Town Council - Regular Meeting

While George is coming up, we also have a recognition certificate from Senator Schumer.

It's always very obvious as to which level of government is doing the best. I always make this notation in moments like this. In a second, the Board of Legislators has a beautiful framed proclamation from the county, my alma mater. The feds, on the other hand. And even at that, I had to sneak it past 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

No comment.

You got it past Doge. I'm not going to take the time to read all the words, because we all have wonderful words that describe your wonderful life and your deeds. Just suffice to say, join Monroe, Rick, and Yadis and I for breakfast one morning, and we'll tell you in person. Okay. Great job, though. Thanks. Thank you very much.

come up and say a few words? Assemblyman Steve Oaks.

Well this is a day of love because everyone here loves you but the thing that I would like to say is what we all know, Joan Feinstein is an extraordinary public servant and the elements of that are clear. You used one of the words before It's fun. It is fun. And this is for everyone in the local government. If you're not having fun, get out of it. But you should have fun if you're doing it right. And so that was always your philosophy. But I had the privilege of working with Joan in many capacities. When you were mayor, we worked together on the Ryotown Park Commission. When you were mayor, we worked when I worked for Susie Oppenheimer. And But the thing that is always about you, Joan, is it is always about the merits of the issue. It always, what's the right thing to do, whether it's for the school district, whether it's for the village, the town, whatever is going on, your clarity in making that the value, not politics, not nonsense, not personalities, That is the extraordinary model for everybody else to follow, and just an honor and privilege that we've been able to work together in so many different ways. I also bring love from Shelly Mayer, who was to be here, but her playing connection from Washington The plane got canceled. I spoke to her on the phone a little while ago. She sends her love. But congratulations. We have proclamations from both the Senate and the Assembly, and you are a great public servant. Thank you. And as Gary said, you're going to be on the phone with all of us. We want those phone calls and the good guidance. Thank you, sir. So you got Gary to kneel down a little in your photograph. And it was like everyone was saying, you got Gary to yield a little.

I know how to do that. Right? Thank you. Thank you so much.

Nancy Barr, our county legislator.

Wow. With the big one. The big one.

We're just using up the last ones and then.

We've already been told.

Joan, you know, we've heard exceptional, extraordinary, words to describe you I had in mind, remarkable. I mean, there's not enough superlatives. And I just want to say that when I first arrived to Rybrick, it was 1996, so I was like the next generation.

Next generation. You're young.

And while I can't say for sure, I'm pretty sure we didn't have a lot of female representation at all levels of government, including on the Board of Education. And today, we do. And I think that, you know, and we have, you know, two women on this board. We have, do we have, yeah, we have two on, only one now? Okay, well, we'll get back to that on the Rybrook. And, of course, on the Board of Education, we now have, I think, three women. So, I mean, this is really, I feel, in, large part due to your example I think when I first ran for the school board everybody said well you know you should meet with former members of the school board and you know when I met with you I really really felt a connection and I really felt like okay you know I can do this and and I and I felt like there is something about being a woman that's really important in government and it's an important aspect of representation. And we had many lunch meetings over the years and it was really, for me, very, very helpful, enlightening, and fun. So, and to your point, there's so many people that we meet. when we're doing this type of work and it really it's it's really something that is very gratifying so i appreciate your mentorship and your friendship and um and i'm really glad you're not moving very far away really glad to hear that and um i do have a proclamation here from the board of legislators and um and we do have um at the bottom after all the superlatives we do have that July 15th will be Joan Feinstein Day in Westchester. And God willing, the Jumbotron will be working. We'll have to go out there and see it. We'll have to make sure. But you absolutely have earned every second of it, and we're so, so pleased to be able to give this to you.

When you've lived in a house for 44 years, you accumulate a lot of stuff, especially if you don't purge. Gary, you have to purge. And we've had conversations. One of the things that I found was when I ran for the school board in 1993, I'm going to tell you what one of the bullet points was. We need female representation on the board.

True. I believe you. Right. Right, Monroe? But you did. You set a great example. Thank you, as you have to. And proved that women could do it.

And make a difference.

That's right.

You know, I knew that all the time.

Yes, okay.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Hiding. Hiding.

