example just for the Aspen Wall grant aspen wall bridge rather. Um resiliency, we focus on that. Obviously, we want to make sure that we do whatever we can to prevent costly damage to the infrastructure. Clean energy. You've heard me talk about that. Um the importance of that in the community, lowering our emissions and the cost. There's that typo is still in there. We'll have to fix on the community solar. It's 7 50 kilow for cooking communications. Everybody wants to talk about transparency and it gets boring after a while. We want to be the most transparent government. So that's why we put in place all of those tools. [clears throat] As Eric is here from Panda, we fought hard to make sure that all of these

meetings were broadcast on public access. And so we're proud that you're still around how many years later? Many years later. Um, and also our website has been transformed so that people can get all of their government sent to them with just one click or one sign up. uh safety. So, um this is also an old stat. This year's budget in particular, the reason that we do have a little bit of an increase is because we are appropriating more money to both fire and police. Um they expressed uh the need for additional funding. We want to make sure we're keeping our local police and they're not going elsewhere because they're not being competitively paid. Um, our volunteer fire companies have equipment needs and obviously you know the Tiboli Firehouse is looking uh to uh do their expansion. Quality of life is important to economic development. That's why we work so hard on things like uh road safety, uh making sure trucks are using appropriate uh roads, uh speed limits, multimodal, um increase funding for our veterans and others. One of the things that we inherited, town law requires that we take over a cemetery when a association I think the term is abandoned. I would hardly use the term abandoned to people who dedicated their lives to maintaining these beautiful properties but can no longer do it. But um that's the term. Uh we took it over. Um and I think that uh I hope you'll all agree that it's it's really looking terrific.

Here are a lot of list of the projects. I'm not going to go over any of them. I think um I have shown you some pictures associated with most of them and um we welcome any additions that we may have forgotten. The budget itself um here it is. Uh I'll just take you to some of the key pages and then open it up for the floor for comment and then uh let me know if you'd like to uh direct your question to particular page. Uh you'll see we have a increase I think I mentioned to you in the fire um we've got uh preliminary budget. We've got increases here for uh Tivoli, a substantial increase because we want to take on um a greater portion of the debt um that would be associated with the expansion of the firehouse and we are increasing their operating line as well. They're doing a terrific job of um getting volunteers and so we want to make sure that they have the equipment and everything that they need. Um we've increased policing. Let me go to the police line to show you that as well. We're up to in this proposal. I'll get there. I know I will. 20,000 for example. We adopted a budget in 2025, the original budget of 100,000. Um we want to make sure we don't more of those folks take jobs elsewhere. Uh let's get to the page that most

people care about. There are the tax rates, tax amounts. This is again um this is sort of a summary for folks at home. What might your increase be if you have that median household um in Red Hook? you would see a $17 increase in your taxes. If you live in the village, you would see a $13 increase in your taxes. And we've done a tax cap calculation to show that we are within the cap and that's just been verified. Um, municipalities are only allowed to borrow a certain amount of money, which is 7% of their tax role for us. that uh borrowing limit is $103 million. Currently, we only have $3 million $3.4 million worth of debt. So, clearly um we're nowhere near that uh limit. With that being said, thanks for your patience. I just wanted to make sure folks had access to the information. And at this time, would anybody like to make public comments related to uh the preliminary budget? Lisa, if you'd be kind enough just to state your name, please. Lisa Polo. Um, as per the back the packet for tonight, the uh supervisor recommends that the board take advantage of utilizing the community preservation fund to pay remaining debt service. an October 22nd meeting. Um, you stated that the bond lines will hopefully be paid off if local law a is approved. And given the voting pattern of this board, it's kind of [snorts] laughable to say if. There were no details provided and no questions from board members. So, members of the public are left to figure out the related items in the preliminary

