Town Board - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the September 1st, 2026 town board meeting. If we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Miranda, why don't you lead us today?

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.

And if we could all remain standing for a moment of silence as we pray for those who protect our freedoms, our first responders, and a special prayer. Last week we lost Bob Sassier, those of you that They may not know him he was the man who ran the wrecks all his family owned it since 1930. But passed away after a battle with Parkinson's but he was I believe 92 years old a blessed life and he really did a lot for our community in our town for the years.

I would also add the hundreds of souls that were lost in Nepal in a surreal incident of flooding that occurred in that nation.

Thank you. We'll start with introductions to my right.

Good evening, Diana Closs, town clerk.

Good evening, Patrick Murphy, town councilman.

Supervisor Ed Lakerman. Sergio Esposito, deputy supervisor.

Susan Siegel, town councilwoman.

Ilan Gilbert, town councilman.

Adam Rodriguez, town attorney.

All right. My report for the town, a few things and we'll get moving along to everyone else. I do hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks display on August 23rd after the last Lions concert. It was truly a great end to the summer concerts and a fantastic way to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country. uh but please remember that it doesn't stop there we still have a few things going on i know i read one of the things coming up at the presbyterian church there's a concert coming up this month but we also have a tea town a day of revolutionary storytelling with jonathan kruk and they're gonna have uh two different sessions. That's Saturday, September 26th, 2 to 3, T-Town Tales for Families, and from 6 to 7.30, Revolutionary T-Town for Adults. T-Town actually gets its name from the Revolutionary War times when a tea merchant down in new york city wanted to hold his tea for the value and sell it at higher tax rates so he shipped it up to what's now referred to as tea town and stored it there, and then a group of women in the city who couldn't get their tea found out about it, and I did not realize how important tea was back then, but they literally came up, they marched onto Tea Town, and they demanded that it be sold, and got it onto the market without the taxation. So great little story, and there'll be, I'm sure, plenty of those at T-Town. A little more on the somber side as we come up on the 25th anniversary of 9-11. We will be doing our annual ceremony at the 9-11 Memorial at 4 PM. The Grange will also be doing one with their opening ceremonies the same day. I know that this year is a little strange with two events at the same time and Rosh Hashanah starting that evening as well. So, you know, if you can't make it, please remember those who perished and those who continue to fight the illnesses caused by 9-11 in your prayers. And just a reminder, again, we will be doing some major renovation work at the library. There will be closures when they redo the flooring. There will also be limited use of the facilities at times. It will create some inconveniences, which we apologize for, but these changes will make a huge difference in your experience. service service in the library and they're also working out a deal with the Jefferson Valley malls we spoke about last time to be able to do some programming in some of their community areas so the programming will not end all right Lana you want to go next

Yeah, thanks. Pretty much reiterating what you've indicated, Ed. I got a lot of wonderful feedback on the Night of the Fireworks by those attending the event as I was leaving, and it was gratifying knowing that it was really appreciated by those individuals in the town. And secondly, it is hard to believe that it's been 25 years since the fateful day of 9-11. But what's even harder for me to conceive is a whole generation of people have been born who were not alive at that time, and it's up to us to continue that memory. Just as years passed after Pearl Harbor and World War II and D-Day and how we commemorate those days, it's so important for us to continue and never forget the events of 9-11.

I will add on that I do hope that the State Assembly will sign on. I know Assemblyman Slater has been working on a bill to try to make sure that 9-11 is taught within our schools and not forgotten, and it has received attention. some considerable headwinds for different reasons but I think that it's extremely important that we never forget and I urge anyone to talk to your your state assembly people and and ask them to please push this and try to get this into our schools Got to remember, no one in school was alive during this. And most of the people that were alive have graduated college. So it's really, we can't let this become a thing of the past. So thank you, honey.

Thank you.

Susan?

I can still remember exactly what I was doing and where I was. The shock was like you couldn't believe it. I just have two announcements and some quick updates. One, Senator Harkin is having a senior fair at Jefferson Village on Friday, September 18th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's free, there'll be lots of vendors offering whatever services there are for seniors. And also a reminder for people in the Hallux Mill Sewer District, in the Hallux Mill area, who are on septic systems that are aging and possibly in need of repair. There is a county program that will pay the full cost of the repair or replacement. The only cost to the homeowner is about $500 something. initial title search the town did send some letters out to some homeowners who are close to a sewer line because that's also a possibility if you're within a hundred feet of an existing sewer line this county program will pay for that connection. But there are more, there are hundreds and hundreds of homeowners in the Halux Mills Basin that are on septic systems and who are not going to have any chance for sewers in the foreseeable future. So this is a one time chance to possibly get that. The information is on the town website with the phone number. I'd also like to give some updates about e-bikes. There's been a lot of talk about that, and I want to thank the police department and the unit for putting together this very informative poster that I think they're hopefully putting up throughout the town explaining where e-bikes, according to the state law, are allowed, and more importantly, where they're not allowed, and also about wearing helmets and things like that. But as with This is education, which is one part of it. There's also enforcement. I keep getting emails about people who say, I saw them doing this, and I saw them doing that, what they should have been doing. So education is needed, which is why I am working on legislation, two aspects of legislation, one dealing with e-bikes, because the state law prohibits mountain bikes in town land and we have some very valuable mountain biking trails in Yorktown which we want to encourage because that's good to bring people into Yorktown so state law says it's illegal so we have to make sure that they're legal and I talked to Jim at the parks department I've identified where the trails are and how we can legalize that But we also have to talk about regular bicycles, especially on the sidewalks in our Hamlet areas, which have been a problem for a long time. So I've reached out to the police department. I've tried to work with their bike unit. And I want to put together legislative changes for both the e-bikes and also for the regular bikes with the enforcement mechanism that we need. And I will present that to my colleagues here. also cell towers another issue we now have six sample laws three that were provided by doug fishman towns consultant and three that i identified five of the six are all of westchester communities i'm looking at all of them side by side and basically cutting and pasting what i think works best for yorktown and what this community wants and what the board wants and where there are issues that that I can't decide, I'm going to put a highlight and say, you have options here. Do you want option A, B, or C? And then the board can discuss it and we can propose some legislation. I'd also want to bring to the board's attention that back last year I raised the issue about the need to take a fresh look at our overlay districts both Yorktown Heights and Lake Osceola based on our experience processing one for Underhill Farms you kind of learn what maybe needs to be tweaked and I suggested some tweaks it was ignored Well, it's come to my attention that one of the major parcels in Lake Osceola in Jefferson Valley is now up for sale, and that's the Formosiola Manor, which was for a short time the Jefferson restaurant. That is in the Lake Osceola district. It's currently zoned for commercial use. I think now before an application actually comes in we should take a look at the overlay law for Lake Osceola and see if anything needs to be changed especially concerned about the density because some of the provisions in the original overlay law really dealt with density in terms of residential development but this is commercial although a mixed use could be used so I'd like to I'd like the board to to talk to the planning director Robin Steinder and get some feedback in terms of what we need to look at I do have some comments about the the pump station repair but I'll wait for for Nancy our engineer to make his presentation and I'll bring up those issues then thank you

Sir? I think Pat's going to go. You can go, sir. All right. So just a few things. Welcome back, everybody. Hope everybody had a, I don't want to say it, wonderful summer. So we've got a couple of things that are coming up that are fun stuff. The Grange Fair is coming. It's coming up soon. I believe it starts on the 11th. And then you have, immediately following that, you have the Yorktown Feast of San Gennaro. So we got a lot of a lot of cool stuff coming just around the corner. The granite nose paving was finally completed and it looks absolutely fantastic. There's a Facebook post on it. You can see the pictures. And one of the most important things is we were able to actually squeeze in some more spots, which is one of the issues that we have there. It's such a heavily used facility. It's such a beautiful facility. And we continue to expand on that facility. And the volleyball courts are set to be finished in short order. I don't know the exact date. I have an idea when it is, but I don't want to... I don't want to step on anybody's toes, but watch for the volleyball. We continue to expand there. We have the basketball courts. We've got the volleyball courts. We've got the pickleball courts. We've got the pavilion, you know, the football fields, the all-purpose fields. I mean, it's just a wonderful facility. And we're also looking at doing something with the trailhead there and a sensory walkway. We talked about that, right?

Sir, can you explain to them what they did with the millings? know so you know they took the millings out of the parking lot and they moved them across the street to make uh another parking lot for the trailhead going in so everything was used it was it was a very very uh efficient way of doing the parking lot but you know i just wanted to just make sure that everybody knows that a hundred percent of the waste went to back to use and now the trailhead probably has what 20 parking spots

yeah the trailhead has 20 parking spots and they made like an upper and lower section there jim and matt did a great job yeah there were two there were two entryways to the trailhead um if you look at it uh we haven't posted anything about that yet but it really came out it really came out fantastic so um You know, that's just another great addition, which is going to tie into the other stuff we want to do with the sensory walkway and that kind of stuff. So really, really good. And you're right. You know, they used all the waste or the millings and stuff like that to create this other area. So it really didn't cost the town much or anything at all. Zero.

Zero.

It's just labor.

Can you clarify the... Trailhead I don't know that many people understand what a trailhead is and how the trailhead is one thing and separate from the additional parking which which which the millions created the additional parking lot but the trailhead deals with the trail that crosses over from from the bridge over the Taconic all across what's known as granite knolls east it crosses stoney street and then it goes to through granite knolls west which is a sports complex which goes all the way into sylvan glen somebody can go from from woodlands park all the way over from from like 132 to lexington avenue all on a town trail it's really amazing and the trail is where legacy field is some people know yeah no one has a legacy you know

the trailhead is where the start of a trail and that's what he's referring to for us people who didn't know what a trailhead was we had a grand opening era of nails and shrub oak um they have a great new uh nail salon there great people um and uh i wish them the very best of luck it was great uh being there and and uh celebrating their successes and their their new venture and i wish them uh Everything that they could possibly get in life, that's wonderful. The fireworks were spectacular.

I mean, it was really an amazing show.

Great way to end our concert series. Great way to celebrate Rev 250, which is why we put that together.

Sergio, I do want to thank you publicly for doing all the legwork on that, making sure that you found the best people for the job at the best price. Thank you, because it really moved pretty quickly, and you did some great work there.