All right. Well, since Gary didn't introduce me, I'll introduce myself. So unlike some of the other people who have spoken already, I never had the chance to serve on a board with Joan. So we never served on a board together. But when I moved back into it, I first moved to the Village of Rybrook in 1976. I was one. And I think Joan knew me not too long after that. And then when I moved back, I joined the sustainability committee in the Village of Rybrook. And so I did have the pleasure of presenting to the village board. And I think I was told no quite a few times by the village board. We wanted to do a leaf blower. a gas powered leaf blower van, we looked at plastic bags, and every time I came with something from the sustainability committee, it was no, so I think I also was inspired to then move on to Village Board. And change things. And Joan and Paul at the time and others who were serving on the village board convinced me to run for village board, to run as a trustee. And it's something I'm very happy that I did. I'm really proud to be able to serve my community the way that Joan has as mayor and the way Paul has. And we have other trustees as well, Don and Susan, and I think that's it. I didn't see anyone else. But this was something that really, like you've said, I really felt I take a lot of pleasure out of, just from the sense of being able to give back to the community. And I remember presenting in front of you as the mayor and seeing what it was like to really be a mayor, to be someone up there sitting in front of people presenting, and having to make those decisions. And I remember one meeting I was at when it was a split board. And it was a split board, and you were the last vote. You cast the last vote. And you said, well, that's why I'm the last vote as the mayor, because you're casting the last vote to decide which way the village goes. And so on behalf of the village of Ryebrook, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for the village. It's listed on here, like Gary said, I'm not gonna go through it all, because it would take me 10 minutes to go through the number of boards that Joan has served on in service of her community. And so, just thank you for everything that you've, that you've contributed and everything that you've done, you've really changed the village and how people look at the village and what happens. I mean, we're still going off of the master plan that was the comprehensive plan, sorry. Time to dust it off. Time to dust it off, but we're still using that in the village, and that was your leadership that brought that forward. So I just want to say thank you for everything you've done, and on behalf of the Board of Trustees, on behalf of all the residents of Rybrook, just thank you. Thank you. Thanks. I don't get introduced, I don't get a picture.

You may proceed.

Thank you. Anthony's not only our photographer, he's our DJ. Thank you.

And sound engineer.

And sound engineer. Wow, what swag. At this point, would anybody else like to say a few words? You're welcome to come up. You don't have to be an elected official. Mr. Bradbury, you don't have to be elected.

I'm gonna say one thing before Chris comes up. I don't want to single everyone out. I've served with so many of you on different boards. And I want to thank you for being here this evening. And for all the service that you've provided. There's so many of you here. I just I'm overwhelmed. You know, it's been a long time since I was mayor. And I've been quietly doing my thing. And this is overwhelming, Gary. So I Thank you for orchestrating this. It's really very heartening, especially through all these years together. Chris. I'm going to say bye.

Chris. So Joan and I met in 2004. 2004. When Joan joined the board. Really not having known each other really well at that point.

Not at all. And you were nervous.

Right.

Should we tell the story?

Well, first, when I was hired first, I was hired by a board. But then the next mayor that came in was on the board that hired me. So it was a very easy transition. That was when we went to Larry, Larry Rand. So it was a very easy transition. And Rick. They both hired. And Rick Bussin, who's there. And Rick as well, yeah. And then so Joan came in, but it was just so smooth. I mean, we came in and we were instantly colleagues, friends. She was my boss, but also a mentor. She was somebody that was just the best listener. I mean, just could listen to anybody. And that was felt by all the employees in the village. You know, everyone talks about public service and how important that is to give back in your community. And Joan's family instilled that with her, you know, your parents, right? Instilled that in her growing up, how important public service is. But she took it to another level. And the level I think that she took it to was great leaders really care. And that's Joan. Joan cared about the decisions she made. She knew that she had to make tough decisions, decisions that would sometimes help people, some decisions that wouldn't be popular, but she was willing to make those decisions, but always really thought about the impacts of those decisions. You know, it was... That's going to impact our residents. That could impact our employees. That could impact the business owners in the community in a positive way or perhaps something that could be very difficult for people. But she did what she felt was best for the community, but she always did it in such a caring way. She really cared about those impacts. It's about those people connections, and that's what Joan always had in mind whenever she made those decisions. We've been friends ever since we started. 22 years. 22 years.