budget. And even if we do, we do not know and no one asked the total outstanding debt. Um, I'll comment on local law a at the November 19th public hearing, but suffice it to say, it appears to be blatantly obvious that you're laying the groundwork for rating the CPF to cover future indebtedness for parklands not purchased with the CPF, potentially to include the Red Boat Club property if you're successful in that inexplicable quest. The legal and planning fees continue to mount and there are no line items in the 26 preliminary budget related to the boat club acquisition. The public has been given no estimates and there's no evidence that the board has that information. Surely each of you knows cost will continue to acrue above and beyond what which has been budgeted. But you participate in this effort to conceal that information from the public. You've collectively le led the town into protracted and expensive litigation to the detriment of taxpayers for something that did not need to happen now or in this manner. Given these significant omissions, the preliminary budget is an artificial document intentionally underestimating legal and planning fees and omitting other certain costs later to be propped up through transfers. Those transfers total just shy of 97,000 over a four-month period. this year. And the public may not know that on August 27th, all five board members, including the two that voted no on eminent domain, voted to authorize council to file a motion to reargue the court decision, which struck local law one. And before that motion was even heard, they also engaged council in planning to draft local laws A, B, and C, the latter designed to correct the defects identified in the initial court ruling. Those are some very expensive billable hours with more transfers to be

expected. Advancing this budget without disclosing or even knowing cost estimates for appraisals, acquisition, legal fees, improvements, and more is irresponsible and counter to your duty as an elected official. Not one of you questioned those omissions. Can you imagine handling your personal finances in such an egregious manner? You all own this because you've all enabled this. So, I want to close by saying congratulations to Christina and Ken on being elected to the town board because it's refreshing to know that exposure and accountability are on the horizon. Thank you. Anybody else like to make some comments? Yes, I do.

Al, if you'd be kind enough just to state.

Thank you. Um I first I would like to thank Christine and Julia for your service on the town board. It's not easy to take this and I thank you for your vote on a boat club property taking. Uh I'd also I'd also like to congratulate Ken and Christina on their election. And really, um, I I I looked at that local law a and it's apparent to me, Robert, that this is an attempt to misuse the funds of the uh preservation act, okay? Which was intended to preserve open farmland, not parks. who's intended to preserve open farmland so that we could came could have in our community an agricultural base. Okay. It's not designed to take part and as [clears throat] Mr. Laro just pointed out it's obvious that you're doing this Robert laying the groundwork so you can take this money take if you're successful in taking the boat club by eminent domain you can then turn around and say oh I want to pay off this park with this money this is a total subuge and it's a stalking horse really and I object to it and I'm asking the board not to allow that especially you Jacob because you're going to be left on here okay I can't depend gun will moocher who mooches off his neighbors. He's right in Robert's backand pocket. But you should not allow this to happen. This is wrong. We did not pass that law to take parklands or pay for parklands or buy any open space in town. It's wrong. You saw what you did when you destroyed that agricultural property owned by cooking hands by putting a path that nobody uses right

down through the middle of it. I don't understand why you didn't put it on a parameter and allowed the land to be farmed. You destroyed open land that we paid for with properties with funds from that fund to preserve open land for agricultural purposes and you destroyed it. It doesn't make sense what you're doing here. And as far as this tonight's meeting, you're going to have 10 resolutions you're going to pass. When did you discuss all these resolutions? When did all this come to pass? Where is the public discussion that you're supposed to have as a town board on what you're doing? We are your constituents. We're entitled to know what you think. You're supposed to do that. That's listen, a planning board member, a zoning board member of appeals cannot say anything at all until a matter is completely heard and then they vote. But not the law for town board members. Town board members are to take up issues in front of the public so their constituents know your position, your position, his position, and her position. You're supposed to discuss this in public, not in your back room on executive session. It's wrong. It's totally wrong.

Thank you. You need to be more transparent. You need to discuss. Thank God. I don't think that's going to happen. But Ken Morelli and Christine Ducha. I don't think you're going to be able to do this.