Thank you so much. Yeah, it was really beautiful. I was at Lakeland High School, and I had a conversation with one of the board members, the Lakeland School Board members, and We were talking about what we call the Vietnam Memorial there, right on campus. And so we were looking at that and he approached me and said, you know, I'd really like to get this cleaned up and make it shine as it's supposed to. And so what I did was, he goes, I was like, what did you have in mind? He goes, well, maybe we could do some plain things. Maybe we could clean up the stone. Maybe we could get it all cleaned up, modernized, make it look beautiful, and give it the due respect that it deserves. So with that, I was able to pull together Troop 173, who was going to do all the legwork, cleaning the stone up, Resetting the stone, the actual monument moved a little bit, so we're going to reset it and we're going to try to make it so this way it doesn't move again. I was able to pull a landscaper, a local landscaper, and he's going to do all the work for free and he's going to work with the troop, with the kids in the troop, to power wash the stone and do all of that stuff. And he's going to be donating some plants. I am looking for, there are some Purple Heart veterans there on the stone. So I'm looking to, and there's these little Purple Heart medals that are stuck to the stone by the person's name, by the vet's name. so we're looking to i'm looking for replacements for that so uh you know we're going to grab those and we're really going to uh clean up that whole area and and just revive it especially uh now i know it's the vietnam memorial but you know with the uh with the memory of 911 and and everything it's it's it's really coming together and i look forward to working with the troop who are just a wonderful bunch of uh of of uh people that do a lot of good things. That troop is very active, and I'm always impressed by them. Speaking of high school, Walter Pannis football, their varsity football team, is now section one. So this is the first time they've entered into the Section 1 realm. I think in their history, they invited me to go to their celebration. I couldn't make it. I really regret not being there. But congratulations to Walter Pannis and their Section 1. Sounds pretty cool. Section 1 football team. lastly uh we talked about a few weeks ago about the streetscape rfp um i uh i i believe where we where we're getting close to actually uh being able to evaluate it and and i think it's going to be uh on our desk soon um so this way we could look at it and uh and and see what i know we had something and it was more of a traffic study that it converted uh you had some issues with that i had some issues with that everybody here had issues with that So I believe it's almost completed, and I will follow up and hopefully have it in our email, on your desk, quote unquote, in your email soon, where we're going to re-envision the center of Yorktown, the center of the Commerce Street, the Yorktown Heights Hamlet, Business Hamlet, with some impressive stuff. I think it'll be something that will transform our downtown. And then from that point, we'll move on to other places as well around town and in other sections and other business hamlets. But that should be coming soon. Okay, just wanted to give you guys an update. Thank you very much.

All righty. I just want to just welcome back Lakeland, Pannis, and Yorktown, the school districts. Welcome back all the kids. Hope you have a great academic and sports year. And just welcome back to reality. I hope everybody enjoyed their summer. So... On September 26th, at the FDR Park, what is it? Run for Recovery. Liz Talbert's not here, so she's going to miss the courtesy of the floor. But she helps runs. This is their big fundraiser. Any support, it's a 5K. It's a 5K run, walk, slash, at Lot 1 in FDR Park at 9 o'clock. And if you could support them, that'd be great. It's one of the bigger and only fundraisers they have, and they do a great job. Like Ed said, the library is doing a big renovation, the first time in 40 years that they've done something this substantial. They're getting new carpets, new tiles. It came from a grant. that they're doing this but they're going to be shut the 29th and 30th of september they're sort of hoping that everything will be done by the end of october and since they don't have any room they're not taking any donations any book donations this month so hold off your book donations for the following month okay And the Elks and Jefferson Village is also doing a 9-11 celebration. That's the ceremony. So the Elks will be starting at 8.30 in the morning. And I think the Jefferson Village is at 11. It's 11, yeah. And that's it. And Susan, just to reiterate what you said about the e-bikes, I took a walk over the Hudson Bridge. And, you know, the middle lane is supposed to be for bikes. You walk on the outside. The bike lane is supposed to be 10 miles an hour. There wasn't one bike going 10 miles an hour. They were everywhere between 20 and 30 miles an hour. And if they hit anybody, they're going to hurt someone. So, yes, we have to. seriously look at the laws and regulations for e-banks.

I had missed that, but I have had very, very detailed discussions with Chief Foley, with Officer Uhl. We're looking. I know Jay had sent some stuff. We are unfortunately sort of What we have can affect the town. There could be registries, registrations, but if it's not on a, the same question pops up, what do you do for the kids from Cortland, from Peekskill, from Mount Kisco that are still riding all over? So if there's not a conglomerate of towns that go in on this and try to get us, Some of these laws, like a licensing law, doesn't really work. New Jersey's doing it as a state, and we're also talking with some of the state to see, but it's... It needs to be addressed. And it needs to be addressed, but it also needs to be something that we can enforce.

Well, the problem is the way the state e-bike law works. was written, there are like three sections. One applies to only, I think it's just Suffolk, possibly Suffolk or Nassau and or Nassau. One applies only to Westchester and then the third one applies to the rest of the state. So when I started looking at some interesting laws in Orangeburg across the river and I think have a straw I said Oh, these are good ideas Then I realized that when you read the Westchester section We are limited because Westchester has first dibs on making any changes in the state law and my comments and my calls and contacts with Westchester parks is that they're not regulate they're not regulating anything and because some of our trails are would go across municipalities. It would be very problematic for Yorktown to have one set of regulations, so much another, Bedford another, and so forth. We're very limited in what we can do, and that's why my goal is to, and we're also limited in terms of the penalties, because the state law sets the penalties all right so i don't think uh and this will all be subject to adam's verification that i don't think we can change the penalty but at least we can first certainly make mountain biking legal which right now it would be illegal and we want to encourage that but we also then have to do the regular the regular bicycles so it's a combination but E-bikes and e-scooters, our hands are somewhat tied by the way the state law was written.

And it's a tall order because you don't want to over-regulate, but as Councilman Murphy said, something has to be done. And you don't want to kind of... You know, e-bikes are also used for people that are disabled. People are now who couldn't ride a bike because of their whatever disability they may have. Now we're able to enjoy the outdoors, enjoy the bike path on a bicycle. Like, you know, and so it's a very tough thing. You don't want to crush, like, little kids either, you know, as they ride their bikes. Right. It's such a complicated issue. You don't think it is. But when you look at the whole thing, you're looking at it, you're like, it's a very difficult thing to address and enforce as well. And the repercussions by not doing anything could result in severe injuries too. The young people that we're trying to, you know. It's adults also. It's adults too. It's adults also.

So years back I bought my brother an e-bike because he's disabled and he couldn't afford a car. So my oldest brother, I bought him an e-bike. I have it now. It's been in my basement. I was gathering cobwebs, but that being said. It was his mode of transportation. He used it for going to the store, for going to the pharmacy. That's what they wanted to do. You're the big dog, Jay? Is that why your phone's barking there?

It's medication time.

There you go.

One thing I would just like to add, and I think I'd be remiss not to, again a reminder, hearing that kids are going back to school, focusing, and we're focusing on public safety, please. Stay alert. Be safe. Follow all the school drop-off rules, the school zone limit rules, and all issues with the buses and pedestrian kids walking to school as well.

We could possibly, too, like build something into the law. You know, so a lot of these bikes, I don't know if they all do. I haven't looked into it yet.

I'll take laws in writing. I don't want to go into specifics.

No, no, no. Just let me finish. Just let me finish, please. Thank you. So, you know, you can regulate. These bikes come with apps. And so maybe there's something that we build into the law somehow where, you know, you have to – you could regulate, govern, it's what it's called, govern through an app how fast the bike could go. So you might have a bike that goes 30 miles an hour, but you could govern it as a parent and say, all right, this bike can only, you know, not exceed 50 miles an hour. Maybe that's something that –

you know we put into a building as part of a law just an idea to think about how long would it take you to break that what's that how long would it take you to break that app and and ungovern it i i am working on this i am hoping that possibly by the third meeting in in september i will have a draft to to share with all of you and as i say it it's

I thought it was mine.

E-bikes within the constraints that we have, and also regular bicycles, which I think have been ignored over the years and are also a problem. So both issues.

All right, Poe Laureate, did you have something from?

Yeah, I do. All right, this is from John F. McMullen, God rest his soul. The poem is called Ted. September 28, 1941, 85 years ago, the last day of the baseball season, Ted Williams went six for eight in a doubleheader to finish at 406. That was his batting average. The last player to hit 400, 85 years ago. 16 years later, he hit .388 to win his fifth batting championship, beating the runner-up Mickey Mantle by 23 points, and won his sixth and last championship the year after. He won two triple crowns, batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. In 1942 and 1947, and in his career, he had the highest batting average and most home runs and RBIs of any player who played in those years. He had a triple crown career. What was the most remarkable was the fact that he lost part of five years in military service in World War II in Korea, landing a burning jet in Korea, getting pneumonia in the process. Another American hero, Colonel and astronaut John Glenn called baseball hero Williams the best wingman I ever had. Williams is also the only man in both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame. It is fashionable today to call people goats, greatest of all time. I never saw Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, or Roger Hornsby. All I can say is that Theodore Samuel Williams is the best I ever saw. John McMullen, he wrote this in 2023. Yeah, the splendid splinter.

That was great. He loves sports. He did. He did, and rightfully so. All right, so now we come to presentation. We have Claire Tomeo.

Is it, Claire?

This is what I'm looking forward to, Claire.

He wants to play with the doll.

Don't listen to him.

Claire, you're gonna talk to us at the microphone. Introduce yourself and what you're talking about, okay?

Hi, my name is Claire Tomeo.

You can pull that down. You can pull it down towards you. There you go. She's good. She's going for a silver award. She can figure out a mic.

Hi, my name is Claire Tomeo. I'm a member of Girl Scout Troop 2812, and I'm working with the John C. Hart Library for my Silver Award project, Books and Buddies. We're working to get American Girl dolls in the library so that younger patrons can check them out and have a friend to read with. And it also helps get dolls to people who may not be able to afford them. And so far, we have two historical dolls, one Girl of the Year doll and two Truly Me's. This is one of them. And there's also this plush doll as well that I had donated today. And it comes with a book for younger readers. So the only thing we, we're looking for hair brushes so that anybody who checks out the dolls can take care of them as well and also carriers so when people check out the dolls they can carry them out of the library. And there will also be a walk-in activity on September 23rd so people can learn more about the program and they can learn how to take care of their dolls as well. Thank you for taking your time to learn more about my project.

Well, you can't run off yet, Claire. I have some questions. I don't know about anyone else. I do. So I think it's a great program. I actually responded. You unfortunately emailed me an email I don't really check that often, but I did respond to you I think yesterday. I'd love to talk more about the program I also spoke a little bit with Yvonne about some where she's doing a light trying to do a library of things so the doll fall very well into this but say I wanted to help support that with a doll donation how can I do that

So you would reach out to the library, and they would give you the information, and I guess we would meet up and, yeah.

Okay, so we'll talk to Yvonne about that. And what is your goal? How many dolls would you like to see at the library?

Well, I'm looking to complete the rest of the historical collection because right now there's only two. Maybe also one more plush doll, too.

How many are in the historical collection? My subscription for American Doll has lapsed. I used to get the emails from my goddaughter all the time. I'm not joking. Seriously? Yeah. I thought you were joking. No.

We had breakfast for American Girl Dolls in the city.

I almost worked for them, actually.

But go on. I'm sorry. How many are about? You don't have to give me an exact answer.

Maybe, I think this might be about five more.

Okay, great. And that one is a Girl Scout doll in your hand?

Yeah, she has a Girl Scout outfit, yeah.

And what else do they have? Do they have like a Revolutionary War or is it more?

I think they do have one from around the Revolutionary War time. I think they also have, they have a lot of different ones.

How did you come up with this idea?

Well I went to the American Girl doll store a lot when I was younger and I really enjoyed going there and then I also enjoyed reading the stories that they came with as well and so when I was thinking about my project I was thinking how I also enjoyed reading so I thought maybe something at the library and then I remembered that the dolls they have stories and it would be good for younger readers.

Fantastic.

So I think your project is amazing and I did get your email from the other day. I'm happy to help you do anything and accomplish anything. I think your project's fantastic and I think your heart is, you're adorable by the way, I just gotta tell you. Put me down for a doll, all right? I am going to reply to your email and you're you're gonna go to amazon you're gonna send me the link i'm gonna order it for you all right put me down i'm all in and if you need any help i was gonna reply but i figured you were here tonight so i would speak to you in person but if you need any help i'm i'm here to help you and and i think all of us are by the way but uh but i'd be happy to help and put me down for one all right all right thank you anyone else on any i think it's a wonderful wonderful project and thank you thank you for doing that good luck on your project

Good luck.