We've grown up together.

We have. And I know you're not going far, but, you know.

I'm still. I know.

I wish you were still in Rybrook, but we're happy to see you go to your next stage.

As I said about 15 years ago, we need varied housing stuff. Yeah.

We're working on it, right? So Jason, keep working on it. Jason, Don, Susan, we're working on it. Thank you for your public service, but thank you for being a mentor. Thank you for being a friend, not just to me, but all the employees and to so many people in the village. Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

before before I go down aware okay well I do I have to single out two people that I have not this could not be possible all the years of community service and all the hours that I spent away from six Robins Roost where we live at least wolf in the next two and a half weeks If it wasn't for the support of my husband, Paul, we've been married almost 54 years. And our son, Ross, who was, I was pregnant with him when we moved here 44 years ago. I've given away your age. They are my rocks. I couldn't have done it without them. They have been there in supporting me in all of my endeavors when I was young. younger and running for the school board, we didn't have the internet. We knocked on doors. Wolf was a toddler. He would go with me. Paul would do that. We did so many things, had so many meetings at our house. And I think if I didn't have the support of them, I could not have done everything that I have. So I love you both so much. I call them my rocks for so many, and they know the reason why. I love you so much.

My comments are an anti-climax after that.

Debbie Reiser, our town administrator.

And I have to say that, Joan Feinstein, we met in this very building.

In this very building.

Downstairs, right by the mantelpiece.

Yeah, exactly. I remember that.

You had just finished your term as mayor, or you were just about to. And it's possible that Gary Zuckerman... sent me after you, it's possible, and I was able to recruit you to the board of the League of Women Voters. And you joined a committee of servants who created a really wonderful ongoing organization to serve our community. who cared about politics, cared about public engagement, could not care less whose party belonged to what. We worked together. We had a fabulous time. And in working with you, excellence was always the standard. and leadership was always the standard. And you have been a role model for me and an inspiration. Thank you. And witness all the people that are here.

And really to be on the League of Women Voters board was just terrific. um debbie really um resurrected the league as we know it today and it was so much fun to work with you and to all of my fellow board members why don't you stand board the league women voters

We've gone on to working with one another for the town committees.

Exactly.

I want to express my gratitude.

Thank you. Gratitude and respect and admiration back. Thank you.

Thanks, Debbie.

Oh, picture.

Oh, picture.

Okay, you're up. Thank you, David.

You know, coming into being mayor right after Joan was very, very difficult. There were huge shoes to fill after we had that peaceful transfer of power.

She handed me the nuclear codes and said goodbye.

You know, in all seriousness, Joan and I started out as opponents many years ago. And then we served together under Larry Rand. And then I served as deputy mayor when Joan was mayor. And Joan always imparted on me you need to be a visionary in that role. And you need to, you can't just think about the now, you need to think about 20 years from now. And that really stuck with me. And throughout COVID while I was mayor, Joan was such a huge resource to me, I can't even tell you. I would call Joan and go, I'm thinking about doing this, I'm thinking about doing that, to bounce things off of her. And it's unbelievable to be able to have a former elected official, a former mayor to really be able to do that. with and you know I know that I said it when we had your final board meeting when you when you retired from being there but you know the village really owes you a debt of gratitude because you as the first woman mayor the first female and the only female mayor um you know you really like i said you left big shoes to fill you set a very high bar and the village is better off uh having had you in it so i just wanted to say thank you for everything you did

Is there anyone else who would like to speak? I see a finger pointing somewhere. No?

Could we have all of the presenters who are still here up on the dais to take a photo with Joe?

I saw one here.

Let's balance it out. Let's balance it out.

George had to leave, so George. Yeah, you stay on that side.

Okay. I'm stuck in the middle here.

That's good. That's okay. There we go. I know. Like the three tenors, right?

Smile. Yeah, that was fun. Yeah, definitely. Give your chair back. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay.

Everybody, we're going to have the business portion. Everybody's welcome to stay to see how efficiently the town of Rye runs its meetings. Our first business item is the adoption of the minutes of June 11th. 2026. Motion? All in favor? Aye. Public comments on non-agenda items. There is a young lady here who wishes to present briefly. Please, at the microphone.

Yeah.