Could I could I ask you to Thank you very much. Somebody else like to Thank you, Roxan. Would you be kind enough to state your name, please? Roxan Fiser from Barry Town. Some of the things I'll say will echo what my colleagues have said. I'm here as a concerned taxpayer to request a delay to the approval of the 2026 budget until full financial transparency is provided for the proposed eminent domain acquisition of the Red Hook Boat Club. a controversial multi-million dollar project that has sparked widespread community opposition yet is conspicuously absent from your budget presentation. This is not oversight. It is deliberate. Slide two of Supervisor McKeon's presentation proudly lists ongoing continuing projects. Community Solar, Camp Rising Sun, Wreck Park Bridge, affordable housing, comprehensive plan, Tivoli Firehouse. Where is the Red Hook Boat Club? A proposal for 2.37 acre waterfront takeover by force complete with zoning overhauls, park conversion, and endless litigation. This is no minor line item. It's a fiscal black hole that demands scrutiny before we me rubber stamp a budget that buries it in shadows. Taxpayers deserve and the law requires complete disclosure. Here's what you are withholding. All the legal expenses which are already ballooning up to 200,000. Acquisition costs. No public estimate provided for the potential outright purchase of this Hudson River parcel despite the proceedings so far. Is it 2 million, 3 million? We won't know till it's too late. How about upgrades to state park standards? Converting a private boat club into a

quote public town dock and park means massive capital outlays, structural repairs, ADA accessibility, emergency services, shoreline stabilization, storm water systems, erosion controls, all to meet New York State Park regulations. Without a conditions report or engineering plans, we're guessing at hundreds of thousands more uns unforeseen renovations. And what about ongoing maintenance? Annual upkeep for trained supervisors, slips, ramps, waste pumpouts, Hudson River compliance, millions over time with no revenue stream beyond taxes and the loss of the taxes that the boat club now pays. Where will the money come from? general fund, re reserves, loans. If bonds or borrowing are on the table for development, disclose it now or risk saddling the future generations with debt for a project opposed by hundreds and petitions and public outcry. Approving the budget without a dedicated line item, including itemized costs, funding sources, and contingency plans, is deceptive and undemocratic. It erodess trust in a board already stained by court anulled decisions. Delay adoption tonight. direct staff to produce a full fiscal impact report before the November 19th public meeting that would include the breakdown of potential expenditures, past, present, projected, independent cost estimates for acquisition, upgrades, 10-year maintenance, and confirmation of funding with no hidden loans or fund rates. Red Hook taxpayers are not an ATM for pet projects. Transparency isn't optional. is our right. I urge you to delay vote on the budget as presented and commit to

accountability. Anything less is a betrayal of the public trust. Thank you. Anyone else like to make some comments for the public?

I'll try to address a couple of those remarks as best as I can. Um for Mr. Treza, most of tonight's items have been discussed at previous meetings. Um, and they are on for potential action tonight, but they have been the subject of uh several prior [snorts] meetings. That's why we suggest to folks you sign up. You'll be able to check your own emails to see when something was first on the agenda. You could also uh review the videos. pandatv23.org, I believe is the website and you could review to see discussions on uh the matters. Um if you had watched uh previous meeting you would have heard me say very clearly that the law which is probably one of the shortest uh sections of code in the town of Red Hook and you can look up an E code or references the community preservation fund. It very specifically says contrary to what uh Mr. Treza says that it can be used for parklands. Uh when the voters voted for it, the word said it could be used for parklands. Um what it also says is that it cannot be used uh for uh unwilling sellers. It must be used for willing sellers. The same is true for any debt associated with a project. If it's not a willing seller, neither the purchase nor the debt payments can be uh used from the community preservation fund. Um as far as saddling future generations, uh very uh I appreciate the theatricality of those languages, but I gave you the statistics.

We are authorized to have $103 million worth of debt. We have $3 million worth of debt. Despite having tens of millions of dollars of projects completed in the last decade, we have less debt now than we did 10 years ago. Um, we are talking about erasing some of that debt for projects that were completed prior many years ago actually to farmland preservation projects and Wreck Park West. The only reason we need an update local law a to the comprehensive plan is not so we can pay down the debt to the project because the law very clearly says we can do that. It's because we can only pay down at the moment two of the three projects because Wreck Park West project was not included in that. So, we will wait until we add W Park West to consider whether or not to pay down. And somebody asked how much debt is that? That's $1.1 million worth of debt. That can be seen here in the AON. W PDR and principal bond rec park annex. So I am showing you the line interest park annex w park park pdr principal is about $140,000 a year. These bonds mature in 2035. they are eligible to be paid down now. And so the town board will consider whether or not it wants to do that, not because we want to have a source to pay

for the boat club, but because we are hearing that there are additional needs for from our fire companies and so on and so forth. So, we want to make available budget lines as those needs become uh apparent to us in future years. So, I hope I've answered to your satisfaction that this town board is not going to be using these funds um in the way that you have expressed um concerns. And I think I've addressed most of that. Um, I would encourage you to go look at other boat launch properties to see how much investment was made in those boat launch properties.