Thank you so much. It is so great to see our youth take charge and have a project they're so passionate about.

I'm looking at Amazon right now. Look at this. There's a lot.

Oh, absolutely. It's crazy. Have a great night. Thank you so much.

Thank you for being here.

Okay We will go to personnel Promote Ian Ritchie to the position of provisional planner in the planning department That will be from CSEA salary schedule A1, group 17, step 1, $98,087 annually with benefits such as sick days, personal days, floating holidays, follow the CSEA agreement. And let's see, he will have a probationary period of minimum of 12 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks. and be it further resolved that Ian Ritchie shall retain all leave and reinstatement rights to the former permanent position of assistant planner should the encumbered position, should he not be reachable on the civil service eligible list resulting from the examination or should the probationary period not be successfully completed with all rights afforded under applicable civil service law. And then with this one, I'll give a little explanation where you're going to appoint Catherine Ritchie as a member of the John C. Hart Memorial Library Board of Trustees to fill the unexpired term of Kathy Lee Imperato. Oh, sorry, law, yes, let me use my eyes. Kathy Law Imparato, I know, let me borrow those glasses. The John C. Hart Memorial Library announces that Library Board President Kathy Law Imparato resigned from the Board of Trustees effective August 31st, 2026, as she assumes additional professional responsibilities in her current role at City College Magnet School of the Arts in Manhattan. the board of trustees has appointed local resident kathy ritchie as a member at large to complete ms law imperato's unexpired term trustee vice president jean zapia will serve as acting president until the board elects its officers at the september meeting on behalf of the town the library trustees and the library staff we extend our sincere appreciation to kathy law imperato for her dedicated service to the john c hart memorial library ms law imperato has served the library board for a combined total of 11 years including her leadership as board president we thank her for her commitment thoughtful guidance and many contributions to the library and the community Kathy thank you so much I know it's a very hard decision but your work was greatly appreciated in the town and wish you nothing but luck and I'm sure you that you will not be a stranger to the library yep all right so may have a motion All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. We will now open the floor to public comment. Please, one time, three minutes per speaker. You will come to the mic, introduce yourself. You do not need to wait for courtesy of the floor if you have an issue that you'd like to talk to the town board about. We're available via email, via phone, in person. I get stopped a lot in the market. Whatever works, we're here to serve.

Good evening, Chuck Newman, Fieldstone Court. We were talking about e-bikes before and how difficult that is. I got another one for you. I was watching Squawk Box in the morning in July, and I was interested because the CEO of Wonder was on. And having just recently opened in the town, I listened with interest. And at the very end of his comments, he said, and in January, we're going to start drone delivery. So I looked into drone delivery as I had heard a little bit about that. Now, Amazon is doing drone delivery in a lot of municipalities around the country already, believe it or not. But the drone delivery companies that are currently doing drone delivery, including Amazon, are Wing, which is Google, Zipline, DoorDash, and Drona. Now in Richardson, Texas, Amazon has been doing drone delivery for a bit. and that's created a noise and quality of life complaints. There are some quotes. I can hear them in my home even when I'm inside and the TV is on. Drones passing over my house every three to five minutes. They've taken away the peace in our neighborhood, the peace in our streets. Drones are barely 100 feet above our homes. Now, I really listen to this with interest because a lot of times, depending upon the flight pattern for the county airport, we get some very low flying planes. From the launch site, drones of around 80 pounds take up multiple times a day. Residents say that means flying over their homes or even nearby schools on a regular basis, and they have described this drone traffic as a drone highway. Common themes that are emerging in communities in Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska, New York, and Texas, noise, by far the most dominant theme. Persistent and high-pitched buzzing, some described it as a flying leaf blower. Multiple flights per hour, disturbance while sitting outside in the comfort of your own backyard, disruption of otherwise quiet neighborhoods. One concern is, the concern is not necessarily that one drone is too loud, but multiple drones flying over your home on a repeated basis. All day long, right? All day long. So other concerns, privacy, are there cameras on these drones? neighborhood characters is changing, and they're becoming aerial logistics corridors. Safety, there have been crashes, there have been battery fires. I saw one video of a dog being impacted by a drone that was landing in someone's yard. So there's noise, there's visual clutter. privacy concerns wildlife impacts property value concerns so i'm going to leave these notes with the the board if that's okay but town boards municipalities can do very little our airspace is controlled by the faa but there are things that we can demand noise frequency Decibel levels, number of flights per hour, number of flights per day. And flight corridors, are they flying over schools, parks, playgrounds, senior housing, historic districts? So the municipalities can at least encourage specific flight corridors. Chuck, your time is up. Okay. So I'm going to leave this with the town. That was pretty much it. DoorDash one month ago just announced that they're starting drone delivery. So this is something that I view as a real clear and present danger to our quality of life in New York.

Thank you, Chuck.

Thank you very much for your time. Thanks, Chuck.

Thank you.

Good evening, Jake Hopstein. Those of us who were in law enforcement or previously in law enforcement have read books by O.W. Wilson and George Culling talking about the broken windows theory. Well, it's here in Yorktown. E-bikes have now grown. We have unregistered motorcycles and quads on the streets all over town. What do we get from the town board? Nothing. Inaction for months on end. We have comments. We have to coordinate with our jurisdictions joining us. Why? Why? We talk about the vehicle and traffic law, which doesn't talk about civil enforcement, something that we can do, but we have done nothing. I have sent emails, haven't gotten any responses from members of the town board. Somebody's going to get killed or hurt. And it's going to be the responsibility of the town board for that happening because the town board has done nothing. I'll repeat. The town board has done nothing. This has been going on for at least six months, maybe more, that it's been brought up a town board meeting and nothing has happened. Nothing has been done. Thank you.

Thank you, Jay.

Hi, Peter Cleary, a four-year resident of Yorktown.

Just a few things to raise. I'd like to request that somebody from the town take a hard look at the intersection of Poplar and Forest Court, about a block east of Curry, maybe three-quarters of a mile north of Sparkle Lake. I'm often in this area and drivers routinely run the three stop signs there, often failing to even slow down. Somebody's gonna get hurt, there's a ton of kids in that neighborhood. So if you could take a look at it, I'd appreciate it. I'd also like to know how and when safety upgrades and measures are tracked and prioritized. next i was disappointed to learn a court denied the town's request for an injunction to stop your former friend and donor mr katuchi from continuing to use town property to operate his commercial parking lot allegedly because the town attorney failed to file a basic document with the court Could you clarify the discrepancy between the town attorney's statement and most recent photos of the site? According to the town attorney's statement to the media, Mr. Cattucci removed all the vehicles, dumpsters, and garbage from the lot. But when a journalist visited the site after the statement was made, the photo showed all the junk was still there. I'd also be interested to know how much money the town has spent on lawsuits and court filings related to this matter that seems to go on for years. It's a shame that while the developer is allegedly making money operating a commercial parking lot on town land, the town is spending taxpayer dollars on losing lawsuits. How much is the town paying? Does the town's legal council contract cover all of these expenses, or are there new fees related to the lawsuit that taxpayers will foot? Finally, I was saddened to see yet another hate symbol in Yorktown. It seems every year since I moved here, another swastika appears in this town. It doesn't seem to happen in other towns, at least not with the regularity that I've seen it here. It's very disappointing. I'd love to know what you're going to be doing about it, why this is happening, and what can be done as a community to address and prevent this in the future. Finally, whoever mentioned Mel Tansman's passing, thank you very much. He was a friend of ours, an amazing advocate for the disability community. So whomever that was, thank you.

Thank you, Peter.

Good evening to imagine Donnie Yorktown Heights. I just wanted to I hate to add to the whole conversation about the e-bikes bikes, mountain bikes, whatever. Susan, I just wanted a clarification around when you said mountain bike. You know all of these classifications are very different a mountain bike is different than a road bike Which is different than a hybrid bike, which is different than a time trial bike. There's a million different iterations in there So my question to the board and my suggestion to the board is as we start to try to address the issue perhaps we're putting the cart before the horse no pun intended and we really focus on what the problem is that we're trying to solve for if it's accidents it's not a matter of what you're riding it's a matter of how fast you're going and where you are so you know susan you were thinking when you said a mountain bike i'm thinking well It's less about the bike, but it's the terrain that you're riding on. So that would be my suggestion for the board as we try to address the issue, address the issue and not the vehicle. So that's my suggestion for that. And then also, I wanted to commend the young woman who was here earlier. And I know somebody was mentioning something about scouts. We actually have a very robust scouting community here in town. Um, now is the time actually a lot of these troops, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, um, are recruiting. And I say, I say Boy Scouts, it's really scouting America. Now, um, we have male and female, uh, troops. packs available so if anybody is interested in a fabulous activity for your school-aged child be a scout org be a scout org is what you'll find all kinds of troops here locally for scouting America at all age groups and Girl Scouts heart of the Hudson Girl Scouts HH org and Um, and where you can find local girl scout troops. I just wanted to put that out and encourage parents to find those units. Cause they're, they're both great organizations. Um, And then lastly, I want to actually acknowledge Sarah Wilson. There was some obvious disappointment that the Grange overlaps with, the Grange Fair this year overlaps with Rosh Hashanah. That is an unfortunate timing. But Sarah actually dug into it for some of us. And what she pointed out was that the Grange Fair is always the second weekend in September. So unfortunately with the Jewish holidays kind of shifting around year to year, on occasion it does unfortunately overlap and this just happens to be one of the years I just wanted to you know reminder community members that you know that it's wasn't anything that the Grange Fair did it just is an unfortunate. Fluke of the timing and I want to thank Sarah for pointing that out, thank you.

Sarah Wilson, your town Heights resident, thank you Jan actually. Actually, I did look into the next 10 years and there is no conflict over the next 10 years. And the Grange Fair Committee has also taken that into consideration that at some time in the future if there is a conflict that they'll make sure to avoid that no not at all not at all so mention thank you for mentioning the Grange Fair you mentioned goats the theme this year is goats games and good times at the fair it does indeed start on Friday 9-11 but I mentioned last time at the town board meeting during comments that the contests don't just attend the fair but enter the contests and the contests start collecting drop-offs as early as Monday Labor Day depending on what contest it is so you know, baking, photography, art, needlework, you know, you name it, flowers and produce are the things that that I focus on. I'm looking forward to hearing from Tim Foley from the Building Realty Institute later this evening. And I wanted to say thank you to the refuse and recycling department. for finally cleaning the food scrap drop off bins. It makes a big difference. It's only the exterior of the bins, but that's a good start. So I appreciate that. And then lastly, on the topic of the bikes, what what should we as residents do when we see something that is a clear violation, you know, it's a young child, somebody clearly under 16, you know, sipping along the street, you know, is there some advice? Should we take a photo or, you know, somehow? I mean, what should we do? Because as you've all said, I mean, it's an accident waiting to happen. So what can we as residents when we see these things do? Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey, Matt. Hey, how are you guys?