Why don't you just wait until the noise subsides? Introduce yourself, your name, affiliation.

My name is Magdalene Ortiz. Do you hear me? Can you hear me? Yes? Yes. Okay, good. Just making sure. And I just want to say thank you so much for allowing me to speak to you all. I come to you with something that's really important for me, and I'm also very passionate about it. It may seem very minute, but it's something that's really going to be very good, not just for you, but also for our kids. And it's something that I have not seen out there. I've actually had my second installation tomorrow, and in August there'll be a third one. So what I come to you with is a program that really has been looked at with an eye that looks at every single ingredient in these products. So there's no harsh chemicals that's going to go ahead and tackle and mess up your system. I went to Rybrook Beach, and I was like, oh, why don't we have this program over here? But to be honest with you, sitting with you here, I think it could be much more than that. And it's not out there. So what I'm proposing to you is something that tells me right on my phone. And if you truly care about your health, not only for you, but also for your kids, because there are harsh ingredients in there that is messing up our system, that's giving us anxiety, giving us diabetes, all these sorts of things, giving us inflammation. If you truly care, this could be something for the town of Rye. What this is, is a vending machine service that offers people clean and healthy snacks and beverages. I haven't seen one out there. My daughter went to college and I saw her and I was like, oh, I was getting her rid of anxiety, getting her rid of depression, and here she goes to college and she's getting this. I'm like, oh, she's going to get it all back again. So if there's someone that you know that is suffering from that, they're probably consuming these ingredients, these snacks, these beverages. So I pass the baton on to you, if you have a little care in you, that you want to kind of make a difference. Because unless you're going to Whole Foods, where is the clean and healthy snacks around here?

Thank you. Thank you. I know that Vic referred you to us. Yes. So I think he's the one to talk to about it and to look into what the program would be and if it would be a fit for either Rye Town Park. It's not Rye Brook Park. It's Rye Town Park. Right. And Crawford Park.

so yes yes sorry thank you very much thank you very much and it could be something opportunity for something else not just that if you if there's something that's sparks in you that could be an opportunity for somewhere else maybe a school because that's what it originally was please let me know thank you

Well, we could look into it. I don't know if it.

It doesn't work if nobody uses it. That's the problem. Yes. All right. Let's move on. Our first resolution is setting a date for a public hearing for local on number two of 2026 entitled alternative veterans exemptions under the real property law for seriously disabled veterans. This is a law that was recently passed by the state legislature to make additional exemptions for seriously disabled veterans in order for us to consider it we have to first have a public hearing and then pass a local law and is to set the public hearing for August 20th 2026 I have a motion and a second second all in favor aye aye our third resolution is to award elq a contract to conduct bridge repairs to the otter creek bridge this one you all received a memo regarding this the otter creek bridge is the subject of a nearly $5 million grant from the state of New York under the Bridge of New York program. We're about to go out to bid, so I had great personal hesitation to go forward with this because a couple of months ago, the State Department of Transportation issued a red flag for the bridge, meaning that it could possibly be closed. The the amount we had elq our engineer look into it and design a a repair and we put it out to bid we only needed three bids didn't have to go to public bidding because it was under 35 000 and the winning bid is 26 357 dollars from elq And as I say, there's a memo attached where our engineers recommended that we do this repair for several reasons, including the fact that it's going to take a year or two to get the bridge totally renovated. I shouldn't say renovate replaced, replaced. So any questions about this?

What's the timing if we do this fix and completing the fix? Like if we do these repairs, how long is that process going to take?

Probably about a month.

That's it? Yes. And then it will be operational and functional and safe until we can start doing- It'll be safe unless something else happens.

That bridge has been yellow flagged for about maybe five, six years, maybe a little bit longer. It was just a matter of time before they red flagged it. Once they red flagged the bridge, if we don't do anything, they'll come and shut it down. so as much as i don't want to spend the money being that we're going to replace the bridge we're kind of stuck we have i in my personal opinion we don't have a choice because it's if they shut that bridge down we're really going to hear it from the people in that area randy's going to hear it yes randy's going to hear it um the uh

If there are no other questions, I have a motion and a second.

No.

No, no. That's fine. Says the former highway superintendent. Do we have a motion and a second? Yes. Call the roll, please, Helen.