Robert, I have a question. Where what legal advice did you get to say you can't pay off a bond take from by taking property from an unwilling self? At that point, you own it. You can do [clears throat] whatever you want with it. I don't believe that. I'd like to see the legal opinion in writing telling you that you cannot do that. Albert, I'd like to see that because I don't believe it's true. I don't believe once you own that property, you can do whatever you want with it. So, Robert, stop it. Thank you, Al. I appreciate I appreciate your for this purpose. Don't Let's not get

Thank you. I think we've made [clears throat] it very clear that we're not going to be doing that. Okay. Um folks, anything um any lines? We we had a very lengthy meeting to get to this point on preliminary. Is there anything um that you'd like to see changed in any one of the funds? Jacob? No. No.

All right. So, uh one of the [clears throat] things that I wanted to I want to just scroll through um I think that we've seen some some more slides there. So, we've got some sales t tax projections. I don't think those slides made it in there. Um

the controller's office came out with a report for the first half of 2025 um showing that statewide. I think it's 3.9% increase in sales tax, but the largest increase was downstate in New York City. We're we're a little bit below that. Um I don't have projected an increase from 25 to 26. So, I think there's a good chance that our sales tax revenue can come in a little bit higher. Mortgage tax, um, it's anybody's guess. U, it looks like we're going to be right on target with the 2025 estimate. I'm not expecting, uh, that to deviate much. I don't think there's an upside on on mortgage tax for revenues. Absent that, I think that's pretty much, you know, what we can expect. Um, we are dipping into uh fire reserves. There was money left in the fire fund. So, we're dipping in $28,000, I think, is the figure, right? And

363. 36,000. 363. We started 28 36. Um, and so that's all we have. It's a balanced budget. We're under the tax cap. Yes.

By a nudge. We're still less than the taxes paid 10 years ago and I think it's a budget that we should be proud of. Any any questions? No. Ready to take some action? Okay. Um, at this time I would like to make a motion that we close the public hearing on the 2026 preliminary budget. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Christine. Um, all in favor? I I

I thank you very much. Uh, those are four eyes. Why don't we jump right into the agenda, regular agenda, we'll start with the supervisor's report. This is a snapshot. At the end of each month, we report to you on the first of the month. For the previous month, we started, this is for the period ending October 31st. We started with an opening balance of 9.5 million and change, receipts of 1.1, dispersements of 1.2, ending balance of just under 9,500,000. And these are the budget adjustments that we have from Conway. Any questions? We have increase in interest earnings for example, increased appropriations on professional fees. Example, you have your variance report. Did you have any questions on the variance report? [snorts]

Okay. Is there a motion to uh accept the supervisor's report? So moved. Thank you, Jacob. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Christine. All in favor? Julia? I. Myself. I DN. Would you be kind enough to read the town clerk's monthly report, please?

Town clerk's report. We had we served 230 at our window, 165 phone calls, and 119 notaries in October. And that's for the period October 1st to October 31st, 2025. Total local shares remitted, $6,813.79. Amount paid to New York State Agriculture and Markets for the Spay Neuter Program, $26. The amount paid to New York State Department of Health for marriage licenses, $67.50. The amount paid to the New York State Environmental Conservation for the hunting and fishing licenses, $1,178.96. Total state, county, and local revenues, $8,86.25. And there are Yeah. So, and I hereby certify that vouchers numbered 34002 and 34130 totaling 271,863.15 processed in the month of October 2025 are an accurate reporting of the abstracts approved for payment by the town board.

Thank you, Diana. Is there a motion to accept the clerk's report?