Good evening, guys. Good evening, board members. I'm here tonight as- Matt, I'm sorry, introduce yourself. Sorry, Matt Loria, Yorktown resident. So I'm here tonight as a Yorktown resident and parent, but most of all, I'm here as a son. Bright Beginnings Preschool has been an educational fixture in this town for 43 years. For more than 18 of those years, my mother worked there. The Albert A. Cappellini Community and Cultural Center, or sixth grade school, has been her second home for as long as I can remember. The summer of her dream came true when my three-year-old son began attending school at Bright Beginnings. Today, that dream came to a crashing halt. The school suddenly closed after it and the town could not reach an agreement on its lease. There are two sides to every story, and a business has every right to end its lease on its own terms, but it does not appear to be what happened here. My concern is how did a decades-old school in a town-owned building close with little knowledge or insight from this town board? Town employees have their roles and responsibilities, but they are not elected officials. Their scope is limited, and they answer up the chain of command. This was not handled correctly in my opinion. so i have the five or six questions i'm sorry for this board one was this board aware the school wasn't was struggling and in discussion about its rent two why was a lease in a town-owned building being discussed or negotiated while this board was on summer recess for lack of a better term three did the town employees tell you the school was in danger of closing over rent issues or did this or do you have to hear it from the school first four why was the school given nothing in writing so they can make an informed decision five since the school's closure officially has any member of this board gone to break beginnings to speak with them or speak with the staff ask what happened and wish them well and six is this commonplace for a negotiation to occur with the lease or attendant without the town supervisor or a town board member present Mr. Supervisor, I thank you personally for calling me to speak through this. I really do truly appreciate it. But two wrongs do not make a right in this situation. Telling me to speak with the employees so we hope this never happens again is simply not an acceptable answer, given the gravity of the situation and how many people were hurt by it. A 40-year school is gone. Parents, including me and myself, were given two days notice to find another school in place for our children to go. Teachers are suddenly out of work, including my mother after 18 years of occupation here. This board says it supports small business. In this situation, it appears that this is not the case. The staff, students, and community as a whole of Bright Beginnings deserves much better. Thank you.

Thank you, Matt. Thank you.

Good evening. Ken Belfer, mostly with my Mohegan Lake shirt on, which you can't see. Anyway, a couple of things. One, I wasn't aware of Mel Tansman's passing, which I'm very sorry to hear of. I had worked with him in various situations over many years, some of those adversarial as he was advocating for disabled persons who were residents in housing that I managed, but I always had the utmost respect for him and his work. His dedication to working with the disabled community was unparalleled. I just came from something very interesting. The Putnam Valley town supervisor hosted a meeting of what she's called a commission of lakes. They have a lot of lakes in Putnam Valley. and had invited me to speak about one thing there. But it was great seeing that forum and how many issues in common lakes have and how getting together in one place and having a discussion. helps with the sharing of information. So it was a great experience. Last of all, the last time I spoke at Courtesy of the Floor, I was stimulated to speak by the discussion about e-bikes, and so I've been stimulated again. I spoke about an issue we were having around Lake Mohegan, and I just had a follow-up discussion on that with Jim Martorano today, and I think we have some solutions in mind. But on a piece of town-owned property right along the edge of the lake, they've actually built a track for e-bikes and other motorized bikes. They've dug into the mud there. They've actually built a bridge over a stormwater channel for the bikes to go over. We got, Jim and I met on site. We actually got the opportunity to see a kid come on his e-bike and he saw a car with the town logo on the side parked right in front of where he was about to go in and he like stood there looking and paused and then he went into a house that was right across the street and next thing his mom came out with him and Soon she had her husband on the phone who was at work and we talked to all three of them and had a very good dialogue and they had no idea that they weren't supposed to be doing that. I was a little concerned because Ken and his brother then, at the end of the conversation, went racing down the street on their two e-bikes. And I thought, goodness, if I was a parent, I'm not sure I would feel that comfortable with kids on the streets around Mohegan Lake. But anyway, it's a work in progress, but I do think it's like growing exponentially as a problem. Yes.

Thank you, Ken. Anyone else for courtesy of the floor? All right, motion to close courtesy of the floor?

Motion. Second.

All in favor? Aye. All right, I'm gonna start at the bottom, work up. Ken, you're right, Mel was a phenomenal advocate. Through my time in the communities, not only in Yorktown, but I've run into many people that he's worked with. And passion is like the word to describe on how he was, and Front parking to you know to his credit that here for the for the handicapped spots in that whole section so just an amazing advocate The e-bikes and you know, you just you just sort of brought up one of one of the one of the true realities is the The parents not being involved not knowing not even you know You watched those kids drive off, and your thought was exactly what mine was. I would hate to see my kids speeding around a lake. God forbid they fall in or whatever.

What did the mom say? I mean, she was there, right? You were talking to her with them, right?

So you know what, and I come back and I really keep preaching this and unfortunately as we see it's not there. We could legislate until the cows come home, but if the parents don't step in, the parents don't understand. One of the things that we were talking about in the legislation is putting together a package. for any of the stores that sell within our town with all the rules regulation laws so they could hand that to the parents but you know what are you doing if I buy my bike in Mount Kisco or on Amazon and the drone comes and drops it off so so we have you know we're really facing a situation that you know every time every time you cut off one head two grows back it's like a hydra it really is so We'll keep plugging away, and I'll hit Jay's comment on this, just that yes, it's taken a while. We have had some e-bike laws. As a matter of fact, the last time it came up, we had a group of the people from the trail committee complaining that we should not be limiting the e-bikes because of the fact that people do use them to experience the outdoors at camp. Adam and I were talking about some of those in one of our last conversations regarding it and Adam I don't know if you have any more input on that but I'll have a couple things for you anyway but you know we want to get it right and you know it does seem like an activity that it's not been an activity it's been a lot of conversation to make sure we're there and you know multiple people doing research and contributing so we will keep working it hopefully by the end of September have something getting stuff out to the school the resource officers we've been talking about with some enforcement with our bike team the e-bike team that's out there Um, and from the civil point of view, you know, you're right that we could, we can confiscate, we can teach, we can warn. Uh, we just can't ticket the kids as you know, there's no mechanism for that. Uh, but we will, we will keep pushing. Um, Matt, you and I had a long conversation and as you started, there are two, two parts to every story. And, uh, You know, unfortunately, as I look back and as I was reading some of the emails to you, there was conversation about it, and then they went into a meeting, and immediately after the meeting was a notice that there was going to be a closure. It wasn't brought to the board. I think Lonnie has been over. Do you want to input?

Yeah, I would add. Matt, I really, I did meet with your mom after the fact. And quite frankly, I think that it was handled poorly. And I mentioned, but I think it was handled poorly and the board not being advised what was going on. And part of that, and I told her that, I don't want to blame the victim, so to speak. But I told her, I think that it would have been, I only wish that a month when she realized she was having difficulty, or they were having difficulty, they asked to make a presentation before the board. We all would have been, I believe, very open to having a discussion, and it just wasn't done. But again, I don't want to blame, I think, I think it was handled poorly by everyone and I apologized to her and I had asked her if there was any way that we could see if we could move forward in any way and she indicated they had already made the decision that at this stage it didn't make sense to go forward. And the last thing that I left her with was that we would consider any issues to try to make the transition of the closing as painless as possible. And I mentioned that to Ed, that maybe we can try to accommodate that. But I agree that I really have deep regrets for how this was handled.

Thank you, Lonnie. Sarah, the Grange, and I've had a, I guess, being Jewish, quite a few people have reached out to me, and I did tell them the exact same thing, that I'm aware of the floating holiday and the perfect lineup of Labor Day being so late for the second weekend as well as Rosh Hashanah being so early. Doesn't happen that often. I know you said you look ten years out and I know It's probably a lot further than that. I haven't gotten through the Jewish calendar yet, but You know, I noticed that with with lighting your sites as well. Just sometimes it's really crazy two in a year one and none in one year but As explained, the Grange is not, and I think they're actually, in their bylaws specifically, not a religious organization. With the state of Judaism being that you have so many different sects, being reformed myself, I will be visiting, but I can understand those that can't, that follow the religion, but that is a choice in our everyday, just as keeping kosher, you know, observing the Sabbath. Those are all choices that in our heart we make for our religion, if that's the case. And, you know, it is a shame, but I am sure that our people will understand through the town, and I'm hoping for a great Grange Fair this year.

One of my favorite lines about the Jewish holidays is people say they're either early or they're late, but they're never on time. So it's very difficult to make plans in advance.

Right, absolutely. I think one year, though, you speak on time that lined up with Christmas. Well, for Hanukkah.

Thanksgiving, right. Hanukkah actually was Thanksgiving weekend, too, at one point.

There you go. So oh you didn't you did forget to mention this Sarah I know you've been an advocate and we have the framework done, but we will be doing food scraps at Mohegan Lake Park as well the the over by the Brian J Slavin aquatic facility So we're waiting on the containers to come in I'm glad you noticed the the clean tubs. We we got we got a special power washer for that and we do need to figure out the inside if you have ideas on what they're doing please let me know uh in other towns because that inside really does uh when i was putting my scraps in the other day i was like um so and i know we spoke about e-bikes uh scouting is a great way for your kids to learn uh to learn some great great habits and as we saw that with the young lady today with claire drive determination, bringing your dreams to realization really is a great thing for our children. So, you know, for those that volunteer with Scouting, we definitely appreciate it. I have quite a few friends who are Scoutmasters. We have... One of my friends sitting in the back there Kevin has been a Scoutmaster for years and You know what? I know the dedication that it takes Pete I will definitely talk to our our police about checking out that three-way stop and seeing what they could do to get a little enforcement over there and I'm going to let Adam speak about the lawsuit, but I will say that people love to point out that someone made a donation to my campaign, and he's my friend. But if you read his article that you guys posted on your Facebook page, he does not consider me a friend, and rightfully so. I've always said that people can contribute to whatever person they want to. Some contribute to multiple parties. it does not buy favoritism or should not buy favoritism. And, you know, I thank you for pointing it out, but I wish you would point out the fact that he was adamant about the fact that, well, I thought I would get something for that. And he hasn't donated for a while. I don't really watch that. But I will assume that David McKay Wilson did his homework. But people can do that. And I just hope that all people in politics, public office, take to heart that a donation is based on belief. It should not be based on favoritism. And as for the SWAT stickers, yeah, you know, it has popped up in our town. I do see it all over when I read the news. I get quite a few things. I don't think it's something that is... A runaway train in Yorktown, one every year, year and a half, two years, whatever it is, is too many. One is too many. But you know what? There are some sick people out there. it's unfortunate I saw one post on Facebook someone criticizing our congressman Mike Lawler and the the the the post was at six million more or hashtag six million more how someone puts that up how someone thinks that that's acceptable I don't know and what is the what is the answer I It's definitely not the town government going to your children and telling them you can't do this But we will continue to do our education. I do the Holocaust remembrance out of that was We do we do the October 7th remembrance. We also had out of out of this a group form Talia Pearson has been very active in the community. She'd actually not only our community. She talks throughout the the state from what I understand. And we just need people to keep advocating. I do work with the Holocaust and Human Rights Commission. I've had Millie Jasper reach out about this in particular. We are doing programs within our schools that we don't have control over per se, but we do help assist with Holocaust and Human Rights getting in there. and they've been very, very welcome to it. But a lot of these, we go back to what I said before, a lot of these come from parenting. Although one of the cases was not so much parenting, it was actually a Jewish kid did a swastika and tried blaming it on someone else. which is a shame because we should understand, those of us that are Jewish, what that means and how hateful that is and how poor of a symbol that is for people. But, you know, I think I wrote something in my post that I pray for a time that we don't have this, but we will keep doing the educational as much as possible. Let's see, Jay, we spoke about e-bikes. Chuck, drone delivery, thank you. You know, it's funny because I was watching the news the other day and they showed a drone dropping a package into someone's pool. So I will definitely sit down, get a little research, but like you said, it is FAA approved and there are definitely, I already popped up a little research while you were talking to open it and make sure I could get at it later. But, yeah, thank you for bringing it to our attention.