Councilperson Friedman. Yes. Councilperson Jaffee. Yes. Councilperson Sellier. Yes. Councilperson Nardi. Yes. And Supervisor Zuckerman.

Yes. Resolution. to authorize taxpayers paying i don't know if the right word is authorized resolution to authorize taxpayers to who pay in cash to pay exact to pay exact change in other words the receiver's office can because of the uh the dearth of pennies, the Receiver's Office can no longer accept other than exact payment. Obviously, if it's a check or a credit card, that's not a problem. But we have several people, many people who pay in cash, and the Receiver's Office is no longer able to make change. So this resolution would basically direct people who pay in cash to pay with exact change. The resolve is anyone paying their real property taxes in cash must pay the exact amount of the tax bill to the 100th of a dollar and the town receiver shall not accept a different amount. Any questions?

No. No.

dominic came up during ecofest to talk to at large about paying his taxes always in cash and always specifically to her so i didn't realize that many people still did so yes in fact we we've often have tax payments in cash in excess of ten thousand dollars yes so um

And if there are other questions, motion and a second.

So moved.

Second. Please call the roll.

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

Our last resolution is to authorize the purchase of a new electric lawnmower. Much to Tommy's chagrin. Mm-hmm. Basically, as everybody knows, the town has gone green in all of its lawn equipment and hopefully everything else. One of our lawnmowers has come to the end of its life and it would cost over $12,000 to repair it and it would still be a first generation lawnmower, cannot be charged on our supercharger. So the recommendation is to buy a new lawnmower with a five-year warranty that can use a supercharger. And that cost is $18,999. I think it's on sale, right, Vic?

Is that right?

Right, okay. Thank you. Any questions other than from Tommy, who doesn't want anything electric?

Right. Is the supercharger the one we recharged the truck on? Is that what you're talking about? Yes.

Make the motion, Tommy.

No.

No.

I have a question which is that given that this is able to be used on its charge for a much longer period of time, if and when our second first generation machine breaks and goes down, Is this newer machine going to be sufficient to handle the entire load, or are we going to have to buy yet another machine after that?

We may have to buy another. That's a question for Mr. Federico.

I would imagine if we have two, we're going to need two. Because we're using them across parts.

But this one doesn't. But this one doesn't. take as long to charge, and it's operational for several hours more. Three hours more. Well, three hours more is a lot.

It depends. It depends, I would say.

It's a full work day.

Yeah.

Right, so I guess that's just my question, is given that this newer... should be able to last longer and provide more operational efficiency when the second machine, if and when, since it's in the same life cycle as the first one that now is no longer working, when that one goes, is one machine going to be sufficient or are we going to then need to buy yet another one?

I don't know if one machine will ever be sufficient with the amount of grass there is to cut.

We need a second machine. And I've already started discussion with Debbie and Vic that what we really need to do is plan on the obsolescence of all of our equipment and set money aside so that when that happens, we can readily purchase whatever's necessary, whether it's a lawnmower or in the future a new truck or whatever it is.

And that was my next question relating to this expenditure and all of them is that for me as a board member, I feel like we get these requests individually, right? Each agenda, we have more items on the agenda and it'd be really helpful for me to understand on a regular basis for every expenditure that we're asked to vote on, whether or not it was included in the budget If it was, whether it's included at the amount that we're asked to vote on or whether it's at a different amount. And if it's not, if we can keep track on that really on an ongoing basis, meeting to meeting, so that we know how much we're approving that's above and beyond the budget. And I recognize that hopefully we have contingencies in the budget to handle these types of unexpected expenses that come in. But it would just be helpful to kind of keep track of you know over time rather than having to go back and dig through all of the meeting minutes to see what we've been approving just to have an idea above and beyond budget these are all the things and then you know if we find that we're approving a lot of the expenses above and beyond the budget what's going to give in the budget you know what are we replacing or what are we saying you know what we'll hold off on this because we need to spend the money here we try to have the foresight I think this is relatively unexpected understood I understand I'm just saying for me that would be really helpful to put these decisions to put these in context because I feel that I'm asked to vote on things and I'd like to have the context of This was a budgeted item. It wasn't a budgeted item, but we had this much in contingency in the event that something would break down. Or, you know what, it's not budgeted. We have to pay for this, but we're going to hold off on spending money on something else this year that we put in the budget, but we don't really need. It's not as critical, and that can wait until the upcoming year. So I just would find that very helpful before I'm asked to vote on something.