So, Julia moved it. Second by Christine. All in favor? Back up. Myself. Thank you. Okay. Uh announcements. Uh Red Hook has a mobile health day at the community center that is tomorrow 12 to 4, 59 Fix Street. Um I've been to this mobile health event in previous years. Um it was rather informative for me. Here are the numbers. I think everybody by now knows where the community center is. It's from 12 to 4. BFW Veterans Day is a week from yesterday, next Tuesday, 11:00 at the Red Hook Memorial Park donated by the Cooking Camp family. Uh the Rotary has its annual citizens of the year dinner. Um this year being honored are Lisa Murray and Maria Sabell for their work um with postponing uh over the years. That is Saturday, November 15th, 5 to 8:00 p.m. That's also at the community center. Tickets are $75 per person and there is a silent auction and a raffle.

Any other announcements they might have? They can buy tickets here in the town clerk's office and they can buy tickets here at the town clerk's office. Okay. We haven't done that before. Yeah, they drop it off every year. Tickets. Sure. I'm not so sure we can. I've been doing it for years. I never Oh, really? It's been since before I started. Okay.

Okay. All right. That's all I have for announcements. Anybody else? Okay. Let's jump into the agenda. It is a lengthy one. Although, as we've mentioned before, we've discussed many of these items in previous meetings. Um, the 2026 budget. Are we ready to move to adoption? And you verify that we're under the cap? Yes, sir. As of 4:00 this afternoon.

Okay. Works. Uh, I want to thank all the departments for their input. Um certainly want to thank all the volunteers. The reason we are able to provide roads, programs, all kinds of services for $648 or less. In some cases, people are paying less than they are saving from the programs is because of all the people in our community who volunteer and all of our employees who work to provide those services efficiently. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention our amazing bookkeeper who keeps everything running smoothly. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Okay, with that being said, who would like to make a motion if we're ready? Wait until Bill gets here for this. You want to wait till I mean, if he he said he was going to be here. Okay. Sort of soon. I think we can do that. I'd prefer legislator. Works for me.

Let's jump around. Um, we have spoken at previous meetings about um how we would finance now that we know approximately what the cost is of rehabbing the tank. Though we won't know exactly until we go out to bid, but we estimate and come up with a draft plan. We um would like to at the recommendation of the water board authorize the expenditure of $400,000 from the reserve fund for the town's water district facilities improvements, which is the storage tank rehab. And um this is the amount that they recommended. And these costs are only borne by people who are in the water district. Um just as a reminder um they are the only ones who benefit from this service. So uh the resolution has the town board authorizing and appropriating the sum of 400,000 from the water district's existing reserve fund or so much of such amount as shall be required thereof. Meaning if it comes out to be a little less than we need, then that's what we will appropriate um for a portion of the cost of the water storage tank rehabilitation project. This would be resolution number

79. Thank you. Well, if Bill were here, I think he'd want to move 789, wouldn't he? But we can't wait for him on everything. So moved. Thank you, Christie. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Is there further discussion? Okay, very good. Um, all in favor? Hi. Hi. Resolution 79. He calls by accident. Okay. Thanks. Roll call, please. Roll call is Julia. Hi,

Robert. I Jacob. Hi, Christine. Hi.

Thank you. Uh, we're now on number three. It's been a while since we've had an Eagle Scout. I think we've got two this year. Roger Lawren, who folks know if you've been around Rogers Run, I think we're on maybe 15 years of Rogers Run. Wonderful community event that Roger uh was here. I think said the pledge for my first installation. Wonderful young man, an inspiration to all of us. He's achieved his rank of Eagle Scout. Back in May 27th, he's going to be honored. Um, on the 15th, he achieved 29 merit badges in the process of becoming an Eagle. When I asked Judge Lurn what his favorite thing was, of course, the answer was his favorite badge was motorboating. It just had to be, right? Um, Roger has been a dedicated member of the community and his annual Rogers Run event has done so much to bring joy and inspire all of us. And I think he really is um an unusual young man and I'm very proud of him and all the work that he and other Eagle Scouts have um accomplished in the process of obtaining this ring. And so we have a proclamation which honors his uh achievements and uh with your permission I'd like to go ahead and sign that and present it to him at his court of honor ceremony coming up on the 15th.

Yeah, absolutely. A neighbor of yours

read the section that says what his project was into the record. Yeah, his project was um he built an access ramp at St. Christopher School. So those with mobility issues could access the stage to watch CIO games. And you know, if you know Roger, you know that um he has mobility challenges that he's overcome so beautifully. And um [cough] [clears throat] his contribution uh to to that place is uh going to last for quite some time. And so we really thank him for that. And with that being said, um, we'll go ahead and we'll present that to him. Congratulations, Roger, on achieving 29 merit badges.