They are super noisy, very loud. The amount of – to get lift, the amount of air that it has to displace is just – they are really loud, and they're flying around, and I don't know. You know, I mean, we really got to look into it. I'm not sure there's anything we could do at the local level here, but –

Well, we might be able to put up some noise ordinance-type things, but we'll— Which I believe we have already, because he pointed out—he made a good analogy.

It sounds like a lawnmower, and, you know, you could do something maybe with a noise ordinance.

Now, Adam, I know you addressed for us earlier the, it's not a loss of a lawsuit, but the, the Cattucci case.

So to clarify, the lawsuit is pending. The lawsuit's gonna be answered. The lawsuit will be litigated or settled. What the judge did was deny a motion for a preliminary injunction. And so, just to kind of go through it quickly, well, take a step backwards. Well, no, I'll go in that order. So what the judge said was there had been no proof of service and that the affirmation was not sufficient for the application. To take him in reverse order, I agree that the affirmation wouldn't be sufficient, but we had a verified complaint, which is tantamount to an affidavit, which should have been considered by the judge. In terms of proof of service, we had, in fact, obtained waiver of service. The reason we hadn't uploaded it or addressed any of these issues is because we were working out an extension because we were trying to talk about resolution, so we agreed to give an extension of time based on various representations that were made to me, which I'll get to in a second, turned out to be incorrect false um and so we are not precluded from going back to the judge for reconsideration or refiling a motion which we may in fact be doing but to answer you know one of the questions about you know i said that the guy's stuff was off the property well that's what i was told i have it in black and white and ended up not being true from his attorney yes that's all i can say

And I'll also put in that the board had asked that conversation go on because we would rather find a resolution than jump into a lawsuit that's going to cost everyone money. But sometimes you meet an impasse. So we did have discussion about that, which we can't share because it was in our closed session. But we will be moving forward with some different options.

i just got a couple things real quick um well we got some some stuff that we still got to get on to with the meeting so um ken i thank you for sharing your story um i just visited a uh another place i'm not gonna dis disclose the location that there is an issue where uh kids on e-bikes have made their own path um this is not on town property it's on private property um and it's something that that i'm going to uh try to address with the property owner and um take the steps that i i deem you know uh but the neighbors are complaining so that that's what and i got a call uh about it so it's something that um that's definitely uh needs to be addressed you said one very important thing um just like i picked up on on chuck's uh analogy with lawn mowers um You said that you just happened to be there when the kid showed up on his e-bike, and that is the challenge. The challenge in creating a new law is how do you identify – like a car, you can take the license plate. A motorcycle, you could take the license plate. Yeah, you get a description and all that stuff. But how do you identify, you know, a kid on an e-bike and how do you, you know, do some enforcement action unless you just, you know, quote unquote, happen to be there, you know, at the time when something's going on? That's the difficulty, and that's the challenge, and that's one of the critical things we have to address in a new law. What do we do? How do we identify these things, and how do we know who the alleged perpetrator, let's say, quote, unquote, is that's being reckless on these things? That is the quintessential question that we have to answer if we're going to have really uh significant and effective enforcement um and and you know that's something that we're gonna have to delve into um i spoke to a couple of people on this side about you know possibly doing a registration you know you have to register the bike or you know something to that effect um because you have to answer the question of identification you can't id the bike if you there's no significant thing that's going to take you back you see a car doing something wrong you take the license plate you report it to police the police run the plate they show up at your house right you're speeding um and and and you go through a a an area where they have cameras um you know speed cameras you get a ticket in the mail because it takes a picture of your your license you blow the easy pass uh of a checkpoint It takes a picture of your license plate. You get a fine in the mail. How do we get to that place with e-bikes? And I think that's really the question that we have to answer. And we've taken steps by having a bike unit, you know, because that's where – but you still have to happen to be there when the thing occurs. And that's really where it gets – you know a little in the weeds and and and how uh we're going to be able to get to an end point where we have effective enforcement um not just enforcement where you just happen to be there right and you can't have a cop on every corner either right we don't want that right so that's that's really where where we're gonna go the swastika disgusting i don't even understand what what what people are I'm gonna shut up because I'm gonna probably get myself into trouble because when somebody does something like that, I just don't understand the mentality. I don't understand how you could get there. I don't understand how you can have that much hate in your heart. I'm just not that type of person. What I will say is that our parks department and our supervisor responded almost immediately when we were apprised of the situation. I was out of town, and they took care of it rather quickly to erase the blight, for lack of a more passionate, better term that would describe it. So really, really, really disheartening. Thank you.

All right.

Oh, go ahead.

Okay, a couple of things. Regarding Mel Tansman, he was a true asset to the town, to the handicapped community. Many people may not realize, but He actually was considering running for public office at one time, and the two of us had a very, very good relationship with one another, and he'll be missed. Jay, I apologize for not specifically answering your email on the subject I saw the subject matter and I know that we've had informal conversations about it so I didn't feel that it was necessary didn't necessarily respond to the email but I do apologize because you should have gotten a response Sergio, you're absolutely right in terms of the issue of how you enforce this. I was riding on 132 the other day and behind two kids on e-bikes, one of them popping wheelies in front of me. And when we got to Wildwood Street off of 132 and there's the light, When you exit off of the Taconic onto 132, the kids just blew by a red light and almost had a terrible incident. A car actually had to veer off who was making the left-hand turn. Within a few seconds, they were gone. So I don't know how you, like you say, in terms of maybe we can require some sort of plate that at least they can be identified by. But even there, I don't know whether or not they would have been identified. So it's very difficult to enforce. But we need to address it as best we can. And thank you for bringing up the issue of the drones. I think we have to keep moving forward. For every mouse trap, there's a better mouse. And for every issue that we deal with, we have to keep abreast of every issue that's a quality of life issue in the town. And thank you for bringing it forward. That's it for me.

I'll try to be quick but there are a lot of interesting items that were brought up Peter in terms of the traffic and you're concerned about the stops I think if perhaps the supervisor can talk to the chief they do I think maintain something called a hot list or something like that where the to the extent that the traffic unit has the available time they could sit there and possibly give tickets And if it's repeat, people who usually use that corridor, okay, they get a ticket, okay? That might teach them a lesson. So I think, Ed, if you could let Chief Foley know on that. On the Cattucci issue- Because it said this is a litigation, it's a legal issue. We can't talk much publicly, but I have to say as a board member, I am thoroughly frustrated at how this has been handled for going on two years, right? And I wish I could say more, but I can't, but it's been two years and I'm just not happy. Drones. I can't believe over all of the years I've been watching town government, there are always new issues that we never thought about. Now we're dealing with e-bikes. Last year it was cell towers, and now it's drones. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. I don't know what we can do about it. But Sergio, I think you've been looking at the noise ordinance, and we were talking about updating it and tweaking it to deal with the base noise from the base frequencies dealing with the T bar. maybe there's something we can do about the drone noise. Again, we have to deal with the FAA, but you've let us know that here's one more issue. Our plate is overflowing, but we will try to deal with it.

I think Ed hit the nail on the head with that. I mean, I think that may be a way in to address the issue, but we'll have to discuss it.

Yeah, I don't know anything about this. I'm constantly learning. For as long as I've been sitting here, there's never in the end the new things that i have to learn about and how and how you deal with them um on the mountain bikes there are many issues uh to your point jan about definition i'm not a cyclist but i'm learning all about different bikes and i've gone back and forth with the uh sam lee who's the head of the uh westchester mountain bike association learning how do you define it and also with with the westchester bike club we're going back and forth according to his latest the latest exchange what we're we won't talk about mountain bikes we're going to be talking about off-road bikes and that's what we're talking about because we're talking about the bikes that are used on the trails which are typically called mountain bikes and there's basically a class one mountain bike that are e-mountain bikes so everything is in the definition We learned this when we were dealing with the ATV law two years ago, the problem with defining these things. And it's evolving, there's always some new kind of thing. And I confess that I have to learn, what's a dirt bike? Which category is a dirt bike? And then there are the e-scooters, and then there are the personal mobility devices, like the wheelchairs. we have to define those and if we say bicycles can't go on sidewalks but we want to allow personal mobility vehicles so there are all of these complications and definitions become very critical so we know what we're regulating in terms of enforcement that's been talked about okay and the problem one of the things that i'm looking into and i trying to dialogue with the town attorney it's looking at our existing law for example in the atv law it says The enforcement is the chief of police and anybody else who he designates. I don't know what that means. Okay, and how do you, do you have to officially designate somebody?

It's any cop, basically, that works for him.

Well, and then in the section that I think Jay pointed out about the signage with the bicycles in the parks, it says parks personnel. So do we, who at least can we... identify as who are the potential people certainly if they're staffed from the parks department working around the track which is one of the problems with regular bikes and e-bikes if a parks department person sees something Can they take whatever is the appropriate action? In terms of the public, we've got to be careful. Too many of us will remember what happened to Mr. Moffitt when he had a confrontation with some ATV users, all right? We don't want that to get involved. I don't know whether a license plate will do anything because they're going by at 20 miles an hour and who can read? It's bad enough at a car with a big license plate front and back. I don't know what you can see on a thing. We do the best we can granted with the limitations, but we will try and this is what we will look at and again with civil penalties and impoundment. One of the things I want to talk about again is within the constraints for the e-bike law and what the state says, how much more we can do here in Yorktown. It's a very legal issue. Bright beginnings. Matt, totally no knowledge from the town board. And as Lanny said, I don't know how this was handled, but it was mishandled because we had no idea. Whether we could have done something or not, I can't say. But certainly an issue like that, with a use like that. It should have come to the town board to see if the town board could make some accommodation. We totally blindsided until I got an email from the owner right beginning saying I have to say goodbye. So again, this is a lesson on how we communicate. I think those are the issues I want to deal with.

So coming last is everything's been covered. But going back to it, Matt, Susan just said it could have been handled better. It shouldn't have happened that way. And I'm sorry for your mom, your kids, and all the parents that have to deal with that. I have three girls myself, and it would have been tough to find something in 48 hours. I don't know how you did it. Yeah, but all I can say is... you know it could have been handled better so but uh going back to the you know the drones are going to start kicking up we know that you know the e-bikes you know i told you my story walking over the hudson they're going 30 miles an hour and there's the ranger two rangers there just said slow down there's a lot of people today That's the enforcement that they did on the bridge. It all comes down to enforcement. You make all the laws you want, but it comes down to enforcement, and our job is to do as much as we can legally and give the enforcement arm the tools that they need to hopefully enforce it as best they can, you know? So that's it. Everything else has been covered.

Right. It's a difficult thing because, you know, if you chase or try to chase a kid, the kid's going to run, right? And that creates even a more dangerous situation. It's a tough thing. We really, really got to consider it. And something does need to be done, but...

I think if we can enforce where we can enforce, okay, and the word gets out, okay, that could be a lesson. So if we get some of them, even if we get 10%, 15%, that begins to possibly add up, people learn.

When I was... 10, 11 years old, I grew up next to the botanical gardens in the Bronx, and there was one rung that was missing, and it was just wide enough to turn your handlebars this way, go like this, and boom, you were in the botanical gardens on your bike with my friends.

There's no statute of limitations, by the way.