This is the more reason why we need that Butler building, because we're keeping these cars, these vehicles in cold storage areas, which damages the batteries. We need a warm place to keep them. If we're going to go all electric, that everybody's dying to do, we need a warm shelter for these vehicles and equipment. Because the longer that they're in cold storage, the shorter the lifespan of the batteries. And like Joan, it's 20 years. We take it down the line because everybody wants all electric. And I have a question is, what happens with the old batteries? What do they do with those old lithium batteries? Where do they go?

From these machines, they're either reconditioned or what do you call it? Used again, recycled.

And if we were to get a reconditioned battery, it's what, $12,000? Yeah.

You're only guaranteed.

And there's no, no, there's no warranty. There's no warranty.

We're not going to get that.

No, the fact, look, the fact is that we're not getting reconditioned batteries. Yeah, I know that. Our batteries will be reconditioned by others and sold to others, not to us.

But the newer machines, batteries, the second generation to now, it's the same battery. Okay.

Now, you're saying you're getting an eight hour day out of it. And I'm not looking for an argument because I'm going to vote yes on this. But I want it just for myself. It's an eight hour day. Now, your machines, they have multiple speeds, right? Yes. So I imagine the faster somebody travels with it, the less lifespan you're going to have in the battery. Instead of eight hours, you might get six or maybe seven or five. We cut at low speed. You cut at low speed? Yes. And what about now the blades all go at one speed, I take it? Yes. Or one RPM? Yep. Okay.

It's just for me because I'm fascinated by your questions. Let's go to one more thing with the supercharger. We come in in the morning and one of the people forgot to charge the machine. So 7 a.m., we don't have that machine, but by 11 a.m., we have that machine.

Now, these batteries with these machines, are they specifically just to that one machine, or are they multipurpose?

No, specifically for that.

It's specific. It's just like the truck. It's built in, and that's it. Yeah.

Yeah. And they're Tesla batteries.

Okay. Still battery. Okay, I'm done.

were these funds budgeted for? And Vic and I discussed it. He provided a recommendation to me. There were several items on his capital projects list that were discussed at the budget workshop and provided for. And either one of them could swap out and be delayed until the next budget year. So there are the one was replacing the flat roof out here, which we understand is, you know, it will be time soon, but it doesn't have to be done now. And also there are various exterior repairs that we've discussed with the architect that we've requested proposals. We haven't quite gotten them yet.

So that can be something that could move into next year. Correct. Thank you. I appreciate you looking through everything.

But these repairs, especially if they're external, they need to get done because once you start getting external, it starts going internal, you're going to start rotting out structure. So you need to take care of whatever is external. It's got to be taken care of right away.

I would also imagine that $18,000 or $19,000, if we're talking about a roof for external repairs, is probably significantly more than what we're paying for the lawnmower.

Some of them are small.

Some of them are large.

Until we get those proposals, we don't know.

At some point, by the way. So that's going to be a lot.

But that's something that should be budgeted for in a budget. Well, that would have to be capital. Hopefully, longer term, looking at long term, it's not going to get to the point where we have leaking coming in through the roof because we didn't take care of that or plan for that in advance, I would hope. That's not how we operate.

How old is our roof?

We didn't do the roof when we did this because it was fairly new.

We didn't need a roof. We didn't need it at the time. We didn't need the roof at the time. That's the reason why it wasn't done.

Discussion is finished? Yes. Do we have a motion and a second? No, not yet. Motion and a second, please.

I'll move.

Councilperson Friedman? Yes. Councilperson Jackson? Yes. Councilperson Sellier? Yes. Councilperson Nardi? Reluctantly, yes. And Supervisors of the branch?

Yes. Our reports are submitted. This meeting, the assessor, Crawford Park, The financials, the receiver's report, and the town clerk's report are all submitted and part of the record. And with that, may I have a motion to adjourn?

I'll second that.

All in favor? Aye. Meeting is adjourned. Our next meeting is August 20th. August 20th. August 20th. Sorry, not August 20th. Yes. Today is the 8th.