Do we want a motion or is there a motion to proclaim? So moved. Thank you, Julie. Second. Thank you, Christine. All in favor of Jacob. I, myself, I. Okay, we go from wonderfully inspiring and growing to composting. Also inspiring. Also in you were inspired by rotting food. Yeah. Getting it out of the waist stream.

There you go. Um so we've met on this probably this is our fourth meeting discussing this. um Ozone um who was uh doing the service for us, doing the pickups, transferred uh over um the service being handled by an employee now called Laughing Box. Do I have that right? Laughing Box. Um we are now moving from six to eight bins because it's so successful. Um the cost is 643 a month. Um we've had that contract now on meeting agendas at least three other times and um the resolution has us approving the contract with Laughing Fox Farm LLC proposal of Apins at $643 per month. Um, if you are a participant in the compost pro program, you can also take some of the compost when it comes back after it is processed. So, um, excited about compost. Would you like to move resolution 80?

I'd be happy to move resolution. Thank you, Joe. I would love to second that. Thank you, Jacob. Further discussion? If not, all in favor Christine I.

Everyone else I myself I thank you very much. Resolution number [snorts] 80. Let's hope Bill gets here. Somebody's waiting until we pass this. And there's the rider to the agreement. We'll execute that. See the back from that. Okay. Uh, planning referrals. Uh, years ago, Duchess County um said to municipalities, if you agree, we will we won't be bothered with minor referrals um minor uh site plans. And I think we have a list here somewhere. For example, single family homes. Here we go. This is an agreement that we've had uh we signed in 2020. So uh here we are for 2026. They're annual agreements. We keep renewing each year until they total five years. And so we're at that point now. These are the referrals to be eliminated. a signed permit, for example, a site plan for a single family home. This is what we've been operating on on for the last uh several years, and there are some small changes to the list. There are the things that are not being eliminated. Anything major will still go by review. Our planning expert Okay, that's quick.

Pretty straightforward. Yeah, it's just continuation of what we've been doing. Don't clog the system. I don't think the planning boards or applicants need any more cogs in the wheel. Okay. Um 81 resolution dated November 5th, 2025. Moved by council person Kaine, seconded by I'll second our comprehensive plan Steuart Solomon. Um, Jacob, any any further discussion? Okay.

All in favor? Thank you very much. 81. Um in here we have a resolution for an extra dollar. Do you want to explain what the extra dollar is for?

So um 30 days. So property tax collection 30 days after the interest free fe free period ends. Um a reminder must be mailed out. reminder notice must be mailed out to delinquent taxpayers letting them know what they owe. Included in that is currently a dollar um fee, reminder fee, but um we'd like to in increase that to $2 for the mailing. It's it's really for the mailing cost of mailing these reminders. Um so I usually mail them in May. Um I don't do two two mailings, so I only do one. So the $2 would be the best right now since postage has gone up has increased almost a dollar to a dollar. So,

if you're wondering at home how we set fees, we do our best to try to estimate the costs that are associated with a particular fee, whether it's a building permit where our guys have to go out and do inspections or planning boards or zoning boards, the amount of work associated with that and the costs associated with the staff or any other expenses. And so even something as minor as a mailing cost from a dollar to two, um we're going to update in order to recoup that.

And this is across the state. Tax tax collectors have across the state. This is resolution number 82. Bill, you arrived at the really exciting part of the meeting where we're talking about raising from $1 to two the uh property tax additional notice fee when Diana reminds them. Okay. Who would like to move? So moved for a dollar or less. Second.

Okay. Um any further discussion? All in favor of Julia? William, myself, thank you very much. We are now that you're we um held our public hearing related to the budget. Um we received comments. Most of the comments really uh centered around uh um a [clears throat] theory that the board is trying to uh use CPF funds to uh in some way, shape or form uh towards the acquisition of uh the boat. What's that?

That would be unlawful.