That's all right. That's all right. You guys can talk about me in the newspaper. I could see the letter to the editor now. Anyway, and what ended up happening is we would inevitably, one of the rangers in there would see us riding our bikes where we were supposed to be, and then he would lay chase. And what we would do is run. We thought it was a game. I was 10 years old. Now, I didn't have an e-bike, so we weren't going that fast. But we treated it as a game. And it stopped when my mother found out that I crossed the street with my bike. So my bike was gone. I'm not going to say what happened to me, but it wasn't pretty. And my point is it took my parents stepping in. to end it. And it ended quick.

Thank you. And Sarah, that was a question and I think Serge has sort of answered about what do you do. Unfortunately, by the time you call the police, they're gone after probably, you know, yelling some things at you. I don't know how much it's going to help without a plate, you know, unless it gets the SROs and they're able to identify the kids because that is one of the things that we do when we have things on ring cameras. And they do reach out and talk to them. But, you know, it goes back to parenting again and again and again. I don't know if I would want to our law enforcement is trained in handling that I do not think you know as you mentioned Ed Moffitt I went to school with his wife and you know I know them fairly well and to see what would happen to him because someone you know someone who was not trained in in dealing with it went to deal with it i think that uh i would not want to deputize our parks department people uh from a safety point of view well it says that in in the uh i would not i would not want to deputize yeah versus you know if they say something and the kids ignore them what are they supposed to do i don't want it escalating Sergio and I had a problem with a kid riding on movie night on the field, and Sergio went over to talk to the parent, and I was like, well, it's okay. It's my kid. It's okay.

He kept saying to me, that's my bike. I'm like, yeah, your kid's riding the bike. he goes yeah but that's my bike i said all right i said i need you there's little kids around and i need it to stop he's like yeah but that's my bike so i turned around him i said you're gonna lose your bike unless this stops but then why why couldn't i'm sure there were parks department people staff there at at that at the movie yes marissa was there from parks and i don't think that we're going it was friday evening was it just marissa yeah there's somebody else there no just marissa

I don't know if they're doing a lot of setup.

Building maintenance? No, they don't do any setup. It's done by Funtime Amusements when they come in. And the building department comes out and empties the garbage cans. So, you know, Susan, trust me, you know, I'd love it for it, but you mentioned Ed Moffitt. You saw what happened.

That was the public intervening.

What do you think- But then, Susan, it gets even more complicated with the color of authority from one of our employees. And then the question is then, do you subject yourself to a potential lawsuit if the individual is one of our employees and does something improper beyond- Not only that, or if that person is injured in the line of their job for something that's not really a- Job description.

Job description area, so

Lastly, I've been trained. I'm a peace officer. So, you know, I mean, it's a little different. I understand what you're saying. You know, you're trying to figure out how we could, you know, happen to be there, right? Somebody has to be there.

I get it. The police officer isn't going to be there, right?

All right, guys, let's move on. We could have this argument all night. Is Tim Foley here yet? Well we could give him a minute I can move to the next thing let's let's get into our Crest Grant conversation so Yvonne I'm glad you showed up because I left all my notes at home and I did not remember if you had anything on the security for Crest Grant did you from our meeting so why don't you come up to the podium and then I'll go through the other things that I have from my memory that I recalled Best you can because right now it's just a very generalized conversation I want to throw the ideas that everyone if there's something that jumps out for everyone right away we could look at that if not we will come back in and revisit.

So I'm not have a good night.

Thank you Matt.

Yvonne Chek, I'm the library director for the John C. Hart Memorial Library. And for the security grant for the CREST grant, my request for the library was to install monitors downstairs in the administrative office because right now they're in a storage closet. And I don't think that's very helpful. And so we did get an estimate for that. And I think it was about, three or four thousand dollars to install the monitors and the other bigger piece to security for the library is we made some good advances a couple of years ago by installing some additional security cameras outside the building especially after the vandalism incident and so we have still many blind spots around the outside of the building and the inside of the building As a public building, we often have referred to our security camera footage to track down people who were doing things that were not okay. And so it has been very helpful. And so we'd like to sort of complete the 360 visual inside the building and outside the building. So more security cameras and moving the monitors down to the administrative office instead of the supply closet upstairs. what would you estimate if you had everything that you wanted I would say I know that the moving the monitors was about like I said around four thousand dollars to move the monitors and the extra cameras we're probably looking at another maybe eighteen to twenty thousand there

So you already have, on the monitor thing, you already have the monitors, they're already operating, you just need to relocate them.

There's one monitor for, so the library has an old security system, and then as part of the ARPA grant, several of the town buildings had more cameras installed, so we actually have two. security systems they don't speak to each other because one's really old and so there's only a monitor for the old cameras which are now failing we've got three failed cameras on the old system so we have blind spots within the building and so this would be to install to move one of the monitors and for the old system and we have no monitor for the new system i can watch it on my phone but there's no monitor in the building

Is the new system in the location where you want the old systems monitor to be?

There's no, there's nothing.

There is no monitor, yeah.

The old system has a monitor.

The old system has a monitor. We'd like that one moved to the administrative office.

And the new system that doesn't have a monitor, we're talking about the NBRs, the actual digital recording devices, right? So are they located in the same room, the old system and the new system?

No.

They're not. Just because I think I might be able to help you, right? That would be wonderful. The new system, is it in the room where you want the old system's monitor to be? Because that would be really great.

The NVR box.

It's a few feet away, but yeah. So in the basement, we have our data rack, and that's where also the new system sort of brains live.

The recorder.

yeah but then um we have no like i said no visual no monitor so i would like that in uh the administrative office which is right down the hall do you have the monitor

Okay, so you need the monitor and the hookup.

The monitor's, you know, $100, $150. So why don't you give me a call tomorrow? I want to continue this discussion, but give me a call tomorrow and let me get some time. I'll come over, show me what you got, and I'll see what we can do.

Absolutely, thank you. Okay, now my understanding is that this is a $100,000 grant.

Yeah, so this is a $100,000 CREST grant that was awarded to our town and each of Pete Harcum's municipalities. So he was given the money from the state in the budget. He allocated $100,000 per town. uh... as well as uh... i think he has a county program in there as well uh... so the caveat of these are that it is utilized for security I had asked our department heads to come in with some ideas at our last department head meeting. This is the first meeting back since then. So I had the ideas, they were typed up. The meeting was the day of the swastika incident. So I, instead of being at the meeting, went hiking and I took my notes and I took them home to read them and forgot them this morning when I left to come in. I do remember at least five others, so I wanted to present them to the board if you want to have a short discussion about some of them or if you want to sit back and think on them and get some more details, whichever works best. Because we do have a little time to claim this. As well as security at the library, that was a similar request from Phil Marino for the Albert A. Cappellini Community and Cultural Center. to try to get some increased security. He also spoke about possibly putting a security guard there during the evenings when some of the kids, kid traffic comes. I do not, you know, I don't think the grant would work for that it has to be something specific that's material if I'm not mistaken and it would be a build-up of time but from a camera point of view with things going to be able to being monitored at least it helps us in in identifying they've been kids riding e-bikes in the Cappellini Center. They try to catch them. They bolt. Some cameras that could capture, identify photos and then go back to these SROs to try to identify the children would be a very good thing. Well bikes not necessarily bikes, but yeah, they've been they've been running around the building they've been using that our guys try to stop them and this comes back to the Point about you know the proper training And and they do not feel comfortable at times especially if it's three four kids with one person and especially after what happened with Ed Moffitt and A new canine car is a request from the police of the police station. So canine car so Both of our dogs are sort of reaching their retirement age We do have two offers one is through a canine agency that that like a like a I think it's a countrywide That they're they're interested in trying to Donate Well, they they they would do a matching grant of 7,500 and then we have someone who is interested in getting the dog so if they Take 7500 give it to the agency. They'll match that for that dog and we'll be able to do that they want for the dog that they were the next dog they'd like to get and possibly the next two because both Dallas and and spar are pretty much getting to retirement age. I think they're both about 70 in dog years and With that, they want to make sure, because we do- Do they get pension and benefits? They do. They get three milk bones a month.

That's not bad.

No, you know what? These dogs have been invaluable for us. So we have one person wanting to do that, and then we have another person who wants to organize a group of people to raise the money and donate. So I've engaged with both of them as we think about it, but one of the... One of the issues is going to be the canine cars are very old. We won't be able to get the cages and all that fit in. It's a whole kit for a canine. So I think just the vehicle alone is $75,000 without the kit, and the kit's going to depend on when we're ready to go with it.

It's a special police car that's needed?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So, and you're saying the current, how many cars do we have now that are fitted for the canine?

We have two canine cars. One of them, I don't even want to tell you what they told me is happening with the starter this week. But anyone who's had a starter problem could probably imagine going out there with a hammer to get it going.

So both the existing cars.

The existing cars are both going to be out. Well, they're outdated anyway. One of them is over 10 years old. And you've got to remember our police cars run the entire shift. They're out there. That's why we have to invest in our fleet as often as we do. Right now most of our cars are in operation at least 16 hours a day. The canine cars are in operation 8 to 10, depending, because they do other things with them, with the training, with the vets. They do a lot of community outreach with our canine crew. So, you know, it's something that we're going to have to look at as we get the new dogs. And as I said, I think next year is going to be at least one retirement for Dallas, who's the older of the two.

And what are the other options?

The other ideas. Parks and Rec was thinking that automatic gates for Granite Knolls Park to prevent some of the kids that go up there with cars tearing up things, riding around. I don't think it really helps with the motorbikes and the quads, unfortunately. But it would help with people going up there, drinking, doing whatever. But they'll just utilize another park or the trailhead or... Unfortunately, that's something we'd have to look at every place eventually.

So they're looking at an automatic gate that opens and closes because right now they have to send somebody out there specifically to lock and unlock.

Right. Something that has come up before and especially with high-profile cases and things happening, bulletproof glass for the courthouse, for the window where the court clerks are. I think there's a film. I did ask, I asked one of our officers today, Tony actually, to look at Anthony. Well, they call him Alphabet, all of his friends, because he has almost every letter of the alphabet in his last name. But Tony was gonna look into that for me I know we we had gotten some done for the police department as a donation back in the day but we would definitely I think that's another really good thing and Then the last one when you walk in for the clerk.

Yeah.

Yeah the glass window When you walk in the front door all the way across. Yeah the right and across And the last thing that I remember off the list, for the water department, cybersecurity for the SCADA system. Now, our engineering department just got a 36-4, Dan? Yeah. I think it's $36,400 grant for cybersecurity for the sewer plant. With the water plant, we don't have much online, but we use a SCADA system that does a lot of the reporting, and that's come up in the recent conversations that there are some vulnerabilities to those, and it's something that we may want to consider. So those are the... six items including vans so no idea about the gates bulletproof glass is expensive I think there's a and James you might know is there like some type of a film that they put over the glass now yeah so I think that might be a little less expensive than replacing everything

Is the $35,000 grant for the sewer plant sufficient to do what needs to be done there?

Dan replied affirmative for those since he's not coming up to the microphone.

It's been a problem in the past. I don't know whether it still is a problem. Vandalism at the gazebo with track and it was always talk about putting cameras there.

Well, I think that was part of the the Cappellini Center security that Phil wants to do.

He's talking about the whole the whole kit and caboodle and build of the outer cameras are useless without some active monitoring.

Well, they're not useless. They help us in investigation. It's sort of like how we use license plate readers. They're used in active investigation.

To have somebody actively monitor cameras, you're talking about manpower, pension, benefits.

At the library, they're talking about having a monitor so they see somebody when somebody's doing something wrong.

When you're looking at the monitor, right, that's typically how you put these systems in. You put a monitor. They have all the cameras, you know, in a grid-style pattern. Depending on how large the monitor is, that's how large the grid is. And, you know, you could watch it or you could have it flip through a camera at a time and, you know, almost like a slide. But then, you know, while somebody's doing something, you might not be seeing it. So that's what they're talking about. It's not active monitoring.

The library is also set hours, not a 24-7 like the gazebo.

The idea is if you're sitting there, your monitor is right there with all the cameras and you look up. But most of the stuff is after the fact, and then you go back and you pick up a license plate. And then that's part of the police investigation. I've watched the tech show. You've watched the tech show? She's ready.

Can I suggest that you flesh out, ask the department heads who have made these recommendations to flesh out estimated costs?

Well, let me ask a question. Is there anything that anyone here is saying that this should be a priority and this isn't a priority?

The dogs.

The dogs, okay.

Well, the dogs are a multifaceted thing because you've got the car issue, then you've got the dog issue, then we also have a stipend. for the officer, so if we're going to replace retired dogs, we have to look at the total picture of what the cost would be.

Yes, and the stipends built into the budget, the car is what we need to buy, and we have someone who wants to donate the dogs. So we're in the same We have one who wants to donate and one who wants to donate through a fundraiser so we have two and and I think I I might have you know jump my thoughts they might have might have jumped the rail there a little bit but Because of the amount of missing person cases that come up They want to focus on a dog that's able to track This time around because that dog will also they don't want an attack dog per se like spar is pretty, you know, pretty Intimidating when you when you look at him with his with his teeth barred But they do want to make sure that they have a dog who could track because that's also useful in Drug enforcement as well So that's that's like the main Thing they want to look at with this next canine officer

several constituents mentioned to me and i think we i had a brief discussion and you indicated that it's really not town property but um lighting for that area of when you leave the track and you go down towards the acme um parking lot you know for the you know it's very dark at nights and for public safety purposes if we can somehow On the area that is town property, put lighting that will illuminate those stairs. Light on that staircase. Yeah.

Yeah. That'll come right off the building. I don't think that would be that.

No, it shouldn't be that expensive, but it's something we...

There's no building for it to come off of the stairs.

Well, then if we have to put it in a separate...

But Lonnie, now I'm waiting for a text from Carol for the... No, you would come off the back of the Cappellini building. No, it's too far over because it's midfield and you have all the trees. You have the playground, the trees, and then the staircase. No. No.

Oh, yeah, that's right.

It's a lot further...

In terms of looking at the total for the canines, I would also like to have some data on how the canines that we have have been used. And if we didn't have a canine, where else could we Does the county have canines and are we lending out our canines?

Our canines have assisted in other things, and I think if you read some of Miranda's wonderful articles, you'll see that our canines have been very involved in law enforcement, drug fines, bringing a lot of money.

I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying I'd like to see their usage if we're spending our money and it's being used outside of Yorktown. I would just like to know that.

Well, we are part of the real-time crime unit. So if they ask for resources, yeah. And I think they used it for a search and rescue in Somers on a missing person.

I would just like to see, yeah.

But you don't kind of like send the canine. The canine is joined at the hip with the handler, right? So our law enforcement officials know.

It's a question of how our resources are used. an essential part of Westchester whether it's ambulance everything so we do help each other and our police help help all the other communities I'm not disputing the importance and the value of that I'm just saying that if we're looking to spend it looks like this could be close to the hundred thousand dollar grant for these two dogs I would like to know how they're being used and

No problem, we could get the chief to give you, to send you an email or something on that. But I think As far as moving the monitors and stuff like that, I think I can help you with that, and it won't cost you a dime. I'll do the work myself. But I think as far as the best bang for your buck, the canines are, like you said, multifaceted. They can assist in so many different aspects of crime fighting. They really do.

But we have competing needs and they're all valuable. Yeah, absolutely. They're all valuable and it's a tough decision. Let's get more information. I think we need more information.

Is there anything that you'd like, don't bother? Anyone?

No, let's get more information.

I just don't want to send someone out for the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West.

I would like more information about where Phyllis is suggesting cameras at the community center. Sure. Specifically, how many locations.

A few years ago, myself and Craig Scatola, who's retired now, We evaluated that building. One of the things that we were talking about, we're putting up doors in certain strategic areas to stop after hours access to certain parts of the building on top of cameras. and we and we will yeah and so we had a few meetings with craig he had a lot of great ideas part of the camera system we wanted to put in there it actually followed you around and tracked you you know almost like you're active monitoring but without a live body um you know but that that got very expensive but one of the things that we identified there were security doors in certain areas where when you walk into the building let's say from the back where the stage is you know you don't have access to the entire building you can't go up to the third floor um and and that was very valuable and we had picked the locations we could revisit that i remember the discussion yeah yeah all right let's uh let's move on and susan i'm sending

All right. So with that, we will now ask Dan, the man, to come to the microphone.

Just a quick question on the Crest Grant. Are we under any deadline for coming up with any?

I'd like to have something in the next month or so, but I don't, you know. You know it's really hard to cash those big checks. It takes a while to get them. Daniel.

Danny, my boy, how are you?

Take care, Jay.

All right, so we're trying to tidy up all the loose ends on our project for the pump station rehabilitation. This would be the five pump stations. It's a $7.2 million project. We've secured a grant, I believe, for 5.6, but we're also trying to get a subsidized bond for the difference, which I think was 1.44, I believe is the number. So we're working with the Environmental Facilities Corporation to do the financing. So it'll be a two-part thing. We'll get a bond anticipation note. for the period of construction through them, and that'll ultimately be rolled over into a long-term 30-year note. So as part of trying to check all the boxes of EFC, we submitted materials to them. They raised some issues about the seeker process, so we're doing a seeker reboot here. trying to make sure we're touching on all the issues including that the coordinated review one of the things we didn't do was the the environmental notice bulletin so that's part of the circulation on this and so we're circulating to see if the you know anybody else wants to be lead agency which nobody will likely likely step up for so the town board is going to likely lead agency on this shocker, you know, and then after declaring yourselves lead agency will hear everybody wants to be heard on the matter and, and ultimately, hopefully, we'll do a negative declaration, and then documentation will be provided to the FC. So that's, that's it in a nutshell.

I have some questions and comments one the 7.2 million dollars for the cost that's based on the 2020 or 2021 cost estimate I think we have to be realistic and assume it's gonna cost a little bit more all right the 20% that the town that the town's taxpayers will have to pay some in the Hallux Mildewa district and the peak skill will have to pick up as we're redoing the peak skill system they will have to pick up the cost of the farm walk but i think we have to be cautious in saying 7.2 million because it ain't going to be that anymore it's a little bit different because we we changed around the program we changed a bunch of stuff on it the the value engine we value engineered it

and buildings and facilities that were gonna be demolished were now rehabilitated. And we revisited the budget, and that's why we went from four stations to five.

We talked about this. You had a whole presentation for us. Yeah, I remember.

And the bottom line is, if we're getting 80% of the money to fix five pump stations that are in rough shape, you don't want to blow it. You don't want to pay 100% of the cost. Absolutely. Because ultimately, and some of these stations are chronic issues. We're spending money on overtime and replacing things.

So, Dan, where are we with the plans on getting them in? I know we have one approved from Board of Health, correct?

No, one is... Back and forth. Yeah, we're just back and forth. I think the final issues we've resolved, we're going to change a pump around. We haggled with them over it.

Which stage?

This is a farm look. So we're changing that. So I think we're pretty close to getting that approved. And we can the health department really doesn't care about the electrical side. So we can actually start purchasing electrical equipment. So things like generators and transfer switches, control panels, which are all expensive, and have long lead times on them. So we also we got an extension on the grant, but we don't want to find ourselves in a position where

So just for like an education and clarification type of thing, when did this back and forth on the farm walk pump station start with Board of Health? Because I know some people are saying, how come this didn't happen yet?

I mean, it was a few weeks ago. I mean, you know, we had vacations and everybody was busy.

Was it weeks or I thought it was a little longer than that.

Maybe it was three weeks. Yeah. And I just.

Which is Farm Walk just went in three weeks ago.

No, it went in months ago. Right, that's my question. They got back to us, and I believe, yeah, I think last week I spoke to the engineer at the health department. So Heather worked on some calculations this week to address one of the comments.

Right.

And the long and short of it was we wanted to go with a different pump, but after we crunched the numbers, we felt we weren't going to prevail on that issue. So we went ahead with a larger pump.

But that gets me to the other question. When you started with the farm walk and when we brought Heather on as a Deputy Engineer, one of the reasons for bringing that second person on is that we could do more work in-house and we wouldn't have to go outside for that. I was also told that once we did the farm walk, we would have a template and the other four for Hallux Mil would come faster.

that doesn't seem to be happening and i'm a little concerned no i mean there's i mean well i'm concerned because we have a two-year extension no i understand and i want to start i want to start ordering stuff asap but i also have other issues on the funding side that i need to resolve the stuff farmwalk stuff we're a little bit better shaped with money i could start ordering some of that equipment. The Hallux mill stuff we've worked on Mohan sick, I think we got that pretty much figured out how we're going to do it. They started started, started doing the build, we're gonna put a new building in for Saddle Ridge, because that that that was the one station where the existing building we felt wasn't salvageable. So that one, we're going to do a new building.

Well they're not done with farm walk yet and each one has its own set of challenges everyone's a little different correct Ann so I don't it won't per se be a template that fits for everything I'm just using the term that was we were told that that that the others would go faster and from what I'm hearing from you I'm concerned because I'm concerned they already gave us a two-year extension and

And the latest exchange I had with you is that the project has to be completed by May of 2028.

We're working on multiple pump stations, but you need to know, too, that isn't the only thing that comes across my desk every day. We have to address real-time situations. We've had a bunch of problems with some of our pump stations. We had a big problem at the plant we had to address that became a whole thing we had to deal with. So when those things come up, we have to deal with them.

Having Heather has helped him to be able to keep the project rolling even though it's not completed while he handles the other things because I know you alluded to that but unfortunately from years past and many years past we're dealing with issues at the sewer plant that need to be addressed we're dealing with issues with the pump stations that need to be addressed And there are other things on the table, including new developments that come that they need to look at. And the Halix Mills Sewer District extension that we want.

You mean they're not just sitting around?

No, but they are working as a team. I was down there, they actually even had Kyle from the plant helping out with some stuff and Charlie. In there so I think that I think that there's a Understanding that we want to get this done get the stuff done in-house that we can the stuff that's that needs an expert that we need to get out gets out but you know, I know you were in your implication of that well, you guys should be getting it all knocked right out because Heather's now here and

You know, there's there's a lot of issues from years gone by that are that are trying to get solved and I think that I know that and but Granted that you have to deal with all these Unexpected issues that have to take priority So does that raise the issue of it since we are on a deadline to get these pump stations done at some point? would it be more efficient to get it done to farm out some of the work? I shouldn't use the word farm, but contract out, okay, and go back to EDR that did some of the original work with the value engineered changes that you want, just so we know that by some date, by some date certain, we're gonna have plans that we can send to the Department of Health because we're seeing how long it takes and then, I assume that some of this work is going to have to go out to bid, so there's bid specs that have to be prepared, and then this is the whole bidding process, and then negotiating once we select the bidder, then until the agreement gets signed, until the contractor is ready to start work. Again, I'm looking at a deadline. We didn't do anything for the five years that we had the grant. And now we've got two more years to take advantage of this wonderful, wonderful 80% grant. And I'm just saying that what's the most efficient way to deal with it because I know you have problems. with with the with the sewage treatment plant which is another question which I forgot to bring up with you the the question of do we have to hire a consultant to do to do the study and what's the status of that it's like off topic but it's a related topic and can you update us on that that we needed to do a study of what changes and what upgrades might be necessary at the sewage treatment plant. How about we focus on the- Well, consider, I think that we have to- Of course we do, Susan, but- Understanding the constraints that the department has.

Absolutely, but Susan, you asked for an update on the pump stations.

Yeah, I keep asking.

Dan, what else do you have, because I see the environmental assessment form here.

So we just need to circulate that.

Okay.

And it's technically got to declare, I think you got to declare your intent to be Lee Agency and then authorize the clerk to do the circulation.

Was that added at the end for consideration?

What was added at the end was your environmental assessment form.

Right, I know I saw that. Thank you All right, is there anything else Then do we have any idea on when the next When the next study will be coming the next plan will be going into the Board of Health

I'd say, I would hope like in two weeks we should be able to get Mohancic down. I think we've pretty much got all the four corners figured out and now it's just- So that's plan three or two?

Well, I mean that's the next one to go okay, so that'll be two right and we're talking about I think I think at least I don't want to speak for Susan, but I guess in a nutshell Do you anticipate? Unless you know we have some extraordinary situation you anticipate being able to within the next year We have two year window, but within the next year, having plans for all five.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Plans, yeah. And hopefully.

Well, but Susan, that is better than starting to go out to bid for other individuals to create plans.

And some things we don't have to bid. For example, the generators. Buying them off contract. There's a source well contract with Caterpillar.

Do you anticipate being able to fulfill our obligations and get this done?

Part of the problem is, right now, what's available to me, I believe, is about $100,000 out of the $7.2 million. Say that again? I have $100,000 about, I forget what the number is, available. So that would allow me to purchase a generator and some of the electrical work that needs to be done at FarmWalk.

Is that coming from which fund?

Well, that would be coming from the OS now which is morphing into the PS fund will come from the new OS and okay, right.

So Danny boy, what is the next step? You said that we had a something with that you had to clear up with the funding issue.

What is what is our next step to all these balls are in the air, right? So so and the the the funding and having the money in place to do this stuff. I mean, the health department stuff and the approvals to build are one thing. Some of this stuff, one of the other issues we did is in our funding, we put in for force account. So I have some guys that are very capable of doing some of this stuff. So we're actually figuring on some of this pump replacement will be done in-house, and we can actually even get our salaries reimbursed for doing work with what's called force account as opposed to hiring contractors to do the work. So that's a component of what's going on. So that's one tool.

So you could get salaries potentially reimbursed that would not be part of the 7.2?

No, the 7.2 includes that.

Okay, all right.

But it would be eligible that even on the grant side, I would be reimbursed. So I could even claw back some of the salaries of people who worked on that project. So there's that whole financing this and trying to stay ahead of, because even though it's 7.2 million, we're never going to be out 7.2 million. That with the grant program, we're going to spend money.

submit um documentation to be reimbursed and this will happen several times through the process to susan's concern and and lonnie's comments right you fully anticipate that we're going to be able to complete this entire thing however it's done however it's reimbursed however whatever we're out at any given time out of the 7.2 in the two years

Yeah, and one of the big great assets in hiring Heather, her being a former employee of the health department who reviewed all this stuff, she knows exactly what they're looking for. So our applications, have less issues that they would flag if, you know, she just knows. Not as much hang time. She knows the ins and outs, is what we're saying. So, I mean, that's our secret weapon right there.

So what is your very next step?

We're just, so we're dealing with, what we're doing tonight is part of the whole financing thing. Okay. Separate and apart from that is the approvals and the construction. Since we're we're doing the designs in-house. We're not doing one bid for the whole thing we're gonna embark on each of these projects as we get approvals and some of them we don't even have to wait because Really like redoing Mohancic It's really a matter just having the funding available So that's that's so I've got like say for example Mohancic and some at Mohancic and Crystal Lake we have buried oil tanks and I want to get that going right away. Thank you, Dan.

But another question. You said that you think you'll have the plans for the Mohancic ready to send to the Department of Health in about two weeks? Yeah, I want to get down this month. Can you give us an estimate for Saddler Ridge, Crystal Lake, and Hanover? What's your time frame on that? Again, barring any unspecified.

Let me let him get one done at a time.

We're just going to keep going through them, Susan. You know, I'd like to say we never have other things that happen, but sometimes we got to just, you know, because remember, my office.

Especially in the sewer, we know what happens.

Yeah. No, I mean, we've got a wastewater treatment plant to operate. We have to deal with all the land use stuff. We have to do inspections on the projects that are ongoing. All these permits that come in for wetlands. Dan, thank you.

Dan, get me, just get me.

I'm not trying to complain, but it's just the reality. We try and stay on top of this stuff.

I know. I'd rather you go down to your office and start working.

So Dan, real quick. So if you got the 7.2 million, how long would it take to do the five stations? Well, that's what the word.

No, I understand. Yeah. Take finance out of the equation. We really got to be pushing this. We got to get it pretty much done next year.

Yeah, that's the reality. I think we're all in agreement. We don't want to wait until 2028.

Yeah, right. We don't want to do that.

There's still two hours and 10 minutes left in the day, Dan.

Can I just ask for what's not on the agenda, but since Dan is here, the issue of the sewage treatment plant needing to renew its permit and it needs, I've been told that we need to do a study, we need to hire an outside person to take a look and see what needs to be done to upgrade so that we can get our permit renewed.

What's the status of getting- Well, two separate things. The permit renewal, technically our permit I think expired probably like four or five years ago, which isn't unusual. In the absence of renewing your permit, your old limits remain in place. So we've been going back with the DEC. We do not have a new permit. It's not unusual, but that's one thing. That's not to say sometimes what happens is when a new permit comes out, that they may put new requirements in there. So for example, like years ago, ammonia became an issue. So that, when they renewed the permit, A new ammonia limit was proposed, and as part of that, it laid out a timeframe for building the improvements to achieve that discharge limit. So that's how the RBCs happened. The RBCs were a function of a modification when a permit was renewed. So, as of right now, nobody's told me like anything is going to be added to that permit. But they are asking questions like for, you know, like PFAS forever chemicals. If that showed up, I don't know what we would do about it because the treatment to remove that would just be, you know, as it is, we have the microfilters. But until I see the renewed permit, I don't know that. Now, separate and apart from that, we have an ordering on consent with DEC, which we have not signed yet. But once we finish negotiating that, one of the things that's going to come out of it is one of the conditions is going to be that we do a study to evaluate the plant. So that's going to require hiring an outside consultant.

And what's holding up signing that consent order?

Negotiations.

We're pretty it's pretty close to being resolved. I think most of the stuff.

And thank you and keep us. We're going to jump and what the consent order is for what we're not by we're violating something so this has to be a consent order.

What's what's wrong that we need it was going back I think to like 2000 I believe. for discharge violations, you know, exceedances of I guess BOD, I think copper, maybe carbonaceous oxygen demand. I forget what they were, but they tabulated all the violations.

But it goes back about 26 years, 2000.

Even before the plant was upgraded?

No, not before the upgrade.

It was after the upgrade. The violations occurred after the upgrade, which was like in the mid 2000s.

So Susan, can we move on?

Thank you. Well, it was an important part of, it's not sexy, but it's a very important part. Absolutely. It's part of our municipality.

My father-in-law worked in the sewers, so I'm very familiar how unsexy they are and how unnecessary they are.

I was looking for something else and I came across a letter from Charlie this week.

Did you? Yeah. Let me see that when you have a chance.

Is that what Morton used to say, the people you meet on the way up is the same people that you meet on the same window? Right.

I was just about to say something like that.

All right, from the building and maintenance department, authorize the extension for the annual electrical work on town buildings bid. From the comptroller's office, authorize the comptroller to pay Marka McLennan the cash value of unused time as of her date of retirement as enumerated below. and be it further resolved, the Comptroller is hereby authorized to transfer the funds for the purpose of the payout of retirement as enumerated below. Authorize the Comptroller to pay Michael Mattis the cash value of unused time as his date of retirement as enumerated below, and be it further resolved, the Comptroller is hereby authorized to transfer funds for the purpose of this payout at retirement as follows, enumerated below. From the John C. Hart Memorial Library, authorize a supervisor to sign an agreement with the law office of Stephanie Adams PLLC for extraordinary legal services for the John C. Hart Memorial Library. And that is an attorney who specifically does New York State library law. From the Parks and Recreation Department, authorize the supervisor to sign an amended agreement with site design consultants for the engineering services for parking lot paving project at Time Diana Park at Granite Knoll Sports Complex. From the Planning Department, authorize the supervisor to sign an agreement with GovWell Technologies Inc. for the implementation of municipal land use application management software. For the Planning Department, From the office of the town clerk approve the final order for the establishment of a water district extension in the town of Yorktown, Westchester County, New York to be known as extension number one to Yorktown Consolidated Water. From the water department, authorize the water department to purchase one 2027 Ford Transit cargo van, R2C, T 250 off source well contract 0 8 1 3 2 5 dash NAF Authorize a supervisor to sign a change order for Rayburn consulting to perform additional consulting service with regards to billing data accuracy analysis in the amount of one thousand two hundred thirty seven dollars and fifty cents and Authorize Yorktown Water District to purchase a used Wacker Newson RD12A-90 double drum roller as specified in the source well contract number 040924.URI for a total amount of $15,250. Let me go back and just ask you on the Rayburn.

I believe it's next week during the work session but I'll check with Paul interesting recommendations on how to upgrade the billing Susan I'd rather not say much until they come on the presentation

So can I have a motion on those?

I'll make that motion

All in favor? Aye. Aye. I did neglect to mention that we did originally have a public hearing scheduled for today on a proposed local law to amend chapter 219 for peddling and soliciting by adding a do not knock registry. That has been rescheduled to September 15th, 2026. Diana, thank you for your work on that. I think it's an issue that is important to our people. On the back of the agenda you will see appendix a for the water district and then we have for consideration by the town board of Yorktown a pump station EAF secret referral Dan thank you for it not being a 17 page read-in Resolved that the town clerk is hereby authorized to refer out the environmental assessment form received from the engineering department for the sewage pump station rehabilitation project pursuant to state environmental quality review act. to the agencies listed below for their review and or recommendation and it be it further resolved the town board declares its intent to act as lead agency and be it further resolved that the town board would like your comments and or recommendations by October 13th 2026 and this will be referred out to the New York State Department of Transportation New York City Department of Environmental Protection New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 3, Westchester County Planning Board and Department, the Yorktown Planning Department and the Planning Board, Advisory Board on Architectural and Community Appearance, ABACA, the Conservation Board, the Highway Department, the Town Attorney, Environmental Notice Bulletin, the ENB, and the Westchester County Department of Health. Can I have a motion on this?

You forgot Ed Norton.

motion all in favor aye aye all right yorktown thank you for those that don't tune in next week um uh that will be celebrating uh rosh hashanah and the jewish holidays uh please have a very happy and healthy new year and uh any other further all right may have a motion to adjourn motion second All in favor?

Aye. Thank you, Yorktown.

Yes. Good night, Yorktown.