That would be unlawful. Um, but we again would direct you to that section of the code where it's very clear that it must only be used for willing sellers. Mr. Treza is not with us, but he was here um to share his thoughts with us. Um, ironically, it was one of his farms, uh, several farms on West Curly Corners that we were able to preserve with community [snorts] preservation funds because he was a willing seller. So we appreciate um that he participated in the program and those funds are very important. Um if you drive from Route 9 to Tiboli for example, most of those lands on West Curley [snorts] um have been preserved with the leveraging of CPF funds county. That was the one project where we actually got USDA farm and ranch money. So, we had the Secretary of Agriculture out here to tour to help understand what small agriculture in the Northeast looks like and um a very successful multi-farm project. Okay, that was the input we received pretty much. Um do you have anything before we entertain a vote? We decided to wait for you. Thank you. Okay. For the vote, is there anything any budget line or anything you'd like to revisit or

No, the things that have been talked about from the draft that came while we're in there. So, okay. From the continued All right. Uh, very good. Who would like to make a motion to uh approve or move to adopted 2026? And I should tell you that has already confirmed that it's within the tax cap. So, we don't need a resolution to effect. Who wants to move it? So, move. Jacob, who would like to second that? I will second. William, thank you. Any further discussion? All in favor? Julian.

Christine. I. Myself. I Thank you very much. All right. And So long. [laughter] Thank you. Thank you. Get home safely before the wind. Are are you is the wind going to be in your favor or are you going to be driving against it? I'll let you know. or twice.

Uh we are purchasing. Occasionally we uh utilize some of the staff at Duchess County to help us procure either a service or a good. Um folks should know that. anything of substantial uh cost. Um we uh comply with our procurement, we're able to work with other um levels of government as long as they also comply with our procurement policy. We can piggyback off of contracts that may exist that may be preferable where we can get sort of bulk rates. In this case, we mostly utilize the county um on a couple of occasions just help to help us with procuring the service.

This is 83. Yes. Thank you. dated November 5th, 2025, authorizing the execution of an extension of an existing agreement with Duchess County regarding assistance from county with central purchasing services. And I'll move this one. It's not very second. Thank you, Christine. Any further discussion? Not all in favor? Julia. I

William. I thank you. There's the agreement folks. Um, here are some of the activities they can help us with. There are websites that we post on to help spread the word when we're looking for a service or a good. Okay. resolution authorizing central Hudson easement for Cookingham solar community distributed generation. So it's an easement um I may have to go to another location to pull up um a visual on this but suffice it to say

what's that I was going to ask if we can see yes

but let me just explain for the folks at home to understand um what's taking place. We own these poles. Most of the poles that you see out and about in the community are owned by Central Hudson. We own these poles and the service is being upgraded, if you will, although it does have three-phase existing three-phase wire on it. This [snorts] is along Willowbrook Lane. And so we are granting or entertaining granting um a maintenance uh easement area along those poles. And so with that being said,

is that outside of conservation easement area? It is outside of conservation easement area. Exactly. Because the PS are along Willow. [snorts] Um and we did ask friend to confirm that area would be within the parcel that is set aside for the solar project which includes the access. Did you Did you all hear that? No. Say it again. Chris, just a little louder. I'll put the microphone for you so everybody can hear.

Yes. So, so we did have Randy confirm to us that the um Eastman area is all within the parcel that was identified separately subdivided parcel for the solar project which does include that access area. No problem. Thank you. Okay. Um let's see. How can I get this [snorts]

Patrick, if you wouldn't mind just shooting over here for a moment. Thank you. That came from you, Chris. Let's see. I don't know how that coming in very clear.

Are you showing the little map? Not yet, but I will. There we go. Okay. that window. [snorts]

Yeah, I don't know. That's all she wrote.

Okay, I'll run your cursor over it to show here are the poles. Can you orient us a little where we are? I'm so sorry. Here's the large barn. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And that's Here's the pathway. Yeah. There's the old house.

Here's the solar Here's the property line for this parcel. Here's the solar is going to be within that recessed area that was mined many years ago, nearly a hundred years ago. So have a lower profile, kind of like the work we did at Ref Park West. Keep it a low profile so it doesn't have visual effect. There'll be an access road to come in from the pathway and there'll be a fence constructed. It'll be an agricultural style field fence if you're familiar what that looks like.

There are the utility poles here. The extent of the ement includes the poles or the whole solar the ement is for the poles. and a 30 foot area, you know, thank you.

Hope that's helpful. All right. Um 84 Any questions on the pretty straightforward? Hope to have it fully constructed before the end of the year up and running. So folks, that gives me an opportunity to remind you you'll be receiving materials from a company called Power Market, which will u just let you know about the program. If you'd like to join, come from the town of Red Hook. There'll be a letter coming out of my office uh explaining to you that what's proposed is that you uh if you would like to join. It's community solar. It's a state uh run initiative. Um we have to offer at least a 5% discount to what the current rates are. Likely uh the discount will be closer to 10%. And so as I explained to you earlier during the budget process, you know, if you look at your electric bill, saving 10% is not going to be enormous, but it's something and you'll be participating in uh clean energy. So if you are interested um before you get uh this notice and you're watching at home, please shoot us an email. We'll add you to the list of at least interested people and then you'll sign up. um if you are or are not uh wanting to move forward with it, but um it will be available to the first 90 or so residential customers who are interested in joining um and then at some point it will max out uh for capacity.

This is resolution what did I say? 84 84 authorizing central Hudson easement.

Who would like to move it? So moved. Second. I'll second. Further further discussion. Never had so much excitement with the maintenance. Uh, further discussion. If not, all in favor? William. I. Christine. I

myself. I uh water district well rehab project. So, I think you heard uh Hank uh speak at a previous meeting. Um our water board chair who just turned it's [clears throat] impolite to speak of age. 95 years old. It's really so impressive. Um Bill, one of the wells, is it number two that needs the rehab? It's number one. Okay, that needs the rehab. not pumping uh the way it used to. And so this is a task for have our engineers help with that. Um resolution number 85. There's an estimate. Let's get more quotes. Their role is estimated to be no greater than 11,900. coordinate with county health the documents prep review and construction phases small project

bill I'd like to move resolution number 85 okay you've been following this along yes we've been meeting on this several times is there a second for 85 second thank you Christine Further discussion if not all in favor Jacob I Julia myself I

we're on now 86 again our engineering firm a larger task order this is all related to uh rebidding for the community solar construction um monitoring coordinating with grants remind the public that you saw a lot of our clean energy projects in that slideshow. Those projects produced for ward grants for the town. $275,000 of which are going towards the construction of this uh both the construction and the upgrade the engineering study that Central Hudson must do or their third party to ascertain what kind of upgrades are necessary for the grid at this at this location for this project. And so uh we received awards of 275 which will go towards this project. This task order is for an amount not to exceed $39,000. It is for the scope of services listed above rebidding. Uh we had to go out to bid a second time on this project. Construction administration and grand technical administration. Technical administration and construction observation. This will reconstru.

Yes, that is [clears throat] for the first two line. It's under compensation. Yes. Oh, I see. But then that's exactly it does. No worries. Always good to have more eyes on it because the construction observation is actual hours. Actual hours built and estimated. So not more than Yeah. Thank you. Sure. Sure.

Okay. Um, who would like to move 86? So moved. I'll second. Thank you very much. Further discussion. If not, let's hope we have good weather and get all done and up and running before the end of the year. Again, remind you the folks at home, shoot us an email if you just want to be on the list of mailers for information about the project. Okay. Um, all in favor, Julia, hi. William, hi. Myself, hi. Christine, hi, Jacob. Hi.

Very good. Wow. Impressive. All 10 items. Shall I say that's because we discussed these several times previously. Okay, with that being said, I want to thank you all. Um, we will be back here November 19th. Um, stay healthy. Um, be careful if you're here in the audience. Maybe fill up some pictures of water. the power could go out if you received one of those texts. Speaking of those text notifications, uh Central Hudson also has a similar system. Um winds are supposed to pick up in a couple of hours and they're expecting some outages. Uh if we don't see you on the 19th, want to wish you a happy holiday, certainly uh Veterans Day. And at this time, I would like to entertain a motion that we go into attorney client. Is there a second to that?

Second enthusiastically. Um, all in favor? Thank you. Good night everyone. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming.