The Town Board met on Monday, April 8, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with the swearing in of Chris Dollbaum who was recently appointed as Town Councilmember. He was sworn in by Deputy Supervisor Marsh.
Presentation - Enterprise Fleet:
David from Enterprise appeared remotely. Enterprise manages fleets of vehicles for more than 100 municipalities. They propose to help Tuxedo acquire, fund and manage their fleet of vehicles with no fees for mileage or early termination. When studying Tuxedo’s needs, they discovered that 35% of the town’s cars are 10 years or older. Typically, cars of that age don’t perform as well and are more expensive to maintain. Enterprise regularly sells the cars in the fleets they manage before they become more expensive to maintain, using asset valuation to find a more favorable replacement age. The money generated from those sales goes back to the municipality where the vehicle came from. David feels that the Town stands to save quite a lot of money by leasing their vehicles. The contract that has been proposed is not a long term one and if it’s not working for the Town, they will not be obligated to continue.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to postpone Public Hearing on Introductory Local Law “Amending the Zoning Map of the Town of Tuxedo,” -Supervisor McMillen explained that the proposed ammendment is still under review by the Town’s Legal Team. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to Appoint Part-Time Seasonal Laborer – A resolution appointing Kristian Matthews as seasonal laborer in the Highway Department at the hourly rate of $20 was passed unanimously.
Resolution to Approve Film Permit – Eye on the Ball Enterprises has applied for permission to film a driving scene on Route 17 in Tuxedo on April 10 beginning around 7 pm (or just after sunset.) They will not be stopping traffic. NYS Troopers and Tuxedo police will assist. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to accept resignation of part-time Police Officer Brendan Eirand effective immediately – The Board voted unanimously in favor of accepting the resignation of part-time Police Officer Brendan Eirand, effective immediately.
Resolution to appoint Anthony Weed as part-time Police Officer The Board vote unanimously in favor of appointing Anthony Weed as a part-time Police Officer.
Department Updates: Police – Chief Trazino reported on the recent earthquake (4.8 on 4/5/24) when police officers responded to the school after they decided to temporarily evacuate their buildings. Once the buildings were determined to be safe, the students went back in.
He also reported the following for the month of March:
Calls For Service - 272 calls (2 of which were active fires)
Motor Vehicle Accidents – 11
Animal Control Complaints – 2
Hazardous Conditions (such as power lines down) 12
Additionally, 2 stolen vehicles were abandoned on Rte. 17A. Highway Department – Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that the Highway Department has started a project by the pump-station along the river, where they will be widening both the roads and the river bank. Recently, they were called to a sink hole in Eagle Valley near St. Elizabeth’s, which turned out to be an old clay pipe that was leaking. The pipe will be replaced. The Department is also getting started on Spring Cleanup and are putting flags out.
Town Board Updates: Superivisor McMillen reported that the Town had recently signed a contract with Amazon Prime/Britalians TV who will be producing two 65- minute documentaries on the Town of Tuxedo. The first will be in May and the second in October. The films aim to tell the story of where the Town is now and where it is headed. The producers are looking for people with stories to tell about Tuxedo, it’s history, natural beauty and residents. All of this will also culminate in Tuxedo’s being featured on a website called the Gem of New York (www.gemofnewyork,com)
“Tuxedo will be showing why we are not just the ‘gateway to the Parks,’ but also the gateway to I love New York,” stated the Supervisor. Watch the Town website (tuxedogov.org) for details on how you can be involved!
The Town has recently experienced another rash of vandalism at the Train Station. Therefore, the Town will be locking up the bathrooms and henceforth they will be available only to people or groups who are renting that space. The trains all have facilities on them and, after a quick tour of the other stations on the line, the Supervisor determined that no one else offers these facilities to commuters. Councilmember Murphy announced that Creighton Manning has been awarded the grant for the Town revitalization project. The Committee applied to the LDC for the funding which was granted. Councilmember Murphy expects to see an initial concept plan in May, which she will share first with the Revitalization Committee and then the public. After that, they will put together an application for this year’s New York Forward grant which is for $4.5 million! Deputy Supervisor Marsh announced that the new podium, built by John Ruel, has been delivered to Town Hall and is ready for use! Councilmember Kasker reported that he has been working on the Community Choice Aggregation initiative. He further noted that Joule’s Peggy Kurtz was present remotely and would be giving a presentation on the subject.
Presentation -Community Choice Aggregation/Joule Community Power
The presentation can be viewed as part of the video recording of this meeting, found below. It begins at 49:50. Click here to see Joule’s chart on how the electricity supply program works.
.Minutes for the Regular Town Board meeting on March 25 were approved with Councilmember Dollbaum abstaining.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola wondered should the Town decide to go with Enterprise Leasing for the fleet, would they still get vehicles from the State Bid. The answer was no, the vehicles would be purchased under SourceWell, which operates very similarly to the State bid. Next, Mr. Mottola wanted to know what could be done to make the rest rooms in the train station available to Town Residents. It was explained to him that unfortunately, there had been so much vandalism in the restrooms that the Town is no longer willing to keep them open. Claudia Bakhtiary commented that the Board had alluded to problems with the Town Books when they took over in January and that a detailed explanation had been promised but never delivered. She was told that the Town Auditor had been working on this and hopefully there would be an explanation at the next meeting. Next, Mrs. Bakhtiary commented that she had noticed changes in the property of the old Junction and wondered what was happening there. She was told that the property owner had decided to remove the trees and bushes and relocate them to this property in Sloatsburg. The Board has been talking about putting in a small “pop up building” that could house businesses there as well as creating more municipal parking on the site. They would like for the parking to work for businesses on the east side of Route 17 as well. They are continuing to discuss the idea of a possible pedestrian crossing at that intersection with the Department Of Transportation. Michele Lindsay gave a report on the Climate Smart Community Task Force. First, she announced that there would be a webinar on April 11 outlining all the things that the group is planning. Next, she announced that on May 11, there will be a Green Energy event in the Train Station parking lot featuring electric vehicles from Healy Brothers. The vehicles will be available for people to test drive. There will also be an exhibit from a Community Solar Program and Nebrasky Plumbing & Heating will also be on hand with information on heat pumps. The event will be open from 9:30am – 12noon. Deputy Supervisor Marsh announced that Spring Clean-up and a 5K race are planned for April 20 Police Chief Trazino reminded all that the Active Shooters Seminar will take place on April 18 at 7 pm in Town Hall.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 25, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing: Introductory Local Law “Parks and Recreation.” Deputy Supervisor Marsh explained that for the last several years the Town has been talking about establishing new regulations for Parks and Regulations while updating the old ones to make them more current . Among other things the proposed law will give the Town Board the authority to adopt rental fees for areas in the Parks as well as those buildings that are available for use by residents.
The only comment came from resident Sue Scher thanked the Board for putting together the legislation, which has been in the works for a while now. “It’s important that the Town update its code and reestablish some regulations…reestablish the Advisory Board and expand the role of the Recreation Director…and include more money in the budget for recreation programs for a range of people.” She further noted that a large number of seniors who took part in a recent survey expressed concern with the fact that there was no recreation in Town for them. Over the course of the last year however, under the leadership of the new Recreation Director, things have expanded including revitalization of the Summer camp as well as activities for other people. She supports a strong Recreation Department and a code that will allow it to be strong.
The Deputy Supervisor noted that there had been one proposed change to the legislation since it had been published to the website, which was to grant the Police Chief the authority to issue a permit for alcohol consumption. Previously, only the Town Board held this authority. With this change, if a resident applies for a permit to use a property or building for an event where they wish to serve alcohol and the Board is between meetings, the Police Chief will be able to issue the necessary permit.
There were no further comments from the public and the hearing was closed.
The Board then voted unanimously in favor of adopting the resolution.
¨Public Comments on Agenda Items: With regard to agenda item #4, a local law to amend the zoning map, Michele Lindsay inquired as to whether the entire area would be zoned as C (Conservation). Supervisor McMillen responded that 50 acres of a parcel that was formerly zoned as R2 and had gone into conservation, was now going back to R2. Sue Scher inquired where the property was and why this was being done. She was informed that the property is located on Sister Servants Way off of Sterling Mine Road, on the way to The Ranch (new spa). It was zoned R2 for years, but was recently changed to conservation in the newest zoning code. The proposed legislation will just put it back to R2. Daria Bekersky also asked for an explanation as to why this was being done.
Councilmember Kasker then asked Town Attorney Howard Protter if he would prepare a written explanation that it could be distributed to residents prior to the public hearing that will be held on this subject. It was agreed that this would be done.
Department Updates: Police Chief Trazino stated that he had nothing new to report as he had given a fairly detailed report at the previous meeting. He plans to provide another detailed report in April. In the meantime, the Department has been kept busy by the weather as there has been a lot of wind, rain/water and trees down. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum observed that his department has one more week of tree trimming to do. They cleaned up the walking track at Powerhouse Park and have been working on maintenance of equipment as well as training and attending various classes. Recreation Director Metcalf reported that the second meeting of the Advisory Committee had gone well. They are now working on the Earth Day cleanup project. There will be crews all over Town cleaning up litter along the roads. There will also be a 5K race on Earth Day and plans have been finalized for the Fishing Derby on June 1st.
Agenda Items:
Resolution of Adoption of Local Law entitled “Parks and Recreation,” – This was passed earlier in the meeting immediately following the public hearing.
Resolution to participate in the NYCLASS program – A detailed presentation on NYCLASS was given at the last meeting. All Board members were in favor of it. Councilmember Kasker commented that while he is in favor of joining this program, he thinks it is important that the Finance Committee look at and formalize the Town’s investment policy. Michele Lindsay spoke up from the audience to say that this had already been done, but she was told it had never been voted on so they made plans to have the Finance Committee get it done. The Board passed the resolution to participate in NYCLASS unanimously.
Resolution to adopt 2024 Summer Camp Budget – Recreation Director Metcalf submitted a budget of $76,257. The Board voted unanimously to approve $80,000 which will give the Camp a little economic leeway.
Resolution to Introduce Local Law to Amend Zoning Map and set Public Hearing – The property being discussed is a 50-acre lot located in Eagle Valley on the road up to the new spa off Sterling Mine Road. For many years, the lot was zoned R2 and it was changed to Conservation by the previous Board when they were updating the zoning map, making it more difficult to build on. This law would designate the property as R2 again. The Public Hearing was set for April 8 at 7 pm.
Resolution to approve funds for Pickle Ball Clinic Instructor – A pickle ball clinic was scheduled for last Fall, but had to be cancelled due to bad weather. The cost for the instructor is $150, but the clinic will be offered to residents for free in an attempt to create interest in Pickle Ball. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to allow Town Supervisor to sign NYDOT Highway Work Permit to replace Flashing School Beacon on Route 17 – For many years there was a flashing sign on Route 17 south of the School, however someone hit it and it was knocked down and destroyed. The DOT refused to pay to replace it. The school is legally prohibited from replacing it. Councilmember Murphy has found a flashing sign that would be operated by solar energy. better to also install such a sign on the southbound side of Route 17 but the Town doesn’t own the property there. All the same, this idea will be pursued. In the meantime, the Board voted unanimously to purchase the solar sign and have it installed on the northbound side of Route 17.
Resolution to approve Bucket Certification Training for Highway employees – This was unanimously approved.
Resolution to approve agreement for Expenditure of Highway monies – This is required by law before the Highway Department starts their annual The cost of this sign would be approximately $2500. The new sign would be located where the old one was on the northbound side of Route 17 coming into Town from the south. There was discussion and the Board was in agreement that it would be
repairs on the Town roads. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Discussion Item:
Enterprise Fleet Quote – The Board has decided to investigate the idea of leasing Town vehicles. There are 23 vehicles included on the quote including police vehicles, highway department vehicles as well as the ones for the building inspector and dog warden. Enterprise has proposed a lease quote which would save the Town considerable money over the life of the lease. Just purchasing 2 police cars uplifted (which means they include all the necessary equipment such as lights, plows, radios, computer hookups etc) would be $117,000. The leased vehicles would all be under warranty meaning that major repairs would be included and there would be no miles-restriction on them. The total savings over 10 years would be $460,271. A representative from Enterprise will appear at the April 8 Town Board meeting to answer any questions.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor McMillen reported that he is still in talks with PIPC about the Lake Stahahe property to be used for Town recreation. The talks are going very well and they are exploring the idea of a 30-year lease. Councilmember Kasker reported on the Community Choice Aggregation effort, announcing the following meetings for Town Board members: March 27 a webinar, April 3 a special meeting to authorize a Memorandum of Understanding, and April 8 an information during the regular Town Board meeting. He recommends that prior to the April 8 meeting, residents visit the Town website where they can rewatch the presentations detailing the program so they can be prepared to ask any questions they might have. Additionally, he noted that he would like to look into the training that is required annually for members of the Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals. He feels that the training requirements should be more focused on topics that are applicable to projects which are currently happening or being considered by the Town. Frank Peverly, Chair of the ZBA agreed whole heartedly with this concept. Deputy Supervisor Marsh reported that in addition to his projects already discussed, he met with the Recreation Board and thinks they are doing a great job. Councilmember Murphy reported that the committee for Town revitalization has been studying the three responses to the RFP they circulated. They hope to award the contract for the work shortly. The Greenway Grant is currently being prepared and finalized.
The Minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on March 11 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
Michele Lindsay announced the following meetings: April 3 – the monthly Climate Smart meeting at 5:30 pm, April 11 – the Community Campaign to promote Clean Energy, Solar energy, electric vehicles etc. May 5 – “I Love my Park Day,” which will feature the Pollination Meadow. Maria May commented that Recreation is going well. She is working on a brochure to handout to residents in an effort to get more people to volunteer at events.
At 8:06 pm, the meeting was adjourned to an Executive Session to discuss personnel issues. When they returned, the Supervisor made a resolution to appoint Chris Dollbaum to the vacant seat on the Town Board. This was approved unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 11, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Claudia Bakhtiary inquired about the bond resolution to purchase property for municipal parking. Supervisor McMillen responded that this item was going to be tabled for this meeting however, the plan is for the Town to buy the Tuxedo Junction property, tear down the building and turn it into a Town parking lot. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have volunteered to help with the process of both tearing down the building and constructing the lot.
Department Updates: Police Department: Chief Trazino reported that over the month of February the Police Department had responded to 268 calls. Additionally, 139 tickets were issued, two of which resulted in arrests. Highway Department: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was busy with tree-cutting which will continue through the end of the month. Recreation Department: Recreation Director Kathleen Metcalf reported that Bagels with the Easter Bunny had taken place on Saturday March 9. The event was well attended and everyone had a good time. The Summer Camp program will run from July 8 to August 9 with more details to follow. The Tai Chi class for seniors was a great success and another 10-week class will start in June. The new Senior game days are going very well. The First meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board was successful. Among other things they discussed the idea of getting a Spring Baseball league started and will also be investigating Friday night Recreation nights for the kids. Kathleen will talk to the School to see what their interest might be. She is also always looking for more volunteers. Supervisor’s Update – Supervisor McMillen reported that he and Deputy Supervisor Marsh along with town residents Mike Santoianni and Sue Scher had met with PIPC officials at an abandoned camp in Harriman State Park to explore a possible summer swimming spot for Town residents. The camp is located on a cove in Lake Stahahe, has a great lakefront area and also offers good fishing. The Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor like the property a lot and will keep working on securing it for the Town’s use. Councilmember Murphy continues to work on Hamlet Revitalization with Michele Lindsay. They have secured 3 quotes from design engineers which range from $35,000 to $65,000.
Agenda Items
Resolution Introducing Local Law entitled “Parks and Recreation,” and scheduling PublicHearing – The proposed law will be available on the Town website. The public hearing will be held on March 25 at 7:00 pm. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Bond Resolution to purchase property for Municipal Parking – This was tabled.
Resolution approving and authorizing Supervisor to sign 2024 Stop DWI Intermunicipal Agreement with Orange County – This program, in which the Town participates annually, will run from 3/10/24 – 1/1/25. the resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve iWorq software for Building Department – The Department’s current software will no longer work as of June 1, 2024 and the change is necessary. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve Town Clerk Training – NYS Town Clerks Association – This annual training will be held in Albany this year from 4/21 -4/24. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve Registration Fee for Highway Department training – Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Lisa Decker will attend training and certification in Kingston. The entire Highway Department will undergo training in Middletown on March 13. The resolution was approved unanimously
Presentation: Chris Star – NYCLASS (investment opportunities for municipalities)
NYCLASS is an investment pool that allows municipalities to band together and better make investments. Doing so allows a municipality to diversify its assets and provides help with liquidity and interest yields. When a municipality invests its money with NYCLASS, they still have daily access to their funds. Participants always get the market-based interest rate and the interest compounds and pays daily. There are currently 1300 participants in the pool including the Towns of Newburgh and Middletown, the Village of Tuxedo Park and the Tuxedo School District among many others. In order for the Board to vote on joining this program, they will need to modify their investment policy. This will be done and the Board looks to vote on it at their next meeting on March 25.
Discussion Items:
Schedule Community Choice Aggregation Meetings - The following meetings were scheduled for the Board: March 27 at noon, April 3 at 7 pm and April 11 at 12:30.
Roof Repair Estimate for Police Station – These repairs need to be made before the Town can go ahead with repairs to the station. The estimate is $4950. It was unanimously approved.
Podium for Community Room – This will be used for people speaking at public meetings. An expense of up to $700 was unanimously approved.
Minutes: Minutes for the regular meeting held on February 26 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Michele Lindsay announced that Saturday, May 11 will be Community Campaign Day. At this event, vendors advertising various ideas associated with reducing our carbon footprint will be present in the Train Station parking lot from 9:30am – 12:30pm. She also announced that April is Native Plant Month. Jerry Mottola asked if the NYClass program had been discussed with Town Auditor Andrew Arias. He was told no, it has not as yet but Mr. Arias did agree it was a good idea last year when the idea was originally presented. Jerry then noted that the carpet in the Community Room needs to be replaced. He was told that this was on the Boards radar, but is not a top priority.
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue at 8:55 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none
Agenda Items:
Avaya/Avatel Contract (phone system upgrade)- The Town has been under contract with Avaya/Avatel, but the contract has expired. Deputy Supervisor Marsh negotiated the new contract which features Voice over Internet Protocol. The contract will cover the service in Town Hall, the Police Department and the Highway Department. There will be an approximately $20,000 savings on this contract over the last one. It was approved unanimously.
Adopt Travel Policy – Deputy Supervisor Marsh has been working with consultant Michael Richardson to update the Town’s travel policy. Among other things, it covers mileage and food reimbursement. Town Attorney Protter cautioned the Board that they would need to run the amended policy by the unions in Town, which can be done when the contracts come up for renewal. For now, it will be added to the Employee Handbook. Following minimal discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the Policy. Councilmember Kasker commented that he had done a lot of travelling for previous employers and this policy is very clear and easy to understand.
Monthly Reports: Police - Chief Trazino was out sick so Deputy Supervisor Marsh delivered his report. Since January, the police have generated 525 blotters encompassing medical calls, burglar alarms, animal complaints, domestic complaints and traffic accidents. They have participated in targeted vehicle and traffic patrols in Eagle Valley, the Hamlet, Route 17 and Route 17A which culminated in over 200 stops. They issued 63 parking summons and had 2 arrests. They also attended the annual Christmas Tree Bonfire and participated in the Read Aloud event at George Grant Mason Elementary School. ‘ Highway – Rob Dollbaum reported that his crew is doing their annual tree trimming and road cleaning. They are currently working on Benjamin Meadow Rd and will next move to Bramertown Rd, followed by the Hamlet and Eagle Valley. They have also been busy plowing and working on vehicle maintenance.
Presentation:
Tree City Presentation. Christopher Gow and ChiuYin Hempel of the Tuxedo Park Tree Advisory Board made the following presentation regarding a Tree City designation. This is something that the Board is considering and they seem very interested. Mr. Gow was present at the meeting and Mrs. Hempel attended via Zoom.
WHAT IS TREE CITY USA?
A national volunteer organization coordinated by Arbor Day Foundation and NYDEC forestry divisions.
Provides advice, public attention, networking, and national recognition to help communities to plant trees and manage their forest resources.
Tuxedo Park has been a member since 2016. Montebello is also a member. MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS TO THE TOWN
• Access to grants from Arbor Day Foundation and NYDEC: money as well as physical plants.
• Enhances the public image and perceived desirability of the Town.
• Provides an environmental focus to the development of Tuxedo Farms,
the Town's Beautification Program and forestry management.
• Access to environmental advice and information important to residents' health and safety from national & regional environmental organizations.
• Promotes a sense of pride and community among residents. • Joint activities with the Village for mutual benefit. OBLIGATIONS
• Form A Tree Board Or Department
Delegating responsibility for town-owned trees is the first official step to becoming a Tree City. By forming a tree board comprising 4 volunteers and head of the DPW, members can create a more organized and effective urban forestry plan.
• Establish A Tree Care Ordinance (Village can provide the template)
A public tree care ordinance assigns clear authority over public trees and provides clear guidance for planting, maintaining, and/or removing trees from streets, parks, and other public spaces.
• Maintain A Community Forestry Program With An Annual Budget Of At Least $2 Per Capita
Your community most likely already spends at least $2 per capita on the planting, care, and removal of trees. This is intended to demonstrate an ongoing investment into your public trees.
• Proclaim and Observe Arbor Day (Village can provide a template for the Proclamation)
Shelps create pride for your city's entire urban forestry program. APPLICATION PROCESS
• Online application/annual membership renewal.
• Tuxedo Park Tree Advisory Board here to help.
For further information tptreeboard@gmail.com www.treecityusa.org www.tptreeboard.org
Discussion Items: Ceiling Repairs at Town Hall – There is ceiling damage in Town Hall due to the leaky roof. The previous Board had the leaks fixed and now it is time to fix the ceilings. The work was approved at the previous Town Board meeting. The contractor is busy at the moment but hopes to get to the Town Hall sometime in the next 2 weeks. Summer Concert Series – Two music concerts have been scheduled for the upcoming summer at Powerhouse Park:
Uncle Shoehorn - June 15, 5-8 pm
Touch of ‘Gray – July 27, 6-9 pm.
Admission will be free for both events and food trucks will be present. Deputy Supervisor Marsh has also talked to Victoria Love about coming with the boy scouts to sell hot dogs. Town resident John Ruel has indicated he’d like to come and showcase his wood working items. Other local vendors who are interested in getting involved with these events are encouraged to reach out to the Deputy Supervisor or the Recreation Committee. Update to Parks and Recreation Town Code – The Board would like to modernize the Town Code by adding Town/Park rental fees. The new Parks and Recreation Board will be meeting on Wednesday, and the Board is hopeful that they will review the proposed amendments in detail and submit suggestions to the Town Board. The goal is to have the fees in place before the summer. A public hearing will be required before any of the changes are made. Discussions with PIPC for Town Recreation – Supervisor McMillen and
Deputy Supervisor Marsh met with representatives from Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC)regarding leasing a lakeside site for recreation. They toured one site but were not interested as Tuxedo would be required to share the site with up to 5 other organizations. PIPC provided them with a map showing other available sites and the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor will begin checking them out. The goal is to find a site that could be dedicated to only Town of Tuxedo recreation. Enterprise Fleet Leases for Police Vehicles – The police department is in need of some vehicles. The Board has been looking into “E Fleet” leases with Enterprise which could encompass all departments…the Police department, Highway Department and any other vehicles the Town uses such as Building Department. The usual deals with E Fleet include fuel and vehicle maintenance. The Board would like to start with a quote that encompasses all services. Then they can determine which ones the Town might be able to handle on their own (i.e. fuel and maintenance) and work to develop a program that would be fiscally viable for the Town.
Town Board Updates: Councilmember Kasker had nothing new to report. Councilmember Murphy reported that the Townhas received 3 quotes from engineering firms interested in the Tuxedo Hamlet revitalization project. She provided the Board with a brief overview, highlighting some of the things that can and cannot be done in the area. Interviews will take place next week. Councilmember Murphy hopes to have concept plans by the springtime so that the Town can apply for grants. The Greenway Study currently has a survey out to Town residents which will aid them in developing an economic plan. The Councilwoman also has engaged a landscape architect to look at Powerhouse Park and make suggestions as to what can be done with it. Supervisor McMillen reported that he recently became aware of a television program called Humans of the World. The production company that runs the show has been given permission from Governor Hochul to designated one community each year as “Gem of New York,” and they are interested in having Tuxedo be that community in 2024. Two documentaries would be made (one in Spring/Summer and one in the Fall) and the Town and its people would be profiled. Details will be forthcoming as this project progresses.
Minutes of the February 12 Town Board meeting were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola wanted to know what is happening with the property between the Post Office and the Liquor Store which the Town has expressed an interest in for parking spaces. He was told that this has been referred to the Postmaster in Washington and the Town is awaiting a response. Claudia Bakhtiary wondered when the taxpayers could expect to see a report from the auditor about Town finances. The Supervisor replied that Andrew Arias would be present at the next meeting to make his report. Evelyn David wanted to know if anyone had heard anything back from the Village of Sloatsburg regarding cleaning and upkeep of the Ramapo River. Supervisor McMillen said he would make contact with Sloatsburg and get back to her.
The Board adjourned into an Executive Session at 8:10 pm to discuss personnel matters. When they came back out at 9:10 pm, they had no further business to conduct so they officially adjourned the meeting.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for J. Richard Vingiello, a long time Tuxedo resident who was Town Justice for many years. He died on December 28, 2023.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to add roads to Town Highway Inventory – The Board discovered that despite the fact that the Town has been maintaining them, the following roads were not a part of the Town Highway Inventory: Juniper Terrace, Katrina Court, Spartan Place, Chapel Turn Road, Patterson Hill Road and Nolan’s Way. They voted unanimously in favor of adding them to the inventory.
Resolution to Accept the Resignations of Jay Reichgott, Town Councilmember and Margaret Carey, Part-Time Police Officer:. The Board voted unanimously in favor of accepting these resignations.
Resolution for Workers’ Compensation Claim Processing – Until now, workers’ compensation payments have been made by check. Going forward, they will be handled by electronic bank deposit (ACH) This was approved unanimously.
Ceiling Repairs in Town Hall – These rather extensive repairs are necessary due to the old leaks in the roof, which has since been repaired. All leaks will be repaired and repainted for a sum of $5,600. The money will come from the ARPA funds.
Allow sale of raffle tickets for the Onyx and Breezy Foundation – This is an annual event in Town and for which Board permission is required. It was granted unanimously.
Sewer School expenses for Highway Employee Shane Smith – Highway Department Employee Shane Smith started attending certification classes at SUNY Buffalo State last year. He has since completed two courses and needs one more class for his certification. The Board voted unanimously in favor of funding the course.
Appoint Parks and Recreation Advisory Board – The following people were appointed unanimously to the new Parks & Recreation Board: Chairman, Maria May, Members, John Sandak, Linda Pallack, Michelle Calcatera, Kendra Saari—Poznanski, Gonul Kamfoi and Dina Comolli. Councilmember Murphy noted that in her role as a Councilwoman, Mrs. May had begun rewriting the portion of the Town Code pertaining to recreation the year prior in an effort to make it more appropriate for the Town. She suggested that the new committee should finish that task. Supervisor McMillen added that this committee could get very busy in the near future as the Town is in negotiations with PIPC to acquire a Lakeside Recreation Center in Harriman State Park.
Central Monitoring Agreement in Town Hall –Supervisor McMillen and Deputy Supervisor Marsh discovered that Town Hall had no working security in place. They have since installed 9 cameras and 17 panic buttons. The Highway Department and Police Department will be next The Board unanimously approved signing an agreement for monitoring the system for $49 per month.
Award Grant Writer Bid Proposal – The Board voted unanimously in favor of hiring Fred Rella as grant writer at a cost of $50,000 per year.
Budget Modifications- Modifications covering the period of November and December 2023 were submitted by Town Auditor Andrew Arias and unanimously approved by the Board.
Landscape Architect Agreement for Powerhouse Park – The Town has received a grant from Orange County Tourism for Hamlet Revitalization. Councilmember Murphy recently met with that group and received permission to use the funds for the revitalization of Powerhouse Park instead. The Agreement, with CLC Landscape Design is for $6000, which will cover their proposals for repurposing Powerhouse Park so that the Town can better utilize the river and everyone will be able to appreciate the beauty of the Park.
Presentation: Michele Lindsay to give an update on Climate Smart and the Clean Energy Commlunities Programs- To see a copy of the presentation, click here.
Discussion Items: Procurement and Travel policies - The Town’s Procurement policy has not been updated for years. The Supervisor feels it’s time that the Board review at it again. Their intent is to work with Consultant Michael Richardson on this as well as developing a travel policy. Currently, the Town doesn’t have a travel policy in place and handles anything needed one on a case to case basis. Tree City Designation – Supervisor McMillen and Deputy Supervisor Marsh met with resident Chiu Yin Hempel who pointed out the benefits of the Town earning a Tree City designation.Mrs. Hempel and Christopher Gow, Chairman of the Village’s Tree Advisory Board, will be at the next Town Board meeting to discuss this topic. Boiler at Town Hall –Town Engineer Sean Hoffman brought someone in to look at the current gas boiler located in Town Hall and he reported that, while the boiler is pretty old, every component of it is running efficiently. He advised that the Town should get a preventative maintenance recommendation now while the boiler is in good shape. From the audience, Bill Lemanski recommended
that the Town procure a feasibility study on a geothermal system before going any further. He also suggested that a cost benefit analysis would be beneficial. Upgrade to phone system at Town Hall, Police Station and Highway Department – The Town is at the end of their contract for the current phone system. The Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor have been looking into a VOIP system which is internet based. So far, they find that there would be a significant savings to installing this system as well as many additional improvements to the current one.
Monthly Reports: Supervisor McMillen reported that Town accountant, Andrew Arias, would be at the next meeting to give a report on the Town’s finances which are not in good shape. The Town currently has a large deficit due to purchasing things that had not been budgeted for. Everyone will have to tighten their belts in order to clean things up. Councilmember Kasker reported that New York State has a law which allows for a 10% discount for volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps members. It takes affect only when every entity in the district has passed it. Last year, the Town passed it, the Village of Tuxedo Park passed it and the TUFSD passed it. Last week, the Monroe Woodbury School District also passed it, so the discount will be in affect this year! Councilmember Murphy reported that the Town has received three proposals for the revitalization plan. Next they will apply for the New York Forward grant. She believes that all of this will start the process for getting the Town going again. Deputy Supervisor Marsh thanked everyone involved in the recent Town bonfire, specifically Kathleen Metcalf, the Fire Department, the Boy Scouts and everyone who came out. Additionally, he stated that he wants to start a concert series in the summer and has already booked the bands Uncle Shoehorn and Touch of Gray for two dates (one in June and one in July) He also spoke to the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck about coming to those concerts and will look for additional trucks. The concerts will be free for Town residents.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting of January 22, 2024 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Hank from Southfields had comments about trucks getting off the Thruway and avoiding inspections. He was told that until recently, the Town didn’t have any officers who had been certified as commercial vehicle inspectors. However, now that they have some certified officers, the police department plans to start doing truck inspections regularly again in the spring. Irene Denaro wanted to know why former Councilmember Reichgott had resigned and expressed her regret that he was no longer on the Board. Town Attorney Protter responded that the Board would not comment on this as it was Mr. Reichgott’s decision to resign and perhaps Mrs. Denaro should ask him that question.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 22, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilperson Murphy attending via Zoom.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
At the request of Supervisor McMillen, Councilperson Reichgott provided a summary of the Town’s progress with the Hamlet sewer system. There is a s substantial I&I (inflow and infiltration) problem in the system. (Inflow is water purposely put into the system, while infiltration is stormwater that gets into the system by accident.) The new plant has a significant amount of clean water and the Town pays for it by the gallon. Some pipes need to be replaced and others just need to be cleaned out. The manholes also need to be sealed. Phase 1 will exist of working on the pipes coming out of Tuxedo Park as well as those coming down Mountain Road and Southside Place. Once that work has been completed, the Town can take the old sewer plant offline. This hasn’t been done as yet because those pipes are the backup for the system. The Town has identified the worst areas and fixing those will reduce almost 100% of the infiltration. There is currently no headroom for expansion and that will be needed for the Tuxedo Reserve project.
Agenda Items:
Resolution of SEQR Negative Declaration – Tuxedo Hamlet Sewer District Improvements: Town Engineer Sean Hoffman has assured the Board that there will be no impact to the property surrounding the pipes. The project will use trenches already in place and will not necessitate digging new ones. Because the project is essentially a remediation of the existing system, it will have a negative declaration. This was approved unanimously by the Board.
Resolution and Order Authorizing Increase and Improvement of Facilities – This is the official order to do the work on the sewer system. It was approved unanimously.
Bond Resolution for the Tuxedo Hamlet Sewer District Improvements – The Board decided that it would not be smart to liquidate the funds in the sewer LDC. They want to have funds available in case there is a Phase 2 or Phase 3 of this project. The estimated cost for phase one of the project is $994,500.00. The bond resolution was unanimously approved.
Increase hourly wage for seasonal laborers – Currently, seasonal workers don’t get raises as they are employed for a season only. The Highway Department currently has one seasonal employee who has been working for the Town for 9 years and has never gotten a raise. The purpose of this resolution is to rectify that situation and it was passed unanimously.
Resolution Authorizing the Advertisement to solicit for a Grant Writer – This was approved unanimously.
Discussion Items:
Security System Upgrades for Town Hall – The Board has discovered that the current security system in Town Hall is inoperable. There are no panic alarms, and no cameras. The previous Board did begin working on this, but the current Board feels that it is important to get a system in place as soon as possible. They got a bid for a system that will include 5 cameras,17 panic buttons, an alarm system on the back door, an alarm system on the front door and motion sensors throughout the first and second floor at a cost of $15,000. Since the amount is well under $20,000, the Board is able to act on it on an emergency basis, and it was approved unanimously.
6-week Chair Yoga Program – This will be offered at Town Hall at a cost of $300 for the entire program. There is no cost for residents attending. The dates are 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, and 3.6.
Update on Police Station Repairs – Deputy Supervisor Marsh met with Chief Trazino and Town Engineer Hoffman. They looked at the Route 17 side of the building and determined that the mold had been remediated but the walls were never “put back together” leaving it looking terrible. Mr. Hoffman wants to put out an RFP for this work. It was agreed that he would be authorized to do so.
Park Mobile App – Deputy Supervisor Marsh has been working with the police to find a new system for parking enforcement in the Town lots. The developers of the Park Mobile app have suggested a system that would allow police to check on cars by entering individual license plate numbers into their phones. This is, however, time consuming and awkward. To date they have issued 20 violations but they are working on finding a better system.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments – Jerry Mottola remarked that he had spoken to Christine, the postmistress about the Post Office parking lot and that she should be the contact person if the Supervisor is interested in the possibility of the Town using this space. Dale Mottola commented that she was actively working to re-activate the Chamber of Commerce. She asked for permission to hold a meeting in the Train Station in the month of March. She was told that the Chamber could hold their meetings there and further that there will would not be a fee for them to use the space. The Supervisor thanked her for her work on revitalizing this group. Michele Lindsay reported that she has been working to put together a list of action items that have been achieved by the Climate Smart and Clean Energy Committees. She further reported that Joule Community Power, the administrator for the Town’s CCA, is hoping to have an update by the end of January. Up until now, the market for power has been too unsettled for them to invest but they think they see a window opening. Deputy Supervisor Marsh thanked Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for the great job done in cleaning the roads throughout the recent snow storms. Evelyn David commented that she is concerned about the state of the Ramapo River south of Town. Specifically, she said that while our Highway Department does a great job in keeping our portion of the river free and clear, the Village of Sloatsburg does not ever clean their portion. She is worried that this could eventually negatively impact the river in our Town. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said he would speak to Sloatsburg DPW about this
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department has been busy plowing and working on trees as time permitted. He reiterated that electronic recycling will now be taking place year-round at the Highway Garage from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. Alternately residents can drop off to the dumpster located at the garage on weekends. No “old fashioned” monitors or tvs (meaning the kind with tubes) will be accepted. Lastly he reported that he had spoken with the DEC in regard to the sinkhole in the post office parking lot in Southfields. The hole is a result of a pipe from a catch basin that is leaking. The DEC wanted to fill it in with gravel, but the Superintendent stopped them because the DOT needs to inspect it before it is filled.
Supervisor McMillen made a motion for the Board to go into Executive Session for the purpose of personnel and appointments at 8:16 pm. When they came back out, they made the following appointments: Planning Board:
John Banyo – Chairman (1 year term)
Full voting member (5 year term) The vote was unanimous.
John Ruel – Full voting member (5 year term) The vote was unanimous.
James Carse – Alternate (1 year term) The vote was unanimous. Supervisor McMillen made a motion for the Board to go into Executive Session for the purpose of personnel and appointments at 8:16 pm. When they came back out, they made the following appointments: Planning Board:
John Banyo – Chairman (1 year term)
Full voting member (5 year term) The vote was unanimous.
John Ruel – Full voting member (5 year term) The vote was unanimous.
James Carse – Alternate (1 year term) The vote was unanimous. Zoning Board of Appeals:
Sharon Radulov - Full voting member (5 year term) The vote was unanimous.
Maria May – Full voting member (term expires in 2027) The vote was unanimous.
Peter Dolan - Alternate (1 year term) The vote was 4 -1 with Councilperson Marsh abstaining. Building Inspector:
Dave Maikisch (part time 32/hrs week no benefits. $48/hr)
Vote was 4 -1 with Councilmember Reichgott voting against. Animal Control Officer:
John A. Trazino (son of current Police Chief)
This position is part time (up to $8221) and will be scheduled by Police Chief. The Animal Control Officer can also fill in for Traffic control guards. The vote was unanimous.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilperson Deirdre Murphy attending via Zoom.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for long time Town resident, Kirk Eberling who died over the past weekend.
The first order of business was the oath of office for Supervisor McMillen and Councilmembers Kasker and Marsh.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Tony Davidson, President of the Tuxedo Park Library Board, congratulated the new members of the Board. He also invited them to come and tour the Library and see all that they have to offer. He noted that as they are centrally located in Town, the Library has an interest in the upcoming revitalization. He further offered go over the funding of the Library with the Board if they so desired.
Agenda Items:
Reappointment of Fire Commissioners -At the recommendation of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Peter Dedel and Jason Paggioli, both of whom have just completed 4-year terms, were unanimously reappointed for the next 4 years (terms ending in December 2028).
Schedule Special Town Board Meeting for Planning and Zoning Board Interviews – There are currently openings on both the Planning and Zoning Boards. To date, the Town has received applications for 2 openings on the Planning Board and as well as 3 applications for the Zoning Board. The meeting was unanimously set for 7:00 pm on January 11.
Authorize Town Engineer to draft RFP for Improvements in Town Hall HVAC System – Supervisor McMillen reported that he had had a discussion with Town Engineer Sean Hoffman who was not present. It was the Supervisor’s understanding that if the Town were to include a geothermal option on the RFP, they would be eligible for points from the Climate Smart program. This is the main reason he wants to include that option. Climate Smart Chairman, Michele Lindsay, who was present responded that the Town would only get Climate Smart points if they decided to install a geothermal system. Councilmember Reichgott stated that he was concerned about moving forward with an entire sytem. He pointed out that replacing the boiler with the same kind of equipment would not equate with installing a geothermal system, which would necessitate hiring someone design the system as opposed to just installing the boiler. Also, there are probable savings to be had from a geothermal system, but the Town wouldn’t seem those savings for quite a few years. He thought the Board should prepare a RFQ (request for quote) instead of a RFP (request for proposal). The Supervisor responded that Mr. Hoffman had specifically recommended an RFP and further that he had outlined a way to get points from Climate Smart no matter which option the Town ended up chosing. Both Councilmembers Marsh and Kasker felt that the Board should gather information on both types of systems so that they could inturn make the most informed decision for the residents. After some further discussion the Board voted unanimously in favor of having Mr.Hoffman put together an RFP for both kinds of systems.
Authorize Town Attorney to draft RFP to solicit Grant Writer – Everyone agreed that hiring a grant writer was a good idea. Significant sewer repairs are imminent and the Board does not want the Town to miss out on any potential opportunities. The grant writer that Supervisor McMillen has in mind for the position is Fred Rella. The Board unanimously agreed to ask Town Attorney Protter to issue an RFP.
Discussion Items:
Hamlet Revitalization RFP specifications – Councilmember Murphy explained that in October the Town Board had authorized the Town Planner and Town Attorney to write an RFP for a master plan for hamlet revitalization that would include infrastructure improvement as well as any construction that would be necessary to revitalize and beautify the hamlet. The Town would be looking for project based or traffic-based engineering firms that would be able to take on the project and secure funding. Phase One of the project would include traffic flows, pedestrian walkways, lighting, landscaping and sidewalk enhancements. The next step in the process would be to send invitations to bid to reputable engineering firms that specialize in what the Town is looking for. Councilmember Kasker suggested that they also consider putting the RFP on Contract Reporter which is a website that lists current RFPs. The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the RFP as received and posting it to Contract Reporter.
Hamlet Sewer Systems next steps – The Town will be going for a bond anticipation note. Councilmember Reichgott reports that the Town has enough funds to pay for the first phase of the project, but, there is more work coming and there is always the possibility that the work will cost more than what was quoted. He feels it is reasonable and prudent for the Town to start looking at financing and grants.
Repairs needed at Police Station – Councilmember Marsh has looked at the Police Station and finds that it is in terrible shape. The inside of the building on the Route 17 side is a mess. There are leaks and considerable water damage. Councilmember Marsh feels that the Board should ask Town Engineer Hoffman to take a look at it and provide an estimate at to how long repairs will take and how much it will cost. He further suggested that this is how the Town should spend their ARPA money, instead of on the sewer district. The Board agreed to ask Town engineer Hoffman to look at the building and provide an estimate detailing when he can get to this project and how long it will take. It was agreed that if he is too busy, they will ask Fusco Engineering to look at the station.
Commuter Parking Lot fees –Councilmember Marsh reported that the commuter lot parking fees have not been raised in years. Currently, the Town charges $3 per day to park in the lower commuter lot. Sloatsburg charges $10 per day. There also is no one monitoring the payment or non-payment of fees. The Town used to have an animal control officer who was also a retired policeman and for a time he was he was doing it, but ultimately he quit and hasn’t been replaced…so no one is currently checking up on the parking fees. Councilmember Marsh recommends raising the fee to $5 per day and $7 per day on weekends. Currently weekends are free. Parking fees are collected by a company called Park Mobile. The Board needs to get together with them and figure out how they can enforce the fees. Councilmember Marsh also noted that the system for emergency notifications, Nixle, also needs to be updated.
School Resource Officer - Currently, the officer in the School is from the County Sheriff’s Department. Councilmember Marsh would like to see the position filled by the Tuxedo Police Department. He met with both Police Chief John Trazino and School Superintendent Jeff White and they are in agreement. The Town currently has part/time police officers who were covering the midnight shifts and weekends. Now that the Town has switched to 24/7 policing and added some officers, the part-time officers are still budgeted for, but they don’t have any assignments. Councilmember Marsh would like to see them go into the school as Resource Officers. The School is currently paying the Sheriff’s Dept. for coverage and that money could come to the Town instead. These policemen are already in the Town and know people and, in his view, they are the obvious ones, to fill the position.
At 8:02 pm, the Board entered into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. When they returned, at 9:53 pm, they reported on their discussion of the Town Reorganization for 2024:
The following appointments were made
Deputy Supervisor
Rick Marsh
Budget Officers
Dave McMillan/Rick Marsh
Secretary to Supervisor
Lori Cosgrove
Account Clerk
Carey Alley
Deputy Town Clerk
Marianna Evans
Supervisor
Dave McMillan
$ 46,350.00
12/31/25
Deputy Supervisor
Rick Marsh
$ 13,412.96
12/31/27
Supervisor’s Secretary
Lori Cosgrove
$54.646.80
$35.03/hr for 30 hrs. per week
Budget Officers
Dave McMillen & Rick Marsh
$10,000.00
To be split
equally
Account Clerk
Carey Alley
$72,800.00
$40/hr for 35 hrs per week
Town Clerk/Tax Collector
Marisa Dollbaum
$73,774.78
12/31/27
Deputy Town Clerk
Marianna Evans
$37,440.00
$24/hr. for 30 hrs. per week
Highway Superintendent
Robert Dollbaum
$103,515.14
12/31/27
Town Board Member
Chris Kasker
$ 8,002.37
12/31/27
Town Board Member
Deirdre Murphy
$ 8,002.37
12/31/25
Town Board Member
Jay Reichgott
$ 8,002.37
12/31/27
Town Justice
Shawn Brown
$31,549.56
12/31/25
Town Justice
Alyse McCathern
$31,549.56
12/31/26
Planning Board Chairman
TBD
$ 6,865.39
12/31/28
Planning Board Member
Susan Reif
$3,117.01
12/31/27
Planning Board Member
TBD
$3,117.01
12/31/28
Planning Board Member
William Lemanski
$3,117.01
12/31/24
Planning Board Member
William Friedlich
$3,117.01
12/31/25
Planning Board Member
Susan Boyle
$3,117.01
12/31/26
Planning Board Member
Ned Kugel
$3,117.01
12/31/26
Planning Board Alternate
TBD
$3,117.01
12/31/24
Zoning Board of Appeals, Chairman
Francis Peverly
$1,887.42
12/31/25
Zoning Board of Appeals, Member
TBD
$1,374.24
12/31/27
Zoning Board of Appeals, Member
Sharon Radulov
$1,374.24
12/31/28
Zoning Board of Appeals, Member
Russell Shaver
$1,374.24
12/31/24
Zoning Board of Appeals, Member
Christopher Dollbaum
$1,374.24
12/31/26
Zoning Board of Appeals, Alternate
TBD
$1,374.24
12/31/24
Board of Assessment Review, Member
Marie Warniaha
9/30/27
***
Howard Zukof
***
9/30/28
***
Edward Mattes
***
9/30/24
***
Edward Brennan
***
9/30/25
***The Chairman of the Board of Assessment Review is determined annually by its members. The salary for the Chairman is $1799.13 and the members $624.72 each.
The TuxedoClimate Smart Community Task Force, whose members serve without compensation, is comprised of individuals to be appointed by the Town Board later in 2024. The Task Force Manager, to be chosen by the Town Board, shall serve for a two-year term. The Town Board has chosen Michele Lindsay to serve as Manager for the term ending December 31, 2024 under the direction of Town Supervisor.
The Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, whose members serve without compensation, is comprised of seven individuals to be appointed by the Town Board for terms of three years. The Town Board shall make appointments so as to stagger the terms of members so that no more than three, nor less than two, terms expire each year. The Board appointed Maria May as Chairperson of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, with the intention of filling the other openings at a later time this year.
Additionally, the following appointments were made
Attorneys for the Town
Jacobowitz and Gubits, LLP
Engineer for the Town
Hoffman Engineering
Municipal Consultant for Workforce Planning and Labor Relations
The Town Board met on Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Jay Reichgott and Deirdre Murphy participating via Zoom.
The meeting began with a moment of silence in honor of long time Town Resident and former Planning Board Chairman, Nils Gerling, who died recently.
Public Hearing -Proposed improvements to the Hamlet Sewer District:
Supervisor English provided a brief overview of the issues that plague the Hamlet sewer system. Essentially, the system is as old as the Town and requires a major overhaul. The Board is seeking feedback from the public regarding the need for the repairs . They are hopeful that the next Town Board will be in a position to consider whether they might want to finance the project. Incoming Town Councilman Rick Marsh, a Hamlet resident, commented that he had been following this project for about a year and in his opinion it is something that needs to be done. Irene DeNaro wondered what any previous Administrations had done to ameliorate the problem. She was told that the issue of outdated infrastructure was one that plagues towns all across the USA. Unfortunately the collection system, which is the part that needs attention, is not covered under the sewer agreement with Tuxedo Farms. Evelyn David expressed her hope that the next Board would take this problem and “run with it.” Deputy Supervisor Reichgott explained that until the Town switched over to using the new Sewer Plant, they hadn’t known how bad the problem was. The new plant operates differently than the old one did. The Town does have a bid for repairs to the plant (approximately $994,500) and that bid expires on February 14, 2024.
There were no further comments from the public so hearing was then closed.
Police Chief Trazino reported that there was recently been a burglary in Town. The Tuxedo Police Department is following leads and has increased their patrols around the Town. Because this was not an isolated event in the region, they are partnering with several outside departments who were also affected. Because it is an ongoing investigation, he could not give any details but he advised that if anyone observed any suspicious activity or wished to provide anonymous information to the Tuxedo Police, they should call the department. Further, if anyone is in immediate danger, they should call 911.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider authorizing Agreement for Snow and Ice Control on Old Forge Road in Warwick –
This is an annual agreement since Old Forge Road, while in Warwick, is actually across the street from the Highway Garage and thus easy for our DPW to plow. They will be paid $6,000 in compensation . The resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to consider towing license applications –
This is also an annual event. The current applications are from: Apple Auto, Loyal Tire, NJV Auto, Itsy’s Collision, ISM Car Rentals, Freeman’s Auto. They have all been vetted by Detection Shiloh, and were all granted licenses.
Department Updates: Supervisor English thanked everyone for their support over the last several years, but especially his wife Lynn who has been a consistent source of support and encouragement. Councilperson May said that in her first meeting she had pledged that it was her goal to make Tuxedo a Town that no one ever wanted to leave. She thanked the people of Tuxedo for giving her the opportunity to serve them. She thanked the people who work in Town Hall for doing their jobs efficiently which made it easier to do hers and also the Town volunteers who made all the things she had done possible. Finally, she congratulated the new Board members finally commenting that she had become one of those people who never wanted to leave Tuxedo. Councilperson Lindsay commented that the best part of campaigning for her job had been knocking on doors and getting to know people from all areas of Town. She is especially proud of having Chaired the Economic Development Committee which has done much good work and continues to work hard. She is also proud of cochairing the Climate Smart Task
Force where a lot of good work has also been done. She said it was an honor and a privilege to work with everyone. Councilperson Murphy thanked all the volunteers and staff of Town Hall, further noting that they had done a lot of work everyone should be proud. She believes that this Board has developed a foundation for moving Tuxedo forward. She added that it has been a privilege to work with her fellow Board members and they will be missed. She is looking forward to working with the new Board, but she hopes that they will continue to provide their opinions and deep knowledge about the Town. Additionally, she thanked all the Town departments who have also worked very hard. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott stated that he agreed with everything his colleagues had said adding that he would miss those individuals who were leaving office.
Minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on December 11 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
The following people from the audience expressed their gratitude to the outgoing Board for all of their time and effort: Sue Scher, Rick Marsh, Claudia Bakhtiary, Irene, DeNaro, Dale Mottola, Brian Sullivan, Betty Langberg, Jim Hays, Evelyn David, Dave McMilla and Hallie Gaines. The last speaker was Lynn English who invited everyone present to Steve’s for pizza following the meeting!!
Other Business: Councilperson Lindsay said she had two proposals that she’d been working on:
Request for bid for a Master Plan for Hamlet Revitalization This RFP was authorized by the Town Board in October and sent to Town Engineer Hoffman to be written. It was just received last week. The document outlines the scope of the project, sets the project boundaries, and also includes allowance for plan revisions and grant assistance as well as the public meetings necessary for the process. In order to qualify for the grant, there are deadlines that need to be met which is why Councilperson Lindsay feels it must be approved ASAP! She proposed that the RFP as written be approved and posted so that the process could get started.
Supervisor English commented that the scope of the RFP has grown. The proposition is very expensive and the work involved to carry it out is even more so. He feels that the decision to move it
forward must come from the next Town Board. Councilperson May agreed with the Supervisor. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott noted that on October 23, the Board (including himself) had approved putting together a plan-a-gram for hamlet revitalization but that this hadn’t included most of what is being proposed now. (i.e. engineering drawings, water and sewer requirements, drainage and/or sidewalk construction.) The RFP that was submitted by Engineer Hoffman includes all of these things as well as sidewalk and highway site plans, and cut and fill earth works. It is an RFP for a full blown project and not what he voted for in October. The project alluded to in the draft RFP will likely cost 2.5 to 3 million dollars. The engineering for that project would probably come to $250,000 - $300,000. He is in favor of doing this work in the Town, but further noted that he was not about to approve an RFP for that such a large amount of money on the eve of the Board turnover. He suggested that he would bring the matter up with the New Board once they were in place. Councilperson May stated that the new Board would be sworn in in a matter of days and she didn’t feel it would be fair to pass something that would determine how the new Board would carry out the proposed revitalization.
Councilperson Murphyresponded that they had been working on this proposal for the last two years and that an RFP is not a commitment to spend; rather it is a request for pricing. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott disagreed with her. He suggested that as an engineer he regularly responded to RFPs. He feels that ultimately the Town runs the risk of not having qualified people answer their RFPs if they continue to just use them for pricing purposes without the intetion of awarding the job. Following further debate, Supervisor Englishcalled for a vote. The Board voted 3-2 against passing the resolution, with Supervisor English and Councilpersons May and Reichgott voting against.
Proposal to have Town Engineer Sean Hoffman put together a Request for Proposal for an alternative bid for the Town HVAC project. - Councilperson Lindsayexplained that this was an alternative RFP which would allow a prospective bidder to choose which proposal they wanted to work on (geothermal or replacement of gas boiler) and then subsequently submit a bid. She pointed out that in 2019 she had signed a Climate Smart Community Pledge to pursue the use of clean energy and this was a step in that direction. Deputy Supervisor Reichgottresponded that the proposed RFP didn’t make any sense to him. The same prospective bidders would not be capable of carrying out both suggested solutions for the heating system (both geothermal heat pump and highly efficient gas boiler). In his opinion, this is not the most efficient way to get prices. He feels that these decisions must be up to the Board who will actually vote on and carry out the project. A debate ensued. Ultimately, the Board voted 3-2 against the resolution with Supervisor English and Councilpersons May and Reichgott voting no.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 11, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilperson Murphy attending via Zoom.
Public Hearing Real Property Tax Exemption for Senior Citizens – This amendment to the Town Code will bring it into alignment with NYS law. There were no public comments and the amendment was passed unanimously.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider transfer of 88 acre parcel in accord with the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit – This resolution will allow the parcel (part of the Northern tract and located off of Long Meadow and Warwick Brook Roads) to be transferred to Open Space Institute (OSI). OSI will eventually transfer the property to Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) after which it will be forever conserved. PIPC cannot directly acquire the property now as they don’t currently have the funds available. These parcels connect the Palisades Interstate Park with Sterling Forest State Park and are completely surrounded by conserved land. A representative from OSI further explained that this kind of work is one of the main things that the organization does and that they have worked with dozens of Towns and the State of New York on conservation projects like this one.
Supervisor English made the following statement:
"The Town Board has a decision to make this evening. To preserve and protect the land forever or to open it up to commercial development. I will change preservation and conversation personally. My reasons for approving the transfer? I believe the best use for this land is to preserve it in perpetuity. This is a key parcel that New York State Parks will acquire from Open Space Institute. That’s what OSI does. The conservation of this 88 acre parcel will further the interest of New York State Parks to acquire other northern tract parcels owned by the Town. We have 701 acres that came as a part of the Related agreement. Those parcels are currently under a conservation easement with Orange County Land Trust. OSI and New York State are willing to do this transaction together. We own more than eight times the property they have. This land is contagious with the 88 LIL parcel. These parcels connect Sterling Forest and Harriman State Park. Without this agreement the possibilities for development are left open and would be driven by the highest profit possible. Future Town Boards can amend the Special Permit and allow almost anything. Current code permits this commercial development. The approval will provide $100,000 to the Town of Tuxedo paid by Related. Taxes will continue to be paid to the Town by OSI and New York State after the transfer in perpetuity. New York State Parks is Tuxedo’s largest property tax resource. Those trees pay a lot of taxes, in case you don’t know. Never had an argument with any one of those trees either! Warwick Brook Road is an amazingly beautiful country road used extensively for walking and birdwatching. I feel it is my responsibility to do everything possible to preserve this land. It’s in the heart of Sterling Forest. I’d ask you, would we develop the property on the rim of the Grand Canyon? I would hope not. I feel that this property is that valuable for the tens of millions of people that I’ve within an hours’ drive of this park. And to nature, Sterling Forest is a critical bird sanctuary…and important stop for migrating birds. The wildlife has rebounded here since our leaders conservation established the parks. It makes Tuxedo unique. It draws tens of thousands of visitors every year who come to hike, birdwatch, hunt, bike, even ride horses. It’s a very important watershed as well. This could never be overstated. That is my rationale."
Board member Maria May pointed out that this was not something that was being decided now. It is written into the Special Permit. Related has the land and they have the right to with it what they like. This was already agreed to. She further pointed out that when the land had been revalued for the State the Monroe Woodbury School District received a sizable sum in the form of taxes and the transfer of this land would allow the Tuxedo Union Free School District to collect a similar benefit in the form of taxes that they weren’t getting before. She feels that moving forward in this way is the best thing that the Town can do with the land.
Councilperson Lindsay said that while she was in favor of land conservation, Tuxedo doesn’t have many properties that could possibly yield ratables. She provided some background as to how the parcels had come to be zoned for light industry the way they are. The purpose was so that the Town would have some non-residential ratables. She feels there are other options they might consider for the land. She and Councilperson Murphy have met with the Orange County Partnership as well as Orange County Tourism and those two organizations are interested in looking at Tuxedo for some sort of tourism based development. Orange County Partnership has expressed interest in at least part of this land as a place to develop some kind of hospitality/tourism attraction, although they have not yet spoken to Related. She believes that it would be nice if a portion of the land could be developed for tourism and the rest conserved. “I’m throwing it out there as an option to help the Town with the fact that it has so little non-residential ratable land.” She further suggested that given the fact that there were still some unknowns, she felt that it would be best to pass this along to the incoming Board for their due diligence.
Councilperson Murphy agreed. She supports conservation but feels that in keeping the best interest of the Town in mind they need to look at what the possible ratables could be if the Town were to open up a small portion of that tract to allow for tourism and hospitality “We have no hospitality in the Town,” she stated reiterating that the Orange County Partnership has expressed interest in working with all invested parties to develop a tourist attraction for the Town and she feels this is worthy of a conversation. She does not see the urgency of transferring the land immediately without due diligence,
Deputy Supervisor Reichgott commented that there was very little if any functional developable land within the 88 acres, although there may be some. He believes that if Related thought they could make money on the property, they wouldn’t be giving it away or selling it. While considering possible alternate uses for the land is “a lovely idea,” the Town has no way to compel Related to do that. “If we tell them that they have to develop it, they will find the highest paying development that they can put on it because they’ve got a lot of property, they’ve got to sit on that they can’t develop.” He believes there is urgency. “This is something that wants to happen now.”
The timeline of the transaction, which has been in the works for over a year, was then reviewed with representatives of Related and OSI. The Supervisor then opened the floor to public comment. Tony Davidson inquired as to why the Town Board was even involved rather than having it be a transaction between Related and OSI.
The answer was that the Special Permit only allows for a direct transfer to PIPC.
Mr. Davidson then wanted to know what would happen if PIPSI backed out after the transaction had occurred. There is no precedent for this and it is highly unlikely however should it occur, OSI would remain involved in finding a path to conservation.
Mr. Davidson suggested that if the Town were to move ahead with the transaction, they would get to keep both the forest and taxes, but if they did not the most likely buyer would be a religious organization and the Town would lose control of the forest and the taxes.
“I can’t speculate on that,” responded Supervisor English.
Irene Denaro commented that to her it sounded like a win-win for the Town and she could not see any negatives to moving ahead.
A woman named Haddie commented that she was also in favor of conserving the land.
Claudia Bakhtiary commented that she was confused as to why all of this was being discussed when the only decision before the Board was whether or not to allow OSI to step into the middle of the transaction. “Exploring, looking discussing…all of that was done,“ she stated before urging progress.
Roger Friedman, co-Chair of the Sterling Forest Partnership, commented that it was their position was that there was no need for any construction or development in Sterling Forest.”
Sharon Radulov stated that she agreed that the Town should move forward with this, take the $100,000 and conserve the land. If the time is now for Related and OSI the Town should support this.
Mary McFarlain commented that at one time people who lived in Clinton Woods had to get permission from Sterling Forest to cut down trees. It breaks her heart to see new people moving in and clear cutting their properties. Trees are the main thing that help to fight climate control. “How many more hundreds of acres are we going to clear-cut in Orange County,” she asked, further suggesting that they should take every opportunity that came their way to conserve the land and preserve the trees.
Mark and Michelle from Laurel Ridge commented that they were also in favor of preserving the land as is Donna W from the same neighborhood.
Kristy Apostolides suggested that Related was doing what they felt was best for the land and that happens to favor conservation. People move to this area for the forest. There are business in the Hamlet that would benefit from being revitalized…there are other properties in Town that could be used for tourism. She feels the transfer is in the best interest of everyone. Related is going to be developing commercial space within the development. The Town should be encouraging that development and working towards other smart development rather than picking off pieces of land in the middle of a state forest to put development in.
JoAnn Hanson commented that the land was going to be transferred to PIPC and that what was before the Board now was the current pathway to funding that. She suggested that given the fact that the developer has the right to move forward in this way that it was important for the Town to work to facilitate it. The OSI is a highly respected institution that maintains a lot of open land in the Hudson Valley. She implored the Board to move forward.
As "a human being who needs nature in her life” Kelly Spranger stated that she also supports preserving the land.
George and Betty Langberg, life-long residents of Tuxedo, also support the transfer through OSI. They feel it is a great move and a great opportunity for the Town.
Following some further discussion, the Board took a roll call vote on the proposition and it was passed unanimously.
Resolution to consider entering into a contract with Pitney Bowes for postage machine in Town Hall – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum explained that having this machine would serve to bring Tuxedo’s Town Hall into the 21st century. Using a postage machine will save the Town money on postage (when leasing this machine, the Town would get a small discount on postage) and also save lots of time for all the different departments in Town Hall. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to schedule a public hearing on the proposed improvements to the Hamlet Sewer District – This work would include the installation of various types of necessary pipes and the rehabilitation of 32 manholes. The hearing was set for December 27, 2023 at 7:00 pm.
Resolution to enter into contract with MVP for 2024 Employee Health Benefits – The insurance would be available for employees who are not under collective bargaining, however under their contract, police officers may switch over to this plan if they want to. It is only available to full time employees and was passed unanimously.
Resolution to consider appointing Board of Assessment Review member – The Board voted unanimously to reappoint Howard Zucker who has served on this Board in the past to the Board of Assessment Review. The term will expire in 2028.
Budget Modifications – Budget Modifications have been submitted by the Town’s accountants, Cooper Arias. Supervisor English stated that all the expenditures approved by the Town Board were necessary for the Town and were clearly, in his mind, the right thing to do. Councilperson Lindsay stated the following: “On Friday, the Town Board finally received a monthly analysis of the Town's financial position through October 31. This is the information I've repeatedly asked for and the reason why I did not vote to approve the 2024 budget. The analysis through October projected an A Fund balance at the end of the year which is a drastic reduction from the 2022 fund balance. It is possible that we will end the year with an A fund balance less than $200,000, which is over $1 million less than the balance at the end of 2022. Now, there were necessary expenses that were not budgeted…but there were expenses that could have waited until we secured financing….and If we had this information before the budget vote, we would have been able to adjust the budget accordingly to strengthen the A Fund balance.
Before we approve these budget modifications, I have asked for an update on expected expenditures since October 31 that were not included in the Andrew Arias' Monthly reports. We need to know now what has been committed in expenditures that our bookkeeper needs to be made aware of. We should follow the prudent practice of approving budget modifications before we approve any more expenditures. The Town Board has approved expenditure requests for the A Fund and the Highway DA Fund without a good analysis of how the expenses would be paid for. For months we have been told that there is sufficient A Fund and DA Fund balances. We now are learning that that is not accurate. We cannot continue to spend like this when the A and DA balances are projected to be razor thin.”
The Supervisor responded that all they were looking to do was approve the proposed budget modifications and called for a roll call vote on that. The modifications were approved unanimously.
Monthly Reports: Police Department: Chief Trazino reported that the new Search and Rescue team had handled two incidents and both were concluded successfully. Also, he noted there has been an uptick in weather related traffic accidents and he urged everyone to please use caution when driving. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reminded everyone that Friday, Dec. 15 is the last day for the Holiday toy drive. There are collection boxes located throughout the Town.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that there had been a good and successful Menorah lighting before the Town Board meeting which had a great turnout. He wished everyone a Happy Chanukah. Councilperson May thanked Recreation Coordinator Kathleen Metcalf for putting together both the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and the Chanukah celebration. Councilperson Lindsay commented that she wanted to talk about the RFP for HVAC which has been discussed in the last several meetings. She proposes that if they put together an RFP for installing a geothermal system in Town Hall as well as a one-in-kind boiler replacement, an energy audit & upgrades for the police station and a solar roof on the highway department, then the project would be big enough for the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to bid on. She then elaborated on what the next steps should be in this process.
Supervisor English reminded her that there were only two weeks left in their term and those weeks include the Christmas holiday. He stated that there is not enough time to put an RPF together, never mind take the process any further. Those steps should be, in his opinion, the purview of the next Town Board. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott agreed that there wasn’t enough time to start the project as outlined by Councilperson Lindsay before the end of the term. He then turned to Supervisor Elect McMillan and Town Board member elect Marsh, who were in the audience, and said “if you guys want to get Town Engineer Hoffman to start something, let me know, otherwise, we can discuss this at the first meeting.” He then reported that the ATM at the train station is up and running!
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on November 27 were approved unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 27,2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with an oath of office ceremony for new policemen Savino Citriniti, Michael Tierney and Colin Cooper. This was followed by an oath for Officer Gerard Shiloh who has been promoted to Detective.
With these new hires, the department now has enough officers to return to 24/7 coverage.
Public Hearing: Franchise Agreement with Cablevision of Rockland Ramapo, LLC – Jerry Mottola asked if there was any way the Town could offer a choice between Optimum and some other cable company? It was explained to him that the agreement with Cablevision is not exclusive, however any other company coming in would have to install their own wireless before they could offer service. Since Tuxedo is a very small market, it is doubtful any other company would be interested in investing the necessary money. There were no other comments so the hearing was closed. The Board then voted unanimously in favor of authorizing Supervisor English to sign the agreement.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve purchase of Chevy Tahoe(s) for Police Department – These are vehicles, which were discussed, approved and budgeted for several months ago, have only just arrived at the dealership due to supply chain issues. There are 2 vehicles and the price of each is roughly $50,000 with an additional package of roughly $25,000 for the bells and whistles that are necessary to make them work for police departments. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to Introduce Local Law entitled “Low Income Senior Exemption,” and set public hearing – This was brought to the Board’s attention by the Town Assessor. It will bring the Town code into compliance with the State Tax Code. The public hearing was set for December 11, 2023.
Resolution to consider bid proposal for Sewer and Manhole Project – The Town has received 2 bids for this project and Deputy Supervisor Reichgott has recommended that the Town accept the lower bid from Tam Enterprises, Inc. for $837,866. 30. Further, he noted that he had checked and determined that the Town either has or will have the necessary funds to complete this project, however he suggests that they consider bonding the project, which will allow them to apply for grants to help pay for it. Boardmember Elect Rick Marsh inquired as to whether the bid was for the entire hamlet sewer system or just for the part that comes out of the racetrack. He was assured it was for the entire project. Town Engineer Sean Hoffman explained that the bid is for the entire system but there will be additional related expenses down the road that the Town should be preparing for.
Other Business: Resolution Authorizing Transfer of 88 acre Parcel in accordance with Tuxedo Farms Special Permit – The Town received the following proposed resolution from Related:
Whereas the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit Article XX.D requires the town board
consent to the transfer of the 88 acre LIO Zoned land from LR Tuxedo Development
Group, LLC (“TDG”) to the Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc. (“OSI”) for its
preservation purposes; and
Whereas Ultimately, OSI intends to transfer the Property to the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission (“PIPC”).
Now therefore, the Town Board consents to the transfer upon the following
two conditions;
1. The real property remains taxable on the real property tax rolls and that
taxes continue to be paid by OSI until transfer of the property to PIPC;
a. In accordance with the special permit upon transfer to OSI there will
thereafter be no PILOT payments.
2. Upon transfer to OSI the Town receive payment of the sum of $50,000.00 as a voluntary contribution from TDG;
After some discussion, the Board decided to table this item until the next Board meeting when they could have their attorney and other consultants present.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that he and his Department have been busy collecting leaves. Beginning this week, they will also be begin putting up Holiday decorations.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English deferred his report. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott commented that he had been busy working on the sewer project. Councilperson Lindsay reported that representatives of Joule had given another explanation of CCAs in a meeting immediately preceding the current one. She then wanted a discussion on what the Town should do with the Energy Audit they received from Daylight Savings…specifically which further projects should be considered and who should work on them. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott suggested that first they needed to determine what the project would be. Supervisor English noted that he didn’t think this Board had enough time to get involved in a further project at this point in time. Councilperson Murphy reported that she, Town Engineer Hoffman and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum were going to have a meeting with the DOT to determine what exactly needs to be done in order to get the flashing yellow lights installed on school zone signs in front of the school. Councilperson May gave an accounting of all the spending that had been done with ARPA funds this year. The money must be spent within the next year. Additionally, she reported that the Turkey Trot held on Thanksgiving morning was a great success with about 50 people participating! Coming up are the tree lighting on Friday, December 1st and a movie afterward at the Tuxedo Park Library. Councilperson Lindsay then stated that she thought the Board had decided to appoint people to the current vacancies on Boards (one on the Zoning Board of Appeals and one on the Board of Assessment Review) before the end of the year. The Supervisor disagreed with her that such an agreement had taken place, further suggesting that if they were to follow the same process they had followed with all previous appointments, they might be ready to take a vote during the last meeting of the year. He noted that although he didn’t think they had enough time to go through with all the interviews and vetting that they as a Board had done with appointments, he would have no trouble nominating and voting for either Councilperson Lindsay or Councilperson May, both of whom are coming off the Board, to fill either of these positions. Attorney Amy Levine spoke up stating that she thought there might be a conflict of interest involved. Supervisor English disagreed, suggesting that they would have to resign from the Town Board first, but so long as they did, there would be no conflict of interest. At this point, Councilperson Lindsay stated that she was not interested in being considered for either one of the available positions. Councilperson May said she would be interested in serving on the Board of Zoning Appeals. Next, Deputy Supervisor Reichgott made a motion that the Board should start the process for appointing people to the Boards (Zoning Appeals and Assessment Review) making sure everyone understood what they would be committing to in terms of time before the end of the year. That motion failed 3-2 with Supervisor English, Deputy Supervisor Reichgott and Councilperson Murphy voting no. Following further discussion, they decided to table the possibility of appointing Councilperson May to the Zoning Board of Appeals until the next meeting before which time they would have the opportunity to research whether or not there would be a legal conflict of interest.
Minutes – of the regular Town Board meeting held on November 13, 2023 were approved unanimously.
Town Board Workshop Part 2: Revitalize & Beautify The Tuxedo Hamlet Business District November 14, 2023
The Town of Tuxedo conducted the second part of a 2-workshop series focused on the revitalization and beautification of the Tuxedo Hamlet Business district on Tuesday, November 14 at 7pm. The meeting featured a presentation, which focused on the history as well as the current status of the effort, breaking the Hamlet into sections and discussing the various restrictions and possibilities for each. Ultimately, the Town would like to work towards repairing and potentially widening sidewalks on both sides of Route 17 as well as possibly installing a cross walk at the intersection of Hospital Road, which would help to promote connectivity and walkability throughout the Hamlet. They must work within Department of Transportation Guidelines for work along Route 17. The Town is limited to their own land in terms of possible landscaping and beautification efforts and these specific areas along with some potential projects were reviewed and discussed. This issue of traffic through Town as it relates to both pedestrian safety and speed is also of great concern, and finding ways to mitigate this will be an important part of revitalization. To this end, the idea of a Road Diet, similar to what has been done in Sloatsburg, has been suggested and some preliminary ideas of what that might look like were also presented and reviewed.
There is funding available for many of the desired projects through a program called New York Forward and the Town has been encouraged to apply for these monies as well as other grants that may be available, but in order to be eligible to apply they must first develop and submit a professional engineering plan, which clearly details what they hope to do. There is a fairly tight timeline in conjunction with securing the lion share of funds and to this end, the Town Board has voted in favor of putting together an RFP for services with the hopes of contracting a firm to assist then in putting together a formal plan. They are also soliciting feedback from the community as they recognize that developing a plan that is based on the wants and needs of the community and that has full community support is critical to its’ success.
Discussion following the presentation centered around the overall timelines as well as traffic. Traffic and appropriate mitigation thereof is a major concern. The idea of trying to re-energize the movement for an exit 15B off the Thruway at 17A was raised and discussed at some length. Town Consultant Bonnie Franson, who has worked with the Town of Tuxedo for well over a decade and is not only familiar with its history but has also been involved with the planning of Tuxedo Farms, was on hand and offered her thoughts and suggestions as well.
See video recording of the workshop below.
Residents with thoughts and ideas are encouraged to reach out to the Town and get involved.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 13, 2023 at 6:30 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with an update on the Community Choice Aggregation given by a representative from Joule Community Power. The company is about midway through the process of gathering prices for the Town. Currently, prices are unnecessarily high due to unrest in the Middle East. While they continue their process, Joule is also continuing with community education as well as discussions with various electricity suppliers. Councilmember Lindsay asked when the time clock started for collecting bids. She was told that it had started on October 20 and thus they can’t enter into a contract until December 20 at the earliest. Joule would like to negotiate for a longer period of time while waiting for the prices of oil to come back down. Currently, O&R’s price is lower than what Joule would be able to offer based on the bids they have been receiving!
Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider adopting 2024 Final Town Budget - Councilmember Lindsay has asked several questions of the Supervisor via email and they were read into the record and addressed. She first wanted to know the reason for the increase to the budget since the first draft? Supervisor English replied that when they first developed the tentative budget, they hadn’t had the figures for retirement. Next, Councilmember Lindsay noted that the Board had received the figures for a new HVAC system for Town Hall but she didn’t see those reflected in the budget and wondered why. The Supervisor replied that he would leave that for the next Town Board. He assured Councilmember Lindsay that there was ample money in the fund balance to cover those costs. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she felt there were a few more tweeks that needed to be made to the budget before it could be voted on. The Supervisor responded firmly “tonight’s the night we are going to vote on the budget.” When the vote was taken, all voted aye except Councilmember Lindsay who abstained.
Resolution to schedule a public hearing for Altice (Cablevision) Franchise Agreement – This was set for November 27 at 7:00 pm. The only question was whether there were any service improvements proposed. The response was that the Town attorneys were the ones who had been negotiating this contract and they had arranged for service to be extended to Contractor’s Road by their installing a new line there.
Resolution to approve purchase of a Mohawk lift for the Highway Garage – This was approved unanimously and Superintendent Dollbaum was given up to $21,000 to spend.
Resolution to approve ATM placement agreement with All County Vending – This will allow for the placement of an ATM at the Train Station. It will be placed outside on the platform side of the station near the door to the station and under a roof and there is already a light there so this will be accessible 24 hours a day. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to request an update to NYPA’s proposal for energy upgrades at Town Hall, Police Station and Highway Garage – This generated a lengthy discussion on what the various Board members wanted to see happen with this. All of them agree that the boiler in Town Hall is about 40 years old and could use replacement. They recently had an energy audit done by Daylight Savings and it was recommended that the Town replace the boiler with a Geothermal system. Months ago, members of the Board held talks with NYPA (New York Power Authority) who indicated that they could do the project, including the design and implementation of the design however, when the Board decided that they wanted to do just the Town Hall and not include the roof of the Highway Garage (installing solar there) or the Police Station and Train Station, NYPA indicated that the modified project wasn’t big enough and they were no longer interested in doing it. So, the Board is trying to decide what to do next. Supervisor English would like to send the report from Daylight Savings to Town Engineer Sean Hoffman and get his opinion on what the Town should do next. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott would like to start developing an RFP for replacing the HVAC system in Town Hall. Eventually, the Board agreed to send the report to Town Engineer Hoffman and get his opinion.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum began by announcing that the bid opening for the sewer and manhole project would be on Thursday, November 16 in the Courtroom at 1 pm. Additionally, she noted that Town Hall will be closed on Friday, November 24 and garbage pickup will be on Monday, November 20 for regular pickup and Friday November 24 for garbage and recycling. Finally, she reported that the annual Toy Drive which collects new, unwrapped toys for local families had started on November 13 with boxes located in Town Hall and around Town. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum began his report by stating that his department is currently down 2 trucks, which are out for repair. He does not know when they will be getting them back. Despite having been to the Board and getting approval to buy 2 trucks which were budgeted for, the papers necessary for actually getting the trucks were never signed. Supervisor English commented that he would need to start from scratch with the specifications of the needed trucks in order to follow the Town’s procurement policy. Superintendent Dollbaum responded he had given those specifications to various people several times. Supervisor English suggested that there wasn’t enough time to get this done. Councilmember Murphy suggested the Board pass a resolution of support for the purchase of the trucks and the Supervisor replied that this couldn't be done. Finally, Councilmember Murphy put together a resolution of support, it was seconded by Councilmember Lindsay and passed unanimously. Lastly, Supervisor Dollbaum reported that the department was still picking up leaves. He requested that everyone please be patient. They will get to everyone. Also, there is still mulch available at Quarry Field for resident gardeners.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Reports: Supervisor English passed on making a report. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott noted that he had been “distracted by other things for the last couple of weeks,” and thus wouldn’t be making a report. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she wanted to add a Community Choice Aggregation Outreach public workshop to the calendar for November 27 at 6 pm. Councilmember May reported that the TUSFD girls’ volleyball team had won their latest game and will now be advancing to the finals in Lake George. She read the names of the players into the record and wished them luck. Next, she announced that the Recreation Department would be running a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Details and sign-up are available on the Town website. Councilmember Murphy reported that she and Councilmember Lindsay are still working on the Hamlet Revitalization and would be holding a workshop about the plans for the West side of Route 17 on November 14. Additionally, she reported that she has been working with Mitch from Lennar and had taken him on a tour of the Hamlet District while outlining future plans for the area as well as taking him to look at Powerhouse Park. Mitch was very supportive of the Town’s plans and loved Powerhouse Park. Councilmember Murphy also noted that she was working on security systems for the Police Station, Town Hall and the Train Station and had spoken to Chief Trazino about looking into grants to pay for those. Finally, she said she had spoken to the Historical Society about joining with the Town for next year’s Plein Air Event.
Minutes for the Regular Town Board meeting held on October 23, 2023 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola inquired as to whether the Supervisor had signed off on the repairs to the Train Station further explaining that he wanted to know because the Chamber of Commerce wanted to start decorating the building for Christmas. John Ruel stated that the timing of the traffic light at the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and Route 17 needs fixing. When trying to turn onto Route 17 from Schoolhouse Road, he always has trouble making the turn. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum agreed to call the DOT to have them check the timing and fix it if necessary. Evelyn David said she wanted to thank all members of the Board for all their hard work on the Town.
Public Hearing for Preliminary 2024 Town Budget Set for November 8, 2023 @ 7pm
The 2024 Preliminary Budget Public Hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 8th at 7:00pm. The meeting will be broadcast live using the Town’s Zoom Room (the information to log on virtually or call in is located on the bottom of the notice) Residents are also welcome to attend in person at Town Hall.
Tuxedo Board Approves Search for Engineering Firm for Hamlet Revitalization Proposals
October 2023, Tuxedo, NY. After years of starts and stops, public meetings and discussions, The Tuxedo Town Board has approved a resolution to issue an RFP for a conceptual master plan for a revitalized Business District in Tuxedo, also known as The Hamlet.
The Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2003 and updated in 2018, outlines a conceptual plan that includes streetscapes, lighting, landscaping and parking to make the Hamlet more friendly for pedestrian traffic and to provide connectivity connecting the business district to the neighboring residential areas and public parks.
“Rt 17 as a main thoroughfare and also the Town’s Main Street has posed significant obstacles, says, Michele Lindsay, Councilperson. “ Over the past year, we have worked closely with the NYS DOT, Senator Skoufis and Brabenec’s offices and other State and local agencies, to fully understand and provide solutions to the obstacles we face with Rt 17 as our Main Street.”
The Town is seeking an Engineering Firm that can partner with them to provide solutions and visual pictorials for further public involvement and feedback. The goal is to finalize a master plan and ultimately be prepared to apply for State and Federal funding for Downtown Revitalization.
“We look forward to continue working with our elected officials and local agencies to help us in our goal to beautify the Historic Tuxedo Downtown.
Tuxedo has announced their next Tuxedo Hamlet Revitalization and Beautification Workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14th. Residents are invited to attend to hear and review options for the Western side of Hamlet.
For more information please contact:
Deirdre Murphy
Councilperson, Town of Tuxedo
845-712-5559
The Town Board met on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing: Tax Levy Limit Override-
Supervisor English explained that this is just a cautionary action which will allow the Town to override the State imposed limit if necessary. It has been passed almost every year since the limit was first introduced. Claudia Bakhtiary commented that similar legislation had been adopted happened for the last four years. There were no further comments and the public hearing was then closed.
Presentation Tuxedo Police Department Progress and Updates –
Chief John Trazino provided the Board and public with a Department update. To view a copy of the presentation, click here.
Supervisor’s Update:
Supervisor English announced that he would not be running for re-election. He then provided an update that was focused on the Town’s progress over the last four years in which he identified many of the Board’s accomplishments as well as issues that they have faced. Click here to read a copy of the Supervisor’s comments.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider adopting Local Law “Tax Levy Limit Override – 2024 - This was approved unanimously.
Budget Modifications - These were at the recommendation of Town Accountant, Andrew Arias, and were approved unanimously.
Resolution to authorized RFP for “Sewer and Manhole Rehabilitation Project,” – The Board would like to put out an RFP for the relining or possible replacement of damaged pipes as well as as well as the repair and sealing of manholes for the sewage collection system in the Hamlet Sewer District. The resolution was approved unanimously and the bid opening will take place on November 9.
Resolution to schedule 2024 Budget Public Hearing – The public hearing for the budget was set for November 13 at 7:00 pm.
Councilmembers Murphy and Lindsay are looking to put together a “Planagram” for the Hamlet business district. This would consist of a detailed schematic of the overall space to help people visualize what the end result might look like and entail. They would like to put out an RFP for an engineering firm with landscape architect skills to put together the next action steps needed in order to get the space ready for business development. This would allow the Town to go out and apply for grants to assist in getting the work done. The Board voted unanimously in favor of authorizing this RFP.
Discussion Item: Daylight Savings Energy Audit – Daylight Savings was engaged to do an energy audit of Town Hall. The audit was initiated because the boiler in the building is 36 years old and needs replacing. Daylight has recommended that the Town switch to a Geothermal ground source heat pump. The Town would be eligible for a tax credit. The payback period is 11 years and the pump is expected to last for 25 years. The pump runs on electricity. The Board agreed that they would look further into it so as to be ready to consider it at their next meeting
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on October 11 were approved unanimously with Deputy Supervisor Reichgott abstaining because he was absent.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Town BoardUpdates: Deputy Supervisor Reichgott commented that the bears are out and he cautioned residents to put bird feeders away, not to feed dogs outside and to lock up their garbage. Councilmember Lindsay reported that the Community Choice Aggregation program is in the process of collecting bids. Both the Town and the Village are participating in the same group of municipalities. Supervisor English reminded all that he, together with Deputy Supervisor Reichgott and Councilmember Lindsay would be giving tours of the new sewer plant on Saturday, October 28 from 2:00-3:30 pm. Councilmember May reported that the Fall Festival had been very successful and she thanked Recreation Director Metcalf and all of her staff and volunteers for a job well done. She reminded everyone that there would be a Trunk or Treat taking place at Powerhouse Park on October 29 from 12:30-2:30 pm. She also mentioned that Chair Yoga classes for Seniors are now taking place in the Community room in Town Hall and the Recreation Department is looking to start a basketball league. Councilmember Murphy announced that the next workshop for Hamlet Revitalization and Beautification, covering the west side of Route 17 will take place on November 14 at 7:00 pm.
The Board adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel relating to pending litigation. When they re-entered the public meeting, they passed a motion to approve the DeMarino settlement as presented and determined that the settlement agreement will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment.
The Town Board met on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Deputy Supervisor Jay Reichgott was absent.
Supervisor English began the meeting by calling for a moment of silence to reflect on the on the escalating conflict in Israel and Palestine
Public Hearing – Tax Exemption for Volunteer Firefighters and Volunteer Ambulance Service: The Supervisor announced that the Town Board intends to implement an exemption at the highest level allowed by Gardiner Hempel, Vice Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners and President of Tuxedo Fire Department, Company 1, said he applauds the Board for pursuing this action as it is important and helps the department with their need to attract volunteers. There are presently 82 active volunteers over all 3 districts in the Town and of those, he estimates that 43 would be eligible for these benefits. Out of the 7 taxing jurisdictions in Tuxedo (Orange County, the Fire District, Tuxedo Union Free School District, Village of Tuxedo Park, Monroe Woodbury School District, Tuxedo Park Library and the Town of Tuxedo) only the Library and the Town have not passed this new law. Mr. Hempel will be meeting with the Library soon.
Supervisor English noted that there is also available a $200 annual credit for firefighters who don’t claim a property tax exemption.
Mr.Hempel confirmed this and said they had recommended that people pick whichever of the two would result in a higher reduction.
There were no other comments and the hearing was then closed.
Public Hearing - NYS Unified Solar Permit Implementation: Councilmember Lindsay explained that New York state is encouraging solar installations on homes. This is for smaller scale installations to be standardized 25 kilowatt hours or less. It will standardize the permitting process as well as the application process throughout New York, which should make it easier for contractors and customers to know what they can expect when considering a solar installation. Adopting this legislation would be a step in the Town’s pursuit of certification as a clean energy community, which will give them the ability to apply for more grants. There were no comments and the hearing was then closed.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider adopting Local Law # 5, NYS Unified Solar Permit Implementation -This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to consider adopting Local Law # 4, Tax Exemption for Volunteer Firefighters and Volunteer Ambulance Service – This was approved unanimously.
Discussion – ATM at the Train Station – This was tabled because Deputy Supervisor Reichgott, who has been leading this discussion, was absent.
Monthly Reports: Police Chief Trazino said that no sooner was the news about the terrorist activity in Israel made public than he started receiving inquiries from residents about security in the Tuxedo area. He reassured residents that the Tuxedo Police Department has been training for terrorist attacks and are also working on streamlined mutual aid between local departments. The Tuxedo department has a Field Intelligence Officer and is partnered with NYPD Terrorist Division. Additionally, he reported that he has also been working on improving conditions at the Ren Faire, but will wait and give that report in full at the next meeting. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had been working on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) where they are waiting for the administrator, Joule Energy, to go out for bids. The Town has been able to join with a large consortium of municipalities who are renewing their contracts and because they are such a large group, she feels they will be able to get better pricing! Additionally, she reported that the workshop meeting on October 2, where they covered plans for the revitalization of the Eastern side of Route 17, had gone well. Plans and ideas for the Western side, where the MTA is proposing a crosswalk and a traffic light, will be covered in the next workshop to be scheduled soon. Councilmember May brought everyone up to date on events happening around Town over the next few weeks; the Back to School Carnival on October 13, the Pickleball event on Saturday October 14 (might be postponed due to a forecast for rain) the Fall Festival at Murphy Field on October 21 and Trunk or Treat at Powerhouse Park on October 29 from 12:3-2:30 pm. Additionally, she is working on setting up a Chair Yoga course at Town Hall, dates still to be determined. Councilmember Murphy reported that the DOT had denied the Town’s request for a school zone, however they will be able to install flashing lights along 17 on either side of the school, so the Town will work on getting individual Highway permits instead. She has also been working on Chapter 2 of her recently introduced workbook for Town Revitalization. This chapter will deal with the West side of Route 17. Supervisor English reported that the Tuxedo Farms LDC will be hosting an open house tour of the new sewer plant on October 28 from 2:00-3:30 pm. This information is important for residents of the East Village, the Hamlet and a few houses in Tuxedo Park who will be serviced by the new plant. The Tour will be led by the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor and will provide an overview of the plant’s operation and plans for the future. All residents would be welcome and those who will be serviced by the plant have received an invitation in the mail. Next, he commented that there will be an important Tuxedo Police Update at the next Board meeting on October 23 at 7:00 pm. In order to be ready for a return to 24/7 police coverage they will be swearing in three new police officers and promoting Officer Shiloh to Detective. Finally, he updated everyone on events coming up, specifically a N Y/NJ Trail Conference run on Saturday October 21, a Forest Run fundraiser which will take place mostly in Harriman State Park although it will begin and end in Powerhouse Park and lastly the Fall Festival on October 21 at Murphy Field from 12 noon – 4 pm.
Department Updates Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that Early Voting will start on October 28 and take place every day until November 5th at the Monroe Town Hall and in Warwick. Details can be found on the Town website. Additionally, she announced that the US Postal Service is again offering 4 free covid tests per family. These details can also be found on the Town website. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that he had met with the DOT and the MTA regarding their plans for the railroad crossing earlier in the day Nothing has been changed since it was last reported on. He next noted that his men have been planting more bulbs in the berm in front of the train station. They have also started crushing rocks and concrete at the Highway garage in order to minimize material which is stored on the site. The work on the floor in the garage is moving along very well and they are currently working on cracks in the floor. Leaf pickup started on October 11. There was a dumping incident on East Mombasha road but the material in question has all been removed. Lastly, he reminded everyone that mulch and stone are available for residents at Quarry Field.
Minutes:
The minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on September 25 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola complained about traffic backing up through Town during the Ren Faire. He was told that the next meeting would be the right time for him to bring that complaint to the police.He also wanted to know how much residents in the Hamlet sewer district would be paying. He was told that rates are still to be determined as they are trying to straighten out the collection system and its pipes, which have not been maintained well for years!
The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 pm.
The Town Board met on September 25, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing, Short Term Rentals law: This was a continuation of the Public Hearing from the September 11 meeting. The Supervisor began by presenting the public with some background information regarding the year-long process they have been engaged in with this legislation. Initial discussions began on July 11, 2022 when the building department raised the question as to whether such uses were allowed. Almost a year later, on June 12, 2023, the Board agreed to review a rough draft Short Term Rental Law. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott took the project on, compiling feedback and comments from Town Board members and residents alike with the goal of presenting a draft in July. Discussions continued throughout that month, with the Board consulting counsel to make sure that any legal issues were addressed and that the draft complied with existing restrictions and regulations. A new draft was presented at the August 28 meeting and a public hearing subsequently set for September 11. “This issuing of a draft law is an opportunity for the Board to hear from the public … and we did! I think you’ll hear in our responses tonight that we heard you loud and clear.”
Deputy Supervisor Jay Reichgott further suggested that they had put together the law as a way to open the discussion with residents on the subject. After listening to the residents who spoke at the first hearing on September 11, the Board was planning to rescind the draft law and go back to the drawing board. He added that when initially investigating the legality of short-term rentals in Town, the Board had discovered that, they are actually not a permitted use, but there is unfortunately no easy way to enforce that. In putting together the legislation, the Board worked to maintain a balance between those residents who are very much against short-term rentals and those who think that some short-term rentals would be a good thing. The current draft law was their attempt at legislating that balance.
Councilmember Maysaid that she had been surprised to hear some of the comments at the previous meeting and that some people had “assumed malice or carelessness” on the part of the Board because the Board is there to serve the residents. “We did this because we heard you and we heard your complaints. You are our neighbors and our friends and for you to think that any of us would demean a part of town or do something out of malice or distain was really surprising to me because I don’t think that we are that kind of Board. We work hard for you through our service.”
Councilmember Lindsay added that the Board had put numbers into the draft law with regard to days and weeks, but it was only meant to be a starting point for them to collect feedback. They have been looking throughout the State of New York as to what other towns are doing in an effort to come up with the best possible solution. They realize that there are short-term rentals that exist and they wanted to try to find a way to regulate them so they wouldn’t have an impact on Tuxedo’s neighborhoods.
Supervisor English pointed out that all of the comments received on September 11 had been critical and suggested that the Town should be adopting legislation to prevent short-term rentals rather than just regulating them. He summarized a number of the comments, providing his responses to them and there was some Board discussion. Among other things, topics addressed included the recent drug bust that occurred in a short-term rental as well as the existing Tuxedo Park Law, which prohibits short-term rentals altogether. The Supervisor further noted that the need to update the Town Code was obvious and that it would be the task of the Town Board to make sure that this is done properly.
Deputy Supervisor Reichgottcommented that the Town could not simply ban short-term rentals. Instead, they need to craft a new law that gives definition to what is allowed while also clearly outlining a procedure for enforcement. They are also investigating the idea of putting restrictions and possible prohibitions on other things, such as advertising, which ultimately lead to more illegal short-term rentals .
Attorney Amy Lavine cautioned that one has to be careful when legislating the ability to advertise because this could be construed as limiting free speech. Barbara Vazza inquired as to whether advertising was something that could get people in trouble because she knows people who definitely are advertising their properties for rent. She wondered if these people would be held accountable. Finally, she mentioned that Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Stony Point and Blooming Grove have all made short-term rentals illegal and she would be happy to give copies of their laws to the Board. Mary Hanson said that she had been walking around her neighborhood with a petition against the proposed law. She has 59 signatures which is almost everyone Sharon Radulov commented that based on what she had heard during the Board discussion, she was not going to read her prepared presentation but would rather wait for the new version of the law. In response to Councilmember May’s comments, she noted that community members had been shocked at the idea that the Board would even suggest allowing/regulating short-term rentals and the only explanation they had been able to come up with was that the reason they were comfortable doing It was because it would not impact the neighborhoods in which the Board members lived. “That same emotion that you were feeling is the exact same emotion that I was feeling. I felt that you were not looking out for my best interest.” She further stated that she would be providing the Board with copies of a laws from the Town of Stony Point, Haverstraw, Blooming Grove and Clarkstown, where short-term rentals have been prohibited. Bill Lemanski presented a study written by a researcher at the University of Virginia entitled “Rental Housing and Crime – The Role of Property Ownership and Management.” This report indicates there is a direct correlation between rental properties where the landlord is remote and reported criminal activity. Further it suggests that non-resident managers may be more likely to ignore things like tenants’ misbehavior towards neighbors. It also suggests that non-resident managers may be less selective in choice of tenants and more accommodating of lifestyles that would not be accepted if they were next door to thier own residences. His final thought was that the law as presented is not in the best interest of Tuxedo residents. Kristy Apostolides commented that she lives next door to an illegal AirBnb and that she actually does not have any issues with it because a management company is in charge of the property, which she considers to be the best-case scenario. Still, she doesn’t feel comfortable in her own home not knowing who will be living next to her on any given weekend. Thus, she is pleased to hear that the Board will be rescinding the law. In the future she would recommend that they find a way to incorporate the opinions of residents into the process of drafting the law. Anthony Maletti and Kristin McInerny stated that they felt the underlying issue code enforcement which seems to be lacking and not the law itself. Nicole Ramos has big concerns about the draft law. She personally has stayed in Air BnBs but only ones located in secluded areas so she can’t bother the neighbors. She feels that Town residents have the responsibility to be on the lookout to see what’s happening in their neighborhoods and then report any concerns when they arise. She thanked the Board for all they were doing.
The hearing was closed at 8:04 pm.
The Deputy Supervisor then made a motion to withdraw the draft local law, noting that the Board would further consider the matter in order to draft a better law. The motion was approved unanimously.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none. Agenda Items:
Resolution to consider bid proposal for Ford F250 – The Board accepted the bid of Healy Brothers Ford of $68,626.50. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution settling tax certiorari – Upon recommendation of Kara Cavallo of Jacobowicz & Gubits, the Board voted unanimously to accept the proposed tax reduction for Martin Friedman.
Resolution to authorize J&G Law for 2023-2024 tax certiorari proceedings – There are two cases pending, LR Tuxedo Development Group and Martin Friedman. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to authorize J&G Law to draft request for proposal (RFP)for companies to provide fuel for the Town of Tuxedo – The Town supplies fuel for Town of Tuxedo vehicles, Police cars, Building Inspector, Animal Control Officer, Ambulance Corps, Fire District, Village of Tuxedo Park Police & DPW and School buses. There are no agreements in place to cover any of this and the Board would like J&G to put together formal agreements for business going forward. Also, the Town has never gone out to bid for the l fuel supply and the Board would like to start doing that so they need an RFP for fuel. It was unanimously agreed that they would ask J&G to do this work.
Resolution to Introduce Local Law and Schedule Public Hearing to increase tax cap – This is something that the Board does annually. It gives them the option to raise the cap if necessary, which they hope they won’t have to do. It was approved unanimously. The Public Hearing was set for October 23 at 7:00 pm.
Resolution to approve Town Investment Policy – This is the model from the State Comptroller’s Office. This was tabled in order to give the Board time to study it.
Other Business One Day Pickleball Clinic - A one-day Beginner’s Clinic will be held at Tichy Field on October 14 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Attendance will be limited to 15 people and the cost is $25. In order that she be able to effectively organize the event, extra hours were approved for Recreation Coordinator, Kathleen Metcalf.
Discussion Item-
ATM placed at Train Station – Deputy Supervisor Reichgott introduced this item explaining that since Chase wasn’t in Town anymore, residents no longer have access to a 24/7 ATM. He has located a company, All County Vending who would be willing to install an ATM on the track side of the Train Station. It would be for case dispensing only. The Board agreed to look at a proposal for this.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on September 11, 2023 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola wondered if the Board would approve an As-built Permit for his house. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott responded that he would look into it.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that Early Voting will take place starting on October 28 and will be happening at the Monroe Town Hall and Warwick Senior Center. She further announced that garbage collection would be the same as always on Columbus Day.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that with regard to the renovation at the Tuxedo Train Station, the project is moving along as scheduled. Work on exterior woodwork has been completed, prep & painting is almost complete, bathroom fixtures are being installed and the new copper downspouts and gutters have been installed. The Supervisor is looking forward to a ribbon cutting sometime in October. The Tuxedo LDC has approved a grant of $140,000 to cover this work. The Supervisor expressed his appreciation to Deputy Supervisor Reichgott for his work on the grant. Additionally, he announced that the Town has received a Police Armor and Tactical Gear grant of $3333 which will be used to purchase specialized equipment needed to respond to active shooter incidents as well as other emergency situations. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott announced that the next meeting of the Tuxedo LDC (sewer plant) will take place on Monday October 2 at 4:00 pm. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had met with the Administrator for the Community Choice Aggregation program along with Josh Sherer and Jim Hays from the Village. Since they don’t think the price of energy is going to fall anytime soon, they have agreed to put out RFPs and are in the process of being referred to other municipalities so they can put together a consortium for the purchase of energy. Councilmember Murphy noted that she and Councilmember Lindsay have put together a workbook which provides all of the measurements as well as the perimeters for what will be allowed on east side of Route 17 in the hamlet area. The workbook also includes pictures of what is being discussed. They think this will be helpful for the workshop meeting that will be held on Monday, October 2 at 7 pm which will focus on this section of Town. The next workshop will focus on the west side of Route 17.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 11, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Murphy was absent.
The meeting began with a moment of silence in remembrance of September 11th.
Public Hearing: Short Term Rental Local Law- Supervisor English opened the hearing, commenting that the Town Board has been “wrestling” with the issue of short-term housing. “We don’t have any set ideas completely yet. We have a proposed local law but we are here to listen to the public and try to come up with a remedy that moves Tuxedo forward but also addresses the realities of what’s happening in this market with short-term rentals. Communities from New York City all across the nation are trying to deal with this. We’re going to do our best. We’re all homeowners and property owners here too…so believe me….I want to try to get this right. We’re not going to rush through this process just to check a box.” Sharon Radulov of Susan Court was the first speaker. She began by saying that she and her husband are whole heartedly against issuing short- term rental permits in the Town of Tuxedo. While she understands that the Board may believe that regulating these rentals would be better than doing nothing, she feels there is another option, which is to follow in the footsteps of the Village of Tuxedo Park by passing a law to prevent short term rentals entirely. She questioned why those Board members who live in the Park would want anything less than this for residents of the Town. She referenced several stipulations as spelled out in the Village law and suggested that the Town should copy it. She further suggested that the draft law as proposed was unenforceable. She wondered who was going to police the houses to ensure that the proposed 180-day time limit was being enforced. She feels that the Town should be protecting their residents, not regulating them. There is a large home in her neighborhood that has not been permanently occupied for more than two years. The owners have moved out of State and seem to be unable to sell the property. As a result, they have been leasing and renting it to various tenants including, for a short time, a nursing home. She is confident that whatever time limit the Board decides on, her neighbor will rent the property accordingly. “If the Town Board allows short-term rentals of two days per visit, that is exactly what we can expect our neighbor to have. If the Town Board allows 180 days of renting, then we can expect 180 days of transient occupants as our new neighbors.” Ms. Radulov went on to caution that, in her view, the proposed law was in direct conflict with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, which envisions a tranquil and peaceful existence in these areas. She questioned why certain zones had been chosen while others were spared. She suggested that the Special Recreation Zone would be a more a more appropriate place for this type of thing than the Conservation Zone. She also feels that the Tuxedo Town Center might be a more appropriate area as it is along the Route 17 corridor and would be less effected by noise and traffic. “The chosen zone seems misguided at best,” she stated. Next, she wondered if the Town was prepared to hire more personnel to regulate the rentals or increase the salaries of those already on staff, concluding that if passed, the law would ultimately create a tax burden for residents. After voicing a plethora of additional concerns, she concluded by suggesting that if the Town Board felt the need to go forward with the law, rather than to vote on it as a Board, they should add it as a referendum to the next election ballot so that the residents could be the ones to decide. Mary Hanson of Bramertown Road and a former long term Planning Board member, said she agreed with Ms. Radulov’s comments and cautioned that what was being proposed would change the zoning of R1, R2 and C zoned properties from residential to commercial. “Think about it! People will be able to run a commercial establishment. You are opening up a can of worms.” She went to express concern over the types of people who might occupy the rentals, wondering how they would even know if an occupant were on the sexual predator list. She further wondered if the Town would receive any sort of fiscal benefit. “Are we gonna get anything? Probably not!” She noted that she had been watching the Red Apple Rest fall apart for years while the Town has done nothing about it. “Last week, a whole side of it fell over! I’ve been watching that for two years! Does the Town do anything about that? That terrible eyesore. No, that’s on the northern side of Town. You people who live down here, you don’t care! Be careful what you’re doing! Why are you doing this and why are we just finding out about it?” She ended by stating that she felt what was being proposed was very scary and she wondered why other sections of Town had not been selected. Barbara Vozza of Alma Court said she’d run an Insurance Agency in Park Ridge, NJ for many years as well as working in real estate and to her knowledge, this kind of property (short-term rental) is very difficult if not impossible to insure. These types of rentals have been prohibited in many communities. “The damage that these people do to your home. is unbelievable,” she stated, further suggesting that property’s value would decrease if the law were passed. Lauren Miranda of Benjamin Meadow Road wanted to know where the idea for this legislation had come from. Anthony Maletti and Kristin McInerny of Woods Road who live across the street from an active Air Bnb, stated that they are completely against the proposed legislation. He suggested that there would be nothing to regulate if they simply prohibited the practice of short-term rentals. A number of communities have prohibited them already and he urged the Town to do the same, They added that they have seen as many as 9 cars parked on their road in association with the house across the street and that people come and go from there with regularity. There has been garbage and there have been issues resulting in visits from both the police and the ambulance. “I have children. I moved to Tuxedo for that environment. Not to have people coming in and out that I don’t know. It’s wrong and you’re not thinking of the safety of the people in our neighborhood.” Claudia Bakhtiary of Fawn Hill Rd said she was confused because Air Bnbs already exist in her area of Town. She was hoping the law would be some sort of tool to help control them. I wasn’t aware that it was an option to do away with the short-term rentals altogether. She would like to hear more from the Town Board about this. William Lynch of Clinton Road read a statement into the record. He strongly opposes the proposed law and disagrees with the premise that it protects and ensures the safety and quality of life for current residents. He and his family were attracted to Tuxedo for its tranquility and community and never imaged the possibility of living next to a short-term rental. He expressed concern over trash, traffic, parking and noise, further suggesting that the residents of Clinton Woods have already been dealing with these issues. “Calls to the police mostly just go to voice mail and when they arrive it’s virtually too late to be actionable.” Safety is also a serious issue as thorough background checks are not completed on the individuals renting the properties. Additionally, there are not regulations covering pets. He urged the Board to be transparent with the community, furthering wondering why this had suddenly become an issue now. “The Town attorney has recused himself to avoid conflict of interest. Can all Board members attest that they have no direct interest, rental ownership or investment in an associated company or indirect benefit, potential revenue or business services based on passing of this law?” He wondered why it was being implemented in an area that should be protected rather than those areas where many of the Board members who would be voting reside. Has a cost benefit analysis been completed? Will first responders be available late at night, early in the morning or on weekends to respond to disturbances? Will they need to hire more officers or extens what are the current Town minimum liability insurance thresholds? Noting that he appreciated the opportunity to voice his views, he commented that he did not think the proposed law was in the best interest of the Town and that ultimately it would make the community less desirable. Jo Ann Tuttle of High Hill Rd stated she agreed with what everyone else was saying. She reiterated that there are safety and noise issues. “It goes against everything that most of us have moved here for, which is the peace and quiet.” There are currently 2 of these houses in Laurel Ridge. “There’s no way to effectively monitor who, what, when and where these people come from and we don’t know if they are using drugs or traffic drugs! That’s another consideration.” Bronwyn Roantree of West Lake Road expressed her concern that taking away housing from potential full-time residents with kids could further doom the already small Tuxedo School District. Daria Bekersky of Clinton Rd remarked that she concurred with everything that had already been said, further reiterating that this should not be voted upon by the Board, but rather by the residents who had moved here seeking a quality of life that they don’t want to see ruined by short-term rentals. Barbara Vozza wondered what would happen if people from their neighborhood petitioned to form an HOA, and then chose to outlaw short term rentals.
It was pointed out to her that one already exists and further suggested that a meeting be called. Mary Hanson commented that 2 months ago there had been an FBI raid on a house in Benjamin Meadow Road that resulted in a huge drug bust. The house was a rental. “This is shocking for our neighborhood,” she added reiterating that the law should not even be considered. Marie Warniaha of East Place agreed with everything that had previously said. She wondered whether the Town Board had considered Tuxedo’s limited police force.
Some people are asking “why now?” Supervisor English noted. “Why now? A lot of it has been triggered by complaints that have been received by the Town Board and we’re just trying to figure it out!” He reiterated that the proposed law is their attempt to deal with the problem and that no decisions have been made. This hearing was one of the first steps in the process The Board wants to hear from residents. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott further explained that the Board has received complaints and that they have been looking for a way to rein in or control the existing short-term rentals. The Town code currently doesn’t speak to them at all. There is a weak line of defense which identifies the fact that the use is not covered by zoning and therefore should not be allowed. This has been brought up by the Town’s council and it has been an issue in other communities. “Short-term rentals are so ubiquitous that they are starting to fall under the catch all other common uses to this principal use. Also, there is some suggestion that short term rental is residential by its very nature and without some sort of regulation on it, it can’t be regulated.” He suggested that the proposed legislation was their attempt to regulate these kinds of rentals without banning them altogether because some people have said they might be a good idea.
Following some additional comments, Supervisor English thanked all of those who had spoken before adjourning the hearing to September 25 at 7 pm.
Discussion Items: Update regarding Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Corps Property Tax Exemption Proposal – New York State has proposed a new law for exemptions for first responder volunteers. In order for the law to take effect, all of the taxing authorities must first pass it. Tuxedo has seven different taxing authorities: Orange County, the Fire District, The Village of Tuxedo Park, Tuxedo Union Free School District, Monroe Woodbury School District, the Tuxedo Park Library and the Town of Tuxedo. Orange County and the Tuxedo School District have already passed the law. The Board passed a resolution introducing a local law to cover the exemptions with a public hearing set for Wednesday October 11 at 7:30. United Solar Permit Application – a local law entitled “New York State Unified Solar Permit Implementation” was formally introduced and a public hearing set for October 11 at 7 pm. Schedule Hamlet Revitalization and Beautification Workshop – The workshop was scheduled for October 2 at 7:00 pm. Duck Cedar Plaza Letter of Support for MTA Sewer Proposal – The Board agreed unanimously to sign the letter as the sewer system for the Plaza needs to be increased and in order to do that they will need to run it underneath the railroad tracks. Parks and Recreation Local Law – This is an ongoing discussion. Fees for new construction (subdivisions) need to be discussed. The fee is currently $1500, but it hasn’t been revised since 1996. The Board must continue to discuss in order to determine what the next steps will be.
Agenda Items: Resolution to approve RFP for Ford F250 truck for Highway Department – This will include a spreader, plow and salter. It was approved unanimously.
Department Updates: Monthly Reports Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his crew had finished blacktopping and cleaning up some berms. Next they will be busy with drain clearing and then leaf pickup. The dirt pile screening has been completed for the year. Now, they need to deal with the rocks. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced the mobile DMV would be at the Eagle Valley Firehouse on Tuesday, September 12 from 10am-12pm and 1:00-3:00 pm.
Town Board Updates Councilperson May announced that Congressman Pat Ryan would be at the Library on Tuesday September 12 from 2:30 – 3:30 pm. Councilperson Lindsay reported that she would be participating in a conference call for a Community Choice Aggregation Update on Thursday, September 14. She will also begin doing a deep dive into the Town’s monthly utility Bills.
Minutes:
The minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on August 23 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola reported that the Building Inspector had come to his house with a folder detailing all the work that has been done on his house. There was only one thing mentioned, which was Jerry’s sunroom. Since there weren’t any other permits or applications, Jerry wondered if he could have an as built permit issued.
Deputy Supevisor Reichgott responded that he would like to take closer look in order to make sure there wasn’t anything else but that he thought something could be worked out.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 28, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
The meeting began with a report from Police Chief John Trazino who noted that the opening weekend of the Renaissance Faire had gone very smoothly with the new traffic guards working well.
Next, he announced that he is proposing the creation of a new multi-municipality Search and Rescue Team to be made up of members of the Town of Tuxedo Police Department, the Tuxedo Park Police Department and the Greenwood Lake Police Department. The Town already works with these departments in emergencies but forming the committee would give them the ability to train together so that they could in turn better respond to emergencies and coordinate their participation. The Chief is looking to schedule the first training with the Forest Rangers in the end of September.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to introduce Local Law entitled “Short Term Rentals,” and schedule Public Hearing – The Board has been discussing this law in their meetings for the last few months. A full version of the proposed law can be found here. There will be opportunities for the public to comment at a public hearing to be held on both September 11 and 25 during the scheduled Town Board meetings. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to authorize Town Attorney to prepare bid packet for Ford F250 – This is for the Highway Department and it was passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the Orange County Clerk will be bringing the mobile DMV unit to the Tuxedo Town Hall on September 1. They will be available to residents from 10am to 12noon and from 1pm to 3:30pm. Next, she reported that school tax bills will be coming out soon. These will come from the school district and can be paid there, but not at the Town Hall. Finally, she noted that Town Hall will be closed on Monday September 4 in celebration of Labor Day. Garbage will be picked up on September 5 and garbage and recycling will be collected onSeptember 8 that week.
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Reichgott reminded everyone that the Town Board had passed an “as built permit law,” earlier this year. When the law was passed, it came with a moratorium until January 1, 2024 meaning that there would be no violations charged to anyone caught doing work on their house without a permit until that date. As of January 1, the moratorium will be over and after that if anyone is caught, they will be charged whatever the normal fee would be PLUS a $2000 fine for having done work without a permit! He then reminded everyone that the days were getting shorter and he hopes that people who are out walking will wear appropriate clothing that makes it easier for motorists to see them. Councilmember Lindsay reported that the Climate Smart Community Task Force has taken the summer off, but they will be starting up again in September. Anyone who wants to join the group would be welcome. The group is planning for a table at the Farmers Market to focus on recycling and provide information about what can and cannot be recycled. Next, she reported that she had recently attended a webinar on the New York Forward program at which it had been suggested that when working on Town revitalization projects and the like, the Town should not just ask people what they wanted to see in Town but WHY they want to see it. The thought was that this line of questioning would yield better information. She and Councilmember Murphy have been working on the Greenway Study grant and as such are putting together an updated list of current and vacant businesses in Town. They also had a follow up meeting with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and will be producing a report for the Board detailing what the Town can and cannot do along Route 17 with respect to sidewalks, lighting and landscaping. Councilmember May has been working on the upcoming Fall Festival which will take place on October 22. She also noted that she is waiting for one final bill to arrive for this year’s summer camp and then will have a report on the financials for the next Town Board meeting. Councilmember Murphy reported that aside from the forementioned work with Councilmember Lindsay she has been working with Town Clerk Dollbaum to produce a segmented email list which will allow them to target emails to people for different subject matters. They will be utilizing Constant Comment for this and as they cannot use the current email list with that system, they will be sending out an email asking people to please respond and let them know which things they would be interested in hearing about.
Minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on August 14 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola expressed his concern that the men working on the train station were going to take down electrical cords. He was assured that they would not be doing this.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 14, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present, with Councilperson May attending remotely.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve temporary sign permit – Masker Orchards: This is an annual request to post signs directing people to the Orchards during apple picking season. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve temporary sign permit – Renaissance Faire -This is an annual request for 2 large signs to be placed on Route 17, one in Southfields coming South and one in Tuxedo going North, directing people to the Faire. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to consider bid proposal for Highway Garage Floor Rehabilitation: The Board only received one bid for this project from Culbertson Company for $162,821. They voted unanimously to accept it.
Resolution approving Shane Smith to attend Basic Wastewater
Treatment Certification Course – The course will be held at Jamestown Community College and will cost approximately $5,000. (This includes room and board for the 2-week course). It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to introduce Local Law entitled “Short Term Rentals,” and schedule Public Hearing- This motion was tabled as Deputy Supervisor Reichgott, who has been in charge of working on this issue, said he needed just a little more time in order to have the best possible law. It will be introduced at the next Town Board meeting.
Next, the Board went into Executive Session to seek advice from Town Attorney Howard Protter regarding two lawsuits. When they returned to the meeting 25 minutes later, they introduced a Resolution Settling of Tax Certiorari Claim. In summation, Tuxedo Farms commenced a tax certiorari proceeding against the Town in an effort to lower the taxes on their currently vacant land. The Board felt this action was triggered by the additional number of units they are now allowed to build and also because they now have special permit approval. After meeting with the Town Attorney, the Board agreed to lower the assessed value of the land, which is currently vacant, by $958,751. Once units have been built, taxes can and will go back up.
New Business: Porta-potty rental for Train Station/Farmers’ Market- The Train Station renovations are set to begin on August 15 and will last for approximately 2 months. The building will be closed to the public for the duration of the renovations. During that time, the Farmers’ Market will be open and those businesses have been using the bathrooms in the Train Station. The Board agreed to rent 2 porta-potties (one should be handicapped accessible) for 2 months at a cost not to exceed $1000.
Department Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that she has been issuing lots of parking permits along with the usual marriage licenses and dog licenses. She also announced that Orange County will be holding a Hazardous Waste Collection Event on September 30 from 9 am to 1 pm at 401 Washington Street in Newburgh. Among other things, they will accept paint, fluorescent bulbs and pharmaceutical waste. She will put the flyer on the Town website. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department has been busy putting salt in the salt barn as well as working on the dirt pile, screening material every day and patching roads and fixing curbs around Town. They have also just finished a drainage job in Clinton Woods. There is no more compost available for residents, but mulch can still be found in the parking lot of Quarry Field.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor Ken English reported that the renovations to the Tuxedo Train Station would start on August 15 and continue for approximately 2 months. During that time, there will be no public access to the Train Station. Progress continues for all three LDC grant recipients, Augusta Properties, Karlyn Realty and the Tuxedo Historical Society. The Town has also submitted a proposal for the Train Station project. They are seeking $140,000. Finally, he announced that Town auditor, Cooper Arias, has received the final information necessary to complete the 2022 audit. A draft is expected soon. Additionally, they are preparing a summary of the 2023 year to date activity for the Board to review. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott noted that he had spent most of his time working on the Short-Term Rentals law. There is still more work to be done. He also reported having spoken to the Department Of Transportation regarding a request from Jerry Mottola to close off lanes on Route 17 on weekends when the Renaissance Faire is open so that residents can get in and out of their properties with relative ease.
The DOT informed him that this would not be possible. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she, along with Councilmember
Murphy and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum had met with the DOT in Poughkeepsie. She has requested a workshop meeting to go over what they learned and how this can relate to plans for the future of the Hamlet district. Additionally, the same group met with representatives of the MTA who outlined their plans for installing a signal at the intersection of Route 17 and East Village Road. Finally, she suggested that she would like to explore the idea of appointing a Conservation Advisory Committee, which is already established as a part of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott commented that he would want to see reports with all the details of why the Town should appoint this committee as well as the proposed scope of work before he considered voting on it. Councilmember Murphy spoke about having the Town establish an account with Constant Contact, which is a service that manages emails. This would be a way to improve communications with residents. The cost of the service would be $900/year. Councilmember May thanked all of the people who had helped with this year’s Summer Camp program including Recreation Director Kathleen Metcalf and her staff, Assistant Camp Leader Craig Jacoby and all the counselors, lifeguards and CITs. Next up for Town Recreation will be the Fall Festival on October 21. This event will take the place of Family Fun Day. The idea is to have an event that will hopefully attract all residents and not just families with small children.
Minutes of the regular Town Board meeting of July 24 were approved with Supervisor English abstaining because he didn’t attend.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola commented that she had been in the Library recently where she heard that they were being impacted by commuters and people from the Farmers Market using their restrooms.
Discussion: Parks and Recreation Law
Councilmember May requested that they defer this discussion as she is the Board member who has been handling recreation and she is currently on vacation until the middle of the week. The Board agreed to do that but had a preliminary discussion anyway. Town Attorney Protter suggested that the Board needs to decide whether they want to establish more rules and regulations for the parks and recreation program that is currently in place or if they want to create a new department. They need to decide on what direction the discussion and the subsequent action will take. Supervisor English commented that he was not ready to add any staff at this point. Councilmember May stated that she thought the Board needed to be thinking of the future because with Tuxedo Farms coming, there will be lots of new people and with them come new needs for recreation. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott said he thought the Town Board should work to establish the framework for how the department will grow. Supervisor English commented that to date a lot has been accomplished with volunteers and seasonal employees and he felt that these same people might be able to help any advisory board that would be appointed.
The discussion will be continued at the next Town Board meeting.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 24, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor English was absent and Councilperson Lindsay attended via Zoom.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to establish hourly wage for seasonal Traffic Guards – These employees will be fully funded by the Renaissance Faire although they will report to the Town of Tuxedo Police Department, specifically the officer in charge of the Renaissance Faire. The fee was set at $25 per hour. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution to appoint seasonal Traffic Guards – Daniel Francis, Jozef Javorsky, Sean Mallon, John Michael Ryan and John Trazino were appointed unanimously.
Determining the Validity of a Petition for a Proposition to Increase the 2024 Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be included on the 2023 Ballot – This annual request from the Library simply allows the question of whether or not to pass the proposed budget on the ballot. It was passed unanimously.
At this point Councilperson May interjected to thank Library Director Diane Loomis for loaning an internet hot spot to the Summer Camp staff for 2 weeks so they could communicate with each other during drop off and pick up.
Resolution to consider bid proposal received for Police Vehicle Outfitting-This will include the things required by New York State such as lights and sirens. The bid was $39,946.72 and it was accepted unanimously.
Resolution to allow Tuxedo to participate in the 2024-2026 CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Urban County and Home Consortium – This will allow the Town to apply for grants from this entity and it was passed unanimously.
Other Business: Councilmember Lindsay asked for clarification on what is needed from the Town Board regarding the wetlands permit for the Skyview Skylights project, which is currently before the Planning Board. She said she wanted to make sure that the applicant paid an application fee for a
Wetlands Permit if they were going to apply for one.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that she had had a visit from a Sloatsburg Food Pantry Volunteer, who mentioned that they are in desperate need of reusable grocery bags. For anyone wishing to donate, these can be left at Village Hall in Tuxedo, St. Mary’s Church, Tuxedo Town Hall or Sloatsburg Town Hall. Additionally, she reported that Orange and Rockland has a program which allows them to monitor customers during power outtages. To register call 877-434-4100. They will also provide a number for a dedicated line to report power problems.
Town Board Reports: Deputy Supervisor Reichgott noted that he had been busy working “behind the scenes” and thus had no formal report. Councilmember May reported that the Recreation Department will be holding Tuxedo Fall Festival in place of Family Fun Day this year. The reason for the change is that they want to attract everyone in the community to attend and they feel that primarily those families with young kids were attending the Family Fun Day event. She further reported that the Town’s Summer Camp program has been going very well “The kids are having fun and really loving it!” she added. Councilmember Murphy reported that she, along with Councilmember with Lindsay and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum had attended a meeting with the DOT to discuss future plans. The Town’s request to redesignate a School Safety Zone has been denied. However, they were told the Town could put up signs and lights if they wish to do so. When inquiring about getting permits for sidewalks, they were told that the Town would need to meet state standards and unfortunately Tuxedo does not have enough property in several places to qualify. Also, the request for a crosswalk across Route 17 at Hospital Road “doesn’t look good,” because there is not enough pedestrian traffic.” If the Town were to put these things into their Comprehensive Plan, then the State would have to go along with them. As it is however, the state doesn’t want to put in a Complete Streets program because Tuxedo’s streets are not wide enough. Finally, they were told that the DOT has no plans for a “Road Diet,” but if the Town were to do all the groundwork and then apply, they might give them permission to do it themselves. When asked why Sloatsburg was able to do all these things, but not Tuxedo, the answer was that because Sloatsburg is a Village (and not a Town) things are different there. Councilmember Lindsay reported that the Town has completed the investment of Town Funds in Chase Bank Certificates of Deposit (CDs) as follows:
$5 million for 30 days @ 4.69%
$2 million for 90 days @ 4.73%
Interest earnings for the initial 30 days will be $27,050.
The Town intends to renew the CDs upon maturity. The amounts and maturities will depend on cash flow analysis.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on July 10 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola asked if it would be possible for the police to put up traffic cones on weekends so that residents who live on roads off of Route 17 would have extra space to turn on and off of their streets. This has been hard due to the additional traffic resulting from the Sloatsburg “road diet.” He was told that the Board would look into it. Next, Mr. Mottola wondered if the Town would ever consider revisiting the “Town/Village” configuration. He was told that the Town had been told pretty convincingly by the Comptroller that this could not happen.
Discussion Item: Proposed Short-term Rental Local Law- The Board continued this discussion. The plan is to develop a draft proposal for a local law, which would then be considered and the subject of a public hearing. Among the topics for discussed were the creation of a house policy to be displayed on the property, quiet hours (9pm-8am on weekdays and 10pm-9am on weekends), number of vehicles allowed per renter, the location of parking for renters, number of guests allowed for renters, maximum occupancy, digital monitoring of property and requirements for sufficient lighting in all recreational areas. It was decided that the Building Inspector would be responsible for doing a compliance inspection.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 10, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Murphy was absent.
The meeting began with Commendation Awards given to Tuxedo’s Daisy Troop #40264. The girls donated their profits from cookie sales to the St. Mary’s fundraiser for Summer Camp, which helped fund the program for those families who could not otherwise afford to send their children.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Nick Balistreri inquired as to the details of the Highway Department floor project. He was informed that the work essentially entails spot patching to the floor.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to accept Mary Harriman grant – This is an annual grant. This year it will give $3500 to the Tuxedo Police Department. The Board voted unanimously to accept it.
Resolution to appoint full time Police Officer – The Board voted unanimously to appoint 2 officers: Savino Catriniti at a salary of $62,844 and Michael Tierney at a salary of $73,342.
Resolution to establish Camp employee hourly wage schedule – As an addendum to the wage schedule adopted at the last meeting, the positions of Recreation Aid, Lifeguard, Water Safety Instructor and Medical were adopted. Also, due to the number of campers enrolled (there are currently 88 campers), they added 2 Recreation Aids and one Lifeguard.
Resolution to authorize bidding of Highway Garage Floor Rehabilitation Project – This will just allow the project to be put out to bid and was passed unanimously.
Other Business:
The Board accepted a bid for a Ford F-550 truck with dump/salter/plow at a cost of $91,082.50. This bid, from Healy Brothers was the only one received. The truck is ready for delivery.
Department Updates: Recreation Coordinator Kathleen Metcalf reported that Summer Camp had been operating for 4 days and is going well. There are 88 campers. The only “glitch” has been with the Bclutch app which she and the staff had intended to use to track camper drop-offs and pickups. The app has not been working properly as the wifi service in the GGM building is unreliable. For the moment, they have counselors with clipboards and walkie talkies handling the coming and going of campers, but they are hoping to borrow a “hotspot” so they can use the app as intended. She also reported that they had their first field trip last Friday, taking 55 campers bowling. This coming Friday, they will visit The Castle Fun Center. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department has been busy cleaning up from the storm. Thankfully, there was no significant damage here in Tuxedo. Aside from that, they are still patching roads in Laurel Ridge and have completed a dirt relocation project at the Highway Garage. Elyse Fuller of 40 Circle Drive inquired as to when and how the Town would be dealing with the the flooding issues that have been existing in her neighborhood for almost two years. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that he believed the flooding had come from a private residence and that this is what had caused the damage. The department was on the site 3 or 4 times and the offending property owner was told what he would need to do to clean it up. “If he hasn’t cleaned it up,” he continued, “the Town is not going to clean up his property or stop that. As far the berm that you wrote that we never put up….we did put up berms by your house. You know we did.”
This was momentarily debated with the Highway Superintendent asserting that the department had put multiple berms all along the side Ms. Fullers’ house the year prior and that this year she had not experienced any rain water flooding into her house so they must have worked.
Ms. Fuller countered during the rains the day before water had been overflowing in the storm drain off of the property. “It was being sponged off the entire property pretty much and was starting to trickle down inside of the berms.”
“That’s his responsibility to maintain proper drainage on his property,” responded Superintendent Dollbaum. “It’s not the Town’s responsibility to keep his water on his property.”
“So, where is the building inspector in all of this?” Inquired Ms. Fuller.
Superintendent Dollbaum indicated that the Building Inspector was new and although he was not present that evening, he was confident that he had been briefed and would likely visit the site in the next day or so as this was a hot button issue with all of the recent rains.
Ms. Fuller responded that she had video of the berms not working in the recent rains. “The drainage system in front of that property, which I understand is the Town’s responsibility, doesn’t have great enough capacity.”
Superintendent English asked Supervisor Dollbaum to briefly detail some work his department had done uphill from the property in question several years back, which he did. That system is working. He suggested that the water Ms. Fuller is talking about is runoff coming from from the mountain behind her house. The neighbor in question removed pipes from his property and rerouted this water.
“How is that allowed?” Inquired Ms. Fuller.
Superintendent Dollbaum indicated that it was not allowed but further that it was not his responsibility to enforce the code.
Superintendent English indicated that it would not be accurate for Ms. Fuller to say that non action had been taken as the Town Engineer had been to the site several times. “I know It is frustrating,” he stated adding that he felt they should consider was possibly building up the curb as has been suggested in the past.
Board member Jay Reichgott asked Ms, Fuller whether or not she had done any work to her property to relieve the fact that the grade slopes directly to her house. “Have you create a swale along your property to divert the water before it reaches your house?” He inquired. “As a property owner you also have a responsibility to maintain your own property to divert water,” he cautioned.
Ms. Fuller responded that her husband had done some work to divert the water, however the majority of it was coming from the road because the storm water drainage there was inadequate and that system was the responsibility of the Town.
Superintendent Dollbaum reiterated that the issues were the result of Ms. Fuller’s neighbor and that it was not their responsibility to correct it.
Supervisor English then inquired of the Town Attorney as to whether he would be willing to meet with the Code Enforcement Officer to Evaluate the situation and he indicated that he would.
There followed some further back-and-forth with Ms. Fuller indicating that she believed her family had been at risk as a result of the situation and that the responses she had received from the attorney to date incited that she needed to take the issue up with her neighbor but she feels that the Town is partially responsible. “You are a public servant and it is a courtesy to reply to an email,” she admonished. “I am not filing a lawsuit here. I realize that you are concerned about litigation and what not. I would like help.”
Supervisor English indicated that he would reach out the attorney the following day to follow up.
Lastly, Superintendent Dollbaum reported that mulch and compost are still available for residents at Quarry Field.
Discussions: Proposed Short-term Rental Local Law:
Using a law from another municipality as a guide, the Board began discussing what they would like to see in a short-term rental law. At this point, they are thinking that short-term rentals will only be available for properties with single family detached dwellings and no more than one rental per lot. A resident will have to apply for a permit which will be renewable annually. Only 2 short term rentals per person will be permitted. Further discussion is needed. Some things to think about moving forward: should rental be restricted to a limited number of days per year? 180 days has been suggested but other numbers will be discussed. The full discussion can be viewed on the Town’s You Tube Channel (below from 55.22-.51.28) and the discussion will be continued at future meetings.
Investment Options for Town:
The current Town Investment Policy dates back to 1994 and needs to be updated. Among other things, the Comptroller’s list of permitted investments now includes commercial paper and the Town policy needs to include that. Councilmember Lindsay was asked to look into NY Class, a cooperative purchasing group for investments, which the Village of Tuxedo Park has recently enrolled in. Town Attorney Protter has also suggested that she explore Treasury Direct, which deals with Treasury bills and commercial paper. Councilmember Lindsay also spoke with Betsy Davis at Chase Bank about certain investments (mostly certificates of deposit) which might be available and has reached out to Andrew Girard who deals in treasury bills and commercial paper at Chase.
Supervisor English noted that upon looking at the current Investment Policy, he had discovered that the Town Supervisor is given authority to make investments for the Town without any further discussion with the Board.
After a lengthy discussion, it was determined that the Board would take a deep dive into the current Investment Policy. Supervisor English and Councilmember Lindsay will also meet with Town Finance Director Carey Alley to discuss what changes should be made. They are hopeful that they will be able to continue the discussion and possibly even bring it to a conclusion at the next meeting.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that there are two Police Officer in the final hiring process. The Board also voted unanimously to hire the six seasonal traffic agents. These agents will be used for traffic generated by the Renaissance Faire and will be under the control of the Tuxedo Police Department (although they will be paid for by the Faire.) The contract for work on the Tuxedo Train Station has been awarded to Tam Enterprises of Goshen. A pre-construction meeting with Town Engineer Sean Hoffman and the Supervisor has been scheduled for July 13. Site Visits to Augusta Properties, the Tuxedo Historical Society and Karlyn Realty were conducted and all three met the criteria for the second grant disbursement. Moving on, the Supervisor reported that the Town of Tuxedo’s checking accounts are in the process of being converted to interest bearing accounts yielding 2.3% interest. This will be effective August 1, 2023. The Supervisor further noted that he had toured several neighborhoods to inspect the aftermath of the recent torrential storm and found the Highway Department diligently cleaning storm drains. The Board is still looking for a contractor who specializes in the relining of sewer lines and manholes that feed the sewer plant. Three companies are currently being considered. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had met with the MTA to discuss their plans for a streetlight crossing at Route 17 and East Village Road, which would then connect to one of the entrances to the Village of Tuxedo Park. She and Councilmember Murphy gave their thoughts to the MTA, who will go back and try to revise their plan to incorporate some of their ideas. They will then return with a revised plan, which Councilmembers Lindsay and Murphy will present at a future Town Board meeting. The Councilwomen have also been talking with Senator Skoufis, who is very interested in the construction and funding of pocket parks. They are proposing that he consider a pocket park for Tuxedo on the property just beyond the Town Commuter lot where the Town’s Christmas tree is located. They will meet with landscape architects who specialize in this kind of park and subsequently present those ideas to the MTA, who would be the ones constructing the park. On July 20, the Councilwomen also will meet with the DOT (Department of Transportation) to discuss a road diet for Tuxedo, complete streets and sidewalks and a crossroad at Hospital Road.
Minutes – Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on June 24 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Evelyn David would like to see a stream gauge installed in the Ramapo River so residents and others would have data when a big event like the recent flooding occurs. Supervisor English told her that he would look into it and follow up with her.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 26, 2023 at 7 pm. All members were present with Councilmember Lindsay participating remotely.
The originally scheduled Commendation to the Daisy Troop was postponed to the next Town Board meeting due to the weather.
Police Detective Stefan Christian appeared to announce his retirement as of July 6, 2023. The Board thanked Detective Christian for his years of service to the Town and wished him well in the future.
Public Hearing Proposed Amendments to the 2022 Special Use Permit for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development:
The hearing began with a lengthy presentation from representatives of Related. This can be seen viewed in its entirety on the Town’s You Tube Channel or by clicking here.
Brad Schwartz, attorney for Related led the presentation. The developer is seeking two changes to the approved Special Permit. The first one is the sequencing of the approvals by the ARB and the Planning Board. As it stands now, the applicant must get approval first from the Architectural Review Board (ARB) followed by approval by the Planning Board. Currently, they are undergoing Site Plan Review for the section of the development known as The Commons as well as Quail Road. The applicant would like to reverse the timing of the approvals with the Planning Board to come first, followed by the ARB. The reason for this is that they are not quite ready for the ARB review yet. Both the Planning Board and the ARB have reviewed this proposal and both have agreed to it.
The presentation next went into details for Road Hierarchy and Parking. The applicant has moved parking to both sides of two roads located around the Commons area (Lower Mountain Road and Courtland Place) which will create more parking space for the central part of the Commons. In addition, the proposed site plan gives the details of the ways in which balconies and bay windows can and will be used on the buildings in this section of the development. Finally, the Special Permit currently lists various plantings that have been approved for the Commons and some of them had been inadvertently left out of the final document so now they are
proposing to add them back in. They are also proposing to add additional pavement types to the Performance Standards.
There were no comments from the public and the Board voted to approve the proposed amendments.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to enter into an agreement with the Renaissance Entertainment Corporation – This is the same as last year’s agreement with the addition of 6 traffic agents who will work directly with the Tuxedo Police Department to assist in keeping the traffic flowing leading up to and around the Renaissance Faire. The Renaissance Entertainment Corp. will be paying for all police presence.
Resolution to consider accepting bid proposal for Repairs to the Train Station project – The Town only received one bid for this work from Tam Enterprises in Goshen. The Building Department did some research on the firm and recommended that the Board accept the bid which is for $288,000. It was approved unanimously. Councilmember Murphy commented that it has been 12 years since the Train Station was renovated and she would like to see a maintenance account added to the budget so that the station would not fall into disrepair again.
Resolution Settling of Tax Certiorari Claim – Said and Karen Haidar had their assessment reduced from $690,000 to $621,000. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to Approve RFP for Highway Truck – The proposed bid package was unanimously approved. Bid opening was set for July 10 at 12 noon.
Resolution to Approve bid packet for Police Vehicle Outfitting – This was approved unanimously with a bid opening scheduled for July 17 at noon.
Resolution to appoint Summer Camp employees – This set the wages for this year’s camp employees and also set what these jobs would pay if the employees returned for subsequent summers. The Board approved the list of actual employees and said they would approve the figures at their next meeting.
Discussion Items:
Proposed Short-Term Rental local law –Deputy Supervisor Reichgott had initially planned to have a first draft of this law ready for the meeting however, this did not occur. He noted that he has received comments from all Board members and would be ready for discussion at the next meeting. In the meantime, those present were in agreement that people with short term rentals should be limited to 2 such properties.
Consideration for Hiring an Additional Full Time Police Officer –
The Board will soon be hiring another full-time police officer (to replace Detective Christian. They have a good prospect and will be making an offer to someone who was trained by Chief Trazzino in another community. They will be continuing interviews as the Board wants to hire one more officer in order to restore the A Line.
Department Updates: Town Supervisor/Town Board – Supervisor English stated that he had no update. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott reported that he had been working on shifting Town bank accounts from accounts garnering no interest to ones that would collect interest. This could result in approximately $150,000 per year in income for the Town. Councilmember May reported that 78 campers have registered for the summer recreation program. Of these 59 are Town residents and 19 are from outside of the Town. Councilmember Murphy stated that she had no update. Councilmember Lindsay said she is working on changes to the Town’s investment policy and hopes to have some suggestions for the next meeting. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum congratulated all the recent graduates living in Tuxedo. She also wished resident Freda Sloat a happy 100th birthday! Next she reminded everyone that Town Hall will be closed on July 4. And finally, she announced that the annual Fishing Derby will take place at Watchtower Pond on Long Meadow Rd. on July 8 from 9 am –12 pm.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on June 12 were approved unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 12, 2023 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to enter into agreement with TUSFD for Summer Camp -The main expense is busing. Since the School no longer owns their buses, the Camp is having to rent buses which are expensive. In an attempt to cut down the cost, they will no longer provide transportation to and from camp on a daily basis. Also, there will be two separate trips to WeeWah each day with one group eating lunch at the beach and one eating at the school. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to enter into an Intermunicipal Agreement with the Village of Tuxedo Park for the use of the Wee Wah Beach area for Summer Camp – The fee for this will be $5,000 – an amount which has not changed from last year. Both the Town and the WeeWah will be providing life guards. The Town’s insurance will cover the camp while they are using the property. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution scheduling a Public Hearing on proposed amendments to the 2022 Special Use Permit for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development – It was explained that the Planning Board needs more flexibility in order to make the approval process more streamlined. The way things are currently structured, the Architectural Review Board (ARB) the must issue their approval prior to the Planning Board. The applicant would like to get going on the infrastructure for the Commons area but they have not fully completed the architectural plans for all of the buildings. Therefore, they are hoping the sequencing of approvals can be changed so that they can begin work on the infrastructure as soon as possible. Then, they will come before the Planning Board one building at a time for approval. Planning Board Chairman John Banyo agreed that these changes would help facilitate the project going forward. Related is also asking for a road classificationchange on two roads located on the outer edge of the Commons area in order to provide additional on street parking for visitors. Ultimately, the Board voted in favor of setting a public hearing for 7 pm on June 26.
Resolution to approve purchase of Police Vehicles – The Board passed a resolution to purchase 2 Tahoe vehicles at a cost not to exceed $100,000 for both. These purchases were accounted for in the Town Budget from last year.
Resolution to approve Energy Audit proposal from The Daylight Savings Company – The contract being proposed is for $6000 to provide funding for an energy audit of Town Hall. It was approved unanimously.
Memorializing Resolution: Opposition to NYS Bill A 02875: Act to Amend the Real Property Tax Law, in Relation to Telecommunications Equipment Owned by Other Than a Telephone Company – The State Legislature is considering legislation to exempt certain telecommunication property from being taxed by the Town. Memorializing the resolution will implore Governor Hochul, Assemblyman Brabenec and State Senator Skoufis to oppose the legislation, which would result in revenue be taken away from the Town.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that marriage licenses, parking permits, hunting and fishing licenses and dog licenses all expired last month! Next, she noted that although there aren’t any primary elections in Tuxedo this June, the deadlines for the next fall election have been posted to the Town website. Lastly, she announced that Town Hall will be closed on Monday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that a water pump at Tichy Field is not working. The department will be replacing the pump this week. Additionally, he is in receipt of a bid from Young Paving to seal and put new lines on the basketball court in the Eagle Valley mini park. The proposal is for $3260. The Board voted unanimously to accept the bid. Next, the Superintendent reported that paving in Laurel Ridge is mostly completed. They will be starting work on the dirt pile on June 13. Finally, he remarked that there is plenty of mulch at Quarry Field for residents to go and get.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Reports: Supervisor Ken English reported that he and Police Chief Trazino had interviewed 4 candidates from the Civil Service list for full-time police officers. Offers are expected to be made soon.
On Monday, June 12, The Related Company delivered the funds to cover the first three grants announced by the Tuxedo LDC.
The Supervisor has bee working with Chief Trazino and Ren Faire General Manager Buffy Marie Favata to establish a security contract to improve traffic and security for the 2023 Faire. Proposed improvements include the addition of six Traffic Agents who would work under the supervision at and direction of the Tuxedo Police. The hope is that they can improve traffic flow on Rt. 17A, as well as reduce bottlenecks near Long Meadow Rd. and to ensure that Bramertown Road is not used for Faire access. These agents would respond as needed to traffic problems at the discretion of the Tuxedo police. All costs for this security will be paid by the Ren Faire. Ren Faire will also be contracting with Orange County Sheriff’s Office and NYS Troopers for additional police details.
The Supervisor has also been working with Chief Trazino and Renaissance Faire General Manager Buffy Marie Favata to establish a security contract with the aim of improving traffic and security at the 2023 Faire. Proposed improvements include the addition of six Traffic Agents, who would work under the supervision and at the direction of the Tuxedo Police. The hope is that they can improve traffic flow on Rt. 17A, as well as reduce bottlenecks near Long Meadow Rd. as well as to ensure that Bramertown Road is not used for Faire access. All costs for this security will be paid by the Renaissance Faire. The Renaissance Faire will also be contracting with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and NYS Troopers for additional police details.
Finally, the Supervisor along with Town Attorney Howard Protter and his colleague Amy Lavine is working to update the agreement with Altice for franchise renewal. They have already managed to get high-speed internet connection to businesses on Contractor’s Road, an improvement that had been on hold for 10 years!. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she has been looking at investing Town Funds and, as such, has been looking into New York Class which is sort of a mutual fund for municipalities. Since investing with them might mean the Town would have to make minor adjustments to their investment policy, she has also been looking into other ways to invest the money. She also reported that the Climate Smart Task Force had met on Monday, June 12. The Village of Tuxedo Park is now ahead of the Town in garnering points toward certification, but the hope is that the Town will have enough points for certification next year! Councilmember May noted that she had met with the Seniors Committee. They are looking for ways to more easily use the Town website. They wonder if all the information that pertains to them could be put in one place. Town Clerk Dollbaum responded that there is already a Seniors tab on the website which would be the logical place for that. She will check to make sure updates are being made regularly. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott commented that he has been looking at the Town’s procurement policy because there is some confusion with it. This is a work in progress. He has also been working with Superintendent Dollbaum and Town Engineer Hoffman on repairs to the floor of the Highway Garage. Finally, he reported that there was excitement with the police last week involving “bad guys”, speeding cars and maybe some gunfire. As a result, three “bad guys” were arrested and while that was going on, one person was rescued when their car went into the river. So…a busy week for the Police! Councilmember Murphy reported that she has been working on the revitalization of downtown. As such she has put together a document stating which agency or entity would need to be consulted for any of the projects that have been talked about. She further noted that engineering plans would be required for quite a lot of these projects.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting of May 22 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
There were none.
Discussion: Short-term Rental Agreements – It was established in the beginning of this discussion that as the Town’s zoning law currently exists, short-term rentals are not permitted. The issue becomes unclear because residential use is not defined by a time limit. Town Attorney Protter stated that in his opinion, the Town should have regulations with renewal permits issued. Then, they could be regulated. The Board agreed that they would all do research and think about it before having another discussion at the next Town Board Meeting with the hope that they can work toward passing a local law regulating these situations. Several Clinton Woods residents were in attendance and stated that there was a current situation going on in that neighborhood that is “intolerable.” These residents have called the police and tried to do what they can, but they are getting nowhere. They did seem grateful to see the Board getting ready to enact regulations even though it seems likely that it will be a rather long process.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 22, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Appoint Recreation Leader for Summer Camp – Craig Jacoby, a Special Ed. Teacher at the Suffern Middle School was unanimously appointed. He currently does some coaching in Suffern and has worked with Recreation Director Kathleen Rooney-Metcalf before. Currently, the Department is waiting for camp registration to get underway so they can get an idea of how many counselors they will need to hire.
Resolution to Approve Temporary Sign Permit for the Tuxedo Farmers Market – This will be the traditional sign they put up near the Train Station. The market will open on June 17. This was approved unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum began by thanking Tom O’Reilly and the staff at Tuxedo Union Free School District for sponsoring the recent Volunteers fair. Additionally, she announced the following upcoming events:
May 29 - Annual Memorial Day Parade and Library picnic. Garbage pick-up in the Town will be Garbage on May 30 and Garbage and recycling on June 2.
July 8 – Annual Fishing Derby – 9am – 12 noon at Jehovah’s Witnesses building on Longmeadow Road Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department had been busy with patching on roads, sewer work, cutting grass, hanging flowers and flags in the Hamlet. Also,Tichy Field has been sprayed for insects. Councilmember Lindsay said she has been working on cost estimates for the Survey of Hamlet revitalization. She further explained that the Town will need a survey for the connectivity and safety plan as outlined in the Burgis Study. She is also working on getting the Climate Smart Action group representation at the Farmers’ Market. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott reported that the new Building Inspector had done an annual visit to the Police Station, Train Station and Highway Department. Unfortunately, all 3 buildings failed to pass the inspection. Councilmember Murphy said that she has been in touch with the DOT and started the process of bringing a road diet to the Hamlet. Supervisor English stated that he was going to pass on his Supervisor’s report.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on May 8 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola announced of upcoming events: on May 26, St. Mary’s will be holding a movie night on their lawn to raise funds to send children from Town to Summer Camp and on June 10- The Sloatsburg Food Pantry will be holding a fundraiser at the Tuxedo Club.
The Board then adjourned to an Executive Session to discuss real estate, pending litigation and the negotiations in the Altice Cablevision franchise agreement. Before doing so the Supervisor noted when they returned to the regular session, the Board would be discussing adding items to their meeting agendas going forward.
When they returned, Supervisor English stated that he felt the Board needed to discuss how to set meeting agendas so that they could effectively move projects forward. He believes that agenda items should be those things that require Board actions and wondered how they prioritize these things. He further suggested that items on the agenda requiring any kind of involvement from an outside agency or expenditure of some kind should also include an analysis as where the money to pay for it would come from. Also, to be considered when prioritizing projects should be whether or not the proposed project would cost the Town more money down the line if the Board decided not to act .
Councilmember Murphy commented that she has heard ideas and suggestions for projects that would help to keep the Town moving and stable, but she has not heard any ideas for projects that would physically and aesthetically improve the Town, which she believes is just as important. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott agreed. There followed a somewhat lengthy discussion, some of which got a bit heated, regarding the process as it relates to the Burgis Study/Hamlet revitalization efforts as well as other current projects. Ultimately, the Board agreed to work together on prioritizing their requests for agenda items and Board actions going forward.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 8. 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with the swearing in of 3 police officers: Tia Frunzi, Antonio Jennings and Margaret Carey. This was followed by the swearing in of Councilmember Jay Reichgott as Deputy Supervisor. Next, Chief Trazino presented Commendations to Detective Stefan Christian and Police Officer Gerard Shiloh for their part in administering lifesaving skills to a Tuxedo resident who was having a cardiac arrest in November of 2020.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to award bid for Route 17 Corridor Economic Development Greenway Study – Supervisor English read a resolution awarding the bid to Nelson Pope Vorhees (Town Planners). Councilmember Murphy explained that the point of the study is to analyze and show all the opportunities that exist in the Route 17 Corridor, which runs from the south end of Town through Southfields. The study will examine and evaluate those things that are presently occurring in addition to any other possibilities that might exist in this area. Through this activity they hope to develop an actionable marketing plan. Councilmember May asked how long the study would take and Valerie Monastra from Nelson Pope Vorhees responded that they believe the initial work will be completed by the end of October. The cost of the study is $18,000. The Town applied for and has been awarded a grant of $9,000 which will pay for half of this fee. The Board voted unanimously to approve the study.
Resolution to approve sign permit – Tuxedo Park Library- The Library has applied for permission to post 24” X 35” signs at various intersections around Town advertising their Memorial Day picnic. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve form of petition for the Proposition to increase Town Board budgetary allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library – This is an annual request that allows the Library to circulate a petition for putting the Library’s budget request on the ballot in November. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve rental fees for Town Parks and facilities – The Board discussed potential rental fee proposals/amounts. Some of them are currently mentioned in the Town Code, but the Board feels they need to be clarified and expanded. Councilmember Lindsay believes that they should add a section about security and traffic control for events and the Board agreed with her. The discussion will continue at future meetings.
Discussion Items:
Review Energy Audit Proposal for Town Hall – The Board is looking for an over-arching plan for work that needs to be done in Town Hall including analyzing the heating and cooling systems and making suggestions as what could and should be done to them. So far, they have received a proposal from Daylight Savings, but they are looking for additional proposals. They would like to get a quote and proposal from NYPA. (Councilmember Lindsay has already met with former Councilmember Bill Lemanski, who used to work for NYPA.) NYPA could not only do the analyzation, but they could manage the project as far as installing any new equipment. Ultimately, they decided to wait until they got any further estimates before making any decisions.
Sam Grant for Highway Equipment – These grants work by reimbursing municipalities for approved purchases after the fact. 9 years ago, we applied for one of these grants but we have not received the reimbursement funds. The municipalities are supposed to purchase the trucks outright, but we leased ours. Councilmember Lindsay has been working on trying to get the money for the Town. Now they need new trucks as the original ones are old and have high mileage. The new ones have been budgeted for and will be purchased outright. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to delay the purchase so she could try to make a few more phone calls about getting the money. The Supervisor said “Enough is enough!” He feels that the Town needs the trucks and he wants to go ahead with the purchase and if they should get money back e which could be put toward the purchase, so much the better. .” Ultimately, the issue came to a vote and the purchase of both trucks was passed on a vote of 4-1 with Councilmember Lindsay voting nay.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he, Highway Superintendent Dollbaum, Deputy Supervisor Reichgott, Town Engineer Hoffman and Environmental Consultant Bill Canavan had met with DEC Site Monitor, Wesley Salis. In regard to the remediation of the mulch piles, they are trying to avoid further costly testing as the process continues. Mr. Salis agreed that he would take the findings to his supervisor and report back about options for testing and disposal of the material. As President of the Tuxedo LDC, the Supervisor has been managing the coordination of the startup of the new sewage plant as well as the emergency actions needed to remediate the excessive infiltration of stormwater into the system. This has involved signing an agreement with InLiner Solutions to begin the scoping/camera work necessary to analyze the storm and groundwater infiltration into the Hamlet Sewer District’s Collection sew er system is currently feeding a much larger than anticipated amount of water into the new sewer plant. A new vendor, Insituform, has been identified to begin lining the degraded sewer collection pipes. The Supervisor is working with Engineer Sean Hoffman and expects a scope of work and quote within a week. Meanwhile, the Highway Department has replaced lengths of pipe on both Mountain Road and areas within Tuxedo Park. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott announced that the Memorial Day parade will start a half hour early this year with lineup at 11:00 am and push off at 11:30 am. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she would be meeting with Senator Skoufis later in the week. Topics for discussion include State funding for Climate Smart projects, a Route 17 Road Diet and solar possibilities in Tuxedo. She is also working on the upcoming community presentation of the Burgis Plan, which will take place on May 18 and plans to take a table at the High School Community Fair on May 22 which will feature opportunities to help the Climate Smart Task Force. Councilmember May is working on a grant to help pay for the sewer system repairs. Additionally, she reported on progress with the 2023 Summer Camp (interviews for lifeguards and other personnel. They also had a successful interview for a Camp Leader) as well as the Senior Committee meeting. The Committee met with Chief Trazino, who came to listen to their concerns. Councilmember Murphy has been working on the publicity for the May18 meeting on the Burgis Plan. Additionally, she and Superintendent Dollbaum studied all the sidewalks in the downtown Hamlet area and measured them. The State says the sidewalks must be 5 feet wide in certain areas in order to accommodate two wheelchairs passing each other. She also called the DOT to inquire about a Road Diet. One of the suggestions she received was that the Town should paint in a Road Diet first to see how it works and whether or not they like it before going through with all the additional work involved with widening the sidewalks and putting in the 5 ft. wide spaces.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that New York State now offers a one-day Officiant License. If an individual wants to be able to marry someone, they can apply for the license at the Town Clerk’s office. The fee is $25.
Additionally, she brought everyone up to date on upcoming events at St Elizabeth Chapel – the annual flower sale will take place May 11 through the 13 and a Spring Lawn Sale on June 10. Also, upcoming, the Pollinator Meadow Volunteers are holding a meeting at the Library at 6.:30 on May 24. They have recently been gifted with 128 Milkweed plants (these attract Monarch butterflies) and need help planting them. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum noted that his department has finished sweeping the Town streets and that they are now officially clean. He and the Department have been working on the sewer lines. They have discovered several sump pumps that are pumping water directly into the sewer lines. Lastly. he and 3 seasonal workers spent a day cleaning up the cemetery in Arden. This had not been done in several years and people have been calling to thank them!
Minutes:
The minutes of the Regular Town Meeting of April 24,2023 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Evelyn David wondered if it would be possible to have an official Tuxedo Rain Gauge with the findings posted to the website so that people who weren’t in Town could somehow check on this remotely. She was told that weather.gov (not weather.com) is very thorough and frequently has Tuxedo information.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 24, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilperson Lindsay attending remotely via Zoom.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for Town Residents Stu Turner and Andy Rogers, both of whom died recently.
Continuation of Public Hearing on Sewer Use Regulations:
There were no speakers so the hearing was closed.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to adopt Local Law – Sewer Use Regulations: This was passed unanimously.
Resolution assigning duties of Sewer Superintendent to Highway Superintendent: This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to enter into agreement with TUFSD Board of Education for the 2023 Summer Day Camp – This was tabled until the next meeting.
Resolution to approve purchase of BeClutch app for Recreation Dept.- Recreation Director Kathleen Rooney-Metcalf said this will allow them to put everything for the upcoming Summer Day Camp online. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to enter into a Seasonal contract with Pest Shield – The Police Station is in need of some pest control. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Discussion Items:
Schedule date for Burgis Study Presentation – This will be an opportunity for Town residents to see what is being proposed for revitalizing the Hamlet section of Town. It will take place at Town Hall at 7pm on Thursday, May 18.
Recreation Advisory Board – The Board is looking into appointing a 5 member recreation board that would be comprised of one member from each voting district plus one member representing senior citizens. It had been suggested that this Board could be responsible for all matters relating to planning, policy formation, programming, legislation and use of parks and recreation facilities. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she felt the Town Board should be responsible for most of those things and that in her view the proposed Board should focus on recommending recreational events for the community and then running them. It was agreed that this would be an ongoing discussion.
Accounts Clerk Carey Alley inquired as to whether the Board would consider reframing their procurement policy as it is cumbersome for some of the repetitive activities such as repairs to equipment in the Highway Department. The Board said they would think about this and discuss it further at future meetings. The Supervisor also said he would work on this with the Town Attorney.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department had been busy fixing berms, cleaning sidewalks and sweeping streets. They have also replaced pipes in 2 of the sewer lines in Town (one in the Park and one on Mountain Road.) Additionally, he said he had been asked to move the speed limit sign with radar into Town from the north over to the grass, but the Town doesn’t own the property in question so he doesn’t want to do it. Supervisor English said the signs were legal in their current locations. Moving on, the Superintendent commented that he has budgeted for 2 new trucks, which will arrive soon. Lastly, he reminded everyone that there is mulch and compost available for residents in the Quarry Field parking lot.
Town Board Reports: Councilmember May reported that the Town did not get the grant she had just applied for with Senator Ryan’s office to help pay for the necessary repairs to the hamlet sewer system, however she has discovered several other grants she can apply for with the same purpose and all the necessary application work has already been done. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she is still working on the energy audit and that she had had a meeting with Bill Lemansky, who is helping her with this. Councilmember Murphy reported that she has started having meetings with the County Planner focused on how the Town should proceed with plans for Route 17. She has also been talking with the Village of Sloatsburg about this.
Deputy Supervisor Reighgott announced that long time town Building Inspector, Dave Maikisch has resigned. Fortunately, Al Fusco Engineering was hired by the Town to support the Building Department at the last meeting. This firm has been doing work for the Town for years so is familiar with what is needed here. Chris Watkins from their firm has been assigned to be our new code enforcement officer. Councilmember May added that she wanted to thank the High School for the wonderful Earth Day clean up on Saturday and also reported that in spite of the fact that it had been pouring rain, the annual Earth Day Fun Run and 5K event had been a success on Sunday morning. Supervisor English announced that the LDC had recently approved the first three grants that are available to existing Hamlet businesses: : first to the Historical Society who are putting in a new entrance and patio at their new location (former Chase Bank). Second, Karlyn Industries will be refacing their building as well as putting on a new roof and adding new doors and windows and finally Augusta Properties will be making parking lot and landscape renovations (the old Orange Top lot) as well as adding outdoor seating for a restaurant. He also reported that he and Town Attorney Howard Protter have been working on the franchise agreement for Cablevision/Altice which is up at the end of the year. The big thing they are pushing for is internet connectivity for the businesses on Contractor’s Road.
Minutes: The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting of April 10 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers: were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola inquired as to what if anything was being done with the existing sidewalks in Town which, in his opinion, are in bad shape. He was told that that the Highway Department would be working on them, repaving and patching where necessary. Additionally, Mr. Mottola expressed concern about speeders through Town, specifically traffic coming north on Route 17. The Supervisor thanked him for his comments.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 10, 2023 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing – Sewer Use Regulations:
Deputy Supervisor Reichgott led the public hearing and he began by explaining that the Town has never had a law covering sewer use before while most other municipalities do. Also, the Town has been under a consent order from the DEC and passing this law is a condition of getting out of the order. There is an addition to the law which states that non sewage water (or inflow) is not permitted. If inflow is found coming from a residence, the owner will be responsible for paying to remedy this. A copy of the law can be found here.
Evelyn David wanted to know if Tuxedo Farms would be using this system. She was told that while they will be, there is a different collection system just for them. There were no other comments from the public so the Board voted to adjourn the hearing until the next Town Board meeting at on April 24.
Presentation – Hamlet Revitalization Update:
Councilperson Murphy provided an overview of the project to date, detailing all of the things she and Councilperson Lindsay have been hard at work on. The last of these was the Burgis Plan, which is a proposed plan for the immediate hamlet business district. The plan focuses on connectivity and covers the area from the lower commuter lot up to the Entrance of Tuxedo Park, then down the west side of Route 17 along Park Avenue and Store Road to Hospital Road. Also included in the plan’s scope is the area down to the Railroad tracks on the East side of Route 17. Click here to view.
Presentation – Assemblyman Karl Brabenec:
The Assemblyman provided a quick update on what’s going on in Albany with the budget process and then spoke on constituent outreach available from his office. (They can help with grants.)
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Appoint Part-time Police Officer- Margaret Carey, presently working for the Greenwood Lake Police Department was appointed unanimously.
Resolution to enter agreement with Fusco Engineering to provide Building Dept. Services – This will be an at will agreement with services of plan review, inspection and enforcement. This firm has the expertise and necessary number of employees to inspect Tuxedo Farms as well as any other building going on in Town. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution Settling of Tax Certiorari Claim – Genesis Real Estate Partners will have their 2022-2023 taxes reduced from $246,000 to $203,300.
Resolution to approve purchase of John Deere Mini Excavator - at a cost of $76,613.43 – This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve purchase of John Deere ZTrak Mower at a cost of $13,331.01. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution for the Town Clerk to put Town Equipment out to surplus -This is the Toro mower which is being replaced by the John Deere mower because they can no longer get parts for it. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve Town Clerk Annual Training – The training will take place on April 23 – April 25 in Syracuse. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve BMI Imaging Services to convert microfiche to digital files – This was approved for an amount of up to $6,000.
Minutes:
The minutes of the regular Town Board Meeting on March 14 were approved with Deputy Supervisor Reichgott abstaining due to his absence from the meeting.
The minutes of the March 27 meeting were approved with Councilpersons May and Lindsay abstaining due to their absence from the meeting.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Town Board Updates: Councilperson May reported that Senator Pat Ryan’s office will be announcing grant recipients on either Monday or Tuesday of next week. (The Town has applied for one of these grants) She also gave the details of Earth Day events in Tuxedo, which can also be found on the Town website. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott stated that the water department in Tuxedo Park will be flushing hydrants over the next two weeks. Councilperson Lindsay commented that she was working on an update of the Town Energy Audit. She also noted that the outreach in the education portion of the Community Choice Aggregation effort will continue through mid-July, with the opt out period in September and program launch in December.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola asked about the Town’s desire toobtain the parking lot adjacent to the Post Office. He was told that they are not interested at the moment as the Town Commuter lots are only about 40% filled on an average weekday.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss personnel issues at 8:34 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 27, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Councilmembers May and Murphy were absent.
Public Hearing – Police Mutual Aid – A brief explanation was provided. Essentially, the proposed law changes the chain of command for what happens if and when mutual aid is needed by the police. Currently, if an officer wants to call for aid from other departments, approval from the Town Supervisor is required. Under the new law, permission could be granted by the Chief of Police or the officer in charge of the situation. Click here to view a copy of the law.
There were no public comments.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There was none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to adopt Local Law entitled “Police Mutual Aid” – This was passed unanimously.
Resolution to introduce Local Law entitled “Sewer Use Regulations,” and schedule Public Hearing – The proposed law will cover the Hamlet Sewer District only. The Town is currently under a consent order from the DEC which requires the passing of this law. Click here to view a copy. The public hearing will be held on April 10 at 7:00 pm.
Resolution to appoint Part Time Police Officer – Antonio Jennings a resident of Greenwood Lake and current MTA police officer was appointed by unanimous vote.
Town Board Discussion:
Councilmember Lindsay presented the Board with additional information pertaining to the Burgis Study. The study, which is on-going, is aimed at revitalizing the Hamlet section of Town. At the March 13 meeting of the Board, Councilmember Murphy provided a detailed update complete with conceptual drawings. (Click here to view the drawings) . Councilmember Lindsay suggested that they would be looking to apply to the LDC for matching funds to help pay for some of the projects. In Summation, they have moved away from their initial recommendation of opening Store Road to two-way traffic and are instead suggesting a walkway along the East side of the road. They are also suggesting pedestrian walkways along the North-Bound side of Route 1, mostly along the West side of the train station parking lot. Click here to see a copy of the updated presentation. The presentation was followed by a discussion during which both Supervisor English and Deputy Supervisor Reichgott provided feedback. Generally speaking, they suggested that the project needed to be more clearly defined and if it was something that would fit into a larger plan for the Town, this needed to be clearly stated. They were both looking for more detail. Following a lengthy discussion, The Supervisor determined that the conversation would be continued at the next Town Board meeting on April 10, which would allow .Coucilmembers Lindsay and Murphy time to put together some more detailed information about what was being proposed.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced several Earth Day Events: on Saturday, April 22, the Tuxedo School District is organizing a Town wide clean up. This will begin at 9 am in the upper parking lot of the school. On Sunday, April 23, the Town is hosting a Fun Run followed by a 5K. The events begin at 8:30 and 9am respectively. The Meeting place for both is Quarry Field. Next, she announced that the Town Garbage collector, IWS will pick up Bulk items every Thursday by appointment only. To make an appointment, residents should call them at 866-DIAL IWS. Highway Superintedent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department would be done with tree cutting by Friday, March 31. Next they will be patching potholes and taking care of anything else that needs to be brought back up to speed after the winter. This work will begin on Monday, April 3. They are also looking to replace a Toro lawnmower. A new one will cost roughly $13,000. Lastly, he announced that since Spring is here, mulch, compost and stones will be coming to the bins at the Quarry Field parking lot.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English commented that he would forego his report because the meeting was running so late. Deputy Supervisor Reichgott stated that he wanted to pay homage to absent Councilmember May, who had done a great job by responding to Congressman Ryan’s call for proposals for grants for municipal projects. She put her proposal together quickly. In a couple of weeks they will know whether or not the Town will receive a considerable sum. Additionally, he noted that spring is the time of year when Bears wake up and come out of their dens and they will be hungry. He cautioned residents to take down bird feeders and shore up their garbage cans! Councilmember Lindsay reported that she and Recreation Director Kathleen Metcalf were planning to visit the WeeWah Beach so the new Director can get a better idea of what type of camp activities she might want to plan there. They also plan to meet with the Village’s Wee Wah Committee so that they can discuss what the price will be for using the facility. Lastly, she announced that she would be participating in another Climate Choice Aggregation presentation. This one will be for The Woodlands homeowners.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on March 13 could not be addressed because Deputy Supervisor Reichgott recused himself due to not have attended the meeting and without him, they didn’t have a quorum. It was agreed that they would further review and vote on them at the next Town Board meeting.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
There were no public comments and the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 13, 2023 at 7pm. Supervisor English and Councilmembers May and Murphy were present in person at Town Hall. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay attended remotely via Zoom and Councilmember Reichgott was absent.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Approve and Authorize Supervisor to sign 2023 Stop DWI Intermunicipal Agreement with Orange County – This is an annual agreement and it was approved unanimously.
Resolution to introduce Local Law entitled “Police Mutual Aid,” and schedule a public hearing – Chief John Trazino has discovered that there is no State or County law covering this action. Therefore, he and Town Attorney Howard Protter are recommending that the Town pass this law so that there is no delay in providing or receiving mutual aid. The Board, Chief and Town Attorney all indicated that they were in favor of moving forward and a public hearing was set for March 27, 2023 at 7 pm.
Department Updates: Superintendent of Highways Dollbaum reported that his department was prepared for the snow storm expected later that night. He added that they are currently down 2 men and 1 truck which might slow them down a bit, but they will get to everybody in a timely manner. The department has also been busy with their continued work on the rock/mulch pile. For the last 3 years, they have rented a mini excavator to do this work, but Supervisor Dolbaum is recommending that they enter into a lease/purchase agreement with a different company for a John Deere mini excavator, which will be cheaper. The payment would be $1000 less per month. He would also like to rent a crusher which will allow him to make gravel out of the rocks. The Board was agreeable to this recommendation and suggested that he pull together a bid with agreement so they could vote on it at their next meeting. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum noted that she had “nothing earthshattering” to report and thus was going to defer to the Town Board so that all could get home before the expected snow storm.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English gave the following report:
Regarding the Tuxedo LDC he noted that three applications for Hamlet Revitalization funds had been submitted. The projects are subject to Planning and ARB approvals. Applicants are responding to Board feedback and the LDC expects to receive completed submissions at their next meeting on Thursday, March 23 (5:00-6:30).
As President of the Tuxedo Farms LDC (the agency that owns the new sewer plant). The Supervisor has been managing the coordination of the startup of the new plant and the emergency actions needed to remediate the excessive inflow of stormwater into the system, which is feeding a much larger than anticipated amount of water into the new sewer plant. InLiner Solutions has been hired for $62,400 to help with remediation. Scoping work necessary to analyze the infiltration of storm and groundwater into the Hamlet Collection system is expected to begin next week. Highway Supervisor Dollbaum’s team has provided a detailed analysis of where the suspected trouble spots are which will hopefully help to save money and time needed to identify the areas of concern. The annual meeting for the Tuxedo Farms LDC is scheduled for Wednesday, March 22 at 10 am. The meeting will be both in-person at Tuxedo Town Hall and live streamed on the Town’s Zoom account.
The Tuxedo Club Tax Certiorari claim has been settled. The total amount of the refunds to the Tuxedo Club for the 2023 Town and County taxes is $65,851,06. Approximately $41,200.09 is for Town taxes and $24,651.03 is for County taxes. This is approximately a 47% reduction from the prior assessed values.
Lastly, he reported that the final payment had been made on a $250,000 settlement regarding the property at 60 Woods Road, owned by Mr. Howard Shaub. This ends an obligation that was paid over 5 years. The 2024 Town budget can eliminate this expense line. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she has been working along with Councilmember Murphy on the Burgis Study which offers plans to implement infrastructure projects in the Hamlet Business district that will help with connectivity of the east and west sides of Route 17, pedestrian safety and Increased public parking.
She has also been working with the state agency DASNY to revive the $75,000 grant for a Highway Department truck and truck accessories. Estimates supplied by Superintendent Dollbaum have been submitted and she is working on the next steps.
Finally, she said she would consult the Town’s bond counsel with regard to issuing Revenue Anticipation notes if the Town should be awarded federal grants for the Hamlet Sewer infrastructure. She will also discuss Bond Anticipation notes in case the Town needs additional funding for the Hamlet Sewer District. Councilmember May reported that she had been working to obtain funding for the sewer project from Community Funding Project. This requires getting letters of support from the community. She has already received letters from Anthony Davidson of the Tuxedo Park Library, Mayor David McFadden of the Village of Tuxedo Park and Noreen Fennell of the Chamber of Commerce. She has also written to State Senator Skoufis and Assemblyman Brabenec requesting their help. Additionally, she announcd that Kathleen Metcalf, the new Recreation Director, had started work on March 6. Her hours are 9:30-3:00 on Monday and 9:00- 3:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. Councilmember Murphy reported that she had been working on various grants. The tourism grant (for $4950 to fund an outdoor event this summer) is ready to be signed. The Greenway grant needs an RFP and Town Attorney Protter is working on that and should have it done by the close of business on Tuesday.
Minutes: The minutes for the regular Town Board Meeting held on February 27 were accepted unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Other Business:
Supervisor English announced that Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has decided to resign her position as Deputy Supervisor although she will continue to work on economic development as well as climate smart and other energy issues along with energy expenses and financing. The Board has also decided to expand the Building Department so that it can oversee the Buildout of Tuxedo Farms. The Supervisor then appointed Councilmember Reichgott as both Deputy Supervisor and head of the Building Department.
Councilmember Murphy provided an update on the Burgis Study, which is on-going. To see the latest drawings detailing what has been proposed, click here.The Board will have a public discussion on this topic at a later meeting.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola commented that it had been his understanding that the Town wouldnhold a public hearing on the Burgis Study before moving forward with anything that had been proposed. The Board members responded that they were nowhere near ready to implement any plans and that there would be plenty of time for the public to make their opinions known. Next, Mr. Mottola observed that in trying to ramp up recreation in the Town, they keep scheduling different “runs” (Earth Day run, Turkey trot, etc.) but they haven’t been doing any advertising so they aren’t attracting many participants. As a result, they are burning up municipal resources for small events. The Board thanked him for his input.
The Board then adjourned into Executive Session to discuss personnel issues as requested by Councilmember Lindsay. They noted that they would not be taking any action following the session.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 27, 2023 at 7 pm. All members attended with Deputy Supervisor Lindsay and Councilmember Murphy participating remotely via Zoom.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to appoint Recreation Director – As pre-approved by the Orange County Civil Service office, Kathleen Metcalf was unanimously appointed as Part-Time Recreation Director with a start date of March 6, 2023. Civil Service has approved the position for 17.5 to 30 hours a week. Kathleen has many years of experience with sports and recreation programs in Monroe and other locations. The Town is planning to offer a summer camp program for children The Town is planning to offer a summer camp program for children this summer.
Resolution to terminate lease agreements – Painting & Sandblasting, Inc and Engines Plus, Inc. have both been renting space at the Highway Garage. The Town has decided to terminate these lease agreements because they feel they will need the space to properly service Tuxedo Farms in addition to the rest of the town. The leases are terminated as of March 31, 2023 and the tenants will have until May 1, 2023 to vacate and restore the premises.
Resolution to accept Municipal Tourism Grant from Orange County- The grant is for $4950 and is to be used to produce an outdoor event in the art and music genre, as well as to establish a list of properties available for filming in the Town.
Resolution to approve Budget Modifications- Several budget modifications were proposed by Town Auditor and Town Financial Consultant, Andrew Arias. They were approved unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that she had been looking into upgrading the phone system in Town Hall. Currently, they can only receive 2 incoming calls at a time. If there are more calls, they are directed to whichever line is open at that moment, resulting in calls often getting directed to the wrong department. She suggests switching to a cloud based system with the same company for a modest price increase, which would allow the Town to receive more calls at the same time. It was agreed that Mrs. Dollbaum would submit the specifics of the new plan as outlined to the Board for their review and that Town Attorney Howard Protter would be asked to review any resulting contract. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department is still working on trimming trees. They are also getting ready for the snow that was predicted for Monday night into Tuesday as well as another storm due on Thursday and Friday!
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that he has been working with a group that includes Town Engineer Sean Hoffman, Sewer Plant Operators H2O Innovations, Highway Supervisor Dollbaum and Town Councilmember Reichgott to inspect the collection system for the new sewer plant. This system is very outdated and has not had sufficient maintenance over many years. The group recently had a 2.5 hour meeting at the sewer plant. Among other things, they are working on an updated I&I map. Howard Protter has been working with the company who will come in to do necessary remediation (using ARPA funds). They hope to have a proposed plan with estimate by next week. The Board has capped the contract at $100,000 and if the estimate exceeds that, it will come back to them for deliberation. Councilmember Reichgott added that this would be a multi-year project. He has also been working on the new sewer law. He hopes to have something for the 2nd meeting in March so they can hold a public hearing and get the law on the books. Councilmember May reported that she had been working on getting the Recreation Department going again! Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that she has been working on funding for the sewer system. She had a chance to chat with the Town’s Bond Counsel at the recent Association of Towns meeting. She feels Tuxedo might look into short term revenue anticipation notes to pay for everything the Town will need. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has a provision for Towns to get a direct payment (instead of a tax credit) for things such as solar projects. Finally, she reminded everyone of the presentation on the CCA which will be held at the Tuxedo Library (and via Zoom) on Saturday March 4 at 3pm. Registration for the event (necessary to get the Zoom link) is through the Library’s website. Also, the Climate Smart Task Force will meet on Monday, March 6 at 5:30 via the Town’s Zoom. (Details will be published on the Town website.) Councilmember Murphy reported having received the Tourism grant and further noted that she was working to put together a project list. She has also submitted a request to remove the speed limit signs on Long Meadow Road to the DOT. Additionally, she received a proposal from Nelson Pope for the Greenway Study and is putting together a project list so they can get additional proposals for the work.
Minutes from the regular Town Board meeting of February 13 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Other Business:
Governor Hochul signed legislation granting a 10% reduction from property taxes for volunteer firemen and volunteer ambulance workers. Since there was no way to effectively get things in place for this year (the taxes have already been billed and collected in January) it will be done and ready for next year. The Town supports this reduction for their volunteers.
Abigail Klein was hired as a seasonal intern on a part-time basis. She will be assisting with clerical work for 8 weeks.
Public Comments: Sue Scher commended the Town Board for getting the Recreation Department rebuilt in a timely fashion. She wondered if this would be a good time to reinstate the Recreation Advisory Committee? She was told that the Board supported this idea. Councilmember May stated that she would like to be appointed as the Board Liaison to the Silver Dollars and it was unanimously agreed that this would be done.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 13, 2023 at 7pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with a presentation from the Tuxedo Senior Survey Committee which is a subcommittee of the Silver Dollars Club. The committee put a tremendous amount of work into developing, distributing and analyzing the results of a senior survey and they have subsequently written a report detailing 27 recommendations for follow up actions that could be taken. Supervisor English thanked the committee for their hard work but acknowledged that executing many of the recommendations would be somewhat difficult as they are expensive, have not been built into the budget and taxpayers might not be willing to pay for all of them. He further suggested that a good starting point might be to work with the Orange County Office of Aging to see what help the Town could get from them. Councilmember May also suggested asking both the Tuxedo and Monroe Woodbury Schools if there would be any students who might be interested and willing to help. Councilmember Murphy felt it would be good to prioritize the recommendations.
Resolution to allow sale of raffle tickets by the Onyx and Breezy Foundation in the Town of Tuxedo – This is an annual request. Onyx and Breezy has been selling their raffle tickets here for many years. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve grant writing services from Millennium Strategies not to exceed $4000-the Town needs to replace a culvert on Benjamin Meadow Rd. which is in bad shape and keeps collapsing (due in part to the fact that beavers keep damming it up!) This grant writing firm was recommended by Town Engineer Sean Hoffman. The project will cost $239,000 so a grant would make it affordable. It was approved unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that she has received a letter from Woodlands HOA President Fran Liza in support of moving the speed limit sign on Long Meadow Rd. The request will now be forwarded to the County. Next, she reported that the Town’s Escrow policy had been officially filed with New York State and subsequently added to the Town Code. Moving on, she thanked Tom Reilly and the TUFSD Interact Club who assisted the DEC in refurbishing and installing a sign by the Ramapo River in the East Village which states it is a public fishing area. She further noted commented Orange County Clerk Kelly Eskew has published a brochure from the Return a Favor program which contains a list of businesses that will give discounts to veterans. The information can be found on the Town website under the Veterans tab. Finally, she announced that Town Hall will be closed on Monday, February 20 in observance of Presidents Day. Garbage pickup will not be affected and will proceed as usual. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department has been working on tree trimming and the rock pile. They are also working on mapping out the entire sewer system and have discovered several leaks in the pipes that lead to the new sewage
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported he has been working with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum on the aforementioned sewer problem. The problems with the collection system are a consequence of many years of deferred maintenance but they must now be addressed in order to service Tuxedo Farms. The Town will need to identify a contractor who is able to address the problem and is available to do the work as soon as possible. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that she had nominated Sue Heywood for the Orange County Citizen of the Month award which she recently received. Sue gives many hours to St. Mary’s outreach and the Sloatsburg Food Pantry among many other things she does for the community. Next, she reported on the Community Choice Aggregation presentation that was given at the Tuxedo Park Library and reminded everyone that future presentations will take place on February 15 at the Village of Tuxedo Park Trustee meeting, by Zoom on February 16 at Town Hall in a program given by the Climate Smart Task Force and again at the Library (in person and by Zoom) on March 4 at 3 pm. She has also been working with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum to revive a SAM grant from a few years back. They need to revive the purpose of the grant which will now be for a snow plow and a sander. They are working with Senator Skoufis on this. Lastly, she announced that she would be attending the Association of Towns meetings on February 20 and 21. Councilmember May announced that Recreation Coordinator Claire Dougher has resigned as she will be going back to school. The Board is interviewing candidates for the job. She has also been working on the Town’s ARPA funds and looking to use that money for fixing the sewage collection system. Councilmember Murphy remarked that she has been following up with the Greenway grant awarded to the Town to finance a study on the Route 17 corridor to see what kind of businesses might work here. She has requested a proposal from Town Planners Nelson Pope for this project and then will be opening it up to other entities for bid. She has also submitted another proposal to Orange County for a $5000 tourism grant to host an event as a follow up to the Tuxedo Art and Music programs. She would also like to use the funds to put together a catalog of all the special places in Tuxedo that might be appropriate for film projects or commercials so that they can in turn be added to the Orange County registry that exists for potential filmmakers to find locations. She has also been in touch with the Burgis group about their proposal and lastly, she has been working on an outline and budget for the Town’s camp program. Councilmember Reichgott commented that in working with Sean Hoffman on the sewer problem, he has discovered that the Town is required to have a sewer law but they don’t currently have one. He has been working on this and hopes to have a draft ready for consideration at the second meeting in March.
Minutes – for the regular Town Board meeting on 1/23/23 were approved with Supervisor English abstaining as he was not there.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola suggested that the Town should consider reviving the Ned Northrop award which was established by the 10K Committee and awarded to a member of the community for outstanding community service. Councilmember Reichgott volunteered to work with Mr. Mottola to put together the criteria for awarding this honor.
Other Business:
The Board unanimously passed a resolution that would allow for the retention of professional services to investigate the sewage pipes in the hamlet and to develop a mitigation plan for these pipes. The work is not to exceed $100,000. The plan is to use ARPA funds to pay for this project.
The Board then adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss leases at the Highway Garage site and personnel.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 23, 2023 at 7 pm. Supervisor Ken English was absent. All other Town Board members were present.
The meeting began with a joint session with the Tuxedo Park Board of Trustees for the purpose of holding a Public Hearing on the Annexation of territory in the Town of Tuxedo to the Village of Tuxedo Park. As part of the 2005 Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms, it was agreed that this property known as Rattlesnake Mountain Preserve would be annexed into the Village, but it has never actually been done. There were no public comments either in person or submitted in writing so the hearing was closed, but the records were left open to receive written comments until January 30. Both entities voted unanimously in favor of authorizing their attorneys to prepare orders, resolutions and agreements to approve the annexation. After this the joint session was adjourned and the Village Board members left the meeting.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to adopt As Built Permit fees – These fees cover the circumstance where someone has had work done on their property without getting a permit and then when the property is sold, the need for a permit is discovered and the permit is applied for. The Building Inspector wanted the fee to be $2500, but after some discussion, it was agreed that it would be $2000. This was passed unanimously.
Resolution to adopt Fire Inspection fees (Return or Reinspection) – These fees come into play when someone makes an appointment for an inspection and then cancels the appointment without notice. It was agreed that the fee would be the amount of the original fee. This was passed unanimously.
Resolution to adopt Escrow fees – In accordance with the Escrow law passed on 12/28/22, the following fees were agreed upon:
Escrow-Private Residential Projects-$5000 (Planning Board)
Escrow-Commercial Projects/Major Subdivisions -$10,000 (Planning Bd)
Escrow-Techinical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting-$550 (Planning Bd)
Escrow-Private Residential Projects-$1000 (ZBA)
Escrow-Commerci al Projects-$5000 (ZBA)
These fees were agreed upon and the resolution passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is plowing and salting the roads as necessary. They are in the middle of tree pruning and trimming and are currently working in the Laurel Ridge area. Finally, work on the rock pile at the Highway garage is ongoing.
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay gave an account of the Hamlet Revitalization LDC Information meeting that was held on January 17. The meeting was well attended and the Committee expects to see several applications for the available grants. On January 23, the Silver Dollars met and heard a presentation from Jeff Demansky on the Community Choice Aggregation project. Future meeting dates are as follows:
February 9, 7 pm at Tuxedo Park Library (in person and via the Library’s Zoom)
February 16 - 7pm, the Climate Smart Task Force, a joint committee from both the Town and Village, will hold a meeting via the Town’s Zoom
March 4, 3 pm at Tuxedo Park Library (in person and via the Library’s Zoom) Councilperson May reported that she had attended the Town Bonfire on January 21 and it was both fun and well attended. Councilperson Murphy reported that she is working on the “grant portal” for the Town and is trying to put together an economic study of the Corridor. She has applied for a $4999 grant and wants to put together a digital list of all properties available in the Town that could be used for films. She is also working with the Orange County Arts Council to put together a program for Tuxedo Art and Music at Powerhouse Park.
Minutes: The minutes for regular Town Board meeting held on January 9 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously
Public Comments: Dale Mottola said that she attended the Bonfire held at Powerhouse Park on Saturday night and the walk between the parking lot and the field was very dark. She was told that the lights had not been working properly.
Other Business: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported receiving a proposal for electricity from New York Power Authority but its only good for a week. She was thinking about trying for an extension on the proposal. She was told that they Power Authority puts out a new proposal every week so they decided to wait until the next proposal.
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss personnel at 8:40 pm. When they came out of the session, no action was taken and the meeting was adjourned at 9:54 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 7 pm. All members were present with Councilmembers May and Murphy attending via Zoom.
Public Comment on Agenda Items:
There was none.
Agenda Items: Resolution approving Supervisor to sign Rockland Paramedics, Inc. contract – The total contract price is $750,358.50 with $654,306 being the cost of the paramedic. It was explained that this sizeable increase is due to wages and insurance. The Corps has been covering some of these expenses with their surplus fund, but that has run out. The $654,306 charge is payable in monthly payments of $54,525. It is a 2 year contract. This was approved unanimously. Town Reorganization – Following some discussion and a few minor changes, the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the Reorganization document . Details are as follows:
The following appointments were made by Supervisor English:
Deputy Supervisor
Michele Lindsay
Budget Officer
Kenneth English
Secretary to Supervisor
Lori Cosgrove
Additionally, the following positions/salaries were approved:
Title
Name
Salary
Term
Supervisor
Ken English
$45,000
12/31/23
Deputy Supervisor
Michele Lindsay
$13,022.29
12/31/23
Councilmember
Maria May
$7,769.29
12/31/23
Councilmember
Deirdre Murphy
$7,769.29
12/31/25
Councilmember
Jay Reichgott
$7,769.29
12/31/25
Town Clerk
Marisa Dollbaum
$71,626
12/31/23
Highway Superintendent
Robert Dollbaum
$100,500.19
12/31/23
Town Justice
Shawn Brown
$30,737.73
12/31/25
Town Justice
Alyse McCathern
$30,737.73
12/31/26
Secretary to Supervisor
Lori Cosgrove
$34.01/hr for 30 hours/week
$53,055.60
Account Clerk
Carey Alley
$36.78/hr for 35 hours/week
$66.939.60
Deputy Town Clerk
Alexandra Kinol
$21.03/hr for 18 hours/week
$19,684.08
Deputy Town Clerk
TBD
$21.03/hr for 12 hours/week
$13,122.72
Building Inspector
David Maikisch
$44.68/hr for 30 hours/week
$69,700.80
Project Coordinator for Building Dept., Planning Board, ZBA
Deborah Villanueva
$34.02/hr for 35 hours/week
$61,916.40
Office and Recreation Coordinator
Claire Dougher
$24.49/hr for 30 hours/week
$21,012.42
Highway Department Clerical Support
Claire Dougher
$17,191.98
Assessor
Hugh Davies
$35,112.81
Police Chief p/t
John Trazino
$35,000
Animal/Dog Control Officer
TBD
$8.636.98
Clerk to Town Justice
Claire Squillini
$30.87/hr for 35/hours/wk
$56,183.40
Clerk to Town Justice
Patricia Marsh
$27.78/hr for 17.5 hrs/week
$25,279.80
Assistant Court Clerk
Tracy Peplowski
$24.23/hr for 30
hours/wk
$37,798.80
Assistant Court Clerk
TBD
$20.46/hr
Planning Board/Chairman
John Banyo
$6,665.43
12/31/23
Planning Board/Member
Susan Reif
$3,026.22
12/31/27
Planning Board/Member
Chris Kasker
$3,026.22
12/31/23
Planning Board/Member
William Lemanski
$3,026.22
12/31/24
Planning Board/Member
William Friedlich
$3,026.22
12/31/25
Planning Board/Member
Susan Boyle
$3,026.22
12/31/26
Planning Board/Member
Ned Kugel
$3,026.22
12/31/26
Planning Board/Alternate
Justin Jennings
$3,026.22
12/31/23
Zoning Board of Appeals/Chairman
Francis Peverly
$1,832.45
12/31/25
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Marc Citron
$1,324.50
12/31/27
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Sharon Radulov
$1,324.50
12/31/23
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Russell Shaver
$1,324.50
12/31/24
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Christopher Dollbaum
$1,324.50
12/31/26
Zoning Board of Appeals/Alternate
TBD
$1,324.50
12/31/23
Board of Assessment Review/Chairman
TBD
****
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Marie Warniaha
9/30/27
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Howard Zukof
9/30/23
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Mattes
9/30/24
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Brennan
9/30/25
Board of Assessment Review/Member
TBA
9/30/26
**** Salary for Chairman is $1746.73, Member is $606.52
Chairman is appointed by members of BAR
Town Attorneys
Jacobowitz & Gubits
Per professional agreement
Engineers
Hoffman Engineering
Per professional agreement
Engineers
Fusco Engineering and Land Surveyiing
Per professional agreement
Municipal Consultant for Workforce Planning and Labor Relations
Michael Richardson
Per professional agreement
Town Financial Consultant Services
Cooper Arias/ Andrew Arias
Per professional agreement
Planning Board Legal Consultant
Naughton & Torre
Per professional agreement
ZBA Legal Consultant
Naughton & Torre
Per professional agreement
Town Planner
Nelson, Pope, Voorhis
Per professional agreement
Town Historian
George Langberg
Per professional agreement
Department Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum stated that the dumpsters located at Quarry Field and Murphy Field are overflowing. She will look into the possibility of getting additional or larger dumpsters and report back. Additionally, she announced that the Town will hold a bonfire (of old Christmas trees) on January 21 at 6pm at Powerhouse Park. The last pickup of trees will be on January 20. Weather permitting, ice skating will be available and there will be a food truck from The Hungarian Hotspot! Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that the Department will be picking up old Christmas trees through January 20. They have also been doing tree work on Warwick Brook Road and will move next to Laurel Ridge. Lastly, he announced that the new Sewer Plant will be hooked up on January 11!!!
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reiterated that the Sewer Plant will be operational on Wednesday, January 11. Next, he announced that the Hamlet LDC would be holding a meeting on January 17 at 7 pm. Town Businesses interested in applying for grants should attend to get details. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that at a recent Village of Tuxedo Park Climate Smart meeting, she learned that the Village has obtained electricity from the NY Power Authority for their municipal buildings. They are also looking into using heat pumps for there. Next, she noted that the Community Choice Aggregation program has moved into the public outreach phase. There will be meetings for interested residents on February 9 and March 4 at the Tuxedo Park Library. Both meetings are scheduled for 7 pm. There will also be a meeting at Town Hall on March16 which will be available via the Town’s Zoom. Councilmember May reported that Gardiner Hempel is looking into the recently passed law allowing for tax reductions for resident volunteers of the Fire Department. She asked about the NYS cannabis laws and wondered if the Board should be taking any additional action? Town Attorney Protter responded that cannabis can now be legally sold at a dispensary. The Town does not have to do anything else at this time. Any dispensaries will be subject to New York State regulations. Finally, Councilmember May reported that she and Councilmember Murphy have been working with Recreation Coordinator Claire Doughey on creating a Town Calendar of events. Councilmember Reichgott spoke about the Tuxedo Bag Project, started by some TPS students for the purpose of collecting reusable grocery bags to be donated to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry. These can be left in boxes available at the Tuxedo Town Hall, the Tuxedo Park Village Office, the Sloatsburg Town Hall and the Clubhouse at the Woodlands. Councilmember Murphy has written a public relations article about Tuxedo Farms and submitted it to Related for approval. She will be sending it out for publication in various places in the near future.
Minutes for the regular meeting held on December 28 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola inquired as to when the Cablevision contract would be up. He was told at the end of 2023. It doesn’t look like there are any viable alternatives available for the Town. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum added that Cablevision has never supplied service to any of the businesses on Contractor’s Road and all of them would like to have that option! Mr. Dollbaum suggested that the Town consider putting pressure on Cablevision to hook up those businesses when the contract renewal is being discussed. Dale Mottola commented that it seems to her as though the garbage company is “double dipping.” as the Town already pays for glass recycling in the contract and now they are charging us for dumpsters to collect it in. This will be discussed with IWS.
Meeting ID: 996 6102 9476
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Meeting ID: 922 4807 2119
Passcode: 512726
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aehjPL8S7k
The Town Board met on Wednesday, December 28, 2022 at 7 pm. All members were present with Deputy Supervisor Lindsay and Councilmember Murphy attending via Zoom.
Public Hearing – Establishing an Escrow Policy and Its Administration- Town Attorney Howard Protter gave a brief explanation of the law. There were no comments so the public hearing was closed.
Public Comment on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items
Resolution to appoint a full-time police officer – Tia Frunzi, a Sullivan County Sheriff was unanimously appointed. Police Chief Trazino enthusiastically endorsed this appointment.
Resolution to approve equipment purchase for Police Department – at Chief Trazino’s request, the Town is replacing all of the departments’ firearms which are all quite old. The cost for the guns is $8,518.72. There will be an anticipated credit for trading in the old guns which should be $3,055.00 making the final cost an anticipated $5,463.72. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Warwick Humane Society contract -This remains the same with the exception that the per diem fee for boarding an animal went to $25 from $20. It was approved unanimously.
2023 Refuse Contracts – As usual, two companies received approval…IWS (29 trucks) $5800 and Sterling Carting (4 trucks) $800 This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to adopt Introductory Local Law “Establishing an Escrow Policy and Its Administration,” – This resolution was passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced that his Department is collecting Christmas trees for their annual bonfire. Next, he inquired as to what someone should do if they have a stray dog or cat to be picked up? He was told that they should call the police who would take it from there. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum advised that the IWS pickup service for the week of January 2 will be Tuesday pickup for garbage and Friday pickup for both garbage and recycling.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he had been busy with recruitment and hiring having just hired a new, full-time police officer and also interviewing a prospective planning board member earlier in the evening to fill the sear recently vacated by Kristy Apostolides, who has resigned her position on the Board. He also announced that the next Town Board meeting will take place on January 9. On January 17 at 6:30 pm, there will be an information session for local businesses (in the Hamlet district) given by the LDC for Hamlet revitalization. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay remarked that the Town is now in the public outreach portion of the Community Choice Aggregation process. Meetings are being scheduled at the Tuxedo Park Library, as well as in the Woodlands and one for Silver Dollars members. She hopes to have these meeting dates finalized by the end of the week. Once finalized, they will be posted on the Town website. Councilmember May reported that she met with the town bookkeeper and discovered that the Town has $237,987 leftover in ARPA funds. She stated that she had recently taken a look at the sidewalks in Town which she believes are not in good shape and need to be repaired. She suggests that the funds be utilized for this project which was estimated to be $394,000 the last time a quote was received. It was pointed out that the Town has also discussed using these funds to replace the HVAC system in Town Hall. A meeting with the Burgis group to discuss their ideas for the Hamlet district will be scheduled and it is anticipated that this will take place at the second meeting in January. Councilmember Reichgott noted that he had nothing pressing to report and wished everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year. Councilmember Murphy commented that the Town’s Holiday Concert at St. Mary’s on December 17 was a big success. Roughly 75 people attended and $700 was raised for the Sloatsburg Food Pantry.
Miniutes:
The minutes for the December 12 Town Board meeting were accepted and approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
Were approved unanimously.
Other Business:
The Board adjourned into an executive session to discuss the Planning Board candidate. They returned 5 minutes later and appointed Susan Reif to a new 5-year term beginning on 1/1/23 and running through 12/31/27.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to introduce draft local law entitled “Escrow Policy,” and set public hearing -This policy will enable the Town to collect money from applicants looking to build in the Town. When many of these projects go to the Planning or Zoning Boards, the Town has to hire consultants to help with the oversight. These can include the Town Engineer, the Town Planner, the Town Attorneys, architectural advisors, etc. The new law will allow the Town collect some money up front so that the consultants can be paid and thus go to work. The public hearing was set for December 28 at 7:00 pm.
Resolution approving towing license applications for 2023 – The following submitted applications and paid the required fee: NJV Auto, Apple Auto Body, Loyal Tire and Auto, Itzy’s Collision and Freeman’s Auto Service. They will be added to the on-call rotation for when someone needs towing services and doesn’t know who to call.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the Town Menorrah Lighting will take place on Thursday, December 22 at 6 pm with a reception to follow. She also reported that the Electronic Recycling event at the Highway Department is ongoing. They will accept all electronics except tvs. There are several places that will accept tvs in Orange County but all involve a fee. Finally, she said that the Town & County tax bills are being printed. They will go in the mail as soon as she receives them from the County. The Town can begin receiving taxes on December 28. Payment can be made in person at Town Hall, by mail or online via the Town website. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department had been out plowing snow. He further reminded everyone that they will continue picking up leaves up until December 15. Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that on Wednesday, December 13 he and Police Chief Trazino would be interviewing two candidates for the position of full time police officer. The Supervisor also met with Superintendent Dollbaum and Town Engineer Sean Hoffman at the train station to discuss repairs that are needed to be made to that building. They are working on an RFP for that project. Finally, he noted that the Town LDC grant orientation for businesses interested in grants would be held on January 17 in Town Hall. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that the Climate Smart Aggregation is now in the rollout stage with meetings to be held in Town in January and February. She also reported participating in a County wide Climate Smart meeting on November 30. Councilmember May said that she was still working on the ARPA funds. Councilmember Murphy reported that everything was still on track for the Town’s Holiday Concert scheduled for December 17 but the time has been switched from 4 to 4:30pm. The concert and a reception to follow will be held at St. Mary’s Church. Moving on, she further reported that she had received a letter from the State DOT denying her request to lower the speed limit on Longmeadow Rd. She also noted that she had received the requested letter from the TUFSD Board of Education regarding establishment of a School Zone so she will forward it to the State DOT. She and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay met with representatives from the Orange County Partnership. They showed them Town owned properties around Town which are available to be developed. Orange County Partnership will try to come up with ideas for the various properties and recommend people who might be interested in doing some of these things. Lastly, she reported that she had finished writing a press release on Tuxedo Farms and sent it to Related for their approval prior to releasing it to local press. Councilmember Reichgott had nothing to report.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on November 28 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
Speaking for the Chamber of Commerce, Jerry Mottola thanked Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and his crew for their help in decorating the Train Station.
Other Business:
a Resolution to approve Town Engineer Sean Hoffman’s work list for the Train Station and authorizing him to put a bid package together was approved unanimously.
Sue Scher reported having received 178 responses to the survey sent out to Seniors in Town. She will have a report by the end of January.
The Board then adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss compensation for employees. This has to do with the Reorganization which will happen next month.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 28, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Supervisor English and Councilmember May attending via Zoom.
Public Comment on Agenda Items:
There was none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve equipment purchase for Police Department – The Department has re quested Live Scan equipment and software for arrest processing. This system can send finger prints and mug shots to State and Federal Departments digitally and get a response in a couple of hours. Lt. Norton was given kudos for doing the research on the subject and then applying for and receiving a $15,000 grant, which will pay for the technology. An additional $20,000 will be needed for the equipment. The Department has applied for an additional grant to fund this. The Board voted unanimously to accept the grant.
Chief Trazino answered a question from Jerry Mottola who would like to see the damaged radar sign replaced and also regular patrols out enforcing the speed limits. The Chief replied that patrols have been increased and the officers are out and about enforcing the law. Additionally, the Chief reported that the department had received active shooter response tactics training.
Councilmember May commented that she had recently attended Stop the Bleed training and found it to be very good. She wondered if it could be offered to residents. The Chief replied that there are plans in the works to do so. Jerry Mottola commented that he thought all Post Office employees should also get the training.
Resolution Settling of Tax Certiorati Claim – On the advice of the Town Assessor and Kara Cavallo of Jacobowitz & Gubits, the Town has decided to settle the Tax Cetiorati claim filed by the Tuxedo Club. The settlement calls for reimbursement to the Tuxedo Club of approximately $26,000 for 2021 and approximately $40,000 for 2022. Ms. Cavallo recommended that the Town accept this agreement as she said it would help avoid any further litigation. The resolution was passed unanimously. The School Board must also approve the settlement. The Village of Tuxedo Park has a separate suit but will end up with the same assessed values as the Town.
Budget Modifications – This is a matter of moving money around which was proposed by the Town’s Accountants. It will result in a net increase of $0 and was passed unanimously.
Department Updates:
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was still picking up leaves and will continue to do so until December 15 after which leaves must be bagged. They will be borrowing a bucket truck from the Town of Monroe to start setting up the Town’s Christmas lights. Finally, he noted that the radar sign will soon be coming down for the winter season.
Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reminded everyone about the Town Tree Lighting starting at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 2. She also announced the Toy Drive being run by the School District with donation boxes at Town Hall and various businesses throughout Town. A “Senior Survey” for residents 60 and older is underway and it is not too late for eligible seniors to complete it. Hard copies are available at the Town Clerk’s office and there is a link on the website as well. Finally, she reported that she had filed the Tuxedo Farms resolution which was passed on November Town Hall and various businesses throughout Town. A “Senior Survey” for residents 60 and older is underway and it is not too late for eligible seniors to compelte it. Hard copies are available at the Town Clerk’s office and there is a link on the website as well. Finally, she reported that she had filed the Tuxedo Farms resolution which was passed on November Town Hall and various businesses throughout Town. A “Senior Survey” for residents 60 and older is underway and it is not too late for eligible seniors to compelte it. Hard copies are available at the Town Clerk’s office and there is a link on the website as well. Finally, she reported that she had filed the Tuxedo Farms resolution which was passed on November 22 and sent all the Tuxedo Farms paperwork to the Orange County Planning Board.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he was continuing with recruitment of police officers. Additionally, he noted that there had been a New York Power Authority Training for Town Hall employees on November 17. This was done so they would all be up to date on the Community Choice Aggregation process. After much hard work, the Tuxedo Farms project was approved on November 22 and The Supervisor expects to have a full update on the new wastewater treatment plant by the next Town Board meeting. He has been assured by Greg Gushee that this will be up and running by the end of the year. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay gave an account of the Hamlet Revitalization LDC meeting held earlier that day. The application and guidelines for applying have been finalized. They hope to have a meeting with eligible applicants on January 17 at 7 pm. The Town of Tuxedo, as well as non-profits will be eligible to apply. Lastly, she announced that she and Councilmember Murphy will be presenting the Burgis Associates findings for Hamlet revitalization at the Town Board meeting on January 9. Councilmembers Reichgott and May both said they had nothing new to report. Councilmember Murphy reported that she had been working with the Burgis group on their presentation. Additionally, she noted that the Town is still waiting for a letter from the School Board pertaining to the establishment of a school zone so that they can in turn submit everything needed to the DOT. She will also be meeting with the NYSDOT in December to go over some things that can be done to slow down traffic through Town. These things will need to be acceptable to the businesses in Town. Lastly, she anounced that on December 17 at 4pm, the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Association will be presenting an hour-long concert, sponsored by the Town at St. Mary’s with a small reception to follow in the Church.
Minutes:
The minutes of the regular Town Board meeting held on November 14 were passed with Supervisor English abstaining as he was not present.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were passed unanimously.
Public Comments: John Sandak asked for the dates for leaf pick up. He was told that it would continue until December 15 after which time, only bagged leaves will be picked up. Dale Mottola wondered how the Town was collecting potential applicants for the Hamlet Revitalization grants. She was told that Councilmember Murphy had a list that she had put together while running the Plein Air event. The informational meeting on January 17 will be held virtually as well as in person. It will also be recorded with the recording posted on the Town website so people should be able to get the information. The grants will be for exterior improvements to buildings in the hamlet area. The LDC is looking to give out around 5 matching grants of $200,000-$250,000. The first approval will have to come from the LDC but the grants will be conditional on approvals from the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Board.
Other Business:
Residents Maureen Coen and Janet Galuska have approached the Town with the “Peabody Project,” to help get feral cats in Town under control. There followed a lengthy discussion on this subject with no solutions found. It will be discussed further at a later date. Supervisor English commented that at the next Town Board meeting, there will be a discussion on the Town Reorganization. The Board is proposing to add several things to the process such as PILOT programs and contract dates. The purpose will be to make the Reorganization Document something more useful to the Town Board and all Boards in Town.
The Town Board held a Special Meeting on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All members were present. The purpose of the meeting was to consider the 2022 Special Use Permit for the Tuxedo Farms development. They Board began by reading the 10-page resolution out loud, taking turns with the reading.
A copy of the resolution can be viewed here.
Next, Supervisor English gave some remarks, listing some of his reasons for supporting the project. He really appreciates the “missing middle” concept of the design which, he feels makes the project meet a market that Tuxedo and Orange County do not provide for prospective residents. Also, he likes the fact that the project will be tax positive for the Town and the School and that it will, among other things, give the Town a much needed new wastewater treatment plant.
Next, Deputy Supervisor Lindsay gave her thoughts on the Special Permit. She believes that this is a truly exciting time for the Town and that residents can look forward to a project that will be net positive for both the Town and the School District while providing an “interesting and vibrant” new commercial space and meeting market trends. She briefly outlined the process that had brought them to this juncture, thanking everyone for all of their hard work. To read her thoughts in full, click here. Councilmember Reichgott commented that the only thing he has routinely hears from residents, besides “when is Tuxedo Farms going to happen?” was “what about economic development in this Town?” He feels that this project will address both of those things. Following these statements, the Board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the resolution. This was met with a round of applause from those in the audience.
Supervisor English next invited comments from the public who were present in Town Hall. Related Vice President Greg Gushee expressed his satisfaction with how the project has turned out, referring to the negotiation process as a “public/private partnership which resulted in an amazing plan.” Mitch Newman from Lennar (project builder) noted that it was rare to see the kind of commitment from a Town Board and he felt it would make for a better outcome. There were also positive comments from Planning Board Chair John Banyo, Code Enforcement Officer Dave Maikisch and Highway Supervisor Rob Dollbaum. Members of the public adding their support and thanks were Irene Denaro, former Town Board member Dave McMillan and Nick Ballistreri.
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, Supervisor English adjourned the meeting at 8:08 pm.
Notice of Special Town Board Meeting November 22, 2022
The Town Board will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, 11/22 at 7:00pm to consider a resolution to approve an amended Special Use Permit for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development. The meeting will be in person at Town Hall and also on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 963 0742 6000
Passcode: 569794
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Meeting ID: 963 0742 6000
Passcode: 569794
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adatzxC0pk
The Town Board met on Monday, November 14, 2022 at 7 pm. Supervisor English was absent.
The meeting began with a presentation by Jeff Domansky of Hudson Valley Energy, who is the Town’s Local Program Manager for the Community Choice Aggregation Program. The Town is currently in the exploration phase of the project. They have entered into agreements with Joule Assets and Hudson Valley Energy. Joule is a NYS approved CCA program administrator and Hudson Valley Energy is a Local Program Manager, appointed by Joule. Joule will work with the Town Board to obtain renewable energy supply contracts while Hudson Valley Energy will be in charge of community outreach/awareness and “customer support.” They will be running informational meetings for residents and will cover the following topics:
What is Community Choice Aggregation?
What are the benefits of CCA?
Will CCA affect me?
Orange and Rockland bill
Next Steps
FAQ
Mr. Domansky explained that the majority of residents will be automatically included in the CCA although they can always opt out at any point. Basically, the CCA will act like a bulk buying club for energy purchase. If one looks at their current Orange & Rockland bill, the electricity delivery charges will not change, but the electricity supply charges will change. There will be many opportunities for Town residents to meet with representatives of Hudson Valley Energy and get more explanation and answers to questions. The Community outreach part of the program will run through the Spring. Councilmember May asked whether residents who had already signed up with O&R alternatives would have to opt in in order to be included in the CCA. The answer was that all other residents will be automatically included but may opt out at any time if they so wish.
Public Comments on Agenda Items – There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to reappoint Fire Commissioner Edward “Benji” Brennan: This was unanimously approved. Mr. Brennan’s term will last for another 5 years, expiring on 12/31/27.
Resolution in support of Establishing a School Speed Zone on State Route 17 at George F. Baker High School: This will establish a school zone and speed limit in the vicinity of the Tuxedo Union Free School District. It was passed unanimously and will be sent to the School. It will be up to the School Board to start this process which could take up to 8 months.
Resolution to approve Holiday Concert and Reception at St. Mary’s-in-Tuxedo: This will be an hour-long program of chamber music performed by The Hudson Valley Chamber Musicians on December 17 at 4 pm. There will be a small reception at the church afterward. The concert will be free for residents with a voluntary donation to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry. The Board set the budget for the concert at not more than $1,000 and it was passed unanimously.
Departmental Updates: Superintendent of Highways Dollbaum commented that snow is expected on Tuesday night and his department had spent the day getting their trucks ready. There are currently 3 trucks down but they feel they will be able to handle Tuesday night’s weather. Additionally, he reminded people that leaf pick up will continue until December 15 after which leaves will need to be bagged. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the November 24 garbage pick up will not happen due to the Thanksgiving Holiday but trash and recycling will be collected on November 25. Also, the following events will be happening around Town:
The TUFSD is having their annual Toy Drive. Collection boxes have been placed around Town (Town Hall, Library and other places) for new, unwrapped toys and they will be there until December 16.
On Thanksgiving Day there will be a Turkey Trot at Quarry Field with a race for little kids starting at 8 am and a 5K for adults and big kids starting at 8:30.
The Annual Tree Lighting will take place on December 2.
Also, Mrs. Dollbaum announced that she has produced a “Zoom Room Manual” which is available for anyone who wants to know how it works. Contact her if you want a copy!
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she will be meeting with the New York Power Authority on Thursday, November 17 to discuss pursuing an energy audit so they can go ahead with the HVAC update in Town Hall. Councilmember May noted that a “Senior Survey” is being conducted to discover what kind of services the Senior residents would like. If anyone is interested in taking part in this anonymous questionnaire, contact her or Sue Scher. Councilmember Reichgott observed that we are now on Standard Time and thus it is dark at night. He asks everyone to dress accordingly if they are out at night. Also, it is deer mating season so they are jumping out on the road.
On behalf of the Hamlet Revitalization Group Councilmember Murphy reported that the Greenway Grant has been submitted. The Burgis Study is under review. The Town should hear by November 18 which things they believe the Town can support. There will be a LDC meeting to review Hamlet Revitalization applications at 2 pm on November 28.
Minutes:
The minutes for the Town Board meeting on 10/24 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers – were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: There were none.
Other Business:
The Board scheduled a workshop discussion about Town Reorganization at 6 pm on December 12.
Public Hearing for Town of Tuxedo Preliminary 2023 Budget November 9, 2023
The Town Board met on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at 7 pm. The main purpose of the meeting was for a Preliminary Budget hearing. All members were present.
Supervisor English opened the meeting by providing a quick overview of the proposed budget. He further noted that the Town’s tax cap has been reduced by 0.63%. This was accomplished by allocating some steady funding from mortgage taxes and court fines.
A copy of the budget can be found here
Public hearing: John McNamara expressed concern over the proposed increase in the Supervisor’s salary. Noting that his comments were not meant for any one person in particular and that he would be making them regardless of who was in office, he pointed out that the rate for the Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr. and the rate for the NYS minimum wage is $14.20/hr. The increase to the Supervisor’s salary works out to be $21.63/hr. which he considers outrageous. He added that everyone serving on the Board knew what their salaries would be when they agreed to take the job and that the positions were meant to be part time. Mr. McNamara’s feels that any Supervisor or Board member who cannot do the job for the salary there were hired at, should immediately resign. The United States is currently experiencing the worst inflation it has seen in 40 years and increase in salaries are only contributing to that.
As there were no other comments from the Public, the hearing was closed. The floor was then turned over to the Town Board members. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay said that the Board had been discussing which projects they would like to work on/accomplish in the coming year and that instead of putting these into the budget and taxing the residents, they have decided to create a master plan with timeline and then allocate funds as they go along. The kinds of projects they have been talking about include arts and culture, projects for the aging, the climate smart community plan, and the engagement of consultants to help the Town in pursuing grants and tourism funds. The Deputy Supervisor believes that the Town needs to add more personnel to Town Hall in order to make its government run more efficiently, especially in light of the Tuxedo Farms project coming to fruition. None of these things are currently in the budget. The list of projects to be included in the Towns’ Capital Plan is large although the plan has not yet been put in place. She would like to see them move forward with solidifying that plan. Additionally, she reported that she had spoken to Town Auditor Andrew Arias who suggested that the Town prioritize these projects by putting them into a contingency line and appropriating the funds as needed. Councilmember Reichgott commented that he felt the proposed increase in pay for the Supervisor was appropriate and the he believes the position is currently underpaid. He added that the Board might be considering the addition of a Town Manager as well and that in his view, this person would need to make somewhere between $150,000-$200,000 dollars. Councilmember Murphy added that the job description for the Supervisor and Board members has changed and that additional duties had been added since the Board looked at those positions during the last reorganization process. She believes that the job descriptions should be accurately posted on the Town website. Town Attorney Howard Protter pointed out that all the duties for Supervisor and Board members were detailed under Town law, which was made by the State. Supervisor English noted that the part of the Supervisor’s job that he had not been aware of when he accepted the position was the two LDCs that the Supervisor is required to run (the Hamlet revitalization and the Sewer District). Both of these entities have taken up a lot of his time and will continue to do so in the future.
With that, he called for a vote on the budget and it was passed unanimously.
Councilmember Murphy added that the job description for the Supervisor and Board members has changed and that additional duties had been added since the Board looked at those positions during the last reorganization process. She believes that the job descriptions should be accurately posted on the Town website. Town Attorney Howard Protter pointed out that all the duties for Supervisor and Board members were detailed under Town law, which was made by the State. Supervisor English noted that the part of the Supervisor’s job that he had not been aware of when he accepted the position was the two LDCs that the Supervisor is required to run (the Hamlet revitalization and the Sewer District). Both of these entities have taken up a lot of his time and will continue to do so in the future.
With that, he called for a vote on the budget and it was passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve Sewer Services Agreement and authorize Town Supervisor to sign agreement: The Town wants to maintain control of day to day operation, maintenance and repair of the sewer district and this agreement makes that possible. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution to set fees for Food Truck permit: The fees were set as follows:
Daily Food Truck Permit Fee - $50.00
Annual Food Truck Permit Fee - $400.00
This was passed unanimously.
With the Sewer Agreement passed, Related has asked the Board if they would move up the date set for voting on the final approval of the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms, which had been set for November 28. The Board agreed and set a Special Meeting for the vote to be held on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 pm.
Public Hearing for Town of Tuxedo Preliminary 2023 Budget to Take Place November 9 @ 7pm
The public hearing for the 2023 Preliminary Budget is scheduled for Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00pm. The meeting will be in person at Town Hall and on Zoom.
The Town Board met on Monday, October 24, 2022 at 7pm. Supervisor English attended via Zoom. All other Board members were present.
The meeting began with a public hearing on Food Trucks. Councilmember Reichgott noted that he had received several comments from people in Town (both businesses and residents) asking that the proposed hours of operation be changed from 7am – 9 pm to 7am – 11 pm. He added that he does not have any issues with the change and does not feel it would be problematic for the Town. If, for example, a food truck is generating an undue amount of noise, there are existing laws that would allow the police to shut it down. Click here to see a copy of the law.
Jerry Mottola commented that he doesn’t understand the concept of food trucks. He feels people should just open up businesses in town instead of bringing in food trucks. In fact, he feels that food trucks would kill the town as they wouldn’t be paying anything to the Town. He pointed out that currently vendors come in and sell their wares on a weekly basis at the Farmer’s Market and pay nothing to the Town. He wonders if Tuxedo really wants more of that type of thing! Evelyn David asked what hours the trucks would be open and wondered if they would interfere with whatever restaurants might open up in Town. She was told the hours would be 7am – 11 pm and that the available location would be restricted in that the trucks must be at least 150 feet away from any restaurant.
As there were no further comments, the public hearing was closed.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that in regard to the amended SEQRA Findings Statement for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development, the Town Board had requested comments from the Tuxedo Planning Board, the Orange County Planning Board, NYS Department of Transportation and the Tuxedo Union Free School District and that they had carefully reviewed all comments they received.
Agenda Items: Consideration of a resolution adopting amended SEQRA findings statement for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development: The resolution was read into the record by the Town Board members. Clickhereto view a copy. After the reading, the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the resolution.
According to Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky, the next step in the process will be finalizing the Special Permit itself along with all of the appendices.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum inquired about replacing the speed trailer that was damaged recently. He was told that the Board definitely wants to replace that one and Supervisor English added that he would like to buy more of them to put around Town as he feels they have been very effective. Moving on, Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was officially into leaf season. He reminded everyone that they will be collecting leaves only (no stones, no mulch, no sticks) that have been blown and raked to the curb. Aside from that they are busy preparing for winter. They recently repaired the salt barn and paved the bottom of it. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that Early Voting starts on October 29 and runs until November 6. The closest place for Tuxedo residents to vote early is in Warwick. Additionally, she said that Sunday, October 30 is Trunk or Treat Day in both Tuxedo and Sloatsburg. Events will run from 1-3 pm in Sloatsburg and then from 4-6 pm in Tuxedo at Powerhouse Park.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English commended his Board for all the work that they have put in on the Tuxedo Farms project. He also commented on how great the new tennis and pickleball courts at Tichy Field are. He sees them being used a lot. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported the following:
The Community Choice program will kick off on November 1. There will be a 60-day public education and outreach phase. Local organizations will be contacted to spread the word. It is anticipated that the RFP Request for Proposals will be sent out early next year to suppliers of electricity generated by renewable sources. Tuxedo will be part of a consortium of municipalities that will be going out for the bids together. The Town expects that, if the proposals are agreeable, that they will be able to initiate the buying program in the Spring.
She has contacted firms to conduct an energy audit of Town Hall in preparation to replace the HVAC system.
Councilmember Reichgott commented that he had been meeting with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Town Engineer Hoffman and they are working to come up with a plan for the floor at the Highway Garage which, as previously reported, is in need of repair. He also reminded the Board that it is time to start thinking about decorating the Town for Christmas. Councilmember May noted that sheis still working on the money from the American Reinvention program. Councilmember Murphy reported that shehas been working on a Holiday concert. She has been working with St. Mary’s Church and they have found a chamber music quintet to come and give a concert the week before Christmas for an hour in the afternoon. Details will be given at the next Town Board meeting. Additionally, she is still working on the Greenway grant and that is moving along nicely. Finally, she reported that she and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum continue to work on Eagle Lake. They met with PIPC and are making plans for future work there.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on October 12 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Motolla made a plea for a “more permanent speed sign” and also for a more active police presence in Town. Mary Graetzer commented that the section of Route 17 coming into Town from the South always used to be a School Zone complete with a sign and a 30 mph speed zone. At some point, the sign got knocked down and no one has been able to successfully get it put back up. Mrs. Graetzer hopes the Board will take this on and work on bringing the school zone back to Tuxedo. Town Attorney Howard Protter said he would look into it.
Other Business: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that there were positions available on the Zoning Board, Planning Board and Board of Assessment Review. The Board will issue notices of the positions and then interviews can begin.
After a brief discussion, the Board decided to change the hours for food trucks from 7am-11pm to 7am-10pm and then they voted unanimously in favor of approving the Food Truck law.
The Town Board met together with representatives from the Related Co. and their consultants and the Tuxedo Union Free School District and their consultants on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Supervisor English opened the meeting and explained that the purpose of coming together was to provide the representatives of Tuxedo Farms and the Tuxedo Union Free School District an opportunity to publicly discuss their differences on the project, which is currently undergoing SEQRA review by the Town.
Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky began by summarizing the current status of the application and where the Board is in the process. Before the project can move forward, the Town must complete their SEQRA review, which is almost done. The last remaining pieces relate the issues raised by the School District. Once these have been settled, the Board can complete the process and the project will advance to the next stage.
Next, the applicant summarized what they perceive to be the School District’s main concerns. There are four of them as follows:
Related changed the 40-acre lot that is to be donated to the TUFSD
The School Lot is not usable for TUFSD needs
Related is not living up to its promises of preparing the School Lot for school facilities
Tuxedo Farms is fiscally negative for TUFSD and will cost the Tuxedo taxpayer $1.28M per year.
Using a PowerPoint presentation, they proceeded to analyze and refute each of these concerns, concluding that the project as proposed, according to their research, would be tax positive for both the District and the Town.
The School District was then given the opportunity to respond.Superintendent of Schools Jeff White began his remarks by noting that while the District supports the project and wants to see it happen, they disagree with a number of what they consider to be assumptions and statements made by the applicant. He proceeded to elaborate on this in some detail with the assistance of his consultants, the District’s attorney and Board of Education President, Joe Rickard. In closing he reiterated that the School District wants to work with the applicant and that what they are asking for at this point is for the Town to hold off voting on the project until a solution that works for everyone can be negotiated. “When that happens,” he noted “I think we can move together as a complete team.”
After the School’s presentation, the applicant asked for time to discuss amongst themselves what they’d heard so that they could respond to the District’s points. The applicant and their consultants then left the room to have a conference. When they returned Greg Gushee, representing the Applicant, stated that nothing he had heard from the school had changed his mind that the project would be tax positive. Additionally, he noted that the District kept asking for the Town Board to hold off until an agreement could be reached, but an agreement had been reached and signed off on by both the School and the Town back in 2015. A copy an agreement signed by both Andrew Dance of Related Companies and Board of Education Vice President, Diane Petrosky, was presented. The agreement specified that the 40-acre parcel would be offered to the District in the form of a gift and further that two cash contributions totaling 2.5 Million would be made to the District at various stages of development. Based on this, Mr. Gushee concluded, there is nothing else to negotiate.
Superintendent White suggested that the applicant had used an incorrect equalization rate, calling upon the School’s Business Consultant, Anthony Cashara, to elaborate. Mr. Cashara pointed out that if the agreement presented by the applicant is realized, it will leave the School needing to raise taxes to the fullest extent allowed by the tax cap every year in order for them to realize any of the revenue.
Next, Town Planning Bonnie Franson, who has been working on the project since 1990, was called upon to offer her thoughts. She provided her recollection of the project timeline, noting that in 2015, for a variety of reasons, there was a shift and that the school had agreed to accept a cash donation in lieu of grading the property as originally proposed. This can be found within the finding statements. Having reviewed all of the current information as well as the concerns expressed by the TUFSD, there has been some confusion with regard to the numbers provided and she elaborated on where the confusion lay and how this had impacted their comparisons of the two sets of numbers that had been provided by the applicant and the school.
After some further discussion and a brief outline of next steps from Board Attorney Larry Wollinsky, Supervisor English stated after 3 hours he felt enough had been said on both sides. A motion to adjourn was passed unanimously at 9:55 pm.
Notice of Special Town Board Meeting October 20, 2022
The Town Board will hold an advice of counsel meeting at 5:00pm on October 20th. This meeting is for Town Board members and legal counsel only.
Additionally, the scheduled public meeting starting at 7pm is being held to facilitate discussions between the Town Board, Tuxedo Union Free School District, and Related (the applicant for Tuxedo Farms). There will be limited seating for the public at Town Hall, but the meeting will be live-streamed through Zoom and recorded. There will be no public participation. No action will be taken during this meeting.
The Town Board met on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 7 pm. Supervisor English attended the meeting via Zoom as he is under quarantine due to a family member who is afflicted with covid . Deputy Supervisor Lindsay ran the meeting from Town Hall.
The meeting began with the swearing in of new Police Chief John Trazino. Several of his family members were present to witness the swearing in as well as several members of the Tuxedo Police force.
Public Hearings:
The first hearing was for a tax levy limit override for fiscal year 2023. It was explained that this measure was being taken as a precaution, but it will only be used if necessary.
The only speaker was Mike Santoianni of Tuxedo Park. He wanted to make the point that the School Board, of which he was a member for many years, did not have the luxury of this same procedure. Instead, they are required to put any overrides before the voting public. .
As there were no other comments, the public hearing was closed.
The second public hearing was on Local Law #5 of 2022. This law increases the number of single-family houses in the Tuxedo Farms development by 30 to 269 and makes the minimum number of duplex units 174. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that this change had been requested by the Town Board, not the developer. She further cautioned that the hearing at this meeting was set to address onlythis change, and not any other issues relating to Tuxedo Farms. She added that the Town had received a response from the School District just the day prior and that this had been immediately posted to the Town website. The Town Board’s consultant is currently reviewing this response and their comments are expected by the end of the week. Once they have been received, they will also be posted to the Town website. It is the Board’s understanding that further talks between the school and the applicant are ongoing and they anxiously await the results of said discussions. Finally, the Deputy Supervisor noted that there would be no action taken at this meeting on SEQR or the Special Permit.
The following comments were then made:
Gary Heavner, resident and current School Board member, noted that his comments were based on a Facebook post from TPfyi in which a recent article from the Times Herald Record was shared. He had 3 questions/comments based on the THR article. First, he wanted to know where the 30 houses will be built. Next, he voiced some concern over statements in the article made by Mr. Gushee of Related Companies, which he considers to be improper. In the article, Mr. Gushee referred to both the 40-acre parcel and the $2.5 million offered by the developer to the District as “gifts,” however, as per the original project negotiations, these are obligations and not gifts! He further expressed concern that the developer is proposing to increase the number of single family homes at this at this stage of the process, cautioning that the new homes are supposed to have a net positive impact on the school district. Lastly, he wanted to know how many houses could be built on the land without the need for any zoning changes? Deputy Supervisor Lindsay responded that the increase under discussion had not beenrequested by the developer. Rather it was requested by the Town Board and it would not increase the total number of overall units or the bedroom count in the development. Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky added that the proposed houses have not been “located” as of yet. If approved, they will be “absorbed” into the development and the developer will have one year in which to figure out how to do that and modify their preliminary plan accordingly. Diana Petrosky wanted to know whether some other part of the development would be eliminated or “taken away” to accommodate for the proposed 30 single-family homes being added. She was told yes. The developer will also have one year to decide on this but most likely the number of town homes will be reduced.
Turning back to the proposed Tax Cap Override Legislation, John McNamara noted that technical difficulties had prevented him from commenting earlier. He noted that the Board was heading into the period where they would be negotiating a budget with the various departments and vendors and that passing this law would only alert those entities to the fact that the Town could spend more money if they wanted to. He was told that the Board not necessarily looking to spend more money, they just want the flexibility to do so if they deem it necessary. Mike Santoianni wanted to know if there would be additional meetings at which to make public comments on the special permit before it is voted on. He was told that the public hearing on the special permit had been conducted in June and was subsequently closed. Attorney Wolinsky added that the current hearing was unrelated to SEQRA and that there would be a special meeting on Thursday October 20 at which this would be discussed but there will be no more comments from the public. It is possible that the vote on the special permit could occur on the 20th. The Town Board’s consultant, Bonnie Franson is working on a response to the School Board’s latest submission and that is expected by the end of the week. When received, it will be posted to the Town website and it will also be discussed at the October 20 meeting. (click here to visit the Town website, where the reports can be viewed.) Attorney Howard Protter stated further that after the Permit has been granted, the applicant will appear before the Planning Board for site plan approvals for the various neighborhoods within the development. Those site plan approvals will require public hearings and so there will be additional opportunities for the public to comment in the future. Councilmember Reichgott added that he believes that it is every citizen’s right or responsibility to make their opinions heard by the Board. While it may not be possible to do that as part of a public hearing, citizens can use other means, such as telephone calls and/or emails to the Board members to make their opinions known. Mike Santoianni then provided a brief history of the development from his perspective as a former member of the school board. Related has made changes to the proposed 40-acre site. Lot lines have been changed and the Developer is no longer willing to grade the property, which is more mountainous than that which was originally offered. Sadly, the Town Board never consulted the school board and asked for their opinion on these changes when they were made. Now it seems as though Related won’t change their offer because they think they don’t have to. He suggested that unless the Town Board tells the developers that they have to change back to what was originally offered, he does not believe they will do it. As Mr. Santoianni had more than exceeded the 3-minute time-limit for public comments, he was then cut short and told that this subject would be discussed at the October 20 Special meeting. Diana Petrosky stated that she had been on the School Board for 18 years and during that time, there were numerous negotiations with Related. She wondered why the Town re-negotiating with the developer about the property offered for a new school? She was told that the current negotiations are dictated by the SEQRA process, which requires them to review all the past negotiations. Mrs. Petrosky then wondered whether part of the review would include the changes made by Related when they put the emergency access to their development on someone else’s property without permission? Mr. Wolinksy told her that yes, it would. Superintendent of Schools, Jeff White commented that he came to his position in July of 2021 but hadn’t learned about any of the controversy with the proposed donation of property until a month or so later. When he learned about it, he met with the Town Supervisor who assured him that the project would not move forward until the school was satisfied with what was being proposed. But “the conversation changed” on June 2 when he was notified that the project would be moving forward whether the school was satisfied or not. As a result, the school spent the next 3 months putting together a comprehensive response to what had been proposed. They found that there was inaccurate information in the Tech memo such as the inclusion of $750,000 of State revenue which would come to the district. There were several other inaccuracies and misinterpretations as well. He feels it is most important that these things be sorted out. As such, he is currently working directly with Greg Gushee of Related trying to come to a mutual agreement. In the meantime, he doesn’t think the Town should be in a hurry to grant total approval to the project. Aoife Geoghegan stated that, to her knowledge, no one sitting on the current Town Board had any children who were currently attending Tuxedo Schools or who had attended them in the past. She asked for confirmation of this. In response, many of the Board members stated that this was irrelevant. Board member Maria May stated that by the time she moved to Tuxedo her children were mostly grown, but that she had worked as an educator and a Board member in the Suffern District for years. She was offended by the insinuation that not having children in the Tuxedo District made her any less qualified to thoroughly fulfill l her duties as a Board Member as it pertains to this project. Ms. Geoghegan suggested that because none of the current Board members have or have had children in the District, they have a whole different perspective on what might happen than those residents who are more directly affected by what goes on at the school. She implored the Town Board to sit down with the School Board and begin an open dialogue and discussion about what is happening with Related. Diana Petrosky asked the Board not to close the Public Hearing because, she said, things have changed with the addition on 30 single family homes and the removal of other components of the development to make up for that. Attorney Wolinsky responded by noting that these changes had been analyzed and that this was a part of the current tech memo available on the Town web site.
The Board then voted unanimously to close the public hearing. It was noted that there would be public comments at the October 20 meeting in relation to the revised tech memo as well as the response of the Town’s consultant to the School Board’s letter. Councilmember Reichgott reiterated that members of the public could always express their opinions by sending an email to Board members.
Superintendent White suggested that the two Boards needed to meet and come to a mutual agreement about these matters beforethe Town Board votes on the application.
Agenda Item:
Resolution to adopt Tax Levy Limit Override 2023 Fiscal Year – This was passed unanimously.
Discussion Item: Rockland Paramedics Contract – Tim Egan, Executive Director of Rockland Paramedics gave a presentation on his company and their relationship with the Town of Tuxedo. To see a copy of this presentation, click here.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum gave her report which consisted of listing events happening soon in Town. Details on all events are on the Town website (and also on TPfyi). Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Ken English commented that he and all Town Board members have been working very hard to move the Tuxedo Farms development forward. He also said that the recent town Family Fun Day was “amazing,” – a real team effort! Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she continues to work on the Community Aggregationn project. On October 19, Jewel (the administrator) will be present to meet with all Town Hall employees. On October 24, they will make a presentation at the Town Board meeting. Councilmember Murphy said that the recent Plein Air Event was a great success with over 200 people turning out for the cocktail reception. The vendors were also very pleased! Councilmembers May and Reichgott both said they did not have reports.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on September 26 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola reported that the speed sign at the southern end of Town had been crashed into and destroyed during the night recently. Supervisor English commented that the Town will replace this sign as he thinks these signs are very valuable and have made a difference in all the places they have been placed. Mary Graetzer asked if anyone would be able to retrieve the information off of these signs as has been promised several times in the past. She was told that the information now goes directly to the Highway Department and they are working on getting the information off the signs.
The Town Board met on Monday. September 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Ken English began the meeting by stating that he was aware that many people in the audience were there because of the School District. He continued that there was no agenda item about the school and that the Board was awaiting a report from their consultants, Nelson Pope Voorhis who are reviewing the information submitted by the Tuxedo Union Free School District. They expect the report by the end of the week, at which time it will be made public. Until the report has been received, the Board will not have anything to say on the subject.
The next item on the agenda was a report from consultant Valerie Monastra of Nelson Pope Voorhis on the subject of a proposed Greenway Grant application. If received, the grant would help fund a study to help the Town attract businesses to the Route 17 corridor. One of the main objectives would be to identify the types of businesses that would be good for the Town. During this process, a detailed description of the market area would be developed, current economic trends would be identified, the potential of tourism would be discussed and possible sites for locating business would be determined. The study would cost approximately $18,000 with the Town paying $9000 and the remaining $9000 to come from the grant. The grant and subsequent study would be in addition to the Burgis study which is underway and which covers design improvements for development in the area between Hospital Road and the entrance to Tuxedo Park. According to Ms. Monastra, the Greenway Grant is much more comprehensive, and she feels confident that the Town will qualify. At the end of the discussion, the Board voted unanimously to apply for the grant. To see a copy of the presentation, click here.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to introduce Local Law and schedule Public Hearing to increase tax cap - This proposed law would make it possible to increase the mandated tax cap should the Board find it necessary during the budget process. There is no firm plan to implement the increase at this time but as there have been increases in both garbage services and the price of fuel, the Board feels it might be necessary. A Public Hearing was set for October 12 at 7:00 pm.
Resolution to re-open the Public Hearing for Local Law #4 of 2022- This law will now be known as Local Law #5. The law increases the required minimum of single family detached homes in Tuxedo Farms from 239 to 269. This is at the request of the Town Board and it will be at the expense of 30 townhouses currently in the Tuxedo Farms proposal. There will be a public hearing on October 12 at 7:15 pm.
Resolution Authorizing Agreement for Snow and Ice Control on Old Forge Rd in Warwick. – This is a standard contract for a service that the Town has been supplying to Warwick for a number of years. There is no increase in the price. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his crew is getting ready for Leaf Season which will run from October 16 to December 15. Any leaves either before or after those dates will need to be bagged. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the first Board meeting in October will be held on October 12 due to Columbus Day. Upcoming events in Town are the ribbon cutting for the new Historical Society building (former JP Morgan Bank) on September 29 at 10:30 am and the Back to School Carnival on September 30 from 3-6 pm. Also, the General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 8. The polls will be open from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. Early voting begins on October 29.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English announced that he would be passing on a Supervisor’s Update. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the Community Choice Aggregation program has hired an administrator. Now there is a rollout period. It has been mentioned that the best time to roll out the actual bulk buying program will probably be April of 2023. She has also been working with Debra Villanueva from the Town Building Department to set up escrow agreements for developers and people coming before the Planning Board so that if consultants are needed for projects, the Town will not have to pay for them. Councilmember May announced that the second payment for the American Reinvention Act has come in and she is working on what it should be used for. Councilmember Reichgott, along with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Town Engineer Sean Hoffman met to inspect and assess the floor in the Highway garage. They are working on a plan to repair and shore up the floor as it has deteriorated over the years. Next, he commented that he had attended the last Tuxedo Park Board of Trustees meeting and noted that the water main which feeds the East Village and other areas of the Hamlet has had problems for quite a while and the Board has come up with a solution which will be implemented before long. Lastly, he mentioned the Tuxedo Bag Project, started by two students from TPS which collects reusable grocery bags that people do not need and donates them to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry. Collection boxes are located in the Village Office, Town Hall, Sloatsburg Town Hall and the Woodlands Clubhouse.
Councilmember Murphy reported that the Plein Air Event would begin on September 27. There are 30 artists out and about the in both the Town and the Village painting. The event will culminate in the Artists Reception on Friday, September 30 from 6:00pm to 8:00 pm. Wine and “small bites” will be served and the paintings will be for sale. Additionally, this year each artist has created a small 5” x 7” painting and these will also be for sale. The pictures will remain on display and for sale throughout the Farmer’s Market and on Sunday as well.
Minutes The minutes from the regular meeting on September 12 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments:
With regard to the impending report from the consultants concerning the proposed property donation from Tuxedo Farms to the School District, School Superintendent Jeff White asked how many similar engagements the Town’s consultant had had? He also wanted to know if the consultant would make a public presentation of their findings and in so doing disclose their process to the public? Next, he wondered if the same firm who was looking at the proposed property donation would also be reviewing the school district data? He wondered specifically what expertise this particular firm might have with school districts and with state aid to school districts? He also asked if there would be an open dialog between the school and the consultant reviewing the data regarding the impacts of Tuxedo Farms on the school district. Further he wanted to know whether the consultant would review the estimated market valuations in the Technical Memorandum and if the Town Assessor has reviewed the market valuations.
Lastly, he wanted to know whether Local Law #4 would give a final special permit modification after the public hearing if the Town Board approves the resolution and law. He added that he thinks that increasing single family homes is a good thing but suggested that if they were renegotiating increased population with the developers and the builder, they must also address the increase in school age children generated by any increase in units. Dan Castricone commented that when Tuxedo Farms was first proposed, the process had been that in order to contradict any impact on the Town taxpayers and school district, the Developer agreed to give certain things to the Town and/or school to mitigate the impacts. This was the reason that Related initially agreed to donate and clear the vacant land as well as offer a sum of money … so that the school wouldn’t be put in a position of economic loss because of the development. As a member of the School Board, he looks forward to working with the Town Board to ensure that that the school district will be able to afford to educate the additional children who would be generated by the project.
George Grant Mason Principal Dolores Trelecky urged the Board to keep in mind that the school is the heart beat of the community and that they should do whatever was necessary to make sure that they were able to children in the Town. Mike Arone inquired as to whether or not Related was really going to go through with the project? He said he was asking because he knows for a fact that over the past several months, the owners have been actively showing the property to prospective buyers. He even saw people up there just that very afternoon. He was told that as far as the Board knew, that was not true. The Board is in the process of negotiating an amended agreement with Related. The people on the property that afternoon were Councilmember Murphy and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay. Board of Education President Joe Rickard said that he had hoped to be more a part of the process. “This is becoming a big, big issue for the school. As you know, not using our numbers but using Relateds’ projections of the number of students who will come in in the next five years assuming everything gets signed….it will be in excess of 350-400 students. This will more than double the size of our school and we don’t have the capacity to handle those kids. The idea was that we would be working with the Town and with Related to ensure that we had usable property in order to accommodate what's essential. You can call it a negotiation but it’s really not a negotiation. It’s what’s needed to support the new size of the school.”
He went on to say that they had held a meeting a few weeks back at which a lot of information and date was shared and analyzed and that since that time, Related had been in touch with the District on a daily basis. There has however been no communication from the Town Board and in fact, this evening was the first time they learned that the Town was having their data reviewed by consultants. “There was no conversation. No questions about the data or the information we presented,” he stated. “There’s not even any comments from the person who is doing the audit, which is very unusual. When somebody does an audit of information the first people they call is those who provided the data so they can review it!”
He further expressed concern over the proposed timeline, noting that the Supervisor had indicated that a report would be forthcoming in the next week. “I am assuming that you will conversations with us and the consultant will be talking to us vs. publishing the report because I don’t think you really want to do that. I think you want to make sure that you have the information right. Some of the consultant reports that we received previously were incorrect and had to be fixed after the fact. It would be a good idea if you would work with our administration to make sure that we have a common understanding. Can I get that agreement from the Town?” He implored that Town Board not to make any decisions until this was settled and everyone was on the same page. “We don’t want to hold things up. We never said we wouldn’t give you any data or any information. We want to work with you,” he stated. “The consequences of not doing it right will have significant consequences not just for the kids, but for the Taxpayers afterwards,” he cautioned. “I think you are aware of that.” John Horneff expressed his concern with the Town Board having the right to exceed the tax cap as per the proposed Local Law# 4 (which will actually become Local Law #5). He was told that it was not the intention of the Board to exceed the cap, but there were indications that things might be difficult because of increases that are beyond the control of the Board (gas prices, garbage company increases, medical costs, retirement costs etc.). If they do ultimately determine that they need to exceed the cap, they need to have this law in place in order to do so. Alyssa Horneff, a School Board member, reiterated that there were a lot of important questions on the table and that in the interest of the Disitrct and the Taxpayers the two Boards should move forward together with Realted to get them answered in a timely fashion.
Other Business: Resolution introducing local law and providing for public notice and hearing- Some of the businesses in Town have inquired about bringing in food trucks, but this is not covered in the current zoning law. Councilmember Reichgott and Town Attorney Protter have put together a draft law and the request is to set a public hearing for the law. Supervisor English said he didn’t feel ready for a vote. Councilmembers May and Murphy indicated there had been a request for a permit for a food truck and that they would like to vote on it. Following some discussion, the Board voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the proposed legislation on October 24.
Councilmember Reichgott that the State has just announced they are open for marijuana dispensaries. Since Tuxedo is one of the only municipalities in the region who didn’t opt out of having these dispensaries, he feels they need to discuss what rules they will put in place. Personally, he feels that any future marijuana dispensaries should be reviewed much the same as bars and liquor stores currently are—the police do an investigation of the business and make a recommendation for granting permission. There was a quick discussion on this but no firm decision was made.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 12 at 7pm via WebEx. All members were present.
AGENDA ITEMS: 2022-23 Tax Certiorari Proceedings – The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving a resolution to hire the firm of Jacobowitz and Gubits to defend the Town in a tax certiorari proceeding brought by 5 agents who are contesting their taxes. Those agents are:
The Tuxedo Club, Martin Friedman, Tuxedo NY LLC, Karen and Said Haidar and Genesis Real Estate. Resolution to Appoint Police Chief – The Board voted unanimously in favor of appointing John Trazino as the new Chief of Police at a starting salary of $35,000 per year. John is a Warwick resident with roots in Tuxedo. He graduated from George F. Baker High School and went on to a career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department that spanned more than 20 years. He has extensive experienced training and mentoring officers. Resolution to Approve Part-Time Police Officers – The Board voted unanimously in favor of appointing Eric Tursi and Kyle Conklin as part-time police officers at the rate of $31.62 per hour. Resolution to Approve Field Use Application – NY/NJ Trail Conference – The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the NY/NJ Trail Conference request to use Powerhouse Park for a Trail Race between the hours of 6:30-9am on October 15.
Monthly Reports:
Supervisor English reported that the Town Board was continuing to move forward the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms and he believes they are getting closer and closer every day. Hopefully there will be something to announce by the end of the month. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported having met with Town Engineer Sean Hoffman and Elinor Peck, the new contact from the Hudson Valley Regional Council. Elinor provided them with a fair amount of information and this will be discussed during the “Other Business” section of the meeting. Additionally, there was a Climate Smart Committee meeting earlier that day and they are moving forward with a number of action plans. They are getting close to certification as a Clean Energy Committee and there are also some items to address during “other business” on this topic. Councilwoman Maria May noted that she did not have anything new to report. They are waiting to learn when ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds will become available. Councilman Jay Reichgott explained that the Covid-related State of Emergency orders would expire that night and further they will not be renewed. What this means is that public meetings can no longer be entirely remote and that at least three Town Board members will need to present in Town Hall for their bi-monthly meetings. Secondly, he reminded everyone that Family Fun Day would be taking place on October 8 and that this year there would be an Apple Pie baking contest. Next, he noted that they were in receipt of some correspondence pertaining to the floor at the Highway Garage which is starting to show its’ age. After having taken a look at it, he feels that the Town will need to consider doing something there in the “relatively near future” although he does not believe it is an emergency. Town Engineer Sean Hoffman will also be looking at it in the coming week and generating a report for their review. Lastly, he noted that a few meetings back the Board had been discussing food trucks and that subsequently their attorney, Howard Protter, has put together and circulated a draft local law for comment. He is hoping that the Board members will all weigh in with comments so that they can finalize the draft and present it at the next meeting and then schedule a public hearing as it appears to be an issue that has some urgency for some people. Councilwoman Diedre Murphy reported that she had been working on the Plein Air Art Festival, which is moving along nicely. This year’s event will feature a silent auction, for which each artist has been asked to donate a 5x7 piece of artwork. The bidding starts at $35 and the monies will go towards funding of the event. She also consulted with the County Highway Department about the previously discussed speed limit issue and they are consulting with the County. Additionally, she is working with the Deputy Supervisor on a strategy for grants moving forward and how they might be able to incorporate a lot of their plans for marketing etc. into future applications for grants based on new issues that are coming up in the Town. She hopes to have an outline of steps forward prepared for the next meeting.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that Local Law #4 of 2022 for Video Conferencing was filed with the Department of State on September 2 and is now officially on the books. School taxes are due by September 30 without penalty. Everyone should have their statements by now. Payments are due to the individual school districts and not at Town Hall. Both Districts accept online payments and there are links to the respective webpages on the Town website. She has also been working with Councilwoman Murphey to try and build better emails lists or subscriber e-alerts through the website so that residents can sign up for content that they want to receive vs. mass emails from the Clerk. The website does have that capability, they just have to get more people interested and then begin utilizing it.
Click here to view a copy of the Police Report.
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum was not present and therefore there was no report from the Highway Department.
Public Comments: Evelyn David inquired about the new Zoom Room, wondering whether there would be call-in directions for attending posted to the website and if people would still be able to unmute and ask questions. The answer to both questions was yes. Irene Denaro thanked the Supervisor and the Board for updating Tichy Field commenting that the work was beautiful and long overdue. The Supervisor agreed that things looked great and suggested that perhaps they should have a ribbon cutting ceremony in the near future.
Other Business:
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that Mr. Protter had circulated the final contract with Jewel Assets to become the Town’s Community Choice Aggregation Administrator for electricity supply and community solar. April is the target date for commencing the program. They are targeting next year as a good time to move forward with a program for Natural Gas for which they will use a different administrator. Following some further discussion, the Board voted in favor of authorizing the Supervisor to sign the agreement.
Moving on, The Deputy Supervisor turned to the Clean Energy program. The Town needs to complete 4 of 10 action items in order to be certified as a Clean Energy Community. The Town has completed two of these to date. They have talked about pursuing a unified solar permit and energy audit in order to fulfill the requirement. In order to move forward with the unified solar permit, there will need to be a law drafted amending the building code to create an exception. Both of these action items were discussed at some length and the Board voted in favor of authorizing Mr. Protter to draft the necessary law for the Unified Solar Permit. It was agreed that the Deputy Supervisor would reach out to the various vendors that had been provided for the energy audit to determine what would be involved and report back. Additionally, Town Engineer Sean Hoffman will take a look at it in order to determine if the Town might be eligible for any associated municipal grants. Once the Town has completed the 4 action items and becomes certified, they will receive a $5,000 reward and this can be towards anything that might not be fundable through grants.
With regard to the Climate Smart Community certification, the State now has a program to help municipalities calculate their greenhouse gas emission inventory. There are a couple of volunteers who are willing to work on this. In order to take advantage of the program and all the tools that the State has in place, the Supervisor will need to sign a letter of commitment. The associated costs will be minimal. The Board voted unanimously in favor of authorizing the Supervisor to sign the letter of commitment subject to approval by Mr. Protter.
Councilwoman May reiterated that Family Fun Day would take place on October 8 and that there would be “many fun things happening.” She encouraged everyone to spread the word and attend the event.
Councilman Reichgott circled back to the topic of food trucks and the draft local law that had been circulated and it was discussed at some length. The draft proposes two types of permits, one being long-term and the other being a daily permit for an event. Discussion focused primarily on the potential locations of the trucks, the possibility of “non-compete” clauses as well as possibly making the trucks seasonal. Ultimately, Councilman Reichgott will continue to collect thoughts from the Town Board and work together with Mr. Protter to produce an updated draft for the next meeting.
Changing topic, the Deputy Mayor suggested that the Department Heads come together to work on a Capital Plan in an effort to help them off-set costs associated with major work/repairs through appropriate planning over time. The Supervisor agreed, further noting that in his view the plan should prioritize items that could be reasonably be completed in the next 3 or 4 years.
The Town Boared met on Monday, August 22, 2022 at 7:00 pm via Web Ex. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay was absent.
Public Hearing - Video Conferencing Local Law: Councilmember Reichgott gave a brief explanation on the proposed law. Since the State is still operating under a state of emergency due to Covid, the Town Board meetings have been taking place virtually via Web Ex. It is expected that this situation could change soon. Since the Town has recently installed a Zoom Room giving it the capability to broadcast their meetings via Zoom, a new law governing those meetings was proposed. Essentailly, the law only applies to Town Board members as it gives the rules for attendance and voting in meetings. The public will still be able to attend the meetings virtually although the format will change from Web Ex to Zoom. To read a copy of the proposed law, click here.
Public Comments: Evelyn David, wanted to know if she would still be able to dial in and attend meetings virtually. The answer was yes. Kimberly Breiland noted that she really liked being able to attend the Town Board meetings virtually and also observed that when she was on the Board of Education, quite a lot of people would attend meetings once they became available virtually.
Following this discussion, the public hearing was closed and the local law was adopted by unanimous vote. The Board then unanimously adopted their policy for video conferencing, which states that Board members are expected to show up at Town Hall for meetings but there are certain circumstances when they can attend virtually. The policy will be posted on the Town website.
Agenda Item: Resolution to approve facilities use application – Powerhouse Park:
Representing the Tuxedo Community Activity Council, Kimberly Breiland has applied for permission to use Powerhouse Park on September 24 from 10 am to 2 pm for a community garage sale. The rain date is proposed for October 15. Residents from all over Town will be able to bring their own table and set up to sell items for a fee of $5 per table. Currently, residents of Tuxedo Park are not allowed to hold garage sales. Also, since the Town of Tuxedo is so spread out, it can be hard to attend several sales on the same day. Bringing everything together on one day and in one location would be a way for that to happen. Also, the council has been approached by someone who would like to hold a Classic Car Show and after some discussion, they have decided that they would like to combine the two events. Ms. Breiland inquired as to whether the Town could supply a “port-o-potty” for the event and the Supervisor responded that they could. She further inquired about signage, noting that she wanted to make sure there was visible, clear signage all over Town for Powerhouse Park as well as directions from Route 17. She was told that signage for all the town’s parks is needed and the Board is hoping to work on this soon. Finally, she asked if the Town would be willing to co-sponsor the event. Following some discussion, the Board unanimously approved the event as well as the “port-o-potty”. They also agreed to be co-sponsors.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reminded everyone of the primary election to be held on August 23 from 6am to 9pm. The election is for Democratic Candidates in the 18th District only. Town Hall is the only polling location.
Supervisor’s Update: Supervisor English reported that the Town camp had ended on August 12. It was a very successful year for the program with 70 kids participating. He thanked part time Recreation Director Claire Dougher for all her hard work and then read a letter from camp parent Victoria Love who thanked everyone involved for such a wonderful experience for her children. Additionally, he reported that the Tuxedo LDC had filed their first required PARIS report (Public Assistance Reporting Information System) with the New York Comptrollers Office. Finally, he announced that the Tuxedo Police Department had recently received two grants, one for a Child Passenger Safety program and the other for participation in the Police Traffic Services program, which has a goal of increasing seat belt usage and reducing dangerous driving behaviors.
Town Board Updates: Councilmember May thanked the police department for their recent successful and fun event to support the dog park. She also thanked everyone responsible for the event held at the Pollinator Meadow on July 29th commemorating the person who founded a station for the study of insects. Councilmember Reichgott noted that despite the recent rain, things are still really dry and he cautioned everyone to be careful. Councilmember Murphy stated that she will have an update on all of her projects for the next meeting.
Minutes:
The minutes for the August 8 Town Board meeting were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously
Public Comments:
There were none.
Other Business: Maskers Orchards was given permission for their usual 7 seasonal signs advertising apple picking. The permit will cover the period of late August” to November 15. Councilmember May commented that she has observed signs from Republican Candidate Colin Schmidt being put up in Town and further noted that these are illegal as Town law states that no campaign signs can go up until 45 days before the election . The Board asked Town Attorney Howard Protter to look into this.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 8, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. Supervisor English was absent.
Discussion Items:
Escrow policy for Building Department – The idea behind this is to have a policy in place for applications coming to the Planning Board and Zoning Board. The purpose is to provide the Town with some money up front with which they can pay the consultants necessary for a project. The Board members agreed that this is a good idea but were unsure as to how much the fees should be. Ultimately, it was agreed that they would ask Deborah Villanueva, the Town’s Project Coordinator, to provide them with a range of what the typical application costs the Town in consultant fees and then plug those numbers in to a proposed local law. Town Attorney Protter will draft the law for a public hearing to be held at the next Town Board meeting on August 22.
Food Trucks – The Town has received an inquiry regarding food trucks and what is and is not allowed in Town. There is presently no mention of food trucks in the Town’s zoning code. Town Attorney Protter suggested that the rules would be different depending on where the food truck was situated. If the proposal is for a food truck on private property, then the applicant would need site plan approval from the Planning Board before it could be allowed. If the proposal is for a food truck on Town property, then the Town Board would have control over what would be allowed. If the proposal is for a food truck on Town property, then the Town Board would have control over what would be alowed. Additionally, he cautioned that when determining the locale for a food truck, the Town should consider placing it in an area where it would not have a negative impact on any existing local restaurants. He agreed to put together some samples of what other municipalities have done and circulate them to the Board for their consideration.
Virtual Meeting Attendance Policy and Local Law for Videoconferencing - The laws regulating public meetings have changed somewhat since Covid. Historically, a quorum of a Board needed to be present in a publicly accessible place in order for the meeting to be legal and complaint with the Open Meetings Law. Now, the State Legislature has said that the quorum no longer needs to be in a public place. Instead, Board members can join meetings via a video conference and be visible to the public that way. Since the Town has recently installed a “Zoom Room,” there needs to be a policy which governs how it can and will be used. A draft local law has been put together and can be viewed here. After a brief discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of setting a public hearing for the next Town Board meeting.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Rob Dollbaum asked for an explanation of the Greenway grant. He was told that this is a grant that provides money to municipalities to assist them in planning for revitalization.
Agenda Items: Resolution to engage town planners Bonnie Franson & Valerie Monastra and Town Engineer Sean Hoffman for Greenway grant writing assistance – If received, the money from this grant would fund studies necessary for economic development. In particular, it would allow for a study that would outline all the commercial properties in Town in order to determine what is “missing” and what is “not missing.” This information would then allow the Town to apply for another grant, which would assist with moving the commercial development in Town forward. There was a lengthy discussion about exactly what the proposed cost of each grant might be. Councilmember Reichgott asked several probing questions focused on what the Town would be getting for their money. The resolution was initially introduced with a cost “not to exceed $5000,” but was reduced to “a cost of up to $2000.” Councilmember Reichgott wondered whether this was an accurate figure and if they would be able to successfully do the work for $2000. The answer was “if they can’t, we won’t do it.”
The resolution was passed by a vote of 3-1 with Councilmember Reichgott voting no.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the Zoom Room installation had been completed the previous week and would be ready for the next meeting! She also reported that she had been working with General Codes and that the Town codes had been updated through December, 2021. She has one, physical copy in her office and urged anyone else wanting a copy to use the ecodes available on the Town website as printed copies are costly. Finally, she stated that the Optimum franchise agreement is up in 2023 and the company will be contacting the Town to negotiate a further contract. Also coming up for renewal is the lease agreement on the phone system in Town Hall. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that road patching is mostly complete in the Town. The department has fiber matted and chip sealed Benjamin Meadow and Brammertown roads and chip sealed Warwick Brook Rd. He is hopeful that there may be enough money left to chip seal in Eagle Valley. Work continues on the dirt pile. They also installed the new Town billboard near Warwick Brook Rd. Town Board Reports: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the Board had met with both Counsel and the Town Planner to review the design guidelines for Tuxedo Farms. Councilmember May added that she had attended the cleanup and repainting of Lucky Skate Park. Councilmember Reichgott noted that everything is very dry due to drought conditions and he cautioned residents to be vigilant about potential fire hazards. Councilmember Murphy announced that 28 artists have already signed up for the Plein Air Event and the campaign to sign up sponsors will start soon. Also, Heather Bullard has agreed to do catering for the event again this year. Additionally, the Orange County Arts Council has proposed putting on a production of A Christmas Carol performed by the Greenwood Lake Players on a Sunday evening in December at the George F. Baker Auditorium. The cost for this production would be $7,000. Following a brief discussion, the Board decided that the proposed expense was too much and therefore, it was not approved.
Minutes – The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on July 25 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers – The vouchers were unanimously approved.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 25, 2022 at 7:00 pm via Web Ex. All members were present.
Agenda Items:
The meeting began with an update from Supervisor English and Town Attorney Protter on the Town/Village consolidation issue. Mr. Protter explained that the Census Bureau had been confused by the issue and had contacted the Comptrollers Office who in turn contacted him. Apparently, the problem lies with the fact that if the Town is also going to be a Village (and thus get powers only available to Villages) they need to act as a Village. This would include, at a minimum, filing some reports that Villages are required to file, maintaining a separate budget for the Village of Tuxedo and adopting some standard Village laws. In other words, a Village Government must be established. Mr. Protter believes that there might be a way to work things out, but he will need time to develop a process. The Board members were unanimously in favor of attempting to work things out, but they would like to do so in a manner that will not end up costing the Town a huge amount of money.
Supervisor English stated that the Board would not be voting on this issue at the present meeting, but if anyone would like to make a short statement, the Board would be happy to have them do so. John McNamera wanted to know how the Town would know whether the proposed solution would solve the problem? He was informed that this question could not be answered yet as the Board doesn’t have enough information about what is being proposed.
Mr. McNamera then wondered whether the Town could revert to being just a town, as they were before. The Board believes that this will be possible, but will have to wait and see.
Mr. McNamera also wanted to know what would happen if Tuxedo Farms decided, down the road, that they wanted to become their own Village? The Board did not have an answer to this question. Bonny Takeuchi noted that she had the same questions as Mr. McNamera and that she was happy that the Board would not be voting on this particular item just yet.
Resolution to approve sign permits – NY Renaissance Faire: These are the usual signs and are proposed to go on Hank Salzer’sproperty in Southfields and at Vera Johnson Antiques (across from Dottie Audrey’s) – The resolution was unanimously
Department Updates: The Police Department is still planning to hold their BBQ Fundrasier on August 13 from 12 noon to 6 pm. All proceeds will benefit the Tuxedo Dog Park. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that there will be a Democratic Party Primary Election on Tuesday, August 3 from 6am – 9pm. The election will determine who will run for the Congressional seats on the Democratic line in Orange County. Town Hall will be the only polling place in Tuxedo. Additionally, she reported that the Town’s Zoom Room is in progress!!! They anticipate that it will be completed in 1-2 weeks. Town Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department was currently working on chip sealing Warwick Brook Road Thus he recommended that people avoid using this road for the next couple of days. In the coming weeks, they will be completing some drainage work on August and Nursery Roads. Lastly, work continues on the “dirt pile” at the Highway garage. Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that the new sewer plant is moving forward and will be ready for hook ups on schedule. He and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay are working with the Tuxedo Farms LDC to schedule the hook ups. The Town Board had had a special meeting with Attorney Larry Wolinsky to go over the latest proposed special permit for Tuxedo Farms. Another special meeting will be held on July 26th to go over design standards and the smart code. After this, they will report back to residents and show them the next iteration of the agreement. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she had been busy checking the references provided by the two applicants for the Commmunity Choice Aggregation Administrator. Councilmember May attended a meeting of the Silver Dollars. They are working on a survey for all senior residents to find out what services they want and/or need. She thanked Sue Heywood as well as Kimberly Breiland & Adam Patrick, who hosted a fundraising event for people to aid in sending local kids to the Town Camp. The event was very successful and they reached their goal with a little left over to be saved for the same cause next year.
Councilmember Reichgott announced that the Lucky Park repainting party has been rescheduled for August 6. Additionally, he congratulated the Eagle Valley Fire Company on their 50th Anniversary which they celebrated over the last weekend. Councilmember Murphy, along with Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has been working on finding ways to get money to fund the Hamlet Revitalization. She spoke with the Orange County Arts Council and told them that the Board has decided to move their contract until next year, but would be interested in a Holiday Event. The Council in turn suggested a play to be put on by the Greenwood Lake Players, who have a great interest in performing in the High School auditorium. The High School is very interested as they have just finished some renovations to that space and would like to use this as a way to introduce the “new” auditorium to the public. The performance would take place on a Sunday and Councilmember Murphy has asked them to make it a matinee. She will continue to keep the Board updated as the details are ironed out.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on July 11 as well as the special meeting on July 14 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
New Business Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that the contract for CCA Administrator for electricity will go to Jewel. The contract for natural gas will go to Good Energy.
In 2019, the electorate (residents) in the Town of Tuxedo and the Village of Tuxedo passed a referendum to create a new Village and consolidate the Town on Tuxedo with that new Village of Tuxedo into a new entity—Tuxedo Town/Village.
The purpose of a Town/Village was to avoid a town-wide concern that the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline would be sited in undeveloped residential lands and residential neighborhoods that were occupied within the Town. The power to prevent pipelines from travelling through the Town was and is within the purview of a Village not a Town. And, as such, it was determined in the best interest of the community to create a Town/Village which would give Tuxedo the power to stop the Pipeline from running through the Town.
Since that time, two things have changed:
1. The Pilgrim Pipeline is no longer a viable project. The concern that the pipeline would intrude on residential property is currently not a concern.
2. NYS has belatedly questioned the validity of a Town exercising Village powers and has urged that the Village operate as independent entity, contrary to the consolidation plan currently in place.
It is the opinion of the Board that the Community did not want two over lapping governments and to litigate the matter would be expensive. And, since the primary reason for the action is no longer a viable concern, Tuxedo should simply return to its original structure as the Town of Tuxedo, which exists as it always has, as a Town with one existing village (Tuxedo Park).
The Board remains committed to ensuring a pipeline will not be constructed through any part of the community and will remain vigilant on keep up to date on any new legislation that will protect the Town and Village of Tuxedo.
The Board will be voting on this issue at the next Town Board Meeting on July 25th via Webex. Should you have any questions or concerns, please relay them to townclerk@tuxedogov.org or you are welcome to attend the meeting at 7pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with a presentation from John Berg, a Community Choice Aggregation Administrator from Good Energy. This company is one of two who answered the Town’s RFP. They handle the procurement and management of both electricity and natural gas. He spoke about his company’s education and community outreach programs.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve Town of Tuxedo Police Department Facilities Use Application – This event is a BBQ on August 13 at Powerhouse Park and will be a fundraiser for improvements to that location’s Dog Park. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution determining the Validity of a Petition for a Proposition to increase the 2023 Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be included on the November 2022 ballot.- This is the annual request from the Library to have their fund allocation placed on the ballot. It represents a 3% increase in funds and was approved unanimously.
Discussion: Hamlet Revitalization Plan – Burgis proposal: The discussion focused on the financing of the studies proposed by Burgis for a plan that was included in the 2003 Comprehensive Plan for the Town. The plan has two phases. Phase 1 would study the area west of Route 17 and Phase 2 would study the area east of Route 17. This would produce some concept drawings which the Town could then use in focus groups. The proposed cost for this work is $5600 for both phases. Congressmember Murphy outlined some potential sources for grants to cover the funding. Eventually, the Board unanimously approved funding for up to $6000 to cover both phases. Councilmember Reichgott asked why the Town wouldn’t use funds from the Tuxedo LDC (non sewer district one) to fund this. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay replied that when she had applied for funds previously, she was told that she needed to show evidence that the Town was committed to the plans being discussed. Airbnb/Short Term Rentals – The Town already has code in place for Bed and Breakfasts but it doesn’t really address the short term rentals that are typical for Airbnb and other similar companies. There has been quite a lot of discussion on this subject over the years. At the moment, Supervisor English stated that he personally was against allowing AirBnb type rentals as he would be unhappy if that were to happen close to his own property. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay said she would be open to Bed and Breakfasts in “mixed use zoned” areas. Both Councilmembers May and Murphy said they used Airbnbs frequently and would be happy to see them in Town. Councilmember Reichgott pointed out that our code covers Bed and Breakfasts and not short term rental agreements which cover Airbnb and similar companies. He added that he felt these properties were inevitable whether the Town allowed them or not. Also, he pointed out that whether or not the Town allowed them, the presence of these properties would add work for the Building Inspector in particular and the Building Department in general and he feels the Town needs to address that.
Department Updates: Town Board Updates – Supervisor English reported that on July 8 the Town has bee informed by the NYS Division of Budget that the remaining 50% of the American Rescue Plan Act funding will be $152,307. Projects reported so far were the water treatment system installed at the Highway Department ($32,000) and the purchase of the Zoom Room equipment for Town Hall ($52,127). Additional eligible projects are being considered by the Town Board. On Monday, July 11, it was reported that the final work for activating the new wastewater treatment plant has been authorized by Related. An updated timeline and completion plan is expected. Also, the Tichy Field tennis court/basketball court renovation project is moving forward. Demolition has been completed, new draining has been installed and paving has been completed. Court surfacing, line painting, fence installation, nets, backboard, etc. will be completed soon. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay said she has been working on checking references of the candidates for Community Choice Aggregation Administrator. She has applied for an extension of allotted time for picking an Administrator until the next Board meeting. (7/25). Councilmember May has been working on collaboration with the Orange County Department of Aging. She is putting together a list of proposed projects for the remaining ARPA funds. Councilmember Reichgott reported that the Lucky Park repainting project had been postponed due to several people being diagnosed with Covid. It will be rescheduled. Councilmember Murphy stated that the Department of Transportation has conducted a survey on the speed limit on Long Meadow Rd and will be issuing a report by the end of the month. She would like to make the Recreation Council an active board which works on various activities throughout the community.
Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum said a flyer with details about the BBQ on August 13 manned by the Police Department will be forthcoming on a flyer soon. She also reported that there will be another primary election on Tuesday August 23. This one is for Congress and State Senate seats and is due to the change in district lines. Highway Department Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department has been working on patching roads. There has been a dilemma with patching in Laurel Ridge because of a new gasline scheduled to be installed by Orange and Rockland. Thus, Sylvan Way, Fawn Hill and Spice Bush will not be done this year and instead work will be done on Benjamin Meadow and Brammertown roads as well as Warwick Brook Rd. In addition, the Highway Department has been working on moving their dirt pile to the rear of their property and will continue with grass cutting.
Public Comments: Evelyn David remarked that Warwick has lots of Airbnb properties which seem to be working well. She recommends that the Board look into what regulations they have there as it all seems to be well under control.
Supervisor English announced that there will be a short special meeting on Thursday, July 14 at 5 pm for the purpose of approving vouchers and minutes. The Board then adjourned the meeting into an Executive Session with Town Attorney Howard Protter for the purpose of discussing litigation.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 27, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with a presentation from the Sarah McKay, Executive Director of the Orange County Arts Council. This organization is an independent entity and a not-for-profit 501C3. Among other things, they work as contracted project managers. For their fee of $20,000 per year, the Town can choose 3 events that they will manage. They will survey Town residents to discover what kind of performances they want to see. Then they will book and maintain contracts with performers, develop marketing content, manage the set up and break down of the event, directly pay for contracted vendors (such as sound technicians) coordinate volunteers, and obtain and provide certificates of insurance as needed. They have an “extensive” list of musicians and performers that they work with, most of whom are local.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to close Public Hearing on proposed Local Law #4 of 2022 – This public hearing was opened at the June 23 meeting. The law sets limits on the number of homes and the kind of homes that can be built in the Tuxedo Farms development. The only public comment came from Kristy Apostolides, who inquired as to why there had been no dialog on this subject. She was told that this was a public hearing and that the Board felt that dialog was not appropriate. Responses will come later on. The hearing was then closed although written comments will be accepted for the next ten days or so.
Resolution to approve Tuxedo Arts & Music Facilities Use Application - This is for the use of the Train Station for the Friday night reception at the Plein Air Event taking place in the fall. Also, paintings will be displayed there throughout the weekend. It was approved unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that all the zoom room equipment has been delivered and now she just needs to coordinate with an electrician and their IT consultant before the zoom team from California will come to install the system. She anticipates this will happen by the end of July! Next, she announced that the Primary Election would take place t on June 28 from 6 am – 9 pm at all polling places. Lastly, she announced that next weeks’ garbage pickup for the Town will be pushed back one day because of the July 4th holiday. Thus, garbage will be picked up on Tuesday July 5 and both garbage and recycling will be picked up on Friday, July 8.
The Police Department has two upcoming community days. The first is the Lucky Park Spruce Up on July 9 from 10 – 1 pm. The skate ramps will be repainted and refreshments will be served. The second event will be a Community BBQ at Powerhouse Park on August 13 from Noon to 6pm. There will be music with karaoke requests from DJ LT. Officers will be flipping burgers and dogs as well as serving time in a dunk tank!!! All proceeds will go to sprucing up Powerhouse Park and the Dog Park.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he had attended the Orange County Planning Board meeting on the Tuxedo Farms development on June 22. There were lots of positive comments about the project. On June 27 he took part in a security walk-through for the upcoming Renaissance Faire with Detective Christian and security staff from the Faire. Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay noted that she had attended the Tuxedo Planning Board meeting on June 22 where they discussed Tuxedo Farms as well as the proposed amendments to Local Law #4. She has also been reviewing the RFPs for a Community Choice Aggregation Administrator. Councilmember May reported that she has been working to set up a meeting with the Council on Aging in Orange County to discuss what they might have to offer the Town. Councilmember Reichgott commented that he had nothing to report although he had been working hard “behind the scene.” Councilmember Murphy announced that the artwork for the upcoming Billboard was finished and would cost about $900. A vote was taken to allocate funds not to exceed $1200 for this project. It was passed unanimously.
Minutes for the June 13 Town Board meeting were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
The Board then adjourned into a private attorney/client meeting with Town Attorney Howard Protter. They returned from the meeting at approximately 10 pm but no further action was taken.
The Town Board met on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 6:00 pm. The meeting was held in the multipurpose room of George Grant Mason Elementary School. All members were present.
The main purpose of the meeting was a continuation of the public hearing on the application for the Tuxedo Farms project. As such, Supervisor English and the Board members made the same statements that they gave the week prior at the first hearing. This was followed by Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky, also repeating his remarks. Next, the team from Related and Lennar gave their presentation on the project. To see a copy of this presentation, click here.
The following public comments were then made: Joe Rickard, member of the TUFSD Board of Education began his remarks by noting that the School considers this great timing for the development. The District now has “a great Superintendent and great Principals with many years of experience” and the administrators and staff know how to run a great small school. However, he feels the project presents a challenge for the district as their current financial model and instructional program are built on a district of 220 students. Over time, the development will expand the district to over 600 students. The School Board is working on assessing building capacity, staffing and faculty needs. The new residents and the current taxpayers will expect the District to be flawless in their planning. They don’t feel that they can place hardships on them by waiting for assessments. Additionally, even in the best of times, fields and property for the district and town have been inadequate. Parents and students will expect recreation fields not only for the High School, but for the Middle School as well. The School District will need financial assistance and property in order to adequately transition the district to the larger student population. He then posed the following questions for the applicant:
Knowing that Related’s environmental, planning and engineering consultants are currently working with the district to develop a long-range plan of the impact and the timing of the impact, he wondered when it would be a good time for the school board and the town board to meet to discuss their findings?
In what timeframe can the financial assistance and property transfer be expected to be completed?
The School Board knows that the attorneys are in contact with each other, but they want to know what else specifically will be needed from the school district in order to facilitate the finalization of the agreement.
Kimberly Breiland asked if Related would be involved in keeping up the property once the building and the selling was done? She was told there would be an HOA in place to take care of that. Kelly Spranger said she was thrilled to hear that the Board of Education and the Town Board would be working together! She commented that there is a lot of history in Tuxedo and she hoped Related could be trusted to keep that history in mind as well as bringing new people to the Town and School.
Supervisor English then read 2 letters received by the Board into the record. One was from State Senator James Skoufis and the other from Michael Bruno. Both were very supportive of the project. Click here and here to read copies of these letters.
As there were no further comments, the public hearing was then closed. The Board will accept written comments from the public for the next 2 weeks (up until July 7.)
Next on the agenda was a Public Hearing on Introductory Local Law #4 of 2022: This is a law which already exists having originally been passed in 1998 but now the Board is updating it with new figures for the current project. Specifically, the law states that the maximum number of homes to be built in Tuxedo Farms is 1,609. Of those homes, no more than 500 units can be multi-family units and a minimum of 239 single family detached units shall be built. In addition, no less than 174 units shall be duplex.
There were no public comments on the proposed law. This public hearing shall remain open until Monday, June 27 at the regular Town Board meeting.
The Town Board held a Public Hearing on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 6pm. The hearing was in person only and was held in the Multipurpose Room of the George Grant Mason Elementary School. All members of the Board were present.
Supervisor Ken English opened the meeting with the following statement :
“Good evening and welcome. Tonight’s Public Hearing is an important step in the renewal of the Tuxedo Farms’ proposal. This project will construct housing and commercial space needed to fulfill the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. This Town Board has been diligently working with a team of consultants, Larry Wolinsky of Jacobowitz and Gubits, our lead attorney, has extensive experience in large development projects. Bonnie Franson, our Town Planner from Nelson Pope, Voorhis, is a leading expert in the Hudson Valley with expertise in all facets of municipal planning. Both have been on this project for decades. And Sean Hoffman, our Town Engineer who has served the Town for several years, working for H2M Engineering and now has formed his own firm.
This team provides the continuity of experience and knowledge of this project that the Town Board needs.
The Town Board team, of Michele Lindsay, Deputy Supervisor, Maria May, Jay Reichgott, and Deirdre Murphy, councilpersons, and myself, have dedicated hundreds of hours over the last year, negotiating a plan that will bring forward the promise of our Master Plan. Supporting us throughout, Town Clerk, Marisa Dollbaum, has kept us moving forward, scheduling our meetings and organizing the many documents required. Thanks Marisa!
We’ve held more than 12 public meetings, eight of which were special workshops devoted only to this topic. Most were delivered by WebEx. We share each draft of our work on the Town’s website to keep the public informed. All of our meetings have been recorded and are accessible on our website. In tonight’s meeting, it would be impossible to reiterate all of the steps that have brought us to this point. Our goal is to update the Special Permit, holding on to as much of what was agreed to as possible. We will minimize the impacts on the environment and design a community that will invigorate our Town with the new residents needed to promote prosperity for our businesses and the TUFSD school.
Key to this project is the new state of the art WasteWater Treatment Plant that was constructed and completed about four years ago. This plant is essential to the Tuxedo Hamlet and will serve about 260 homes and businesses that urgently need its final connection.
We have worked hard to deliver a project that will meet the Town’s needs that includes opportunities for amenities like public meeting spaces, hospitality such as a restaurant, options for recreation, connections to our existing Hamlet, and an increased tax base to support our emergency services and schools. The project will add a housing mix that welcomes new families and young professionals looking to establish roots here in Tuxedo.
The fiscal analysis shows ample projected tax revenues, both to the Town and the School district. Traffic studies have been updated to include data that considered changes to the Rt. 17 corridor. Although the unit count has increased to 1,609 residences, about 60 acres of undisturbed land have been added to the project. The town received more than 700 acres of open space in the Northern tract off Warwick Brook Road, preserving more land adjacent to Sterling Forest. A proposed entrance from Southgate Road has been designated as an emergency vehicle only access. The agreement with the school, reached back in 2015, has been restored. As of today, I know there are still talks between the TUFSD and Related. I look forward to a final understanding.
County and local Planning Board reviews are underway. Extensive public comment has been submitted and incorporated into the various drafts that have been part of this process. All were given to Related and are being addressed.
So tonight, the process continues. We need to hear from you, the residents. We will listen carefully. A stenographer will capture all comments. We will then categorize them and consider all that we learn. We won’t be responding directly until we conclude the hearings.”
Following this statement, the individual Town Board members each made a brief statement. All of them are looking forward to this development seeing it as a positive step forward for the Town. Next to speak was Attorney Larry Wolinsky who outlined the process taken so far and set forth what will happen next saying that the Town Board and the Planning Board will review the application including the Technical Memorandum as well as comments received from the public and the County Planning Board.
Next on the agenda was a presentation from the team from Related (property owner) and Lennar (builder). To view this presentation, click here.
Following the presentation, the public was invited to speak and/or ask questions. Their comments were: Jerry Mottola commented that he has been a resident of the Town for almost 70 years. “I am tired of hearing about windows and finishes! Let’s get on with it…let them build!” he stated, adding…”welcome!” Catherine Zuckoff who lives in the Woodlands said expressed concern about traffic on Eagle Valley Road. She wondered what the “connection” to the Woodlands was that had been mentioned by one of the Town Board members during their opening remarks. Dan Castricone introduced himself as the President of the Board of Education. He called upon those members of the BOE and Administration who were also present to rise, noting that almost all of them were present. “This project is crucially important to the School District,” he stated, adding that although the District has the right demographics and the right teachers, need a “few more students!” The Board aims to make the District a Top 100 District and with Tuxedo Farms in place, he feels they can do it. He went on to note that the project is also crucially important to the Town. He believes the development will give the Town more political clout, more tax dollars more and more opportunity. He also feels things will improve socially and that there will be opportunities for the school to expand recreation for the Town. “I know it will be great for Lennar!” he stated, referring to the builders. Over the years the Board of Education has seen many different permutations of what the District might get from the developers, including several different plots of land. He recalled having worked on the project several years prior, when he had served on the Town Board , and noted that at that time 4 of the 5 Board members had children enrolled in the school. He further suggested that because of that, the Board had been more in tune with the schools’ needs when it came to conversations with the Developer. This is no longer the case. In the plan that is currently filed with the County, it appears as though the Development’s water tower has been located on the same piece of property they had previously proposed to give to the school and there may also be a road there! “The better you make it for the school, the better you’ll make it for the Town,” he suggested. He went on to say, “Please don’t see us adversely…we want to work with you to make the project work for Related, for the Town and for the School District. If you need a variance or an easement for a water tower or a road, we can work that out. What we don’t want is a piece of property that is only a liability for the school!” We will need facilities and we need a piece of property we can work with and we want so much to work with you guys.” Laura Denberg said she was really excited about the project. From a real estate perspective, she loved the concept of “the missing middle” as presented earlier by the builders. She also especially likes the 760 acres that will be kept development free. Kimberly Breiland had just one question……..will there be there a community pool? Gary Heavner expressed some concern over the clarity and accessibility of the maps for the project. He suggested that there should be a place on the Town website just for the maps. He also thinks the maps need to be expanded. For the uninitiated, its hard to tell where the 700 acres are, where the power lines are, where the Town boundaries are as well as what the topography of the property is (i.e. where are the hills? the lakes? the streams?) John McNamara had several questions. First, he noticed a tax revenue figure in the developer’s presentation and wondered how did they had come to that number. Secondly, he wanted to know if there would be an HOA involved with the community. Next he inquired about the price range for the homes and whether the developer anticipates a slowdown in the project due to interest rates hitting new highs? Lastly he inquired as to who will own and maintain the roads in the community. Kelly Spranger , president of the PTO President commented that she also wanted to know about a pool. She also inquired as to how many wells had been drilled, further wondering how the project will affect properties to the south of it. She is thrilled to see that pollination and environmental paths have been built into the plan and she would like to know more about them. Lastly, she wondered who had come up with the names of the neighborhoods? Maureen Portnoy noted that she had heard the developer say there would be retail stores. She would like to know what kind of retail? And secondly, she would be very interested in a community center which is something she feels is lacking in the Town. Dan Castricone interjected that there is a wall in George F. Baker High School with the names of people who have served the country and didn’t come back. He suggested that moving forward when they are considering names for things, they should come and look at the wall. John Sandak commented that he used to be President of the Little League and now that doesn’t exist anymore because there are not enough children. Kids have been leaving the school District and going to private schools to get more opportunities. He hopes that when they are making plans for their community, they will give a thought to building a community pool, a Town Rec Center or some such place where people can gather and recreate in order to sustain the children as a community.
There were no further speakers so Supervisor English made a motion to continue the meeting on Thursday, June 23 at 6 pm in the same venue.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 13, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Comment on Agenda Item:
There was none.
Agenda Item:
Resolution to provide Police Department with equipment - This will supply the police force with a mobile data terminal, which will put them in better communication with Orange County. The terminal is free of cost. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Discussion Items: Public Hearings – In preparation for the upcoming public hearings on the Tuxedo Farms applications, the Board discussed the procedures that will be used with Attorney Larry Wolinsky. The following guidelines were agreed upon:
While there is no set time limit for speakers, people will be asked to keep their comments to 5 minutes so that everyone can be heard. After some discussion, it was agreed that the Board would be able to reduce the time limit if there were a large number of people who wished to speak. School/Camp Agreement – The Board voted unanimously in favor of authorizing Supervisor English to sign the proposed agreement which was submitted by School Superintendent Jeff White. Police Cars – The Board is in receipt of a proposal from Lt. Norton for possible additions to the Town’s fleet of police vehicles. Subsequently, Supervisor English and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay spent some time talking to various officers who were present at the Discover Tuxedo Event about which vehicles they preferred. After a lengthy discussion, the Board decided that they would authorize the purchase of 2 vehicles. The Police will be asked to come back to the next meeting with a recommendation of which vehicles would be best for the Department. The vehicles under consideration are a Chevy Tahoe and a Ford SUV. There was also some discussion about possibly adding a pickup truck to the fleet at a later date. Police Station Roof – Emergency repairs to remediate a leak as well as a small amount of mold on the roof at the Police Station have been completed. The price was $7,750 and the work was done by Precision Roofing. Town/Village Consolidation – Supervisor English read aloud an email that had been sent to the Board late that afternoon from Town Attorney Howard Protter. The Comptroller’s Office has expressed concern that the consolidation is not legal. Mr. Protter has suggested that the Board pass a resolution indicating that the Consolidation had failed (and therefore the Town is still a Town) and further that it will seek special legislation to accommodate the it’s “unique problem with any gas pipeline.”
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that the Consolidation had been a voter-initiated action. It was laid out by the Town’s attorneys and then the public voted and approved it. Thus, she feels that the public should be involved in dissolving it. As Mr. Protter was not present to consult with the Board, they ultimately decided to table the issue until the next Town Board meeting on June 27 at which he will be present. Lucky Skate Park CleanUp – Councilmember Reichgott reported that he had been contacted by Police Officer Gundermann about the state of this park, which is riddled with graffiti. Officer Gunderman has suggested an event with both police officers and kids who use the park to repaint. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. Councilmember Murphy said that she, too, had been contacted and was working on a promotional flyer for the event. The hope is to schedule this for late June or early July. Hamlet Revitalization – Councilmember Murphy reported that she and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay had met with the Burgess Group, who made plans for the Hamlet 20 years ago. They have submitted a proposal which essentially consists of putting together some conceptual plans. The plans would take 6-8 weeks to draft and would be ready for initial presentation to the Board by the end of the summer. After receiving feedback, Burgess would refine the plans based on the input and put together a final conceptual plan, to be completed by early October. This would be followed by a formal presentation to the Town Board as well as submission to the Planning Board. The crux of the plan revolves around turning Store Rd. into the Main Street of the Hamlet.
Supervisor English feels that the Town should first complete the traffic changes they have discussed, which involve making Library Road a one-way street. Councilmember Murphy is collecting some quotes, which she hopes to have before the next Town Board meeting. Supervisor English suggested that before moving forward they should reach out to the property owners who live on Store Road. Councilmember Murphy feels that they should develop a concept plan first. Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the last piece of equipment for the Zoom Room has been shipped! She is currently working with Zoom on the final organizational details needed before installation. She estimates that installation will happen sometime in the next month. Next, she announced that June 28 is Primary Election Day (statewide contests for Governor, Lt. Governor and Sheriff in both parties). Polls will be open from 6 am – 9 pm. Early voting begins Saturday June 18. Finally, she reminded everyone that Town Hall will be closed on Monday, June 20 in observance of Juneteenth. Town Supervisor English reported that on June 1, he, along with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Building Inspector Maikisch had toured the Police Department to examine a leaking roof that had caused a small amount of mold. As reported earlier, the initial repairs have been made by Precision Roofing but additional repairs will be needed. The Board has authorized the Supervisor to move forward with up to $4800 of additional repairs. On June 2, the Supervisor met with Lt. Norton and Buffy Marie Favada of the Renaissance Faire to review plans for traffic and security for the upcoming season. On that same day from 5-8 pm, the Board held a Special Workshop Meeting on the Design Guidelines for Tuxedo Farms. On June 9, the Board held a Special Meeting to schedule a Public Hearing on a proposed Local Law that would amend the Tuxedo Farms Unit Mix by setting a minimum number of units for single family dwellings and capping the number of multifamily units. The Discover Tuxedo Event held on June 11 was a great success with more than 20 groups participating. Lastly, he reminded everyone about the Public Hearings for Tuxedo Farms to be held on June 16 from 6 – 9 pm and June 23 from 6 -9. Both hearings will be held at George Grant Mason Elementary School Multipurpose Room and both will be in person only. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay – reported that both the Town and the Climate Smart Committee had tables at the Discover Tuxedo event and she felt the day had been very helpful for both entities. The Climate Smart group handed out surveys and sign ups and have been gauging people’s interests. The committee has been working on compiling a report detailing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, with the help of a company that handles those. The Town’s contract with this company is up and the Deputy Supervisor would like to renegotiate it for another year. The Board unanimously agreed that she had permission to do so. Jim Hays is finishing up a similar report for the Village and was present to give a short explanation of how it is done. Essentially, the amount of fuel (gas, natural gas, etc) used is tallied up and then converted to get determined the tons of CO2 emitted. Compiling the report will set a benchmark for the Town. Finally, the Deputy Supervisor spoke about the need to educate residents with regard to not recycling glass. When glass is comingled with recycling, it winds up in a landfill! Councilmember May formally thanked the people responsible for putting together the Discover Tuxedo Day, namely The newly formed Tuxedo Activities Council which is made up of Kimberly Breiland, Meg Vaught, Claudia Bahktiary, Amy Bush, Noreen Fennell and Sue Scher. Councilmember Murphy reported that design work on the Town’s billboard has been completed. It should take about a week to produce and then the Highway Department can install it. She anticipates that the project will be completed by the end of the month. She also reported having met with PIPC regarding Eagle Lake and is waiting to hear back from them with their thoughts and possible solutions to what is becoming “a big mud pile.” Lastly, she is still waiting to hear back from Orange County with regard to the audit they are doing on Long Meadow Road, the purpose of which is to determine whether or not the speed limit can be effectively lowered there. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum expressed his concern that graffiti in Town could spread from the Skate Park to the Thruway bridge and the back of Town Hall. The Department is still working on the dirt pile. They’ve had a set-back in that the County has indicated that they can only take dirt for site specific work and cannot stockpile it. All the same, work is moving forward and they will begin screening the next pile. Finally, the Superintendent noted that someone has been dumping their garbage near the mulch available for residents at Quarry Field. He requested that anyone who is doing this please stop!
Minutes: The minutes for the May 23 Town Board meeting were unanimously approved.
The Town Board met on Thursday, May 9, 2022 at 5 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The purpose of the meeting was to set a public hearing date for a Local Law amending Local Law#3 of 2011. The intent of the law is to make a “clear stipulation” that reflects Table 3 in the Tech Memo. This table sets numbers for the different kinds of housing (single family detached, single family attached and duplexes) within Tuxedo Farms.
The hearing was set for 6:00 pm on June 23, 2022. It will take place in the multipurpose room of George Grant Mason Elementary School. Op
The Town Board met on Monday, May 23, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The minutes for the Town Board meeting held on May 9 were unanimously accepted and approved.
The vouchers were unanimously approved.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor Ken English reminded everyone about the upcoming Memorial Day events on Monday, May 30. The day begins with a ceremony at the Southfields Memorial at 10 am. Next, the parade kicks off from the High School at 11:30. This is followed by a ceremony at St. Mary’s church and finally the Library picnic which is back after a 2 year hiatus due to Covid.
The Tuxedo Farms Consultant meetings are continuing. They are currently working through the Tech Memo and Design Standards.
Finally, the Supervisor commented on the annual Fishing Derby which was held on May 21 at Watchtower Pond and which was a great success. Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay stated she had no update . Councilmember Murphy reported that she and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum have a meeting scheduled with Joshua Laird for the first week in June to discuss what can be done with Eagle Lake. Site evaluation continues on Long Meadow Road to decide if the speed limit will be lowered. Councilmember May has been researching organic tick control products for use in the dog park. Councilmember Reichgott amended his statement pertaining to pedestrian safety from the last meeting to say that people should ride bikes in the same direction as cars and walk in the opposite direction facing the cars.
Department Updates Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum began by providing a quick update from the Highway Superintendent who was not able to attend the meeting. Over the weekend, it was discovered that someone had dumped construction debris at Quarry Field near the containers for mulch and compost. This is not allowed. The Highway Department cleaned it up but it would be appreciated if people did not dump construction debris here in the future. Presently, mulch mulch and compost are available for residents at this location.
Moving on, Town Clerk Dollbaum reported that the Town Hall had undergone a safety inspection from the NYS Workers Comp. and they passed with flying colors. Next, she announced that next week’s garbage pickups will be changed due to Memorial Day with garbage collected on Tuesday and Friday and recycling collected on Friday. Finally, she noted that there will be a Hazardous Waste Collection on June 11 in Port Jervis. Chemicals and paint etc. will be accepted there. The details will be posted on the Town website. She added that residents frequently inquire about how to dispose of old tvs and that there are 3 county sites that will accept them—old sets as well as flat screen. Police Chief Dryer gave her final report as her resignation is effective beginning Friday, May 27. Prior to her departure she has been working on the department’s accreditation and she estimates this will be between 90 and 95% complete before she leaves. The department is set for the Memorial Day parade and picnic. She further noted that she had sent an estimate for remediation for black mold on the Police station which “really needs to be fixed.” Discussion Items:
New York State Unified Solar Permit – The Climate Smart Community Task Force is hoping to secure Climate Smart certification for the Town. In order for them to do that, the Town needs to complete a certain number of action items one of which is adopting this permit for people who are looking to install solar. This permit would cover projects with a 25kw threshold. Board member Reichgott, along with Supervisor English and Town Attorney Protter questioned whether or not a change to the permit was necessary or would be advantageous to the Town. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay informed them that it would be advantageous because the Town would be ready if and when residents want to install solar at their properties. Also, the Town would get points toward the Climate Smart certification.
Capital Plan – The Board is looking into evaluating the HVAC in Town Hall. They believe that they may need a mechanical engineer but plan to start with Town Engineer Sean Hoffman. They are also looking into the police vehicles in order to determine when they will need replacement. The Building Department also needs a system to transfer all their files from microfiche to digital data. The idea of hiring a consultant to help them put together a capital plan was then discussed.
Hamlet Revitalization - ?In researching this topic Councilmember Murphy and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay discovered that 20 years ago, the Town employed a consultant to develop a plan for this very idea. That woman, Brigette Bogart, has now started her own company and the Councilwomen met with her to discuss their idea of trying to make Store Road “the new Main Street” for Tuxedo. They have also asked her to look into the walking paths that have been proposed for Tuxedo Farms (specifically the ones that are close to the Hamlet) to see whether they could be incorporated into the Town’s plans. Councilmember Reichgott suggested that the Store Road idea was a “great idea 20 years ago that nobody had done anything about.” He wanted to know what it would cost to update that plan. Councilmember Murphy replied that without a plan, nothing would get done and in order to have a plan, they would need to have concepts. They are currently looking at what it will cost to develop those concepts. The Antique Store in the IGA Building and the Wine Bar across the parking lot have been exploring the idea of having “food truck Friday” set up in the parking lot between the two businesses. After some discussion it was decided that the businesses would have to apply to the building department for a permit. As this would be a commercial use in a commercial district, it would likely be approved. This process needs to be investigated thoroughly.
Orange County Arts Council Proposal – The Council has proposed bringing 3 events per year to Tuxedo. The Council would do all the administration for the events for an annual fee of $20,000. It was agreed that the Council should be invited to attend the next meeting on June 13 so as to fully explain their proposal and answer questions.
There were no public comments, so the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 9, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to appoint Part-Time Police Officer – Former NYPD Police Officer and Town Resident Michael Cardone who has been the Animal Control Officer was appointed to this position. He intends to remain as Animal Control Officer with the Police Department’s blessing.
Resolution to appoint Part-Time Account Clerk – former Monroe NY employee Carey Alley was appointed to the position. The plan is for her to become the main Accounts Clerk. She needs to pass some Civil Service testing before this can happen. Current Accounts Clerk Brian Sullivan will stay on for the foreseeable future to train her before he retires.
Resolution approving purchase of environmentally sensitive property identified as Parcel 201-1-34.2 (Rt. 17A, 27 acres) from Orange County for $106,500.00 – This property came to the Town’s attention when Beckman Associates did their appraisal for the Town. It is located on Indian Kill reservoir and there used to be a nuclear reactor on the adjacent property. Years ago, there was a chemical plant located here and after that a Korean church. Taxes were not paid and the property was on the list to be auctioned off by Orange County. The County Legislature has agreed to sell it to the Town instead for the amount of the back taxes owed which is $106,500.00. The money will come from the Town’s Reserve A fund. This was passed unanimously.
Re-allocate funds for the Highway Department to repave Town roads – the Board did a budget modification for “no more than $150,000 to fulfill this request from the Highway Supervisor. There has been an increase in petroleum prices which makes it necessary. The work will be done on town owned roads.
Train Station bid opening – the RFP was for removing rotting and damaged wood and repainting on the inside of the station. The Town received only one bid for $207,000 which seemed excessive to the Board. Since they legally have 45 days to accept or reject the bid, the Supervisor will be asking the contractor to meet him on site and explain how they got the proposed price.
Presentation: Developing a marketing strategy for Tuxedo by Councilmember Deirdre Murphy: Councilmember Murphy has been working on putting together a program that would reach Tuxedo residents, businesses and visitors who come to Tuxedo to sell the Town as a place to live work and play. The first thing recommended was to add all community events to the Town Webpage making it a go to place for information about what is going on in Tuxedo. She also suggests that work be done on the Town’s email list to turn it into a comprehensive list that could then be segmented so that they could reach certain areas of the Town as needed. This work could be outsourced. She feels the Town must encourage more cultural events. There are currently 160,000 people attending the Renaissance Faire and another 50,000 signing into the Sterling Forest State Park Visitor Center on an annual basis. These people should be encouraged to stick around and patronize businesses and events in Tuxedo. Joining Councilmember Murphy in the presentation was Brenda Zuck, a Town resident and advertising executive. She had lots of suggestions including an interactive map with QR codes (Town residents Sue Scher has already been working on this.) Brenda and Councilmember Murphy have been working with the Chamber of Commerce. One idea here is to move the entrances to business along Route 17 South to the back of those buildings and have the fronts on Store Road. This could make Store Road into the new Main Street of Tuxedo. They have also been working with the Orange County Arts Council who proposes providing 3 programs a year. The Council would do all the administration for an annual fee of $20,000. Tuxedo has no place for people to sleep and very few places to eat. A “business round table” to get ideas has been suggested. Also suggested is marketing Tuxedo as the Gateway to the Hudson Valley. The main conclusion was that the Town of Tuxedo must be branded. It was recommended that they put the program together and then outsource the execution!
Town Attorney Howard Protter commented briefly on his talks with the Comptroller’s Office regarding the Town/Village Consolidation, which the Comptroller is now suggesting is not legal because once the Town consolidated the Village disappeared. Mr. Protter is continuing to look into this. He feels that the Town does not really need a consolidated entity…they just need consolidated powers. One of these powers is to exclude pipelines. Councilmember Reichgott added that one of the Village powers that is important to people is that a Village cannot be subdivided…in other words, no one can make a Village inside a Village and he wondered if there was any way to get that done without consolidation. It was agreed that Mr. Protter would have another conversation with the Comptroller’s Office to find out if there was a way to get that done.
Minutes:
The minutes for the April 25 regular meeting were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English began his report by announcing that Police Chief Tamara Dreyer has resigned effective May 28, 2022. She advised that she has accepted a full-time position with another police department. The recruitment process for a replacement is expected to begin again soon.
The Orange County Clerk’s Office has notified Tuxedo that April Mortgage Tax receipts were $39,103.50. The Town’s reported receipts for 2022 to date were $133,385.50.
The ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) report, which documents how the Town is using the $303,614 federal award was filed on time. Projects reported on were the completed water treatment system that has been installed at the Highway Department making the water potable and usable; the purchase of the Zoom Room equipment for Town Hall, which will allow the Town to hold meetings that are virtually fully interactive two way communication with the public remotely. Supply chain issues continue to delay the installation by the vendor expects delivery next week.
The Town held the bid opening for the Train Station renovation on Monday and only one bid was submitted. The Supervisor will be speaking with the vendor as his bid seems awfully big.
Finally, Special Town Board Workshops regarding Tuxedo Farms have been scheduled for Thursday May 19 and Thursday June 2. The workshops will take place from 5:00-8:00 pm and will be held through the Town’s WebEx portal. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported she has been working with the Building Department to convert all their microfiche files to digital files. She also noted that Building Inspector Dave Maikisch had attended a webinar on battery storage for first responders and would be attending one on solar permitting process the next day. He will update the Board on both subjects.
The Deputy Supervisor will be meeting with Orange and Rockland to finalize the LED Streetlight conversion, which is almost done. (The project has been held up by Covid). Lastly, work on the Town Hall roof has begun. Councilmember Reichgott reminded everyone that the Memorial Day Parade and Library picnic are happening this year and urged everyone to buy tickets for the raffle, which are available at the Library. He also reminded residents that in those areas where there are no sidewalks present, pedestrians should walk facing traffic so that they can be seen by oncoming cars. Finally, he cautioned that bears are awake and out & about so residents should take in their birdfeeders and make sure garbage cans are secured. Councilmember Murphy reported that she is waiting for feedback from the DOT on the speed limit reduction for Long Meadow Road. She has also been talking to various residents about Eagle Lake. It has filled up again but there are still problems, one of which involves a drainage system that goes under Town Roads. She will report back when she learns more. Councilmember May reported that she had been working on the ARPA report, which has been turned in. She wanted to remind everyone that the School Budget vote and Board of Education elections will be taking place on May 17. Both Tuxedo and Monroe Woodbury will be holding votes on that day.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reached out to IWS because residents were reporting that their cans of the smaller size had gone missing. It turned out that IWA’s trucks arms cannot properly pick up the smaller cans and they were falling into the trucks! Many of the residents who have the smaller cans have limited space to store them so the Clerk is working with IWS to come up with a solution. Also, she had reports that the dumpsters for glass recycling are full and it turned out that IWS was not picking up from these dumpsters. She is trying to confirm what the schedule for emptying them will be going forward as they should be serviced every other week. Finally, she reminded all that the Youth Fishing Derby will take place on May 21.
Discussions: Councilmember Reichgott commented that he is worried about the future of the Town Board once Tuxedo Farms has been built out. Since they will potentially have a much larger population that the rest of the Town taken together, he proposed that the Town consider switching to a Ward System. The 6 wards that he thinks would work are:
The Village of Tuxedo Park
Tuxedo Farms
The Hamlet and the Apartments on Route 17
The Woodlands and Eagle Valley
Southfields and Arden
Laurel Ridge, Clinton Woods, Benjamin Meadow, Brammertown
Councilmember Murphy remarked that she likes the idea of wards although the Town of Ramapo attempted the system and it failed. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that she thinks this is a good idea but wonders if it would need to be balanced by population. Supervisor English added that he also worries about balance and wondered what would happen if a ward was unable to find a candidate to stand for election. Councilmember May stated that she likes the idea of wards.
The group then agreed to put together a list of topics for discussion at future meetings.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with a presentation by The Related Company on their updated vision of “The Commons” for Tuxedo Farms. Paul Milana, Lisa Higgins and Greg Gushee gave the report for the Related group. The presentation was accompanied by slides depicting plans for the Commons and, to some extent, the surrounding communities.
Following the presentation, each Board member was given the opportunity to provide feedback. Generally speaking, they were largely supportive of with the plan as proposed. They feel that the team from Related/Lennar has been listening to their feedback and making changes that reflect what has been requested.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve sign permit – Tuxedo Park Library- The Library asked for permission to place 14 signs around Town advertising their annual picnic on Memorial Day. This was passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve the Form of Petition for the Proposition to Increase Town Board Budget Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library – Permission was passed unanimously for the standard wording that gets placed on the ballot every year.
Resolution to approve part-time Account Clerk – Brian Sullivan is retiring. In order to replace him, the Board needs to create a new position. It will be a part-time position for $32.37/hr. with 17.5 hours per week. The position will pay $29,456.70 annually. The Board voted unanimously to establish the position.
Resolution to approve Requested for Proposal (RFP) for Community Choice Aggregation Administrator – This was passed unanimously and serves to move the process along to the next step in the Community Choice Aggregation program. There will probably be 3-4 candidates. The bid opening will be on June 6 with hopes of moving forward at the June BOT meeting.
Monthly Reports:
Department Updates: Building Department – There were 14 Building permits issued and 52 fire inspections completed during the month of April. Police Department – Chief Dryer reported that things are going well in the department. “The police force is great,” she commented. A stolen vehicle was recovered in NJ and there were several traffic accidents on Route 17. There was an investigation into kids banging on doors and making threats. All of the parents were notified and no arrests were made. All Officers have completed their ADCPR training. Town Clerk – Marisa Dollbaum reported that the annual Youth Fishing Derby will take place on Saturday May 21 at Watchtower Fire Pond on Long Meadow Rd. Also, Summer Camp registration will be opening soon. Camp will take place from July 6 to August 12. It will be located back at the GGM Elementary School and the kids will be also able to swim in the WeeWah Lake. Finally, she announced that the bid opening for the Train Station Restoration Project will be on Monday, May 9 at 1 pm. Highway Department – Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department had begun patching. They started in Southfields and will be working their way around the Town. Anyone who sees a big pothole should feel free to call and report it. All of the Town playgrounds have been mulched. The department helped with the community clean-up over the weekend and will do so again in Brammertown for their scheduled clean up next weekend.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported on a meeting of the Tuxedo Farms LDC (sewer plant) with representatives of Related and Lennar as well as the contracted operators of the plant and Sean Hoffman of H2M Engineering at which the final plan for activating the plant was discussed. An updated timeline and completion plan is expected from Related.
The Tichy Field Tennis Court/Basketball Court renovation plan began on Friday, April 22. The project is being done by R. Young and Sons Paving. Demolition has been completed and new drainage is now being installed.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she has been working on the Comprehensive Plan with the Building Department. She and Councilmember Murphy visited more Lennar properties in New Jersey. Finally, she has been working on hamlet revitalization and looking into setting up meetings with business owners and property owners. Councilmember Reichgott did an inspection of all of the Town’s parks and playgrounds and is working on a list of short-term improvements that can be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan. Councilmember Murphy remarked that she would deliver her marketing report at the next Town Board meeting. Councilmember May reported that the Earth Day Cleanup held Saturday with the GFB Environmental Club was a great success. She and the kids walked from Quarry Field to the Duck Cedar Plaza and picked up 15 bags of garbage along the way. Many thanks to Marley Vaught, who organized the event, as well as Police Officers Gunderman & Christian and the DPW crew who retrieved the bags. Councilmember May also gave a shout out to Irene DeNaro who cleaned up Quarry Field all by herself
Other Business: Town Attorney Howard Protter noted that he had received some questions from the State Comptroller’s Office regarding the recent Town/Village Consolidation. He has been going back and forth with the Comptroller’s office and has another call scheduled for this week. He will report back to the Board afterward. Next, he reported that Rick Golden is leaving his firm to become the Orange County Attorney. Subsequently, his former partners Kelly Naughton and Ashley Torre will be starting a new firm and they are proposing to take over the Planning Board and Zoning Board assignments currently being handled by Burke, Miele, Golden & Naughton. The Board unanimously passed a resolution supporting this change.
The Town has received an updated contract from Hydro Environmental who does the testing on the material from the Highway Garage. A resolution was passed unanimously for the Supervisor to sign the new contract. The DEC has approved Hydro and their plan.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting were approved with Deputy Supervisor Lindsay abstaining because she was absent.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Mary Graetzer commented that there had been 3 serious accidents on Route 17 in recent weeks which concerns her. She wondered what, if anything, could be done to proactively address the problem. She was told that most of these incidents were due to distracted driving and there really isn’t anything in particular that can be done about that. They do see people slowing down as they enter Town because of electronic signs which have been placed there.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay was absent.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve Field Use Application – The application submitted by the Community Activity Council for “Discover Tuxedo Day,” was approved for June 11 from 10am-2pm. This is an event planned for new people in Town to help acquaint themselves with the various groups, businesses and organizations that are available in Town. It will be set up in Powerhouse Park.
Resolution to approve Town Clerk training – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum was approved to attend the training given by the NYS Town Clerks Association in Albany 4/24-4/27. The cost is $500.
Presentation:
Developing a marketing strategy for Tuxedo by Councilmember Deirdre Murphy was tabled as Ms. Murphy feels it is something that should be presented at a live meeting.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that her donation drive for the Ukrainean people is going well. The Ambulance Corps recently donated several pairs of crutches. She also reminded people to sign up for the Earth Day 5K walk/run being held on Saturday April 23. The Town will be collecting items needed by the Warwick Humane Society (a list can be found on Town website). Additionally, she reported that the Town’s Memorial Day parade and the Library picnic are back on this year and will take place on Monday May 30. The Library is looking for volunteers to help with the event. Lastly, she thanked the Board for approving her training remarking that she was excited to be able to attend her first “in person” training. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department had been busy cleaning in the East Village. Additionally, the sewer surveyor has been in Town. The Railroad crossing work in the East Village has 2 more days to go and should be finished by Wednesday, April 13. In the coming weeks, his department will working to clean up the landscaping around the train station and will also recommence working on the dirt pile at the Highway garage again soon. They anticipate bringing in somebody to screen the pile in June.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he continues to conduct interviews for an Account Clerk reporting to the Supervisor. He is considering replacing this position with a Bookkeeper title. He and Secretary Lori Cosgrove are working with Orange County Civil Service on this. On Wednesday March 30, the Supervisor met with Police Chief Dryer and Labor Relations Consultant Richardson to review the Tuxedo Police Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Policy related to drug testing and a required annual physical was discussed. A subsequent meeting with the union to identify how the contract policy will be implemented has been scheduled. This meeting will not be open to the public. On Monday April 4, the Supervisor and Chief Dryer met with Michael Cardone, retired NYC Police Officer and current Tuxedo Animal Control Officer to interview him for a part-time position with the Tuxedo Police. He has been offered the position and the onboarding has begun. Expectation is for him to transfer from Animal Control to the police department in May. Finally, he reported that a memorial service for long-time Tuxedo Park resident Pamela Cromey had been held on the morning of April 9 at the Tuxedo Historical Society. Mrs. Cromey was a founding member of this group and actively supported it for many years. Councilmember May reported that the Tuxedo High School Environmental Club is planning a clean-up event for Earth Day (April 23) Marley Vaught is the contact for the school. Details will be forthcoming. Councilmember Reichgott reminded everyone that it is now spring and as such the bears will be coming out of hibernation. Residents should make sure their garbage is secured and also consider taking down bird feeders. Councilmember Murphy reported that the Town Clerk has filed an application for the lowering of speed on Long Meadow Rd. She is still concerned about Eagle Lake and commented that the beavers are back and have re-dammed the lake. She has also been working on organizing the Town’s capital expenditures and as such needs department heads to give her estimates for the next couple of years. Additionally, she would like lists of unfunded projects/things not previously anticipated. These lists should be handed in within a month. She will start working with an inventory of vehicles owned by the Town. Minutes of the March 28 Town Board meeting were approved.
Vouchers were tabled.
Other Business:
Repairs to the Tichy Field Tennis Court – The Town only received one bid, but thought it was reasonable so they unanimously accepted the bid for $146,630.
Bid specs for proposed work at the train station were approved.
Final Approval for the proposed Wine Bar in Town has been held up because of an interpretation of Town Code as it pertains to parking. It looks like things have been resolved for this particular applicant but the Board will look into solving the problem with parking permanently.
Communications with the Village of Tuxedo Park regarding the relocation of the Village Office and DPW are continuing. According to Town Attorney Howard Protter, the Town will need a formal resolution from the Village before things can move forward.
Public Comments: Evelyn David requested that the Town stick with WebEx meetings rather than go back to in person. She was told that the Governor has extended the virtual meetings permission through June 8.
The meeting was then adjourned into an Executive Session so the Board could receive advice from Counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 28, 2022 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reichgott was absent.
The meeting took place in-person at Town Hall. The Governor’s Executive Order to hold meetings remotely was rumored to be expiring. Therefore, the Board scheduled the meeting for in-person and two public hearings were noticed as such. At the last minute, the Executive Order allowing remote meetings was extended another month. Thus, the next monthly meeting (April 11) will take place via WebEx and then it will depend upon whether the Governor extends these remote meetings or not. The meeting began with two public Hearings.
Public Hearing – Creating Community Choice Aggregation Program:
The Board has held multiple education sessions on this topic and the individual Board members all voiced their support of the program. Francine Liza was the only speaker. She said that she saw no downside to the program and consequently supports it as she hopes it will drive energy costs down.
Public Hearing – Amending Chapter 98 of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Revise Special Use Permit Regulations for Existing: The sentence that limited the expansion of fuel stored on site has been amended. The Board wants existing gas stations to have the ability to replace existing tanks and make improvements as technology advances.
There were no public comments.
Public Comments on A Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Item:
Resolution to approve Local Law creating Community Choice Aggregation Program. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve Local Law
Amending Chapter 98 of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Revise Special Use Permit Regulations for Existing Automotive Gas Stations. This was also approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve change order for Town Hall roof project – This was tabled.
Resolution Authorizing Execution of Agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 2022 Animal Shelter Services – This agreement has not changed any and has been in use for many years. It was unanimously approved.
Resolution to retain Gary Rich, Licensed Land Surveyor, for survey of sewer system – The Town’s sewer system is old and in need of updating. In particular, there are 8 inch terra cotta pipes that run along the bank of the Ramapo River which have been giving the Town problems. They would like to move the pipes to a place along the railroad tracks. The first step in the process is a survey which is estimated to cost $12,000. It was approved unanimously.
Earth Day Cleanup approvals- A student from the George F. Baker Environmental Club has requested permission to organize a Clean Up Day to be held on Saturday, April 23 – the day after Earth Day. The Board expressed interest in knowing if any adults would be involved and will get in touch with the school to find out. Lt. Norton of the Police Department spoke up and said that the police would be happy to help and could be there to direct traffic around people cleaning up as needed in order to ensure they were safe.
Department Updates: Chief Dreyer was present and reported that she was making arrangements to have the speed control signs returned to “duty” on the Town roads now that plowing season is over. She has pledged to educate herself on how to download the data that these signs amass. As part of the on-going community engagement effort, she is in the process of organizing “Coffee with the Cops,” sessions to be held during evening hours in June. Lt. Norton cautioned that there are frequently people around who are “up to no good” and he urged all residents to lock their cars and houses so as to protect themselves. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the MTA will be changing the grade crossing to the East Village April 8-10. Train service will be suspended and they will provide an alternative route for getting in and out of the East Village. Additionally, she reported that Monday April 4 at 10 am will be the bid opening for the work on the tennis court and basketball court at Tichy Field. Lastly, she noted that the Town Code is being updated and codified to reflect all the recent changes that have been made. The updated version will be posted on the Town website. She is having one copy printed which will be available in her office.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that a site inspection for the renovation project involving the Tennis Court and Basketball Court at Tichy Field took place on March 18. Bids are due on April 4 at 1 pm.
Next, he stated that the Tuxedo LDC (Sewer Plant) held their annual meeting the week prior at which all required reviews and reporting were completed. On Tuesday March 22, the Supervisor met with TUFSD Superintendent Jeff White to discuss communications with Related regarding Tuxedo Farms as well as pending tax certiorari proceedings. He also interviewed a candidate for the Account Clerk/Bookkeeper position, which is being vacated by Brian Sullivan. He has another interview scheduled next week for this position. On Thursday, March 24, the Supervisor met with Police Chief Tarmara Dreyer and they discussed setting goals for hiring part-time officers, the rollout of body cameras and setting a date for a meeting with the Police Reinvention Committee. Finally, the Supervisor reported on the special meeting held on March 24 with participants from Related and builder Lennar at which the Town Board shared their comments in response to the March 9 Tech Memo submitted by Related. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that the refinancing of the Bonds had gone forward on March 17. The paperwork is now being prepared. She also stated that she is working on completing the conversion of the Town’s streetlights to LED this year. Finally, she reported that the LDC for Hamlet revitalization is putting out an RFP for repairs to the train station. Councilmember May reported that she had met with Sue Scher and Linda Pallack to discuss how to increase Town services for Seniors. This might include a “Friendly Visitor program,” where residents are trained to provide social visits as well as rides to doctor offices or for shopping, congregate meals, chore services, transportation services, caregiver support and education, nutrition and medication education, Senior games, assistance with funding for the building of a bocce court and reshaping tennis courts for Pickle Ball, and education for police department staff regarding responding to people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Councilmember Murphy reported that she is still working on getting the speed limit reduced on Long Meadow Rd. Additionally, she is working on designing a new billboard for the town. She is also working on getting a capital expenditures program in place and as such has created a spreadsheet that can be used as a guide for this project. Finally, she spoke about the condition of Eagle Lake, which is not good. The Lake is constantly being drained and it is no longer attractive or pleasant for residents to walk around.
Minutes for the regular Town Board meeting on March 14 were unanimously approved.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 6:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with a presentation given by the Related/Tuxedo Farms team on the portion of their development known as “The Commons.” To see a copy of the presentation, click here.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to retain Appraiser for tax certiorari proceedings – This item was postponed until the end of the meeting so the Board could consult with their attorney before addressing it.
Resolution introducing Local Law and schedule Public Hearing on “A Local Law Amending Chapter 98 of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Revise Special Use Permit Regulations for Existing Automotive Gas Stations.” – This proposed law will only remove one sentence about limiting the expansion of fuel storage. The Board did not really address this issue when they were updating the code. The amendment will not automatically allow stations to increase fuel storage. Instead, it will incentivize existing stations to update fuel tank storage as new safety measures are introduced. The resolution was passed unanimously and a public hearing was set for 7 pm on March 28, 2022.
Resolution to enter Stop-DWI Intermunicipal Agreement with Orange County – This is an annual activity which is funded through Orange County. It will run from March 12 through January 1, 2023. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve film permit – High Roller Productions in Newburgh is requesting permission to film at the Tuxedo Motel in Southfields on April 11 and April 12, 2022. They will be staging at the Red Apple and walk across 17 to film at Tuxedo Motel. All required paperwork has been submitted including a contract with the Tuxedo Police Department. The resolution was approved subject to review by Counsel.
Resolution to approve Tuxedo LDC by-laws- This is the LDC for Hamlet Revitalization. The by-laws will be amended to read that the Town Board will be the member (consisting of the Town Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, Chairman of the Planning Board. Greg Gushee from Related will also be a member and a loan officer from the bank where the funds have been deposited will be added when that institution is in place.). The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve budget modifications and to approve the purchase of Highway Equipment - This resolution will allow for the purchase of a midlevel plow truck which will replace a truck that was “surplussed” last year. Immediately following the adoption of the resolution, the purchase of the truck was approved.
Resolution to approve further budget modifications – As per a memo from auditor Andrew Arias, “typical end of the year budget modifications” were approved unanimously. There was no increase to the budget as a result.
Department Updates: Animal Control Officer Michael Cardone introduced himself. He is an East Village resident and a former canine officer with the NYPD. He reported that a beagle who was recently found running free in Sterling Forest had been captured and is currently at the Warwick Humane Society. The dog is a part of the activity which has seen many beagles abandoned throughout Orange County and the surrounding areas in recent months. Mr. Cardone feels this is being done by a breeder who, when he is “done” with litters, simply abandons them!! Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the RFP for the Tichy Field Tennis and Basketball Court repair & renovation has been issued. A walkthrough will be conducted at 9 am on Friday, March 18. Bidding will be opened on Monday, April 4 at 1 pm.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor Ken English reported that the Town Board had held another “marathon special meeting” on March 3 at which builder Lennar presented its various home design elevations and explained how the various products will be modified to meet design standards that will be approved by the Town Board. Various material configurations and styles were presented.
The new Chief of Police, Tamara Dryer was sworn in and welcomed to her new position on Monday, March 7. A formal swearing-in will be held in Town Hall at a Town Board meeting after she has received her uniform. Lastly, the Supervisor reported that he and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay had welcomed NYS Senator Skoufis and Staff to Town Hall. They met with Mitch Newman of Lennar as well as Greg Gushee and Dillon Norris of Related and the Senator received an overview of the Tuxedo Farms project after which the group toured the site. Following that, the Senator was given a tour of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant and was apprised of the challenging conditions of upgrading the aging Hamlet sewer lines along with the expected activation of the new plant in late spring. Also. Steve Germano of Steve’s Pizza attended the meeting and spoke about his reasons for investing in Tuxedo as well as his expectation that the development will invigorate Tuxedo’s business opportunities.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she continues to work on the reissuing of the Town’s bonds. Moody’s has been reviewing and rating the bonds. The interest rate has gone up because of turmoil in the market. The Town’s bond counsel is monitoring this and will advise the Town as to whether or not they should put the bonds out for sale on March17 as they had planned to do. Next, the Deputy Supervisor announced that the public hearing on the Community Choice Aggregation law would be held on March 28 at 7 pm. There will be a workshop held for the public on March 21 at 7 pm via WebEx so that residents can inform themselves on this subject. Finally, Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that she had attended a Capital Plan training session and feels strongly that the Town should have such a plan in place. Councilmember Murphy agreed with her and volunteered to put together a memo to be sent to Department Heads in order to gather up all the potential projects for such a plan.
Councilmember Murphy reported that she had been working on the marketing presentation for the Town and as such had spoken to the Orange County Arts Council. In addition, she is working with a committee to petition Orange County to reduce the speed on Long Meadow Road to 35 mph from where it joins Sterling Mine Road for 2 miles to Blue Lake. The Town of Warwick has agreed to also petition for this reduction.
Councilmember May has been working on figuring out how the Town can spend the money they are receiving from the American Recovery Act. Information on this subject has been slow to become available. She is also working to figure out what the process will be to report any expenditures. Councilmember Reichgott stated that he had nothing new to report.
Minutes from the February 28 Town Board meeting were accepted unanimously.
Voucherswere approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
There were none.
Adjournment
At 8:06 pm the Board entered into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel. They re-entered the public meeting at 9:12 pm at which point they unanimously approved a Resolution to approve an appraiser for a Tax Certiorari proceeding followed by unanimously approving Beckman Associates for the appraisal services.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 28, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to retain Appraiser for tax certiorari proceedings – Martin Freedman has commenced a tax certiorari proceeding against the Town. Town Attorneys have recommended that the Board hire a "court ready appraiser.” The Board voted unanimously to hire James Molinaro at a fee of $2000.
Resolution introducing Local Law and schedule Public Hearing on “Creating Community Choice Aggregation Program” – The first step in bringing community choice aggregation to the Town is passing a Local Law. This was explained during the presentation at the last meeting. The Board passed the proposed local law unanimously and set the date for the required public hearing for March 28 at 7:00 pm. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay is working on setting up some public information meetings for those residents who want to inform themselves. Details will be announced as soon as they are available.
Department Updates: Police Department – Lt. Norton reported that everything had been quiet in the Police Department. Town Clerk – Town Clerk, Marisa Dollbaum, reported that the next step in moving the Town’s Zoom Room forward is to make a payment and that this would happen once the vouchers had been approved later in the meeting. After payment has been made, the team from Zoom will then arrive and install the equipment. Highway Department – Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department had been busy plowing, salting, fixing trucks and working on Warwick Brook Road.
Town Board/Town Supervisor Updates: Town Supervisor Ken English reported that he had attended the Cannabis Conversation which was run by New York State. This program is still in the early stages of being rolled out. Information can be found at cannabis.ny.gov and any questions or comments can be sent to cannabisconversation@ocm.ny.gov.
or comments can be sent to cannabisconversation@ocm.ny.gov.
Next, he stated that Police Chief interviews had been held on February 23. The three top civil service candidates were interviewed.
Also on February 23, the Supervisor, Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum, Councilmember Reichgott and Town Engineer Sean Hoffman conducted a site visit to the Sewer plant. The group reviewed maps that show the current location of manholes and pipes that bring sewage from west to east across Route 17 to the pump station. It was established that H2M needs an updated survey in order to determine relocation options along the bank of the Ramapo.
The Supervisor also reported having toured Lennar Development sites across New Jersey during which he saw a variety of town homes and age restricted homes. (Lennar is the builder who has been contracted to work on the Tuxedo Farms Development)
Finally, he commented that an RFP has been drawn up for work on the tennis court at Tichy Field. The proposed action will also encompass the adjacent basketball court and will include accommodation for pickleball lines on the tennis court as well. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she had met with representatives from Orange & Rockland to discuss rebates for installing electric vehicle chargers. She also toured the Lennar development sites and reported that she was very impressed with what she saw. She is feeling much better about the project as Lennar seems to be very willing to work with the Town. Councilmember May commented that she had checked the bin at Quarry Field which had been put out to collect glass and was delighted to see that it is being used and used properly! Councilmember Murphy added that she had checked the recycling bin located at Murphy Field and was pleased to report that it was filled with wine bottles. She also toured the Lennar sites and was happy with what she saw. She has been working on marketing the Town and more specifically. what will be done with the Town’s billboard. Additionally, she has been active with the Community Action Committee and will be working on creating a calendar of Town events. Finally, she has been working on the Plein Air Event which has been moved to 9/27-10/2. Councilmember Reichgott reminded people that the bag project for the Food Pantry is still going on. Drop off places for bags are: Tuxedo Town Hall, Tuxedo Park Library, the Train Station, the Woodlands and the Tuxedo Park Village Offices as well as Sloatsburg Town Hall. He also gave a brief report on the recent water main break on and around Circle Field.
Minutes:
The minutes for the Regular Town Board meeting on February 14 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were approved unanimously.
Other Business: Police Chief – The Board interviewed the top 3 candidates from the civil service list and all agreed that Tamara Dreyer was the one they will hire. She has 23 years of experience working with the Orange County Sheriff’s department most recently as the Lieutenant of the Road Division and Special Units. She will be a full time employee with reduced hours. This is the same status as former Chief Abbott. She will work 17 hours a week in the Police Station.
Public Comments:
There were none.
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel at 8:17 pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 14, 2022 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting opened with a presentation from Jeff Domanski of Hudson Valley Energy on Community Choice Aggregation. Click here to view a copy of this presentation.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Refunding Bond Resolution – Richard Tortora, President of Capital Advisors (financial consultants to the Town for many years)
was present to discuss this item with the Board. He explained that the Town issued bonds both in 2003 and 2014. While the 2003 bonds have been eligible to be called for a few years, the 2014 bonds will become “callable” in April of this year. Interest rates for both bonds are now quite a bit lower than they were when issued. Therefore, he is recommending that the Town refinance the bonds now. Ultimately, the Board voted unanimously to pass a resolution for the refunding. This will get the process moving and the Board will have another chance to make a decision before the bonds are eligible to be called in April.
Review proposed compensation for the position of Alternate Planning Board Member – The Board voted that the compensation for the new alternate member of the Planning Board should be the same as that for a regular Planning Board Members or $2,938.08.
Resolution to allow sale of raffle tickets by the Onyx and Breezy Foundation in the Town of Tuxedo – This is an annual request and it was approved unanimously.
Resolution Approving Towing License Permits – The following businesses were unanimously approved for their annual Towing Licenses: NJV Auto Center, Apple Auto Body and Loyal Tire and Auto.
Other Business:
Resolution to approve renovation of tennis court at Tichy Field – The tennis court at Tichy Field is in serious need of repair. Supervisor English has copies of some bids, which are approximately a year old. The Board decided to take the old bids and ask their attorneys Jacobowitz & Gubits to prepare a spec sheet with which they can then go out to bid on the project. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Resolution to request Jacobowitz & Gubits to draft a local law to authorize the Town Board to enter into a Community Choice Aggregation program – This was passed unanimously.
Monthly Reports:
The Supervisor acknowledged receipt of reports from Dog Control, the Justice Court and the Town Clerk. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that there is a problem with the sewer line which goes underneath the railroad tracks and along the river to the pump station. The line is clogged with wipes and masks! As a result, there was a backup into a building along Route 17 over the weekend! The Superintendent asked residents to STOP disposing of those items by flushing them! He also cautioned that the proper way to get rid of grease from cooking is by putting it into the garbage and not down the sink. He recommended that the Town either reline the pipe (along the Ramapo and then crossing Route 17 and into the Gulf Station) or move the pipe over to the West side of the railroad tracks. The last time he remembers seeing a quote for this work it was approximately $100,000 (for relining the pipe). He feels that the Town should start getting updated quotes on this work as soon as possible. It was agreed that Superintendent Dollbaum, Supervisor English, Engineer Sean Hoffman and Councilmember Reichgott would have a meeting to work out the details. Supervisor’s Update – Supervisor English reported that he has been notified by the Orange County Department of Finance that the total 2021 sales tax revenue has exceeded the budgeted amount. This will result in a fourth quarter supplemental payment of $75,369.91! This payment will be made to the Town before the end of February. Also, the Orange County Clerk’s office notified the Town that they will be getting $23,997 for the Mortgage Tax in January 2022. Next, he announced that the next workshop with Tuxedo Farms will be held via WebEx on Thursday, February 17 at 5:00 pm. For this meeting, they will be focusing on Design Standards. He also reported that Police Chief Interviews will be held on Wednesday, February 23 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. There are 3 candidates scheduled. Finally, he commented that there have been important voting district boundary line changes affecting Tuxedo. James Skoufis will be the new NYS Senator and Mondaire Jones will be the new Congressman. (Tuxedo is now the 17th District). The Supervisor is looking forward to working with both men. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she would soon be meeting with representatives of Orange and Rockland to discuss charging stations for electric vehicles. She will also be looking into adding a battery storage component to this as well as adding battery storage to the roof on the
Highway Department. Councilmember Reichgott reminded everyone about the Tuxedo Bag Project, which is being run by some kids in Tuxedo Park. They are collecting bags to be given to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry. These are always needed so he asked people to donate their bags to Town Hall, the Library, the Train Station and other marked locations around town. Councilmember Murphy is concerned with the speed limit on Long Meadow Rd. She has discovered that the Board will need to pass a resolution to the County to ask that the limit be lowered. She was tasked with writing a letter to the County and requesting this action. Next, she reported on the work her committee is doing for a Plein Air Event for this year to be held on October 7th. (Columbus Day weekend) Councilmember May thanked Recreation Coordinator Claire Dougher for all her work on the Bonfire which took place on February 12. She also commented that she would like to see some improvements made to the Dog Park (located at Powerhouse Park) She has found an organization called Bark for your Park which sponsors dog parks and gives grants for upgrades.
Minutes:
The minutes for the regular Town Board meeting held on January 24 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers:
These were approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
There was a question about when the electronic speed limit signs would reappear. It was explained that these have been removed for the winter so as not to interfere with any plowing.
TOWN OF TUXEDO - NOTICE OF TOWN BOARD WORKSHOPS - NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN
That the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold two Public Workshops to review Tuxedo Farms documents on February 17th and March 3rd at 5:00 pm. These workshops will be held virtually via WebEx.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 6:00 pm. All members were present. The meeting began with an Executive Session for the purpose of interviewing candidates for Boards.
The public portion of the meeting began at 7:00 pm via WebEx.
The meeting actually began at 6:00 pm with an Executive Session for the purpose of interviewing candidates for Boards.
Public Hearing -Alternate Planning Board Member:
A public hearing was held to discuss the proposed local law “Alternate Planning Board Member,” which would establish an alternate planning board member for the purpose of substituting a member when a quorum is needed. There were no public comments and the Board subsequently voted unanimously to adopt the measure as Local Law #1 of 2022.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Evelyn David asked for an explanation of Item #1, a resolution to abolish the Building Moratorium. She was told that this was a measure put in place while the Town was considering changes to the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Law. Since those measures have now been passed, the resolution is no longer necessary and thus should be abolished.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to abolish building moratorium – Councilmember Reichgott commented that there are a couple of applicants who have asked for moratorium waivers and those people should now go directly to the applicable Boards as there is no longer a need to get Town Board approval first. Also, he pointed out that there will still be a sewer connection moratorium in the Hamlet Sewer District, clarifying that that moratorium would not be affected by this action. The resolution was then approved unanimously.
Resolution approving Towing License Permit – This is the annual appointment and/or renewal of towing licenses in the Town. The Town Clerk has only received one application so far with others still pending. Approval was unanimously granted for Freeman’s Auto Service in Harriman which is a successor to C.A.R.S. and Harriman Auto.
Resolution Approving Refuse Collection License – Licenses were granted to Interstate Waste Services (for the Town) and Sterling Carting (for the Village).
Appoint Planning, Zoning and Board of Assessment Review members – The following people were appointed:
Planning Board:
Susan Boyle, term ending 12/31/26
Ned Kugel, term ending 12/31/26
Alternate Member – Justin Jennings, term ending 12/31/22 Zoning Board of Appeals:
Chris Dollbaum, term ending 12/31/26
Alternate Member – Sharon Rothlauf, term ending 12/31/22 Board of Assessment Review:
Howard Zukof, term ending 12/31/26
New Business: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay introduced the idea of refinancing the Town’s outstanding bonds. The Bonds are due in 2044. On the advice of Town financial Consultant, Capital Market Advisors, the Board will look into the refinancing which could potentially save the Town $18,000 per year. After discussion with Town Attorney Howard Protter, the Board decided to authorize Bond Counsel (Hawkins Delafield to prepare a resolution for the Board to discuss and vote on at the next meeting (Feb.14) at cost of no more than $10.000. This was passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk – Marissa Dollbaum reported receiving an email from O&R informing her that there have been people posing as O&R employees and using that to gain access to private homes. The utility company has provided all employees with photo identification cards so if an O&R employee should show up unannounced, residents are advised to ask to see their identification. Next, she announced that she had put a link on the Town website through which residents can order their free home covid tests.
Work on the upcoming Zoom Room for Town Hall in on-going.
Finally, she reminded everyone of the Town bonfire scheduled for Saturday, January 29. Because there have been predictions of bad weather, she will make sure Recreaction Coordinator Clair Dougher keeps everyone informed if it needs to be postponed. Any information she received will be posted on the Town website. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department is still working on trimming trees around town. They will continue to pick up Christmas trees until Saturday. Lastly, he announced that the ice rink at Powerhouse Park had been flooded and cleared and is all ready to go for skating.
Supervisor English submitted the following report:
Hiring /Candidate search. Lori Cosgrove and I are working closely with Orange County Human Resources / Civil Service unit to identify eligible candidates for two positions:
Chief of Police - there are 29 names on the open competitive list. Canvas Letters were sent to all eligible candidates who were given until Wednesday, February 2nd, to respond.
Bookkeeper - there currently is no open competitive list for this title. We were given the list of 15 candidates who are approved for the civil service exam, to be given on Saturday, February 5th, 2022. These candidates were sent a canvass letter, job description, and the details of the Tuxedo vacancy, to consider for a provisional appointment. Once the open competitive list is produced, expected in about 4-6 months, we MUST hire from the list.
The Town Board has completed interviews to fill vacant positions in the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Board of Assessment Review. It is our policy to encourage residents to consider applying for these positions through active outreach. We are committed to an open recruitment process. Appointments were filled at the meeting.
Tuxedo Farms - Related has selected a builder, Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the country. Representatives will participate in our special meeting, this Thursday, January 27th, via WebEx at 5:00. We expect the emerging details of the project to be presented and that important documents (Tech Memo, Design Standards, Concept Plan, etc.) will be shared for Town Board review and comment. These meetings are scheduled to begin at 5:00 and will be through the Town’s WebEx portal. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 10th.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reminded everyone that Jeff Demansky from Hudson Valley Energy, who recently gave a presentation to the Climate Smart Community Task Force/Community Solar will be giving a short presentation at the February 14 Town Board meeting. Councilmember May reported that a group of people have formed the Community Activity Committee to help come up with fun events for all residents. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay wondered if these residents would like to join a Recreation Advisory Board which the Town is considering putting together. Councilmember Murphy has also been talking to this group and she reported that consensus there seemed to be that many of the activities in around Town have become fragmented and they want to find a way to bring more of the community together through activities and events. Minutes:
The minutes for the January 10th Town Board meeting were accepted and approved.
Vouchers were approved. Public Comments:
There were none. Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss a possible future real estate transaction.
Board To Conduct Tuxedo Farms Workshop Meeting January 27 & February 10, 2022
In the coming weeks the Town Board will conduct two workshops with representative from both the Related Companies and Lennar Homebuilders concerning the future of the Tuxedo Farms development. A short workshop was held on January 13, during which the applicable introductions were made. Detailed plans were not reviewed during that meeting however, both the Developer and the Builder informed the Board that that the updated conceptual plan, including proposed changes to the design standards as well as the Tech Memo, would be forthcoming and that these would be formally presented in public on the January 27.
The workshop meetings will take place at 5pm and will be held remotely via WebEX and can be accessed via the WebEx portal on the Town’s website or by clicking here.
While the public is both invited and encouraged to attend, there will be no formal public comment period at either workshop meeting.
Town Board Tuxedo Farms Workshop Meeting January 13, 2022
The Town Board held a Tuxedo Farms Workshop meeting on Thursday, January 13 at 5:30pm via WebEx. All members were present. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for the the Related Companies to formally introduce the Board members to representatives from Lennar Homebuilders, with whom they have partnered on much of the Tuxedo Farms project. Greg Gushee and Dillon Norris represented Related, while Robert (Bob) Calabro (Vice President and project lead), Mitchell Newman (SVP, Director of Land Acquisitions), Lisa Higgins (Director of Forward Planning), and Stephen Dahl (attorney) were present on behalf of Lennar.
The meeting was relatively short (28 minutes) and broad in focus. The public was not permitted to ask questions directly, however questions submitted via the chat were entertained and answered.
Tuxedo Town Board Special Meeting, Thursday January 13th, 5:30 - 6:00, via Tuxedo Town WebEx portal
Related will Introduce their selected Builder
Esteemed Colleagues and Tuxedo residents.
I'm happy to announce that the Related Companies have chosen a builder for the Tuxedo Farms Planned Integrated Development project. Greg Gushee and Dillon Norris from Related will introduce key representatives from the Lennar group's NY/NJ Division who will be responsible for this project. Due to Covid concerns, this will be a WebEx only meeting.
This will be a rather brief introductory meeting, 30 minutes. There will not be an in depth review of any new documents. That is expected to begin at our next special meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 27th, 5:00 pm via own of Tuxedo WebEx.
I hope that you can join the meeting. If not, there will be MANY more opportunities to engage in this important process over the coming months.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 10 at 7pm via Webex.
All members were present.
Oaths of Office:
Supervisor English, Councilmembers Jay Reichgott and Diedre Murphey and Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum were all sworn in.
Public Comment on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items: 2022 Reorganization - Following a relatively brief over-view, the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the 2022 Reorganization document.
Click here to view. Resolution to approve Association of Towns training February 20-23 for Town Board members – Following some discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the training for any interested Town Officials.
Discussion Items: Review Contract for Town Hall Roof – The RFP was restructured and the project rebid in December. One bid from Precision Roofing was received. A meeting was subsequently held with Precision for the purpose of value-engineering the project in an attempt to bring the cost down and through this process they were able to reduce price from $294,000 to $230,000. This will be paid for utilizing the $100,000 State Aid To Municipality Grant that was awarded to the Town by former State Senator Jenn Metzger and the $125,000 that was budgeted by the Town for the project. Following some discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of awarding the contract to Precision Roofing in the amount of $230,000 base price (this does not include the cost of any deteriorated plywood decking that might need to be replaced. If needed, the decking will cost $10 per square foot.). The work will hopefully be scheduled for early spring. Discussion – Addition of Alternate to the Planning Board – The Town Board has been considering the idea of adding an Alternate to the Planning Board. The term would be 1-year. The individual serving in this position would not vote unless there were a conflict of interest on the Board or a quorum could not be achieved. Through serving they would gain valuable experience which would help to prepare them to fill upcoming vacancies on the Board. They would be compensated at the same rate as the other, standing Planning Board members. A draft local law prepared by Board Attorney Howard Protter was reviewed and discussed. The Board voted unanimously in favor of setting a public hearing for January their January 24 meeting and also authorizing the attorneys to draft a resolution of adoption. Woodlands Request to Have Roads Recognized – The Woodlands Home Owner’s Association has made a request under Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1660A to have the roadways in their development formally recognized by the Town. Under this section of the law, the Town police would then have the ability to regulate and enforce traffic laws and regulations on the private roads within the Woodlands.
Board member Diedre Murphey wondered what specifically the Home Owners Association was looking for with the request. There is an existing 5mph speed limit on roads within the development. Will the Tuxedo PD be expected to enforce that? Additionally, there is a “no overnight parking” rule. Will the Tuxedo PD be asked to ticket offender? “Do they want people to be ticketed for going 25mph in a 5mph zone? Frankly, Long Meadow Road is a racetrack where people are going 85mph and the idea that we are going to worry about 5mph in the Woodlands….I don’t understand! I don’t want to detract from what is going on in the Town by taking valuable resources and supporting a private community…even though I live in that community!”
Board member Jay Reichgott suggested that they needed to get some advice from their attorney as to exactly what was being requested. Is the Town being asked to enforce private regulations or would this bring those roadways into compliance with the other Town roads for enforcement. Additionally, he suggested they explore it with the Police Department directly in order to determine whether or not they have sufficient resources to make it happen. Lastly, he suggested that they reach out to the Woodlands and ascertain exactly what it is they believe they are asking for.
Following some further discussion, it was agreed that they would work to more clearly establish the parameters of what was being requested before moving forward. Request from Village Mayor David McFadden – Village of Tuxedo Park Mayor has circulated a preliminary assessment from engineers Westin & Sampson for the relocation of the Village Hall and DPW facilities. He is asking that the Town consider allowing the Village to utilize some of the land near Quarry Field for this purpose. The plan does not specifically estimate which properties the Village would need to acquire from the Town, nor does it account for any land surveying of confirmation of Village/Town boundaries. The Board has a number of questions and concerns with what has been proposed. As the plan is only in the preliminary stages, it was suggested that the main focus should be to determine exactly what property the Village is hoping to acquire and subsequently what the Town would like in exchange for that land. It was agreed that Supervisor English would seek additional information from Mayor McFadden with respect to the property in question. Schedule Dates for Public Meetings on Community Choice Aggregation and Community Solar Programs – Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay reported that the Climate Smart community had met earlier that evening to receive a presentation on Community Choice Aggregation, which amounts to the purchasing of power and use of solar programs. In order to move forward the Town Board must pass a law enabling the action. Said law would not commit the Town to the program, but it will get the ball rolling. A template of the law as enacted by other municipalities has been circulated to the Attorneys as well as each of the Town Board members. The Deputy Mayor is recommending that the Board move forward by asking their attorneys to draft a similar law for their consideration. It was agreed that an informational session for the public should be scheduled as part of their next meeting.
Department Updates: Town Clerk – Town Clark Marisa Dollbaum reported that Interstate Waste had dropped off two dumpsters for glass recycling. One is located at Quarry Field and the other is in the parking lot across from the Eagle Valley Firehouse. Unfortunately, the one at Quarry Field was left in the wrong spot so as soon as she has confirmed that it has been moved to the correct location, she will be advertising them to the community. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum suggested that they might not want to leave the dumpster at Quarry Field as planned because there are no cameras there and he is concerned that an unmonitored dumpster will become a dump site. He doesn’t believe there is going to be a ton of traffic associated with the recycling of class and therefore recommended that they install it over by the old highway department. The Supervisor agreed. In other news, property owners now have the ability to pay their Town and County property taxes online via the Town website utilizing an electronic check, credit or debit card. Additionally, a Town Clerk account will be established shortly and this will allow for people to pay for their parking permits, dog licenses etc. online as well. Highway Department – Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that they had run a new water line for the water filtration system, which will be installed on January 27/28. Additionally, they have acquired a bucket truck until March and will be utilizing it to work on tree trimming around Town. Residents can put out their Christmas trees for collection. There is no set schedule for this, but as they are put out, the trees will be collected and brought to Powerhouse Park for a bonfire. Residents are reminded that parking on the streets is not permitted if inclement weather is expected and they should pull their cars off the roadways so that they can be appropriately cleared. Lastly, with regard to a berm in Laurel Ridge, he reported that its’ purpose is to prevent flooding onto Sylvan Way. They plan on leaving It there until after the spring thaw, after which it will be removed. If they move it now, they will not have enough material to prevent flooding on Tichy Field.
Board Member Maria May commended the Highway Department for their diligent work during the ice storm the week prior, noting that most of the surrounding communities were not nearly as well prepared.
Supervisor’s Update:
Supervisor English reported the following: Tuxedo Farms - Related has selected a builder, Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the country. Representatives will participate in a special meeting, this Thursday, January 13, via WebEx at 5:30. They expect this initial meeting to be a brief introduction of the Lennar team. Further meetings are scheduled for Thursday, January 27 and Thursday, February 10. These meetings are scheduled to begin at 5:00 and will be conducted through the Town’s WebEx portal. Chief Arthur Abbott has submitted his resignation. He has served the Town since June of 2017. He worked closely with the Town Board to implement the Governor’s Police reinvention initiative, to procure body cameras for Tuxedo PD, hire the Towns’ newest Officer, Alexandra Gunderman, and worked towards attaining NYS Accreditation of our Police facility by bringing the Towns’ Juvenile Room in compliance with required code and policy. “Art always brought his open personal demeanor to all of my interactions with him,” the Supervisor commented further wishing him all the best in his future endeavors. Together with his secretary Lori Cosgrove, the Supervisor is working with Orange County Human Resources / Civil Service, to identify eligible candidates to fill the vacancy. Until that is accomplished, Lt. Norton will be the Officer in Charge.
Lastly, the Town Board is continuing interviews to fill vacant positions in the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Board of Assessment Review. It is their policy to encourage residents to consider applying for these positions through active outreach. They are committed to an open recruitment process. No more applications are being accepted at this time. The application process has finished and they are almost finished with the interview process. Appointments will hopefully be announced at the next Town Board meeting.
Town Board Updates:
Deputy Mayor Michele Lindsay reported that there would be an LDC meeting on Tuesday, January 11 at 4pm for the purpose of meeting with auditors.
Public Comments:
Via the chat, a resident inquired as to whether or not the new sewer plant has been brought online yet. The answer was no.
The Supervisor apologized but noted that they did not have time to entertain any further public comments due to a scheduled attorney/client meeting. The Board then adjourned into an executive session for the purpose of meeting with their attorney. They re-entered the public session at 9:42pm. No action was taken as a result of the session. The minutes and vouchers were unanimously approved and the meeting was adjourned at 9:49pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 13, 2021 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing on the 2022 Woodlands Sewer Budget:
Supervisor English explained that the Town Board is required to hold this meeting annually, but they have nothing to do with setting the budget or the rate. There were two residents from the Woodlands present and one of them said that the new rates for the district would be $312 twice a year. No one knew what the rate was for this last year. There were no comments from the public and the hearing was closed. The Board voted unanimously to accept the rate.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to set standard workday for NYSLRS (New York State Local Retirement System) – The following was unanimously accepted by the Board:
Elected Official: Standard Workday: Record of Activities Result:
Councilmember 6 4.0
Highway Superintendent 8 20.0
Town Clerk 6 20.0
Town Justice 6 12.0
Resolution to approve purchase of water treatment system for the Highway Department – The quote from BSE Well and Water Treatment had been circulated. The motion to accept the bid was approved unanimously at a cost not to exceed $35,000. This will possibly be paid for with the money the Town will get from the federal government for Covid related expenses as it will make the water at the Highway Garage (which is currently undrinkable and unusable) able to be used as a secondary source for the Town.
Resolution to approve agreement with Forte Payment Processing to allow electronic check and credit card payments at Town Hall- This will allow for payments to the Town Clerk to be made by electronic check and credit card. It was unanimously approved.
Resolution to appoint Climate Smart Task Force Chairperson – Deputy Supervisor Lindsay who has already been heading the Committee will be the Coordinator. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution proposing Local Law #6 of 2021 entitled Zoning Code Amendments – After 17 workshops held in 2020 and 2021 as well as 2 Public Hearings, the Board is proposing a local law amending and updating the Zoning Code. The law has been reviewed and commented on by neighboring municipalities as well as Orange County and the Tuxedo Planning Board. The resolution was passed unanimously and the Zoning Code amendments have now become Local Law #6. The full law will be posted on the Town website shortly.
Monthly Reports:
Reports have been received from the Dog Control officer, Justice Court, Police Department and Town Clerk.
Department Updates: Highway Department – The Highway Department is now running electronic recycling. Residents can bring their old electronics for recycling to the Highway Garage. Leaf pickup ends on December 15 and, after that, all leaves must be placed in bags. Town Clerk
Marisa Dollbaum commented that the Toy Drive is still going on and there’s a box available to collect toys in Town Hall.
She also reported that December 28 (the 2nd Monday in December) is a holiday for Town Hall so the next Town Board meeting will be held on December 29.
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that legislation covering the protection of birds and bees is expected to go to the legislature soon. It will ban certain pesticides that destroy bees and pollinator habitats. Councilperson May updated residents on the recycling of glass which is an ongoing conversation with IWS. At the moment residents either need to put glass in their regular trash or deliver it to receptacles that are located both at Quarry Field and Murphy Field. Councilperson Reichgott gave a plug for the Tuxedo Bag Project which collects reusable bags to be donated to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry. Anyone with bags to donate can bring them to Janet Galuska, the Town Hall or the Library. Supervisor English reported that there had been both a successful Menorah lighting and Christmas Tree lighting. Councilperson McMillen reported that after 8 years, his time on the Board would be up as of the end of December. He stated it had been both a challenge and a privilege to serve and he thanked all the members for working with him.
Minutes were approved unanimously
Vouchers were approved unanimously
Public Comments: Dale Mottola commented that she had noticed that the roof on the train station needs some repairs and hopes the Town will schedule these to happen soon. Jerry Mottola wondered when the Recreation Department stopped having the Chamber decorate the train station. This year, for example, they had candles to be put in the windows which were never used. He hoped someone would let the Chamber know what responsibilities they would have going forward.
Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Important Town Board / Tuxedo Farms Workshop Meeting November 29, 2021 @ 4pm (Posted November 27, 2021)
The Town Board will hold an important workshop with representatives from Tuxedo Farms on Monday, November 29 at 4pm. During this meeting the Board will review in detail the Tuxedo Farms Tech Memo, which focuses on he breakdown by product type of housing (apartments, town homes, duplexes, single family, age-restricted housing, commercial space, open space, parks, amenities etc.), the expected number of school-aged children, the estimates for water and sewer usage, the estimated impact on tax revenues and expense, traffic concerns and many other important details that one would expect in complex project. The public is invited and encouraged to attend and observe, but they will not be allowed to participate. The workshop will be held via Webex and can be accessed on the Town’s website at https://www.tuxedogov.org/webex-virtual-meetings or dial 408-418-9388 use access code 796 956 205. It is expected to last roughly 2 hours in duration.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 22, 2021 at 7pm in the George F. Baker auditorium. All members were present.
Town Board Update: Update on Tuxedo Farms Negotiations – Supervisor English kicked off the update by asking Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay to provide the public with a brief outline/timeline of the work they had done to date on the proposed changes to the Special Permit for the Tuxedo Farms project. The process began on September at their regular monthly meeting, which was when they initially received the proposed changes. At that time, representative from the Related Companies shared an outline of the general direction of the proposed project. At the October 13 Town Board Meeting, Related was asked to publicly present an updated version of their proposal. Following that presentation, the Town Board asked residents to submit their thoughts and concerns in writing. They subsequently received responses from over 200 residents. All of the responses were shared directly with related and became the driver of future discussions with the Developer. Some of the major concerns included the increase in proposed units (up to 2,000) and questions about the types of homes and commercial spaces that would be built, traffic issues and water and sewer issues. The Board followed up with two attorney/client sessions on November 4 and 17. They spent a total of 7 hours working with Town Planner Bonnie Franson and reviewing the updated proposal point-by-point. Their comments have been submitted to Related via their attorney and they are awaiting a formal response. In between all of the meetings there have been many conversations with the attorneys and between Board Members and they have been quite busy reviewing all of the associated documentation. On Monday, November 29 at 4pm they will hold a workshop meeting to review important supporting documents including the Tech Memo. The public is invited to attend and observe, but they will not be allowed to participate. The meeting will be accessible via WebEx. The Tech Memo provides details of the project such as: the breakdown by product type of housing (apartments, town homes, duplexes, single family, age-restricted housing, commercial space, open space, parks, amenities etc.), the expected number of school-aged children, the estimates for water and sewer usage, the estimated impact on tax revenues and expenses and many other important details that one would expect in complex project.
Supervisor English then stated the following: “As you have just heard, related is continuing to refine its revised development program and as it does that, the Town Board is reviewing and reacting. The review process is just beginning and we are a way’s away from scheduling any public hearing. Before any public hearing is scheduled, the Town Board wants to make sure that Relateds’ submission is complete and suitable for public comment. All documents will be disseminated prior to the public hearing. The Town Board is already working with its’ attorney and the Town Planner to review and respond to information as it receives it. On Thursday, November 18, the Town Board interviewed attorneys who specialize in land-use special law and they discussed possible topics for advice and council. We are looking for additional advice to guide us, but we will also continue to work with our current attorneys and Planner. I want to thank everyone who submitted written comments. You really made launching this much easier. The comments were so well thought out. People put a lot of energy into it. Not only were all the comments entered into the public record by they are also driving our conversations with our partners at related. I say partners because in order to make this successful, we really do need to work together. Additionally, the Town Board review will encompass a deep dive into the following areas: the proposed changes to the design standards, the revised preliminary plan and development program, the tech memo, a review of updated traffic survey hat the developer has completed, proposed amendments to the Special Permit itself and anything else that the Town Board determines is appropriate to complete its review and make a determination on the applicants’ requests. Bu really the Towns principal objective in evaluating this request to modify the special permit will be to ensure that the changes in no way later the quality and character of the development. Personally, I feel like the process is moving forward in a very thoughtful way. Progress is being made between every discussion. We’ve established a solid working relationship. We are responding to updated proposals in a timely fashion without rushing the process. I feel confident that we will work together to build a quality project that fulfills our goals. In conclusion, I want to let everybody know that we are not rushing through this process and we will make sure that we do a deep dive into every concern. I look forward to working together with Related to come up with a quality project that we can move forward in a timely fashion.”
He then asked each of the Board members to weigh in.
Board member Maria Memo thanked Related for their prompt responses to all of their comments, noting that they were beginning to go through the Tech Memo. She looks forward to continuing to work with the development.
Board member Dave McMillan noted that he had been on the Board for 8 years attempting to get this project going. “How much more do we have to go through to get it through?” he asked. He has thoroughly reviewed the plan. He sees nothing in the plan or the current proposal that will be problematic. He is ready to vote.
Board member Jay Reichgott stated that he did not have any particular comments to make at that time however he cautioned his fellow Board members to make sure they had thoroughly read the Tech Memo prior to the November 29 meeting if they hoped to accomplish anything.
Supervisor English then introduced Greg Bouchet, executive Vice President of related, who gave a brief presentation in the form of a slideshow focused on the current state of the project.
(As soon as this presentation has been made public, it will be published here on TPFYI)
Much of the general information covered in the slide show reflected information that was already presented publicly back in November. Notable changes include: a reduction in the number of proposed units from 2,000 to 1,600, no increase in multi-family units, a minimal increase in the number of bedrooms (5%), changes to the housing mix (fewer single family homes and more diverse, smaller unit types which “meet market demand”) and the elimination of an entire neighborhood of development along the Western side of the property. “If you have to do single family homes, guess what? Ou have to build lots of roads and you have to disturb lots of additional land,” noted Mr. Bouchet. The reduction in surface area will create a more concentrated and connected community and much of the housing will now be centered around the Commons area at the center of the development.
A new traffic study was also included. Mr. Bouchet suggested that the reduction in unit count would “eliminate most of the concern” but went to explain that the projections for future traffic that had been made as part of the original study a decade prior had been “way off” and current base-line levels are 40-60% less than had been anticipated. The projected number of car trips based on the new plan relative to the old plan is also reduced. The Town Board and their consultants will review these studies in detail with their consultants.
Following the presentation there was a brief question and answer session. Questions centered around the donated, undeveloped land and the possibility for Related to further develop the property down the line. School Board President Dan Castricone noted that he and representatives of the BOE had been meeting with Related as well and that perhaps it would be helpful at some point for the Town and the School to hold a join workshop meeting to compare notes. Supervisor English was agreeable to this idea.
Before moving on to other agenda items, Supervisor English informed the public that there would be a meeting of the Tuxedo Farms LDC Board of Directors the following morning at 10am via WebEx and that this meeting was of special interest to property owners in the Hamlet sewer District as they would be discussing the plan to activate the new Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Agenda Items: Resolution to Appoint Fire Commissioner – Gardiner Hempel – The Board voted unanimously in favor of appointing Gardiner Hempel as Fire Commissioner with a term commencing January of 2022 and expiring December 31, 2026. Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing on Woodlands Sewer Budget – The Board scheduled a public hearing on the Woodlands Sewer Budget for their next regularly scheduled meeting, which is December 13 at 7pm.
Resolution to enter agreement with Cooper Arias – The Board voted unanimously in favor of entering into an agreement with independent auditors Cooper Arias at a fee of $20,500 in year one, $21,250 in year two and $22,000 I year three.
Department Updates: Police Department – Chief Abbott reported that he had held several meetings with Supervisor English regarding the speed trapping signs. The signs have been positioned strategically at various points throughout town and the data will be collected, shared and used to inform traffic enforcement moving forward. The Supervisor added that they would continue to move the signs around in an effort to develop data profiles for each neighborhood so that they could in turn determine where the infractions are taking place. The signs have been on 17 in the Hamlet, on Long Meadow Road, Laurel Ridge thus far. They will be moved to Eagle Valley and South Gate Road as well. “The idea here is not to bang the residents with tickets,” he added. “First everyone will be given a warning unless it’s so egregious that a ticket was warranted.”
Yianni Maris wondered whether or not the residents could request that the signs be put in certain areas. He further commented that late at night at the intersection of Long Meadow Road and Route 17A there had been loud street racing going almost every night. The Supervisor acknowledged this, noting that he had seen what he thought was a car club of sorts gathering in the Route 17A parking lot and that they had been doing “donuts” under the thruway. Board member Maria May commented that she commuted during peak hours each day and felt the signs had already been effective as she noticed motorists breaking when the signs came into view. The Supervisor suggested that he would like to build an awareness campaign utilizing local news outlets such as the Photo News and News Channel 12 letting everyone know about this effort to make the Town a safer place. He further stated that in the New Year he would like rekindle the efforts that were started with the Governor’s Initiative and have regular community liaison meetings with the Police Department. On another note, the Department has been participating in No Shave November, a program whereby the officers don’t shave for a month and simultaneously raise donations for St. Jude’s children’s hospital. The PBA is currently accepting donations for this cause. Finally, the Chief cautioned residents to be wary scams especially during the holiday months. Two residents were scammed in the month of October. One of these was over-the-phone scam which resulted in the loss of $10,000 and credit card fraud and other was a jewelry swap scam in which an 89-year-old victim had all of his valuable jewelry removed and swapped out for junk jewelry during a short period of time while he was providing directions. Anyone who is concerned or thinks they might be the victim of a scam should call the Station and the department will look into it. Highway Department – Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department had been busy collecting leaves. He cautioned that were collecting in loops so that if a resident put their leaves out just after they had passed by, they shouldn’t worry, they will be picked up on the next go-round. This could take up to 10 days in some cases, but they will be back.
As always, there is mulch and compost available free of charge for residents at Quarry Field. Town Clerk – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that trash and recycling pick-up would take place on Friday, November 26 this week due to the Holiday. The Town Hall roof project was put out for rebid. There will be a walk-through on November 29 at 1pm with a bid-opening date of Wednesday, December 15 at 1pm. Three companies have already expressed interest. In other news, Tuxedo’s 2022 Final Budget was approved by Orange County this past week. Conversations have been ongoing with interstate Waste with regard to glass recycling. Ms. Dollbaum is now officially a Notary Public, having recently passed the exam. Lastly, she announced that the Town Turkey Trott would be taking place on Thursday, November 25. Registration begins at 7:30pm. There will be a kiddie race (2 laps around Quarry Field) and 5K along Warwick Brook Road. Participants will receive a T-shirt.
The Town Menorah lighting will take Place on December 1st and the Town Tree Lighting will take place on December 4. The Town decorations will be put out on Monday, November 29 in advance of these festive events.
Town Board Updates:
Board member Maria May reported on her conversations with IWS Waste Management, who have recently informed the Town that they would like to charge $80 per glass recycling bin, with pick-up service once every two weeks. The councilwoman “had It out” with the waste management company, indicating that glass recycling was part of the current contract and she did not feel that the Town should have to pay more for the service. She suggested that perhaps the Supervisor or the Town Attorney might get further. The Supervisor suggested they should try it out and that if residents were utilizing the service, in his view, it was worth it. Collection bins will be installed in two locations one at Quarry Field and the other near the firehouse in Eagle Valley. It was agreed that the Town would move forward with the recycling but that they would also ask their attorney to try and hold IWS to the pricing outlined in the contract.
On another note, the Town is in receipt of a quote for purchase, installation and training on a Zoom Room. The total cost is roughly $50,000 all said and done. The Board agreed that this was the wave of the future in terms of communication and that it would be a valuable investment. After minimal discussion they voted unanimously in favor of moving forward with it.
Board member Jay Reichgott announced that a couple of students from TPS had launched an effort to collect re-usable grocery bags and donate them to the Sloatsburg food pantry. Their aim is to collect 1000 bags by February. Collection boxes can be found in the Train Station and at the Town Hall as well as the Village Office in Tuxedo Park. He also reminded residents of the on-going Toy Drive, with collection running through December 4.
Minutes:
The November 8 meeting minutes were unanimously approved
Vouchers:
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments:
There was a question with regard to a recent auto theft in Town, whereby a resident had their vehicle stolen out of their driveway. Chief Abbott responded that there had been an incident at roughly 3am that morning whereby a luxury car was targeted by a group of people from Newark, NJ. Three individuals came to Tuxedo, dropping one passenger off, whose job it was to steel the car. The car was reportedly open and the key was inside. The car was stollen. Tuxedo’s midnight shift was in effect and the officer on duty stopped the car who had dropped the thief off. One of those passengers informed the officer that the third passenger was in Town near the Circle. The Officer in turn informed State Police, who went after the thief. A chase ensued with the State Police pursuing the thief in the stolen Range Rover. The thief eventually crashed in Sloatsburg and was detained. Chief Abbott cautioned that this type of thievery is not uncommon in Ramapo and Bergen County, whereby groups come from Newark and target nice cars in wealthy areas. Once stollen, they bring the cars directly to containers where they are shipped overseas. Roughly a year and a half ago two cars were stollen from the Woodlands as part of a similar situation. He reminded residents to remain vigilant and to remove keys from their cars and lock them.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 8 at 7pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing – 2022 Preliminary Budget:
Prior to opening the hearing, Supervisor English and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay gave a presentation summarizing the preliminary budget and highlighting notable items.
The budgeted tax increase for the 2022 preliminary budget is .13%. (the cap as dictated by New York State is 1.1%). All revenue projections made for 2021 were conservative and as a result, fund balances continue to grow. Projections for 2022 follow that pattern and they expect that these balances will continue to grow in the coming year. In a recent Moody’s evaluation, the Town’s credit rating increased by two steps, verifying that Tuxedo is on a sound fiscal path and that management continues to employ prudent financial practices. The Town is in good financial shape. The budget projects all vital emergency services including Fire Districts, Ambulance Corps and Police Services. Revenue - On the Revenue sides, New York State Parklands were reassessed over the tax years 2019 and 2020 under a comprehensive analysis by the Town’s assessor and a consultant firm, Beckmann Appraisals. This raised the level of taxes paid by the State, the Town’s largest taxpayer for school taxes in both the Monroe Woodbury and Tuxedo Districts as well as on Town property taxes in both the A and B funds. The result is that the State now pays more while the taxpayers pay less, with New York State Parklands taking on $2,260,367 of the burden. The breakdown of the payment increases are as follows: $1,189,347 in the Monroe Woodbury District, $237,365 in the TUFSD, $544.347 in the A fund (Town-wide) and $288,758 in the B Fund (Town outside the Village.) Tuxedo Place - A 30-year pilot agreement between Tuxedo Place (the Promenade) and the Town was entered into in 1999 and was based on a complicated calculation of revenues rather than property taxes or property value.) The agreement was never enforced. A new, $91,000, 6-year settlement agreement has now been negotiated to include $28,000 of past due payments payable in the first two years. The Town is in receipt of the first payment. Additionally, they will receive $8,000 a year for 6 years after which the facility will be added to the tax rolls. Long Meadow Road Tenants - Rents have been increased for the tenants on Long Meadow Road, resulting in a budgeted increase from $74,000 to $98,000. Renaissance Faire – The Town collected $22,154 past due for Police coverage during the 2019 season. An increased hourly rate for Police Security detail (up from$95 to $120) has been negotiated moving forward. For the 2021 season, security billing was increased to $39,587, which covers all police overtime. Additionally, the Faire took over the expenditure of electronic traffic control signs and cones ($12,000). Mortgage Tax Revenue – Due to favorable home sales, mortgage tax revenues collected through October was $235,767. This is significantly more than the $80,000 that was accounted for in the 2021 budget. $100,000 has been budgeted for 2022. Sales Tax - $300,000 was anticipated in the 2021 budget however YTD (through August) the Town has collected $418,000! $375,000 is budgeted for 2022. Street Lighting – The LED program continues to result in lower costs estimated to be an additional $5,000 savings in 2022. Watchtower – An agreement for work to be performed on the Long meadow Road dirt pile remediation has been negotiated. This has a roughly $30,000 value. Expenses – Notable expenses include an additional $67,000 to cover the increased operating expenses needed to open the new sewer plant in the Hamlet and adjustments to recently ratified Police and Highway Department contracts to. Include among other things 2% annual raises for workers in both departments and new eligibility requirements for step pay increases and lifetime medical benefits for the Police. Fund Balance - At the end of 2020, total fund balances were $4,115,756. Now is the time to allocate / appropriate (earmark) funds for known future expenses to protect future town budgets from potential shortfalls. In the November 5th, 2021 monthly update by Town Auditor and financial consultant Andrew Arias, his budget evaluation showed an overall increase of $868,672 in a year to date comparison, October 31, 2020 through October 31, 2021. Uses will include continuing cleanup of Dirt Pile Remediation at the Long Meadow site estimated to cost $184,000 per year until completion (three years). The Town faces potential fines of over $3,000 a day. The property that is affected by this contaminated debris is useless until cleaned up. It makes financial and environmental sense to clean this up ASAP. A reserve will be set up to fund payouts to Police Officers for unused sick and vacation. As of December, 2021 officers would be owed approximately $ 351,000. When an officer leaves employment with Tuxedo, the Town is required to pay the outstanding balance immediately. $ 55,372 used to offset IWS annual increase for Town-wide refuse collection. There is currently a fund balance of $240,918 that is earmarked to offset these increases throughout the life of the five year contract.
The Town is Awaiting final estimated tax levy from Related Tuxedo Farms property $2,035,000. They expect to receive a final number from MuniCap the financial manager for Tuxedo Farms accounting. The final budget must be filed with Orange County and NYS by November 20. The Board’s target date for filing is Monday, November 15.
Following the presentation, the Public Hearing was opened.
Jerry Mottola commented that he liked the figures very much but wondered whether there would be any funding set aside for additional parking at the Post Office. Supervisor English responded by letting him know that the Town Clerk would be making a formal note of all comments.
Irene Denaro congratulated the Board on doing a fantastic job with the budget and remaining fiscally responsible, adding that she was very happy with it. She further inquired about the funding that would be directed to the Monroe Woodbury School District from the NYS Parkland, suggesting that she would like more detail as to how those dollars would be spent. Supervisor English responded that the money would be factored into the school’s budget, reiterating that these were not additional funds that would be going to the school, but rather taxes that would be paid by the Parkland instead of the residents, thus shifting some of the debt onto the State and offsetting the resident tax burden. “They pay more, we pay less!” he chanted.
As there were no further comments, the public hearing was then closed. Agenda Items: Resolution to Ratify Highway Contract – Following a brief discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of authorizing Supervisor English to sign the Highway contract. Petition of Relief from Building Moratorium – 14 Store Road - Brad Ewing was present to formally request a petition of relief from the building moratorium for 14 Store Road where he plans to open a small beer, wine, cider and food establishment called Reggie Bar. The establishment will be a “true artist built space,” run by an artist and featuring art. It will be made in the style of artist Grayson Cox (artist and lead builder of the bar) and will serve as a comfortable public meeting house and possible event space. The 67- square foot space will offer drinks and food and a rotation of the latest in contemporary art and works on paper. The French curve of the bar will offer seats for a close up view and tables and booths will also be custom built in the space. The wine will be curated by a local community member and the food will be provided by local vendors and available any time the bar is open. Mr. Ewing envisions room for 15-20 people indoors with windows wide open and another 6-8people on the concrete patio outside. The bar will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 5-10pm and Saturday from 12-10pm. It can also be made available for private parties, wine tastings and events.
The Board voted unanimously in favor of granting Mr. Ewing relief from the building moratorium. Next, the application will move to the Planning Board as well as the Zoning Board of Appeals (if applicable). Department Reports: Town Clerk – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that in the recent election voters had elected not to allow canibis consumption sites in Town. Moving on, she noted that Town Hall would be closed on Thursday, November 11 in observation of Veterans Day. Recreation Coordinator Claire Dougher has scheduled a Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving morning. There will be a “kiddie race” around the track at Quarry Field and a 5-K along Warwick Brook Road. Participants are encouraged to sign-up by emailing Claire at recreationcoordinator@tuxedogov.org. The annual Toy Drive will begin shortly. Typically, collection boxes are installed in Town Hall as well as at the School and the Library. Mrs. Dollbaum and Ms. Dougher will be meeting with the Chairperson by the end of the week and will update the Board with details accordingly. Highway Department – Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that he had met with a representative of the County DPW about the dirt at the highway garage. They took all of the appropriate paperwork from the various agencies for review and are hopeful that they will be able to remove all of the dirt and use it for their own purposes. Superintendent Dollbaum does not have high hopes that the DEC will look favorably on any use for the dirt other than underneath an impervious surface (roadway, parking lot etc.). The County engineers will meet with the DEC to discuss the merits of what is there as well as pertinent testing results.
Superintendent Dollbaum also met with both the MTA and the DOT (Department of Transportation) to discuss repairs/replacements to a recently exposed, 100-year-old sewer line that runs along the railroad in Town. There is a DOT owned drainage line that runs from Route 17 in front of the Gulf Station under the parking lot by the Orange Top then under the railroad tracks and out to the river. Two sections of the pipe were recently washed away and a portion of the 100-year old, clay sewer lines subsequently exposed. The DOT came and acknowledged the damage and the need for repair to their pipe, but have not been heard from since. The highway department has worked to repair, support and secure the sewer line. After they have shored things up with rocks and boulders, they will work to install a conduit under the existing pipe that will allow the drain water from Route 17 to go directly out to the river, thus preventing further erosion of the sewer lines. Surveyors have also been in Town exploring various ways of connecting the existing line to the new plant. This work is ongoing. They are exploring the idea of relocating the line to the west side of the railroad tracks, thus eliminating any issues with the river. This would also eliminate some of the inflow & infiltration for the existing pump station, cutting the flow rate into the plant by an estimated 60%.
The Department has been busy picking up leaves. They began in Laurel Ridge and worked their way around Town one time and are now in the process of making a second lap. Residents who put out leaves that have not yet been collected should not worry, they will be collected on the next go-round. Leaf collection ends on December 15. They have also been busy getting the plows ready for the winter season. Supervisor’s Update:
A Moody’s review was done on Wednesday, October 27 and the Town’s rating went up by two levels and they received a strong review praising them for responsible fiscal policies.
Tuxedo’s Trunk or Treat took place on Halloween at Powerhouse Park. Supervisor English expressed his gratitude to Claire Dougher for organizing the event, which had roughly 100 people in attendance. A great time was had by all.
On Thursday, November 4 the Town Board held a special meeting with their attorneys to discuss the Related Company’s recent proposal. Updated comments were shared that reflect all the input of the Board and residents. An updated proposal will be presented on Monday, November 22 by Related at GFB High School. The Supervisor is expecting “really positive momentum” from Related in response to all of the input they were given.
An emergency drill meeting took place on November 8 for the purpose of reviewing emergency contacts and procedures. The Town Clerk, Police Chief, Town Supervisor and Highway Superintendent all participated.
Tuxedo Gulf Station was family owned by the Sovaks for over 50 years. Greg and Pete officially retired on September 28, Supervisor English thanked them for their service and wished them well in their retirement.
Joe Dunko recently retired as the Town Mechanic on October 29. He had been employed by the Town since 2008. The Supervisor thanked him for his dedication and hard work. Town Board Updates: Councilmember Reichgott reported that the Village of Tuxedo Park would be installing a median in the roadway in front of their Gatehouse. Although the Village owns the land, it is technically in the Town and therefore it was necessary for the Town to grant permission, which they did. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she had begun working on a couple of projects which are ongoing. One of these is the solar roof project at the highway building, which they are hoping to put back out for bid. She spoke with one of the companies who had previously expressed interest in the project (although a formal proposal was never submitted due to a merger at the time of the RFP) and took a look at their proposed financing plan. She also looked into municipal financing for the mid-Hudson region, and discovered A rated municipality 5-year loan is currently going for 1.48%. Based on this, she is thinking that it might be more cost-effective for the Town to finance the project themselves. Councilman Reichgott suggested that they might be able to use some of the federal, Covid-relief money they had received to help finance the project. The Deputy Mayor agreed that this might be a possibility and agreed to look into it further. The other project she has been working on is securing a State Aid to Municipality (or SAM) Grant. The Town got this grant a few years ago in the amount of $75,000 to be put towards payment for two dump trucks, however since they had already begun making payments on the trucks before they were awarded the Grant, they could not use the money. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reached out to see if the grant could be revised and revived and the answer was yes! The Town must now submit a revised estimate for the dump trucks, however if they want, they can also make a request within the State Senate to change the focus of the Grant so that they could apply it towards a different type of vehicle.
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum wondered whether they might be able to make a request for more money as the original grant is outdated by 6 years and while they might have been able to get two trucks for $75,000 back then, the cost of just one truck today is $68,000. He wondered if perhaps they could just acquire one truck instead of two.
Following some discussion, the Deputy Supervisor commented that she would reach out to Senator Martucci and get his feedback on what the best way to proceed might be.
Finally, the Climate Smart Task force met with the woman who can help them to get certification through points. The Town can earn points by installing recycling bins in Government Buildings. 12 bins cost $100. Councilmember May reported that the Town was at reached an impasse of sorts with IWS in regards to glass recycling. The waste management company is looking to charge the Town an extra amount of money to collect glass. In looking at the contract, it appears that they are supposed to take glass and therefore, it doesn’t seem right that the Town should have to pay more. Councilmember May suggested that perhaps they should ask IWS to submit a new proposal and then negotiate. Supervisor English suggested that a persuasive letter from the Town Attorney might be in order. This was discussed. Secondly, Councilmember May commented that the Town would like to pursue setting up a Zoom Room so that community members can attend meetings remotely. Although there was some concern following a hack in the Village of Tuxedo Park’s Zoom Room, it was ultimately determined that what happened there had to do with a lack of training and proper meeting administration on the Villages’ part. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum will reach out to the appropriate party to obtain an updated quote. Some money has already been set aside to fund this project. Councilmember McMillan has been working on the lack of broadband access on Contractors Row. They may have found a remedy for this that involves installing 5G wireless hubs on the polls, however the conversation has been somewhat sidelined until February or March.
The franchise agreement with Optimum was discussed. It was revealed that the North Eastern Hub for Comcast is actually located in the building on Park Avenue, across from Chase Bank, although Tuxedo is not able to access Comcast service. Residents in Tuxedo continue to complain about broadband service, which has degraded horribly over the years. Councilmember McMillan attempted to address this with Optimum but they were not receptive to the idea of investing in upgraded infrastructure. He suggested that it might be time for the Town to push back against Optimum and open conversations with Comcast. The 10-year agreement is coming up for renegotiation in the next year or so. Other Business:
Highway superintendent Dollbaum noted that the Live Work and Play sign north of Town had been damaged when a vehicle crashed into it. Not only has the sign itself been damaged but so have the clamps that hold the sign in place. The idea of replacing the sign vs. fixing it was discussed. The cost of a new sign would be $800. It was agreed that they would determine exactly what was needed and decide how to proceed from there. Public Comments:
Jerry Mattola wondered whether the recently installed radar signs had produced any solid data that could be used to slow drivers down.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that data was being produced on a daily basis but they needed some help from the provider in terms of how to retrieve it before they could in turn share it with the Board and the Community.
Town Board Tuxedo Farms Discussion Meeting October 13, 2021
A large portion of the October 13 Town Board meeting was dedicated to a discussion of the proposed changes for the Tuxedo Farms Project.
Follow the link below to listen to a clean audio recording of the entire discussion, featuring comments from each of the individual Town Board members and their attorney as well as representatives of Tuxedo Farms and the general public.
The Town Board met on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 6:30 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with a Public Hearing on the Preservation of the Fire District: Town Attorney Howard Protter first explained that since the Town had officially become a Town-Village, it was necessary to legally state that the Fire District would not be affected and that it would remain the same. There were no public comments and the Board subsequently adopted the law unanimously.
Presentation:
Sean Hoffman from Town Engineers H2M, provided an update on the sewer plant. He explained that the DEC had inspected the existing plant, which is over 70 years old and at the end of its useful life, in March and then again in July. In March, the plant had been given a marginal grading but in July it was found to be unsatisfactory. The plant is scheduled for another inspection in December. Related companies has constructed a new plant on the property directly adjacent and it is 95% complete. At this point, all that remains to be done is to the connect the pipes.
Supervisor English elaborated on Mr. Hoffman’s presentation, using the presentation diagrams to point out/highlight various areas of the crumbling plant, pointing to specific areas of deterioration and decay and stressing the importance of bringing the new plant on line as soon as possible. The existing plant serves 260 homes located in the Hamlet, East Village and Tuxedo Park and it should it fail for whatever reason, these properties would likely be in some serious trouble.
Discussion: Tuxedo Farms – Follow up on comments/questions from the public. There was an opening statement from Supervisor English followed by individual statements from each of the Board members. In response, one of Relateds’ Executive Vice Presidents gave a presentation.
To listen to a recording of this portion of the meeting, click here. *As soon as it is made available to the Public, TPFYI will share a copy of the Related Presentation.
Agenda Items: Budget Modifications – This was tabled.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was finishing up with patching the roads and would begin picking up leaves on Monday, October 18. This will continue until December 15 after which the leaves will have to be bagged. The Department has recently filled the bins at Quarry Field with fresh mulch. The Superintendent recently spoke with a contractor who informed him that they would be milling Route 17 from Hillburn to the Tuxedo line. Once the milling has been completed, they will repave the whole thing! There IS an end in sight to the project!!! Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that beginning on October 24, the National Suicide Hotline would be going to an abbreviated number…988. Early voting will begin in Orange County on October 23. polling information has been posted to Town website. Hunting Season has officially begun and hunters must register for permits. Lastly, Mrs. Dollbaum reported that she had recently passed her notary exam and as such would be available for that service moving forward.
Minutes - the minutes of the September 27 meeting were approved unanimously.
Vouchers – were approved.
Public Comments: Greg Beard cautioned the Board not to rush their negotiations with Related. He suggested that while the fact that Related is a billion dollar developer with some well-known and wonderful projects is a comforting one, the Town should remember that this meant that they were also billion dollar negotiators. He urged the Board to hire advisors, in particular one who could help them through the negotiations. He believes that the review should have a measured pace and not be rushed.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 27, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Councilperson McMillen was absent.
The meeting began with a swearing in ceremony for the Town’s newest police officer, Tuxedo resident Alexandra Gundermann. She was sworn in by Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum with a welcoming ceremony from Lieutenant John Norton, Sergeant Douglas Russell, Detective Stefan Christian and Police Officer Will Hall.
Next on the agenda was a presentation from the Related Company on their plans for the Tuxedo Farms development. Greg Gushee, Executive Vice President of Related and Paul Molana from Hart Howden (architects and planners for the project) delivered the presentation. To see a copy of what they presented, click here. Additionally, Related (through their attorneys) sent a letter to the Town Board, which they received earlier that day, stating that they would be applying for an amendment to the Special Permit to the property. Among other things, proposed changes would increase the potential unit count from 1,200 to 2,000. To see a copy of the letter, click here.
Agenda Items:
2020 Tax Certiorari Proceedings – These are suits brought against the Town by JP Morgan Chase Bank, The Tuxedo Club, Inc., and Martin Friedman. The Board voted unanimously to authorize town attorneys Jacobowitz and Gubits to represent them in these cases.
Reschedule Public Hearing on “Fire District Preservation” to October 13 at 7 pm – This hearing was originally scheduled for September 13 but wasn’t held because that meeting was conducted via WebEx and the hearing had been noticed for in person. This is an action which is made necessary because the Town has become a Town Village.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that this would be the last week for patching the roads in Town. The Department is getting their trucks ready for leaf collection which will take place from October 15 to December 15 weather permitting. After that, any leaves need to be bagged. The Town website has more details about collection (what is allowed, sizes, etc.)
The Department will also be doing their final roadside grass cutting in the coming week. Finally, he reported that 4 loads of material from the former mulch pile had been removed recently.
A resident from Benjamin Meadow Rd. said she’d recently seen a number of round holes in the middle of the road and wondered if anyone knew what they were or what was causing them. The general consensus seemed to be that they may have been caused by the number of trucks and tractor trailers which are now speeding up Benjamin Meadow and Brammertown Roads despite signage indicating that they aren’t allowed on those roads. Supervisor English responded that traffic enforcement by the police department seems to be lacking and he is very unhappy about this. The regular police report listed 98 traffic citations and 94 of those were filed by one policeman (a part time officer). Bill Lemanski remarked that he thought at least some of the traffic on these roads during the Renaissnce Faire was due to a navigation application for phones called Waze. If it looks like there is traffic on 17A, the app will reroute people via Benjamin Meadow and Brammertown. He suggested putting a policeman a few hundred yards down Benjamin Meadow Rd and pulling over the trucks and speeding cars and issuing them tickets!
Supervisor English suggested that the Town could ask the Renaissance Faire to sell dated tickets and to put a quota put on how many they could sell per day. As of now, one can buy a ticket and use it any day of their choosing.
Speaking for a number of residents, (Pat Barone, Bill Lemanski, John Dunne, Diane Laxman and Pam White) Mary Hanson said that she had tried emailing the Chief of Police about this issue but he never answered her. When she called the Police Station to ask where he was she was told “we don’t know.” Mrs. Hanson emphasized the importance of this safety issue further indicating that she was afraid someone would get hurt or killed by the speeding cars and trucks. She feels the Town Board is to blame because they allow the Renaissance Faire to sell the open ended tickets and they don’t charge the Faire any money to operate. The Faire parking lots are full and closed by 2 or 3 every day and after which people try to park anywhere they can find.
Supervisor English reiterated that police enforcement has become a real Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the 2022 Preliminary Budget for the Fire District had been submitted. A public hearing will take place on October 19 at 7:30 pm. She has also been working with Brian Sullivan to get the Preliminary Town Budget ready. It is due on October 5. Lastly, she announced that early voting would start on October 23. There are 7 locations in Orange County. Warwick is the closest location to Tuxedo. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum added to his report that he had met with the water filtration people who told him that the water would need to be tested. He is moving ahead with this because he can’t get a price on a new filtration system without the test results. problem and he assured everyone that he was doing everything he could to change this. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she had been working on the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and exploring what the Town could spend this funding on. In researching what other towns are doing she discovered that many of them have been setting up vaccine sites in their fire houses. Subsequently, she spoke to John Kilduff about doing this at the Ambulance Corps. She has also seen money available for electric vehicle charging stations so she is looking into that as well. Councilmember May noted that there is a cemetery in Southfields (next to the Carlyn Building) for the Revolutionary War. It is in very bad shape and she wondered if there might be money available to clean it up. Rob Dollbaum added that there was also one across from the Arden Road that could use some work.
Minutes – The minutes for the regular meeting on 9/13 were unanimously approved.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 7 pm, via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor English opened the meeting by announcing that he had tested positive for Covid the week prior and had been under quarantine. There was at least one other Town Hall employee who also tested positive. This was the reason that the announced public hearing on Fire District Preservation has been rescheduled for the next Town Board meeting. The Supervisor added that he had been taken off of quarantine as of that day, but because he still wasn’t feeling very well, he had asked Deputy Supervisor Lindsay to run the meeting.
Agenda Items:
new Freightliner dump truck – Town Attorney Protter has vetted the lease agreement and it was approved unanimously.
Discuss Zoom Room contract – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum met with a representative of Zoom along with Supervisor English and Councilmember May. They received an estimate for creating a “Zoom Room” in the Community Room at Town Hall which would allow the Town to run hybrid meetings (both in person and virtually). The estimate included $32,382 for equipment (not sold by Zoom so perhaps the Town could find some of it at a cheaper price and perhaps not every piece of equipment would be necessary) and $17,500 for “deployment” of the system (which includes delivery and set up) for a total of $49,802. Ultimately it was decided that the Board would look into alternative equipment and set ups in an attempt to bring the cost down.
Department Updates: Police Department - Chief Abbott reported that the department is currently testing out various body cameras since these were a topic of interest in the police reinvention committee talks. He then showed some footage of 3 police officers rescuing a dog stuck under a log in a river. Lastly. he reported that he had been meeting with the Supervisor about the budget and setting goals for next year. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum – reporting that the State would be visiting to look at the Town Hall roof on Wednesday Sepember 15. The bid opening for the project will will take place on Tuesday September 28. Next she stated that the zoning code amendments had been sent to the Orange County Planning Department. If they have comments, the Town should hear by the end of September. Finally, she reported having had meetings with 2 different companies that offer credit card, debit card and e check payment services. There would be no cost to the Town as the associated fees would be fully absorbed by the customer. This system could work for tax collection! Frank Peverly – noted that things were quiet at the Zoning Board. They are waiting on the completed environmental assessment on the Gulf Station and then that will come before the Board. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that her only update pertained to the Town Hall roof, as previously reported by Mrs. Dollbaum. Councilmember May said she had met with Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum and Jay Reichgott about putting together a list of projects for the Covid recovery money. So far, they are looking at the zoom room and water filtration for the highway department, where the water is extremely hard. They are also looking into solar car chargers. Councilmember Reichgott reported that the Town was in receipt of the results of the latest DEC inspection of the Hamlet sewer plant. They are back down to rating us as unsatisfactory. The Town will need to pass a sewer law. Councilmember McMillen commented he had nothing significant to report, Supervisor English reported that the Town continues to pressure Related for a date to turn on the new sewer plant. They still plan to do this in December. Greg Gushee of Related wants to do a presentation at the next Town Board meeting regarding the revised special permit for the project. Lastly, he announced that Family Fun Day has been postponed indefinitely due to recent increases in Covid cases. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the DOT and the MTA would be coming out shortly with plans for the East Village grade crossing. Next he noted that the Town had fared very well in the recent flooding. His department is working on road patching and is beginning to prepare for leaf season and snow. GPS has now been installed on all Town owned vehicles. There is much interest in the dirt that the department has been working on from the old mulch pile, but final approval needs to come from the DEC. And finally, there is still mulch and compost available at Quarry Field.
Minutes of the August 23rd meeting were accepted and unanimously approved.
Voucherswere accepted and unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Evelyn David reported that during the recent storms her basement had flooded and further noted that the river had come up and gone down very fast. She is suggesting that the Town set up some kind of alert system before storms for people who live along the river. She would also like to see 24-hour police protection during that time. She was told that the Town already has the Nixle alert system and she was urged to sign up for that service.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
An Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel was held just prior to the meeting.
The first item of business was a continuation of the Public Hearing on the Zoning Code Amendments:
The only comment came in the form of a question from Michael Squillini who wanted to know what was happening with the Board of Architectural Review which he had heard had been dismantled. Town Attorney Howard Protter explained to him that the requirement for a project to undergo architectural review has not been discontinued, but the Planning Board serves in this capacity. There was no further discussion and Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum stated that she had not received any written comments either. The Board thus voted unanimously to close the public hearing.
Presentation:
Shane Smith from the Highway Department was tasked with creating a long term maintenance plan for the Town roads. Using a program called Cornell Local Roads, he developed a 6-year plan. Click here to view.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Appoint Todd Darling to Board of Fire Commissioners – this seat became vacant with the passing of Charlie Jones. Mr. Darling was The Board approved this recommendation unanimously and set a date of 12/31/24 for the expiration of the term.
Introduce Local Law “Preservation of Fire District” and schedule public hearing – Town Attorney Protter explained that passing the law had been made necessary by the recent consolidation of the Town Village and that there will be no changes to the district. The law was unanimously approved by the Board. The public hearing will take place at the next Town Board meeting on September 13, 2021 at 7:00 pm.
Review and approve TJFD (Tuxedo Joint Fire District) License Agreement for Quarry Field practice space – This item was introduced by the Supervisor as being a piece of housekeeping to memorialize an agreement that was reached jointly by the Town Board and Fire District. Councilmember McMillen wondered why it was being done now. He suggested it might be easier to just deed a portion of Quarry Field to the fire department and let them assume the liability for practices. Town Attorney Protter explained that this is something that insurance companies and attorneys for both the Town and the Fire District want. The Fire District is just waiting for the Town Board to approve the document and then they will do the same. The agreement was then approved unanimously.
Discuss speed radar trailers – The Town is considering purchasing two speed radar trailers at a cost of $24,529.54 each. These are radar data collection devices which are mounted on trailers so they can be moved to multiple locations. The Supervisor explained that speeding throughout Town is probably the biggest and most frequent complaint that the Board receives. Councilmember McMillen wondered why the Town needed a machine to indicate where speeding was occurring. He added that he thought an actual police presence in those places might be more effective. An audience member suggested that perhaps the Town could find grant funds to pay for this, but Supervisor English responded that he didn’t want to wait to start using the devices. Following some further discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of authorizing the purchase.
Resolution to formalize a 7-year lease-to-own agreement for new Freightliner dump truck – The Town Attorney requested more time to review the entire document and the resolution was tabled.
Petition of relief from Building Moratorium Local Law – Watchtower – Watchtower has requested relief from the building moratorium law, which in turn will allow them to go before the Planning Board with their driveway realignment project.. It was unanimously approved.
Other Business:
A resolution accepting the terms of Building Inspector David Maikisch’s reworked contract was unanimously approved.
The bid awards of the following surplus vehicles were accepted:
1995 International dump truck $4000
2000 International dump truck. $8600
2006 Chevy Silverado $1225
A resolution appointing Bill Lemanski to the Planning Board – was unanimously approved. He will be taking Bill Gould’s seat.
Department Updates: Superintendent of Highway Dollbaum reported that his department is continuing to work on patching the roadways. They are also separating rocks from the mulch pile and will be doing dirt testing shortly. He thanked Shane Smith for his hard work on the road study. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum stated that she has been working on the commuter parking lot. There is a new system of paying for parking spaces, which will be clearly explained with signage. Payment can now be made by phone or text. No sign up or advanced account is necessary. Michael Cardona, the new Dog Control Officer, will also be in charge of parking enforcement. Lastly, Clerk Dollbaum has been in touch with Zoom to investigate setting up the same system that the Village of Tuxedo Park is in the process of installing for remote meetings. The Board can expect a presentation on this in the near future. Police Department – There was no representative present but their report was submitted. The Board commented that there had been one officer who had written 84 out of the 89 total traffic citations for the entire department. The Board resolved to speak to the Chief about this as this has apparently been the case with some regularity for a while. They also discussed setting up a system for monitoring the police vehicles so that they can plan more effectively for replacements.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Councilmember May has been studying the Town’s Covid expenses. She is actively working on a plan for the funding that has been awarded to the Town for this purpose. Rules and regulations for this have just come out. Supervisor English reported the following:
He and Planning Board Chair John Banyo recently visited the present plant for Skyview Skylights who appeared at the last meeting asking for a waiver from the building moratorium in order to build a project on Sterling Mine Road.
He met with Gardiner Hempel and Ed Brennan of the Fire Department to review the Town’s agreement with the Fire District.
In preparation for working on the annual Budget, Supervisor English met with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and will be meeting with Police Chief Abbot on Wednesday.
The Tuxedo Day Camp has finished a very successful season and the Supervisor congratulated Recreation Coordinator Claire Dougher and her staff for their work.
Following up on a suggestion from the Police Reinvention Committee, he met with a candidate for a part-time officer. They are awaiting the results of a background check before moving forward.
He has been working on finding a use for the screened material from the Highway Department site.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that Engineer Al Fusco has indicated that the RFP for the Town Hall roof project will be ready next week. This project will be partially paid for by a grant that former State Senator Jen Metzger got for the Town. Councilmember Reichgott congratulated town resident firefighters Chris Kasker and Chris Nunez who recently passed their firefighter lung certification. This represents 130 hours of work before certification. Councilmember David McMillen reported that he had been working on the internet/phone service for Contractor’s Rd. It looks like this area will be made part of a 5G project which is being scheduled for November.
The minutes for the August 9th meeting were approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola commented that once again over the weekend, traffic had been backed up to the Gulf Station because of the Sloatsburg roads project. He requested that the Board ask either Karl Brabenec or Mike Martucci, along with a representative of the State DOT to come to a future Town Board meeting so that they could further discuss the issue with the Board and the people of Tuxedo. Mike Squillini inquired about a possible thruway exit/entrance at Route 210. He was told that because PIPC now owns and controls that property, this would likely never happen. Irene Denero expressed her dismay that the police do not seem to be issuing traffic citations. Additionally, she noted that she had been a member of the Police Reinvention Committee and that group had recommended to the Tuxedo Police that they submit their blotter to the Photo News the way they used to, but to date it has not happened.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 9, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember McMillen was absent.
Public Hearing: Zoning Code Amendments
The hearing began with a presentation by Town Planner, Bonnie Franson. She provided a brief history of the project followed by a recounting of the highlights of the proposed amendments. To see a copy of Ms. Franson’s presentation, click here.
Hank Salzer of Southfields expressed confusion as his property is listed as residential but the map shows it as commercial. Robert Dollbaum also had some questions as to how his property in Southfields is going to be classified.
Ms. Franson said she would check. Daniel Kraushaar, attorney for the owner of property at 655 Sterling Mine Rd., suggested that a municipality’s comprehensive plan is the overarching policy statement and the zoning law is just meant to implement that plan. He further noted that he had not heard anything about updating the comprehensive plan.
Town Attorney Howard Protter responded that the proposed changes were being made to implement the existing comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2018.
Former Town Board member Francine Rauch thanked the Board for their all of the time and effort they had put into this plan, further commenting that she knew from experience how hard this kind of work could be.
Hank Salzer then spoke about the recent change to Sloatsburg’s traffic pattern and renewed conversations about the possibility of a Thruway Exit 15B. He wondered whether Sloatsburg knew something that Tuxedo didn’t.
He was told that these subjects were not a part of the discussion about the zoning amendments.
The public hearing was continued to August 23.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Mary Graetzer suggested that the Board consider putting signs up during the Renaissance Faire and apple picking season which would reroute traffic from Route 17 going North up Sterling Mine Road to Long Meadow Rd and then over to 210 where they could continue on to the Faire or apple picking sites. She said she feared that otherwise there would be a traffic disaster due to the combination of the contiunted construction going on in Sloatsburg and the new traffic pattern on Route 17.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve sign permit – New York Renaissance Faire – the application is for 2 signs, one on Vera Johnson’s Antiques property going north and one on Hank Salzer’s Southfields property going south, directing people to the turnoff on Route 210 and thus to the Faire. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay pointed out that if the Town went with Mary Graetzer’s suggestion, no one would come through Tuxedo and this is not what the Town wants. Rob Dollbaum suggested that if traffic issues were to occur, it would be in Sloatsburg and this would prevent people from easily getting to Tuxedo. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that the Village of Tuxedo Park traditionally put out a sign directing people away from the Village and further North on Route 17 as the entrance to the Park is often mistaken for the entrance to the Renaissance Faire. The Board then unanimously approved the application.
Resolution to approve sign permit – Maskers Orchard – Maskers has applied for the usual 7 signs during apple picking season (roughly mid-August to November 15). This was unanimously approved.
Petition of relief from the Building Moratorium Local Law – Sterling Mine USA, LLC – Representing the owner of the building at 665 Sterling Mine Re., Attorney Daniel Krausaar stated that he had previously appeared before the TAC Committee detailing his proposed project and the committee had told him he would need to apply for relief from the building moratorium before the project could go forward. Subsequently, Mr. Krausaar worte a dedtailed letter describing the plans for a building containing spaces for skylight manufacturing and sales, light food dining/coffee shop and local office space. Building Inspector David Maikisch replied to the letter and noted that while the proposed building uses of skylight sales, light food dining/coffee shop and local office space did conform with the “uses permitted by right under the current NB (Neighborhood Business) the manufacturing of the skylights did not conform with the current or future zoning. There ensued a debate over whether or not the applicant had correctly received permission to apply for a waiver from the moratorium. At the request of Supervisor English, the Board and their attorney broke into an executive session to discuss the matter. When they returned, Town Attorney Protter stated that the property in question is located in a Neighborhood Business (NB) zone, which does not allow that assembly is a fit. There was some further back and forth between the two attorneys. A woman who identified herself as Esty Leverton, apprentice architect on the project, commented that it was a beautiful building that would be producing beautiful skylights and she wondered why such a business would not be welcomed in the Town. Supervisor English responded that the Town would like to try to find a way to make the project work. He suggested that they pause the discussion and investigate options. It was agreed that the Supervisor would go visit the Skylight’s present plant in Hillburn to try to get a better understanding of what was being proposed. Councilmember Reichgott agreed adding that this was the first time the Board had seen this application. While at first glance it didn’t appear to them to fit into the definition of either the current zoning or the proposed new zoning, they would like to take some time to see if they could find a way to make the project fit in a way that would be to both the Town’s and the applicant’s best interest.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum commented that rocks, dirt, compost and mulch are still available at Quarry Field for residents. The department and concluding with chip sealing and will begin road patching and this week. They will also be repairing catch basins. The Watchtower has completed their month’s work on the rock pile and they have done a good job. The department will be working toward some kind of approval from the DEC in an attempt to move forward. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that there has been an increase in commuter parking permits as people are starting to go back to work in the city. Also, the current zoning map has been uploaded to the Town website. She is looking into ways for the Town to accept credit cards for payment. Additionally, she is in receipt of the hard copy of the 2020 audit from Arias Cooper (Town accountants). Finally, she reported that she had hand delivered to Goshen the documents pertaining to opting out of cannabis for the ballot referendum along with the information for the vote on the Library budget.
Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that the Watchtower organization has completed their one month service project at the Highway Department site. He reiterated that the Tuxedo Farms LDC held a meeting on July 22 at which Dillon Norris of Related presented a schedule for completed the construction of the wastewater treatment plant. He also stated that the police reform initiative report had been submitted to New York State and the Town Board will continue to review the report and look for ways to implement the recommendations provided. Next he said that the Board ehas hired East Village resident Michael Cardona as Tuxedo Dog Control Officer. His training has been completed. He also reported that the hiring process for a full time Police Officer is in the final stages. They are currently waiting for the final report of the medical exam and then will be completing the hiring and will make an announcement. As far as Recreation and Events in the Town go, he said this is the last week of a very successful Tuxedo Day Camp and thanked Claire Dougher and her staff for jaking thius possible. Finally, he reported that the NY/NJ Trail Conference had held a charity/fund raising event on July 31st where about 150 runners ran a mile course through Harriman State Park. The event was staged in Powerhouse Park. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has finally received word that the $100,000 grant from former State Senator Jen Metzger has been processed and the Town will be receiving the funds. They will be using some of the funding to repair the Town Hall roof and she and Councilmember May will be attending a webinar about other possible allowable expenditures. Councilmember May has been looking into the glass recycling. She is pursuing the idea of putting dumpsters at Quarry Field as well as in the parking lot across from the Fire Station in Eagle Valley. Residents wanting to recycle glass will then be able to deliver it to either of these sites. IWS will pick the glass up from there.
Minutes for the July 26 meeting were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were signed.
Public Comments: Mary Graetzer noted that in the past, paper agendas were always available for attendees at the back of the meeting room and suggested that as in person meetings were resuming, it would be a good idea to start this up again. The Supervisor agreed.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember McMillen was absent.
The meeting began with two public hearings:
Opt-Out of Allowing Cannabis Retail Dispensaries and On-Site Cannabis Consumption Establisments, Opt-Out of Allowing Cannabis Retail Dispensaries or Opt-Out of Allowing On-Site Cannabis Consumption Establishments.
The Town Board would like for the residents to make the decision
about what degree of cannabis is allowed in Town. The way to do that is to put the question on the ballot as a referendum in November. The public hearing is the first step for doing that. Rachel Bruess representing the Democrats of Orange County was the first speaker. She is in favor of opting in to both the dispensaries and the consumption establishments because she believes that the Town should be able to share in the economic benefits that will come from legalizing cannabis. If the Town opts out, they will not receive anything from sales, but if they opt in, they can get 3% of the sales. She said she had visited a dispensary in Great Barrington, MA and was impressed with how clean and well run it was. Hank Selzer stated that if a municipality opts out now, they can opt in later, but not vice versa. He doesn’t feel that Tuxedo is a good place for a “night club” or cannabis consumption establishment and he urged the Board to opt out of those and wait to see what happens in other municipalities. Gonul Kamfoi feels that the Town should definitely opt out of consumption establishments but opt in to a retail outlet. Gary Heavner spoke in favor of the Town opting out of both the dispensaries and the consumption establishments. He said he had been dealing with the affects of cannabis consumption professionally for years and as such doesn’t want to see it in this Town. He recommends people should research the state of Colorado and see what happened there when they legalized cannabis. Colorado was promised that a lot of good things would come with the legalization but in fact, across the boards it has been a disaster and they have seen an increase in crime and not much economic benefit. Jerry Mottola feels there is no good benefit for the Town and hopes the Board will decide to opt out of all options. Irene DeNaro would like to see the Town leave their options open for retail but doesn’t think the consumption sounds like a good deal for the Town.
After some discussion among the members, the Board decided to put forth a resolution to opt out of consumption establishments but not retail establishments. It was passed 3-1 with Supervisor English voting no. 2-Police Reform Reinvention Draft Report-As required by Governor Cuomo, the Town appointed a committee to conduct a study of the Tuxedo Police Department and their policies. The committee has submitted this report to the Town Board and the Board needs to accept the report and then send it back to the Governor. Gary Heavner was a member of the committee. He stated that he felt it was good for the community to learn what the police do and don’t do. Police Chief Abbot stated that he had been a part of the committee but was not in charge of it. He added that his department was already implementing many of the suggestions that have come out of the report. Sue Scher, also a member of the committee, said it was a goal of the entire Town to have better policing.
After the public hearing was closed, the Board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution accepting the report and it will be filed with the State.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution Determining the Validity of a Petition for a Proposition to Increase the Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library – This simply allows the allocation to be put on the ballot in November for the residents to decide. It was passed unanimously by the Board.
Department Updates: Police Department – Police Chief Abbott reported that Police Officer Hall had a save when he administered two doses of NARCAN to a resident who had overdosed. The subject was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital and survived. The Chief also reported that the department had recently received the sexual harassment prevention and NYS De-escalation training as well as their annual firearms training.
Supervisor English read into the record a letter he received praising Officer Shiloh for his help in a mental health incident. Highway Department: Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is about to start patching and culvert repairs. He also commented that the Watchtower volunteers are moving along nicely with screening the material from the old mulch pile. Finally, he said, as per usual, mulch, compost and stones are available for residents in the bins in the Quarry Field parking lot. Town Clerk: Marisa Dollbaum stated that the repairs have been completed on the ramp in the back of the Town Hall building (leading up to the Community Room). These repairs were all funded by a grant. She also commented that there were volunteer opportunities at the pollinator meadow.
Supervisor’s Update: Supervisor English reported that there had been a Fishing Derby on July 17 which was attended by 20 kids. The Watchtower supplied breakfast as well as a hot dog lunch. Camp is continuing to go well. With regard to the recent LDC meeting on July 22, the Supervisor reported that Dylan Norris of Related had provided an update on the progress at the new sewer plant and said that the projected date for opening would be in early December. Lastly, the Supervisor noted that the Town is working on hiring a full time officer for the police department and that there is a female candidate currently in the final stages of review.
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that she has been working on the Climate Smart Community certification process. She will be looking to get points for informational seminars that have been presented as well as for the solar roof on the highway department and compost bins that the Town sold to residents. Councilmember May has been looking into a solution for residents to recycle glass as IWS will no longer accept it. After a conversation with IWS, it was decided to locate 2 cubic yard bins at the firehouse in Town and also in Eagle Valley. Henceforth, residents can take their glass to either place for disposal. Councilmember Reichgott noted that he has been preparing for the upcoming Public Hearing on Zoning Changes, which will take place on August 9.
Other Business:
Resolution for the Town Clerk to Approve Surplus Vehicle Bids – These included 10 items which earned $15,558 for the Town and was unanimously approved by the Board.
Resolution for Town Clerk to put Town Vehicles and Equipment out to surplus – This consists of 2 trucks no longer useful for the Highway Department. It was unanimously approved by the Board.
Resolution to Approve Building Moratorium waiver request – the residents of 10 Alexander Drive are seeking permission to put in a private grape vineyard. Since this is allowed under both the new and old zoning, the Board approved it unanimously. This will simply allow the application to move to the Planning Board for review.
Minutes for July 12 meeting were unanimously approved.
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Sue Scher made a plea for the Board to hold future meetings both in person and via WebEx (or possibly some other platform) giving people the option to attend virtually. The Board stated that they agreed with this and were currently working on it. She also commented that twice recently during storms massive trees went down across wires and, as a result, the residents of her neighborhood, Clinton Woods, had no way of getting out because there is no emergency access. They are surrounded by Sterling Forest State Park and understand that negotiations with the Park would be necessary in order to implement an emergency access/egress. She requested that the Town start those negotiations. Jerry Mottola wondered where in Town was there a location for a potential cannabis retail shop that wasn’t either within 200 ft of a church or 500 ft. from the school? Additionally, he reported that recently the southbound traffic on Route 17 has been backed up to the Gulf Station because of the construction in Sloatsburg. He requested that the Town get a Department Of Transportation spokesman to appear at an upcoming meeting to answer to the residents about the impacts this project will have on Town of Tuxedo residents. Gary Heavner stated that the people who run the Tuxedo Park Library are doing a great job and that this institution is one of the reasons why he is glad that he moved to Town.
Below please find notice for two Public Hearings scheduled for Monday, July 26th at 7:00pm. The regular bi-monthly Town Board meeting will follow immediately after.
The Town Board met in person at 6:30 pm on Monday, July 12, 2021. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay attended via WebEx. All other members were present.
The Board began the meeting with an Executive Session regarding employment history pursuant to Public Officers Law 105. Afterward, the first item on the agenda was a zoning presentation given by Councilmember Reichgott outlining the proposed revisions to the Town’s zoning code, which have been in development for years. Tuxedo’s master plan was originally adopted in 1972 and the zoning code was then adopted in 1975. The Master Plan was subsequently revised and adopted in 2018. The draft law currently under consideration will reflect what is in revised Master Plan. Councilmember Reichgott pointed out that in reviewing the proposed legislation, it is important to first study the map at the end of the document in order to understand where the individual zones are before moving on to the use tables, which explain what is and is not permitted in each individual zone. To view a copy of the proposed zoning law, click here. A copy can also be found on the Town website.
The public hearing will start on August 9 at the regular Town Board meeting.
Agenda Items:
Introduce Cannabis Opt-Out Local Laws and schedule Public Hearing-The Town attorneys have submitted 3 different versions of the proposed Cannabis Opt-Out law. The first version will opt out for both dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments. The second version will opt out only for on-site consumption establishments and the third version will opt out for only dispensaries. The Board has stated that they would like to hear what the public thinks so after some discussion, they decided to present the first version at a public hearing at the next Town Board meeting on July 26 at 7:00 pm. After the hearing, the Board will vote on which version should appear on the ballot in November. If the Town does not take any action, they will be opted in for everything. If the Town decides to opt-out, there will be an opportunity to opt back in but if they opt in, they will NOT be able to subsequently opt out.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that chip sealing of the roads had been completed and that all catch basins in Town have been cleaned. His department is working on a road survey for the whole Town, compiling a 5-year plan for road work. They will also be cutting and trimming on the sides of roads. Patching and repair of roads will begin in 2 weeks.
Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the ramp leading up to the door outside the community room will be closed for approximately 2 weeks while it is repaired. This work will mark the end of the ADA project at Town Hall.
Supervisior Update: Supervisor English reported the following:
The Tuxedo Farms LDC will meet in person on July 22 at 10 am. The meeting will take place at Town Hall. Dillon Norris of the Related Company will provide a complete and full update on the sewer plant which will include a detailed schedule for the opening of the plant. Property owners and residents in the Hamlet Sewer District are encouraged to attend.
Four operators from The Watchtower have begun their one month commitment of screening and separating debris materials at the highway garage property. This is being done under strict observance of the DEC. The Supervisor, along with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum, is investigating “various avenues to transfer the materials to a site that is determined to be of approved beneficial use.” The Supervisor stated that his goal is to restore the property to a “usable state that is compatible with the vital watershed/wetland area located in the heart of Sterling Forest.”
The Police Reform Initiative Committee has completed its report. The final version is available on the Town website. The Board scheduled a public hearing on the report for the next Town Board meeting on July 26 at 7:00 pm.
The Town Board held interviews on July 7 for a full-time police officer and a Dog/Animal Control Officer. They have since made two offers and are waiting to hear if they will be accepted.
The Annual Youth Fishing Derby will be held on Saturday July 17 at the Watchtower Fire Pond on Long Meadow Rd. Kids 15 and under are allowed to participate.
Tuxedo Silver Dollars Annual Summer BBQ will take place at Murphy Field on Friday, July 23 4:00-7:00 for ages 50+.
Tuxedo Summer Day camp began last week with more than 50 kids and is going well.
Finally, he acknowledged the death of Laurel Ridge resident Vincent Capozzi on July 3.
Town Board Update: Councilmember May reported that an application for the Opt-In Recovery Act has been submitted. Some things the money could be used for would be sewer, water, infrastructure and mental health initiatives.
Minutes:
The minutes for the Town Board meeting on June 28 were unanimously approved.
Vouchers:
The vouchers were unanimously approved
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola commented that because of the road construction on Route 17, cars are “flying into Town” and speeding through the Hamlet. He wondered if the Town could install one of the signs that register the speeds that people are going. It was pointed out that those signs cost approximately $4000. Many people agreed that the speeding is a problem. Mary Graetzer wondered if there was any legitimate reason why the police were no longer enforcing our speed limits. Dale Mottola wondered where exactly people would be allowed to smoke cannabis. She was told it would be allowed anywhere one is allowed to smoke cigarettes.
There was a discussion, with no resolution, about what residents could do since the garbage company will no longer recycle glass.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 28, 2021 at 7:00 pm both in person in Town Hall and via WebEx. Councilmember McMillen was absent.
Public Hearing – Moratorium on Development Approvals:
It was explained that the Board is in the process of revising the zoning laws to correspond with the new Master Plan. They are almost done and hope to present the plan at a Town Board meeting in the near future. In the meantime, any proposals for building or development will need to be checked in order to make sure that they conform to both the present and future zoning codes.
The public hearing was closed and the Board unanimously passed a motion extending the moratorium.
Presentation:
Town Attorney Marissa Weiss presented information on the pending Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.
To see a PowerPoint presentation of her talk, click here.
Municipalities can pass a law to opt out of either retail dispensaries or “on premise consumption sites” or both but the legislation to do so must be passed by December 31, 2021. After that date, there will be no opting out. A municipality can, however, always opt in. Municipalities will only share in the tax revenue if they have opted in.
Following the presentation, the Board passed a motion asking Town Attorney Weiss to draft an opt out law for them to consider at their next meeting.
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is almost finished their chip sealing work and has moved on to cleaning catch basins. There is mulch, leaf compost and chipstone available to residents at Quarry Field. He also commented that screening on the dirt pile is about to resume with the help of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Police Chief Abbott began his report by stating that the Police Reinvention Committee will meet on June 29 at the Eagle Valley Firehouse to give a presentation of their report. A video of the meeting will be available via the Town’s You Tube Channel the next day. The Chief also reported that since covid restrictions have been lifted, the police have been doing a lot of training. Thus far, they have completed the annual firearms training, de-escalation training from Orange County and NYS sexual harassment training (provided by Supervisor English). Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that Town Hall will be closed on Monday July 5th in observance of Independence Day. She is in communication with the garbage company to check their schedule for that week and will communicate that via her email list as well as posting on the Town website. Finally she announced that the Tuxedo Silver Dollars will be holding their annual Barbeque at Murphy Field on July 27.
Town Board Updates: Supervisor English began his report by announcing the death of retired Police Chief Patrick Welsh. He expressed his condolences to Chief Welsh’s family and friends. Next, he gave an account of the recent meeting of the Town’s Sewer LDC at which he spoke about the need to replace the Town’s aging sewer plant with the new plant built by Related which is intended to service Tuxedo Farms as well as the Hamlet area of Town. He introduced Related Executive Vice President Gregory Gushee who is now overseeing the Tuxedo Farms project. He stated that Related will work with the Town to finish the connection to the new sewage treatment plant. He further stated that it is Related’s intention to complete the work and get the plant activated this year. On June 25, the Supervisor toured the new plant with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum, Town Engineer Sean Hoffman and 3 representatives of the NYC Comptroller’s Office as well as Gregory Gushee and Henry Haeffner from Related. Finally, Supervisor English announced that the Town Board was actively looking for a full-time police officer. Councilmember May reporrted that she and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay have been looking at the Corona Virus Fiscal Recovery Fund to plan for whatever funds the Town may receive. Councilmember Reichgott reported that he has been working with Town Planner Bonnie Franson and Town Attorney Howard Protter to finalize the draft of a new zoning law. He hopes to introduce the law at the next Town Board meeting and hold a public hearing at the first meeting in August. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay thanked all who supported the recent Plein Air Event and declared the event a huge success. She announced that July 10 will be the next work day at the pollinator meadow. If anyone is interested in joining the group working on this, they should email tuxedobutterflies@gmail.com.
The minutes for the June 14 Town Board meeting were accepted.
Vouchers were approved.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola asked when the sewer plant would be operational. He was told that there remains 8-10 weeks worth of work to be done and that the hope is that the plant will be open by the end of the year. Someone in the chat (unidentified) asked if there was any news about the summer camp. Supervisor English responded that the camp has over 50 children registered and will begin on July 7. There is still room for a few more so if anyone is interested, they should contact Claire Dougher right away. Deirdre Murphy stated that on June 3, the State Highway Department posted a speed limit sign of 55 mph on Long Meadow Road. People in the Woodlands are very upset and feel that it is very hazardous for them turning in and out of the Woodlands. She wonders how they can get the speed limit reduced. The Supervisor said he was working on it. Councilmember Reichgott recommended sending the police out to patrol there on weekends.
Other Business: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay introduced a motion to send out the RFP for the solar roof on the highway department and it was passed unanimously. Councilmember Reichgott announced that a joint public hearing with the Village of Tuxedo Park on the proposed annexation of Rattlesnake Mountain into Tuxedo Park is needed. The Board discussed possible dates and came up with July 9 or 23. Councilmember Reichgott will now communicate this to the Village Board.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 14, 2021 at 7:30 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve form of Petition for the Proposition to Increase Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library – This is an annual request which allows the Library to circulate their petition to the public. It was approved unanimously.
Petition of relief from Building Moratorium – Vishal Taneja (Gulf Station) – This is a minor modification to the approved plan. It adds office space for the business. It was approved unanimously.
Petition of relief from the Building Moratorium – Estate of James Von Helms (Tuxedo Auto Body) - The property was in violation of the zoning code because they never got a site plan approval for their business. They were in the process of getting that approval when the owner got sick and subsequently died. Now the heir of the property is hoping to move the process along and get the approval so she can sell the property. The motion was approved unanimously.
Authorize approval of Tri-State Solar – The Town Board has determined that they need to move this toward a formal RFP instead of an approval so the item was changed from approval to discussion. This proposal is to handle the electrical needs of the Highway Department. The Board ultimately made a resolution to authorize the attorneys to prepare an RFP. It was passed unanimously.
Authorize Town Attorneys to prepare a law for the Board’s consideration to opt-out of allowing Marijuana Businesses in the Community and to authorize a Referendum on the proposed law If Towns want to opt out of allowing licensing and establishing cannabis retail dispensaries and/or cannabis on-site consumption establishments within the Town, they must do it before the end of the year. If they choose to opt out now, they can always opt back in later. The Board would like this decision to be made by residents and further to get it made into a referendum on the November ballot. Ultimately, the Board decided to hold a public information session on this topic at the beginning of the Town Board meeting on June 28 in order to receive input from the public.
Report from Planning Board Chair, John Banyo on the Watchtower project – There is an application in front of the Planning Board for a clearing, filling and grading permit for the small portion of this project which is located in the Town of Tuxedo (the Southern entrance/exit to the project). Since the Town of Ramapo has not finished the SEQRA process, the Planning Board was unable to vote on the permit. Originally, the Planning Board was concerned about this entrance/exit because it was off-set from Eagle Valley Road but recently, Watchtower has reached an agreement to align it with Eagle Valley Road which the Planning Board considers a good thing. Ramapo is the lead agency for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project while the Tuxedo Planning Board is a “concerned agency.” They will be registering two major areas of concern which are 1-traffic, specifically the need for further traffic studies (the first ones were done during the pandemic) to determine if a turning lane or traffic light is needed at the intersection with Eagle Valley Rd. and 2-noise, specifically the jackhammers breaking up rock and the incessant back up bells during the work. They are wondering if it would be possible to limit the hours of that kind of work.
Minutes were accepted unanimously.
Department Updates: Supervisor English announced:
The Tuxedo Farms LDC will hold its next meeting on Thursday, June 24 at 10 am via WebEX. He cautioned that anyone whose property is on the Hamlet Sewer System is advised to attend.
Registration for the Town’s camp is going very well, and will close on Friday June 18. Anyone who is interested should contact Recreation Coordinator. Claire Dougher.
The Renaissance Faire has contacted the Town to say they will open this year on Saturdays and Sundays (and Labor Day) between August 21 and October 3.
The Town Board is in the final stages of reviewing and updating the Zoning Code and are committed to getting this finished this summer.
Police contract – a new contract for 5 years has been ratified. The changes will be explained at an upcoming meeting.
Police Reinvention Committee – the Supervisor gave a brief review of all the work that has been done by this committee.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she had gone back to the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) and received approval to improve the ramp to the back door of Town Hall. She reminded everyone that there will be a public hearing on June 17 (7 pm via WebEx) at which the public can submit ideas for future grants. Because of Tuxedo’s median income, the Town will only qualify for senior citizen improvements from these grants. She also reminded everyone that the Plein Air Events are coming up this weekend. Painting starts on Wednesday and the reception for artists and public will be held at the Train Station on Friday with wine & cheese and catering by Heather Bullard. Councilmember McMillen commented that he is still working on the lack of commercial broadband on Contractor’s Row. As such Optimum will be in town to take a site survey of the area. They have discussed running lines under the railroad tracks but have suggested that this would be difficult because there aren’t enough customers available to make it financially viable for them. Their parent company, Altice, has developed a new modem which works off of one’s cellular provider. Although this isn’t as fast as people might want, it will be a lot faster than the dial up connections which are all those businesses have had. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department will start chipsealing on Wednesday June 17. Work will start in Eagle Valley and progress over to Clinton Woods. All the roads west of Rte. 17 in the Hamlet will be done. After that work has been completed, patching and repair will start on the other roads in Town. Mulch, compost and stone are available and in the bins at Quarry Field. There is a large pile of stone in the middle of the driveway which is for work on the roads so residents should be careful to only take material from the bins. Work on the mulch pile is progressing.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 24, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Hearings:
The meeting began with two public hearings. The Board is proposing to add categories of fees to the Town Code which will cover what happens if a resident has done construction on his property without applying for or receiving a permit. Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that the purpose of the hearings was to receive public comments regarding the establishment of a schedule of fees as well as civil penalties Once the categories have been added to the code, the Board can set fees by resolution.
The Board in receipt of an email from a resident containing, 3 questions. Town Attorney Protter read the questions into the record and answered them as follows:
Who is the sponsor of this law?
A: No one is the sponsor. Laws are made by following municipal home rule law and that does not provide for a sponsor.
What is the intended purpose of this law?
A: The law will add some new categories for fees to the code as well as additional categories to the existing list of civil penalties in the code.
Why does the Town feel that the current remedies (stop work order and as-built penalty) are insufficient?
A: The as-built penalty does not exist yet but once it has been enacted, the Board hopes that it will be sufficient. John McNamara commented that it seemed to him as though the Town was making it harder for residents to fix up their houses and he doesn’t feel that this is the appropriate time to be adding new fees. Councilmember McMillen responded that the law had come into existence because the Building Inspector had brought to the Board’s attention the fact that there were many properties in Town where the property owner had neverapplied for any kind of permit before doing work to their residence or place of business. When these parcels change hands due to a sale, the mortgage company looks for permits for work done. Councilmember Reichgott added that he understands that the Building Inspector has been going out to inspect properties and when he gets there, no one is home or the work isn’t finished and he has to return at another time.
Councilmember McMillan added that the Town is not looking to make additional revenue, but this is cost recovery for work done by the Building Inspector. Mr. McNamara responded that he hoped the Town would give the Building Inspector some discretion to forego the fees when and if an honest mistake has been made and it is obvious that the property owner is trying to do the right thing.
There were no further comments and the public hearings were closed. Both laws (schedule of fees and civil penalties) were then voted on and passed unanimously. The laws can be found on the Town website at: https://www.tuxedogov.org/town-board/pages/proposed-local-laws
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items: Surplus Police Department and Highway Department Equipment and vehicles – The police have 3 vehicles and the highway department has a truck, 4 generators and a snow thrower, none of which are in good working order. All of these will be put out to bid. This was passed unanimously. NY/NJ Trail Conference Race Permit Approval – The NY/NJ Trail conference is seeking permission to hold a trail race on Saturday, July 31. The race would start and end in Powerhouse Park. A large majority of the race will take place in Harriman Park. All entrants will be preregistered. The Board approved the application unanimously.
Minutes - were unanimously approved.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that there is mulch and compost available at Quarry Field and before long, topsoil will also be available. The highway crew is working on crack sealing in the Hamlet and preparation for the Memorial Day parade. Aside from that, they are maintaining town properties. The department is gearing up for the second round of screening of mulch pile materials starting on June 15.
Lastly, Superintendent Dollbaum noted that Former Highway Superintendent and lifelong Tuxedo resident Charlie Jones had passed away on May 22. Supervisor English led Board in a moment of silence. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum stated that for the Primary Election on June 22, all residents from all election districts will vote in Town Hall. Anyone seeking an absentee ballot can get the application from Town Hall (or the Board of Elections) and then mail it in to the Board of Elections in Goshen,
She also announced that the following week garbage would be collected on a holiday schedule on Tuesday and Friday.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that as part of the police reinvention movement, he had attended a meeting at the Emergency Department in Goshen to learn about the bola wrap, which is a non -lethal restraining device for use by police departments. He also reported having had meetings with Planning Board Chair John Banyo about the proposed secondary entrance to the new Watchtower project (mostly in Rockland County but a small portion is in Tuxedo). He then introduced Claire Dougher, newly appointed Recreation Coordinator who gave a brief update on Summer Camp. A successful meeting with prospective parents of campers was held virtually on Wednesday, May 19. Claire has hired Jhanya Squires to be the Recreation Leader and Morgan Honor to be the Health Director. Plans are for the campers to go the Highlands Natural Pool in Ringwood 2 days a week and spend the rest of the time at Murphy Field. The program will run Monday through Thursday beginning on July 7 and ending on August 12 and will include STEAM activities. Claire is currently interviewing counselors and CITs. The target attendance for this summer will be 60 children with a maximum of 70 children. Parents are encouraged to register their children. Registration must be complete by June 11. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reminded everyone about the Plein Air Event which will take place June 16-18. She added that they had been getting a great response from artists. Next, she proposed June 28 at 6 pm for the public hearing on the annexation of Rattlesnake Mountain Preserve into the Town from the Village of Tuxedo Park. Councilmember Reichgott reported that he has been working with Town Planner Bonny Franson on tweaking the language in the upcoming zoning amendments. He also commented that it’s looking like Verizon is considering siting cell towers along the Thruway rather than in the lot across from the Eagle Valley Firehouse or at Lucky Park. Councilmember McMillen reported that he had a phone conversation with someone from Optimum about getting broadband/internet service for the properties on Contractor’s Road. Optimum said they had not originally planned service for this area because of the restrictions surrounding the overhead wires over the railroad tracks. However, they have now agreed to look into pneumatic “gophering” underneath the railroad tracks. Councilmember McMillen will continue to pursue this issue with Optimum as he feels it is important for an area of Town that is zoned commercial to have this service available. He would also like to see additional options available for all the residents of Town and will look into it as Comcast already has some infrastructure in place in the building across from the former Chase bank and the franchise agreement with Optimum might be coming up soon!
Vouchers were unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Evelyn David commented that she had already heard that the tri-State area is expecting some rather severe storms over the summer and noted that there are some big branches blocking the Ramapo River . She asked if something could be done to remove them. Supervisor English said he would look into this. Irene DeNaro remarked that it was a pleasure to see the Town Board working hard together instead of against each other.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Department Head Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reminded everyone that she and the Tuxedo Park Library are collecting used eyeglasses to be donated to the Lion’s Club. The collection will end on May 18. She also reported having received an application from the NY/NJ Trail Conference for a race to be held on July 30 (set up) and 7/31 (actual race). They have requested permission to use Powerhouse Park where preregistered racers will meet and then start the race which will take place on the trails of Harriman State Park. It would be a non-spectator event. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that mulch, compost and gravel are available for residents in Quarry Field. He advised that the mulch is very hot. The Highway Department has started crack sealing in Eagle Valley. This process will be followed by chip sealing. Once work has been completed in Eagle Valley, the Department will begin working in the downtown area (East Village, the Nursery, Library Road, Store Road, the Circle)
The Superintendent stated that dirt pile remediation will recommence on June 15.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
1-Approval of Tuxedo Farmer’s Market sign permit – This is an annual request and it was approved unanimously. The first day of the market will be June 12.
Discussion Items: Proposed new category of fees for Building Department – Town Attorney Howard Protter explained the process. The goal is to add to the Town code an approved list of fees for permits and/or actions taken by the Building Department. The first step is to amend the law to add new categories such as re-inspections (if the Building Inspector has to visit more than once) and permits issued after work has been completed. The second step will be to establish fees. There will be a public hearing on the proposed law at the next Town Board meeting (May 24).
The Board is proposing to add to the fees section of the local law a section on re-inspections which will add fees each time the Building Inspector must visit a site more than once. They are also adding a section on “As Built Permits” which covers the situation when the work has already been completed at the time a permit is applied for. The fees for re-inspections or as builts will be set in a resolution entitled Civil Penalties. The civil penalty fee work completed without a permit will be $500 with no criminality. The fee for an actual as built permit (needed after the fact) will be $1000 for residential properties and $2000 for commercial properties. The application fee for an as built certificate of occupancy will be $500. In addition, the fee for storage tank inspection after the fact will be $500 (both commercial and residential) and the fee for septic tank inspection after the fact will also be $500. Fire inspection fees after the fact will be $1000. The fees will be in addition to what the permit would have cost had it been applied for before construction. The fees will be set by resolution of the Town Board as opposed to a law and cannot be set until after the law is passed.
Tentative Police Contract
Supervisor English announced that he had received a ratified police contract earlier in the day. The union has agreed to a 5 year deal rather than the usual 1 year agreement. The goal for the police is to be able to “bring back the A line (midnight shift) sometime in the near future. In order to afford this, the Town will be treating new hires slightly differently in terms of their benefits. Step increases will go from 6 years to 10 years. Henceforth, medical benefits for retirees will begin after 20 years not 12. These changes will make hiring 2 additional officers possible.
The ratification was approved unanimously. Proposed Exterior Lighting Local Law discussion was tabled because the law needs further work.
Minutes for April 12 and 19 were approved unanimously.
Vouchers were approved unanimously.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor English introduced his new Secretary, Loraine (Lori) Cosgrove. She comes from Warwick and was most recently office manager and administrative assistant for the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce. Lori started on May 3. Recreation Coordinator, Claire Dougher, also started on May 3. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported on the upcoming Plein Air event noting that they have received registrations from 15 artists and are hoping for 25. Details about the event can be found on the Town website. Presale for compost bins is on-going. The bins are to be picked up on June 12 at the Farmer’s Market when a master farmer from the Cornell Cooperative Extension will be present to talk about how to use them properly. Councilmember Reichgott reported that the bears are out and they’re hungry! They aren’t particularly afraid of humans unfortunately. Councilperson May introduced Sue Scher who said that all the subcommittees from the Police Reinvention Committee have met and shared progress and recommendations. They are currently writing up their findings and recommendations. A subgroup will consolidate all this information into a draft report and develop a power point presentation which will presented at a citizen’s meeting. (possibly the 3rd week in June.)
Public Comments: Evelyn David wondered when the next “climate meeting” would take place. She was told the meeting will be held via WebEx on June 7 at 5:30.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay then called an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel. Supervisor English abstained on this motion and the rest of the Board and Attorney Protter went into a break out room. When they came out, they said the session was to discuss “the employment of persons” and they had no action to take.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 26, 2012 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English began by reporting that he has been in communication with various people at the Renaissance Faire. At this time, there is no date set for reopening, but they expect to have a season this year and are keeping an eye on what is happening with Covid restrictions and regulations in New York state. Moving on to the Recreation Coordinator search, the Supervisor reported that the Town Board had unanimously decided to nominate Tuxedo resident Claire Dougher for this position. As such, her name and application have been submitted to the Orange County Human Resources Department and Civil Service. The Town has not received a decision from either of these departments yet, but they expect to do so very soon. The Supervisor has also been checking in with consultant HES who is working on an analysis at the Highway Department property but to date, a report has not been issued. Additionally, the Supervisor spoke with Assessor Jim Davies to see whether he had heard anything about the Beckman Associates report on the assessment of parklands which was sent to the State, but nothing has been received as yet. The Supervisor regards this as a good sign. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported on Earth Day activities and in particular the webinar organized by the Climate Smart Community Task Force and given by Marisa Kellerhouse from garbage contractor IWS. The biggest take away from the presentation was that just because something is recyclable doesn’t mean that our service will take it away and recycle it. In particular, residents should NOT put glass in their recycle bins or everything will end up in the landfill at a higher cost to the Town. This coming Wednesday, April 28, at 7pm there will be a second webinar presentation on climate science and solutions. Additionally, on the first day of the Farmer’s Market (June12), the Task Force will be offering preorders of composter bins and water barrels for home gardening usage. A Master Gardener from the Cornell Cooperative Extension will be present to educate people about the correct way to use them. The Climate Smart committee is working toward climate smart certification for the Town. Some of the projects to accomplish this will include benchmarking the Town’s greenhouse gas emissions, LED streetlight conversion, solar roof on the highway department, community choice aggregation, community solar and a natural resource inventory (already completed as part of the Comprehensive Plan). The Deputy Supervisor reminded everyone about the Plein Air Event which will take place at the Train Station from June 18 to June 20. In closing she turned to the issue of the summer camp, commenting “I urge residents to learn the facts about how hard we are working to bring the summer camp and rather than falling for misinformation that’s being spread, I just wish they would come to the Town Board meetings, hear what we have to do, how hard we’re working and it’s not something to sow division in the Town over…a summer camp for our children.”
On the topic of Earth Day, Councilmember McMillen commented that, he has been very distressed about the amount of garbage along the Route 17 corridor. He organized some of his friends and they picked up over 45 bags worth of garbage but there is still a lot remaining including a broken down billboard which still sits on the side of the road! He added that he understands the Town used to organize a community cleanup event, which probably isn’t possible due to Covid but wishes something could be done. He feels that the State DOT should bear some responsibility for this but recognizes that no one has had much luck obtaining help from them. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that personnel at the DOT seemed to change somewhat frequently and perhaps it was time to try to talk to them again. Councilmember May said she had recently spoken to someone there in regard to Route 17 construction who had been very helpful and she offered to give Councilmember McMillen his contact information. Supervisor English interjected that he had a complaint from a resident at the Promenade about garbage being strewn by bears on the steep hill between their property and the Circle. The Supervisor spoke with someone at the Promenade and discovered that the property belongs to residents below but when he went to check it out, he discovered that staff from the Promenade, recognizing that it was probably largely their garbage had already cleaned it up! Councilmember May reported that the Police Reinvention Committees are coming to a close. Chairperson Sue Scher said she had sent out a Doodle poll to ascertain everyone’s availability for a final meeting. The four subcommittees will meet together with residents and then the Town Board.
Department Reports: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his crew is set to begin crack sealing and roadwork. They have mulched everything in Town and cleaned up in front of the Train Station. He has been receiving complaints about hikers parking in the East Village, utilizing resident’s driveways or blocking them as well as parking all around the Grove. At the Highway Department, the rock separation which is an ongoing activity, is moving along nicely. Mulch and compost are available at Quarry Field for residents and the Department will continue to fill the bins as they are depleted. (There is no soil being offered at the moment.) Superintendent Dollbaum looked into rehabilitation of the tennis court at Tichy Field and discovered it would be quite expensive. He will pass the quote on to the Board. He reported having quite a surplus of salt after the winter and would like to discuss this with the Board as he will have to put in his order for next year’s salt by the end of the week. Councilmember May wondered if some kind of refuse bins could be placed in Powerhouse Park to collect garbage from hikers returning from the woods. There ensued a discussion about whether or not the Town wanted to have bins which would attract bears and might also be used by people driving up and down Route 17. Former Clerk Donna Matthew pointed out that there were 2 cans in the fisherman’s parking lot and the Board considered the idea of putting more cans at Powerhouse and at trailheads. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the recycling seminar from Earth Day will be posted on the Town’s You Tube channel. She has reached out to IWS about providing stickers for recycling cans.
Additionally, she reported that resources for veterans and seniors have been added to the Town website.
With regard to parking issues in the East Village, Police Lieutenant Norton commented that Grove Drive is the only street that has a parking restriction in the Town Code. Since there is nothing in the code for any other streets, he feels this needs to be addressed. He also reported that the department has lost a patrol car due to a blown engine and that they will be purchasing a new one to replace it via state bids.
There were no discussions listed on the agenda, but Deputy Supervisor Lindsay said that a priority for the next meeting would be setting up projects to be funded by federal covid funds. This will involve finding out what types of projects are permitted and the Deputy Supervisor has discovered that there will be an upcoming webinar from the Association of Towns on 5/19 and 5/20 which addresses exactly this subject.
Vouchers were approved.
Public Comments: Evelyn David wondered if the stickers for recycling cans could be made available at the Library and Post Office as well as Town Hall. She was told the Board would reach out to the Library and Post Office to see if they would be agreeable to having stickers there for residents to pick up. Rob Dollbaum commented that the properties along Contractor’s Road have never been equipped with cable and that all the businesses there want it so that they can upgrade their internet connections from dial up. Apparently, Cablevision is balking at installing it. Councilmember McMillen volunteered to take this on.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm. All members were present.
The first part of the meeting was a workshop on the zoning code. After a short break, the Board moved on to Agenda Items.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to appoint Office and Recreation Coordinator – The Board appointed Claire Dougher to this position. The appointment was approved unanimously.
Resolution to appoint Secretary to Supervisor – The Board appointed Lorraine Cosgrove to this position. The appointment was approved unanimously.
Other Business: Tuxedo Art Event:
The budget for the Plein Air Event now scheduled for June 16-June 20 was presented. Briefly, it was explained that the expenses for this event are estimated to be $5,250. The income will be comprised of money from a grant which the Library got ($1,000), Registration fees from artists (estimated at $500) Sponsorships estimated at $1000, commissions from sale of paintings (estimated at $250). The Town also has access to money from a grant received last year for tourism which was never used. They plan to use $2500 of the $5000 grant total to close the gap between expenses and Income.
The meeting adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss employment practices and compliance.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 12, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announcing the following events which will take place around Earth Day:
A webinar for the 9th Grade Science Class at George F. Baker High and TPS 8th Grade students about recycling. This will take place during the academic day on April 22 (Earth Day). The webinar will be repeated at 7pm that evening via the Town’s WebEx for residents.
A webinar by See Change Conversations which is a look at climate change and various solutions will be offered via WebEx on April 28 at 7 pm.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Frank Peverly formally acknowledged retiring Zoning Board member George Langberg and thanked him for his years of service.
Agenda Items:
2020 Stop-DWI Intermunicipal Agreement with Orange County – This is an annual enforcement effort by the County and many of its municipalities.
Accept resignation of Zoning Board of Appeals member – Member George Langberg has sold his property in Town and is no longer eligible to serve on the Board.
Appointment of Zoning Board of Appeals member – Omar Delgado who has been serving as the alternate member of the Board was appointed to the seat.
Petition of relief from Building Moratorium law – Vishal Taneja – Mr. Taneja has recently taken over the building of the proposed project at the Gulf Station property from SOS Fuels. The plan, which has been presented to the Planning Board, is the exact same plan as proposed by SOS. The petition was passed unanimously.
Adopt updated changes to Building Department fees – The Board reviewed changes made to the proposed fees for the Building Department. This will be sent to the Town’s attorneys to be incorporated in a local law and the public will be invited to comment at a public hearing.
Discussion Item:
Town Board priorities for the upcoming year. The Supervisor and Board presented their individual priorities. Supervisor English stated that his priorities include:
Tuxedo Farms – getting it started
The police contract (which expired in December—due for mediation on
May 11)
The police reform initiative
The sewer plant
Cleaning up the dirt pile at the Highway Garage
Powerhouse Park
Approving the Zoning Code
Reorganization of the Recreation Department
The Highway workers contract
Climate Smart initiatives
Cell Tower placements
Train Station renovations Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that some of her priorities are:
A vision for Tuxedo Development/ Realizing the vision of Tuxedo
Revision of the Zoning Code (including floating zones)
To Support revision of the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit
Tax Revitalization
Bringing the Tuxedo Farms LDC into compliance and figuring out what to do with the money there
The Economic Development Committee
The Plein Air Event in June
Asking the County for more money (another $5,000) to put toward encouraging tourism Councilmember Reichgott stated that in his opinion completing the zoning code amendments and formally adopting them is the most important task Councilmember McMillan agreed that the zoning is priority number one.. He added that most of the other things that had been mentioned were important but in his view many of them are static issues. For example, he would love to see Tuxedo Farms get started but there are issues there that are beyond the Town’s control. Councilmember May stated that she felt the most important issues needing immediate attention are:
The Recreation Department and plans
The Police contract and reinvention
Zoning
Everything else mentioned by the other members of the Board needs attention but is, in her opinion, less immediate. She believes that the climate smart stuff is important because the new federal administration seems ready to invest in infrastructure and she feels the Town needs to be ready to take advantage of that windfall. Supervisor English summed up the discussion saying that zoning is everyone’s priority. Also, Recreation is a priority because of timing as they are trying to get a summer program going. In addition, the clean up of the Long Meadow Road property needs to be a priority. Bringing the sewer plant on line is also an important goal. The Town has determined that there is no legal reason why this can’t be done by July 1. Getting the Tuxedo Reserve project going is very important. Andrew Dance is leaving Related and the Board is waiting to hear who his replacement will be. They want to work with whoever it is to make things happen. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that she would like to see the upcoming zoning workshop (Monday, April 19) be the last of its kind and hopes they can set a date for a public hearing. Town Attorney Protter interjected that he will need all of the comments and proposed changes forwarded to him so that he can put together a law for the public hearing. He will need some turnaround time to accomplish this. He asked that the Board forward everything they have currently completed so he can get started on putting the law together.
Supervisor’s Update:
Supervisor English reiterated several things that he has been working on mentioning the Recreation reorganization, the Superintendent’s Secretary Search, the LDC meeting, the DEC Long Meadow Road cleanup project, the Sewer Plant, police reinvention and reform initiative and a solar project for the highway garage. Councilmember May thanked everyone who’s been working on the police reinvention and reform initiative. They are working toward a public report in May. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay agreed saying that the committee she’s been working on is doing great work and they hope to have something to present soon. Councilmember Reichgott stated that there was nothing new to report on the search for possible cell towers near the Thruway, however another consultant, who is also working with Verizon, is now looking into locating a tower in the Eagle Valley area possibly near the Firehouse. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay made a motion that the Town pay the firm Iclei $300 for the software to help with the climate smart initiative. It will be shared with the Village of Tuxedo Park who is also part of the Climate Smart Committee. It was passed unanimously.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that it is now fishing season and if anyone needs a license, they should come into her office. She also has updated Fishing Guides from the DEC. Additionally, she reported that together with the Tuxedo Park Library, she is collecting old eyeglasses both prescription and non-prescription as well as sunglasses. They will be donated to the Lion’s Club.
The minutes were approved and the vouchers were discussed and approved.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola asked about the progress with the Post Office parking lot. He was told that they are still interested but all are waiting until they get the Town Center plans.
There was no other business and the meeting was adjourned at 9:44 pm.
The Town Board held a special meeting on Monday, April 5, 2021 art 6:30 pm. All members were present.
The purpose of the meeting was to focus on the steps the Town Board is taking to fill the Recreation Coordinator position and review the research that is being done to prepare a plan for a summer camp.
Supervisor English opened the meeting by stating that the intent of the meeting was to “build background knowledge,” and that it would only last an hour as the Board had scheduled interviews for two potential Recreation Coordinators commencing at 7:30.
A review of the 2019 camp packet ensued.
The Board was uncertain as to where the summer camp would take place and how many busses would be needed or if the school would be willing to let the Town use their busses. They also did not know what, if any restrictions would be in place for busses or any of the potential trip destinations in terms of Covid. They were also unsure as to whether or not the camp could legally accept campers who don’t reside in Town and/or if they do, whether the fee would be the same for both residents and non-residents. Hopefully, answers to these and many other questions will be forthcoming soon. It was noted that once a Recreation Coordinator had been hired, that person would be responsible for hiring any and all staff. Other staff that they will be looking for include a Recreation Leader, Camp Health Director and Recreation Aids (similar to counselors). Councilmember McMillan commented that he hoped the Board would give great consideration to people who had previously worked at the camp. The Board mentioned they have already had many applications for jobs and Councilmember May added that to date all of them are from people who have formerly worked at the camp.
The meeting was adjourned promptly at 7:30. The interviews were not open to the public and were held in break out rooms.
The Town of Tuxedo is Hiring a Secretary to the Town Supervisor, Ken English
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES:
Produces letters, memos, reports, and other materials, some of which may be confidential;
Serves as a receptionist, handles routine problems, screens and logs calls, receives visitors;
Opens and screens mail; answers mail independently or routes it with background data;
Maintains general and confidential files including personnel records, processes invoices;
Office management, ordering supplies, scheduling minor building repairs, monitoring service contracts;
Alerts Supervisor to statutory deadlines, official commitments, actions promised or expected;
Schedules and organizes arrangements for conferences and meetings;
May supervise assigned clerical personnel.
The position requires independent judgment, initiative and confidentiality. The ideal candidate should have proficiency in typical office suite software (Google suite / Microsoft 365) that includes document processing, and maintenance of social media accounts. Knowledge and experience in Town government is preferred. $32.37 per hour / 30 hours per week (1560 hours annually) for $50,497.20.
Please fill out the application and submit to townclerk@tuxedogov.org or bring to the Town Clerk's office on the 1st floor of Town Hall. The application can be found here.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 22, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. Councilmember May was absent.
The meeting began with a short report from Highway Superintendent Dollbaum who said he had heard from the MTA and they are planning to put in a new grade crossing in the East Village next Fall. They are currently aiming for either September 9 or 16. In order to do the work, they will need to shut the road down for one day (a Saturday) and will make “alternate arrangements” for people coming in and out of the East Village.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Item:
1-Extension of Building Moratorium – this is the 2nd extension of the current moratorium and it is being enacted because the Board is not ready to enact the zoning code changes called for in the current Comprehensive Plan. The extension is for 3 months.
Councilmember McMillen noted that the resolution stated that the original moratorium was for 6 months with 2 options to extend for 3-month periods, which adds up to a year. He wondered how they had been able to maintain it for far longer than that? Town Attorney Howard Protter responded that this wasn’t the first resolution that had been passed pertaining to the moratorium. The current extension was passed last June, but there had been several similar resolutions enacted beforehand. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay further commented that the Board hoped to start public hearings on the zoning code updates soon. The extension was passed unanimously.
Discussion Items:
Review of Building Dept. Inspection Fees- The main impetus behind this discussion was a request from Building Inspector Maikisch for the Board to update the policy on “as built” permits. These occur when residents don’t obtain the required building permits, instead doing whatever construction they want to their houses. Then, when they go to sell the house, they find they are legally required to have a permit for work done, so they go to the Town for said permit. Currently, the cost for these permits is the same as the price of a regular building permit. The Building Inspector and Town Board feel there should be a penalty fee involved so as to encourage people to get and pay for building permits at the time of. This would make it possible for the Town to raise assessments accordingly so that the proper amount of taxes is paid. Currently, if a project is unpermitted, there is no mechanism for reassessment and the Town is loses money in the form of taxes. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that Town Attorney Protter would put together draft legislation for the next meeting. The Board is proposing that a period of amnesty be included where residents could come forward and list all the improvements done to their property without permit and not have to face a penalty. This period would last until October 31, 2021. After that time, if a resident requests an as built permit (in order to sell their house) there would be a fee of $1500 plus a civil penalty of $500 for a total cost of $2000. If, however, the resident applies during the amnesty period, they would only have to pay whatever the original permit would have cost. Next, the Board went through a laundry list of other existing building fees and discussed their thoughts on what the fees should be so that the Attorney can incorporate those into the draft legislation as well.
Review of draft laws for garbage and lighting regulations – The review of the garbage was motivated by multiple complaints that people have been leaving their garbage cans out for too long. Building Inspector Maikisch suggested that the law be amended to say that cans had to be brought inside or at least away from the curb for the weekend. Councilmember McMillen wondered how this would be enforced. The Building Inspector responded that he would start by speaking to people who were leaving cans out and/or leaving a note stating that residents were required to take cans in for the weekend. Then, if people still left cans out, he would use “whatever power he had” to make them do it (give them a ticket, impose a fine, etc.). Supervisor English commented that he thought the garbage law needed to be divided between residential and commercial with different rules for each. The proposed law suggests that cans cannot be put out before 5 pm the night before a pickup and must be removed to a location not visible from the street within 12 hours of being emptied. A long discussion ensued about what people would do if they were going away for the weekend. Ultimately it was suggested that if people weren’t going to be home, they would need to ask a neighbor to take the cans in for them. Also, the legislation will include language indicating that if animals spread garbage around, the home owner is responsible for cleaning it up. The penalty for not following the garbage rules would be a civil penalty. The Board decided once the amended legislation had been drafted, there should be a public hearing so they could hear what the public had to say or might suggest. Bulk pickup will be discussed at the next meeting. People are putting out much too much garbage for bulk pickup and it looks like they are putting it out for other people. Garbage must be that which is generated by the household. The Board also decided to wait and discuss lighting regulations at the next meeting.
Update on Reorganization of the Recreation Program – as was discussed at the March 8 Town Board meeting, the Board interviewed Shari Brooks for a part-time recreation position on March 11. The Town had worked with civil service to put together a job description and that called for the candidate to be available and on-site during camp hours. (Click here to see the job description) Since Mrs. Brooks has now taken a full-time, permanent job, she is unable to fulfill the requirement for being present during the camp day. The job has been posted on the Town website and will be posted elsewhere if there hasn’t been a hire by the end of the week. The Board is asking parents in the community to speak up and give their input on this subject. Councilmember McMillen commented that he feels that the work/life balance for employees of Town Hall has eroded. He added that he hoped the Board could find a way to work with Shari and see if there might be a way to bring her in, perhaps as a consultant, so that the Town can have the advantage of her many years of experience. The Supervisor defended the Board’s having decided to work within the rules of civil service. Councilmember McMillen said he thought the Board needed to have a back up plan in case they didn’t get any desirable applicants. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that she had seen an article in the Times Herald Record about a camp in Port Jervis that is being sold and therefore all the people who worked there will be out of their jobs. She suggested perhaps some of them would be candidates for the Tuxedo camp.
The public was then asked for their comments. Sue Scher said she had 3 concerns: 1-she didn’t see any mention of the Recreation Advisory Committee in the plan for a “recreation coordinator.” 2-she feels that a Town Recreation Program needs to include activities for adults and seniors as well as children and she sees no plans for that and 3- she feels that the requirement of a high school diploma or equivalency is not enough to take on the responsibilities that being asked of the Recreation Coordinator.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that he had attended a Clean Energy Climate Smart Task Force meeting as well as an Orange County Task Force meeting and a Clean Energy meeting hosted by Deputy Supervisor Lindsay. He applauded the Deputy Supervisor for doing the work to move forward with these initiatives, which could lead to funding for the Town as well as major cost-saving improvements. He further reported that had attended a press conference and meeting with Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney regarding the American Rescue Plan. He learned that the Town of Tuxedo will receive a total of $391,605 to be shared with the Village of Tuxedo Park. Details on this will be coming soon.
The Town Board had a consultation with Attorney Howard Protter on setting up a discussion with the Related Group, and specifically Andrew Dance, with the intent of reviving the Tuxedo Farms project. It is expected that a major builder for the project will be announced soon.
The DEC has finally given permission to move ahead with the sampling process on the dirt pile at the highway garage.
Next, Supervisor English reminded everyone that the final Police Reinvention meeting would take place on Wednesday, March 24 at 6:30 via WebEx.
Finally, he announced that the Town needed to have a staff training session for all employees to formalize the procedures and process manuals. This is being scheduled for Friday, April 2 and will be led by Labor Consultant Michael Richardson. Depupty Supervisor Lindsay reported that the Climate Smart Task Force was sponsoring 3 events in April:
A webinar for science classes given by IWS and held during the day covering reducing, reusing and recycling.
A webinar with IWS at night on recycling including an update on what’s happening within the field of recycling
A webinar call See Change Conversations on April 28 which will explain the causes of climate change and the solutions we can look forward to.
She also updated the Board on the plans for the Plein Air Art and Concert events. They are still working on getting letters out to potential sponsors. She remarked that the June date was dependent on being able to have more than 200 people and since no one knows whether that will be permitted or what the State government will do, there will be a clause in all letters and contracts that lists an alternate date. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum gave an update on Covid vaccinations. These are now being given at SUNY Orange in Middletown as well as the other County sites. Appointments can be booked through the Am I Eligible section on the County website and are readily available. Orange County will also be opening a “Super POD” for vaccines in Goshen and appointments for this new location will also be available on their website. As soon as it is up and running, she will post a link. Finally, she reported that she had been trained in Nixle so there is now another way to consistently get important news to residents.
The minutes for the March 8 meeting were approved.
Vouchers were approved.
Public Comments: Evelyn David got to the meeting late and missed the report of the MTA’s plan to upgrade the railroad crossing in September. Supervisor English gave a recap of what the Board knows so far. Sue Scher commented that 97 people have answered the survey on the Police Initiative.
Other Business: Supervisor English reiterated that the meeting for all Town employees to go over and explain the Employees manuals would be held via WebEx at 10 am on Friday, April 2nd. All Town employees, including elected officials are expected to attend.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 8, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Reorganization of Recreation Program – Supervisor English explained that when the Board was putting together their annual reorganization, they had discovered that it was illegal for one person to hold both the Supervisor’s Secretary and Recreation Director positions. In order to bring these positions into compliance, the Supervisor worked with Labor Consultant Michael Richardson as well as Civil Service. Through this process they leanred that the position of Recreation Director position could include some clerical work, but not the Supervisor’s Secretary work. The newly defined position was offered to Shari Brooks, who had held both positions for a number of years, but the salary for the clerical part of the new position was lower than what she had been receiving for both jobs previously and ultimately she declined the offer. She then applied for a part time Recreation Director position. The Board is committed to continuing the Town Summer Camp as well as various Recreation events throughout the year so they will be meeting with Shari to discuss the responsibilities of the job. All members of the Board expressed support for Mrs. Brooks.
The Supervisor further noted that as part of the General Town Reorganization, the Town would be returning to a standard work 5-day week (as opposed to the 4 days a week that workers at Town Hall have been working). This is a requirement in order to meet New York State retirement laws. A time clock has been installed in both the Town Hall and Police Department. The Supervisor said that the staff has all been very cooperative.
Appointment of Planning Board Member – Since it has been discovered that Planning Board Member Darren Maynard has sold his residence and moved out of state, he is no longer eligible to serve on the Planning Board. The Town Board voted to remove Mr. Maynard from the Board after which they voted unanimously in favor of appointing Kristy Apostolides to replace him.
Approval of additional work hours for Clerk to Town Justice, Patricia Marsh – There is a real back log of work in the Town Justice department due to Covid-19 and the fact that the court was open and then closed and is now open again. The additional hours (2 hours per week) were requested by Justice Alyse McCathern. There was some discussion as to whether or not the addition of these two hours would make Ms. Marsh eligible for benefits. Ultimately, the motion was tabled until the next meeting while this is researched.
Approval of temporary help for Town Assessor, Jim Davies – The Assessor is working hard on the assessment roll and needs some clerical help. The Board approved the request unanimously. It is a civil service position.
Approval of Highway Department Employee promotions (Shane Smith –Laborer and James Klein – Motor E quipment Operator) These promotions are at the request of the Superintendent of Highways and were approved by the Boarf unanimously. Superintendent Dollbaum commented that the promotions were coming at a good time as there are several members of the department who will shortly be eligible for retirement and he feels it’s important that they bring new young members in now while they can learn from the veteran employees.
The minutes for the February 22 Town Board meeting were accepted.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor English reported that he had made a site visit to the existing sewer plant with a representative of the DEC. They found that the plant is still meeting the requirements, although it is in bad shape. The LDC continues to meet with Related in an effort to work out a deal that will allow the new plant to open.
Next, the Supervisor reported that the Police Reform Reinvention was working hard under the supervision of Sue Scher, Councilmember May and Hallie Gaines. They have organized into four subcommittees:
Police Department Staffing Policies and Practices
Racism and Justice issues
Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence issues
Putting together a survey for the community about what people want to see in the department
If there are any residents who would like to get involved with the initiative, they should contact Sue Scher who will align them with committee of their choice.
Finally, the Supervisor announced that the next meeting of the Tuxedo Farms LDC (oversees the new sewer plant) will take place on March 18 at 10 am. Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported on the upcoming Tuxedo Art & Music Event being planned by the P.O.R.E. committee for mid-June. There will be sponsorships available and the committee is hoping to run the events with money from these sponsorships and ticket sales and without the use of taxpayer money.
Town Board zoning workshops will be taking place on the first and third Monday of each month. The next one will be on March 15 at 6:30 via WebEx. The goal is to compile all the changes to the Zoning law from the new Comprehensive Plan and then move towards public hearings.
The Deputy Supervisor has also been working hard on the Climate Smart Committee. Some of the things that that committee is working on are Energy Code Enforcement training, a unified solar permit, and bringing Science of Climate Change and Recycling webinars to Tuxedo. Councilmember May reported as liaison to the Tuxedo Park Library. The Library is working on their strategic plan, They are also developing a community survey. Councilmember Reichgott stated that he has been in touch with Verizon who is looking for a spot to place a celltower along the Route 17/Thruway corridor. After receiving several inquiries from residents about the possibility of bringing Fios to Town, he discovered that in order for Verizon to offer FIOS, fiber optic cables are required. The Town does not currently have fiber optic cables and Verizon has no immediate plans to install them.
Vouchers were signed
Monthly Reports: Justice Department reported amounts of $28,910 (Justice McCathern) and $24,612 (Justice Brown) submitted to the Town. Police Department – Supervisor English read the Police Report, which included several incidences of mental health related issues including a suicide and a disoriented driver. The department also assisted both the New York State Police with a baby who had stopped breathing and the Village of Tuxedo Park Police with a traffic stop. Additionally, there were countless snow storm related incidences. Planning Board Chairman John Banyo gave a report on the Watchtower application proposed for the south side of Sterling Mine Road. All but 7 acres of this project are in the Town of Ramapo. The Town of Tuxedo Planning Board has been given the opportunity to comment on the application and as such has put concerns (about traffic and noise) into the scoping document for the project. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported on the availability of Covid vaccines. Building Inspector Dave Maikisch spoke on his recommendations for adjusting the fees on as built permits in Town. This is when work is done without a permit and discovered only when the property changes hands and needs a certificate of occupancy. Town Attorney Howard Protter acknowledged that he had worked on a proposal for this, which has never been acted on. He said he would check his files and report back on this at the next meeting. On another note, Supervisor English reported that the Board is still working on the outdoor lighting issue as well as garbage cans being left out for too long.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola inquired about the consequences of improvements made to property long ago before some permit requirements were part of the law. He was told that if the improvements were made before permits were required, then they would not be considered illegal. Superintendent of Highways Rob Dollbaum thanked the Board for the new Department employees. They have been busy with tree trimming, which will continue until the end of March when road work will commence. He also reported that good progress is being made on the rock pile at the Highway Department.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 22, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor Ken English began the meeting by announcing that on this day, the US had reached the “milestone” of 500,000 deaths from Covid-19. He then paused for a moment of silence in memory of all those who have died from the disease.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Mary Graetzer asked if someone would please identify which parts of the LDC bylaws were being changed or removed. She was told that the Board was not making any changes to the bylaws but that it had been provided just as a courtesy for background information.
Agenda Items:
Reorganization of the Tuxedo Local Development Corporation – Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that this LDC was established as part of the Special Permit grant to Related Companies for building Tuxedo Reserve (or Tuxedo Farms). It is separate from the one running the sewer plant. The LDCs purpose was to fund revitalization of the Town’s Hamlet business district. The Permit set up a Board of Directors to consist of two members of the Town Board, one member of the Planning Board, one representative from the institutional lender who is funding the loan funds and one member designated by Tuxedo Reserve. The terms for the Directors are for one year. The Board would like to have this become part of the annual Reorganization process. For this year, Supervisor English has proposed making himself and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay (who will be replacing former Deputy Supervisor McMillen) as the representatives of the Town Board Directors and Planning Board Chair John Banyo (replacing Mike Reardon). Councilmember Reichgott suggested reappointing Councilmember McMillen since he was already familiar with the work of this board and also doesn’t have as many duties and responsibilities as Deputy Supervisor Lindsay, however, when the vote was taken, the Supervisor’s proposal was unanimously approved. Following the vote, the Supervisor indicated that it was his understanding that historically Woodlands resident Frank Peverly had also served on the LDC Board, but, as Frank is not a member of either the Town Board or the Planning Board, he was unclear as to why he had been involved. Councilmember McMillen noted that although he was uncertain as to the origin of Mr. Peverly’s involvement, none of the associated attorneys LDC Board had ever objected to his membership on the Board. Supervisor English reiterated that he felt they should be following the bylaws to the letter,” thus they approved the slate without the addition of Mr. Peverly.
Presentation:
Town of Tuxedo Building Department/Code Enforcement Officer – Fire Inspection Process – Building Inspector Dave Maikisch gave a presentation detailing the various requirements associated with a fire safety inspection. He has a check-list that he abides by for each inspection in order to make sure that the structure in question is free of any potential hazards. He has suggested that the Town consider updating their fees and it was agreed that he and The Supervisor would meet and to put together a suggested list of these updates.
Minutes - The minutes for the Town Board meeting of February 8 were accepted unanimously.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English reported that a draft MOU (memorandum of understanding) regarding the Fire Department’s use of Quarry Field for training purposes had been submitted to Gardiner Hempel for review. The next step will be to schedule a meeting with Mr. Hempel and the other Fire Commissioners in order to finalize the details of the MOU.
The Supervisor also announced that the final meeting of the Tuxedo Police Reinvention Committee will be held on Wednesday, February 24 at 7 pm. The meeting will be held via WebEx and interested residents can attend by clicking on the WebEx emoji on the Town website. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has been working on the Climate Smart Community Task Force. The next meeting, held jointly with the Tuxedo Park Climate Smart Committee will be on Monday, March 1 at 5:30 via WebEx. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has identified a webinar which she thinks is interesting and informative called the Sea Change Conversation. Since there is a charge of $300 to set up this webinar, she will be looking to the Village and the Tuxedo Park Library as well as TPS and George F. Baker High School to see if they will cosponsor this event.
She is also looking into recycling and composting with IWS.
Finally, the Deputy Supervisor commented that she was looking for feedback from Town Board members about the proposed Plein Air Event/Concert which had been proposed at the previous Town Board meeting. Supervisor English responded that there was no way to know what would be happening with Covid and the associated restrictions at the time the event has been proposed, although the Plein Air Event should be Covid friendly. As far as concerts are concerned, he feels the main focus should be on entertainment for the residents and not on selling tickets. He thinks we should be looking into what the towns of Monroe and Greenwood Lake do with similar events. Councilmember Reichgott commented that he wasn’t sure about spending Town funds on the event without a more detailed budget. He believes that spending grant money on the event would be acceptable. He also wondered if LDC money might be available. Town Attorney Protter responded that the LDC money was only for improvements to the Hamlet business district. Councilmember May commented that she thought it was fantastic that so many people were willing to work so hard on an event of this kind and that she felt everyone should support them. Councilmember McMillen expressed some concern, further noting that it was hard to successfully run events at Powehouse Park without support of anyone, including the government. He is torn. He agrees with the Supervisor in that the event should be primarily for the residents to enjoy. He also feels that it might be appropriate for the LDC as it would benefit the Hamlet. Councilmember Reichgott reported that consultant HES has put together a work plan for the dirt pile and it has been submitted to the DEC.
He further reported having investigated some of the questions brought forward by concerned residents at the previous meeting regarding the recent water main break. Specifically, residents wanted to know why a boil water order had been issued when there hadn’t been one in previous breaks. He learned that the protocol is quite involved and takes into account many different factors of the break. A boil water order is not always necessary. He further inquired as to whether there were any plans for a complete replacement of the antiquated pipes in the system and was told that, like in most water systems, this was a complicated and very expensive proposition. At this time, the Village Water Company has no plans for replacement, working instead on a-repair-as-required premise as most water companies do. Councilman Reichgott also reiterated that the water company is run by the Village and as such the Town Board has no control over how it is run. Supervisor English added that if water company customers weren’t signed up for Nixle alerts or hadn’t added their email addresses to the Town Clerk’s email list (both available on the Town website) then those customers would not receive alerts. Residents need to sign up for with these services in order to receive notifications. Councilmember May reported that she had attended two days of the training offered by the Association of Towns. Her focus was on grants. She also gave great thanks to all the members of the Highway Department for the way they handled the recent snow storms. Councilmember McMillen spoke about Nixle, the emergency alert software utilized by the Town. He put together a video focused on how the software is run and circulated it to all Board members. It is his opinion that the video should also be shared with the Police Department and the Town Clerk. Historically, Councilman McMillan has been the only one with access howeber with the last water main break, he was away for the weekend and thus didn’t get the information, which is why there was no Nixle communication. He also residents to sign up for the alerts which is easy to do on the Town website.
Town Attorney Protter suggested it was probably a good time to revisit the Town’s emergency management plan and to include Nixle in this plan.
Vouchers were then approved.
Monthly Reports: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that she had been able to attend some of the Association of Towns webinars. The two she found most helpful were for tax collection and records management. She also went through some of the phone numbers for residents to call for information pertaining to Covid vaccines. She provided numbers for both the NYS Vaccine Hotline (833-697-4829) and the Orange County Office of the Aging (845-615-3700). Police Department – Lt. Norton cautioned residents to drive slowly and with caution during the snowstorms. He volunteered to speak with Orange County 911 about helping with the Nixle alerts. Building Inspector Maikisch noted that he had received a lot of complaints about outdoor lighting from various neighbors around Town and requested that the Board consider passing legislation regulating these lights. Further, people not bringing their garbage cans in at a reasonable time has also been the subject of many recent complaints. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was still tree trimming in between snow storms. Additionally, he would like to discuss adding solar to the Highway Garage – something that was approved a few years ago, but the Town had been unable to obtain financing for it. He feels it might be worth trying again. Councilmember McMillen inquired about plans for a cell tower in Lucky Park. Councilmember Reichgott responded that he has had some contact with Verizon but there are no plans as yet. Verizon would like a site on the Route 17 corridor so Lucky Park looks good to them.
Public Comments: Evelyn David asked for an update on the emergency plan at the Arden dam. Councilmember Reichgott told her that there is no update as yet, but when there was it would come through the Planning Board. Elyse Fuller thanked everyone for following up on the water and the associated communications issues. Next, she expressed support for the Recreation Summer Camp. She understands that Shari Brooks is no longer working for the Town but she hopes the Board will fill the position so that the camp can continue. Jerry Mottola inquired about the Red Apple property and code enforcement. Building Inspector Maikisch responded that it’s a vacant building with a fence around it so it’s not endangering anyone. Councilmember McMillen wondered why the building hadn’t been condemned. He was told that the only thing that might have condemned it was the roof and the owners repaired that. Town Attorney Protter pointed out that property gets condemned when it presents a hazard to the owners or occupants. This property has been secured against that. He added that whether or not it conforms with property maintenance ordinances is something that can be looked into. Councilmember McMillen replied that he felt the condition of the property, while it might be “safe” certainly affected the value of the properties around it. Mr. Protter responded that this was a good point and that he would get together with the Building Inspector in an effort to determine if there was something that could be done. The Supervisor wondered if anyone had tried having a conversation with the property owner, suggesting that he would like to try.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 8, 2021 at 7 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The Board went immediately into an Executive Session with labor consultant Michael Richardson to discuss the police contract. When they returned, Supervisor Ken English outlined the tentative agreement as follows:
The “A Line” (11pm-7am shift) will be re-established for full overnight coverage. New officers will be hired to fill the line and thus downplay the use of overtime.
A career path for new officers will be created which will increase the current path from 6 years to 10 years.
“Certain negotiated changes” will be added to benefits for new officers.
The Supervisor explained that they are proposing a “tentative agreement,” which they will be presenting to the public at a later date. Next, it needs to be re-presented to the union after which they hope to have a formal agreement. The Board then voted on a resolution to ratify the tentative agreement and authorize the Supervisor to sign it. It passed unanimously.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none
Agenda Items:
Police contract – see above
Fire District M.O.U. (Memo of Understanding) This is a proposal for an agreement for the Fire Department to be able to use Quarry Field for training exercises. Following the Board review, the proposal will be presented to the Fire District for their approval.
Board of Assessment Review, Planning and Zoning Board member appointments – The following appointments were made:
Board of Assessment Review – Ed Brennan was reappointed as Chairmen with a term from 10/1/20 – 9/30/25; Michael Witt was appointed with a term from 2/8/21-9/30/24. Additionally, terms for current members Gary Phelps and Marie Warniaha were adjusted to end on 9/30/21. Zoning Board – Frank Peverly was reappointed as Chairman with a term of 1/1/21-12/31/25; Omar Delgado was appointed as Alternate Member with a term of 2/8/21-12/31/21. Planning Board – William Friedlich was reappointed with a term of 1/1/21-12/31/25; Ned Kugel was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Mike Reardon with a term of 2/8/21-12/31/21.
New York State Local Retirement System Standard Work Day
Presentations: Watchtower representative, Ted Hoffman, to propose assistance with dirt pile remediation – The Watchtower is proposing to send people to operate the machinery as it sifts through the dirt pile when this work recommences in the Spring. There was some discussion about the project, largely concerning the equipment which the Town will be providing for the work and the cleaning to be done on it and around the site due to Covid precautions.
“Plein Air” Art and Concert Town Event Information by the P.O.R.E. Committee (Parks, Outdoor Recreation & Events), Deirdre Murphy. This will be a 3-day/2-part event which aims to attract both people and attention to Tuxedo and all it has to offer.
The Art part of this event will be a “Plein Air” event. The Committee will invite 20-30 artists within the Hudson Valley to come and paint at 15-20 designated sites which will be divided between 3 different themes: landscapes, water and architecture. The finished paintings will be exhibited in the train station and will be for sale with a 25% commission on sales going to the Town. The exhibit will be an event with prizes given to the winning artists in the different categories and all paintings for sale.
A music concert at Powerhouse Park will follow on the next day. The concert will feature approximately 5 local bands “with a follo“Plein Air” Art and Concert Town Event Information by the P.O.R.E. Committee (Parks, Outdoor Recreation & Events), Deirdre Murphy. This will be a 3-day/2-part event which aims to attract both people and attention to Tuxedo and all it has to offer.
The Art part of this event will be a “Plein Air” event. The Committee will invite 20-30 artists within the Hudson Valley to come and paint at 15-20 designated sites which will be divided between 3 different themes: landscapes, water and architecture. The finished paintings will be exhibited in the train station and will be for sale with a 25% commission on sales going to the Town. The exhibit will be an event with prizes given to the winning artists in the different categories and all paintings for sale.
A music concert at Powerhouse Park will follow on the next day. The concert will feature approximately 5 local bands “with a following” and a wide variety of food trucks.
The budget for the proposed event is as follows: $22,500 for the music portion of the event and $4000 for the art portion. The income projection for the event is $15,500. The proposal is for the Town to cover any shortfall. Projected dates are either June, 2021 or Labor Day depending on what’s happening with Covid.
Supervisor/Town Board Updates: Supervisor English began his update by announcing that while working on the Reorganization document for 2021, it had been discovered that it would not be permissible under Civil Service regulations for one person to hold both the Recreation Coordinator and Supervisor’s secretary positions. However, since the Recreation job is mostly seasonal, it would be acceptable to combine that position with some sort of clerical work. The Supervisor offered that position to former Recreation Coodinator/Supervisor’s Secretary Shari Brooks, but she has turned the job down and has subsequently left the employ of the Town. Supervisor English wished her well, further noting that she had done excellent work for the Town in both positions. He added that they had not yet decided how to move forward with these positions. Next, the Supervisor announced that the annual meeting of the Tuxedo Farms LDC (sewer plant) would be held on Wednesday, Feb 17 at 10 am. Lastly, he reported that the next meeting for the police reinvention committee would take place on February 24 at 6:30pm. Notices will be sent out. The final meeting of that committee will be on March 24. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she has been working with Town Attorney Marissa Weiss on the Town Village Consolidation Summary and she feels they are ready to send it to the Town Board members for their review. After the Board has reviewed the document, it will go on the Town website. Additionally, she reported that she had been working on the Climate Smart Community Task Force. Committee meetings via WebEx will commence shortly and will take place on the first Monday of the month at 5:30 pm. The Task Force can earn points via education projects and she has found a presentation on the science of Climate Change which she believes is good. The presenters charge $300 so she is going to reach out to the library and the school and see if anyone wants to share the cost of such an event. Councilmember Reichgott reported that over the weekend there had been two water main breaks in the line that runs from the Village to the Hamlet. Residents in the Hamlet are currently under a required boil water order, which will remain in place until two clean water samples have been taken. The first test happened on February 8 and the second one is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9. They are hoping to have results back and the boil water order lifted by Wednesday, February 10. On a related matter, the Village communicated that they have been experiencing a huge increase in flow to that line, which suggests a leak somewhere that they have not been able to locate. If anyone sees “unusual water,” please report to either Councilmember Reichgott, Highway Superintendent Dollbaum or John Ledwith in the Village. Councilmember McMillen noted that the Town has a system that should be used for mass communication of important information such as this called Nixle. Residents can subscribe to it on the Town website. He proposed that they give the Village access/permission to use Nixle in order to better facilitate announcements like this out to the public. The Supervisor said he would look into it.
Next, the vouchers were signed.
Monthly Reports: Claire Squillini, reporting for the Justice Department, noted that they had acquired 4 new computers last month and also that the online credit card payments were going well. The Department will be starting virtual calendars in March. The Police Dept. did not have anyone on the call but Supervisor English reviewed a few of the details from their submitted report. It was noted that there were more than usual incidents having to do with mental health issues again. This has seemed to be happening more as the period of Covid lengthens. Our police assisted several other departments including Sloatsburg and Warwick. Highway Dept. - Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department had been working on snow, snow and with more snow and with more in the forecast expected to be doing so for the foreseeable future. Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum commented that she would be more than happy to help anyone get signed up for Nixle. She further stated she had noticed that there were vaccinations available in Westchester and offered any residents assistance in getting signed up.
Public Comments: Elyse Glover Fuller thanked the Village of Tuxedo Park DPW for taking care of the water main break as quickly as they did and also she thanked Town Clerk Dollbaum for sending out the information about the break and the subsequent boil water advisory. She expressed great displeasure with not having been notified about the boil water advisory via Nixle or reverse 911. She wondered why this particular break resulted in a boil water advisory as she said she’d experienced many breaks but never had to boil water before. She wondered where this issue sat on the Town’s priority list and further suggested that the entire water system needed replacing. Councilmember McMillen explained to her that the water system is owned, operated and maintained by the Village of Tuxedo Park and as such it is not on the Town’s priority list at all. He added that access to Nixle is being expanded so communication should improve. Dale Mottola wondered what could be done to recycle glass which the Town’s operator no longer accepts. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay replied that she was looking into this and hoped the Climate Smart Initiative would help solve this problem. Also, there were questions about whether or not IWS is actually recycling the items that people put out.
Mrs. Mottola also asked for an update on the turning lane into The Duck Cedar Plaza. She was told that the State DOT is still making excuses and has suggested that the owner of the property needs to pay for any work that is done. The Board has looked to State Senator Martucci’s representative in an effort get this problem solved.
Other Business:
A Resolution approving Board members’ annual training with the Association of Towns (held virtually this year) was passed unanimously.
A Resolution naming all Highway workers as first responders so that they will be eligible for Covid vaccines was passed unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 25, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
The meeting began with the Board approving vouchers.
Town Board Updates: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay remarked that it had been a busy month of climate smart community initiative webinars which she had attended. The next meeting of the joint Climate Smart committee with the Village will be on Monday, February 1 at 5 :30 pm via WebEx. Instructions on how to join will be posted on the Town website. Councilmembers McMillen, May and Reichgott all stated they had no reports. Supervisor English reported that the Tuxedo Farms LDC met on January 21. The main purpose of the meeting was to have a conversation with Andrew Dance of Related Co. The Supervisor observed that they had had a very cordial conversation and that Mr. Dance said there would be a “revised model” for Tuxedo Farms coming in the future. He added that hopefully the Town would also see a path forward to the completion of the Tuxedo wastewater treatment plant. The next meeting of the LDC will be held on February 17 at 10am.
Next, he disclosed that he, Deputy Supervisor Lindsay, along with Town Attorney Howard Protter and Labor Consultant Michael Richardson had been meeting with the PBA in order to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Their next meeting will be on January 26. These meetings are not open to the public but the Supervisor English hopes they can successfully agree on terms.
A discussion on representatives from the Watchtower assisting with dirt pile remediation was tabled.
Presentation: 1-Beckman Appraisals to give update on State Lands. Town Assessor Jim Davies opened the conversation by commenting that the State Lands Study had been completed within the last few weeks and that the numbers were pretty much what he had expected. They will still need to go up to the State Land Unit at the Office of Real Property in Albany to be approved. He then introduced Mr. Beckman to give a brief update. Mr. Beckman began by explaining that Parkland is taxable. Appraisers looked not only at Tuxedo’s Parkland but also that in adjoining Rockland County where they found much higher valuations. They are proposing to raise the assessment by approximately $11,000 per acre. This would generate an additional $200,000 for the Town as well as $420,000 for the Monroe Woodbury School District and $80,000 for the Tuxedo Union Free School District. Beckman Appraisals has moved the assessment from $72 per acre to approximately $11,000 per acre. The Town and School Districts could see this additional money as early as September or October.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Camille O’Brien, who works for State Senator Mike Martucci, introduced herself and said she would be serving as a liaison for the newly elected senator when he was in Albany.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve request for payment from Tuxedo Place, L.P. – Town Attorney Marissa Weiss explained that the Town has a PILOT agreement with Tuxedo Place (aka the Promenade) Supervisor English asked what a PILOT agreement was and he was told it is a Payment In Lieu of Taxes. This agreement has been in place since 1999 but the Town has not been receiving any payments. The Town has also not received income statements from the Promenade which were supposed to have been paid annually. The Town attorneys have drawn up a demand letter for the payments. The Board unanimously agreed to send the demand.
Resolution to approve the Onyx and Breezy Annual raffle – this has been an annual event for years. It was unanimously approved.
Resolution to approve refuse truck permits (Sterling Carting and Interstate Waste) – unanimously approved by the Board.
Resolution to approve Town Clerk training – this will take place virtually this year at a cost of $100 – This was unanimously approved by the Board
Resolution to approve 2021 Warwick Humane Society contract – unanimously approved by the Board
Petition of relief from the Building Moratorium Local Law by Itzy’s Collision Enterprises. -This was unanimously approved by the Board. The Town Board’s approval will allow the application to go to the Planning Board.
Other Business:
The following business were granted annual towing licenses in the Town:
Loyal Tire
Apple Automotives
NJV Auto
Harriman Auto
C.A.R.S.
Department Updates: HighwayDepartment : Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was still busy with tree work. They are currently on South Gate Road headed toward Eagle Valley. Next, he reminded everyone that electronic recycling is still going on through the end of the month. They are currently preparing all equipment for snow and have also been working on the rock pile, separating rocks. There will be a bonfire in Powerhouse Park on February 6. The department is also flooding the basketball court at Powerhouse Park for ice skating. Residents will be notified when it is ready. Building Department: Building Inspector Maikisch is still working on the cars in Southfields. Two more cars have been removed this week. Town Clerk: Regrding availability of the Covid Vaccine, Marisa Dollbaum reported that while one can check to see if they are eligible for the vaccine, there are not many places nearby which have vaccine to give. The closest ones she could find were Potsdam or Plattsburgh, both of which are about 400 miles away! Police Department: Lt. Norton recommended checking the NYS Department of Health website. recommended for information on vaccine availability
He cautioned that with a snowstorm approaching, everyone should take care and stay home if at all possible. Court: Claire Squillini reported that they had started accepting credit cards online last month and it is going very well. Public Comments: Irene Denaro feels that the last couple of Board meeting have brought to like how much has been neglected in the Town for so long. She is grateful to the Supervisor and Town Board for all their hard work to bring the Town up to date. Evelyn David asked once again about the Arden dam and their emergency plan. It was retierated that the Town has no jurisdiction over this but the Planning Board does.
There were no further comments and the meeting was adjourned.
Or listen by dialing 1-646-992-2010, Webinar ID 179 135 6007
Please note, this WebEx link is NOT through the Town of Tuxedo’s account.
Agenda:
The primary purpose of this meeting is to host a Local Development Corporation Board conversation with Mr. Andrew Dance, Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Development, Related Hospitality, to discuss the completion and activation of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant that will serve residents in the Tuxedo Hamlet Sewer District.
**Click here to view a video recording of this meeting**
The Town Board met on Monday, January 11, 2021 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor English began the meeting with Department Reports. First up was Building Inspector Dave Maikisch who stated that he had been regularly visiting a property in Southfields, which has a number of cars on it. The number of cars has been reduced to 28, down from 44, and all of them are registered. The property owners are working to remove more of the cars. The Building Inspector will check back in two weeks. Police Department – Chief Abbott reported that Officers Shiloh and Hall had received a letter of commendation from Tuxedo Park Police Chief Dave Conklin. The officers assisted a Tuxedo Park officer who is new on the job with a difficult situation involving a mental health issue. During the course of the hour-long incident, the officers were able to deescalate the situation and transport the person to Nyack Hospital. Town Clerk– Marisa Dollbaum reported that the 2021 tax bills had all been mailed out. She added that if anyone had not received their bill they could call her office or visit the Town web site where a copy of their bill could be downloaded.
Additionally, she stated that this year all training for Town employees and Board members will take place virtually instead of in person in Albany. Justice Department – The Town courts are in suspension by Executive order. The courts are now accepting payments by credit card. Highway Department – Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the Department is currently focused on tree cutting. They are working their way down South Gate Road to Eagle Valley Road. Next they will head up to Laurel Ridge and Clinton Woods. They are also picking up Christmas trees and will be chipping up brush.
The Vouchers were signed.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that the LDC that is responsible for the sewer plant and sewer district has once again put in a request for a meeting with Related Companies. The next meeting of that LDC will be on February 17. Next, he announced that there would be a meeting of the Police/Town Collaboration committee on January 14 at 5 pm via WebEx. The meeting will be accessible via the Town website. The Supervisor met with Chief Abbott to discuss the agenda for this meeting which will include deescalating situations with cooperation between agencies as well as the benefits of detailed training. The meeting will be followed by an Orange County meeting on the same subject at 6 pm. He also reported that the Town/Village Consolidation had been formally enacted as of January 1, 2021. The Town’s website will soon be updated with all the details of what this means Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that she had been in contact with Town Attorney Marissa Weiss and that they would be meeting to put together the report on the Town Village Consolidation for the website. Additionally, she stated that if anyone was interested in working on the Town’s Climate Smart Community Task Force, they should contact her directly. Meetings are held on first Mondays at 5:30. The Deputy Supervisor has also been working on various Community Development projects. The Parks and Outdoor Recreation Committee (PORE) is working to put together a couple of events for Spring and she is also working with the Real Estate Outreach Group. Anyone who is interested in joining either of these groups should contact her for more information. Councilmember May acknowledged the “great work” done by Consultant Michael Richardson on updating the employment manuals for the Town. Councilmember Reichgott stated that he has discerned that the Town has no legal jurisdiction over dams and as such as far as the Arden Dam Emergency Plan is concerned, the Town has no responsibility. He also reported that he had been in touch with Tectonic Engineering who is working with Verizon. They have said they are interested in improving conditions and installing new towers on the Route 17 corridor.
Finally, Supervisor English announced that rents for the businesses on the Town owned Long Meadow Road property (Highway Department) have been increased and should bring in an additional $25,000 in revenue.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
1-Discussion of proposals for clean up of Highway Department property-as discussed at the last meeting, the Board received two proposals for this; one from HES and another one. The proposal from HES was more complete. The other proposal (Taylord Environment) only covered testing. Eventually, the Board voted to approve a contract with HES to sample up to 20 yards of material at a cost not to exceed $25,000.
2-the Town has received notice for a tax certiorari suit (from Tuxedo NY LLC) and voted in favor of hiring Town Attorneys Jacobowitz & Gubits to handle it.
3-2021 Town Reorganization. (see below)
2021 Town Reorganization Supervisor English announced that henceforth the Town Hall will be open 5 days a week, and made the following appointments:
Deputy Supervisor
Michele Lindsay
Budget Officer
Kenneth English
Secretary to Supervisor
TBA
Additionally, the following positions/salaries were approved:
Municipal Consultant for Workforce Planning & Labor Relations
Michael Richardson
As per contract
Town Auditor
Andrew Arias/Cooper Arias
As per contract
Planning Board Legal Counsel
Richard Golden/Burke, Miele,Golden & Noughton
As per contact
ZBA Legal Counsel
Richard Golden/Burke, Miele,Golden & Noughton
As per contract
Town Planner
Nelson Pope, Voorhis
As per contract
Town Historian
Town of Tuxedo Historical Society
As per contract
After the presentation, the Supervisor added that both the Town’s Employee Manual which sets out the rights and expectations for each employee and position and the Compensation and Benefits Manual have been rewritten under the direction of Michael Richardson. The Town will be holding a workshop for employees to discuss these manuals as all employees will be required to sign a statement saying they have received them and agree to abide by them. The manuals will be posted on the Town website.
Additionally, the following fees were set:
Parking Permit (Town Residents)
$178.00
Parking Permit (non Residents)
$ 228.00
Field rental for non affiliated Town group
$ 50.00 per use
Train Station use for meeting
$ 50.00 per use
Train Station for private party
$250.00
Public Comments:
Several audience members commented that they thought the Reorganization was very well done and congratulated the Board for all their work. Evelyn David noted that Chase is closing their branch in Town and wondered if the Board had done anything about finding a replacement. She was told they would have to check into what the procedure for that is.
The Board then oted to adopt the Reorganization as presented with the caveat that it could be added to in the future.
Budget modifications were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 28, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor’s Update: Supervisor English announced that the masonry repairs to the old sewer plant have now been completed along with repair of the guard rails and installation of new cyclone fencing. Additionally, he said he had sent a letter to Andrew Dance at Related asking for a meeting to continue talks about the completion and activation of the new sewer plant.
Next, the Supervisor introduced the Tuxedo Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. Governor Cuomo has asked all towns and cities to meet with residents and stakeholders to discuss fairness in policing. The Supervisor commented that he has replied to this request stating that the entire Town Board was behind the idea and would be working hard to comply. Several audience members, principally Sue Scher and Hallie Gaines spoke up in favor of the initiative and volunteered to work on it as well.
Town Board Update: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the DEC has announced Green
Innovation grant programs for improvements to infrastructure as well as to improve water quality and flood mitigation. She will be attending a webinar on the subject on January 13. Grant applications are due on February 12. Councilmember May remarked that she had received questions and comments on the new website and had been working on those. She vowed to continue to bring transparency to the Town through information on the website. Councilmember Reichgott commented that he had received some “feelers” from Verizon a while ago about whether or not the Town would be interested in updating cell service in Town. He responded positively and has heard nothing since. He will pursue this. Councilmember McMillen said that while he had nothing new to report, he wanted to recognize his colleagues on the Town Board for doing a great job throughout the Covid crisis and continuing business as usual in the Town.
Discussion Item: Long Meadow Road Cleanup - Supervisor English stated that the Town was in receipt of a proposal from Hydro Environmental Solutions for a project to include characterizing the material on the Highway Department’s Long Meadow Road property. Town Engineer Sean Hoffman was present and was asked for his opinion on the proposal. He explained that this proposal was also to bore into the pile and to come up with a solution that would satisfy the DEC’s order of consent. Councilmember Reichgott said that he felt the Town should be looking at more than one proposal for this work. The Supervisor stated that he was hoping to avoid mentioning the amount of money cited in the contract as he felt they might be looking for another bid. Town Attorney Protter responded that this would be specialized work and thus an exception to the competitive bidding requirement. Eventually, after a long discussion, they decided to table voting on the proposal until January. In the meantime, they would like the proposal rewritten to include up to 20,000 cubic yards of material, (currently it specifies 6000 yards) which has already been screened by the Highway Department. Discussion of Reorganization goals with Consultant Michael Richardson – Supervisor English introduced Mr. Richardson and then presented the goals as follows: to align the Town with civil service, to define the requirements of competitive vs. non competitive jobs, to look into pay parity for jobs with similar descriptions, and to bring the Town back to 5 days of service in Town Hall. Mr. Richardson has submitted a proposal for the reorganization. He then presented a detailed and somewhat lengthy review of the different employment levels in Town.
The Board scheduled a vouchers only meeting for December 31 at 9:30 am.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum reported that the Town has been reactivated with the DEC for the issuing of hunting and fishing licenses. Additionally, she said that the Town tax bills had been mailed out. Residents are asked to either use the secure drop box in front of Town Hall or to mail in their checks in order to reduce traffic in Town Hall.
Agenda Items:
O&R streetlight conversion program – the Board talked about different wattages (lumens) which can be used in different locations. Also discussed were light colors and the cowls on the fixtures which focus the light downward. 6 streetlights are being offered for free. The Town can convert up to 56 more at a cost of $355 per light. Since the price goes up every year, the Board decided to go ahead and convert all the lights now. The total price should be $19,880. This was approved unanimously.
The Board then entered into a previously scheduled executive session for an attorney/client conference with Town Attorney Howard Protter. This lasted approximately one hour after which they returned to the meeting.
Petition of Relief from Moratorium Local Law – Mr. Spiegel & Sons Oil Corp. – After the Supervisor pointed out that all they would be doing was to make it possible for this project to go in front of the Planning Board…and not approving the project…the petition was approved unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 14 at 7:00 pm via Webex. All members were present
The meeting opened with the annual public hearing on the Woodlands sewer rate. There was much discussion among the Board members who did not seem to understand why they were holding the hearing since none of them reside in the Woodlands. Town Attorney Howard Protter explained to them that this is the process which has been in effect since the Woodlands was built. Since no one had a comment, the public hearing was then closed.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor English reported that the Tuxedo Farms LDC (for the Wastewater Treatment Plant) would be holding an attorney/client meeting on December 17 with the attorneys from Harris Beech as well as attorney Howard Protter. It is their hope that they can reestablish communication with Related and move toward the goal of opening the sewer plant by July 1, 2021.
Next he revealed that he and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay along with Town Attorney Protter and Labor Consultant Michael Richardson met with representatives of the Tuxedo PBA on December 3. They expect to hold another meeting by the end of the year. Negotiations on the current contract are ongoing.
The Supervisor also held a meeting with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Town Engineers and Councilmember Reichgott. It was their goal to come up with a plan for the required chemical sampling which is needed to begin removing the contaminated material from the Highway Department site on Longmeadow Rd.
The Supervisor and Councilmember Reichgott also met with two of the tenants at the Longmeadow Rd. property. It has been determined that the rents they are paying are way under what the market rate is for such properties. As a result, the Board has decided to raise the rents by 20%.
Supervisor English announced that the Town Justice Court has been ordered closed by NY State and all in-person activity with the public has been cancelled until further notice due to the increase in Covid cases in our area. However, the Justice Court has initiated online payments so going forward, people will not necessarily need to come to the court in person to settle any outstanding violations. Additionally, the Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings will continue to be held virtually via WebEx. Councilmember May reported that the Board had received several inquiries about the project on Route 17 between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg. After speaking to both the DOT and O&R, she discovered that there are two projects currently being worked on in that location. The first project is the sewer project. The original contractor damaged the gas lines and now Orange and Rockland is working to repair them. The “complete streets” project will commence in the spring and is expected to be completed by September, 2021. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that the joint Town/Village Climate Smart Community taskforce had met on December 7. They had a presentation on community choice aggregation and they will be getting that ready for a public meeting. Councilmember McMillen announced the passing of former Supervisor Ted Hoffman.
Department Updates: Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum announced that the Town of Tuxedo will soon be reactivated with the DEC so residents will be able to get hunting and fishing licenses from her. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that leaf pickup had ended that day. Any future leaves will have to be put in bags in order to be picked up. Additionally, he stated that the roof on the records room has been complete. Finally, he reported that his department was getting ready for snow.
Agenda Items:
Annexation Petitions of Rattlesnake Mountain Preserve LLC -This involves 2 parcels adjoining the Village of Tuxedo Park. One parcel was discussed a while ago although no action was taken. The second parcel adjoins the first one. Town Attorney Protter informed the Board that next should be a joint public hearing with the Village of Tuxedo Park, however, the applicant is required to furnish the Town with forms stating that they are complying with SEQRA and those forms are not attached to the petition. Therefore, the Town will declare the petition incomplete, but they did adopt a resolution stating that the petitions had been received. Councilmember Reichgott has requested a map showing exactly where the parcels are.
Old Forge snow plow contract with the Town of Warwick – this is an annual contract and it was approved.
Petition for Relief of Moratorium from Spiegel &. Sons Oil Corp. this was tabled.
Resolution to remove unlicensed vehicles from 1048 Route 17 in Southfields. – after several attempts by the Building Inspector to resolve the situation, many vehicles remain on this property. The property owner’s son was present and asked for an extension of time to remove the vehicles several of which have already been removed. The building inspector will check the property again on January 14.
The moratorium on development approvals was extended for another 3 months as the Town Board is still working on the Comprehensive plan.
Public Comments: Evelyn David inquired as to what the Town has heard about the emergency response plan from the Arden dam. She was told that the Board hasn’t heard anything about this as yet.
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session so the Board could meet with consultants.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 23, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. Councilperson McMillen was absent.
After approving several minutes (11/9, 11/10 and 11/17) and the vouchers, Supervisor English opened the Public Hearing on Sign Law Amendments. He read a statement from Town Attorney Marissa Weiss which stated that the purpose of the amendments was to amend the current sign law which is a part of the Town Code. The main issues are:
Providing clarity to definitions already in the code
Defining types of signs that are regulated
Calculation of sign area
Types of signs that are exempt from the permit process
There were no comments from the public regarding this law. The Town Board had also submitted the proposed amendments to the Planning Board for review and comment. As per Ms. Weiss, that Board is largely in support of the proposed changes. Their only comments centered around political signs. They have suggested amending the language in the law as it pertains to how long they long these signs can up as well as their removal. The signs are permitted 30 days in advance of an election and they must be removed 1 week after. The Planning Board has recommended using the word “mandatory” instead of “encourages” in reference to this timeline.
Town Attorney Weiss explained that mandating the timeline would be an infringement of first amendment rights. On another note, Supervisor English pointed out that the amendment clarified several issues with sign sizes which he felt was a good addition. Councilmembers Lindsay and May agreed.
Councilmember Reichgott added that the sign law was only one section of the Town Zoning Code, which the Town Board is presently reviewing in its entirely. There will be opportunities to tweak it further before it is finalized. There were no further comments and the public hearing was closed. The amendments were then unanimously approved.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Item:
Resolution to set date for a public hearing on the Woodlands Sewer budget – the hearing was set for December 14th at the regular Town Board meeting.
Supervisor’s Update: Supervisor English reported that the Tuxedo Farms LDC for the sewer plant had met and authorized attorneys from Harris Beach to investigate whether or not there are any legal obstacles that will prevent them from opening the sewer plant. The Board expects a report in December. The Supervisor reiterated that the LDC Board is committed to reaching the deadline for getting the new sewer plant up and running as per the needs of the community. They are equally committed to protecting the environment and meeting the DEC’s goals for reducing waste deposited into the Ramapo River.
At the Highway Department property, things are moving along with the removal of the dirt pile as well as the stumps. They are looking into a required sampling program for the material. The sampling needs to be under the direction of a qualified environmental professional. The Town has reached out to their Engineer H2M, who is in the process of reviewing what the needs are so they can make a recommendation.
The police contract is set to expire on December 31, 2020. Supervisor English and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay have been meeting with Town Attorney Howard Protter and Labor consultant Michael Richardson to get ready for the negotiations with the police. They are planning an Executive Session on December 14th to update the Town Board members on this matter.
At the Highway Department property on Long Meadow Road, the Town has tenants whose leases have either expired or will be expiring soon. The Supervisor, along with Councilmember Reichgott, has been working with Town Attorney Protter on this matter. They expect to have some proposals to go over with the rest of the Board during the December 14 Executive Session in hopes that they can present proposed leases to the tenants. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that at the most recent Zoning Workshop they had discussed conducting an updated survey in order to find out what uses were desired in/for the different districts of the Town. The survey was subsequently created. It was then circulated to the Town Board members, who completed it. It will now be sent out to all municipal Board members. Once those responses have been collected the survey will go out to community members as well.
Next, Deputy Supervisor Lindsay revealed that a subcommittee of the Economic Development Committee, PORE (Parks, Outdoor Recreation and Events) have been working on the creation of a Pollinator Meadow.
The meadow will be created on the Palisades Interstate Park Commission’s property near the overflow parking lot at the Junction of Routes 17 and 17A. Volunteers will be removing invasive species and plan to plant an array of native species there in order to attract pollinators (butterflies, bees and other wildlife) They hope to promote it as an attraction in Tuxedo. Information on this project will be made available on the new Town Website. Councilmember May stated that she,Town Clerk Dollbaum and Shari Brooks have all been trained on the new Town website which should be live within the next week or so. Supervisor English added that the Town was also in the process of upgrading the internet service in Town Hall.
Public Comments: Evelyn David expressed her concern over the Town’s liability with the new dam going in up in Arden. She recounted what happened during Hurricane Irene, when the East Village flooded out due to the combination of the dam’s failure and a simultaneous release of water from communities upstream. It resulted in a serious flood.
Councilmember Reichgott responded that the Town did not have any jurisdiction over the dam because they did not own it. Rather, he advised that the New York DEC was the responsible party. The Town does not have any ownership of the dam in Arden. In response, Ms. David stated that she believed that the Town could ask for scheduled water releases and she urged the Board to do that. According to Ms. David, there was a conversation about this between the the Planning Board and the owners of the Arden dam who agreed to scheduled releases. However when the papers became available, all the responsibility and liability had been put on the Town! The Board agreed that they would review the final plan for the dam.
Discussion Items:
Economic Development Subcommittee Event - PORE (Parks, Outdoor Recreation and Events) is planning an event for next Spring which will involve a Plein Air painting event (a number of artists to paint subjects around the Town and then display their work at an event at Powerhouse Park.) The event will also feature a concert with local bands and artists and various food trucks. The committee is tentatively looking at May 12-15 with rain dates a week later. Town resident Deirdre Murphy is in charge of the project. Ms. Murphy commented that the objective of the event will be to highlight the beauty of Tuxedo. The themes will be water, landscape and architecture.
Climate Smart Task Force to request schedule for Community Choice Aggregation presentation - The joint committee of the Town and the Park met to discuss possible joint projects. It was pointed out that a presentation from Good Energy would enable both the Town and the Village to gain a lot of points toward their Climate Smart designation. Good Energy has not presented for a year so it was decided to schedule a special meeting for them to do so. The Board will also invite a presentation from Joule.
Department Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department has been busy collecting leaves. They started in Laurel Ridge and now are working in the Town before working their way out to Eagle Valley. Leaves need to be out on the curb by December 15, which will be the last date for pick up. Additionally, they are still working on catch basins. A new roof is in the process of installation on the records building and Department is also working on a fence at the old sewer plant. Finally electronic cycling will be taking place at the Highway Garage until January. Building Inspector Maikisch announced that there is a new owner at Tuxedo Auto Body. Also a potential new owner for Tuxedo Gulf will be appearing at the TAC committee this week. Town Clerk Dollbaum announced that the new website will a button that will allow residents to subscribe to different alerts from the town so that they can essentially customize which types of information they receive from the Town. Also, she reminded everyone that Town Hall would be closed on Thanksgiving but that recycling and garbage pick-up would occur the day after.
Supervisor English wished everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm.
The Town Board held a special meeting on November 17, 2020 at 5pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor English explained that the reason for the meeting was to adopt the 2021 Town Budget with an amended Tuxedo Farms Sewer System budget levy. He said it was a 1.7% increase from last year. Councilperson Reighgott asked if this increase was for properties within Tuxedo Farms itself with no changes for the properties in the rest of the Hamlet? The Supervisor replied that this was correct. He added that this was to cover “anticipated increases in legal fees and Board member compensation & addition fees to Muni Cap that are related to the anticipated activation of the wastewater treatment plant in 2021.” The budget was then adopted as amended unanimously and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, November 10 at 6pm via WebEx for the purpose of voting on the 2021 Town Budget.
Following some very brief discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the budget as proposed.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 9 at 7pm via WebEx.
Supervisor Update:
There was none.
Town Board Updates:
Deputy Mayor Lindsay reported that on the Thursday previous the Economic Development committee had met with the Orange County Departments of Economic Development & Tourism and Film and took them on a tour of areas available for use/development and they were very excited! “It’s putting Tuxedo on the map and we will continue to work with them on how to promote Tuxedo.”
Councilwoman Maria May reported that on November 12 they would be receiving training from Civic Plus on the new website. The old website has been merged to the new one and they have also added additional content and reorganized things to give it a fresh look. They expect the new site to be up and running by November 25. She thanked Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum for all of her assistance.
Monthly Reports:
Supervisor English read submissions from the Justice Court as well as Police Chief Abbott’s police report into the record. He thanked the Chief for his report further noting that he felt it spoke volumes to the diversity of the calls that the Department faces on a daily basis.
Vouchers:
The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving vouchers for payment.
Public Hearing: Sign Amendments:
Prior to opening the hearing, Board Attorney Marisa Weiss provided the Board with a brief over-view of the proposed amendments. The Board has been conducting an on-going review of the Town Zoning code for quite some time, but it has recently come to their attention that there are some interim amendments that are needed to the sign code for issues that keep arising mostly pertaining to ambiguous or unspecified definitions within the code as well as whether or not certain signs are exempt. Additionally, the Board has expressed some concern with temporary commercial and real estate signs, which in some cases have been remaining on various properties for extended periods of time. There are a myriad of issues with many of these signs ranging from their size to lack of maintenance and there has been some overall confusion in terms of the language of the law and how things are supposed to work. Most of the changes proposed in the amendment have already been discussed and reviewed by the Board as part of their overall zoning review and they center around the clarification of certain definitions such as the different types of signs and a more distinctive description of sign area. Additionally, the amended law clearly identifies those signs, which are exempted from the permit requirement and cleans up some first amendment issues. The Building Inspector has expressed some concern with the proposed provision that would allow temporary, commercial and real estate signs to be exempt from the permit requirement for 1 year, citing the potential for enforcement issues. The attorney has recommended amending things as presented to require permits for these types of signs, however they would be no-fee for a period of one year. This would allow the Building Inspector to keep track of when the signs went up and how long they have been there.
The public hearing was then opened.
Evelyn David requested that the Town consider installing a second directional Trail sign at the end of River Road.
There were no further comments, however the hearing was kept open.
The proposed amendments will next go to the Planning Board for their review and will be discussed again at the November 23 meeting. Residents wishing to submit comments prior to that can submit them in writing.
Discussion Items – Review of Public Comments 0n 2121 Budget:
The Board discussed the public comments received during the budget hearing at their previous meeting.
Town Board member Jay Reichgott provided an overview of the comments in order to mobilize the discussion. Noting that there would be no action associated with the complementary comments of gratitude that were received during the hearing, Councilman Reichgott thanked those residents for their positive remarks.
Next, a request from the Silver Dollars to carry over their unused funds into the next fiscal year was addressed. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay is working with the bookkeeper in hopes of finding a way to make this happen.
Moving on, the Board discussed comments centered on dissatisfaction with the proposed 2% raises for Town Board members during the pandemic as well as some objections to the larger increase in stipend proposed for the Deputy Supervisor.
Supervisor English proposed that the Town Board members forgo the proposed 2% increase.
Councilman Reichgott pointed out that, after determining there were sufficient funds, the Town Board had proposed what was essentially a 2% cost-of -living increase to every Town employee that was not otherwise covered by collective bargaining. This happens to include the Town Board, the Planning/Architectural Review Board, the Zoning Appeals Board and other various Town employees. For the individual Town Board members, not including the Supervisor, it comes out to roughly $150 each. This being said, he agrees that these are tough financial times and is willing to forgo the increase. He feels they should forgo the increase for all of the appointed boards, but it should remain for the other Town Employees.
The Board was in agreement.
Supervisor English wondered why this was only being considered for Town Board members and appointed officials and not all elected officials. “Where does it stop?” he queried.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that the other elected officials included the Town Judges, Highway Superintendent and Clerk.
Councilman McMillan suggested that the line was drawn for him between those who work for the Town for a living and those who do it for civic duty.
The Supervisor countered that he believed any elected official was motivated by civic duty. He further suggested that while he had no issue with forgoing the increase for himself, he did have a problem with making that decision for others.
This was discussed at some length. Ultimately it was decided that the Town Board members would forgo the increase for themselves only.
Moving on to the proposed increase in stipend for the Deputy Supervisor, Supervisor English stated that it was view that there needed to be an Executive Administration presence in Town Hall on a regular basis during the daytime. This is necessary so that they can conduct business with contractors, consultants, department heads, Town Employees and residents. The Deputy needs to work directly with the Supervisor. For a long time the Town’s executive structure has mostly run on an evening schedule. In the interest of full disclosure he announced that he would be retiring from his day job in January and that a big part of the motivation behind this decision was his position as Supervisor, which he takes very seriously. “There is no way that this job can attend to all the concerns that this Town is facing with a Supervisor that can only be mostly available in the evenings,” he stated. “Most Town Council people have full-time jobs and don’t have the opportunity to be able to work in Town Hall in the daytime on a regular basis. I think we are very fortunate to have a Deputy Supervisor now who is available and does spend many many hours at Town Hall. This is an executive administration presence that I think is totally required. This is $5,000. Lets not lose sight of that. It’s $5,000 to allow somebody to able to provide this extra service to work with me in Town Hall.”
Councilman McMillan stated that he respectfully disagreed, noting that the level of hours and participatory effort that had been put forth by other officials in those roles, including himself for 3 and1/2 years, had never been fiscally recognized. “I never thought of recognizing myself for the extra hours and the weekends that I spent. I thought it came with the territory,” he noted. He further stated that in his 7 years on the Board he had not heard of this discussion before much less seen it come to fruition. It’s not that he doesn’t understand what the Supervisor has outlined. He recognizes that there is frustration associated with the extra hours required by the job, but in his view there is no good argument to create this new stipend for the Deputy Supervisor.
Councilwoman May commented that the Deputy Supervisor role as enacted by Deputy Supervisor Lindsay over the last year has included $250,000 for the Town, mostly due to the grant work that she has done. This kind of work is hard to do when one has a fulltime job. She feels that having an executive team in Town Hall is a good idea. Just because it has never been done before does not mean that it should not be done now or that it doesn’t make sense to do it. “We are a large Town with few people running all of the things that have to be done,” she stated. “I don’t have a problem with re-envisioning the role of the Deputy Supervisor as more than just a councilperson,” she said further commenting that she felt they should “definitely do it.”
Councilman Reichgott suggested that the five most dangerous words in the English language were “we’ve always done it this way,” further commenting that just because the proposed stipend has not existed in the past, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t change things now. He noted that what was being discussed was a stipend associated with the position and not “money for Michele.” If the reason for the increase is that Deputy Supervisor Lindsay is available and is doing more work as a result, he feels this is not the way they should be thinking about things. Rather the question at hand is whether or not to establish a larger role for the Deputy Supervisor position, which would in turn deserve a larger stipend. He further suggested that they should develop a job clear description of what the role was going to be so that in the future, the Deputy Supervisor would know what they were getting into when they accepted the position. There followed a discussion of the various responsibilities, tasks and duties associated with Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor roles, specifically those that involve time investment such as the Tuxedo Farms LDC, management of Town properties and rental contracts, Police contract negotiations and the mulch pile cleanup efforts/DEC Consent Order. “There’s no way that all of these actions could be handled by a Board that basically meets twice a month on two Mondays from 7pm until however long we can keep people’s attention span focused,” commented Supervisor English.
Councilman McMillan responded that everything that had just been laid by the Supervisor out in terms of tasks associated with these jobs had always been present. There was nothing new. He had accomplished most of these things himself in many years fulfilling the role. He does not agree with the meat of the Supervisor’s argument and does not see this kind of thing happening in other Townships.
The Supervisor replied that if this line item was going to be a sticking point for Councilman McMillan, the way he understood it, the Councilman could vote against the entire budget.
Councilman McMillan suggested that further conversation on this topic could, and should in his view, be held “off-line. “I think we have said what we had to say for public consumption,” he added.
“Yeah, it comes down to voting on the budget,” reiterated the Supervisor.
The Deputy Supervisor commented that she felt that what was being proposed was a change in the position for the benefit of the Town.
“When you talk about adding an additional stipend,” added Councilman McMillan “just keep in mind that there are several people in the Town Hall that do this as their every day job who had to sacrifice their stipends over the past few years for the financial good of the Town.”
Moving on to another topic, the Supervisor referenced an email sent by Councilman McMillan with regard to tax reduction and suggested they discuss it.
Councilman McMillan agreed and proceeded to outline the contents of the email, explaining that the Town had been through some tough times working to become financially solvent over the past 7 years and that this had only just occurred. There are some unknowns on the horizon, many of which are fueled by Covid, such as tax revenue from the County. “To give a tax reduction right now after coming out of six years of proverbial hell trying to get back on track is very risky to me,” he stated. “Our Moody’s rating is not in the A category yet, we are still in the high Bs. There are still unkowns out there as far as the development of Tuxedo Farms. There is even some question as to whether or not Related will really open up the sewage treatment plant even though there is a resolution that says it will open on June 1.” While he is a supporter of keeping taxes under the cap so that residents can enjoy the associated rebates, he suggested that a tax reduction at present would bring an element of risk during an uncertain time.
Supervisor English responded by detailing where the reductions were coming from, focusing on a $250,000 fund balance restoration fund that is no longer necessary. There have also been some changes to fees, particularly the reduction of Workman’s Comp by $55,000 and $14,000 in NYS retirement funds. Additionally, after conversations with Chief Abbot, $53,000 in equipment funding was removed from the Police Budget. He went on to detail some of the other expenses within the budget and how they factored in to projected financial health over the coming years.
While he understands what Councilman McMillan is saying, he feels they are moving forward in a responsible way.
The Deputy Supervisor concurred, commenting that they had been able to reduce expenses and that she didn’t believe they should be taxing people in order to restore a fund balance that doesn’t need restoration. “We’re basically taxing the taxpayers on what the expenses are going to be,” she added.
Councilman McMillan responded that he was so used to being backed into a corner financially that he is extremely cautionary, which is why he had voiced his views the way he had in the email. He asked the Supervisor whether or not he believed the Town was properly insulated financially from any litigation that may arise from the Related project either at the level of he project itself where they are building the homes or at the sewer plant. “I know that we could possibly get the old plant put to us if they don’t comply on June 1. Do you feel confident that if one of those scenarios were to come true and it got put to us either way that we would be financially stable enough to stave off that effort?”
Based on the work of the attorneys and the engineers and his best evaluation of the current budget, the Supervisor responded that yes, he did have confidence.
There followed some further discussion about the sewer plant.
Councilman Reichgott commented that while he appreciated Councilman McMillan’s point, he felt the Town was currently in a position where they had sufficient reserves in the fund balances that if they should have something unexpected happen, they would be able to cover it…and given the current state of the economy with Covid, it is in his view a reasonable approach to take the gamble and not increase the fund balances this year.
The Supervisor reminded everyone that the books had not yet closed on 2020 suggested that there was a possibility that they might add to the fund balance in this fiscal year, which would also help.
The lack of budget workshops was discussed.
Councilman McMillan suggested that there were parts of the line-item budget that were hard for the general public to understand and that workshops allowed them to ask questions and gain clarity while also gaining some insight into the overall process.
Councilwoman May responded that she had attended the workshops the year previous and was one of only two people in attendance and one of them and the only one present at the other. “It was informative for me as a citizen to understand what was going on, however at this time of Covid and with 400 pages of worksheets, it might have been almost impossible to do in the way that they were done last year.” She further commented that she supported the proposed tax break and that she had made a point of working directly with both the Supervisor and the Deputy Supervisor so that she could fully understand the numbers and feel comfortable with them.
“Hopefully this Covid thing will be over next year,” replied the Supervisor, further noting that he had begun working on the budget the previous July. Unfortunately, he had a health emergency, which required hospitalization, over the course of the past month and this had impacted the process.
Deputy Lindsay added that she felt that they had put together a great explanation of many of the decisions that had been made, which was presented at the budget hearing, and that this had been their attempt to make it more understandable for people.
Councilman McMillan stated that he was not opposed to a tax reduction, but he felt the need to make sure in a responsible way that leadership was confident that the Town was positioned in a good place “ in case the apple cart did flip over that we were going to be somewhat insulated moving into the next year.” He thanked them for the conversation.
Agenda Items: Resolution to Appoint Fire Commissioners Jeff Dowding and Paul Eichengreen – The Board voted unanimously in favor of appointing Appoint Fire Commissioners Jeff Dowding and Paul Eichengreen with a term commencing January 2021 and expiring December 31, 2025. Set Date for 2021 Budget Date – The Board scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, November 10 at 6pm for the purpose of voting on the 2021 budget.
Department Updates: Town Clerk – Town Clerk Marisa Dollbaum began by thanking all of the election workers who helped on Election Day. There were a total of 18 workers spread between three polling locations. Seven of them were Tuxedo residents.
The ADA complaint restroom and ramp renovation project is going well. Work should hopefully be completed by Thanksgiving.
Town Hall will be closed on Wednesday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day. Mrs. Dollbaum thanked all Veterans for their service.
The Supervisor interjected to thank Mrs. Dollbaum for a job well done managing the election, which entails a lot of work.
Mrs. Dollbaum thanked the Supervisor, noting the former Clerk Donna Matthews had been a huge help. Highway Department – The department has been busy picking up leaves and getting ready for the winter months. They are working on repairing catch basins while the weather is still good. Additionally, they completed work on the dirt pile utilizing the rented equipment, which was subsequently returned. They are now looking to contract with an environmental engineer to sample all of the materials that have been “sifted and sorted” The DEC has outlined protocols for analyzing and disposing of the materials and the Town continues to work on this. Superintendent Dollbaum continues to try and identify authorized people who might possibly be able to take some of the materials away.
Electronic Recycling is currently underway at the Highway Garage. There is a box in the front by the gate, with drop off available between the hours of 7-3 M-F and on Saturdays from 8-12. No televisions or monitors will be accepted. Detailed information is on the Town website.
Orange and Rockland will be performing tree trimming and removal on or around November 24 on Hospital Road, School House Lane, Schoolhouse Road, Mountain Road, Hillside Avenue, Circle Drive, Contractors Road, Orange Turnpike/Old Route 17, and associated side streets. Effected residents will be informed in advance by notice if there are any trees on their property which need to be trimmed.
Public Comments:
The Deputy Supervisor went through the list of attendees, un-muting each one to ask whether they had any public comment. Hallie Gaines thanked the Town Board for all their work, further noting that she greatly appreciated the open conversation and reconciliation amongst them when they did not easily agree on things. She further thanked them for fighting for “important things” for both the Board and the nominal increase for both the people who are working hard and for people who are struggling like she is.
A resident who identified himself as Hank commented that it had been a good meeting. He further extended an offer to utilize a large sign in his front yard that is currently used by the Renaissance Faire for two months out of the year. Noting that he did not want anything political there, he suggested it could be used for any functions or events such as the Farmer’s Market. Irene Denaro thanked the Board for all the hard work they were doing in addressing “so many issues in the Town that have been neglected or just not dealt with for such a long time.”
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that there has been introduced before the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo, New York, on September 28, 2020,
a local law entitled, “Sign Law Amendments,” which local law would revise the exemption provisions of the sign code. A complete copy of the Introductory
Local Law is available for inspection at the Clerk's Office.
NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to Section 20 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a virtual
public hearing on said proposed local law via Webex at 7:00 P.M., on November 9, 2020, further details of which will be included in the public
hearing notice, meeting agenda, and on the Town website, and
The Town of Tuxedo will make every effort to assure that the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance
and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Town Clerk.
The Town Board met on Monday, October 26 at 7pm. All members were present.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Recreation Department – Shari Brooks reported that trick or treating will be permitted on Halloween, pursuant to CDC recommendations. (masks, social distancing, passing out candy as opposed to having kids grab it out of a bowl etc.) Additionally there will be a Trunk or Treat event at Powerhouse park during the day where children can come for trick or treating. There is a strict schedule for the various age groups, which should help to keep the crowd spread out over the afternoon. Everyone must wear a mask and gloves will be distributed. Fire Company #1 has decided not to move ahead with their annual event this year due to Covid concerns. The event will resume next year. Police – Lt. Norton noted that there would be a police presence at the Trunk or Treat and further there would be some extra patrols on for Halloween night. Commencing November 1 the PBA will be participating in “No Shave November.” The money saved by not shaving for an extended period of time will be collected and donated to their charity of choice, which is St. Jude’s Medical Center. This year they are hoping to step things up a bit by hosting a fundraiser at Powerhouse Park on November 14. PBA members will set up grills and fire pits and show off their beards while flipping burgers and enjoying live music from Councilman Dave McMillian and friends. Building Department – Supervisor English indicated that the Board was in receipt of a very thorough, detailed report and that they were planning to divert discussion until their next meeting on November 9 so that they could “really dig in” to some of the questions and comments therein. Town Clerk – Donna Matthews reported that construction at the Town Hall was going very well. People have been inquiring about voting and whether or not the polls will be open as usual. The answer is yes. Each District polling place will be open on November 3 from 6am-9pm. Information pertaining to early voting can be found on the Town website. Lastly, Mrs. Matthews expressed her gratitude to Claudia Bakhtiary, who recently donated office supplies to the Town Hall.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS:
There were none
PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 2021 PRELIMINARY TOWN BUDGET: Summary of 2021 Budget:
Supervisor English reported that he and Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay had been working with the various Department Heads and members of the Town Board to put together a budget that would remain under the tax cap and keep Tuxedo an affordable place to live. The proposed budget presents a -.68% levy change from last years budget. They are looking to reduce expenses by making long-term investments in durable equipment such as new trucks for the Highway Department and new police cars. These will be procured through low interest municipal lease-to-own programs. This aging equipment has reached its dependable life span and needs to be replaced. Budget analysis shows that this will reduce expensive maintenance costs for labor and parts and ensure that our public service teams have the tools they need to do their jobs. They are attending to a long-term liability at the Town’s Long Meadow Road property. This 24-acre site continues to be under DEC monitoring. The DEC has imposed a consent order 9 years ago that set expectation for cleaning up a large deposit of construction debris and other contaminants that were illegally dumped on the site. When completed, the remediation will remove the liability exposure resulting from the potential fines, which could be up to $3,000 per day. The excavation, material screening and sample analysis is being done by the heavy equipment operators in the Highway Department utilizing rented equipment. There is an on-site DEC monitoring who is essentially guiding the process to ensure that the required work is being doing. They have also allocated fund reserves for contractual obligations with the Police to cover unpaid vacation and sick days upon retirement. Current Tuxedo PBA obligation estimates total $165,000 for officers eligible for retirement. This will prepare the Town to meet contractual expenses expected in the near future due to the impending retirement of officers. The Town Board continues to seek grants and State funds for infrastructure improvements. They are currently working on ADA bathrooms and accessibility ramps at Town Hall with a$225,000 federal grant. Additionally, the Town Hall roof is going to be replaced with funding from a $100,000 SAM grant (State Aid to Municipalities) that was secured through Senator Jenn Metzger. The Town has invested in LED street lights programs offered by O & R that will reduce electricity cost by an expected $30,000 annually and they have already seen that savings in 2020. Both the Tuxedo Park Library and the Tuxedo Joint Fire Districts have submitted budgets with no increase. They hope to reduce tax burdens for residents and business owners by contracting with Beckmann Appraisals to provide appraisals of New York State land in Tuxedo. This firm was successful in appraising State lands, including Harriman State Park, in the Town of Stony Point and that resulted in a fairer distribution of the tax levy among all taxpayers in that town.
On the revenue side, the Board has been conservative in anticipating State revenues due to possible Covid reductions in New York State sales tax, State aid and mortgage transfer tax revenues. The sales tax revenue projections from the County have been set at very conservative levels given the uncertainty of the State’s financial condition. Again, the goal is to keep Tuxedo affordable for residents and businesses and to continue improving the Moody’s Bond Rating success. They have also been conservative with the Justice Court revenue estimates. Because they were closed for months due to Covid, the court is still in the process of trying to clear the backlog of appearances, the vast majority of which are traffic violations. They expect that actual fine collections will surpass their conservative estimates. The Hamlet Sewer Distict is a situation in flux. The existing plant is badly deteriorated and needs to be replaced by the new plant that was constructed with the $30,000,000 bond issued by the Tuxedo Farms Local Development Corp.. The LDC Board has passed a resolution intended to bring the new plant on line by July 1, 2021. As a result, the budgeting is somewhat ambiguous. The increase of tax level for this District only will be earmarked either for repairs to the existing plant or the transition to the new plant, which is supposed to have higher operating costs. There is a fund balance of approximately $430,000 that will be partially used to resolve these issues. Regarding personnel, all non-contractual employees were afforded a 2% increase. This includes those who serve on appointed Boards. They are also allocating a modest increase in funds for a Town Prosecutor who works in the Justice Court to streamline the judicial process and ensure that Tuxedo continues to get its fair share of the fines received. The Supervisor has also proposed an upgrade in the position of Deputy Supervisor because he feels it is necessary in order to attend to the daily requirements of running the Town. The executive administration requires a daytime presence in Town Hall in order to conduct business with contractors, consultants, department heads, Town employees and Town residents. The Deputy works directly with the Supervisor and the workload requires a level of engagement that goes far beyond the evening schedules of Town Board meetings and occasional workshops. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has successful authored and managed several large grants and cost savings initiatives totalling over $350,000 in 2020. The executive team also manages project oversite for the sewer plant and the cleanup of the Long Meadow Road property as well as contract negotiations and development projects.
There are also monies in the budget to hire a new full time police officer to replace retired Sgt. Decker. Funding to add part-time officers in order to fill all shifts will also be provided. The Public hearing was then opened.
Evelyn David stated that her comment did not pertain to the budget but rather she wanted to discuss the construction of a new dam in Arden, the Emergency Action Plan and who is liable. She requested that the Board put this on an agenda for discussion in the near future.
Claudia Bakhtiary commented that going through the line items could sometimes be a bit “befuddling” and she wished that there could be some kind of guidance the public could look up to follow along. Noting that 2% was not a terribly big increase across the board for everyone who was working to run the Town, she thanked the Board for their time and efforts.
Kim D agreed that navigating the budget had been a bit confusing but that 2% was seemed a relatively small increase and she also thanked the Board for their hard work.
Jerry Mattola wondered whether there would be a meeting with Town residents to discuss the sewer plant and the potential increase in rates. He was told that this would be addressed later in the meeting.
John McNamara commented that times were tough at the moment and Covid was making things especially difficult for a lot of people many of whom found themselves out of work and unable to pay their taxes or their mortgage. The Town is anticipating lower revenues from the State. The previous administration worked hard to build back the reserves and he finds it to be complete unacceptable for the Town Board members to give themselves a pay raise. “I appreciate the hard work, but you all knew what the pay was when you were running for the Board and to give yourselves raises in the time of a pandemic when people are out of work is completely unacceptable and especially if you are dipping into the reserves for that.”
Mary Graetzer agreed that a raise a Board raise was inappropriate. Further she wondered whether there had been any public budget workshops that people could listen to in order to understand how they had arrived at what was being presented. “Usually, the way it has gone, is that the budget is presented and then the Board has workshop meetings so that the different Board members have a chance to ask questions and discuss what’s going on with the budget…and to my knowledge, that didn’t take place this year. If it did, it wasn’t in public and I didn’t see any of it.” She further noted that she had been following the Town Board for decades and that she did not know of a single Deputy Supervisor who had had any salary other than the one that every other Town Board member receives. She then reiterated that she felt it was extremely inappropriate as well as hurtful to people in the Town that this year had been chosen to raise the Deputy’s salary.
Michael Reardon noted that he hoped everyone was remaining safe and healthy during these difficult times. He then inquired as to when the budget workshops had been held, further noting that this particular Board had ben “very big” on workshops in the past, but he had not seen anything done for the budget. Secondly, he wanted to know whether or not police 24-hour police coverage had been restored, suggesting that before any money should be spent, it should go towards the first responders who are protecting residents during these difficult times. “The explanation of the Deputy Supervisor getting over 70% pay increase from the Supervisor made it sound like the Supervisor needed help. If the Supervisor needs help, the money should come from his salary not from the taxpayers.”
Andy Berish commented that the Silver Dollars had not been able to go anywhere to spend their allotted money and he wondered whether the Board might carry this funding over into next year so that they might be able to use it in the future or if they would lose it.
Next, each of the Town Board members were given an opportunity to comment. Dave McMillan noted that he had provided feedback as requested via an email. He agreed with some of the public comments, specifically pertaining to the increase in salary for the Deputy Supervisor, suggesting he felt it might not be warranted. “I didn’t know there was a pitch counter going on for all the efforts,” he commented. “I certainly put in a lot of effort when I did the job for over three years so, I guess I didn’t understand what the catalyst for that was.”
Maria May stated that she wasn’t sure that people realized that the work of the Town was huge. “Unless you are on the Board and you see the work that the Deputy Supervisor does, you do not realize the amount of time, the amount of hours, the amount of effort and also the amount of money that comes into the Town because of the work of the Deputy Supervisor….so I think it is definitely ok and right and to the benefit of the taxpayers in this Town that this position would be made more of a fuller-time position. The increase is definitely warranted. It’s a lot of work.”
Jay Reichgott noted that he did not have any particular comments to make other than that he had heard the comments from the residents and would take them under advisement.
Supervisor English then stated that he felt the Town Board should give all of the comments careful deliberation so that they could respond effectively at their November 9 meeting with real focus. Public comments will be accepting in writing until Thursday, November 5. These can be submitted via email to the Town Clerk. The budget is due to the State by November 20. If necessary the Board will set special meetings to accommodate the process.
The hearing was then closed subject to the receipt of written comments.
AGENDA ITEMS:
Resolution to appoint the Town Clerk- Donna Matthews is retiring effective October 31, 2020. The Board voted unanimously in favor of appointing Marisa Dollbaum to the position of Town Clerk to fill the unexpired term ending 12/31/21.
OTHER BUSINESS: Budget Modification – Supervisor English made a motion to make a modification to the 2020 budget allowing for an increase of $250,000 to cover expenses associated with the dirt pile remediation cleanup at Highway Garage. The money will be taken from the unassigned fund balance in the A fund.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay noted that the Town was finally moving to remediate the dirt pile and comply with the DEC consent order. “We are really saving a lot of money by renting equipment and having our highway machine operators actually running the machinery to sort the dirt.” She cautioned that if they did not move forward with this, they could be facing DEC fines of up to $3,000 per day, as noted earlier in the budget summary. They feel it is a prudent way to deal with a serious situation. They had previously allocated monies for repairs to the Town roof, and that allocation has covered the costs of dirt pile remediation. They are now at the point that a further allocation needs to be made that will fully cover the costs of the remediation. Funds for the Town Hall roof will remain allocated and that project will soon be in the bid phase.
Mr. McMillan wondered if the $250,000 would finish the project or whether or not this was only phase 1 of the project.
The Deputy Supervisor responded that it was just for this year and that there was an additional $250,000 budgeted for 2021 to keep the project moving forward.
Following some further discussion, the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the modification. Highway Department Report –Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that rental agreements for the equipment being utilized for dirt pile project had been closed out that day. The next phase of the project entailed cleaning up by sorting through and separating the material that is left. They will work on this over the winter. The department has been busy picking up leaves. The Superintendent cautioned that if residents rake their leaves and leave them by the street for pick up, they should be sure to remove sticks and branches from the piles so as not to clog the machines.
They have also been busy readying the plows and trucks for winter and snow season.
Lastly, it was noted that there is still mulch available for residents at Quarry Field.
Supervisor English commented that he visited the Mulch Pile at the highway garage at least three times per week and he felt that under Superintendent Dollbaum’s leadership the Department was doing a fantastic job. He thanked everyone for moving the cleanup efforts forward. There followed a brief discussion
about the mulch pile cleanup and the associated process. Discussion – Prior to adjourning the meeting, the Board briefly discussed and agreed that they would put the budget statement from earlier that evening into letter form so that it could be widely circulated via the Town website as well as email.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor English said that he had no update for this meeting.
Councilperson McMillen stated that, starting with the next meeting, he would be streaming the meetings live. This will be in addition to recording the meetings for the Town’s You Tube channel as well as the WebEx.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
The Supervisor stated that there would be no public comments on agenda items at this meeting.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to set rate for Alarm Permits – At the suggestion of Town Attorney Marissa Weiss, the Board agreed that as of January 1, the fee would be $50 a year for residents and $100 for commercial facilities. After the first year, this fee would be cut in half to $25 for residents and $50 for commercial facilities. It only pertains to alarms that work through a central monitor. The resolution passed unanimously.
Arden Homestead/Echo Lake Dam request for relief from moratorium – This action is required in order to move this application to the Planning Board. It was passed unanimously.
Orange County Historical Society Arden bridge request for relief from moratorium – this resolution covers the bridge over the dam. It was also passed unanimously.
Introductory Local Law Sign Permit Amendments and set public hearing date – The changes being considered will be posted on the Town website and the public hearing will be held at the next Town Board meeting on October 13. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Department Head Updates:
Town Clerk Donna Matthews stated that ADA construction on the Town Hall has started. They are doing considerable work in the Town Clerk’s office and, as such, it may be necessary for her to work remotely for a couple of days. If this happens, she will notify everyone. She also stated that with the election coming up, she recommends that everyone who can should vote early. The closest place for Tuxedo residents to do this is Monroe.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was coming to the end of their sign replacement program. He also noted that there was still mulch available at Quarry Field.
The Supervisor added that the work to clean up the Highway property was coming also very nicely.
Public Comments:
For the second meeting in a row, Supervisor English decreed that there would be no public comments.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 14, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English began the meeting by recapping the recent meeting of the Sewer LDC in which it was decided to bring the new plant online as soon as possible and no later than July 1, 2021. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that as part of her economic development efforts, she has gone ahead and had a a design put together for the Quarry Field billboard. The sign will promote the Town as a place to live and do business. Councilperson May reported that she had had a conversation with garbage contractor IWS about glass recycling which has been an issue lately. The problem according to IWS is that in Orange County, there is comingled recycling. The method used by IWS to pick up recycling entails the glass getting crushed and then shards get mixed in with the other materials making them all unusable. The company suggested that the Town set up 2 stations, one in the north and one in the south part of town and then residents could take their glass to those places. This doesn’t seem like such a good idea to Councilperson May and she is still working on coming up with a way to get Tuxedo residents’ glass recycled. Supervisor English added to his report saying that the DEC is very pleased with the progress being made to clean up the dirt pile at the highway garage. Councilperson McMillen wanted to know about the progress of mounting the mock website for the town. Councilperson May responded that she has been in touch with the company several times and they keep saying that they are working on it. Councilperson Reichgott advised that the ADA improvements to Town Hall (bathrooms, ramps) is now in the paperwork stage and he hopes that the actual work will begin soon.
Agenda Items
Resolution on Retention of Records – This will bring the Town in compliance with State standards regarding records and documents and which ones the Town should keep and for how long.
Sign Application Discussion – This was a long discussion about which signs had been approved and which had not. Also discussed was what the role of the Building Inspector should be in enforcing sign laws. The current inspector, Dave Makisch doesn’t feel he has the authority to do much about signs which not in compliance with the code. The Board decided to ask the attorneys to review this section of the code and make suggestions.
Resolution appointing Jacobowitz & Gubits to defend the Town of Tuxedo in the following tax certiorari proceedings: JP Morgan Chase Bank, the Tuxedo Club, Inc., Millenium Pipeline Company LLC – This authorizes hiring the Town Attorney to work on these cases.
Department Updates: Supervisor English has been researching a new lock for the new gate at Lucky Park. The one he is recommending would have 500 keys that could be distributed to Town residents only.
Public Comments: Supervisor English stated that having public comments was optional after which he commented “since it’s 8:43, I’m going to move to vouchers.” He added that anyone having a comment could submit it via email or wait until the next meeting.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 10, 2020 at 7:00 pm via Web Ex. All members were present
Public Hearing Park Rules and Regulations Amendment to local law:
The recent problems in Powerhouse Park, with too many non residents crowding into the Park and then littering and not cleaning up afterwards, were the motivation for putting together a local law that would allow the police to regulate use of the park. Unfortunately, the Board had not discussed the proposed law among themselves and a copy of the proposal had not been made available to the public, which made having a hearing where the public could comment almost impossible. Therefore the Board chose to read through the proposal and discuss it workshop style. The hearing was continued until the next Town Board meeting on August 24. Clickhereto read the part of the Town Code that was discussed. Before the hearing continues, a new copy of the proposed new code will be posted on the Town website.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English began his report by announcing that there would be a Sewer LDC meeting held via Web Ex on Tuesday, August 11 at 3 pm.
The Town received a Judge’s order to remove DeMarino’s equipment from the Highway Department site so that was taken care of.
The Supervisor further reported that he has been scheduling budget meetings in preparation for the 2021 Town budget. He also commented that the Town is still accepting bids for the cleaning contract (to clean Town Hall, Police Department, Train Station, Highway Department and the bathrooms at Murphy Field. These bids are due on August 17. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she was finishing up work on the SAM grant (State and Municipal Facilities Programs) for $100,000 to replace the Town Hall roof. Councilmember Reichgott gave a quick account of his work on the grant for adding an ADA handicap accessible restroom to the first floor of Town Hall in order to accommodate people using the court. Since the Town has now received more money than they initially thought they would need, they have decided to make changes to the second floor restroom in order to make that ADA compliant as well. Councilmember May reported that the new town website, currently in development, would be moving on to the next step, which involves the developer building a “staging website,”
Discussion Topics:
1-Image for Quarry Field billboard – the plan is to reproduce the main image from the new website with a line underneath that reads “visit our new website” followed by url. Under that will be the slogan ‘Gateway to Orange County.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Mary Graetzer wondered why the Town was hiring another assessor to reassess the stand lands in Town when they already had an assessor in their employ. She further wondered why the current assessor couldn’t do the work. She was told that this would be addressed when that item came up on the agenda.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve reopening plan for Tuxedo Town Hall-Covid 19 pandemic – The Town Board has written a plan for reopening the building which follows the executive orders from the Governor. The plan was approved unanimously although the details of the plan were never divulged to the public.
Resolution approving Beckmann Appraisals proposal for reassessing State Lands – Assessor Jim Davies stated that the reasons for hiring an outside assessor are 1-he’s not an expert on vacant land and 2-he will be considered as biased by the State where an outside assessor would not. The Board had more questions and decided to put off the decision on this until the next Town Board meeting. In the meantime, they will work on getting answers.
New Business: Planning Board Chair John Banyo appeared to bring the Board up to speed on 2 projects that are currently before the Planning Board. The first one is an Audio Visual Production Center for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is a large project which encompasses 249 acres only 7 of which are in the Town of Tuxedo (the rest is in the Town of Ramapo). The site plan doesn’t show any development on the 7 acres. The rest of the development is extensive and includes a 880,000 sq. ft. building with studios, a clinic, and a cafeteria. There are also plans for 645 residential units (studio or 1 bedroom) and 1255n parking spaces. They will need a freshwater wetlands permit from Tuxedo as well as a driveway permit. The Ramapo Town Board has requested lead agency status and the Planning Board has agreed to that but requested that the Tuxedo Town Board be designated as an involved agency. The other project is an addition to St. Joseph’s Home. This is entirely in the Town of Ramapo but the access road (which is the current St. Joseph’s access road) is on the Tuxedo town line. They are proposing a 20,000 sq. ft. addition with 24 additional beds. Also a separate 3700 sq, ft, house with 5 bedrooms is being proposed. Mr. Banyo also informed the Town Board that the Planning Board would be discussing the rebuild of the Echo Lake dam at their meeting on Tuesday, August 11.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola commented that there have been many bears on his road and wondered if there was any way to get them tranquilized and moved. The answer was no. The DEC will not do this.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Tuxedo Town Hall Reopening Monday August 3rd, 2020
Esteemed Town Employees, Town Board colleagues, Tuxedo residents, and visitors.
The Tuxedo Town Hall is now open to the public. This follows many weeks of restricted access that was intended to protect Town employees and the general public. Now, Town offices, including the Town Clerk, all have regularly scheduled hours in order to serve you. Hand sanitizer will be at each door and masks are required to enter the building.
The Justice Court, our busiest unit, will resume “in person” operations this week. They have a backlog of cases to adjudicate so managing the crowds will be a concern. We will limit the number of people in the building at any one time and the flow of traffic will be unidirectional. Visitors to the court will enter through the front door, be admitted to the courtroom, go before the judge, and exit through the side door in the courtroom.
Visitors to the second floor, for the Building Department, Assessor, Recreation Department, Supervisor’s Office, or for any other purpose will be directed to enter through the back of the building, up the ramp. Visitors will be advised to call the person they are meeting to either set an appointment or to have someone open the door.
Town Board Meetings will continue to be held via WebEx until further notice. The Community Room, where we normally hold these meetings, is small with poor ventilation and thus not suitable for any size crowd. I hope that in the fall we can begin hosting meetings in person. The Community Room is also a meeting space for our senior citizens so keeping them safe will be an important factor in deciding our public access policy.
All outgoing voice messaging must be updated to clarify that Town Hall is open and that staff are here on a regular schedule. Our webpage message will be updated and all signage should reflect these changes.
As the pandemic continues to unfold The Town Board, working under the direction of The Governor’s Office and Orange County officials, will update our emergency response as necessary. These plans are all subject to change.
We continue to move forward and strengthen our community. So, stay safe, work together, and continue to help those most in need.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 27, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. Councilmember McMillen was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English opened the meeting by giving an update on what has been happening in and around Powerhouse Park. The situation began with an influx of hikers who came mostly to enjoy the trails in Harriman State Park and were parking all over the place—on the roads in the East Village and up and down Route 17, all of which are no parking areas. The Town responded by putting up new No Parking signs everywhere and the police wrote many tickets. The goal was to get the hikers to park in the commuter lot. They had some success with that. The next problem area was at the Lucky Skate Park, again with hikers parking there. Eventually, the Highway Department installed a gate with a lock in that area, which solved the problem. At the same time, police details were increased which meant bringing in extra part timers. Now there is still a huge influx of non residents arriving who want to access Powerhouse Park with some staying there and others going through and up to “Bubbles” to swim and just “hang out,” barbequing and swimming. They have left behind a huge mess with garbage everywhere. The Supervisor and police officers have hiked up there and explained to the people they found t that the area was being shut down to non residents. A group consisting of Highway Department workers, police officers and many local citizens cleaned up much of the garbage at both Powerhouse Park and Bubbles. Police details will be continued and the Board will be checking the Town Code to make sure that all of the “unwanted activity” there is clearly unlawful. Movie Night was held on Friday, July 24th in Powerhouse Park. It was very successful with over 60 people showing up to enjoy music and a movie.
The Town continues work on clean-up at the Highway Department property. The Board has put aside $250,000 to accomplish this. So far they have rented a screener, a bulldozer, an excavator and a contamination condemnation meter. The Highway Department has designated two men to work on the project which they estimate will take about 5 months.
Regarding the Hamlet sewer plant, a WebEx meeting has been scheduled with the Hamlet Sewer District LDC Board on August 11. They will be putting together a presentation of what is involved and what the costs might be with bringing the new plant on line. Agenda Items:
Town of Tuxedo State Land Assessment Study – A presentation was given Bill Beckman from the Town of Stony Point detailing the proposes to reassess the state lands in the Town of Tuxedo, which would increase the tax base. To see a copy of this presentation plus an analysis of the State owned land click here and here
Cleaning and Refuse Collection bids – The bid from IWS for Refuse collection has gone up but ultimately the Board awarded them the contract. The Town only received one bid for the cleaning contract and that bid was not filled out correctly. Town Clerk Donna Matthews informed the Board that she had received 2 inquiries from additional firms after the deadline for bids had passed. After some conversation with Town Attorney Howard Protter, the Board decided to reject the one incorrectly filled out bid and put the contract back out hoping that the other two firms would get bids in this time.
Changes to Town Code, Chapter 19, Article II: Park Rules and Regulations – The changes are to spell out prohibited activities and to set a fine for each offense. There will be a public hearing on this at the next regularly scheduled Town Board meeting on August 10.
Changes of procedure for Court Prosecutor – Donald K. Sanford, Esq. was appointed as Town Prosecutor. The Town will maintain a list of prospective prosecutors to be used in the event that Mr. Sanford cannot be present.
Resolution of revised Fair Housing – This is required for eligibility for Community Block grants and it was approved unanimously.
Award contract for Town Hall ADA improvements – The Town received a grant for this project. They bid it months ago but all the bids came in too high. Subsequently, they received more money from the County for the project. They awarded the bid to WestStar Tech Services Corp. for $198,405.
Items for Discussion:
Application for COVID-related FEMA funds – this discussion was postponed due to Lt. Norton being on vacation as the Board needs his input.
Parking lot on Post Office Property – is something the Board would like to consider as soon as part of their Community Funding Application (CFA) as soon as those grants open up again.
CFA grant matching funds – The Board won’t know what that amount is until they know the cost of the project.
Graphics for Quarry Field Billboard – Councilmember Reichgott has just discovered that the Town owns this sign. Since the information on it is now a year old, he feels the Board should come up with ideas for what should go there. Several ideas were brought up (graphics from the website, having the Economic Development Committee make suggestions, something that would point back to the Town website which can be continuously updated unlike the billboard) although no definitive plan was decided on.
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is finishing up with patching the roads and getting ready for line striping. They are also working on the dirt pile at the Highway Garage. Town Clerk Donna Matthews reported that her office is running smoothly during the shut down for Covid 19. She further commented that her ex husband had passed away on Sunday and she wanted to commend the police department who were very helpful after her son found his father. She also thanked all the residents who had come out to help clean up the mess at Powerhouse Park as well as the police for their work in patrolling Powerhouse Park and helping to enforce the rules there. Supervisor English added that the Town Court is scheduled to open on August 5 and everyone is working to make sure it goes smoothly. The details are yet to be finalized.
Public Comments: Deirdre Murphy thanked Councilmember May for all her work on the website. Sue Scher commented that she felt it had been a very good, thorough meeting.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss contracts and litigation with the Town Attorney.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold Public Workshop to review Zoning changes on Wednesday July 29th at 7:00 pm. This workshops will be held virtually via WebEx. (Log onto Tuxedogov.org and click the WebEx icon at the top of the page. To dial in 408-418-9388 Access Code 796-956-205)
The Town Board met on Monday, July 20, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
This was a special meeting called for two agenda items only. The first item was the annual presentation from Town Auditor Andrew Arias of Cooper Arias. To see the Powerpoint presentation given by Mr. Arias, click here.
The second agenda item was a public hearing on a CFA (Consolidated Funding Application) grant. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay opened the hearing by stating that she had recently learned that the Consolidated Funding process has been delayed indefinitely because of Covid 19. The hearing had already been scheduled so they decided to go ahead with it. The Deputy Supervisor noted that she had received some good comments from members of the Town Center Committee arm of the Economic Development Committee. Copies of the 2019 application were circulated. This year the Town had planned to add the preliminary drawings done by engineer Al Fusco pertaining to the vehicle and parking law changes recently addressed by the board. No action has been taken as of yet on this plan and Supervisor English stated that no action would be taken until the Board had heard from all the residents who would be directly affected by it. To see a copy of the 2019 application, click here.
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The Town Board met on Monday, July 13, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English stated that the Town remains under a consent order from the DEC at the old Perfect Cut property (mulch pile), which has been in place for about 10 years. There is now the potential for fines for non-compliance. The Town has put aside $250,000 and under the direction of new case monitor, Larry Ricci, has rented equipment to work on the site. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has dedicated 2 employees for the work. The Town has also rented a meter to test the dirt that they are screening. The employees will be sifting through the entire dirt pile and sifting out all the various contaminants that have been discovered. No contaminated soil will be allowed to leave the site.
The new hamlet sewer plant needs to be brought on line. The existing plant has reached the end of its lifespan. Supervisor English reported that he would be meeting with representatives of Related on July 15 to discuss the process and that he hoped to hear an update on their plans for the Tuxedo Farms property at that time as well.
RFPs have been issued for the garbage contract as well as for a professional cleaner to clean Town Halll, the Police Station, the Train Station, the Murphy Field restrooms and the Highway Department.
Since this region is now in Phase 4 of the Coronavirus remediation, the Board has started to think about reopening Town Hall. Noting that he had not received any complaints from the public, the Supervisor commented that he felt that the Town Hall personnel has responded well to constituents during the closure. Councilmember McMillen stated that he has negotiated with Optimum a wireless upgrade for the entirety of Town Hall as well as an upgrade for the Community Room. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay has been keeping track of the deadline changes for the Census. She stated that it was very important for everyone to be counted so that the Town would be eligible to receive all the possible money it could. The deadline is currently in mid-August. As a follow-up to the Economic Development webinar, “Moving Tuxedo Forward,” she said there were so many expressions of support from various leaders and she wanted to follow up on all of them so she will be calling another meeting soon. She also announced that the Village of Tuxedo Park has voted to become a climate smart community. She hopes that there are projects that the Town and Village will now be able to work on together. Councilmember May reported that she is still working on the new Town website.
Agenda Items:
Sign Applications-the Town has received some applications for real estate signs. As such the Board is in the process of reviewing the zoning code in order to insure that the applications are in compliance. While they are at it, they are also considering whether they might want to make any changes to the existing code.
Resolution settling Tax Certioraril proceeding – this proceeding was brought by the estate of Alex Salm.
Other Business:
Town Auditor Andrew Arias will give his presentation on the 2019 Town audit and the year to date finances on Monday, June 20 at 7 pm via WebEx. There will also be la public hearing about a CFA grant (State Economic Development grant as opposed to the CDBG grants which are federal) at that meeting. Plans are to add some engineering drawings to the application which was being worked on last year.
Items for Discussion:
Remediation of Welcome to Tuxedo Signs – Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and his department will take care the remediation of damage that was done to the sign coming into Tuxedo from the South by the construction crew working on the Sloatsburg road diet work.)
Movie Night at Powerhouse Park jointly organized by the town Recreation Department and the Parks & Outdoor Recreation Committee of the Economic Development Council will be held on July 22
Security at Powerhouse Park – There have been many non-residents picnicking and barbequing at Powerhouse Park. Signs have been erected stating that the area is for residents only. More signs are coming! The Board will ask the police to enforce this.
The Board discussed their responses to a survey that Town Planner Bonnie Franson had given them so she can schedule any further workshops that might be needed.
A zoning workshop was scheduled for July 29. There will be no public participation.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 22, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Supervisor English began his remarks by reporting that the Economic Development event or “Moving Tuxedo Forward” held on Saturday, June 20 at 10 am, had been very successful with close to 100 people logged on to attend. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay mentioned that she thought the comments made by the elected officials who were present were particularly helpful especially when it came to addressing the financial situation that the whole State faces right now. She added that there were “a lot of things that could still be done,” and said she would circle back to her committee members to follow up on the suggestions that were made.
Next, the Supervisor announced that he wanted to address the executive order which had closed Town Hall so the Board could formulate plans for opening the Hall and allowing people in to transact business. He suggested that Town Hall should be open with limited access to the employees with his main concerns being traffic flow and maintaining a healthy environment. He further suggested putting a notice on the door outlining the process which will include only one person at a time to approach the window for service and markers on the floor to help people maintain a social distance. Town Attorney Marissa Weiss advised the Board that they would need an Executive order outlining the process. The attorneys will work with the Board on the details. The original Executive Order has expired so they will need to extend it with some modifications. Councilmember Reichgott reported that the ADA improvements for the courtroom for which the bids were rejected at the last meeting, was being re-advertised in the coming week with some changes to the project. Also, he announced that there was now more money available for the Community Block grants due to Covid and the Town has received additional money for the project. Councilmember May commented that she was still working on the new Town website and now has the first mock up of site. There was some discussion about what things various people want to see on the site. The big one seems to be the ability to accept payments online. The Board will look into this. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that since comments from the public are not allowed at the zoning workshops, people have been asking when they will be able to ask questions and get responses. The answer is that there will be several more workshops as the Boards work on the Zoning Code and public hearings, where the public can be heard and ask questions. These meetings will probably start in September.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to approve sign permit – Longstreet & Associates – Tuxedo Park Fine Homes is looking to put a sign on property located on Route 17 near Stevens Lane advertising commercial property for sale. They are looking to have the sign up for a period of one year. Upon checking the Board finds that the property in question is not zoned for commercial use. There is some confusion between the different maps marking the zoning in Town. Currently the property in question is zoned residential and it is marked to remain residential in the upcoming zoning amendments. The Board took no action on this item pending clearing up the confusion on the zoning maps. Building Inspector Maikisch was directed to let the applicant know.
Discussion – Outdoor Dining (Restaurants) – Since indoor dining starts on 6/23 and there are only 4 restaurants in town (neither Tuxedo Sushi nor Steve’s were interested in outdoor dining) the Board decided to let Building Inspector Maikisch make the determination on this.
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said he had heard grants for sidewalks mentioned in the Economic Development Conference and would be interested in getting one. He was given information from several Board members and it was decided that he would get together with Councilmember Reichgott and walk the sidewalks so they could decide what to apply for.
The Superintendent said he and his crew had been out patching roads. They have done Mombasha, Brammertown, Susan Court, Alma Court, Helmstown and are currently on Benjamin Meadow Road. He plans to start chip sealing on July 6. Soon, they will begin changing street signs in Laurel Ridge, Clinton Woods and the north end of Town.
Public Comments: Irene DeNaro wondered what had happened to the stop sign in Laurel Ridge. The signs were missing for several days but are back now. No one knew the answer to this. New signs were ordered and installed.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from the attorney.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 8, 2020 at 7:00 via WebEx. All members were present.
Town Supervisor’s Report: Supervisor English commented that the Board has been holding Zoning Workshops which he personally finds very helpful in bringing him up to speed on planning and zoning issues in the Town. The workshops have been led by Town Planner Bonnie Franson. There is no public participation in the workshops but public hearings will be happening down the road and that’s where the public will be able to participate. In the meantime, he feels that the Town Board and the members of the Planning and Zoning Board who have chosen to attend the meetings are all getting a good education about the Town’s Code.
The Supervisor then remarked that he was having a hard time coping with “everything that’s going on in our country” right now. He expressed his fervent hope that everyone will actually mean the words they say in the pledge of allegiance and make this country fair and equitable for everyone.
Agenda Items:
Resolution for police officer promotion. - In the wake of Sgt. Decker’s retirement, police officer Michael Eichengreen was promoted to Sergeant and was sworn in. A ceremony where the new Sergeant received his badge and bars and was congratulated by fellow officers was shown via WebEx. The new sergeant’s wife, son and parents were present.
Finalize plans for the “Moving Tuxedo Forward” event to be held on June 20th via WebEx – Members of the different sub-committees that comprise the Economic Development Committee will present descriptions of what they have been working on to a panel consisting of County Executive Steve Neuhaus, State Senator Jen Metzger and State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec. Members of the public are welcome to log in and listen as well.
Update on Website – Councilmember May reported on her ongoing work on the Town’s upcoming new website. They are currently working on the design criteria and are looking for pictures to post as well as discussing a Town logo
Set schedule for future Zoning Workshops and plan for public. Hearing – The next workshop will be on June 17. The Board thinks they might need 2 or 3 more workshops after that. They hope to get
to public hearings by September.
Public Comments:
The Board then held an informal discussion about the possibility of any protests or gatherings of people looking to express their feelings about what is going on in this country. They have had some inquiries from a group of people who would like to gather and express their feelings. Sue Scher said she represents a small group of Tuxedo residents who want to to gather and share views about systemic racism. They are not affiliated with any organized groups. They want to be sure they are socially distanced. They have heard that Chief Abbott and the police department are interested in working with them and they are pleased about that. No date has been determined as yet for a gathering but they want to make sure they welcome people from all parts of Town. Supervisor English commented that the Town Board looked forward to hearing more from this group. They are amenable to working with them and will try to remove any obstacles that might exist for their gathering. The Board very much wants to support free speech and citizen involvement.
Next, the Supervisor commented that the Board would like to set up a system where each section of the Town would have a dedicated time slot during which they could come and discuss the issues that concern them with the Board. He noted that there were “lingering concerns’ in the East Village about the Lucky Skate Park. Over the past weekend, there has been vandalism there. Donna Matthews observed that there have been problems with this park for a long time although they are getting worse because of Covid-19 and the fact that people are around and looking for things to do. There is a lot of traffic going in and out of the park and cars are parking in the woods. There are also A.T.V.s coming in and out. She reported that last weekend a lot of graffiti was painted in the park and, despite the fact that there is supposed to be no parking, people are parking there anyway. The kids she saw in the park over the weekend did not live in Town. At the moment, she feels the Park is not safe for use by younger kids. Also, there is garbage everywhere. There is also graffiti and lots of out of town cars parked at Powerhouse Park. There seems to be a lot going on at both Parks and she doesn’t feel it’s just hikers. Residents of the East Village are becoming more and more concerned about what’s happening in their neighborhood. She wondered if the Town could put up signs stating that the Parks were for use by residents only. The Board discussed with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum installing a gate that could be locked (leaving ample access for fire trucks). It was agreed that this could and would be done as soon as possible. Ultimately, Supervisor English stated that he wants the Board to get together with residents of the East Village to find out what their needs and desires are for a permanent solution. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay suggested they consider applying for a community block grant to pay for improvements to the parks.
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum commented that there was still mulch available for residents, although he finds that the demand for it has diminished. His department is getting ready to do their annual road work. They are also working on inventory mapping. Councilmember May wondered about installing a doggie bag dispenser and receptacle for collecting the waste at Quarry Field. The Superintendent said he would look into it. Police Chief Abbott reported that he was still having problems with parking along Route 17 because the roads in Harriman State Park remain closed. He has also been working on the problem in the Lucky Park.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met virtually via WebEx on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 7pm. Councilmember McMillan was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor English began the meeting by announcing that a Memorial Day video featuring the May 25 Memorial Day Celebration had been posted on the Town’s YouTube Channel. He reported that it had been a good, if abbreviated, ceremony and thanked those who took part. Next, he reported that he and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay had listened to Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus’ daily County report on Covid19 (available on Facebook) and repeated some of the latest numbers and information given there. He emphasized that in order for businesses to reopen, they need to have a safety plan in place as well as a signed, one-page affirmation that they will follow the Governor’s orders about social distancing and masks. Phase Two is expected to begin on June 9th.
Councilmember May reported that the Town’s new internet consultant, Civics Plus, had sent out a survey about what people want to see in a new website which had received a large response. It seems like most people want to see a community calendar and reporting on community events.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that Moving Tuxedo Forward would take place virtually on June 20th. During this event, members of the Economic Development Committee will be making reports on what they’ve been working on to Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus as well as State Senator Jen Metzger and State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec.
Agenda Items:
1. Discussion – Outdoor Dining – The Board concluded that in order for local restaurants to open for outdoor dining, they would need to have site plan approval from the Planning Board. The earliest that this would be possible is June 9th.
2. Waiver for 30 wait to Tuxedo Hospitality (Steve’s Pizza) to upgrade liquor license was unanimously approved.
3. Resolution of adoption of Moratorium on Development Approval – this is already in place and the Board unanimously approved the extension for 6 months.
4. Resolution approving sign permit for Farmer’s Market was unanimously approved.
5. Resolution to approve Zoning and Planning Board Members to attend training – Since members are required to do a certain number of hours of training on an annual basis, it was decided that they could attend the Town Board’s workshop meetings regarding the upcoming zoning code amendments and that the time spent at those workshops would could toward their training.
Other Business:
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that Engineering Consultant Al Fusco had informed her that all the bids on the proposed installation of the ADA improvements (ramps and automatic doors into the courtroom and upstairs Community Room plus an ADA compliant bathroom installed next to courtroom) were too expensive. The Town had applied for, and won, a community block grant to pay for this work but the bids way exceeded the amount of the grant. It was agreed that the Board would send the projects out for rebid but this time separated into the different projects rather than as one project.
Department Head Reports Police Chief Abbott reported that the Police Department was working on the hiker parking issues that have been ongoing in the East Village. Town Clerk Matthews commented that parking by the Lucky (Skate Park) is bad and that the area needs No Parking signs.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is patching roads and getting ready for roadwork, which will be done in July. He also commented that the solar company he has been talking to about converting the highway garage to solar energy reached back out to him after seeing the recent upgrade in the Town’s Moody’s rating.
Public Comments:
Jerry Mottola asked for an update on the Post Office land just south of the building (had been looked at for a possible municipal parking lot). He was told that this is still under consideration however the Town will need to find funding for converting the property to a parking lot. Perhaps this might happen in next year’s budget.
The vouchers were approved and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Town Attorney Howard Procter regarding a personal issue.
Covid-19 Update From Supervisor English - Posted 5/23/2020
Orange County is included in the Mid-Hudson region which is expected to re-open with Phase 1 on Tuesday, May 26, provided that we meet the criteria for Contact Tracers. If you or someone you know is interested in helping our region by becoming a Contact Tracer, the following notice contains links for the training process. The notice also includes re-opening guidance and guidelines for businesses.
On behalf of County Executive Steve Neuhaus:
Per Governor Cuomo, the Mid-Hudson Region will be opening on Tuesday, May 26th, contingent upon having the required number of regional contact tracers signed up and certified. To that end, the County Executives in the Region have agreed to be sure that each does what is needed to fully meet this metric.
If you are willing to be a contact tracer or know someone else who will, please do the following no later than 5:00 pm Monday, May 25th:
Volunteers will need to take a free course and the exam from John Hopkins University (link is here). When filling out the online application, it initially shows a fee of $49. A discount is applied upon checkout making it no cost.
· Provide your name and e-mail address to Michael Ventre, Deputy Commissioner of Orange County Health Department (mventre@orangecountygov.com).
· Provide Deputy Commissioner Ventre with a copy of your certification upon completion of the course/test (scan and e-mail, or text or e-mail a photo of it).
· Please note: if you have already done the steps above, you do not need to resubmit the information.
· The Empire State Development website has re-opening guidance and guidelines for businesses: https://esd.ny.gov/
Contact Tracing:
The role of a contact tracer will involve calling people throughout the County who may have contacted a COVID-19 positive individual and collecting and entering data with respect to their whereabouts and individuals they have encountered.
To be a contact tracer, New York State requires the completion of an online training and certification program. According to the State, this online course and exam takes five hours; however, most people seem to complete it in roughly an hour.
Resident Survey - New Town Website - Posted 5/17/2020
The Town will be upgrading their website using CivisPles. Before finalizing the contract they would like resident input to see what things people would find useful on the site. Please take a minute and complete the small survey using the link below:
The Town Board met on Monday, May 11, 2020 at 7:00 pm virtually via Web Ex. All members were present.
Supervisor’s Update:
Supervisor English began his update by reporting the numbers from County Executive Steve Newhaus’ daily update to Orange County. In regard to reopening Town Hall, which he said would not happen until the Governor gave the go ahead, he reported that he had been working with various members of the Town Hall staff to put together a plan for safely reopening the building. Town Board Update:
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that she has been involved in working on the plans for Memorial Day, which are still in the beginning phase. So far, the Committee is leaning toward holding the traditional ceremonies in Southfields and at the Monument in Town. Any other activities will be postponed until a later date.
Councilperson May reported that the Town’s new Website consultant, Civics Plus, is in the process of finalizing the survey they will be circulating to help ascertain what features Town residents are looking for on the website. She also reported on the Town’s thank you video to First Responders and essential; workers that she has been working on. The video can be viewed on the Town’s You Tube Channel.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that Moving Tuxedo Forward would take place on June 20. At this events the various committee who have been working on the Economic Development will present what they’ve been doing to Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, State Senator Jen Metzger and State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec. This will be done either by video conference or in public if allowed by then. The public is invited to attend either form of the presentations.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items: 1-Resolution to grant Moratorium Waiver to Augusta Properties – This was passed unanimously. There will be a public hearing on this project at the Planning Board meeting on May 12. 2-Resolution to schedule workshops for Zoning Code/Comprehensive Plan – The Supervisor stated that they are having a hard time finding dates, which work for Board members as well as Town Planner Bonnie Fresno. They will continue to work on this scheduling via phone. 3-Resolution adopting Final Consolidation Plan – This was unanimously passed.
Department Head Updates: Police Chief Abbott stated that his department was preparing for another large influx of hikers over the weekend. They will again be ticketing people who park along Route 17. There will, however, be free parking available in the lower commuter lot. (on weekends only). The police are also conscious of extra parking in the East Village and will be patrolling the area.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department has finished up tree trimming for the year and will be segueing into more roadwork.
Vouchers were discussed and approved and the Town Board left to go into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel regarding a personnel issue. When they came back approximately an hour and a half later, they announced two things: 1-the Democratic Primary is back on for June 23rd. Since this is expected to be a low turnout event, the thinking at this point is to hold it for all districts in the Train Station. Details still need to be finalized with the Board of Elections.. 2- the Board has voted unanimously to give Poiice Chief Arthur Abbot a raise in salary to $35,000. This raise will be retroactive to January 1, 2020.
The Town Board met virtually via WebEx on Monday, April 27, 2020 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with two public hearings:
Public Hearing # 1 – Continuation of Town Village Consolidation:
Town Attorney Marissa Weiss gave a short summary of the Town Village Consolidation plan along with a timeline of how it came to be. The Plan is available on the Town website. There were no comments from the public and the public hearing was adjourned. Written comments sent to the Town Clerk will be accepted through April 30. The Board will not be holding a second hearing on this matter.
Public Hearing # 2 – Moratorium on Development Approvals:
There were no comments and the public hearing was closed. Written comments sent to the Town Clerk will be accepted through April 30. Since the Town must wait to hear from the County before taking action, this will not be voted on until the next meeting.
The minutes from the April 13 meeting were accepted.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor English reported that the Town’s Moody’s rating has gone up two levels. The Town continues to work with the DEC in regard to the Highway Department site. The site has been secured and they are currently working on a testing procedure and a remediation plan. The reopening of Town Hall will depend upon a sanitation plan. Shari Brooks is working on finding a contractor to do this work and, once it has been done, they can consider reopening the building. Councilmembers May and McMillen reported that they have recommended that the Town sign a contract with Civic Plus for the Town’s website and they are very excited about the improvements that will be coming to the website. CouncilmemberMcMillen recapped the information from the Town’s recent press conference announcing the donation of face masks by Michael Bruno and Cathy Morris as well as from Tuxedo resident Michael Coleman. These masks will be made available to the police and other first responders in Town as well as Town employees. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has an emergency loan fund of $500,000 available for loans to small businesses that have 25 or fewer employees. The maximum loan is $10,000 with no interest for 6 months, after which there is a 2% interest rate. The loan will need to be repaid within 24 months. Follow these links for more information: https://www.ocnyida.com/press-release/ https://www.ocnyida.com/funding-corporation/small-business-loan/
She also stated that there would be a workshop meeting on Monday, May 4 at 7 pm to review the zoning code. Also on Monday May 4, during the day, the Town will hold a pre-bid meeting with interested contractors who wish to work on the ADA projects at Town Hall that the Town has recently received funding for. She closed with reminding residents to complete and submit census replies.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution regarding 2020 Assessment Roll and Real Property Grievance Process – this was done to comply with the Governor’s order that this be done remotely this year. Roll will be published on Town website and appointments can be made with Town Assessor. Grievances will be heard remotely.
Acknowledgement of Sgt. Decker’s retirement – He retires after working for our police department for 15 years. He will become a part time officer in the future.
Resolution accepting Towing Licenses – Applications were approved for Tuxedo Gulf, Harriman Auto, C.A.R.S., NJV Auto, Loyal Tire and Apple Auto Body.
Resolution to enter contract with CivicPlus for the Town’s website – The 3 year contract is for $14,250 ($4750 annually)
Revision of terms for members of the Board of Assessment Review – This was done to bring them into compliance with the State. Henceforth, terms will begin on October 1st and end on September 30th.
Appointment of Directors to the Board of the Tuxedo Farms Local Development Corp. – This is the LDC that runs the sewer plant. Supervisor English and Deputy Supervisor Lindsay were appointed.
Resolution for State Aid to Municipalities Grant – This just finalizes the paperwork for Town Hall repairs. (roof)
Public Comments:
There were no comments from the public. Supervisor English mentioned that people had been concerned about Parks being open and parking on public roads.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board held a press conference on april 24, 2020 at 12pm for the purpose of fprmally recognizing a donation of face masks from Michael bruno and Town of Tuxedo Resident Michael Coleman.
Town of Tuxedo resident Michael Coleman, has stepped up to assist the Tuxedo town board with 500 protective face masks for our Police Dept. Through his contact with the American Chinese Alliance and the Gratus-cubed INC/Hook & Reel Cajun Group, Mr. Coleman helped secure these much-needed supplies. The Tuxedo town board exhausted many channels in their attempts to secure these items which our police require to perform their roles as first responders and our inventory was approaching critical status until this generous donation was tendered.
The town board would also like to recognize Michael Bruno and Cathy Morris of the Tuxedo Hudson Company/Valley Rock Inn for their in-kind donation of 50 protective masks.
The Town of Tuxedo wishes to thank Mr. Coleman, Mr. Bruno and Ms. Morris for their outstanding efforts and applauds their collective actions to secure these necessary items, which are in short supply through normal government requests. Truly a remarkable citizen led initiative to help protect our police during this outbreak and beyond.
A virtual press conference will be held on Friday April 24th at 12 noon in order to formally thank the donors and accept delivery of these masks.
Press Conference WebEx link – http://bit.ly/townoftuxedo
Or Dial-IN at +1-408-418-9388 Access code: 796 956 205
The Tuxedo Town Board
Ken English – Supervisor
Michele Lindsay – Deputy Supervisor David McMillen – Councilperson
The Town Board met virtually via WebEx on Monday, April 13, 2020 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor English opened the meeting commenting that there is now a new tab on the Town website for Supervisor’s updates. He added that he and the Board wanted to express their gratitude for the dedication of Town’s department heads and employees for keeping the Town operational. He stated that Town Hall would remain closed until further notice. Additionally, he thanked employees and residents for organizing and running such efforts as Tuxedo Outreach, Love Thy Neighbor and Tuxedo Salutes Good Sam Heroes.
The Supervisor then started off the announcement from Board members of the names of those residents who have died from Covid 19. The Supervisor spoke of Don Blum from Laurel Ridge; Deputy Supervisor Lindsay spoke of Pam Cromey and Councilmember McMillen recognized Joan Berish and Barbara Fasola.
Continuing on, the Supervisor noted that he had been contacted by Moody’s for an update on the Town’s finances. He has set up a WebEx call with Moody’s for Wednesday, April 14. Subjects to be covered during the call are the effects of the economy on the Town, an overview of capital projects, the current state of our finances and cyber security. The Town is in the midst of property tax income, which is the number one source of income for the Town. Accordingly, the Board has agreed to add $2000 to Assessor Jim Davies budget so he can hire some clerical help through May 31.
The Supervisor further noted that the Town is continuing to work with the DEC on the consent order on the Long Meadow Rd. property (the Highway Department). Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has leased a testing machine as requested by the DEC. The Town will be testing the soil and working with some environmental consultants in order to identify the extent of remediation necessary.
Finally, he noted that Shari Brooks has found a vendor to sanitize the police station and cars. This same vendor will be consulted about Town Hall before it is reopened as well as the Highway Department Garage. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the April 18 Economic Development Day, which has been titled “Moving Tuxedo Forward,” has been postponed until Saturday June 20. Confirmation for attendance has been received from Senator Metzger and Assemblyman Brabenec and she is still waiting to hear from County Executive Neuhaus. Bill Fioranti head of County Economic Development and Amanda Dana head of County Tourism will also be in attendance. At the meeting, presentations will be given by the committees from the Economic Development Committee.
The Deputy Supervisor also noted that she has been working with Senator Metzger on the state aid to municipality grant ($100,000) which is for repairs to the roof at Town Hall. Councilmember May announced that she and Councilmember McMillen have chosen a company to create the Town’s new website and they will be meeting with them on Thursday, April 16. Councilmember McMillen also brought up the fact that there is a newly installed construction sign, which is blocking the sight of cars exiting from Southside Place. He, with the help of Police Chief Abbot will work on ameliorating this situation.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Remind the public of the April 27 Public Hearing on the Town Village Consolidation to be held via WebEx. A date for a 2nd hearing, if deemed necessary, was set for May 7.
Adoption of Zoning Code changes: Local Law No. 2 of 2020: Supplemental Regulations to Accessory Parking and Loading - this was approved unanimously.
Authorization to put the Community Development Block Grant projects out for bid – The Town has been awarded $78,000 in a federal grant fund. This will be used for ADA improvements to Town Hall with projects to include a ramp and entrance to the court room on the ground floor as well as a handicapped bathroom next to the courtroom, improvements to the ramp and entrance to the community room. Permission to go out to bid has been received from the County and the Board voted unanimously to put the projects out to bid with a bid opening date of 5/11.
Resolution amending Board of Assessment Review Member terms was tabled.
Resolution for Tuxedo Farms LDC (sewer) was tabled
Set Dates for Zoning Code Workshops – This was set for Monday, May 4 at 7pm via WebEx
Introduction of Local Law: Moratorium on Development Approvals – the moratorium expired and the Board failed to renew it so they are starting over. There will be a public hearing on this law on April 27.
Accept resignation of part-time police officer Adam Bruce – this was accepted unanimously
Resolution to accept the Stop DWI contract with Police Department – this is done annually.
Resolution to remove DeMarino Trucking from the Town of Tuxedo property on Longmeadow Rd. This has been mandated by the DEC. Demarino will required to remove his equipment from the property by Aoril 18. Councilmember Reichgott stated that he wanted to make it clear that this motion is not stating that DeMarino is NOT part of the problem at this site…this is just so the Town can comply with the DEC order. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Department Heads Updates: Town Clerk – Donna Matthews commented that she and Deputy Marisa Dollbaum have been answering phone calls and assuring people that the Town is doing everything they can to keep everyone safe. There have been a couple of marriages and arrangements have been made for people to bring their information and hand it through the car window where it is received with a glove and processed so that marriage licenses can be issued.
She also reported to Police Chief Abbot that people have been moving the orange cones currently blocking off the fisherman’s parking lot at the East Village bridge. The Chief said he would look into it. Finally,she reported that the junk shop next to the Red Apple has been open. (illegal at the moment) He said he would take care of that as well. Police Chief Abbot reported that his department has been receiving a lot of medical calls from people who have the virus or suspect that they do. The police have established a protocol with the ambulance corps where the ambulance medic enters a house first to handle the emergency. Public Comments: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay received an email complaining about a high wattage LED streetlight, which has been installed on Hospital Road and is shining right into several homes’ windows. O&R has been asked to replace this bulb with the lowest possible wattage. Since this has not happened, she will follow up with O&R. She also reported that there are women in town who are sewing masks. If anyone is interested, they should contact either Town Clerk Donna Matthews or Shari Brooks. Councilmember McMillen thanked Michael Bruno for donating 25 masks to the Town (made by a tailor in Sloatsburg and for sale at Valley Rock) and 25 more will be coming from Cathy Morris. Some have been given to the police and others will be given to the Town Clerk to disperse as she sees fit. Councilmember May stated that Hank Salzer had donated box of medical masks. They will be given to Tuxedo Outreach for the volunteers. Claudia Bakhtiary thanked the police department for the birthday drive-bys for local kids that they have been doing. Councilmember McMillen talked about the PSA that he and others have created called “Distance in the Streets.” The video is on You Tube, and can also be viewed by clicking here.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met virtually on Monday, March 23, 2020 at 7:00 pm via WebEx. All members were present.
Supervisor Ken English opened the meeting by thanking the Board and especially Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay for putting the meeting together as he has not been feeling well for the last couple of days.
Town Board Updates: Councilmember May reported that she has been working on collecting information for a possible Town website re-haul. She has identified three different possible companies and is collecting information from them. Councilmember Reichgott remarked that with everybody home, there are a lot more people than usual out and walking on the roads to get exercise. He has noticed that many of them are not obeying traffic laws and wants to make sure that everyone knows that the legal and safe way to walk on roads is on the left side facing traffic so that oncoming cars and trucks can see them.
The minutes from February 24 were unanimously accepted with no corrections
Agenda Items:
Town Village Consolidation Plan Public Hearing was rescheduled for Monday, April 27. The Board hopes that the hearing can be held in public, but if it can’t, it will be held via WebEx. If people can’t participate via WebEx for any reason, they can always send written comments. The updated timeline and Consolidation Plan can be found on the Town website.
Resolution to appoint members to Zoning Board of Appeals – Russell Shaver was appointed for a term to expire on 12/31/24 passed 4-1 with Councilmember Reichgott abstaining because he didn’t attend the interview. Ned Kugel was appointed as an alternate to the Zoning Board with a term expiring 12/3/20. Councilmember Reichgott abstained as he didn’t attend the interview. Frank Peverly was appointed as Chairman of the ZBA. This last appointment will occur every year.
Resolution to appoint members to the Board of Assessment Review – James Pandice was appointed with a term to expire on 12/31/24. Edward Brennan was appointed as the Board’s Chairman. This last appointment will occur every year. The Board asked Town Attorney Marissa Weiss to prepare a resolution to change the terms of all members of the Board of Assessment Review to expire on September 3 instead of December 31.
Resolution to grant relief from Building Moratorium was granted to Augusta Properties (owner of Orange Top diner, the office building next to it and the Mercantile Building. This will allow them to go before the Planning Board and the ZBA.
Other Business: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the Town has received word from the Orange County Planning Board that they have reviewed the proposed changes to the zoning code regarding parking and the business district and see no reason for an objection.
Department Head Updates: Councilmember McMillen stated that he has created new tabs on the Town website for both Outreach Tuxedo and Covid-19 where all necessary information and phone numbers can be found. Police Chief Abbot reported that the Department had recently received supplies of hand sanitizer, N95 masks and face shields and so they are equipped to answer calls. The Tuxedo Police Officers are dispatched by the County, who has a new protocol. Going forward, if someone calls 911 for help, they will be asked if they have been exposed to the virus. If the Department responds, they will be waiting outside until the ambulance comes unless it’s an emergency (i.e. a heart attack) in which case they will come in and “do what they have to do.” If someone is sick and the ambulance arrives, they will send one member in to do an assessment and then will come out and report to the others waiting outside. The Chief also reported he was working with Shari Brooks on getting the station and the police cars cleaned up and sanitized. So far, they have ascertained that this might take a while and be very expensive so they will see if FEMA or NYSOEM will be able to give the Town a reimbursement for this service. In addition Chief Abbot said he had received a communication from the Village of Tuxedo Park police who wanted to know if they ran short of officers due to the Corona Virus, whether the Town would be willing to work in the Village? The answer is that this would be alright on a temporary basis but if it was going to be a long term arrangement, they would have to come up with a proposal for a memorandum of understanding. John Banyo reported that the Planning Board meeting for 3/24 would be available on WebEx. Anyone who wants to attend should email Deborah Villanuevo at buildingclerk@tuxedogov.org.
Public Comments: Allison Taylor suggested that call in meetings should be continued post Covid 19 Lili Neuhauser thanked everyone involved in Outreach Tuxedo for all the good work done so far. She also announced that on March 24 from 1-5pm there will be a food pickup for residents in the Suffern School District and residents of the Town of Tuxedo. This will take place in the parking lot across the street from the Food Pantry.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
Supervisor English Declares a Local State of Emergency - Posted 3/14/2020
Esteemed Town Board Members, Tuxedo residents, neighbors, and friends,
I, Kenneth English, Tuxedo Town Supervisor, am issuing, effective Monday morning, March 16th, an Executive order that is intended to put into effect the authority to limit access to Town Hall and other Tuxedo Town properties as I, and the Town Board deem necessary. It will also enable us to circumvent procurement policies so that we can contract with a cleaning company to begin sanitizing our properties, especially Town Hall, the Police station, Highway Department, especially the staff lounge areas and places where staff congregate, and other locations we identify.
Department Heads must consider reasonable changes to schedules that may help with the "social distancing" strategy being promoted by our health officials. All efforts to follow CDC sanitary guidelines should be put in place. Frequent and deep hand-washing and the use of hand sanitizer should be the new normal. ANYONE who shows any sign of illness should stay home and consult their doctor. All Town public meetings are postponed until further notice including Justice Court sessions. Updates will be made available on the Town of Tuxedo official website as necessary.
Of paramount importance is public safety and the well being of Town employees. I feel it is imperative that we all join together to follow public health guidelines to curtail all public interaction to try to stem the spread of this very contagious disease, and hopefully end this crisis as soon as possible. We MUST act with urgency. All local businesses and houses of worship should seriously consider actions to keep people from congregating in close proximity.
We are making every effort to hire a professional cleaning company that specializes in dealing with this type of emergency, a step that I consider essential to considering how we can plan to reopen.
There’s much more to say, to communicate and to consider. I am taking this action to begin setting a cooperative plan in place. Deputy Supervisor Michele Lindsay, and Councilpersons Dave McMillen, Maria May, and Jay H. Reichgott and I will continue to work together with the very dedicated Town Team to do whatever we can to enhance what our county, state and federal leaders implement. I know that with the support and efforts of residents, we will prevail. A big THANKS to our first responders who always answer the call.
I will make every effort to respond quickly. Town officials can reach me on my cell phone. Please help circulate this notice.
Ken English
Tuxedo Town Supervisor
TOWN OF TUXEDO, NY, ORANGE COUNTY
DECLARATION OF LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY
A State of Emergency is hereby declared in the Town of Tuxedo, effective as of 6:00am on Monday, March 20th, 2020.
WHEREAS, on March 7, 2020, the Governor of the State of New York declared a State disaster emergency for the entire State of New York in response to the outbreak of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency in response to the outbreak of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, both travel-related cases and community contact transmission of COVID-19 have been document in Orange County, New York and are expected to continue; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Tuxedo is addressing the threat that COVID-19 poses to the health, welfare and safety of its residents and visitors;
NOW THEREFORE, I, Kenneth English, Supervisor of the Town of Tuxedo, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws of the State of New York, hereby find, pursuant to Section 24 of Article 2-B of the Executive Law, that a disaster is impending in the Town of Tuxedo and I do hereby declare a disaster emergency for the entire Town of Tuxedo.
FURTHER, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 24(g) of Article 2-B of the Executive Law to temporarily suspend or modify any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation, or parts thereof, of any agency during a State disaster emergency, if compliance with such statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation would prevent, hinder, or delay action necessary to cope with the disaster emergency or if necessary to assist or aid in coping with such disaster, I hereby temporarily suspend or modify the following:
Town of Tuxedo’s Procurement Policies and any associated Local Laws to allow the undersigned or his designee to expand Town funds and resources in the best interest of the Town in connection with the current health disaster.
Said suspension(s) shall run from the date of this Order through Friday, March 20th, subject to extension by further order. The suspension of the aforesaid policies and Local Laws shall be for the minimum deviation from the requirements of same consistent with the disaster action deemed necessary.
IN ADDITION, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 25(1) of Article 2-B of the Executive Law, which states that “[u]pon the threat or occurrence of a disaster, the chief executive of any political subdivision is hereby authorized and empowered to and shall use any and all facilities, equipment, supplies, personnel and other resources of his political subdivision in such manner as may be necessary or appropriate to cope with the disaster or any emergency resulting therefrom,” and in accordance with any applicable provisions in any of the collective bargaining agreements now in effect between the Town of Tuxedo and its representative employee organizations, I hereby direct all Town Department Heads to arrange, modify, or limit the work schedules of their respective departments in such a manner as may be necessary to minimize the risks to Town employees associated with the current COVID-19 outbreak, in accordance with recommendations issued by all relevant medical professionals and/or government agencies.
As Chief Executive of the Town of Tuxedo, I, Kenneth English, exercise the authority vested to me under Section 24 of the New York State Executive Law, to preserve the public safety and hereby render all required and available assistance vital to the security, well-being, and health of the citizens of the Town. I hereby direct all departments and agencies of the Town of Montgomery to take whatever steps necessary to protect life and property, public infrastructure and provide such emergency assistance as deemed necessary.
The Town of Tuxedo is taking serious precautions in halting the spread of COVID-19. Town Hall is open but please Do Not Enter the Town Hall Building unannounced. If you call the office we will make appropriate arrangements. We are hopeful we can take care of your needs over the phone, by email or by regular mail. If your business requires personal attention, Town Hall is open but we ask you to be considerate upon entering. If you’re sick, please stay home. This pertains to all Town Departments: Town Clerk, Court/Traffic Tickets, Planning, Zoning, Building, Assessor, and Town Supervisor. Documents can be left in the drop box to the right of the front door. Please check our website www.tuxedogov.org for informatin abWishing all a safe resolution to this grave emergency.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 24, 2020 at 7:00 pm. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay was absent.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor English reported that he had made a site visit to Quarry Field with Michael Johnson, subcontractor to Con Ed for the Village of Tuxedo Park’s upgrade project. The subcontractor has requested that they be allowed to park certain vehicles at Quarry Field during the project. After some discussion among department heads, it was decided that the Town Attorneys would be asked to look over the proposed lease agreement and if all was in order, permission would be granted.
Town Board Update: Councilperson May reported that she and Councilperson McMillan are looking at companies to redesign and rebuild the Town website. They have 3 companies they are talking with.
Agenda Items:
Resolution-Building Inspector’s vehicle. – This vehicle has already been approved but the Board wants to purchase it rather than lease. – passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve the Deputy Town Clerk to attend training – She will be attending the 2020 Town Clerks Association conference and training in Albany – passed unanimously
Budget modifications – were passed unanimously
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced that there was mulch, topsoil and stones available for residents to take at Quarry Field. He also reported that he had heard from the DOT, who will be making a site visit to inspect the intersections along 17A to see what can be done to make those safer. This is in response to several accidents that have occurred there. The department is still tree trimming and will be doing so until the beginning of April. They have finished in Maple Brook and are currently working on South Gate Rd. He also mentioned that the sewer system is having a problem with jamming due to residents flushing disposable wipes and asked that people refrain from doing that. Lt. Norton of the Police Department stated that there would be a personnel issue coming up shortly and the police would like a sit down with the Town Board. He was told they could meet in Executive Session after the regular meeting of the Board on March 9.
Public Comments: Henry Heffner from Tuxedo Farms reported that there has been a considerable amount of vandalism on their site. People are coming on to the site with ATVs and/or quads, making their approach from the Tuxedo side through Mountain Lake. There has been damage to the water tank and the pump station, where every window was broken and the locks have been broken on all the doors. He mentioned that he had left a message for Lt. Norton and said he would like to meet with him. The Lt. responded that the police don’t patrol private property suggesting that perhaps Related should hire a private security company. Mr. Heffner reiterated that he would like to speak with the Lt. as he would be willing to hire officers when they were off duty. They agreed to speak on Tuesday afternoon.
Vouchers were signed and the Board moved into a workshop session where, Supervisor English stated the Board would be reviewing the Town Employee Practices and Compliance Manual.
The Town Board held a Special Meeting on Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 6:00 pm. All members were present.
The first order of business was to go into an Executive Session to review personnel matters related to open positions on the Planning Board and Justice Court. The Board came back into an open meeting at 8:33 pm at which time the following actions were taken:
Resolution establishing a list of eligible special prosecutors. Daniel Castricone and Donald K. Sanford were added to the list of prosecutors for the Town.
Resolution adopting Local Law #1 of 2020 titled Planning Board Membership was approved by a vote of 5-0.
Resolution to appoint Planning Board members to fill vacant seats as follows:
William Friedlich appointed with a term ending 12/31/2020
Dierdre Murphy appointed with a term ending 12/31/2021 and
Donald Gould appointed with a term ending 12/31/2024
This was approved by a vote of 4-1 with Councilperson McMillen abstaining because he had not interviewed any of the appointees.
The Tuxedo Town Board will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, February 26th, 7:00 pm, in the Community Room at the Town Hall, 1 Temple Dr. and will then convene an executive session to review personnel matters. The executive session is not open for public participation.
The Tuxedo Town Board will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, February 20th, 6:00 pm, in the Community Room at the Town Hall, 1 Temple Dr. and will then convene an executive session to review personnel matters related to open positions on the Planning Board and Justice Court. The executive session is not open for public participation.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 10, 2020 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Continuation of Public Hearing to receive comments on Town’s proposed changes to vehicle and traffic law:
There were no further comments from the public. Supervisor English remarked that the Board had taken “extensive notes” on the comments made at the last meeting and would be considering all of them. They will also be meeting with a few of the residents from Library Rd. Jerry Mottola asked what is the present speed limit on Library Rd. It is not posted an no one seemed to know the answer for certain. Deputy Supervisor Lindsay commented that since the Town will soon be a consolidated Town/Village, she believes they would be able to lower to the speed limit to 25. She further said she had received emails stating that commuters are currently parking on Store Road and people are wondering what will be done about that. She noted that the Town would be looking to put 3-hour time restraints on the parking in that area, which will be consistent with other areas in Town.
The public hearing will be kept open for another month so that everyone wishing to be heard has to opportunity to voice an opinion.
Supervisor English reported that he had received monthly reports from the dog control officer and building inspector. The Building Inspector has been receiving complaints about people leaving garbage cans out in the street. He is not sure what can be done about this but believes something should be done. Councilmember McMillen further commented that people seem to be abusing the bulk pickup regulations and adding in construction debris which is not allowed. When it was suggested that the Board ask the Garbage company for guidance on this, they were told that the garbage company simply does not pick up construction debris and therefore, if it is left out for them, it is left in the street! Since there is currently nothing about this in the Town Code, the Town will have to draft something and officially add it, before they can enforce any sort of regulation. Chief Abbot reported having received commendations from the Ramapo Police Department for officers Shiloh and Hall for their help after the train/truck accident at Dater’s Crossing. They also received a commendation for Detective Stefan Christian for his help with a suicidal person.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor English reported that there had been several meetings about the sewer plant. As a result, the Town has some new deadlines from the DEC that they have to meet. The first is to present a schedule for fixing the present plant. The second deadline is to present a schedule indicating when the Town will take the new sewer plant on line. This is due by March 31. The Supervisor commented that he would be holding a meeting with residents and businesses, who use the plant to discuss and explain the issues to them.
Mr. Pollock of the DEC has agreed to meet with the Sypervisor to review the consent order which is in place for the highway department property. The Supervisor feels that this property has been a liability to the Town and he would like to figure out how to resolve the remaining problems. Councilmember May commented that she has started doing research on money that could be made available to help pay for the remaining remediation.
Town Board Update: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay announced that there would be a meeting on February 12 at 6:30 pm of the Economic Development Committees and the Town Board. The purpose of the meeting will be for the Committees to tell the Board what they have been working on and to have a discussion as to how all can work together to move their ideas into action.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: John McNamara asked why the conversation regarding the new sewer plant was always described as being “complicated” as he has heard Highway Superintendent Dollbaum say it was only a question of connecting the pipe. Supervisor English responded that figuring out the users’ fees was actually the complicated part. Also, Related is not obligated to pay user’s fees until they have a certificate of occupancy on their project. Also, Councilmember Reichgot interjected that the existing plant, even if they fixed it up, would not meet the current standards for a sewage treatment plant.
Next, Mr. McNamara stated that up until now, the remediation of the mulch pile etc. at the highway department had cost the Town nothing. He wanted to know what’s changed so that now it will cost the Town money? The Supervisor responded that all of the problems are still there. Mary Graetzer interjected that, to be fair, the mulch pile and attendant debris has gone down a lot! The Supervisor agreed but said there had been a “loose agreement” with the old site monitor (who has since retired) and now they need to make a new agreement with the new monitor. Councilmember McMillen added that since the old monitor left, the Town had hired someone to do an aerial survey to find out just how much still needs to be done. Also, the Town was required to dig test holes on the site and they found some contamination down at the bottom of the holes. Therefore, he feels its time to sit down and discuss a new method of remediation. John Ruel commented that he remembered being told as part of the Planning Board that to run the new sewer plant at less than capacity would be cost prohibitive. He was told that this was the problem but that they have found a way to run it at less than full cost, although it is still expensive. The Board wants to know what it would cost to remediate the existing plant. This is what will be discussed with residents and businesses at the meeting referenced by the Supervisor earlier., Mr. Ruel then stated that Warwick Brook always used to be loaded with native brook trout, but now they are not present at all. He wondered if any testing has been done on that subject. Agenda Items:
Resolution to adopt the Town Board’s Consolidation Plan and to set the date for the Public Hearing. – The public hearing will be held during the Town Board meeting on March 23. Plans are to hold this meeting at the school if it’s available. A second meeting/public hearing (if necessary) is being scheduled for April 13. The resolution was passed unanimously and will be available on the Town website eventually.
Budget modifications – a-Budget modifications for 2019 were unanimously passed. b-$59,000 was approved for repairing the highway department roof.
Resolution to grant Tuxedo Hudson Company relief from the building moratorium for their amended site plan.-The site plan is amended to include accessory parking at the “Junction site” which will give them the ability to use the entire first floor of their building.
Resolution to approve Town Prosecutor’s rate of pay – The new Prosecutor will be paid $200 per session. The old prosecutor was being paid $150 per session.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola wondered if the new sewer plant was opened any time soon, how many modules would be used. He was told it would likely only be one module. Dale Mottola mentioned seeing a reference in the Times Herald Record to a program called Hope Not Handcuff Hudson Valley. This is a program that trains police to deal with opioid and other drug problems, which she thought might be valuable.
Vouchers were signed and the Town Board went into a workshop session to discuss policies such as credit card policy and insurance policy. These policies have all been approved through the reorganization document.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 27, 2020 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with Supervisor English swearing in new Councilmember Jay Reichgott. Mr. Reichgott has been appointed to serve out the remainder of Supervisor English’s council term, which will be up on 12/31/20.
Public Hearing Zoning Code Amendments in the Hamlet Business District:
The Supervisor opened the public hearing by explaining that the amendments were being proposed because the present code links the amount of parking spaces available to a business to the amount of square feet in their space. The Board feels that this severely limits what can be done with some spaces in Town especially in the former IGA building (now Tuxedo Hudson Realty)
The following two amendments have been proposed:
Change parking stall size from 10‘ X 20’ to 9’ X 18’.
Amend code for accessory parking and loading. Exemption for existing buildings with site constraints. Add existing commercial properties in the Hamlet Business District.
Additionally, engineers have put together a conceptual drawing of a preliminary plan, which can be viewed here
Many people spoke expressing their concerns about the plan. To listen to the public hearing, click here.
As the plans are currently in the conceptual phase, there will likely be many changes made before the Board elects to move forward. This was reiterated several times throughout the hearing.
Appointment of Town Historian: Supervisor English reappointed George Langberg as Town Historian.
Tuxedo Union Free District presentation on Capital Bond Project: Superintendent Tim Bohlke introduced District architect Chris Ladanyl of Clark Patterson & Lee, who began his presentation by explaining that every five years New York State requires school districts to have an inspection of their buildings and draft a Buildings Condition Survey, which is essentially a list of work that needs to be done with priority levels. Clark Patterson & Lee did this work and submitted their report to the School Board in 2018. The original estimate for work was $7 million, but the School Board spent 2 years assessing the various recommendations and managed to reduce the cost of the project down to $4.2 million. The project now contains items deemed essential for the health and safety of the school. The Board has decided to take $1.2 million out of their reserve funds in an effort to reduce tax burden, which leaves $3 million to be raised by the bond. The Bond will come before the tax payers in a vote on February 25.
Improvements have been proposed for all three buildings in the district. To see what has been proposed for each building, click on the following links:
Additionally, the architects have put together some information detailing the estimated tax impact based on assessed property value. Click here to view that information. In an effort to make this more relatable for taxpayers, the District has put together additional information detailing the estimated tax impact based on recent home sales in many of the different District neighborhoods (The Woodlands, Hamilton Estates, Maple Brook, The Hamlet, The Village of Tuxedo Park, etc) Click here to view that information.
There will be further opportunities to see the school’s presentation and ask questions on Thursday February 6 at 6pm and Saturday, February 22 at 10am. Both of these presentations will take place in the community room at the high school.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor English stated that he is in the early stages of putting together an event where State Senator Metzger, Assemblyman Brabebec and County Executive Neuhaus, will come to Tuxedo and meet with Board members and members of the public. All three officials have agreed to this. The proposed date is April 18. The event would take place in the multipurpose room at George Grant Mason Elementary School.
The Supervisor also announced that the Town has received the certificate of incorporation for the consolidated Town Village. The next step in the process is for the Town Board to adopt a final plan for running the Town Village. The plan is scheduled to be adopted at the next Town Board meeting on February 10. Once adopted, the plan will be published both in the newspaper for 4 weeks as well as on the Town website. This will be followed by a required series of public hearings.
The DEC has told the Town that they need to get the new sewer plant (for the Hamlet sewer district) up and running. This needs to happen in the near future so the Town will need to work together with Related and residents in the district to figure out how to make this happen.
The Supervisor took a tour of the Highway Department and was impressed with what he saw.
Tuxedo Police were dispatched to help with the traffic control after the train/tractor trailer accident at Dater’s Crossing in Sloatsburg. Supervisor English commended them for their participation. He also commended Officer Stefan Christian who responded to a stabbing in Ramapo and was first on the scene.
Lastly, the Supervisor reported that he had a meeting with Andrew Dance of Related Companies at which they discussed the sewer plant as well as Tuxedo’s interest in getting something going with the property. The Supervisor told Mr. Dance that closing the school was not something that he wanted to hear about and was told that they would come back with a plan representing something they could do at the site.
Town Board Update: Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that the next meeting of the Economic Development Committee would be a meeting of the full committee on February 12 at 6:30. At that time, they will receive reports from all the various subcommittees and then discuss how they will be working together and with the Town Board going forward.
The Climate Smart Task Force will also be meeting on February 12. Councilmember McMillen inquired where the Board stood with information about the DEC monitor at the Highway Department. He was told that they are still waiting to hear from the DEC.
Supervisor English next called for a moment of silence for retired Highway Superintendent Ed Pfizenmaier, who died last week.
Next on the agenda was the annual Reorganization document which was approved as follows:
Annual Town Reorganization:
The following positions were appointed by the Supervisor:
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
Account Clerk
Brian Sullivan
Deputy Supervisor
Michele Lindsay
Marriage Officer
Donna Matthews
Summer Camp Director
Shari Brooks
The following positions were appointed by the Town Clerk:
Deputy Town Clerk
Marisa Dollbaum
Deputy Registrar
Marisa Dollbaum
The yearly salaries were approved for the following Town Officials:
The Town Board met on Monday, January 13, 2020 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting started with the oaths of office being taken by Supervisor Ken English, Councilmember Michele Lindsay and Councilmember Maria May. Immediately following Councilmember Lindsay’s oath, Supervisor English appointed her Deputy Supervisor. Following the oaths, Town Clerk Matthews read a letter from Town Justices Brown and McCathern congratulating the new Board and expressing their desire to work with them. The Supervisor then thanked everyone for the support, confidence and trust they have given him. He said he is excited about the possibilities for the Town that the Board would be working to reimagine the vision for Tuxedo over the next several years. He is confident that they will be able to “dream big” and “imagine something greater” as they work to strengthen and protect the Town with “pride and excitement.” He ended by saying that he was looking forward to working together with everyone. Councilmember Lindsay also thanked everyone for their support and mentioned how much she had enjoyed meeting so many people during the campaign. She said she was very optimistic about the work ahead. She feels that everyone can work together to move the Town forward, futher noting that it doesn’t matter what neighborhood someone lives in as we all “live in a beautiful town.” She pledged to create a more cohesive community. She believes that a better community can be created by promoting economic growth, which is something she has been trying to do over the last few years. She announced that the Supervisor would be introducing plans for traffic and parking which should make development easier and more attractive for potential businesses. She went on to say that one of the most important tasks for the year ahead would be to strengthen the comprehensive plan so that it captures everyone’s vision. Afterwards, the Board will update the zoning code to implement the vision. She added that the Board is also hoping to work with The Related Companies to get Tuxedo Farms up and running. Finally, she mentioned the importance of continuing to work on Climate Smart Certification. Councilmember May remarked that she was humbled and honored to be a member of the Board and felt both anticipation and excitement for what lies ahead. She observed that Tuxedo is a Town that no one wants to leave and that she wants to help make it a Town that entices new families to move in as well as a Town where seniors can afford to stay. She pledged to work hard to see that Tuxedo is no longer a “Town of No” but a Town that no one wants to leave. Councilmember McMillen commented that he was in his sixth year on the Town Board. When he first started the Town was hobbled by having a million dollar deficit. The former Board worked hard to make necessary cuts and finally now the Town is back in decent financial shape. The vision of the Board has always been what his fellow Board members mentioned tonight, but they have not been able to execute it without the financial stability that the Town now enjoys. He added that he looks forward to better times on the Board where all can be positive instead of having to focus on tightening their belts. Supervisor English next introduced Engineer Al Fusco who was authorized in December to put together a traffic study for the Hamlet area with the goal of improving traffic flow as well as parking. Mr. Fusco presented his proposed plan, which he noted, was just a beginning. He feels it would be a good start as it can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively. Basically, the plan calls for changing the direction of one-way traffic on Store Road so that the traffic would flow to the South instead of the North. (it currently flows north towards the library) On street parking would be allowed on both sides of that road. It would also be allowed on the lower side of Library Road (the side without houses). Store Road would be milled and repaved with curbs installed. Landscaping would be worked in in appropriate spots. It is recommended that the speed limit be lowered on both Library and Store roads to 20 mph. The plan also proposes to make the exit from the old IGA property a right turn only. Councilmember Lindsay commented that having Route 17 as a main street was a detriment to the Town. This plan would try to change that to make Store Road the “new Main Street” A public hearing on this subject will be held soon. As part of this project, changes need to be made to the traffic and zoning codes. These will be part of a new proposed law. This will be reviewed by the town’s attorneys and presented at the public hearing as part of the traffic plan.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Joe Coleman from Assemblyman Brabenec’s office spoke and offered his congratulations to the new Board members further commenting that the Assemblyman wanted to work together with the new Board. Claudia Bakhtiary thanked Town Clerk Matthews for sending out the agendas in advance of the meetings. Sue Scher echoed her gratitude for the agenda and said she was also pleased to see the minutes of the last meeting. John McNamara congratulated the newly elected Board members and wished them all good luck. He also gave thanks to recent Supervisor Mike Rost for all the work he did to get the Town to where it is.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were discussed and approved:
1-a Resolution to enter into contract with the Woodbury Field and Stream Shooting Range and the Tuxedo Police. Police Chief Abbot explained that historically this agreement was had been voted on every 2 years but this new proposal is for 4 years, which he feels is a good thing.
2-Set date for public hearing – Amendments to Zoning Code and Vehicle and Traffic Law – The hearing will be held on January 27 at 7 pm.
3-a Resolution to fund training for elected officials both in Albany and New York City;
4 – Approval of Raffle Sale – Onyx and Breezy Foundation will be holding their annual fundraiser.
Department Heads Update: Town Clerk Matthews announced that she had received a new timeline for the Town Consolidation process which is available on the Town website. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that he has mulch, compost and topsoil available to town residents at the Quarry Field parking lot. The Highway Department is working on their high trimming around Town with the help of a rented bucket truck. Several residents of Brammertown/Benjamin Meadow Road (Colin Grant, Mary Yrizzary and others) commented on the recent changes/improvements to those roads, which have resulted in traffic slowing down and travel made much safer for everyone.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska thanked everyone in Town for their help and effort in getting the resent Town consolidation through. Mary Graetzer inquired if there were any plans to replace the recently installed road signs, which erroneously identify Mapplebrook Road.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that 2 signs had been done wrong with misspellings, both Maplebrook (Mapplebrook) and Tobin Way (Toobin Way) and that he had requested they be redone but he got them back exactly the same way! He just recently received the proper Maplebrook signs and is still waiting for Tobin Way.
Other Business: Councilmember McMillen asked Town Attorney Weiss if she had seen any response to the request for a permanent monitor at the highway department. She replied that she had sent it out and would send a second request.
Vouchers were signed with Councilmember McMillen commenting that in the past 4 years, the amount of vouchers had been reduced by a factor of 4. He added that this was due to the good work of Mike Rost and the prior board. The meeting was then adjourned into an executive session to discuss a personnel matter and to review the update to the Consolidation Plan with the attorney.
Town of Tuxedo Recruiting to Appoint Member to Town Board
The Town of Tuxedo is seeking qualified applicants for consideration for appointment to the Town Board seat vacated through the election of Councilperson Ken English as Town Supervisor. Applicants must be 18 years of age, a Town or Village resident and a US citizen. If you are interested in serving the public to help set the direction of Tuxedo’s future, then consider turning your concerns into action.
The Town Board meets twice a month, on the second and fourth Monday. Board Member’s salary is $7,250. Let 2020 be your year to get involved. For more information send a message expressing your interest to TownBoardTuxedo@gmail.com by December 20.
Interviews will begin in early January.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 9, 2019. Supervisor Rost was absent.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen opened the meeting with a moment of silence for Former Supervisor John McCarthy and long time Town resident Louis DeBrino both of whom passed away recently.
Public Hearing on proposed Woodlands Sewer rates:
There is no change in the rate and there were no comments so the hearing was closed.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Approve the Woodlands Sewer Rate- was approved unanimously.
Resolution reappointing Charles Jones as Fire Commissioner - the term to run from 1/1/20 – 12/31/24 was approved unanimously.
Resolution authorizing Jacobowitz & Gubits to prepare an amendment to zoning code changing parking stall size from 10’ X 20’ to 9 ‘ X 18’. Was passed unanimously. A public hearing will be held.
Resoluution authorizing Jacobowitz & Gubits to prepare an amendment to the zoning law to provide for on street parking in the Hamlet Business District specifically on Library Rd., Hospital Rd., and Store Rd. was passed unanimously. Also, a resolution to authorize the Town’s engineering consultant, Al Fusco to review the capacity of said roads to accommodate on street parking was passed. Existing commercial buildings would be allowed to count on street parking toward their required spaces. A $5000 cap was put on the engineering services.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay reported having received, during a photo op at the Train Station, a check from County Executive Neuhaus in the amount of $4999 to be used for tourism. It will be used for encouraging residents to engage with State Parks and outdoor recreation possibilities. Specifically, Councilmember Lindsay said it would be used for a shuttle bus and a marketing plan. She also announced that the NYNJ Trail Conference has installed new trail signs in the East Village. She further noted that the issue of parking for hikers still needs to be addressed.
Department Heads Update: Lt. John Norton reported 2 recent rescues from the Parks. He also announced that a contract has been signed with Orange County for radios with better connectivity and communications. All communications will be transferred to the new system.
Public Comments: Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon urged the Town to use Engineer Sean Hoffman from H2M to review the proposed parking changes suggesting that he was the most qualified to do the work. He also strongly recommended that if they were going to make changes to the parking in Town, these changes should be made for the whole Town and not for just 3 streets in the middle of Town as he feels this would be opening a can of worms. Janet Galuska asked for an update on the Town Consolidation. Town Attorney Marissa Weiss responded saying that all is on schedule and that a more specific update will be prepared for the Town website.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost and Councilmember Reardon were absent.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen stated that the Board was there to pass the budget and to over ride the tax cap for 2020. The reason for the tax cap must be overridden is that the Tuxedo Farms sewer district has recently been brought onto the tax roll. For the past 2 years, Tuxedo Farms has been billed $1.9 million dollars annually as payment for the debt service on the bonds issued to pay for the plant. Every year, Tuxedo Farms has paid this bill. Now the repayment must be made by a tax bill. Adding that payment to the tax roll will raise the Town’s tax cap from 1.91 % to 34.54%. Related has stated that they will, as they have every year in the past, pay the bill in January so, other than raising the cap, there will be no affect to any resident’s tax bill. Historically there has been a reward program, which rewarded residents with a rebate when the Town stayed under the tax cap, but that program has expired so the residents would not have received that rebate under any circumstances. Exceeding the Town’s tax cap will not affect any resident’s STAR rebate as that has to do with School District taxes and not the Town taxes.
Public Hearing to receive comments on Local Law #5 of 2019 – Override the 2020 Tax Cap Limit: was held and followed by
Resolution-Local Law to Override the 2020 Tax Cap Limit was passed unanimously by the Board.
A Resolution to Adopt the Final Town Budget: was passed unanimously.
Click here to view an explanation of the tax cap override
The Town Board met on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Courtroom. Supervisor Rost and Deputy Supervisor McMillen were absent. Councilmember Lindsay ran the meeting.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing on Woodlands Sewer Budget: This was scheduled for November 18 at 7:00 pm
Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing on Hamlet Sewer District and Tuxedo Farms Sewer District: This was scheduled for November 18 at 7:00 pm
Resolution to Adopt Town of Tuxedo Sexual Harassment Policy: All Board Members and employees attended a recent training session on this. It was unanimously adopted.
Resolution to Adopt 2020 Budget: This was tabled until November 18 – The proposed budget is presently under the 2% tax cap.
Other Business:
Discussion of Orange County Long Range Transportation Plan – Councilmember Lindsay commented that this plan has been in circulation for a while now. The comment period will end on November 16 and a link will be provided on the Town Website. Some of the comments made by Board members were as follows: Councilmember Lindsay wants to see more bus and train service in Tuxedo; would like to see a train to Stewart Airport added; the complete street program (funded by the County) Councilmember English wants to see work on the one seat to Penn Station program. Tuxedo has been listed as having one of the longest commutes; since it was mentioned that an average of 4 freight trains run through Tuxedo every day, he would like to know what kind of cargo is being hauled on those lines. He further wants to see discussion about bike paths and a connection to the bike paths in Monroe as well as better access to the Ramapo to increase tourism. Councilmember Reardon mentioned that she knows it isn’t in Orange County but she is very concerned about how traffic will work around the Woodmont Hills development just outside of Sloatsburg. Everyone in our Town and County will likely be bottlenecked because of this. Councilmember Lindsay added that this plan highlights what will happen here until 2045 so they need to take a good long look at it. Jerry Mottola asked if there was any chance to ask for the addition of Exit 15B off the Thruway. Claudia Bahktiary wants to see consideration of a small bus line that could help to get potential employees into Town for our businesses.
Budget Update has been tabled until November 18. Mary Graetzer asked if the Board could talk about what changes they had made to the budget in the interest of transparency. She was told it would be presented at the next meeting.
Update and Approval for Preliminary Parking Plan for US Postal Service Lot – Jerry Mottola along with Tuxedo Postmistress Christine, Town Engineer Al Fusco and Councilmember Lindsay have been discussing plans for using the lot between the Post Office and the Liquor Store parking lot for municipal parking. The Post office is interested in doing this project. It is likely that the property would be leased to the Town. Still to be negotiated is who would be responsible for what work and who would pay for the work as well as what the lease payments would be. The next step is to develop a letter of intent to be signed by both the Post Office and the Town. Town Attorney Protter will work on this.
Discussion of Comprehensive Plan – Town Attorney Protter apprised the Board that the only thing left to be done for the Plan was to complete the section about cell towers. Councilmember Reardon commented that this has been going on for a “very long time,” and, at this point, she feels it is a deterrent for new businesses wanting to come to Town. She would be in favor of adopting the plan in its current form and then adding the cell tower regulations as an amendment once they have been completed. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she felt the Town needs another workshop to bring everyone up to date on what has already been accomplished and agreed upon. Next, the Board will need to schedule a public hearing and then the plan will go to Orange County for their review.
Discussion Planning Board was tabled.
Department Head Update:
Highway Supervisor Dollbaum reported that his department is in the process of picking up leaves. As long as the leaves are out there, they will continue picking them up until we get a serious snow or the leaves freeze to the ground. He recommends that anyone who hasn’t already put their leaves out should do it soon. They are also getting equipment ready for the winter season. Building Inspector Maikisch was present with Steve Germano who had appeared earlier that evening at the Planning Board for approval of a parking lot and accessory garage in the parcel just south of his restaurant, which he recently purchased. He is looking for a waiver of the building moratorium. This was granted. Police Chief Abbott reminded everybody that as of November 1, there is no parking on Town roads when any snow or ice is present. The Chief also gave a brief update on changes being made by the NY District Attorney for prosecution procedures.
Town Board Update: Councilmember English reported that at the request of resident Colin Grant, a site visit to the intersection of Brammertown and Benjamin Meadow Rds had taken plance. This is a site where a plethora of accidents has occurred. It was determined that excessive speed is definitely a factor in this location. The Town is working on a fix for this, most importantly installing a stop sign and warning signs to get people to slow down. Councilmember Lindsay announced that she has been informed that if Orange County gets the necessary money, the Town of Tuxedo will be awarded $78,000 from a block grant to work on ADA improvements to Town Hall. Projects would include a ramp into the courtroom, an automatic door for the ramp into the Community Room from outside and an ADA compliant bathroom. Councilmember English asked Town Attorney Protter for an update on the Town Consolidation process. He replied he had sent such an update recently. To view a copy of the update, click here.
Public Comments: Marty Levanhar congratulated Councilmembers English and Lindsay as well as Maria May on their election victory. Mary Graetzer wanted to know if the proposed post office lot parking area would be for general municipal parking or for a specific purpose. She was told that the PO would have a specific area of the lot for their employees but the remaining would be general municipal parking, as opposed to more commuter parking. Dale Mottola inquired as to how Councilmember English’s seat would be filled after he becomes Supervisor. Town Attorney Protter responded that the seat would be filled by Board appointment. The appointed term would last until the next election and then any time remaining would be voted on by the public. Irene Denaro also congratulated Councilmembers English, Lindsay and Maria May. She went on to say that what she really wanted to discuss was the “disgusting postcards” that she had received in the mail. These remarks were made while looking directly at Mary Graetzer, who spoke up and stated emphatically that she had nothing to do with the cards. Ms. DeNaro then continued that she had seen Mrs. Graetzer at the Town Board meeting on October 28 with a folder containing one of the cards. Town Clerk Donna Matthews quickly spoke up and stated that she had been the one to bring the card in as she had just received it in the mail. Ms. DeNaro reiterated how disgusting and offensive she found the card. Councilmember English stated that he was looking forward to moving past this although he appreciated Ms. DeNaro’s concern. Everyone agreed it was nasty and that the community needs
to find a way to move on. Councilmember Lindsay stated that the card, which had been directed at her, was libel and that is a criminal offense. She noted that the Board of Elections is looking into the matter. Town Clerk Matthews then asked if there were any veterans present and wished the one person who raised his had a Happy Veteran’s Day.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, October 28, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost and Councilmember Reardon were absent.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen opened the meeting saying that they would hold a public hearing on the 2020 Town Budget however, he added the Board was still working on the budget. He said he didn’t want to comment on what the tax increase would be, however his goal was working toward keeping the increase at the state mandated cap or under. Councilmembers Lindsay and English agreed. He then asked Town Attorney Protter what date they were required to file the budget. The answer was November 1. It was pointed out that the Preliminary Budget had been available to everyone on the Town website since September 30.. The Deputy Supervisor suggested that the Board needed to have another workshop on the subject. The Board unanimously agreed that they would need to have Account Clerk Brian Sullivan present at the meeting to answer questions about the budget. After much conversation, the Board decided to hold the required public hearing as scheduled and then to hold a workshop meeting on Wednesday, October 30 at 6:30 pm with publlc participation so that the public could ask any questions they might have about the budget.
Public Hearing to receive comments regarding the 2020 Preliminary Budget: John McNamara stated that he wanted to express his support for the budget as posted to the website, further commenting that he appreciated the fact that the increase would be held to the cap imposed by the State. Maria May had a question about an increase under Parks in the preliminary budget. It was explained that this is just an accounting procedure which is refining reallocations that have already taken place. In this case, there is a corresponding decrease in the highway budget.
As there were no further questions from the public, the hearing was then closed.
Deputy Town Supervisor Update: Deputy Supervisor McMillen announced that Jerry Mottola has been instrumental in arranging for the Post Office to consider letting the Town use their unused additional property for municipal parking.
Next, in regard to the Tuxedo Farms project, the Deputy Supervisor and Building Inspector Dave Maikisch explained that there was a Third Party complaint that Related had been bringing in contaminated soil to spread on their East Terrace property. Mr. Maikisch issued a stop work order. Related has been cooperating with the Building Inspector. Town Engineer Sean Hoffman has said he feels that they should go a step further and retest the soil. The Board has agreed to follow his recommendation and the retesting will take place.
Agenda Items:
A Resolution to grant Special permit for Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run – This is an annual request and it was unanimously approved. This year’s run will take place on December 7.
A Resolution to grant permission for a lease to buy agreement for 3 vehicles (2 for police department, 1 for building inspector) from the State bid was not passed because the Board didn’t have the complete lease agreement. Ultimately, the Board passed a resolution authorizing the procurement of 3 vehicles off of State bid for an amount not to exceed $130,600 over 3 years pursuant to a lease.
Other Business:
Representatives from the Watchtower presented their request for relief from the building moratorium. They are looking to relocate their audiovisual department closer to International Headquarters which is on Long Meadow Rd (in the Town of Warwick) and have applied to Rockland County for approval to build. They are looking for “support space” for the building project, which they are proposing to locate near their property at the old International Paper property. They would like to put in 120 temporary modular units, which would house volunteers working on the project. They were seeking the Board’s permission to apply to the Planning Board for approval. Construction of the audiovisual department is scheduled to start in 2022 and finish in 2026. They would like to start construction on the modular units as soon as possible. Eventually, the motion to grant them permission to go to the Planning Board was made, seconded and approved.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay read a letter from State Senator Jen Metzger in which she said she had allocated $100,000 to the New York State and Municipal Facilities Capital program for the replacement of the Tuxedo Town Hall roof.
Public Comments: Irene Denaro remarked that she found it really pleasant to see Councilmembers English, Lindsay and McMillen working well together. Mary Graetzer asked if the Town was still paying for the DEC monitor despite the fact that no one has been on site or available since August? She was told yes, the Town is still paying the $15,000 fee. When she asked what would happen if the Town simply stopping sending payments, she was told that they would be found out of compliance. Janel Galuska asked where the Town stood on the Consolidation process. She was told that everything has been filed with the Department of State and the Town is just waiting for the final review. Town Attorney Protter expects that the Town will hear something within the next 2-3 weeks. He will write something to go on the website clarifying the process so residents will be up to date. Building Inspector Maikisch asked for clarification on what was happening with a dirt berm on the west side of Contractors Rd. The berm has been there for about 20 years and there is some confusion as to who asked for it to be built and why. The Board will continue to investigate this. Jerry Mottola wondered what was happening with the State DOT coming to clear the brush around the speed limit signs at the South end of Town on Route 17. He was told that calls have been made to the DOT but there has been no action so far. The Town has been told that they cannot clear the brush themselves.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into Executive Session to receive advice from the Town Attorney.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent and Councilmember Reardon attended via phone.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen started the meeting by asking for a moment of silence for Michael Marusich, Town resident and 3- year employee of the Highway Department who died recently.
Deputy Supervisor Update:
Explaining that he had been authorized by the Town Board to do so, Deputy Supervisor McMillen commented that he had given Michael Marusich an award of a key to the Town a couple of weeks ago. He read into the record the letter, which accompanied the award.
The Deputy Supervisor next reported that the Town Board had met on Friday, October 11 at the Highway Department to do a walk through of the property encompassing the mulch pile and related things that are being cleaned up there. He went on to remark that the DEC has not had a monitor on the site since August 2, when the last monitor retired, and they have not been responsive to calls or emails from the Town. Since the Town is paying for a monitor (mandated in the consent order) the Deputy Supervisor has asked the Town Attorney to write them a letter requesting that they send someone and also to explain several aspects of their reports. As a consequence of this, the Town has essentially ceased cleanup efforts at the site until they get a reply from the DEC. The Town Engineer has suggested that the Town should apply for a modification to the Consent Order as almost everything has been taken care of most with the exception of the “greater dirt pile.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Jim Hays commented that he had read the contract between the Town and Perfect Cut and it said that if Perfect Cut violated any DEC regulations, they would be responsible to pay for remediation. Thus, he wondered why they weren’t paying for the cleanup? Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that Perfect Cut is paying but it is a slow process. Perfect Cut was ultimately found to be responsible for the cleanup by the courts, but they subsequently complained that they didn’t have access to the site. So, the Town has been taking some of Perfect Cuts’ assets (a dump truck and a loader for example) and selling them and then putting the money back into the highway department fund. While Perfect Cut is still in business, there are many liens (not just from Tuxedo) on the business so it is difficult to collect what is due to the Town. Betty Langberg wondered if there were still trucks going in and out of the Highway property and if so what they were doing? She was told that Ben Veltidi has a contract with the Town to make mulch and remove it from the site. Also, Erwin DeMarino has been working there making topsoil and removing it from the site. Deputy Supervisor McMillen commented that Mr. DeMarino does not have a contract although he has permission to do the work and that this concerns him. Maria May wondered whether the Town would be liable should this topsoil be sold and subsequently determined contamined. The Deputy Supervisor responded that this was a good question and it is one of the things that concerns him about the lack of a contract.
Agenda Items:
a Resolution to approve a sign permit for Tuxedo Little League was unanimously approved.
a Resolution to authorize the acceptance of the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for Orange County, NY – this was a necessary action in order to make the Town eligible for a grant which could help pay for a few projects to mitigate flooding in Town. This was unanimously approved.
a Resolution for Police Arbitration – Under the Walkill rule, the Town now has jurisdiction over police disciplinary grievances. No details were given but the Stage 2 rejection was approved so this can now move forward to the next stage. This was unanimously approved.
a Petition to request relief from moratorium from the Watchtower was tabled because of a lack of information.
Other Business: Councilmember Lindsay reported that she was readying the application for the state aid for municipalities grant and was planning to ask for money for a roof for Town Hall as well as surveillance cameras for the police department. Although a new roof for the records building had been proposed, she wants to wait on that while they think about a long-term plan for the building and where the records will go. Deputy Supervisor McMillen feels that the Town should just digitize their records. Councilmember English also thinks the Town should apply for money to fund repairs to the back of the train station. Town Clerk Matthews stated that the preliminary budget would be handed in on October 21. The Public Hearing on the budget will take place on October 28 at the Town Board meeting and the vote on the budget will happen at the November 11 meeting.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay requested that the Town have a meeting on zoning changes, further commenting that the Board hadn’t had one for quite a while. She is concerned about parking in Town, specifically with the need to change the size of required parking spaces from 10 feet by 20 feet to 9 feet by 18 feet. Councilmember English would also like to add spaces for compact cars to the zoning code. Additionally, he and Councilmember Lindsay would like to look into accessory parking, which would allow for parking on the streets on certain roads in Town. Councilmember English gave a shout out to Brian Sullivan for his hard work on the budget. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she would like to find a way to acknowledge all the community members who are taking part in the Economic Development Workshop meetings.
Department Head Update: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his Department had been working on striping roads and fixing catch basins all over town. He further reported that the beams had been set on the new East Village bridge just that day. Soon, the department will be picking up leaves and preparing their vehicles for winter. Lt. Norton noted that it was getting dark early and he hopes parents will help to get children off the streets. There will be a curfew of 9 pm on Halloween. Building Inspector Maikisch reported that there is a new boutique in Tuxedo Square, which sells clothes and jewelry. There is also a new Urgent Care facility opening in Duck Cedar Plaza. Further, there is a chocolate maker in the Augusta building and Bentleys has a new owner.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska asked for an update on the Town Consolidation. She was told that everything was on track and moving along as expected. Councilmember English said he would like to see a formal update from the attorneys on this subject.
A resident of Southfields wondered if there was actually a legitimate business going on in the building where Jasmine Imports used to be located, Building Inspector Maikisch responded that it was currently a storage facility. Jim Hays reported that he had had a conversation with the Mayor of Sloatsburg during which he inquired when Route 17 would be finished. He was told that when the dispute between Rockland County and the construction company doing the sewer work had been resolved, the state would repave Route 17. At that time, Sloatsburg will initiate their road diet where there will be 3 lanes instead of 4 for traffic. Mr. Hays wondered if perhaps Tuxedo should consider doing the same thing. He was told that the Board wants to wait and see how it works in Sloatsburg before deciding to do something similar in Tuxedo.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 23, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent and Councilmember Reardon attended via phone.
Deputy Town Supervisor Update: Deputy Supervisor McMillen read the following statement from Supervisor Rost:
Good evening Everyone, I wanted to let you know that I am at home recovering from my recent hospital stay, and I am pleased to report that I am very much on the mend. My doctors have informed me that I can expect a full and speedy recovery. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Detective Christian and Officer Hall for their quick response and professionalism the evening of my accident, along with the Town Paramedic and the members of the Ambulance Corps. I experienced, firsthand, the high level of emergency services that the Town of Tuxedo provides. We are fortunate to have such a great group of highly trained, experienced and dedicated emergency first responders.
Throughout my recovery I have been kept apprised of various Town business items, and I continue to get caught up and work on various matters, which includes making significant progress on the upcoming Town Budget.
One update that I can provide is that I spoke with Steve Germano today and his target date for the opening of his restaurant is October 2. This long awaited new business will make for another terrific dining option for Tuxedo residents.
I would very much like to thank everyone for their well wishes, and I look forward to getting fully back to work and keeping the positive momentum going.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Claudia Bakhtiary commented that she had tracked down the Regional Transportation Council Survey and wondered if there was still time for the Town to respond. Councilmember Lindsay responded that unfortunately it appeared to her as though the Town hasn’t been fully represented. The Transportation Council is at the end of its process and the notes do not reflect any mention of a response from Tuxedo. The Council has presented their 25-year plan for regional transportation. Councilmember Lindsay suggested that the Town Board draft a response to the survey, which she felt might then carry a little weight. She added that citizens throughout Orange County were welcome to respond to the survey and since the Town hadn’t been part of the planning in the report, it would be good to comment. Ms. Bakhtiary mentioned that she had been talking to the owners of Dottie Audrey’s and they reported transportation issues with getting employees to work. Deputy Supervisor McMillen said that he thought any plans should focus on the entire business corridor. Dale Mottola commented that she found it challenging that there is no public transportation to Westchester.
Agenda Items:
Consideration of Establishing an Economic Development Council – Councilmember Lindsay commented that she has been running a group for volunteers on the subject of Economic Development for a while now and they are wondering what they should call themselves and further what would be their interaction with the Town Board. She reported that 35 people had showed up to the committee meeting and they want to formalize the committee. She reached out to Bill Fioravanti, Director of Economic Development for Orange County and he said he would put her in touch with a committee in Newburgh. Additionally, she said she would reach out to other Towns to see what they are doing. She said she was looking for input from the Town Board and wondered how they would like to proceed. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that he thought she was on the right path. Councilmember Lindsay then said she wanted to know how to establish a process for all the work that the volunteers are doing. Additionally she wondered how they could get their work recognized by the Town Board and how they might interact with the Town Board in order to have an impact on decisions like zoning. Town Attorney Howard Protter inquired as to what exactly the volunteers were doing. He wondered if they were preparing reports. Councilmember Lindsay replied that they have formed subcommittees and they are getting to the point where they will be preparing reports. Mr. Protter then added that he would give some thought to the question. Councilmember English interjected that he felt that the work of the committee needed to be guided by actions that the Town Board was considering. In his view, the Town needs to determine what their priorities are and these will steer the comittees. Deputy Supervisor McMillen added that he thought it should be predicated on the priorities set by the Comprehensive Plan. Councilmembers English and Lindsay suggested that it could be a Citizens Action Committee. Town Attorney Protter responded that he wasn’t sure what they meant by that term. Deputy Supervisor McMillen replied that in some municipalities, Citizen Action Committees have some power, to which Town Attorney Protter quickly replied “not in New York!” Instead, he suggested that the committees be invested with certain responsibilities instead of power.
2-Regional Transportation Council Survey Response from Town Board – Deputy Supervisor McMillen suggested that they had already covered this subject during the public comments on agenda items. Councilmember English disagreed. He stated that as a Town Board they should have reviewed the survey and ascertained what items were being sought. Since the deadline for responses isn’t until September 30, he recommended that they put together a consolidated Board response and send it in. Deputy Supervisor McMillen agreed and said Councilmember English would be the Project Manager for the response. It was determined that this would not have to be done in a public meeting.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay reported that she and Town Clerk Matthews would like to learn how to add tabs to the Town web page. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that he would get together with both of them and show them how to do this. Councilmember English stated that he would like to focus on the Highway Department site, which he feels should be a coordinated effort by the entire Town Board. He thought that he was supposed to be working on this with Deputy Supervisor McMillen and, while they’ve had some “ad hoc solutions” such as a proposal from the Watchtower, he personally has not seen anything from Watchtower so he doesn’t know what is being offered. He thinks they need to issue an RFP to try to establish what the clean up costs would be for the entire site and then they would be able to determine the value of what is being offered by the Watchtower. He further stated that the Town doesn’t have a contract with anyone to clean up the site and this troubles him. Deputy Supervisor McMillen agreed and further commented that he knew nothing about a contact with Watchtower. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said he “stumbled into” a meeting with Watchtower and subsequently they had come and looked at the site. Town Attorney Protter interjected that the Town does in fact have a contract with Ben Veltidi to clean up the mulch site but not the dirt. Councilmember English observed that there were substantial piles of contaminated dirt and logs that had been there for ages.. Deputy Supervisor McMillen remarked that the piles were actually decreasing in size.. He said he felt the Board needed to figure out what they were looking for and, in his view, that should be an estimate of what it would cost to remediate everything that is left on the property. Councilmember English said he kept hearing about “ad hoc solutions” but he feels the Town Board should visit the site as a group and then move to find out what it would cost to just clean it up. Deputy Supervisor McMillen said that it was the Supervisor’s role to reach out to groups like this and that this is what had happened here. But, he added that the Town has had someone working on the dirt piles on the property for a couple of years without a contract and this troubles him because he feels there could be a liability issue. Councilmember English again complained that these arrangements should be made with the entire Town Board. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that this wasn’t how things worked….the Supervisor meets with people who are offering services and then disseminates the information to the entire Board. Councilmember English replied ‘but none of that has been channeled to the Board.” Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that the Watchtower people had come to have the meeting but Supervisor Rost was not there due to being in the hospital. Instead, he happened to be at Town Hall so he spoke with the group and got their contact information. He went on to say that the Town does have an issue with DeMarino, who is cleaning up the dirt pile, but regardless he has saved the Town a lot of money. However, he continued, the Town is not indemnified and this bothers him. Superintendent Dollbaum then stated that when he had first been elected, the Board put out a call for quotes on cleaning up the entire Highway Department site. They had quotes ranging from a half a million dollars on up to 5 million. The half a million quotes were from people who just wanted to take the wood away. He went on to say that no one had bothered to get an estimate for removing the rest of the dirt, which would involve removing up to 300,000 yards of contaminated fill. Councilmember Lindsay expressed concern that the Board had been told that everything was going along great when, in fact, there was a huge piece of it left to be done. Deputy Supervisor McMillen suggested that the problem was a lack of administration oversight. DeMarino is bringing soil to mix with what’s in the “pile” and then taking the resulting topsoil out at no cost to the Town. Town Attorney Protter suggested the Town could put out an RFP to everybody including DeMarino and the Watchtower and then compare what is being offered at no cost to the Town. Councilmember English said that they could look at it but expressed his dismay that he hadn’t been party to any of these arrangements. He said he had heard most of the details through rumor. He further reported having heard talk of staging areas, storing trucks, pole barns and concrete plants . He doesn’t feel it is accurate to say that there will be no cost to the Town. Town Attorney Protter responded “the alternative is cash!” He suggested that an RFP would help the Board put a value on the work being done. Councilmember Lindsay wondered if the Board should be thinking, long term, about what they want the Highway Department property to be. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum stated for the record that Supervisor Rost hadn’t been the one having conversations with the Watchtower, rather he was. Supervisor Rost sent Watchtower to take a look at the highway property as he was thinking about having them remediate the dirt pile in exchange for services and Superintendent Dollbaum was there when they showed up. Councilmember English then asked if it was appropriate for the Supervisor to make such decisions all by himself? Town Attorney Protter replied to that it was certainly appropriate for him to have started the process and had conversations with Watchtower and further to ask them to look at the site. Councilmember English said it sounded to him as though this had been going on for a long time.
Mary Graetzer spoke up and commented that this all sounded like electioneering from the dais to her and she was offended by that. Councilmember English stated that he was offended by that comment.
Moving on, Deputy Supervisor McMillen stated that he thought the Board should start by having the Town Engineer give them a report on what needed to be done at the site and from that they could create an RFP. Councilmember Reardon interjected that she thought there had been an email to the entire Board when the Watchtower went to a TAC meeting with the Planning Board detailing their proposal.
Ultimately, it was decided to ask the Watchtower to put a proposal in writing to the entire Town Board. Councilmember English also proposed that the Town Board together should tour the Highway Department site. Councilmember Lindsay suggested that the Town Engineer should be present as well and the Board members agreed.
Councilmember Lindsay suggested that since they had all received the latest audit report, they should invite the Town Auditor to come to a meeting and present his findings. The Board members all agreed.
Department Head Updates: Building Inspector Maikisch reported that Tuxedo Reserve has a permit for a project called East Terrace on their site. Recently, he had received a detailed accusation that they are bringing in uncertified fill to the site. He will be investigating this. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that the Board would discuss this in Executive Session with the attorney after the meeting. Town Clerk Matthews reported that she and Deputy Clerk Marisa Dollbaum were still working on records management. Recently, Mrs. Dollbaum has started scanning documents and digitizing them so they can shred the actual paper. Public Comments: Dale Mottola stated that about 10 years ago someone had put together a report on transportation in Southern Orange County and Tuxedo had been left out of that report as well. She doesn’t think research will turn up much that is specific to Tuxedo. Jerry Mottola said he is in constant contact with the Postmaster in Tuxedo and they have been discussing parking as well as the need for fixing the sidewalk in front of the Post Office. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that if his budget proposal went through, repairs to the sidewalks would be done next year. Deputy Supervisor McMillen suggested that perhaps there could be LDC money available for this to which Councilmember Lindsay added that maybe they could do something nicer than just repair the sidewalk in that area since LDC money was supposed to be for Town Beautification. Councilmember English stated that should the Town put together a proposal to the LDC he would want to make it clear that this was a Town Board proposal. Claudia Bakhtiary suggested that they look at the reports made from the focus groups years ago (around 2003) for beautification of the downtown area. Irene Denaro said she hopes the Town can work on the “contaminated section” of the highway department site. She also hopes the Town Board can work together and start communicating with one another.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to seek advice from counsel.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost and Councilmember Reardon were absent.
Councilmember Lindsay expressed her desire to change the minutes from the last meeting. She was told to take her changes to the Town Clerk in her office and then they would be discussed and the minutes approved at the next Town Board meeting.
Deputy Supervisor Update: Deputy Supevisor McMillen stated that the concert at Powerhouse Park was a “good concert,” despite having low attendance due to lousy weather. He further said that the event made some money this year and that the details and figures would be announced at the next meeting of the LCD.
Councilmember English remarked that the Board members had all received various reports from Town departments in their packets and he felt these reports should be open and available to the public. Therefore he proposed that the Board read into the record and discuss the Building inspector’s report and he proceeded to do so.
The report had 7 items on it:
1.The building that the Town uses for the storage of records, Animal Control equipment and Recreation equipment was condemned back in April, 2017. The Town should not be using it and a fence should be placed around it, as per State code, to prevent entry. (Someone could get hurt in that building.) Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that the plan for records management has always been to build a pole barn with proceeds from the sale of the American Legion building. Since that plan was made, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have come forth with a PILOT proposition, which might assist the Town in remedying the situation sooner. Councilmember English replied that he felt that several questions needed to be answered and then the Board needed to meet on this subject and make a decision about what should happen with the building rather than the “one off negotiations” that he feels are going on inappropriately. Deputy Supervisor McMillen said he had contact information for the people from the Jehovah’s Witnesses and could set up a meeting. Councilmember English responded that it was fine for one person to set up a meeting but if the entire Board wasn’t in on the meeting, he felt it was wrong. Councilmember Lindsay mentioned that she recalled that Highway Superintendent Dollbaum was going to replace the roof on the record storage building and wondered where that fit in with the “condemnation.” Mr. Dollbaum responded that he did intend to replace the roof and also do some work cleaning up the inside of the building (he estimated 2-3 days work) and then the condemnation could be lifted and that building as well as the pole barn could be used for storing Town records. Councilmember English then remarked that he felt the Town Board should organize a site visit to the building so they could be clear about its condition.
2. The Renaissance Faire has opened and the Forest of Fear Building has been taken down. Building Inspector Maikisch further explained that the Renaissance Faire staff had self condemned the Forest of Fear building and taken it down.
3. DeMarino Trucking has been removing the pile of topsoil being stored in front of the new sewer plant facility. It is not in accordance with the approved site plan. The deadline has been extended. Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that Mr. DeMarino had no place to put the topsoil so he decided to use it to erect a sound barrier between the train tracks and Contractor’s Row. He’s been notified that he has to move it but seems to be doing so very slowly.
4. Howard Protter has been asked to review the Tuxedo Auto Body settlement to determine what can be done in order to have the owner submit a site plan. Town Attorney Protter responded that he had done this and had provided an explanation to the Building Inspector, which has also been sent to the Town Board.
5. Chester LeBaren Jr. is scheduled to come in front of the Planning Board to get approval for the fill that was placed on his property behind the American Legion Buildling. Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that for years, the fire departments had access to the creek behind the building to fill up their tanker trucks but now Mr. LeBaren Jr. has blocked their access. Mr. Protter further commented that he could no longer advise the Board on this matter because his firm represents the estate of Mr. LeBaren Sr.. It has been determined that this is not a Town Board issue but is between Mr. LeBaren and the fire company.
6. Mr. Bruno has been in front of the Planning Board for acceptance of a new site plan for the IGA Building. Some changes still need to be made before an approval. Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that the Town of Tuxedo code calls for parking spaces of 10’ X 20’ while most municipalities call for 9’ X 18’ spaces. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she had been at the Planning Board meeting and had learned that Mr. Bruno wants to open the antique store in the IGA as soon as possible and they don’t feel there is enough time to wait for the Town to change their parking code. They feel that between the old Tuxedo Junction site and the current IGA site, they can find enough parking. Councilmember English stated he thought the Board needed to review parking specifications in Town.
7. Steve’s Pizza has received correspondence from the county regarding the changes needed for the septic system that had been installed to be approved.
Building Inspector Maikisch further commented that Steve’s had in fact received their Certificate of Occupancy just that day and was now planning to open on or around October 1.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items: 1. Consideration of LED Streetlights program and financing. Councilmember Lindsay explained that O&R’s program for replacing the lights had a deadline of September 15. The Town responded that they did want to participate. This means the Town will get 2% of the streetlights converted to LED lights for free and then at the end of the program, if all Towns hadn’t participated, there would be an opportunity to get more. Last year, the Town was able to get 50 converted. There was no further action required on this. 2. Resolution to approve Planning Board Member Terms- This item was tabled. 3. Discussion – Highway Employment – to be discussed under Other Business. 4. Resolution approving St. Mary’s Sign – The church was seeking permission to put up signs advertising their annual ‘Soup For Scholarships fundraiser at the Train Station” which benefits scholarships for the PreSchool. It was unanimously approved.
Other Business: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum commented that he feels the Board needs to start thinking about hiring some new fulltime men at the Highway Department. Currently, they have 6 fulltime employees in the department. All are over the age of 52, one is out on disability and one is the mechanic. That leaves 4 working on a daily basis. One of these 4 has a bad knee and one has a bad hip. They also have 3 seasonal employees. After 3-1/2 years, the seasonal guys are starting to question whether they will ever be made permanent and are talking about leaving. According to the Highway Superintendent, ideally, the department would have 8-9 men. Five years ago, they had 13 men and he admits that was probably too many employees. He feels that if the Town doesn’t hire and start training young men soon, they could find themselves with a department where no one knew how to do the work or how any of the systems operate in the Town. He added that when he retired from his job, the mechanic will leave with him. He suggests that the Town consider making some of the seasonal employees permanent hires so they can be trained. He further said he thought this was something that the whole Board should know.
Town Board Update: Councilmember English stated that during the Irene Storm, the culvert on Benjamin Meadow Rd. had been damaged. FEMA had funded the repairs but the work has not been done and time has run out. FEMA has denied an extension, but the Town can appeal. If won, that would give the Town until mid-January to do the work, but Highway Superintendent Dollbaum says that’s not enough time as this work needs to be done during the July-September time period as Benjamin Meadow Rd. is a school bus route and in order to do the work, the road needs to be closed. Since FEMA does not pay until a job has been completed, the Town will need to have money in the budget to do the project. They will also need to have a reasonable estimate of how long the project will take. The Board voted unanimously to authorize H2M to prepare the paperwork needed to apply for the extension. Councilmember Lindsay announced she had several meetings scheduled for the Economic Development Council. They are September 23 at 4:30, September 30 at 6:30, October 1 at 6:30 and October 3 at 6:30. All meetings will take place in the Community Room at Town Hall and are open to the public. She also said that the Climate Smart Task Force was moving forward looking at different projects to get certification for the Town.
Department Heads Update:
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the Department has mulch, topsoil, compost and chip stone available for residents only at Quarry Field. He also reported working on the following things:
Tree planting in the East Village has been completed
Sylvan Way has been chip sealed
Drain and culvert cleaning
The corner of Benjamin Meadow Rd. and Brammertown Rd. has new signs.
Police Chief Abbot stated he has submitted his budget. Lt. Norton added that he will be issuing a Nixle alert shortly before the weekend of October 5-6 for high traffic as both the Renaissance Faire and Apple Fest will be going on in addition to Family Fun Day. The police will be closing Benjamin Meadow Rd. during this time.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola asked if there was any update on the Town Village Consolidation. She was told that the State had requested “meets and bounds” description on the “new” municipality.
Representing the School District, Meg Vaught reported the District had reached out to both State Senator Metzger’s office and the DOT regarding the blinking school light and the traffic light. Superintendent Bohlke has suggested a joint meeting with presence from both school and Town with the Senator and DOT. The Board agreed to this. John McNamara thanked Deputy Supervisor McMillen for his work on the concert at Powerhouse Park, which he said he had attended and found it to be a great event despite the weather. He also thanked the Police Department for their presence at the event.
There were no vouchers as this was a “special meeting.” The Board entered into an executive session to discuss personnel.
The Town Board met on Wednesday, August 29, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen opened the meeting by reading two statements. The first was an Official Town statement, which read:
“The Town Supervisor, Mike Rost, had a traffic accident last week when he lost control of his vehicle and we understand the circumstances of the accident are under investigation by the New York State police. The Supervisor is recuperating and we all wish him a speedy recovery and a return to his official duties. The Deputy Supervisor will be filling in for the Supervisor during his absence.”
The second statement was from Supervisor Rost and it read:
“I would like to thank all who have supported both my son and me through this truly difficult time. That is one of the things that makes Tuxedo such a special place to call home. I am truly grateful and honored to serve this community. During my short recovery, Deputy Supervisor McMillen will be handling Town business. We have come a long way since 2014 with our strong fiscal recovery and the remediation of the mulch pile, just to name a few. We also have exciting things ready to happen with the opening of Steve's. I am very much looking forward to getting back to work, in order to continue to build upon the Town's positive momentum and successes.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Continuation of Public Hearing – Planning Board Membership Terms: Sue Scher commented that the resolution in its current form was much tighter and clearer. She wondered if the Board would be putting together an implementation plan. The answer was yes, the Board does intend to do this.
Next, Deputy Supervisor McMillen made a motion that the hearing be closed and it was passed unanimously. Councilmember Lindsay wondered if the one person whose term expires at the end of this year should be one of the three who were originally supposed to expire this year. After some clarification from Town Attorney Protter, Councilmember Reardon made a motion that the Board adopt the local law as proposed with the provision that the Town Board get together in order to discuss and decide on which members would fill which terms. There was some discussion about which terms should be filled by whom. Town Attorney Protter stated that the intent of the law was for the slate to be wiped clean. Councilmembers Lindsay and English disagreed with this insisting that one of the 3 members originally slated to have their term expire at the end of this year, should have their term expire at the end of this year. Councilmember Reardon reiterated that her motion was that the law be adopted with the terms to be discussed and hammered out between the Board members later. Councilmembers Lindsay and English wanted the terms to be included in the motion. When Councilmember Lindsay reiterated that she agreed with the cadence of expiring terms but wanted to discuss individual terms, Councilmember Reardon withdrew her motion and Deputy Supervisor McMillen withdrew his second and the meeting moved on.
Agenda Items:
1-Consideration of LED streetlight program and financing: Councilmember Lindsay explained that this proposal was one of two she’s been looking at for converting the Town’s streetlights to LED, which would help the Town to comply with the Climate Smart certification program. One of the programs is proposed by O&R and the other by NYPA (New York State Power Authority). O&R’s program will allow the Town to convert up to 2% of the lights for free each year and, if other municipalities didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, there could be an opportunity to get more for free. NYPA’s program would provide for converting all the lights at once with a financing program for the Town to pay them back over 7 years. The final numbers were not available. Frank Peverly further commented that in order to take advantage of NYPA’s program, the Town would have to first purchase the streetlights from O&R. Currently the Town pays a fixed charge on a monthly basis to O&R for the streetlights. However, if they decide to purchase the streetlights (required in order to enter into the agreement with NYPA) they would have to enter into a contract for maintenance of the lights. NYPA’s estimated cost is inaccurate because they are calculating it based on the wrong number of streetlights. Ultimately, it was decided that the Board didn’t have enough information to make a responsible decision.
2- Consideration of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Financing:
Councilmembers Lindsay and English and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum met with the contractor that NYPA uses for electric vehicle charging stations. They identified two possible locations for the stations. One is in the north end of the train station parking lot and the other is in the commuter parking lot. Each charging station has 2 ports meaning that there would be room for 4 cars to charge. A full charge takes approximately 4 hours. If the Town decides not to charge the public for charging their vehicles, they would be eligible for an $8000 grant per charging station.
3- Powerhouse Park Concert Budget:
Deputy Supervisor McMillen announced that the Town recently discovered that the LDC would not be able to provide money for the concert from the grant fund as they had hoped. However, all costs of the concert have been covered by a private donation so that the event will not cost the Town anything. Also, the LDC recently voted to create a 3rd fund, the Administrative Fund, which will be used only for money coming in to the Town. Thus, any money earned from the concert will go into that fund. There is currently $12,500 in the fund, which covers the costs of the entertainment lineup at the concert. Additional donations to cover the cost of the sound system among other items are expected. The only things the Town will have to pay for are the trashcans, picnic tables and porto-potties which are items that are typically provided with every event that is booked in Town (i.e. softball tournaments etc) as per an agreement already on file with the Recreation Department. Councilmember Reardon then stated that she was 100% in favor of this concert and also other events that might be brought in because of the work that the LDC has done. She called on her fellow Board members to join her. Deputy Superintendent McMillen quickly agreed. Councilmember English commented that he thought that it was unfair for Councilmember Reardon to infer that her fellow Board members were unsupportive. He further commented that he was not unsupportive, but nothing had ever been presented to him about the concert so he had questions. Based on what happened last year when Town money was used for the event, and it was ultimately a financial loss to the Town, he was against it. He also believes that Town Residents should have been able to attend for free as taxpayer money was used to finance the event. He went on to say that if a producer was brought to produce the concert and that producer wanted to use Powerhouse Park, in his mind that would be a totally different thing than the Town producing concerts. Deputy Supervisor McMillen further announced that he had spoken with County Executive Steve Neuhaus who has pledged his 110% support for the event. The County will pay for radio spots, coverage in Hudson Valley Magazine and newspaper ads among other things. Deputy Supervisor McMillen pledged that he would work with the concert producer to offer a reduced price for Town residents. Councilmember Lindsay remarked that she had asked for this item to be on the agenda because she wanted to make sure there would not be a repeat of last year. Since it appears that this is not the case, she of course supports it.
4- Approval for Sign Permit/Masker Orchard:
Masker Orchard annual requests these signs in the fall to align with the apple picking season. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay announced that there would be an Economic Development meeting on September 4 from 6-8:30pm and that everyone was welcome to attend. Councilmember English said he had received a clipping from the Photo News about digital speed signs and would like to see some installed for use in Town. Councilmember Lindsay expressed her interest in installing a sidewalk from the traffic light at Contractor’s Row down to Steve’s because the Town wants people to cross at the light, but there currently there is no path for them to walk on. It was pointed out that this would be under the DOT’s jurisdiction and the Town would have to request that they install sidewalks.
Department Head Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced the availability of mulch, topsoil and compost for residents at Quarry Field. In addition, the Department has l ¼ inch gravel, leftover from street sweeping, that will be available. Starting the week of September 2 the Highway Department will be continuing the tree planting in the East Village between the road and the fence along the Thruway. The Superintendent has been working with Deputy Supervisor McMillen on some safety issues in Town Hall and in the Court and Town Clerk’s office. Finally, he reported that the stairway from the lower commuter parking lot is in disrepair and they may need to close it down in the future as it is a potential a safety hazard.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska mentioned that if the Town wanted to slow people down as they came into Town, it might be a good idea to make sure the 35 mph speed limit sign at the south end of Town was free from bushes and trees. Currently, it is almost impossible to see it. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that he had already called the DOT on this issue. The Town is not allowed to clear in this location. This led to a discussion about the missing blinking yellow light in front of the school. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said he had asked the DOT about this as well and that he had also given new Superintendent of Schools, Tim Bohlke, the numbers for him to call. It was suggested and agreed to that the Town would contact their State Senator and ask her to look into and expedite this if possible.
Mrs. Galuska also asked the Town to look into making Hospital Road one way the entire way around as she feels it is dangerous the way it is (one way going up, but both ways going down) . Finally she suggested that people exiting the Library parking lot should be required to go down to Library Road and then to the stop light to turn on to Route 17 as it is difficult to impossible to see past the Library’s hedges when turning out of their lot. Jerry Mottola commented that the Town of Tuxedo used to be known as the speed control Town but now he almost never sees police monitoring speeders especially through Town. Sgt. Russell responded that they were there, but perhaps Mr. Mottola didn’t know where to look for them! Deputy Supervisor McMillen added that the police were out more often now and midnight coverage has expanded to 4 or 5 nights a week.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 12, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent and Councilmember Reardon attended via Skype.
Continuation of Public Hearing – Planning Board Membership Terms: Deputy Supervisor McMillen set the stage for the public hearing by saying that the Board had been waiting for restated verbiage from the Town Attorneys. Councilmember Lindsay explained that the problem was that in 2014, 2 members were added to the Board and the terms were not changed which meant that 3 Board members had terms expiring in 2019. Town Attorney Protter stated the legislation as proposed states that in 2019, 1 member’s term would expire; in 2020 2 members’ terms would expire; in 2021 1 member’s term would expire; in 2022 2 members’ terms would expire and in 2023 – 1 member’s term would expire. He added that the law also provided for a one year probationary period for new members in order to make sure their training had been completed and their performance was satisfactory. Councilmember Lindsay remarked that while she was aware of the discrepancy in the term lengths, she did not recall any discussion being held about a probationary period. Town Attorney Protter responded that there had indeed been such discussion and that this is where he had taken the provisionfrom. Councilmember English wondered if the new verbiage had been posted on the Town website? He was told no because it hadn’t yet been agreed upon by the Board. Councilmember Reardon stated that the Chairman of the Planning Board had sent to all Town Board members a proposal, following the 1,2,1,2,1 cadence for whose terms he thought should expire when. In brief it said:
In 2019, the 7th member to be appointed to the Board’s term would expire
In 2020, the 6th member to be appointed to the Board’s term and Ray Ferri’s term would expire
In 2021, Rich Rigoli’s term would expire
In 2022, John Ruel’s term and Darren Maynard’s term would expire
In 2023, Chairman Mike Reardon’s term would expire. Councilmember English requested that if the Board had evidence of when someone had been appointed, that should be considered when figuring out the terms. For example, he recalls that Mike Reardon had been appointed in 2017 and therefore his term should end in 2022 and not 2023. Also, he doesn’t feel the two newest members should come off first. Councilmember Reardon disagreed saying that she thought it would henceforth be healthy. She assumes everyone thinks the two newest members will want to stay on the Board and thus would likely be reappointed so they would actually end up with the longest terms. She further commented that if the Board members wanted the Chairman of the Planning Board to come to a meeting and explain the reason behind his proposal in person, they should request this. Councilmember English remarked that he thinks the original appointment date has to be considered. Councilmember Reardon and Deputy Supervisor McMillen both said that in order to get to the 1,2,1,2,1 cadence some adjustments in terms would need to be made. Town Attorney Protter observed that in order to get into the proposed cadence, it would be necessary to start all over again with the terms. He doesn’t feel that the Board should spend any more time trying to figure out original appointment dates. Instead he suggested that they should state new terms, agree on them and go with it from there. After some more discussion along these lines, the Board decided to continue the Public Hearing to the next Town Board meeting at which time they would also hear from Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon. Councilmember English commented that in regard to the probationary period, he felt that the criteria of not taking training or not coming to meetings should apply to all Board members, not just new ones. He added he doesn’t understand why the Board would want to recruit someone just to put them on probation.
No one who was present remembers being in favor or a probationary period and the Town Attorney said one wasn’t necessary so they Board asked him to remove that provision from the latest revision of the law to be considered at the next meeting. Deputy Supervisor McMillen began the update by stating his appreciation for the actions of Lieutenant Norton who was recently hugely responsible for rescuing a young woman from drowning at an unnamed location in Town. After Councilmember English and several audience members asked for the exact location of this accident, the Lieutenant stated that he wasn’t going to tell anyone the location because the Town didn’t want anyone to know or to feel encouraged to try swimming there. Councilmember English stated that he felt that the location should be marked somehow, perhaps with a white cross such as are frequently erected after automobile accidents as a beacon of death to warn people that death could occur as the area is unsafe.
Lieutenant Norton further commented that he had recently been made aware that the victim was having trouble paying for her medical bills. He noted that he did not know if it would be appropriate, but wondered if the Town would be interested in contributing as he understands she is in debt approximately $50,000. The family has started a go fund me page for help.
Next, Deputy Supervisor McMillen wondered if any Board members wanted to have the Town pay for analysis of the water coming out of the spring on Orange Turnpike. Apparently, PIPC, on whose property the spring runs, has recently put up a sign saying the water is unpotable. Town Attorney Protter assured the Board that they have no liability for the water so the suggestion was ignored.
The Deputy Supervisor also reported having spoken to Steve Germano, proprietor of Steve’s, who told him that he now has a tentative opening date of mid September. He is working through his problems with Orange County and hopes to have a firm date for the opening soon.
Finally, Deputy Supervisor McMillan reported that the Town has been receiving many comments and complaints through the website about the bears and it seems that people are all concerned about safety. The Deputy Supervisor cautioned that the DEC, would not come and remove the bears, but they do have a website called Iseemammals.com where one can go and download an app to report bear sightings. The DEC will use information from this to help set parameters in the state’s bear hunt. The hunt will take place from 10/1-12/17.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Board Discussion – Reorganization/Consolidation-Town Attorney Howard Protter apprised the Board that the next step is to make a “plan.” This will consist of the plan that was in the petition plus the tweeks added by the attorneys afterward. The Board directed Mr. Protter to put these into one document after which they will approve it and then, after 4 weeks time, they can hold a public hearing on the plan. Councilmember Lindsay asked how they would go about going through and deciding which powers held by Villages they wanted. Town Attorney Protter responded that this would be unnecessary. They will just go on as always and if something should come up, like a pipeline, they can just assume the same power that a village has. Deputy Supervisor McMillen wanted to know if the official name of the Town (on documents and letterheads) would change to the Consolidated Town of Tuxedo? The answer was yes.
Request waiver from Building Moratorium to continue external and internal work on the IGA Building – Tuxedo Hudson Co. - Cathy Morris said the company’s plans were to continue to clean up the building both inside and out. Most of the interior work has been completed and at this time they are looking to finish the work on the back of the building and then to paint. Currently, they have plans for an antique book store and have been talking with several other prospective tenants, some of which are restaurants. If they get their waiver, they can go to the Planning Board for site plan approval. Approval was unanimously granted.
Resolution to reappoint Assessor. Upon questioning from the Board members, it was explained by Town Attorney Howard Protter that all assessors in the State had their terms from September to September and thus our Assessor’s term is about to expire. Thus the Board voted to unanimously reappoint Jim Davies to the post.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Ken English said he wanted to recognize the recent graduates from Tuxedo of Orange County Firefighters training. They are Eric Diaz, Nelson Pereira, Darren Reid, Robert Clarke and Madeline Stromberg. Next, Councilmember English said he had some questions about the upcoming concert at Powerhouse Park, which he learned about through an email from Shari Brooks. He asked for verification that it was a Town sponsored event. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that it was sponsored by the Town but paid for by the LCD. The Deputy Supervidor has been working with Bill Fioravanti, Director of Economic Development for Orange County who steered them to the concert producer they are using this year. He added that a billboard will be going up soon and that many great acts have been booked. The LDC has agreed to fund the project. Councilmember English wanted to know who the applicant was. He was told the Town of Tuxedo. Then, Councilmember English wanted to know why they hadn’t discussed it as a Town Board. Deputy Supervisor McMillen replied “because it has nothing to do with the Town Board.” He further suggested that if Councilman English was talking about the application to the LDC he should speak to the Supervisor as his directive had been to “get it going.” The LDC has already approved up to $35,000 in expenses. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to know how much the music would cost. She was told about $12,000. Councilman English added “so Mike should be able to supply a budget for this?” He was told yes. Deputy Supervisor
McMillen further commented that there had been unanimous support from the members of the LDC including Andrew Dance. All vouchers for the event will be sent to and handled by the LDC. They are hoping that the event will turn a profit and thus beef up the LDC.. Councilmember English remarked that it was awkward for him to find out about the event in the way that he did. Mike Squillini commented that he thought the conversation going back and forth among the Board members was awkward and he didn’t like listening to it. e encouraged the members to hold such discussions privately. He was told that the Board was complying with the Open Meetings law by holding these discussions in public. Irene Denaro said that she felt all Town Board members should be voting on a concert and she wanted to know why that didn’t happen. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded “you’ll have to ask Mike Rost why that didn’t happen.” Ms. Denaro then wanted to know who was funding the concert. She was told the LDC was funding it. Next, she wanted to know where did the LDC money come from? The answer was The Related Companies who funded it as per their Special Permit for Town Economic Development. Mrs. Denaro wanted to know how much the tickets would cost. Deputy Supervisor replied that hadn’t been determined yet. Deputy Supervisor McMillen added that the producer would be happy to come and talk to the entire Town Board. Councilmember Lindsay responded that this would be a good idea. Chris Dollbaum asked about the LDC and how it was set up. Town Attorney Protter replied that the LDC had been set up during the Special Permit process because there was concern that if the Related project contained commercial development, the hamlet might suffer so Related gave money to an LDC. The LDC has an independent Board, which is made up of 2 Town Board members, a Related representative, the Planning Board Chairman, the Zoning Board Chairman and an attorney. They administer the funds two ways: grants and loans.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that the next Economic Development Workshop would be taking place on on September 4. It is a public meeting and thus everybody is invited. The meeting will be held at Town Hall in the Community Room and from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm.
Department Heads Update: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported on the trees being planted in the East Village. In regard to the Sewer plant, he said they have almost completed all the items on the DEC checklist. They have almost completed all the items on the DEC checklist. They still need to power wash and paint. Councilmember Lindsay asked Town Attorney Protter if the Town was still negotiating on a partial opening of the sewer plant. Mr. Protter replied that he would research that question and report back at the next meeting.
Public Comments: Andy Berish asked if the Town changes from a Town to a Village, would this make the Supervisor a Mayor. He was told, no, it did not. Jim Eirand commented that he lived on Patterson Hill and Superintendent Dollbaum and his crew just blacktopped their road. He said “They did a great job and I and all the residents would like to thank them!” Highway Superintendent Dollbaum mentioned that his crew has recently repaved around Town Hall. Because they did the job themselves, they saved some money for the Town. He went on to say that chip sealing on South Gate, Eagle Valley and the East Village is presently underway He also reminded everyone that in order to hunt bears, one needs a big game license. Finally, he reiterated his announcement that mulch, compost and top soil is available to residents in Quarry Field. Meg Vaught, President of the Tuxedo School Board said she was there to formally introduce the Board to Tim Bohlke the new Superintendent of Schools/High School Principal. Mr. Bohlke said he was very excited to be in Tuxedo and he was looking forward to working with the Board. He wants to shed some light on Tuxedo as he thinks the District has a fantastic faculty and school. He added he was not required to live in Tuxedo, but he feels it’s his responsibility to do so and thus he is negotiating on a house and is going to move to town. He further said that the Town residents will start to see more evidence of the school in Town with signage. They have a lot of advertising going out recruiting new students. The new mantra is “We Are Tuxedo!” Additionally, he said he would like to see a new traffic signal for the school and when one button is pushed, both that and the light at the fire station would turn red so people could cross the road to get to Steve’s safely. Councilmember English commented that this was a concern for the Board as well. He then made the point that most of the people in the audience were over 40 or 50 years of age and he wanted to see more young people involved in the community. He felt that all should be working with the school to provoke their interest and make it happen. Rob Dollbaum then spoke saying that people who grew up in Tuxedo considered the site where the young woman almost drowned as a swimming hole that was a “rite of passage,” where they all learned to swim and dive. Now, the Town seems to want to brand it as something different and he feels that that’s wrong.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was approved.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 22, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended via phone and all others were present.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he had been spending his time working on the budget having met with both Town Bookkeeper Brian Sullivan and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum earlier in the day. Next, he recognized all the effort and work put in by Town residents for the Town Village consolidation, acknowledging that this is how government is supposed to work—the residents wanted the consolidation, the Town supported it, and a lot of people went above and beyond the call of duty to make it happen. Town resident Janet Galuska added that she would like to recognize the people in the Village of Tuxedo Park who worked with her to get signatures and also to bring out the vote in that section of Town. Councilmember English commented that over 95% of the people who voted did so in favor of the consolidation and what he took from that was encouragement for a “united Tuxedo trying to protect what we have in Town.” Supervisor Rost added that he also wanted to recognize Town Clerk Donna Matthews who put the whole vote together and found people to man the polls and run the election. Moving on, the Supervisor then recognized the emergency responders in Town—the Police, especially Lt. Norton, the Fire Department and Ambulance Corps who recently rescued someone from the Ramapo River.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Continuation of Public Hearing – Planning Board terms:
There was some confusion about revisions made to the proposed law with some Councilmembers saying they hadn’t seen them. Town Attorney Howard Protter noted that it would need to be revised again before the Board could voting so the public hearing was continued to the next Town Board meeting and the Board will await revisions from the attorneys.
Agenda Items:
Resolution of Conditional Approval of Special Permit for Homeland Towers, LLC and T-Mobile and Northeast LLC – This proposal will approve a cell tower for the Renaissance Faire property. Robert Kodioso, representing the applicant, noted that they had revised their plans to show underground utilities. He also outlined the other work they had done in order to gain site plan review from the Planning Board. Michael Musso, the Town’s cell tower consultant, mentioned that he had submitted a tech memo on the project. It included information on the generator and info needed for the FAA. He also noted that the applicant was offering space to the Town for emergency services antennae and said that while this Tower is being built for T Mobile, there is room on it for the other providers to have space. Councilmember Lindsay inquired if it had been determined whether the tower would be made to look like a tree or just be a regular tower. Mr. Kodioso responded that this decision had been made by the Planning Board, who chose to go with a regular mono pole that will be grey in color as they thought that this would be the least visible. There followed a discussion about the process that will be gone through by the Planning Board to ensure that everything is done right and according to code. The Board then voted unanimously in favor of approving the Special Permit for this project.
New Business: Town Clerk Donna Matthews stated that an application had been received for a sign permit for the Renaissance Faire. This is for the same signage that the Faire puts up every year and it was approved unanimously. The Board also approved the police coverage agreement.
Department Head Update: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the department had been busy milling the Town Hall parking lot in preparation of repaving it. They will also be chip sealing on South Gate Rd and Eagle Valley, Ash Court and Summit in the near future. These projects are the reason why residents have been seeing signs about upcoming construction in various spots around Town. Superintendent Dollbaum cautioned that they are generic signs so people who have been perplexed about “use alternate routes” dead end streets etc. should know that the signs had come worded that way. He further advised that residents would still be able to get in and out of their residences. In other news, the crew is almost done with their patching work. Additionally, there is still mulch, dirt and compost available for residents at Quarry Field. The Superintendent also reported that he had bee in touch with the DOT about trimming along Route 17 and around the speed limit signs. He also spoke to them about the flashing light and “slow school “ signs which were knocked out by an accident. Supervisor Rost asked if the school needed to call the DOT as well and Mr. Dollbaum responded that it certainly wouldn’t hurt. The Supervisor also inquired about getting a crosswalk put in there as he feels that kids will likely be crossing the street there once Steve’s is open. He was told that the DOT would probably put one in at the stoplight but not elsewhere. While of the subject of Steve’s, Superintendent Dollbaum added that Mr. Germano, the owner, was still working with the County for approval for his septic system.
Town Board Update: Councilmember English announced that the Board had received a memo from Town Attorney Marissa Weiss regarding the Town Village Consolidation in which she mentioned that the Town Board would need to meet within 30 days of the election to review the formation of the new Town Village. This will take place at the next Town Board meeting, which is scheduled for August 12. Councilmember Lindsay inquired about another public hearing on the subject saying she understood that there needed to be one more. She was told that the Town did not need any further public hearings on this subject. Councilmember McMillen reported that the Town was roughly 95% complete with work on the mulch pile, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to close out the consent order. After a discussion about what still needs to be done on the site, Supervisor Rost commented “at the end of the day, everyone needs to realize that the Town has cleaned up a lot of the mess up there at no expense to the Town. This work could have cost us millions of dollars!” Councilmember Lindsay said that this coming week is the final week before the Consolidated Funding Application is due. She has been meeting with State Senator Jen Metzger and has also been in touch with Assemblyman Brabenec and County Executive Neuhaus to get supporting letters for the Town’s application, which will focus on improved parking in the hamlet area and a new roof for Town Hall as well as improved record management storage. The Town will also apply for a Complete Streets program, which would slow down traffic through Town.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska commented that people don’t seem to understand why the toilets in the train station are closed and they need to cross the street to use the facilities in Bentley’s. She said she knew it was because the restrooms had been vandalized frequently and no one would agree to clean them, but she felt the Town should put up a small sign explaining why the rooms were closed. John McNamera asked if the Consolidated Town Village might have any additional powers to combat the DEC and help get rid of the consent order. He was told that regretfully, the answer was no.
A resident of Southfields commented that the section of Route 17 around Old Orange Turnpike is particularly dangerous with people going too fast and drivers frequently can’t see to make the turn. Several other residents as well as Councilmember English spoke up about other sections of Route 17 which were dangerous because of reduced visibility with the State DOT not taking care of pruning alongside of the road. Town Attorney Protter suggested that one way to get through to the State DOT would be to have a State Senator call and request that the work be done.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 8, 2019 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost stated that the only thing he’s been working on is the budget.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Public Hearing – Planning Board Membership terms:
Town Attorney Don Nichol explained that the current law states that the Planning Board will consist of 7 members, each having 7-year terms. He understands that some Town Board members feel that 7-year terms are too long. The problem with changing the terms to 5 years instead of 7 is that this would create a situation whereby in some years multiple terms would expire and this new law is meant to clear that up. It is proposed that the terms will expire as follows, 1 member the first year, 2 members the second year, 1 member the third year, 2 members the fourth year and 1 member the fifth year. The Board members are all in agreement on this concept. Councilmember English stated that he was in disagreement with the section of the law which states that all new members of the Planning Board will have a probationary year their first year after which the Chairman of the Planning Board will decide whether they continue on the Board or are dismissed. Councilmember English feels that the law should spell out what constitutes an acceptable first year and he also feels that the Town Board should have the say as to whether members continues or not. Additionally, he believes that a new member should be made aware of any potential problems so that they have a chance to correct them. Town Attorney Nichol replied that although that process was not spelled out in the law, it was understood that what the Councilmember was suggesting was what would happen. Just because the Planning Board Chairman might state that they believe a member shouldn’t continue after the first year, this does not mean that the member would be automatically dismissed. Also, the member would be given the opportunity to correct any issues before being dismissed. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she was unhappy that the law didn’t state that the Town Board has to advertise when terms on the Planning Board are up. Town Attorney Nichol responded that while this was Town policy, it is not required to be in the law nor does he feel it should be. Councilmember Lindsay also suggested that the process for the probationary year should be written into the law. Councilmember English further suggested that the law should be more specific in terms of what will be expected of a member. It was pointed out to the Councilmembers that wording in the proposed legislation has been left fairly vague on purpose. Town Attorney Nichol stated that in all the years that he has been associated with the Town, he has never known any of these things to be a problem. Planning Board Chairman Mike Reardon commented that training for Planning Board members is mandated by New York State and the members of his Board are reminded of this quarterly, so if anyone did not get training, he would recommend that they be replaced. This has never happened so far. Councilmember English stated that he felt they needed to add recruitment for positions to the policy. Supervisor Rost responded that there had been discussion among Board members and the majority agreed that the Board Chairmen of the lower Boards should be the ones to do the outreach and the interviewing since they are the experts of what is needed to serve successfully on the Boards. Councilmember Lindsay countered that it was Town Policy that the Town Board should do the outreach and the interviewing. The Supervisor suggested that they should change Town Policy. He further stated that he understood that Councilmember Lindsay did not agree with this. Councilmember Lindsay added that the proposed law states that terms would take effect immediately and she felt it might make things less complicated if it could take effect on January 1. The Town Attorney and the Board agreed with her. The hearing was then opened up for public participation. Sue Scher said she felt several things had been left out of the law. To read her statement, click here. Irene Denaro commented that she thought Ms. Scher’s comments were “very good and on point.” She wondered how the positions had been advertised and how anyone would know what the criteria for the job were. She was told that the position had been advertised on the Town website for months.
Town Attorney Nichol stated that the law would need to be redrafted and suggested that the Board leave the hearing open until that had been done. Therefore the hearing was left open until August 12th.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to declare the Town of Tuxedo’s intent to be Lead Agency for the SEQR of the CFA Grant application for parking improvements and downtown study – This is a requirement of the Community Funding Application.
a Resolution authorizing relief from moratorium for the Southfields catering project – This business will be located In the old Southfields church on Lilac Lane.
a Resolution to approve Compensation for Poll Workers at the Referendum on July16
a Resolution accepting completed petitions for Library funding proposition to be included on the November 2019 ballot.
a Request for relief from Moratorium for D&A Companies in Southfields was tabled for further discussions with the applicant.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had met with Senator Jen Metzger and talked with her about a State Aid Municipality grant. The Senator asked the Town to send her a letter outlining specific needs for the Town. The list that will be sent is for:
A new roof for Town Hall
Surveillance equipment for the Police Department
A new roof for the Police Station
Councilmember Lindsay further related that she and Sue Scher had gone to the meeting in the Village of Woodbury concerning the proposed video casino on the former Nepera site. The Village found out about the proposal when they read about it in the newspaper, which made them very unhappy.
One interesting thing they came away with is that all residents should be vigilant to make sure the old railroad bridge next to Nepera does not come down (there has been talk of taking it down by the applicant) because if it comes down, the Town of Tuxedo will then get all the huge trucks that want to avoid tolls on the thruway coming through Town! The project is a long way from approval.
Department Head Update: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said that his department had been patching roads and cutting back vegetation on the sides of the roads. They are almost done patching and will shortly be moving on to chip sealing South Gate Road, Eagle Valley, East Village and possibly Sylvan Way if they have the resources to do that this year.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska thanked all the people who had helped her get the mailing for the consolidation out including Town Clerk Donna Matthews and Deputy Town Clerk Marissa Dollbaum. She will also be handing out flyers on Saturday at the Post Office and Farmers’ Market. Marty Lavanhar commented that he had been reading that smaller and smaller communities had been paying higher and higher ransoms for cyber security and he wondered if Tuxedo was at particular risk. Councilmember McMillen responded that Town IT servers are not located in Tuxedo but rather in New Windsor. Tuxedo has a very good back up system and the risk is all with the Town’s IT consultants in New Windsor. Also, he does a lot of things to check security on the side. Mike Reardon wondered if anyone was looking into the shape of Route 17 between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg. Councilmember Lindsay replied that she had spoken with Senator Metzger about it and would continue following up with her. Supervisor Rost added that he had spoken with the DOT who said that they were still trying to get Metra to finish the project but if they don’t, the DOT will take it over.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 24, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember English was absent.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by commenting that it was not only budget time for him, meaning that he has begun working on the 2020 budget, but it is also it is the halfway point of the present year so he has been looking at the current budgets to see where the Town stands. The biggest thing he has noticed so far is that the Town’s B Fund (cash on hand) has gone up by about a million dollars! The B Fund is the Town outside the Village and this is where money was needed. It seems to him that everyone from Department heads on down is improving with their budgetting every year. Next year, the Board will be negotiating the Police Contract again. The Supervisor reminded everyone that this year he wants to have all appointments for the reorganization set prior to the reorg meeting in January so he has asked Board heads to be ready to make suggestions for appointments by November so they have time to discuss and agree on the appointments.
The Supervisor then called on Dorothy Ziegelbauer, member of the TUFSD Board, who was present in the audience to see if she had anything she wanted to share. Mrs. Ziegelbauer responded that she was delighted to report that the Board had appointed a new Superintendent, Mr. Timothy Bohlke. Mr. Bohlke, who will be starting the position on July 1, has had over 20 years of experience in multiple districts, and is excited to be engaged with community members so residents can expect to see him around Town and at municipal meetings.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish requested an explanation for the item about purchasing streetlights. He wondered why the Town would want to do that. Councilmember Lindsay responded that the Town had received a presentation from the New York Power Authority in which they said that there were savings to be had for the Town if they were to buy the streetlights and switch them over to LED bulbs. This could be financed through the Power Authority. She further commented that the Board was just looking into this, not voting on it at this meeting. They will need to get the numbers on what O&R would charge for the lights and then the figures on how much could be saved by using LED lights and then they will be able to make a decision. Councilmember McMillen added that the resolution being put forth at this meeting was just to go forward with the research so they can make an eventual decision.
Resolutions:
1-Resolution to approve a town-wide mailing to all registered voters advising of the July 16th referendum vote on the Town/Village consolidation. Councilmember McMillen commented that he wanted to see a copy of what was going out before he could approve it. It was explained to him that the Board was just voting on the mailing itself. Councilmember English is supposed to be writing the postcard, which will be vetted by Town Attorney Weiss before it is sent out. Town Attorney Weiss is also working on a flyer that will be handed out at the post office in the time leading up to the vote. It was also stated that there would be a legal notice in the newspaper about the vote.
2-Resolution supporting the continued research and board interest in purchasing street lights from O&R- The resolution passed 3-1 with Supervisor Rost voting nay.
3-Resolution supporting the continued research and Board interest in Town wide, opt out option for residents to receive discounted utility rates with Good Energy or other service provider. – Councilmember McMillen and Supervisor Rost stated that they were against the opt-out piece of this proposal. Councilmember Lindsay explained that the way this would work is if given the go-ahead, Good Energy would contact every resident at their expense and hold a public hearing, also at their expense, to explain the program and answer questions from residents. The Supervisor and Councilmember McMillen were still uncomfortable with the fact that this would be an-opt out procedure. Town Attorney Protter suggested that Councilmember Lindsay should ask Good Energy if they had a plan which allowed for an opt-in procedure instead of opt out. Councilmember McMillen commented that residents already had the option to take their energy to another company and that he knows several people who do it, but the difference is that they had made the decision and then notified Orange and Rockland that henceforth they would be using another company. He is uncomfortable with the Board or anyone else making that decision for the residents. Ultimately, a motion was made for this resolution, but it was not seconded so the motion didn’t carry. It was pointed out that this could be brought up to the Board again in the future if a plan with different options was found.
4-Introductory Local Law – Planning Board Members – Because the Planning Board has been changed from 5 to 7 members, there has been confusion as to the terms of the individual members. This law will straighten that out and make it so that going forward the terms will be easier to keep track of. The law also makes the first year of a new member’s term probationary so that they can prove that they are capable of doing the work and if they can’t do so, they can be removed. Because there are 7 members, they will have 7-year terms. In the beginning, there will be one member’s terms expiring every year up to 2028. After the law is passed, the Town Board will decide which member gets which term. The public hearing was wet for July 8 at 7:00 pm.
Town Board Updates: Councilmembers McMillen and Lindsay reported having taken a tour of the Tuxedo Farms site. They commented that a lot of work is being done on the site with many utilities ready to go. Both were impressed with what they saw and were happy with the way the project is being worked into the surrounding property. They are ready for Phase One, but need a builder to come forward before going any further. Councilmember McMillen stated that he has been working with the people who produce the Chocolate Expo, among other things, and has brought them to an Economic Council meeting. Tuxedo is in the running to host the Expo, which would bring 5,000 people to Powerhouse Park in October. Museum Village is also being considered for the site. Councilman McMillen is also working on another concert for that space in August. Councilmember Lindsay reported that at the last meeting of the Economic Development Committee, they had narrowed future committees down to the top 4 suggestions which were: events, relationships with landlords, updating the 2003 Town Center Plan and Parking options. She is also working on the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) for next year, which is due on July 26. For these projects, the Town is required to put up a matching fund. Councilmember Lindsay estimates the matching fund requirement would be approximately $10,000.
Public Comments: Andy Berish wanted to know if the amusement park was still a possibility for the Tuxedo Farms property. Supervisor Rost responded that the last time he had spoken to them, it was still in play as they are entertaining all the options that they get. Janet Galuska expressed her opinion that the postcard going out to inform people about the referendum vote should go to all residents and not just ones who are registered voters as when her committee went door to door with the petition, they found several people who hadn’t been registered at that point but who said they were going to register. Mrs. Galuska also expressed her displeasure with Optimum and the fact that their prices keep rising and she feels older people can no longer afford them. Maria May expressed her opinion that the Good Energy proposal was a good one and said she was in favor of it. Andy Berish asked if the bridge being put up in the East Village was a temporary bridge. He was told yes, it was to be temporary while the new bridge was being built and installed. The project is being paid for by the County.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 10, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended via Skype. All other members were present.
Supervisor’s Update: Supervisor Rost reported having had a conversation with Steve Germano regarding his new restaurant, Steve’s. Mr. Germano is hoping for a July 1 opening. He is still working on obtaining his permit from the County Department of Health.
It is getting to be budget time. Consequently, the Supervisor has asked Department Heads to submit their budgets to him between July 15 and August 1, which will give him time to sit down with each of them. It will also give the Town Board time to review the budget. This year, a major repair is needed on the roof at Town Hall and there are repairs to be done at the Police Station as well.
The Town has been receiving some pressure from the DEC to decommission the Hamlet sewer plant and open up the new one. Consequently, Supervisor Rost has been working with Related to crunch the numbers and figure out what the opening costs will be for the district. It will be a minimum of six months before the new plant can open. Further, the Supervisor remarked that he knew the Village of Tuxedo Park has been having troubles with their sewer plant and so he has had a couple of discussions with them to see if they would be interested in tying in to the new plant. He will continue with these talks as he thinks it would be beneficial for both municipalities. Councilmember Lindsay submitted information about training for the Highway Superintendent and Building Inspector. She explained that the training was for new energy codes that are going to be enacted by the State. Councilmember English asked for an explanation of how the Hamlet sewer plant was going to work and further wondered what the process of turning over the Hamlet sewer district would entail. Supervisor Rost suggested that Councilmember English come in to see him in his office where he would be happy to explain it to him.
Next the Supervisor reported that the cell tower which has been proposed for the Renaissance Faire property would be before the Planning Board on Tuesday night and the Town’s consultant would be present to answer questions. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to know if the project would be presented to the Town Board as well and she was told that she should plan to attend the presentation at the Planning Board.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Speaking to the referendum on the proposed Incorporation and Consolidation of the Town of Tuxedo, Highway Superintendent Dollbaum asked for an explanation of how the voting process would work. Town Attorney Weiss explained that there would be two votes. One will be for Town residents living outside of the Village of Tuxedo Park only and will ask voters to determine whether the new Village should be created. The second vote which will ask if the new Village should be consolidated into the Town will be for all Town residents including those living in the Village of Tuxedo Park. The outcome of the vote will be decided by a simple majority of those who voted. Both resolutions have to pass in order for anything to happen. “So if 5 people show up, and 3 vote yes, then the resolution will pass?” Superintendent Dollbaum inquired. He was told yes. Councilmember English commented that he found it very frightening that 3 people could change the configuration of the Town.
He was told that no one expects that only 5 people will turn out.
Councilmember English responded that this was why he and Councilmember Lindsay felt that public outreach was so important. Supervisor Rost wondered how many more meetings they could be expected to hold. There have already been 3 or 4 well-attended meetings and, in addition, a group of people went door to door throughout the Town explaining the process to everyone who was home to meet with them. Councilmember Lindsay replied that the effort had been tremendous and it was awesome that 550 people had signed the petition, but she doesn’t think that’s enough. She would like to see a mailing be sent out to all registered voters in Town. Janet Galuska, who organized the group of people who went door to door, stated that she thinks everyone knows about this and she doesn’t see the need for the Town to spend $2000 for a postcard that most might not even read. Her group has been standing in front of the post office regularly and will have a flyer to hand out for a couple of weeks before the vote.
Councilmembers Lindsay and English do not agree that this is enough and still feel that the Town should invest in a mailing. Councilmember McMillen commented that since the resolution had been proposed by the residents, he doesn’t feel that it is appropriate for the Town Board to send out a mailing which might make it look as though they are pushing the proposal. Maria Mae said she thought a lot of people didn’t know that the vote was happening on July 16 or that one had to be a registered voter in order to vote or that absentee voting would not be allowed. Town Attorney Weiss stated that all of this information would be included when the vote is noticed in the newspaper as required by law 4 weeks in advance. That being said, the ad will run in the legal notices section and several people expressed concern that it would not be seen there.. Supervisor Rost added that he was sure that the Times Herald Record would be calling for information as soon as it appeared in the legal notices. The Board decided that all 3 Town polling places (Eagle Valley Firehouse, Town Hall and Sterling Forest Firehouse) would be used for the vote.
Agenda Item:
1- The Resolution authorizing details for the July 16, 2019 Incorporation and
1 The Resolution authorizing details for the July 16, 2019 Incorporation and Consolidation Referendum discussed. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she recalled that quite a while ago, the Board had discussed forming Citizens Committees to be the ones responsible for deciding what the ultimate government of the consolidated municipality would be. Supervisor Rost responded that while this might have been discussed, he had always said that the government would be the same after consolidation as it is now with no changes. Town Attorney Weiss explained that if the resolution passed, the Town would have 6 months to decide on what would happen next. Supervisor Rost commented that it was his understanding that they would “stand up the Village and then take it down,” leaving the government to be exactly as it is now. Councilmember Lindsay then wondered what powers the Town Board would be taking on. The Supervisor replied that there would be no new powers except in the case if a pipeline or power line wanted to come through Town, then they would have the power, as a Village, to say no. Councilmember English stated that the Board had never had a formal discussion on this subject. Town Attorney Weiss countered that in fact, they had. Councilmember English said that they had never formally compared the differences between the two kinds of municipalities. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to know if this would mean that they could act as a Village when it was in their interest to do so such as if a pipeline was trying to come through Town. The Supervisor suggested that they would take whichever rules were advantageous to the Town and apply them. Councilmember English again stated that they had never discussed this and the Supervisor replied that Town Attorney Howard Protter had stated, in public, multiple times that they could use the powers of the Town when it was to their advantage and use the powers of a Village when that was to their advantage. Town Attorney Weiss commented that this had also been discussed within their law firm and their feeling was that since the new municipality would be within their rights to use the powers of a Town and a Village interchangeably, it would be foolish to pigeonhole those powers and make it impossible to use them as they needed. She further commented that this question had been dealt with in the document they produced (FAQ document) to answer questions from residents. There was some further discussion on the subject of whether or not to send out a notification to residents following which the Board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the resolution.
Town Board Update: Councilmember McMillen inquired as to when the next meeting of Councilmember Lindsay’s Economic Development Committee would be. He explained that he had been approached by several people who want to bring the Chocolate Exposition to Powerhouse Park in October. This event would possibly bring as many as 9,000 people into Town. Councilmember Lindsay replied that she was waiting to hear back from Bill Fioranti on the timing of the next meeting. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she had several things to discuss. The first was the Community Choice Aggregation law, which sh was hoping they would pass.
Supervisor Rost commented that he was against this concept because he felt it was forcing a choice upon the residents when they might not want it. Furthermore, it is an “opt out concept” which he felt was not favorable for the residents. After further discussion, it was agreed to ask the attorneys to prepare a draft law on Community Choice Aggregation for the next Town Board meeting. Next, Councilmember Lindsay suggested that the Board needed to request a quote from Orange and Rockland for the purchase of LED streetlights.
The Supervisor said he was against doing this because the Town already has a program going with Orange & Rockland where they replace streetlights as they go out with LED bulbs. He doesn’t see the need to change this agreement. Councilmember Lindsay responded that the Town could install the lights all at once themselves and thus it would be done much sooner than if they wait and do it by attrition. The Supervisor replied “we have a roof to fix and other things that need to be done around Town.”
Next, Councilmember Lindsay reported the draft for the Consolidated Funding Application is due the end of July. Supervisor Rost asked her what projects she was hoping to get grant money for and she responded that she had been to one seminar and was going to attend another at which several different agencies would be present. She hopes that she can come away from this next meeting with a list of projects that might be possible. She added that these projects would need matching funds from the Town so she wanted to know if the Board would agree to put some money in the budget for this purpose. Supervisor Rost replied that it would depend on what the proposed projects are. Councilmember English commented that he was hoping to “light the fire” under the zoning amendments again. He inquired as to what needed to be done to get things moving. The answer was that the Town is waiting for the final proposal from Town Planner Bonnie Franson. Town Attorney Weiss added that the changes being made to the amendments had all been discussed so they would not need anything more than a vote from the Town Board once they had been submitted by the Planner. Councilmember English remarked that there had been “such a time lag,” that he would need to completely review the amendments. Councilmember Lindsay said she wanted to apply for a grant from Orange County Tourism as she has done for the last 3 years and was given permission to do so. Highway SuperintendentDollbaum reported that No Parking signs have been installed on South Gate Road. He also said the department would be starting cold mill paving on roads in Maplebrook as well as on Sylvan Way. In August, these roads will be chip sealed.
Public Comments: Andy Berish announced that he has cancelled the July meeting of the Silver Dollars because voting machines will be set up for the referendum. Norman Leckner suggested that instead of sending a postcard about the upcoming referendum vote, residents should be called.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 13, 2019 at 7:30 pm. Councilmember Reardon was absent.
Supervisor Rost began the meeting by recognizing Pete Sovak and Chris Sonne both of whom died recently.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he had been working on the budget. As such he has had conversations with both Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Police Chief Abbott about the condition of their facilities and what if any work might need to be done within the next year. In other news, “the bears are back,” and the Town knows it, but people need to recognize that, for the most part, Tuxedo is in the woods and the bears are going to be around. If called, the DEC might remove the bears but they don’t take them very far and usually they are back within 24 hours.
Department Heads Update: Chief Abbott stated that he needs an agreement from the Board statingthat they want to participate in Orange County’s Stop DWI program. This is something that is done annually. A resolution was made and passed unanimously. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his crew would be working on hanging flags and cleaning up the downtown area in anticipation of Memorial Day and the parade. As always, he also mentioned that there is mulch, topsoil and compost available for residents in the parking lot of Quarry Field and folks are welcome to help themselves.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Presentations: Jesse Scott from New York Power Authority (NYPA) gave a presentation about switching streetlights to LED and electrical vehicle charging stations. To see a copy of his presentation, please click here. Javiar Barios from Good Energy gave a presentation about community choice aggregation. To see a copy of his presentation, please click here.
Public hearings on new exemptions law and Senior exemption levels:
As discussed at the last meeting, these exemptions are no different from those that the Town has been giving historically but they are now being made official. The only question pertained to whether or not there was a written statement of the exemptions and the answer was yes, there is one on the Assessor’s wall. It was agreed that this would be posted to the Town website. The hearing was closed and the Board voted unanimously to formally adopt the exemptions.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to grant Special Permit and Special Sign Permits for Memorial Day Community Picnic to the Tuxedo Park Library
a Resolution approving form of petition for the Proposition to increase Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library
a Resolution accepting the resignation of police officer Christopher Friedman
a Resolution requesting that Orange County Board of Elections prepare for referendum Ballot and the use of the County’s voting machines for the Referendum scheduled for July 16, 2019
a Resolution approving Tuxedo Park Reality’s request for relief from the moratorium. This will allow them to appear before the Planning Board
a Resolution to accept bids on Surplus Highway Vehicles
a Resolution appointing Victor Posta as Heavy Equipment Operator in the Highway Department
a Resolution to approve the Town Clerk’s attending the New York Association of Local Government Records Conference
New Business:
An organization has contacted the Town to inform them that they will be conducting a “Paintout” during which various people will set up easels around Town and, perhaps in the Village, to paint the scenery with the paintings then being sold at the Farmers Market. No one seemed to know if the organization had contacted the Village for permission. The Board said they definitely needed more information about this proposed event. The Town Clerk volunteered to contact the woman to find out.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay announced that there would be a meeting of the Economic Development Committee on Thursday, May 16 from 4:00-5:30 pm. This meeting will focus on what is called a SWOT analysis (looking at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to economic development in Town) and subcommittees will then be formed to deal with different areas such as coordinating with property owners, events, ecotourism, etc.
There was a discussion about the possibility of opening a coffee/bagel place in or near the train station. There is no definite proposition before them but the Board decided they should look into whether or not they are open to this idea. Councilmember English reported having spoken with John Watson about the presentation made at the last meeting outlining their proposed Tuxedo Sustainability Park. Councilmember English offered to walk the property with Mr. Watson and his associates and he was told that they had discovered the property was under a conservation easement and as a result they are no longer interested in it.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 22, 2019 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilmember Reardon attending via Skype.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he had been in touch with Tuxedo Farms representatives over the weekend. Their infrastructure is mostly in place. All of the work has been monitored by the Town’s engineers. They are entertaining bids from several developers.
Next, the Supervisor thanked Town Board members both past and present as well as Department Heads and Town employees for the work that’s been done to return the Town to fiscal stability. The Town was recently able to make an additional payment of $26,000 on Highway equipment which will save the taxpayers $70,000 (they were able to secure a grant). Just a couple of years ago, this would not have been possible.
The Supervisor then commented that he had had an interesting conversation with his nephew on Easter. The nephew mentioned that he had gone hiking in a location 3-1/2 hours away from Tuxedo. The Supervisor asked his nephew why he had gone that far away when Tuxedo has so much great hiking and his nephew’s response was that while the hiking in Tuxedo was good, the trails he had traveled to were in a great little town which offered several different pubs and other things to do as well. The Supervisor suggested that this was a great example of why Tuxedo needs to remain focused on economic so that people will feel that same way about coming here. He added that the Board had several great workshops with discussions about the zoning and he feels that they are on the way to making the Town more appealing to those who are interested in adding some of these attractions.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution settling a tax certiorari claim – was passed 3-1 with Councilmember McMillen voting no.
Resolution to approve a Sign Permit for Tuxedo Farmer’s Market was passed unanimously.
Resolution to enter into contract with the Woodbury Field & Stream Shooting Range – This is a long standing agreement so that the police can receive their training. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution of adoption of Building Department fee amendments was tabled.
Resolution of adoption of Moratorium on Development approvals – this is pending the passage of upcoming zoning amendments. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution of adoption of supplemental regulations for private swimming pools - This will change the required fence height from 5 ft. to 4 ft. which is the state code regulation. This was tabled.
Resolution calling for Referendum on Elector-initiated Combined Incorporation and Consolidation petition – The law states that this needs to be set within 30 days of the public hearing on the petition which was held on April 1. . The Referendum was set for Tuesday, July 16.
Resolution to introduce a local law and to schedule a public hearing for Real Property Tax Exemptions – This is for exemptions which the Town has been giving but they need to be made into a law. The date was set for May 13.
Resolution to introduce a local law and schedule a public hearing for Senior Citizen tax exemptions. – This is also for exemptions, which the Town is already giving but it needs to be made a law. This date was also set for May13.
Resolution to set a public hearing for Homeland Towers. (cell towers on Ren.Faire property) This will be a joint hearing with the Town Planning Board and will be held on May 14.
Public Comments: Dena Steele commented that she had seen 4 large bears (a mother and 3 large cubs) crossing the road just that morning. She reminded people that this is the time of year to take in their bird feeders and to put their garbage out only at the very last minute before collection.
Presentations:
1-Europa McGovern from Hudson Valley Regional Council gave a presentation on NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities program. To see a copy of this presentation, please click here.
2-Michael Coleman, John Watson and Bradley Francis gave a presentation on their proposal for Tuxedo Sustainability Park. To see a copy of their presentation, please click here.
Town Board Update: Councilmember McMillen and Highway SuperintendentDollbaum reported on the Town’s order to get the Highway garage property into compliance with the DEC so that the consent order can be lifted by the end of the summer. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she had held another meeting of the Economic Development roundtable. These meetings are now public and she urged everyone to attend future meetings, which are usually held on a Tuesday around 4 pm. They don’t have a date for the next meeting yet but she will make sure it is announced on the Town website when they do. After one more meeting, they will be forming committees of residents to work on promoting development. Councilmember English would like to formalize the Board’s use of the Tuxedo.gov email accounts and would like to make sure that Board members get into the habit of cc’ing all other Board members on emails in an attempt to foster open communications.
Councilmember Lindsay noted that she had sent a letter to Senator Carlucci and Assemblyman Brabenec about the condition of Route 17 between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg. Someone from Senator’s Carlucci’s office responded to her saying that the Sewer District and the contractor are presently involved in a law suit and consequently the work has not been completed. Efforts are being made to force the contractor to fix up the road. Dale Mottola mentioned that Route 17 north of Town from Arden Road to Harriman is almost as bad as the section between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department had been fixing potholes around Town. They also still have mulch, compost and topsoil available to residents (get it at Quarry Field). Work is starting on the East Village Bridge with the temporary bridge due to be installed shortly.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 1, 2019. Councilmember English was absent.
Public Hearing – Sufficiency of Elector-Initiated Combined Incorporation and Consolidation Petition: Supervisor Rost began by explaining that this public hearing was required by law and the questions/comments would be limited, also by law, to very specific points about the validity of the petition which were outlined and left as a handout on every seat in the Room. He added that if people still had other questions about the petition or the Town/Village Consolidation process, they would hold a question and answer informational meeting on Monday, April 8 at 6:30. There is a workshop on the zoning amendments already scheduled for 7 pm on that night. He further suggested that if people had questions, they should submit them to the Town Clerk who would in turn forward them to the Town Attorney for a response. Finally, he stated that the petition had been brought to the Board by the residents. It is something the residents are asking the Town Board to do, but ultimately it will be decided at the ballot box by the residents of the Town, not by resolution of the Town Board. There were two individuals who had signed up to speak at the hearing and both of them declined after hearing what the Supervisor had to say. The hearing was then closed.
Public Hearing – CDBG Grant (Orange County Community Development Program): Councilmember Lindsay explained that Orange County Community Development is a federal grant program processed and administered by the County. For the past several years, Tuxedo has applied for the CDBG grant in hopes of updating the ADA accessibility for Town Hall. This is what they are applying for again..
There were no comments and the hearing was closed.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost reported the following:
Replacement of the East Village Bridge will begin on April 15. Work will begin with the construction of a temporary bridge.
The annual meetings of both LDCs were held last week. The Tuxedo Farms LDC is fully compliant at present and the Tuxedo LDC will be brought into compliancy as soon as the annual audit is ready for upload into the state system. This took a lot of work but the Town was able to get it done. There will be oversight by the Town auditor as well as regulatory compliance by legal counsel, Harris Beach.
The Supervisor contacted the Village of Sloatsburg regarding the Woodmont Hills Development (adjacent to Auntie El’s.) Since so many of our residents commute south every day, he wanted to make sure that the developer has all of the necessary permits from NYS DOT for the additional access that is going in.
Several people have been complaining about the state of Route 17 between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg due to the sewer project. Jake Matthews has sent letters to many legislators and others and Councilmember Lindsay also drafted a letter to our legislators demanding that some action be taken to improve road conditions.
Last week the Supervisor was in contact with Steve Germano who is currently building his restaurant, Steve’s, on the old Take A Break site. This project has been pushed back for a July opening and Mr. Germano is eager to get it opened. Both the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor have been in touch with Tuxedo Hudson Company about their properties in Town. They are still actively looking for businesses to rent space within the IGA building. Now that the weather is improving, they will probably do some more work on the outside of the buildings. They feel that the constraint there is the amount of parking that is available.
The Supervisor also checked in with Tuxedo Farms. They are still in conversations with several builders and they are also still talking with Draggonsgate.
The Supervisor will be meeting with Orange County in regard to several possible projects they feel he can be helpful with. He reiterated that he is always happy to meet with the County and do whatever he can to help so that he sends the message that Tuxedo IS open for Business!
Agenda Items:
Town Clerk to Attend NYS Town Clerk’s Association Conference from May 5, 2019 – May 8, 2019. This was approved unanimously.
Resolution to approve sign permit for St. Mary’s Church – the sign is to advertise a fundraiser for the Preschool and was approved unanimously
Resolution settling a tax certiorari claim by ASB120 LLC was approved by a 3-1 vote with Councilmember McMillen voting no.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay added the following things to the Town Board schedule:
April 9 at 4 pm will be the second meeting of the Economic Development group. They had a great meeting at the train station but have decided to make it a public meeting so that more than 2 people on the Town Board could be present and to hold this next meeting at Town Hall so that more people can attend. The meeting will be led by Bill Fioravanti, Orange County Director of Development and Councilmember Lindsay.
April 22 during the regular Town Board meeting, Europa McGovern will educate the Board on the steps necessary for Climate Smart Certitication.
May 13 during the regular Town Board meeting, representatives of the community choice aggregation group that Councilmember Lindsay has been working with will make a presentation to the Board.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen reported on the progress being made at the mulch plant/highway garage. He commented that they have made great progress there and are close to getting the consent order lifted. The work is at 87% completion according to the DEC. All of this has been accomplished at no cost to the taxpayers! Nancy Hays wanted to know who was paying for it. She was told that, Ben Veltidi, is operating the plant and has a lease but doesn’t have to make any payments while the former mulch pile is being cleaned up.
Department Heads: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that they were wrapping up the tree trimming around town while they still have the lift, which goes back in a week. Next, he announced that mulch, topsoil and compost are available at Quarry Field (parking lot, off Warwick Brook Rd ) Residents can help themselves to these. Pothole repair and patching will start soon. In another 2 weeks, the crew will begin sweeping the streets in Town. Street sign poles will all be replaced so that they will be compliant with breakaway regulations. Police Chief Abbott reported that officers are still looking for the American Legion sign, which has gone missing. If anyone has any information about it, they are asked to please contact the police. One of the Town Officers arrested someone with an illegal handgun. The person turned out to be a convicted felon. Detective Christian, Police Officer Eichengreen and Lieutenant Norton all contributed to this arrest.
New Business:
The Supervisor announced that the Board had met in Executive Session immediately preceding the meeting and agreed to appoint John Banyo and Chris Kasker to the Planning Board. Terms for these two gentlemen have yet to be determined. A motion was made and passed unanimously. A public hearing will be scheduled to change town law as going forward, the first year on either the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals will be probationary.The hearing will be scheduled as soon as the attorneys have it drawn up.
Public Comments: Sue Scher wondered how traffic leaving the Woodmont Hills development in Sloatsburg heading North, would be able to access Route 17. The Supervisor responded that he hadn’t been given any information on that. Gil Delart inquired as to where the meeting minutes from executive sessions were filed because he hasn’t been able to find any. He finds the Town’s meeting notices insufficient as he had attended the meeting tonight not realizing that the public hearings would be comment only. Mike Sinansky asked for an update on the status of the Red Apple property. He was told that this was private property, which is for sale. When asked why the Town doesn’t knock it down, he was told the owner had put a fence around it and fixed the roof so it is in compliance while they are waiting for a buyer. Houston Stebbins asked for confirmation that there would be a Q&A session about the consolidation petition on Monday, April 8 at 6:30. He was told yes. Nancy Hays said that she had heard from people who live near the Tuxedo Farms property that there has been work going on there and wondered what the Board knew about it. She was told that Tuxedo Farms is still doing infrastructure work as they are required to do in order to be able to sell the property.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 11, 2019 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost began by reporting that the Board has been working on scheduling public workshops for the zoning amendments that they are working on. More information will be forthcoming as they are scheduled.
Next the Supervisor stated that the Board is in receipt of the petitions to form the consolidated Village. He thanked Janet Galuska for all her hard work in gathering the signatures and then said that when the time comes for the next steps in the procedure, Town Attorney Protter will explain in detail what is happening.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution approving Special Sign Permit for Steve’s Wood Fired Pizza- This was approved unanimously.
Hire Consultant for Cellular Tower – The purpose of the consultant is to help write the language, which will be going into updating the zoning law. After some discussion about how many hours would be needed, it was decided to ask for this information and to wait to name a specific consultant until the Board had that information. The motion was passed unanimously.
Resolution to Approve Film Permit – Possible Productions wants to film on the Renaissance Faire property on March 18 and 19. The motion was approved.
Councilmember Lindsay reported the following: Climate Smart Task Force March 6: Met with Europa McGovern, our contact from the Hudson Valley Regional Council /NYSERDA who will guide us through the certification process.
The Task force discussed the following action items for certification:
Rooftop Solar the Highway Garage
Electric Vehicle charging stations
Community Choice Aggregation
Benchmarking energy in municipal buildings.
The next steps for the Town will be:
Education for town boards and public. Schedule presentation from Europa McGovern, Community presentation on Climate Change
Community Choice presentation from Good Energy
Schedule training for Energy Code Enforcement for Dave Maikisch and Rob Dollbaum
Review United Solar Permit
Review financing options for Highway solar roof
Start grant writing for CSC actions.
Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay stated that the next meeting of the Economic Development Committee would take place on March 12 and would include people from the County as well as various stakeholders from the community. The goal is to identify ideas for sustainable development that will revitalize Tuxedo. Councilmember Lindsay also mentioned that she had heard that the Supervisor was planning on holding a workshop meeting with just 2 members of each Board and said she doesn’t understand why they can’t have the workshops with all members of the Boards. Supervisor Rost responded that the purpose of this meeting was just to go over what would be happening in the public workshops and hearings on the upcoming zoning amendments to make sure that the presentation made at both meetings is organized and that they don’t forget anything. If they were to hold these meetings with all Board members, it would have to be open to the public. Therefore, he has proposed the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of each Board (Town, Planning and Zoning) get together to work on the presentation. Town Attorney Protter confirmed that it was perfectly legal for such a meeting to take place. Councilmember McMillen stated that he would like to see Town revenues reported to Board members on a regular, monthly basis. He was told that this information was available in the regular monthly report.
Departmental Updates: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department is still working on trimming trees around Town. As long as there is no more snow, they will be moving on to working on signs and signposts afterwards. He is also making plans for repainting the bus stop in order to remove graffiti. He inquired as to when the heat at the bus stop should be turned off and was told that it could be turned off now..
Board Discussion: CouncilmemberReardon inquired as to where the Board stood with appointments to the Planning and Zoning Boards.
She was told that there was one remaining interview for the Planning Board seat. Councilmember McMillen lamented that the Board had said they were going to fix this problem with the process for appointments months ago but they were still at a standstill. Councilmember Lindsay remarked that she had sent an email outlining some of her ideas for remediation but no one had responded to her. She is concerned that if they don’t do something along the lines she suggested in her email, they will have to pass a new law. Councilmember Reardon noted that the Board had interviewed candidates for these positions months ago and further stated that she felt it was rude of them not to follow up with a decision.. Councilmember English said that the Board hadn’t even had a discussion after the interviews to talk about how they felt about candidates and decide what they wanted to do. Councilmember Lindsay protested that they hadn’t decided about the terms for the positions to which Councilmember Reardon retorted, “it’s not about the terms! We need to decide if we’re going to interview this last guy and then decide. The terms can be figured out later.” Councilmember McMillen agreed that this had been the plan. Councilmember Reardon then stated that she felt that the decision should be made by the Chairmen of the Planning and Zoning Boards. She believes that those individuals should come to the Board recommending the people they want on their committee and, after a cursory look at the people, the Town Board should confirm or deny appointment. The main decision should come from the Board Chairmen in her view. She further added that if the Town Board were to choose the people, it would call into question the independence of the Boards.
Both Supervisor Rost and Councilmember McMillen stated their support for the idea that the Chairmen should present their choice candidates to the Town Board, who would then interview and appoint. The Supervisor said that he had checked with other municipalities and this is how it is done in many other places.
“So you want the lower boards to do the outreach to get people on their Boards? Because I’ve never seen that!” Councilmember English stated.
“That’s because they haven’t done it,” responded the Supervisor “but that’s what I want to see happen.” Councilmember English replied, “but that’s not where we’re at now!”
There followed some argument between the Board members about what they had and hadn’t done and finally Town Attorney Protter suggested that the conversation should be taken into an Executive session where they could decide who of the people they had already interviewed they should appoint to the Planning Board.
The Supervisor said he didn’t want to make a decision without having a conversation with Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon who was not present. After some squabbling about availability, it was decided they would hold an Executive Session before the next regular meeting, on April 1, to discuss and decide.
Changing the subject, Supervisor Rost stated that there had been some discussion about the Town hiring an appraiser to assist the Assessor and that they had all agreed this was a good idea. A motion was made to issue a RFP for the position and it was passed unanimously.
Public Comments: Claudia Bakhtiary thanked the fire department and police department for their service during the winter months. Irene Denera expressed her displeasure with how the Board was interacting with each other and said she would like to see them stop arguing with each other and, instead, work for the Town. The Supervisor responded that he thought everyone up on the dais wasworking for the Town, but that he didn’t disagree about the rest of her statement. Councilmember McMillen observed that arguments can also be “pure,” and many times listening to other member’s arguments has influenced his decision. Councilmember Reardon stated that she didn’t need to be psychoanalyzed not did she think anyone else on the Board did. She further stated that she felt that the disrespect shown by Ms. Denera was unnecessary at a meeting, when people have no idea how much time and effort each Town Board member is putting into the work that they do.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 11, 2019 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost began his update by reporting that Councilmember McMillen was still working with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and the DEC to get the consent order (left over from the mulch pile!) lifted. They are hopeful this will be accomplished by the end of October. The Supervisor is further working with Ben Veltidi and Jimmy Mottola to get some dirt removed from the Highway garage property. This is a more cost effective solution than having the dirt removed in a dumpster by Waste Management! Additionally, the Building Inspector gave Erwin Demarino orders to remove some dirt which is not on his property and which is located near the Ramapo river.
The garbage contract will be up for renewal soon and Waste Management is looking for a $50,000 increase! According to the Supervisor, a lot of that is due to fees from Orange County so he has been exploring the option of taking Town refuse down to Rockland County. Should this be the direction the Town chooses to go, one of the big differences for residents would be that they would have to separate their recycling (glass/paper/cans).
The Building inspector has reported that Tuxedo Auto Body has removed 3 cars from their property in Southfields, which is a step in the right direction!
Finally, with bad weather predicted for the next few days, the Supervisor asked residents to please not park on the streets so that the Highway Department could do their job.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Solar Presentation – Highway – Superintendent Dollbaum reported that he’s been looking into installing solar at the Town Highway Garage. He has been working with 4 different companies and feels that Tri State Solar would be the best fit for Tuxedo. Accordingly, he had requested they be at the meeting to make a presentation to the Board. The proposal is for a least to own arrangement and the cost of the lease is about the same as what the Town is paying in electric charges on the site. To see a copy of Tri-State’s presentation, clickhere
Moratorium Relief Request from Homeland Towers – Homeland Towers (T Mobile) was represented by their attorney who stated that they had just submitted an application to the Planning Board to construct a wireless telecommunications tower near the Renaissance Faire property. While the original construction would have T Mobile antennas, there would be room for other carriers (Verizon, AT&T, etc) to install antennas as well. Currently, there isn’t sufficient coverage for the amount of visitors generated by the Renaissance Faire. They feel this is as safety/security issue as well as one of convenience. He pointed out that federal law provides for this relief and said that if the Board granted it, it would not mean they were approving the project but just giving them permission to back in front of the Planning Board with an application. The Town Attorney was asked if she had researched whether or not the federal law applies here. She responded that she had and it does. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she had only received this request at 4 pm the previous Friday and felt that the Board needed more time to look into it. Councilmember McMillen remarked that he had been able to spend time with the material provided over the weekend and he had no problem voting on it. Councilmember Reardon said she was ready to vote as well. The original vote was 4-1 with Councilmember Lindsay abstaining. After it was emphasized to her that this vote did not approve or deny the project, but merely gave it permission to apply to the Planning Board where all necessary additional research would be done, she reluctantly changed her vote to yes but said she wanted to make sure the Town had a Telecommunications consultant to review the application.
Resolution to appoint Part Time Police Officer – Kevin Bonkowsky was unanimously appointed by the Board.
Resignation of Part Time Police Officer Laura Distanislao - The officer also works for the Sherriff’s Department and didn’t realize she needed their permission to work for the Town as well. After being hired, she put in the request and it was denied.
Town Board Update: Councilmember English said that in the spirit of the Supervisor’s plea for the Board to work together (at the last meeting) he hoped the Board would give him more opportunities to work with them. Councilmember Lindsay announced that March 6 would be the first meeting of the Economic Development and Tourism Task Force. They will be meeting with Orange County’s Director of Development and Tourism as well as various stakeholders around Town. She is also working on setting up a meeting with the Regional Council Contact for Climate Smart Certification and the Task Force she has appointed to work on this with her. Additionally she is working on getting funding for electrical vehicle charging stations in Town.
Department Head Update: Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the Department is still working on trimming trees around Town. He added another plea for people to not park on the street during snow storms. Councilmember English thanked him for the timely response on fixing a bad pothole in his neighborhood.
Mr. Dollbaum also reported he is still working on getting the new sewer plant online and said he is hoping to have that done in about 6 months. Police Chief Abbott reported that a resident had called asking them about a possible scam involving a phone call saying that her computer system had been infected. The department investigated and determined it was a scam. He urged other residents, particularly senior citizens, to call with any possible scams they weren’t sure of.
Public Comments:
There were none.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended via Skype and all other members were present.
The meeting began with Town Clerk Donna Matthews swearing in new Town Justice Alyse McCathern. Supervisor Rost welcomed her to the team, commenting that the Board had put clerks in place before her arrival in the hopes that it would make her transition easier. She thanked him and responded that the clerks were great and that she feels honored to serve the Town.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost began by saying that he didn’t think that the Town Board had done a good job of getting things done in the last year. Consequently, he stated that in 2019, he would like his meetings to be meetings of action. He cautioned the rest of the Board members that if there was information they needed in between meetings, they should ask for it so that when they arrive at the meetings, they are ready to take action. He added that if there were discussions that individual Board members felt were necessary, such as with zoning or the comprehensive plan, then they could schedule a workshop for that purpose but henceforth he would like for the Town Board meetings to be meetings of action. He went on to say that when audience members look at the Board during meetings, he believes that they are seeing a Board very much divided. Thus, starting at the next meeting he would like for Councilmembers Lindsay and Reardon to switch seats so that the audience doesn’t see 2 people on the left with viewpoints that typically differ from the 2 people on the right. This year, he concluded, the Board will work together; they will get things done and they will make things happen in Tuxedo!
This was met by a round of applause from the audience.
The Supervisor added that henceforth the Supervisor’s Update will happen in the beginning of the meeting and the Board’s comments and Department Head comments will come toward the end of the meeting. Councilmember English responded that he appreciated the notion of the Board working together and taking action. He went on to say that he hoped the Supervisor’s updates would include news of all the meetings that had happened, remarking that he had been waiting a long time to hear what is happening with Tuxedo Farms and perhaps the Renaissance Faire property as well as things that related to the prospective zoning laws. He reiterated that it had been a while since the Board had heard anything of substance with regard to Tuxedo Farms and he feels that the Town needs to have an update on this subject.
The Supervisor replied that there was no update because there had not been any meetings at all with principals or others in regard to Tuxedo Farms. Councilmember English said that if Tuxedo Farms is not going to move forward, the Board needed to find out what the implications to the Town would be and make sure that the Town was protected.
Councilmember McMillen responded that the Town needed to have vision but they can’t force Related to tell them what their next move will be. It’s a private enterprise with private property.
Supervisor Rost added that the Board needs to hear what Related plans to do. The property is up for sale. They are still in conversation with Draggonsgate and are entertaining other offers. Nothing is currently happening. In the past, when something has happened, either Andrew Dance has called the Supervisor or Related has contacted the Town’s attorneys. This has not happened as of late because there’s nothing going on. If there was, he would say so. The last he was told, in a conversation about 3 months ago, and which he reported at a Town Board meeting, was that there was a bidding war going on between Draggonsgate and another entity (and he does not know the identity of the other entity) and since then, it has been “radio silence.”
Councilmember English then said he knew that the Town had heard from the owners of the Renaissance Faire and he wanted to know what that was about. The Supervisor responded that the Renaissance Faire had very recently requested a meeting but that he had declined to meet with them without legal representation. Thus he and Town Attorney Howard Protter had a meeting scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 31. When Councilman English then asked if they had any notion of what the meeting was about, he was told that it was about how the proposed zoning would affect their property.
Councilmember Lindsay asked if the vision Councilmember McMillen had mentioned referred to the fact that the Comprehensive Plan was written with the understanding that Tuxedo Farms was going to happen?
She was told yes, and that now that it looked as if the development wouldn’t happen, the Town needed to have a vision for that property.
Councilmember Lindsay then wanted to know if the Board needed to revise or amend the Comprehensive Plan?
Mr. Protter responded that they didn’t need to do anything because at this point as far as the Town knew, Tuxedo Farms was still a viable project. Should Related sell the property and the subsequent owner want to do something with it that wasn’t spelled out in the Special Permit, then the Board would have to consider this.
As far as the Renaissance Faire property is concerned, Mr. Protter said that the owners have indicated that they would like to zone a residential component and have been in front of the Planning Board to discuss that.
Councilmember English wanted to know what density they were talking about but Mr. Protter didn’t have those figures. Councilmember English then inquired as to which School District the residential component would be in?
The Supervisor intervened at this point saying that at the end of the day, this has nothing to do with his Supervisor Update and he suggested that the meeting had been taken off track. Councilmember English thanked him for taking the time to respond.
Noting that the the new structure of the meetings as outlined by the Supervisor called for Board members comments to come at the end, Councilmember Lindsay wondered if any of those comments required an action, where this would go?
The Supervisor replied that if they needed a Board action, the Board should already know about it and it should be part of the agenda. In 2019,” he reiterated, “we’re taking action!” Continuation of Public Hearing – Police Disciplinary Law: Supervisor Rost began by explaining that the reason the Town was updating the law was to save the Taxpayers some money. Currently, if the Town were to take a disciplinary action with a police officer, it would have to go to an arbitrator and then perhaps a mediator. Both of those people are very expensive. Going forward, the Town is proposing that if there should be a disciplinary action, the Supervisor would preside over it and decide if it needed to be brought to the Town Board in order for them to make the determination. If this were the case, The Supervisor would not vote with the Town Board. This would mean that any such actions brought to the Board would have to be something so egregious that there would not be a 2-2 split in the vote. Councilmember English stated that he had some questions, starting with how would the complaints against officers be brought? He wondered if these would be just departmental charges and not criminal ones.
He was told that the law would apply to all charges but that any criminal charges would be referred to the Orange County District Attorney’s office. Most disciplinary charges are now handled by the Chief of Police and would continue to be handled this way. Charges would only come to the Town Board if they were something more serious or if the Chief didn’t want to handle them. Basically, nothing will be changing if this law is passed except that instead of an action being referred to a mediator, charges will come to the Town Board, which will save the taxpayers the added expense of paying for the mediator and or arbitrator.
Town Attorney Protter added that this is how things were done historically, and that passing the law would bring the procedure back to where it was years ago. Councilmembers English and Lindsay continued to question whether or not the Supervisor should have the power to make this kind of determination with regard to disciplinary actions, further stating that the version of the proposed law that they had seen suggested that it would be the whole Board making the decision. They both take issue with the process as proposed.
Supervisor Rost then called for a vote to close the public hearing. The vote was 4-1 in favor of closing with Councilmember McMillen voting no. He said he thought they should keep it open since Councilmembers English and Lindsay still have so many questions.
Supervisor Rost commented that it seemed to him as though the only thing being questioned was whether or not the Supervisor should be the person to decide to bring an action to the Town Board.
Councilmember Lindsay agreed.
Since this is the only difference in the current version of the proposed law, the Supervisor then asked whether there would be a vote to move things forward.
Councilmember Lindsay wondered if they could vote at the next meeting after they had had a chance to think about it. She further stated that she would like them to have a discussion on this subject. The motion to pass the law as written with the Supervisor referring the cases was moved by Councilmember McMillen and seconded by Councilmember Reardon. The vote was 3-2 with Councilmembers English and Lindsay abstaining.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Next, there was a swearing in for Marc Citrin as a new member of the Zoning Board of Appeals
Annual Reorganization Meeting:
The following appointments were made:
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
Supervisor’s Bookkeeper
Brian Sullivan
Deputy Supervisor
David McMillen
Deputy Registrar
Patricia Marsh
Deputy Town Clerk
Tracy Coviello
Marriage Officer
Donna Matthews
The yearly salaries were approved for the following Town Officials:
Clerk Typist for Highway and Building Depts/Recording Secretary p/t
Michele Reed
$ 15.00/hour
Fire Inspector/Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer/Flood Damage Prevention Administrator
David Maikisch
$ 60,294.26
Project Coordinator for Building Dept. Zoning Board, Planning Board/Recording Secretary for Zoning and Planning Boards
Deborah Villanueva
$ 56,091.88
Board of Assessment Review/Chairman
Louis DeBrino
(9/30/22)
$ 1,552.21
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Mattes
(9/30/23)
$ 554.14
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Brennan
(9/30/20)
$ 554.14
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Marie Warniaha
(5/8/22)
$ 554.14
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Gary Phelps
(5/8/22)
$ 554.14
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Jeff Dowding
(12/31/20 )
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Gardiner Hempel, Jr.
(12/31/22)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Edward J. Brennan, Jr.
(12/31/22)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Todd J. Darling
(12/31/23)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Charles Jones
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Peter Dedel
(12/31/23)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Maureen Rickard
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Joseph Rickard
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Jean Ruffino
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Leslie DeVore
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Deborah Villanueva
(12/31/19
No compensation
Zoning Board of Appeals/Chairman
Frank Peverly
(12/31/20)
$ 1,659.33
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Andrew Rogers
(12/31/21)
$ 1,200.98
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Marc Citrin
(12/31/22)
$ 1,200.98
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
George D. Langberg III
(12/31/23)
$ 1,200.98
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Russell Shaver
(12/31/19)
$ 1,200.98
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Alternate - Open
Planning Board/Chairman
Michael Reardon
(12/31/23)
$ 6,039.92
Planning Board/Member
Ray Ferri
(12/31/20)
$ 2,740.31
Planning Board/Member
Rich Rigoli
(12/31/21)
$ 2,740.31
Planning Board/Member
John Ruel
(12/31/22)
$ 2,740.31
Planning Board/Member
Darren Maynard
(12/31/22)
$ 2,740.31
Planning Board/Member
(open)
Planning Board/Member
(open)
Town Counsel*
Jacobowitz & Gubitz
$ 50,000.00 +
$180/hour non retainer items
Town Engineers*
Holzmacher, McLendon & Murrell P.C.
As per contract
Town Auditor**
Andrew Arias
Not to exceed $19,500
Planning Board Legal Counsel
Richard Golden
As per contract
Zoning Board Legal Counsel
Richard Golden
As per contract
Town Planner*
Bonnie Franson
As per contract
Town Veteran’s Officer
Paul Mitchell
No compensation
Town Historian
George D. Langberg, Jr.
No compensation
*until and if such time arises that a successor may be appointed pursuant to a Request for Proposals advertised in 2019.
***retained to review the books and records of the Town for 2019 and to assist the bookkeeper in the preparation of the Town’s Annual Financial Report and in accounting and financial matters which arise during the fiscal year 2019.
There was quite a bit of discussion of which terms should expire when on the Planning Board as this had somehow gotten confused in the Town records. Ultimately, the Board voted to accept the Reorganization document minus the Planning Board terms, which they will add as soon as they figure out who they want to put in the open seats.
Agenda Items:
Resolution approving towing permit. The application for Harriman Auto to be added to the towing list was approved. There was a discussion about changing the towing list to assign one company per day as opposed to rotating the company with each call. The Board will speak to all the towing companies and then revisit this concept.
Board Member/Department Head Comments: Councilmember McMillen asked for a description of and a discussion about the recently announced series of workshops to be offered at the Tuxedo Park Library by Councilmembers English and Lindsay on the subject of local government. Councilmember English responded that this was an idea of his that he had come up with on his own time and it had nothing to do with Town Board business. He further stated that it had been frequently mentioned at Town Board meetings that there was a small pool of individuals who were willing and able to get involved on Boards in Town. He wants to educate the public about how this works so the pool of available candidates might be increased. Materials for the series will come from the Comptroller’s Office of New York State. When Councilmember McMillen asked Councilmember English if he thought he would be able to answer all questions about how the government worked, Councilmember English replied that it was a “study circle.” Councilmember McMillen wanted to know why this event couldn’t take place in the Community Room of Town Hall so that all members of the Board could be a part of it. The answer was “I came up with this myself, Dave.” Councilmember Reardon said she found it amazing that Councilmember English had not answered any questions sent to him by email and that she found it exclusionary, disrespectful and hypocritical.
Town Attorney Protter commented that perhaps this discussion would be better continued in an executive session.
Councilmember McMillen responded that there was nothing secret about this discussion but that the whole series at the Library had been a secret from the Town Board.
Councilmember English then asked if he was to teach a course at a local Community College, would he have to come to the Board and ask permission first?
Councilmember McMillen responded that if he were using his Town title, then yes he would need permission.
The response was “if a Congressman was speaking at a Community College, do you think he wouldn’t identify himself as a Congressman?”
Councilmember McMillen retorted “if he was giving original thoughts, then yes, but you are not giving any original thoughts here, you are just reading from Comptroller’s Office handouts.”
Councilmember English replied “you should come!” to which Councilmember McMillen replied “if I come, we’re all violating the Sunshine law because it becomes an illegal meeting!” He went on to point out that Councilmembers English and Lindsay had not been appointed by the Supervisor to give these talks.
Councilmember Lindsay responded that the talks were legal to which Councilmember McMillen replied “if it’s legal, it’s definitely unethical!” When Councilmember English took exception to this statement, Councilmember McMillen said he would rephrase it to say it was “noncourteous.” Councilmember Reardon added “it was unprofessional.” Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that his department was working on tree trimming. They started in the East Village and were headed to the Grove next after which they would be working on the monument and then up into the Nursery and finally into downtown. They will be working mostly in the residential areas.
He made a plea to residents to stay off the streets when it was snowing and to move their cars off the streets as well. It is hard for the plowers to work around cars on the streets. Next, he commented that the new lights in the commuter lot had been in place for about a year and so far the Town has saved $923 in electrical charges! He hopes that as they progress through the rest of Town switching out the bulbs, they will save even more money. Councilmember Lindsay remarked that switching the light bulbs as well as perhaps switching to solar energy at the Highway garage would give the Town points toward certification in the Climate Smart Certification Initiative passed at the last meeting.
She next reported that she had met with Nancy Teed and Jason Schrammel at the School and that with the assistance of the Stem faculty students are going to help the Town do the energy audit necessary for the Climate Smart Certification.
She also reported that she, Supervisor Rost and Police Chief Abbott had met with representatives from the DOT regarding the proposed northbound turning lane into Duck Cedar Plaza. The DOT maintains that northbound there is enough sight distance and they don’t think it’s a problem. They also said that according to the traffic study submit by the Tuxedo Police Department, the average speed at the site was 62 mph. At that speed, they feel that reducing the speed limit would result in more accidents. Consequently they are talking about enforcing the speed limit combined with putting in some of the speed tracking signs that let motorists know what the speed limit is and how fast they are actually going. They will also research how much land is available on the right of way on the other side of the road to see if it would be possible to put in another lane.
Councilmember McMillen asked if there were enough property, would the cost of putting the lane in go to the owner of the building?
The answer was yes.
Councilmember Lindsay reported additionally that she had learned there was an Orange County Transportation Council which is currently headed by Warwick Supervisor Mike Sweeton. The money given by DOT to Orange County for transportation projects is in turn handed out by this Council so she feels the Town should get in touch with them and get put on the list for this project. The Supervisor volunteered to get in touch with them.
Councilmember Lindsay said she had met with Orange County Economic Development head, Bill Fioravanti, as well as Amanda Dana, Travel and Tourism Head in the County. It was their recommendation that the Town put together a meeting with stakeholders in Town, i.e. the Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society and they will come down and brainstorm what could be done here to attract economic development. Councilmember English referenced his report at the last meeting about meeting with officials from Sterling Forest State Park regarding the parking along South Gate Road and wondered what action items he should be pursuing from that. He said an example would be signage. There followed a discussion about what parking restrictions were being suggested. They are considering restrictions on both South Gate Road and Buttonwood.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola stated that when the Duck Cedar Plaza was built, the owner at the time, Mr. Latini, was in close contact with the DOT so they should be conversant with what is going on at the site. Councilmember Lindsay responded that there has been a complete turnover of people at the DOT even within the last year but thanked Mrs. Mottola and said she would pressure them to look into their files on the property. Mike Reardon said he knew that this was not technically a Tuxedo problem since the property in question is in Ramapo, but he wondered how the Woodmont project (next to Auntie El’s) ever got permission for a second access, which was not part of the approved plans. He feels this will create traffic tie ups that will affect everyone and will eventually mean that people will not want to move to this area. ) He suggested that perhaps the DOT could shed some light on this subject.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 14, 2019 at 6:30 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent.
The meeting began with a workshop with Town Planner Bonnie Franson to discuss the proposed zoning amendments, which have evolved out of the recently passed Town Comprehensive Plan. To listen to a recording of the workshop meeting, click here.
Before approving the minutes of the last meeting, Councilmember Lindsay requested that the Town Clerk add details about the vote to move the duties of the Architectural Review Board over to the Planning Board. It was agreed that the minute would be revised to reflect that Supervisor Rost and Councilmembers McMillen and Reardon voted aye while Councilmembers Lindsay and English voted no.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
In the absence of Supervisor Rost, there was no Supervisor Update. Deputy Supervisor McMillen, who was running the meeting, asked the rest of the Board if anyone had anything to report. Councilmember Lindsay spoke up and said that she had been asked to give an accounting of her job as Economic Development liaison and offered to do it at this time. Deputy Supervisor McMillen agreed.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that she had been working on the Town’s economic development with a “multi-pronged approach” for the last 3 years. As such, she said she has been developing relationships with many different organizations and attending numerous workshops. She has also been working on a new Town Center study with Town Engineer Al Fusco. She and Mr. Fusco submitted a grant application that would cover the cost of the study but unfortunately they did not get the grant. Now, the Town Board must decide whether or not they want to lay out the money for the study. Mr. Fusco will be submitting a proposal, detailing how much the study will cost. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she is in favor of this study because it would be helpful with grant applications, which always ask if the Town has any current engineering studies, which the Town does not. She also stated that Orange County has a new Economic Development Director, Bill Fioravanti. Councilmember Lindsay has given him a tour of the Town, pointing out properties that would be available for economic development and will be meeting with him next week. Councilmember English next gave a report on a meeting he and Councilmember Lindsay had with Sterling Forest Park Manager Michael McElroy in regard to the parking problem that has been created by the recently opened bike trails off of South Gate Road. They also spoke to Mr. McElroy regarding the approach to trails in the East Village and the resulting amount of litter. Councilmember English feels that if the Town, Park Service and Trail Conference all work together, the problems can be solved.
To read his report, click here.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Public Hearing on Police Disciplinary Local Law – Deputy Supervisor McMillen explained that in the past, when police discipline was necessary, the Town was forced to spend a lot of money for attorneys and arbitrators as per the police union contract. Under this new law, the Town would be able to follow the “Walkill Rule” which gives municipalities the right to discipline police officers outside of the collective bargaining framework. John McNamara was the only questioner and he wanted to know if this would make the Town responsible for things they hadn’t been responsible for before. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that it would not that he was aware of, but because they weren’t sure, the public hearing will remain open while they familiarize themselves with more details.
Approval of Garbage Collection permits – The permits for Interstate Waste Services and Sterling Carting were approved through 12/31/19 unanimously.
Resolution authorizing Agreement for Snow and Ice Control on Old Forge Rd. in Warwick – This has been in effect for many years but Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has managed to negotiate the price to $6000 from $5000 starting this year. It was approved unanimously.
Resolution Climate Smart Community Pledge - Deputy Supervisor McMillen inquired of Councilmember Lindsay (who has proposed this resolution) what benefits there were for the Town. She replied that there were many, but first and foremost, it would make the Town eligible for grants. The first thing that would be required of the Town would be to create a Task Force. Residents Jim Hays, Jane Garofano and Terry Anne Gmelch have all agreed to serve on the Task Force. Another requirement is to complete an energy audit of the Town. Council member Lindsay has been speaking to the Superintendent of School about having students do this audit. There is a list of things the Town must do in the pledge and various points are awarded for the completion of each one. A Town must accrue 120 points and then they become eligible for grants. After some discussion, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the process.
Resolution Declaring Vehicles as Surplus and Authorize Bid for Sale – The Town has recently acquired 3 new trucks and this is the equipment they will be replacing. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution to Approve Sale of Raffle Tickets by the Onyx and Breezy Foundation in the Town of Tuxedo – This is something that is requested and approved annually. It was once again approved unanimously.
Resolution Authorizing Execution of Agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 219 Animal Shelter Services – This is an annual appointment and it was approved unanimously.
Other Business:
It was agreed that subject to the availability of Town Planner Bonnie Franson and the Town Attorney, the Board would hold a continuation of the zoning workshop on Thursday, January 24 at 7 pm.
Public Comments:
There were no public comments.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 17, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began the meeting by announcing that Steve Germano whose restaurant, Steve’s, is being built on the old Take A Break site, has managed to purchase the lot next door to Steve’s from Michael Bruno and is planning on building an old fashioned dairy barn on the site. They will be serving homemade ice cream.
Next the Supervisor announced that Moody’s has given the Town a positive rating. While this is great news, Moody’s is still concerned about the size of the Town’s cash balance, which they would like to be higher. Supervisor Rost is confident that within the next year the Town will be able to raise their balance and thus take the rating back into the “A”s. He thanked everyone in Town who had helped to make this happen, including Superintendent of Highways Dollbaum and Police Chief Art Abbot as well as former Councilmember Loncar who was present. This was greeted with a round of applause from the audience. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she was getting a lot of inquiries about the status of the turning lane on Route 17 into the Duck Cedar Plaza. She reported that they have now been given a case number by the State DOT and been told that a safety engineer will come down to look at the site in order to determine what should be done. When asked whether there was enough land available to add a lane, she responded that yes there was plenty of land available on the other side of the road. The road with a turning lane would need to be re-engineered and then restriped.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish wanted to know if the zoning changes referred to in Item #1 were for the “amusement park” that might go into the Tuxedo Farms site. He was told no, that the changes had to do with the Town’s Master Plan. Since Draggonsgate has not purchased the Tuxedo Farms property as yet, the Town does not have anything to do with them. Upon urging by Mr. Berish, the Supervisor said that if Draggonsgate did purchase the property and propose any kind of project there, the Board would have something to say about it.
Former Councilmember Cliff Loncar stated that PIPC had recently put in a lot of mountain bike trails on and around Eagle Mountain but there isn’t enough parking for the people who are using them so those people are parking wherever they can including up and down South Gate Rd., and on the road leading into Maplebrook. This has become not only an inconvenience but a safety hazard for the people who live in Maplebrook. Mr. Loncar wondered what, if anything, the Town could do about it? PIPC does have a parking lot for the trails but it is not well maintained and it needs to be bigger. There is plenty of land available for the lot to be expanded. It was decided that the Town would speak to PIPC about this and hopefully get them to agree to both clean up the current lot and add more space onto it. Councilmember McMillen pointed out that this same problem exists in the East Village with the trailhead that is located there. It was agreed that the Board would look into some temporary no parking signs for the areas around the trails.
Mr. Loncar also wanted to know the status of the radio tower he thought was slated to be built in the Maplebrook area. It was his recollection that the Town was going to try to get a cell tower built on top of the radio tower. The Board thanked him for reminding them about this project and said they would look into it.
Continuation of Public Hearing on Transferring the Architectural Review Board duties to the Planning Board: Lili Neuhauser first read a letter from JoAnn Hanson which supported maintaining the current structure of the Boards. To read Ms. Hanson’s letter, clickhere. Next Mrs. Neuhauser read her own statement, which was also supportive of keeping things as they are. To read Mrs. Neuhauser’s statement, click here. Dena Steele stated that she was also in favor of keeping the Boards separate. She feels that keeping them this way would lead to greater efficiency and thus a better outcome for the Town. Jim Hays commented that at the last meeting, it was stated by a Town Board member that Tuxedo Farms had been held up by the Town and by inefficiencies within their process for reviewing development. Mr. Hays emphatically disagrees with this notion and he proceeded to enumerate a long list of actions and requests for changes made by Related, which resulted in delays for the project. Mr. Hays reiterated that it was not the ARB or the Planning Board that had held up the project but rather it was the developer himself. To read Mr. Hays’ statement, click here. Jake Lindsay spoke next and was also in favor of keeping the Boards separate. To read his statement, clickhere.
Finally, Councilmember Lindsay read into the record a letter from Paola Tocci. To read the letter, click here.
The Board then voted 3-2 in favor of closing the Public Hearing with Councilmembers Lindsay and English voting no.
Agenda Items:
Set Date of Public Hearing on Zoning Amendments – this is for the changes to the zoning resulting from adopting the Master Plan. This item was tabled and the Board decided to hold a workshop meeting with their consultants. The workshop was tentatively scheduled for January 15 depending on the Town’s consultants being available and having reviewed the Planning Board’s report.
Resolution approving Woodlands Sewer rates. There is, once again, no change in these rates. They were quickly and unanimously approved.
Resolution approving towing permit – the permit for Tuxedo Gulf was approved unanimously.
Resignation of Joe Tripoli – Mr. Tripoli was the operator of the sewer plant. There followed a discussion on the progress of the new sewer plant and what it will take before this (what is this? Bringing it online?) can happen.
Resignation of Town Justice Samuel Newman. The Newmans are moving and Alyse Terhune was elected to this position.
Resignation of Fire Commisioner Ralph Brooks. He will be replaced by Peter Dedel.
Approval of Fire Commisioner Todd Darling – Mr. Darling’s term was renewed for another 5 years.
Set a Public Hearing on Police Discipline local law- This new law will set a new process for disciplining police officers. It will no longer be a matter of collective bargaining but will rest with the Town Board instead. The hearing was set for January 28.
Resolution to Accept Sludge Removal Bid – TAM Enterprise was the lowest bid and was awarded the contract for 48 months (through December 31, 2022).
10-Resolution Authorizing Purchase of Three Trucks for the Highway Department – one truck is for the Sewer Department and two are for the Highway Department.
New Business: Supervisor Rost stated that the Town Board was ready to vote on the motion to transfer the Architectural Board of Review duties to the Planning Board. Councilmember McMillen remarked that he had talked to many people and read manly letters as well as interviewed applicants who had complaints about the ARB. He also said that he feels that there is a high talent base already integrated into the Planning Board. The Planning Board is legally set for 7 members and with the Town Reorganization Meeting set for January 28, there should be plenty of time to interview people for the 2 positions that are not already filled. Thus he is satisfied with the procedure and is ready to vote and so he made a motion for the provision. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to know what specific complaints had been made. Without going into detail, Councilmember McMillen replied that the main complaint has been that there is no set of standards that the ARB has been following and thus it differed for every application. Councilmember Lindsay then stated that every single person who had spoken at the public hearings had said they wanted to maintain the ARB and keep the Boards separate. Councilmember Reardon responded that those remarks came from people who came only to the beginning of meetings and then left. Councilmember Lindsay argued that the vote was not on the agenda so there was no reason for them to stay. She then questioned whether or not the Board could vote if it wasn’t on the agenda. She was told they could vote on it under New Business. She was also reminded that the public hearing had been open at the last 3 meetings. Councilmember Reardon seconded the motion The Board then voted 3-2 in favor of transferring the duties of the ARB to the Planning Board (and effectively dissolving the ARB) with Councilmembers Lindsay and English voting no.
There followed a discussion about the process of advertising and setting up interviews. It was suggested that they should reach out to the people who had been interviewed but not hired after the last Reorganization Meeting. They will also advertise the available positions in the newspaper and post them on the Town website as well as put notices in the Post Office and Library.
Next, vouchers were approved.
Public Comments: Frank Peverly observed that since Alyse Terhune had been elected Town Justice, the Zoning Board would need a new attorney. He added that currently they were scheduled to meet January 22 but he didn’t think there was anything to come before them. Supervisor Rost thanked him and said they would take care of appointing someone new. John McNamara commented that he had been coming to Town Board meetings for about 3 years. He added that while he understood why Councilmembers Lindsay and English were disappointed with the vote to merge the Planning and Architectural Boards, he also understood that at the present time, there are no big projects in front of the Town’s boards and he believes it would be possible to recreate an ARB if a big project should arise that would need such oversight from the Town. In the meantime, in order to make things easier and more convenient for smaller projects, he felt merging the Boards was the right thing to do. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum stated that residents’ leaves would still be picked up but that they need to be put in bags from this time forward. Next, he announced that the fire training area on the Quarry Field property had been given an address and had a fence around it. He added that the fire departments understood that this was only temporary until the Town decides what they want to do with the property. Additionally, he said he had requested bids for solar for the Town Highway Department. They want to put in electric heat run off the solar panels. He had 4 bids and felt two of them were worth considering. Next, he reported that the Highway Department employees had ratified their contract by a vote of 4-2. Lastly, the Highway Department has arranged for a bucket truck from January 15 through March 15 and will be working on trimming trees hanging over roads at that time.
Wishing everyone a very safe and happy holiday. It was nice to see the kids come home from school for Thanksgiving and looking forward to seeing them during the winter break.
I want to provide a financial update now that we are finished with the 2019 budget, negotiating contracts and our review with Moody's credit rating agency. The road has been long and hard but we are coming to the end of our financial crisis in Town. Barring any natural disasters, 2019 will be the end of our fund balance restoration. We will have established a balance across all funds and fully funded contingency funds so that we will be able to address any future situation and avoid another financial crisis. We were expecting a 5yr restoration plan and we will achieve our goal in 4yrs! This did not happen by accident. I would like to thank all who are involved in managing our expenses every single day.
We achieved this success because we continually got better at budgeting. We were better at budgeting because the tracking and monitoring processes we implemented produced better information used on reports, reports we did not have in the past. Our internal controls have improved as well. Contract labor negotiations played a pivotal role in our ability to recover as quickly as we did. These new labor contracts will set us up for success in the future as we will be able to sustain the controlling of costs. I had a meeting with Moody's last week and their final report will be published this week. In my opinion, the call went well and our gains have been measurable and sustained. I fully anticipate a positive rating increase that the Town of Tuxedo deserves. Please see the chart below to see just how far we have come. For the 2020 budget year, the Town, outside of Village, should see a reduction in their property taxes if all goes well.
Again, wishing you and your families a very safe and happy holiday.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 19, 2018 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended by Skype and all other members were present.
The meeting began with three public hearings.
Public Hearing to Receive Comments on transferring the Architectural Review Board duties to the Planning Board: Dale Mottola, the Chair of the ARB was the first speaker. She read a letter that the Board had written in response to a request from the Town Board for their comments in which they expressed their opinion that the ARB “should remain intact and continue its role as a separate entity.” They do not feel that the approval process would become more efficient as a result of this change but they do feel that they could have “more collaboration with other boards in order to help move the Town forward.” Jerry Mottola first wanted to know if Councilmember Reardon would recuse herself from voting on this proposal. It was explained to him that the purpose of the public hearing was to gather public input only and that no vote was scheduled for this meeting. Mr. Mottola further stated that as an interested citizen he had attended many ARB and Planning Board meetings. He believes that each Board serves their own, separate purpose and thinks that’s the way it should be kept. Sue Scher stated that she is against the proposal of eliminating the ARB as she feels that the Town needs to have as many eyes on new projects as possible. She believes that an array of people representing a variety of opinions should be reviewing projects as many of the projects brought before the Town are not simple and do not warrant a “simple review.” She also feels that the Planning Board should remain at 7 members and not be cut down to 5. She thinks that thoroughness, especially when considering complex developments, is more important than efficiency for protecting the Town. Irene Denaro said she doesn’t think the Town should get rid of the ARB but if they “need to downsize,” they should instead integrate the two Boards so that they could work collaboratively. Jim Hays began by expressing his opinion that as the Town “stands at the threshold of the beginning” of the Tuxedo Farms development, which is a very complex development, this is not the time to reduce supervision by the Town. The Town has a responsibility to its citizenry to see that the project is built out and built out correctly. He feels that reducing the number of eyes and the number of people who are involved is a huge mistake. He wondered why the Town would want to move forward in this way. Lili Neuhauser commented that she agreed 100% with Dale Mottola and Sue Scher. She further said that if the Town has qualified people who want to serve, they should let them do it. She commented that the Village had separated their Planning Board and ARB and discovered that they worked much better that way. Councilmember McMillen remarked that it sounded to him like people thought they were trying to eliminate the ARB function in the Town. In fact, he stated, they were just trying to streamline the process. Town code states that it is “desirable that the Chairman and 2 members of the ARB should be registered architects in the State of New York and that has never been the case since it’s inception.” The code also states that the Building Inspector, the Town Engineer and Town Planner should act as consultants to the ARB and he feels that this is where the Town’s professionalism lies. In addition, he noted that several people on the Planning Board are engaged in architectural vocations. Councilmember Lindsay commented that Jim Hays had asked why we would want to eliminate the ARB and added that she certainly does not want to eliminate them. She also pointed out that there were candidates with architectural experience who had applied for position on the Board in March and there is an open seat on the Board at the moment. Councilmember McMillen stated that he is interested in looking at a solution, different from the ARB, that “won’t cause applicants so much pain and anguish” that they don’t get their projects done. Councilmember Lindsay responded that she had attended ARB meetings and found that they treated applicants with respect and only asked for what was required. Councilmember McMillen reiterated that at this point the Board was only discussing the idea and that there were no immediate plans to vote on it. He further commented that he sensed s a lot of angst in the Town and really, they were just having a discussion. Maria May stated that she has been a teacher in Suffern for many years and watched what has happened there because of “a weak board and lack of supervision.” She doesn’t want to see that happen in Tuxedo. She feels, therefore, that the Town needs more eyes watching things and more voices in the process. Supervisor Rost pointed out that the approvals for the Tuxedo Farms property had already been given. Furthermore, 77% of the Town is owned by the State with only 23% of the Town available for development. Paul Scott wondered what would happen if someone came forward to build on the rest of the land? Councilmember Lindsay commented that the Renaissance Faire property could be developed and there is also a parcel on Warwick Brook Rd as well as one on Sterling Mine Rd. that could be developed. She was told that the Sterling Mine Rd. property is in the Town of Ramapo and the Renaissance Faire is in a travel and tourism zone. Councilmember McMillen and Jim Hays then had a disagreement about what had happened with the Related property. Councilmember Lindsay commented that the Planning Board had made their recommendation for eliminating the ARB and consolidating the function into the Planning Board without realizing that the number of members of the Planning Board had been changed way before the casino application and that it had been increased because of the pending Tuxedo Farms application. She would like the Town Attorneys to inform the Planning Board of the correct information about this because she feels they are basing their discussions on misinformation. Kelly Spranger remarked that it seemed to her that there was an “inherent issue” between lots of different Boards. She wondered if it wouldn’t possible to come together as a community and streamline the work done by all the different boards in both the Park and the Town so that there is just one community looking at potential growth? Todd Tereshkow stated he is a current member of the ARB and, as such, supports the letter read by Chair Dale Mottola. He further commented that while they could consolidate the ARB and Planning Boards that he felt they should not do it because if the Town were to get all the projects that Councilmember Lindsay had mentioned, the consolidated Board would be in a difficult position. He believes that the ARB serves a useful purpose. John McNamara asked whether or not the ARB could be reinstated at a later date should the need arise?
Town Attorney Marissa Weiss replied that yes, it could and that it would require a public hearing and then a vote by the Town
Board. Dale Mottola commented that she wanted to respond to the implication that the ARB had been responsible for delaying projects. In fact, she stated, the only time that an applicant had not gotten a decision at the first meeting was when the Board was not given materials to review. Councilmember English said that if they were to go through with abolishing the ARB, he felt they would need to move the requirements, as stated in the Town Code, for that Board transferred to the Planning Board. (The Town Code calls for the Chairman of the ARB to be an architect and for 2 members of the Board to be architects as well. Currently, none of the ARB are architects.)
Also, he feels there needs to be a clearly stated process for adding new members to the Boards which have staggered terms so that at least one seat comes up each year. The Town policy for recruitment must be managed on an annual basis. Mary Graetzer suggested that the Town consider going back to a system of appointing alternate members to the Boards. Alternates attended Board meetings but didn’t vote unless one of the members was unable to be there. This way, when an opening came up, there was someone who was already versed in the business of the Board available. This system worked well for years. Todd Tereshkow commented that he felt it would be very beneficial if the Town Board, the Planning Board and the ARB could have regular, perhaps quarterly meetings so that they all could be on the same page and understand what is happening in the Town.
The Supervisor then stated that the public hearing would be continued at the Town Board’s next meeting on December 10. Public Hearing on the Moratorium on Development Approvals:
Town Attorney Weiss explained that the current moratorium had expired. It was put into place because the Town was adopting a new Comprehensive Plan and they didn’t want to approve something that might not be legal after the plan was adopted. Also, they didn’t want any applicants to be caught between the two different zoning codes…the current one and one which will be adopted by the Town as soon as the Planning Board gets through reviewing it and offering their comments. This will be the last time that it will be extended as the Town is in the process of reviewing the legislation to update the Code so that it is in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan.
There were no comments from the public and the hearing was closed.
Public Hearing on the Orange County Multi-Jurisdictional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan:
This Plan includes properties within both the Village of Tuxedo Park and the Town of Tuxedo. When considering the Emergency Plan for these properties, key infrastructures need to be identified so that emergency services will know what is important. Also, there might be easements that should be given so that in the case of an emergency, the County could enter and be of help. Currently, there are some omissions in the document such as the Town Highway garage. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has submitted a list of things that he feels should to be added to the plan. Jerry Mottola commented that as a member of the former 911 numbering commission, he had spoken many times about problems with the numbering which he feels still exist today. Also he feels no one has discussed the implication having a railroad coming through the Town Superintendent Rost responded that the railroad had nothing to do with what has been requested by the County. Councilmember English added that the document mentioned flooding, severe storms, winter storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, ice jams and landslides.
Following up the enquiry by Martin Levenhar at the previous Town Board meeting, Councilmember English contacted the DEC to see what plans were in place for their monitoring of the Hazardous Waste Dump. He learned that the monitoring would continue indefinitely because the waste remains on the site. Jim Hays suggested that someone should keep an eye on the DeMarino dirt pile because it looks to him as though they are extending it close to the Ramapo River and anything that clogged the Ramapo could cause disaster for the East Village. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum explained that the Army Corps of Engineers had constructed a wetlands in that area and that DeMarino had not done any extensions. Todd Tereshkow asked if the Town had an official Recovery Plan. The answer is yes. Maria May commented that there was continually bad flooding on Route 17 in Southfields near Valero and also further south on the highway.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum replied that since Route 17 is a State Road, this is a State not a Town issue.
The Public Hearing was then closed.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost stated that the latest report from Cooper Arias stated that the Town’s cash balance is $1.1 million. He further stated that the Town is really digging itself out of the hole it was in and he feels that by next year, it will be in good shape. As the bookkeeper has suggested budget modifications that were never implemented, the Supervisor asked for a resolution to pass them. This resolution was duly resolved and passed unanimously.
The Supervisor will be meeting with the DEC in New Paltz on December 5. Since it doesn’t look like the new sewer plant is going to be opening anytime soon, they want to discuss the state of the present plant. The Town will need to figure out what they will do about this soon!
The Town is waiting to hear from the Highway workers about ratifying their contract. The workers are waiting to hear from their union. Councilmember English is trying to arrange a Town meeting with newly elected State Senator Jen Metzger. The Supervisor suggested that she might come to the next regular meeting on December 10 and Councilmember English indicated that he would ask her. Councilmember Lindsay reported that in the last month she had met with the new Director of Economic Development for Orange County twice and had given him a tour of all possible development sites in Town. She also met with Amanda Dana, Director of Tourism for County who is very enthusiastic about Tuxedo’s access to state land and using that as a positive economic tool.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to adopt the 2019 Final Town Budget
a Resolution to grant a Special Permit for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run – this is an annual event.
a Resolution to adopt the extension of the Moratorium on Development Approvals
a Resolution for a sign permit for the Tuxedo Little League to announce sign up dates.
Public Comments: Russ Shaver asked about the funding for the Powerhouse Concert that was held in October and also wanted to know why it had been held on the same day as Family Fun Day.
He was told that both issues had been discussed several times over the course of last couple of meetings. The concert was funded by a grant from County Executive Neuhaus given to all Towns from sales tax income. Mr. Shaver was assured that someone would discuss the timing with him after the meeting as it had already been discussed at meetings publicly many times. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced that the Highway Department would resume picking up leaves if and when the snow melts. If leaves are out, they will be taken. If it snows, he asks residents to please get their cars off the road so they don’t have to get the Police to remove them. Also, he still has mulch available for Town residents. Kelly Spranger proposed that the Town build a Community Center for residents as well as an indoor pool. She has discussed this with people from the school as well as the Supervisor and she has ideas as to how it could happen with very little cost to the taxpayers. She feels that such an amenity could be used to market the school as well as the Town. Todd Tereshkow commented that the storm the previous Thursday night had been a disaster. He felt the Town should discuss how to prepare for these emergencies and specifically how they could get out front of them. He was told that most of the roads that had been problematic were State roads and that the Town has been in communication with the DOT about the storms. Dale Motolla wondered how many signatures were needed on the petition for Town consolidation. She was told 500 signatures of Town residents were needed.
Currently, there is only one petition although there are two separate referendums needed.
Representing the Fire Department Gardiner Hempel wanted to talk about the new electronic sign that they have recently installed. He is aware that someone has already complained about it. He explained that when the sign was plugged in, what came up was the default imagery by the manufacturer and this was loud and gaudy and meant to give an example of some things that might be possible. (As he described it, it looked like someone had hit a homerun at Yankee Stadium!) As soon as Mr. Hempel arrived back at the Firehouse it was changed and it will not appear that way again. The Fire District has passed rules that will govern what will be put on the sign and he handed those to the Town Clerk. Organizations around Town are invited to submit their messages, within the Departments guidelines, to be displayed Theresa Ruscillo commented that she is someone who is very “pro School” and as such is very pleased with the BOE’s recent decision to keep the High School open. It has come to her attention that there are employees of the Town as well as members of the various Boards who do not share her opinion and she wonders what the Town is going to do to mend those feelings as she thinks it is important that the Town move forward collectively to support the School. Councilmember McMillen responded that he had never discussed the School at a Board meeting. Mrs. Ruscillo said that there were many people that had discussed it and she was told that these people had been speaking as citizens and residents, which they have the right to do.
Mrs. Ruscillo replied that for now, the high school is staying and she encouraged the Board to recognize that we should all be working together as one community to move forward.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 5, 2018 at 7 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended by Skype and all other members were present.
Supervisor Rost began his report by announcing that he and the Board had just reviewed the negotiated Town Highway Department contract and that all were happy with it. After not having received raises for the last 3 years, current employees will get a 3% raise. Highway Department employees will also be moved off of the Town’s medical plan and are looking into their own plan. The Town has agreed to contribute into a separate pension fund for current employees.
The Supervisor added that he was excited about this year’s budget as 2019 should be the Town’s “break even year.” It had been forecast that it would take 5 years to get the Town out of the financial hole that they were in and they’ve done it in 4 years. He thanked all Board members, present and former, as well as Department Heads for their help in accomplishing this. There will be a fully funded contingency fund in each of the funds starting in 2019. He also anticipates an increase in police coverage on the midnight shift. Police Chief Abbott has done a great job of using the Town’s Part Time officers for all planned overtime, meaning that he has money left over to staff the midnight shift. This news was met with a round of applause.
Next, the Supervisor reported that the DEC is “content” with the progress being made at the Highway Department. The pile of stumps needs to be sorted but the Town is very close to having the consent order lifted.
Public Hearing on Building Department fee changes: Superintendent Rost commented that he wasn’t sure if the Town actually needed a new law or if they just needed to enforce the one that they already have. Town Attorney Protter replied that he had changed some of the language in the penalty section of the current law. It now provides that if a resident should have obtained a permit but did not do so, they are subject to enforcement. Thus the hearing was opened.
There were NO public comments, and the hearing was closed.
Public Hearing on the 2019 Preliminary Budget: Andy Berish asked if the Silver Dollars (Seniors) had been included in the budget. He was told that they had been. He then wanted to know if they would be alotted the same amount as they had been given last year and was told that the amount had been slightly increased for this year.
Speaking on behalf of the Tuxedo Historical Society Betty Langberg wondered if this meant that they, too, had been included in the budget and she was told that yes, they had been.
There were no other comments on the budget and the public hearing was closed.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked for an explanation of the contract between the Town and the Silver Dollars. Town Attorney Protter explained that it was a simple contract which stated that the Town was providing funds to the Silver Dollars and in return the Silver Dollars were providing social and entertainment programs to seniors in Town. The contract doesn’t require the Silver Dollars to do anything more than what they are already doing, it just memorializes what is already taking place. Supervisor Rost added that technically, the Town should have always had such a contract with both the Silver Dollars and the Historical Society. As they have just discovered this fact, the Town is moving to correct it. Mike Santoianni inquired as to whether his request for relief from the building moratorium on behalf of the TPA would be considered at this meeting. Town Attorney Protter responded that Mr. Santoianni/the TPA were looking to build residential housing on property that is not zoned for this type of use. He further explained that that it is not going to be allowed under the proposed new zoning ordinance either. This is why Towns have moratoriums. He suggested that even if the TPA were able to make a case for allowing the residential housing, they would not be able to get through the process to obtain a building permit before the law would be changed. The only way for them to
move forward would be to try to get the zoning ordinance changed. He further stated that the standards for relief from the moratorium were very high and that the only way anyone can get relief is to demonstrate that they can’t get an economic return out of any of the uses that are otherwise permitted for the property in the zone. He went on to say that just because the TPA had a proposed deal for a residential use is not satisfactory proof that they can’t use the property for any of the other uses permitted in the zone.
Mr. Santoianni contended that they had commented and requested that this land be zoned differently when the Comprehensive Plan was being discussed and their request was ignored. He added that he had been trying to sell this property for research/office, the use for which is it legally zoned, for 10 years and has not been successful.
Supervisor Rost stated that the Town Board and the Zoning Board had been working with Mr. Santoianni with the last deal but it fell through for unknown reasons. The Town wants to work with Mr. Santoianni. Following some further discussion, it was explained to Mr. Santoianni that his next step would be to meet with the Planning Board and try to convince them that the parcel of land in question should be zoned for residential use. Additionally, he could appear at the public hearing that the Town Board will hold before voting on the zoning, but unless the zoning is changed, he or his buyer won’t be able to build residential housing on the property and they won’t be able to get relief from the moratorium. Betty Langberg wanted to know if the Architectural Review Board had identified any historic buildings that need special review. Town Attorney Protter responded that he did not know.
Agenda Items:
A Resolution appointing Laura Distanislao as a Part Time Police Officer was passed unanimously. As Ms. Distanislao was present, she was then sworn in by the Town Clerk.
A Resolution to enter into a contract with the Silver Dollars was approved unanimously.
A Resolution to enter into a contract with the Historial Society was approved unanimously.
A Resolution to schedule a Public Hearing to change Town Law and move the Architectural Review to the Planning Board was discussed. Councilmembers Lindsay and English would like to wait to wait until both the Planning Board and the Architectural Board have weighed in on this proposal before scheduling a hearing. Supervisor Rost said he was not proposing that the Board take any action on the proposal at this time, only to set a Public Hearing so that the Board can hear what the public has to say about it. Councilmember McMillen stated that he felt the proposal needed to be moved along as they have been discussing it for months and it feels like “an endless filibuster,” to him. He suggested they hold the hearing at the next Town Board meeting on November 19. The Supervisor added that they could keep the public hearing open until they had received comments from the other boards if they wanted to. Ultimately the motion to hold the public hearing on November 19 passed 3-2 with both Councilmember Lindsay and Councilmember English abstaining.
A Resolution to schedule a Public Hearing on extending the Building Moratorium for November 19th was passed unanimously.
A Resolution appointing Andrew Markunis as Part Time Police Officer was passed unanimously. Councilmember Lindsay asked for an explanation of what is currently happening with the midnight shift. She was told that the Part Time officers were being used to cover all planned overtime. Each officer is contractually limited to 1040 hours per year. After the planned overtime is scheduled, the leftover hours are being used to cover the midnight shift. Currently, since the year is drawing to a close, this means there is coverage for the midnight shift 5 nights a week. This will probably change in the next year.
A Resolution to schedule a Public Comment period on the Hazard Mitigation Plan recently submitted by Orange County for November 19th was passed unanimously. The proposed Plan will be available on the Town website.
A Resolution to extend the Planning Board’s period for comment on the proposed Zoning Amendments to December 18 was approved unanimously.
Additionally, the Supervisor welcomed Village Trustees Maureen Coen and Paul Gluck. He asked if they had anything specific that they wanted to discuss or comment upon, but they replied that they did not.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottolla inquired as to how long the ARB would have to respond to the proposed Zoning Amendments.
Town Attorney Protter explained that while the Planning Board’s response was set by Town law (they have a minimum of 45 days) the ARB’s response was not. The Town Board was interested in their opinion, but if they do not have to respond if they don’t want to. Betty Langberg asked where the Town’s record storage is being moved to. She was told that it hasn’t been decided as yet. Jim Hays wanted to know why there was such a long delay in appointing members to the Planning Board. Supervisor Rost replied that since the Town Board was also considering reducing the number of Planning Board members from 7 to 5, it didn’t make sense to make appointments until they knew what the eventual number of members would be. Mr. Hays then stated that he felt that the possible reduction of members should be part of the public hearing scheduled for November 19. The Supervisor responded that the reduction has not been proposed as yet but that the Board would be happy to hear people’s opinions on the subject. Martin Levanhar stated that when the Town had the hazardous waste dumb (across from Duck Cedar) the DEC had stated that they would be monitoring the site for 30 years. He commented that this time period is almost up and wondered if there was a plan in place for what will happen next. The Supervisor asked Town Attorney Protter to look into this matter. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced that since it is “leaf season,” the Highway Department will be picking up leaves left curbside until the first snow or freeze. After that, any leaves will have to be bagged. He also commented that there has recently been flooding in both Laurel Ridge and Quarry Field and cautioned residents to be careful in those areas. He added that, in his opinion, Laurel Ridge could use another exit. Since they presently have only one exit (Sylvan Way) if something—like flooding—happens, no one can get in or out. He suggested that the Town should look into an emergency exit via the abandoned gas line. The area would need some grading before it could be used. Finally he announced that mulch, top soil and compost is still available at Quarry Field for residents to come and take for their personal use.
There was some discussion about scheduling another workshop for the public on the subject of the proposed Annexation and Consolidation. It was decided that Town Attorney Protter would propose some possible dates after which the public will be alerted.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, October 9, 2019 at 7pm. Councilmember Reardon attended via Skype.
Supervisor Rost asked Town Attorney Howard Protter to explain the fee schedule being proposed for “as built” permits as put forward in the law under consideration. Mr. Protter responded detailing the fees as follows: for residential permits for work done ahead of receiving a permit – normal fee plus $1000. For commercial permits for work done ahead of receiving a permit – normal fee plus $2000. For a Certificate of Occupancy on work done without a permit, $500. For inspecting a septic field, the fee will be $500 extra and for Fire inspections, $1000 extra.
Several Board members spoke up and stated that at the last meeting (at which Mr. Protter was not present) Building Inspector Maikisch had expressed his preference for even higher fees than these, as he felt that the charges needed to be punitive in order to have any effect. There would be an amnesty period during which residents would have the opportunity to pay the regular fees to bring their properties into compliance. The feeling was that if the fees were not high enough, people might opt to just pay the extra fee and avoid getting a permit. Councilmember McMillen commented “residents need to understand that one of the main reasons for the permitting process is for their protection and safety as well as making sure that the process was the same for all residents and thus ‘fair’.”
It was agreed that the public hearing would need to be continued while a new fee schedule was drawn up but that if there was anybody present who wished to speak about this issue that evening, they would be heard.
Continuation of Public Hearing for Building Department Fee Changes:
Some residents had specific questions about their properties and whether or not a permit was required. Deputy Supervisor McMillen reiterated that this was a public hearing about changing the fees in the building department and suggested that individual questions would need to be answered by someone in the building department especially since the Building Inspector was not present. Kristy Apostolides stated that she doesn’t feel the amnesty period (currently in affect until March, 2019) was long enough. She feels it should go for an entire year. She was told that the Board would take another look at the amnesty period and discuss it. Ms. Apostolides also felt that the Town should look at what other Towns do about this. She was told that this had already been done and Tuxedo’s fees are currently way below everyone else’s. Jerry Mottola asked which properties would be grandfathered under the new law. He bought his house from his parents and has permits for everything he has done to it but doesn’t know what happened before he bought it. He was told that this would be handled by the building department. Mr. Mottola also asked about people in the East Village who had damage to their houses during the 2011 flooding of the Ramapo River. He was told that these people probably needed building permits for the repair work that had been done, but that the Town was not trying to hurt people. Moreover, the goal is to bring everyone into compliance with the Building Codes.
It was agreed that the public hearing would be continued until the next Town Board meeting on October 22. There followed a discussion about how the Town would notify residents of the continued hearing. It was decided that they would send out a post card to residents informing them and simultaneously asking them to visit the Town website to sign up for an electronic mailing list so that communication in the future could be handled via email.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by mentioning that Building Inspector Maikisch has been very busy in Southfields. Tuxedo Auto Body has filed a permit for a building to house all the cars that are currently stored on their lot. This would bring them into compliance with Town Code. The owner of the lot, which historically housed another auto body shop (now gone) has been cleaning up the mess left behind by that business. There is more work to be done but they will be looking for a new tenant soon. Some of the busses, which were being stored behind the American Legion building, have been removed and the Building Inspector is putting pressure on the owner of the parking lot to get rid of the rest of them.
Next, the Supervisor gave Recreation Head Shari Brooks a shout out for her efforts with Family Fun Day, which was quite successful despite the rainy weather. He also thanked Kim and Dave McMillen and Councilmember Michele Lindsay for their work on the Powerhouse Park concert. While attendance for that event was disappointing due to the weather, those who were there feel encouraged by all the comments they got from people who attended about how wonderful the venue was. The money invested in the event, which came from the additional $20,000 which County Executive Neuhaus had given to all municipalities will carry over to future events that are already being worked on. When the contribution was first announced, the County Executive asked that the money be put into “travel/tourism” and/or economic development. The concert series satisfies this.. Several audience members spoke up with suggestions for future concerts. Dale Mottola wanted to make sure that a concert would not be scheduled on the same date as Family Fun Day again and was told that it would not. Kristy Apostolides suggested that a committee be put together to work on these events and she was told that this would be happening.
Finally, the Supervisor stated that he was continuing to work on the budget and he has scheduled a Board workshop with Brian Sullivan to go over it. The workshop will take place on Thursday, October 18 at 7pm and will be open to the public.
Public Comments: Pat Barone said that the Billboard sign used to advertise the concert at the corner of Warwick Brook Rd. had too much information on it and was thus difficult if not impossible to read as one drove by. She was told that it had been supplied by the concert producer and that the Town would take her comments into consideration for the next event. Town Attorney Howard Protter said that the Planning Board had indicated that they need more time to look at the zoning law, which has been referred to them. By law, they have a 45 day review period. The Board voted to keep the period at 45 days.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 24, 2018 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by reporting that there has been a lot of work going on at Steve’s restaurant (old Take A Break) and owner Steve Germano is optimistic that he will be ready to open in December. Those who have travelled north of Town will have noticed that a billboard advertising the October 6 concert at Powerhouse Park has been installed at the corner of Warwick Brook Road. The Supervisor thanked Dave & Kim McMillen and Michele Lindsay for all their hard work on this event. Radio ads will be also be running leading up to the event as well as newspaper ads and coverage. Councilmember English wanted to know what the budget was for the event. He was told that since they had not known that the they would be hosting an event of this nature, it had not been budgeted for. The money will come out of the A fund and go into the Recreation Fund and proceeds from the event will go back into those funds. The Town hopes to break even. This particular concert is being looked as a “dry-run” for next year when they hope to hold a series of 8 concerts similar to this one. Andy Berish asked about parking. The plan is to first fill the lower lot next to Powerhouse Park. Overflow will go into the school lots and there will be a shuttle bus taking people back and forth. If the school lots become filled, cars will go into a new lot being constructed on Quarry Field. Mike Yeager of Hickory Hollow Nursery has also donated his lot. The Town has hired the same parking and security staff used by the Renaissance Faire and they will direct people as to where to park. Supervisor Rost reiterated that the main reason the Town is having the concert is to bring people to into Tuxedo so they can see what the Town has to offer and to drum up support for our businesses.
Supervisor Rost asked Building Inspector Dave Maikisch to give his thoughts on the proposed amendments to the Building Fees, which are the subject of the public hearing being held. Mr. Maikisch explained that for years now, people have been finishing basements and adding on decks and additions to their houses without getting applying for permits. Then when these people try to sell their houses, the title company checks and discovers that a permit was never issued and subsequently requests that this be rectified. As the law stands now, all people have to do is apply for a permit, after the fact, and pay the same $100 fee that they would have paid to begin with. Meanwhile, the Town is losing out on years of additional taxes and there is no guarantee that any of this work has been done safely or to code. Therefore he has asked the Board to significantly increase the fees on “as built permits” issued after the fact and sometimes years later. As drafted, the law raises the fee for these permits to $1000, but in discussion, the Board didn’t feel that this was enough of an increase to act as a deterrent. Councilmember English inquired as to whether they could fine the contractors who were doing the work without a permit, but all the other Board members agreed that the responsibility for the permit lies with the homeowner. The Board has the ability to change the amount of the fee during the public hearing process. Discussion centered around raising the fee to $5000 if a permit was issued after the fact. Councilmember Lindsay reported having received a call from former Board member, Cliff Loncar complaining about the number of cars parked in a new parking lot on Butternut Road to service Sterling Forest State Park’s new hiking/biking trail. It was agreed that she would speak to the NY/NJ Trail Conference about expanding the parking lot.
Public Hearing on Local Law increasing the fees on “as built” permits:
It was agreed that this law had not been distributed to the public but as the hearing had been advertised, Supervisor Rost said that the Board would hear anyone who wanted to talk on the subject and then continue the hearing until the next Town Board meeting on October 9 Jerry Mottola commented that he had bought his parents house, after which he noted that they had had a lot of work done on it, including an electrical upgrade. He wondered if there was anyway to check to see if they had applied for a permit. He was told to check with the Building Department, as they would have records of permits issued.
There was a brief discussion among Board members about when the increases would go in effect. Mr. Maikisch felt March 1 would be fair and proper. There was some feeling that residents might have to notify the Town before that. Ultimately, it was agreed that the notification timeline would be announced at the continuation of the public hearing next month.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Councilmember English asked what Tax Certiorari entails. Supervisor Rost explained that this item is to authorize Jacobowitz and Gubits to defend the town for 3 such proceedings in which 3 parties are challenging their tax assessments.
Agenda Items:
Tax Certiorari – There are 3 cases in which tax assessments are being challenged. The Board of Assessment Review has recommended that the Town defend all of them. It was unanimously decided to do so
New Business:
Budget modifications were proposed by auditor Andrew Arias in June and never passed. They were approved unanimously.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has requested a piece of equipment to clean snow off the sidewalks in Town. The approximate cost for it is $40,000 plus an additional $12,000 for a sickle bar attachment. Superintendent Rost recommended that the Town apply to the Hamlet Revitalization LDC for this amount and it was unanimously decided to do so.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola asked about the updated petition for Town consolidation. It was explained that the petition has indeed been updated and a requested FAQ on the subject has been written. This will be posted to the Town website as soon as Town Clerk Donna Matthews is back in the office. Andy Berish thanked Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for installing mirrors on Nursery Road and Augusta Place, which he said has greatly improved safety on those roads.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that there has been introduced before the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo, New York, on September 12, 2018, a local law entitled, “Building Department Fee Amendments,” which local law would amend the “Standard Schedule of Fees of the Town of Tuxedo” established pursuant to Chapter 37, Sections 15 & 16 of the Town Code to add new fees for those who fail to obtain building permits prior to initiating construction.
A complete copy of the Introductory Local Law is available for inspection at the Clerk's Office. NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to Section 20 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo, New York, will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid Local Law at the Town of Tuxedo Town Hall, New York, on September 24, 2018, at 7:00 P.M., at which time all persons interested therein shall be heard.
The Town of Tuxedo will make every effort to assure that the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Town Clerk.
Dated: September 13, 2018
BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF TUXEDO
DONNA MATTHEWS, TOWN CLERK
The Town Board met on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 7:00 pm, with Councilmember Reardon attending via Skype.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost stated that he had spent almost all of his time over the past several weeks working on the budget. He mentioned that he had seen two patrol cars out on Route 17 on his way to work (at 4:30 am) and was happy to see that there is some midnight coverage happening. He explained that the Police Department has now hired 6 part-time officers, which is all they are allowed by their collective bargaining agreement with the PBA. The part-time officers are being used to cover planned overtime (i.e. vacations) and with any leftover hours, Chief Abbott is staffing midnight shifts.
Both Family Fun Day and the concert in Powerhouse Park are coming up on October 6. The Supervisor praised Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for the work done on all the parks in Town saying that they “look beautiful.” Deputy Supervisor McMillen was called upon to give an update about the concert in Powerhouse Park. Noting that he had covered that fairly extensively at the last meeting, the Deputy Supervisor chose to talk about why the Town had chosen to host the concerts. The theme of these concerts really is “Tuxedo is open for business.” The Board wants to bring people into Town to see what there is to offer. The concert will be promoted, with the help of Orange County via radio and newspaper as well as a billboard, which is being built and will be installed at the corner of Warwick Brook Rd. and Route 17. Councilmember Lindsay has lined up some food trucks to provide food and drink including barbeque, the empanada people from the Farmers Market, a sandwich and burger person and others. In addition to the lineup announced at the last meeting will be Kate Yeager, an artist with Sony Records who is also the daughter of Mike Yeager, owner of Hickory Hollow nursery. Tickets are $25 and are available online at www.tuxedopowerhousepark.com or Ticketmaster. They will also be available on the day of the concert for either cash or credit card. Deputy Supervisor McMillen also announced that Michael Bruno is a partner to the Town in the endeavor. He will be catering the Green Room (for performers) as well as providing lodging for some of the performers. School Superintendent Nancy Teed interjected that the School Board had met in a special session right before the Town Board meeting and had voted unanimously to give the Town overflow parking at no cost. She recognized that this was a good opportunity for the school to be seen by people who might not have seen it before. Councilperson Lindsay reported on the Shared Services initiative she has been working on with Trustee Maureen Coen of the Village of Tuxedo Park. They have settled on 4 proposals for the two municipalities to share: storage of road salt, the tax assessor, record management & storage and the courtroom. The Village already signed off on these projects and the Town was due to vote on them that night. A favorable vote does not mean that the projects will necessarily happen and neither municipality is bound. Since the Town already has facilities for all of the proposed projects as well as a tax assessor, the savings would seem to be all in the Village’s favor. Accordingly, the Village has agreed to share equally in any of the savings that they are awarded by the County.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Jim Hays wondered why changes to the ARB were being referred to the Planning Board and not to the ARB itself?
Supervisor Rost explained that by law they had to be referred to the Planning Board for comments.
Mr. Hays then asked whether there was a plan to ask the ARB for their comments and he was assured that this would happen.
He then wondered if the Planning Board was at full strength nd he was told that it was not. He then wondered if the Board wouldn’t rather have them at full strength before this was sent to them for their opinion as he understood that there were several bright people who had applied for the positions. He said he thought it would be good to have the new, bright members in place to give their opinions.
Supervisor Rost thanked him for his comment and said the Board would take it into consideration.
Mr. Hays’ second question had to do with the Bond Reduction for Tuxedo Farms. He wondered what bonds would still be in place if the requested reduction was approved.
Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that the bond in question was a bond covering completion of certain filling and grading operations at the site. It was for $265,000. The bond amount was established by the Town Engineer and approved by both the Planning Board and Town Board. A majority of that work has now been completed. The Town Engineer has inspected the site and determined that there is approximately $32,000 worth of work left to be done. Thus, Related is looking for a reduction of approximately $232,000. There are no other completion bonds in existence for this project. This is because there is no requirement for bonds until the applicant files a plan and a map for the project.
Mr. Hays then wanted to know what would happen if Related walked away from the propert, and specifically who would be responsible for cleaning up the property if that were to happen. Mr. Protter responded that if they were to walk away, they would still own the property so they would be responsible. Mr. Hays then commented that if Related walked away, the Town would be left with a mess. An audience member called out that if the developer hadn’t been told no over and over again, this might not have happened. Mr. Hays responded “oh come on! You know they changed their plan over and over again.” Mr. Protter than remarked that this conversation was inappropriate and asked them to move on. Counclmember English wanted to know if a bond was not required unless a plan was submitted, why would any applicant want to post a bond. He was told this was because a developer could not start selling lots until a plan and map has been submitted. School Superintendent Nancy Teed thanked the Town and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for the work that was done on the school bus parking lot.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to appoint Patricia Marsh as Court Clerk for Judge Newman. - Councilmember English asked if there was a term for this appointment. He was told no. He then stated that he was pretty sure we would have a new Judge after the November election and he wondered if that new Judge would have any say in whether or not they wanted this clerk. He was told they absolutely would, however the purpose of this was to get Ms. Marsh trained so that the new Judge (Judge Newman is not running for re-election) could hit the ground running. The appointment was passed unanimously.
Schedule a Public Hearing for Building Department Fee changes. - Councilmembers Lindsay and English requested that the Town Attorney give a clear explanation as to what this was for. They also requested that this be done for all public hearings going forward so that people would know what the public hearings were all about. Town Attorney Protter explained that this change was to try to discourage the numerous “as built permits” which are applied for. These come about when people do building projects without getting any kind of permit but then when they go to sell their house, they need a permit so they apply for one although the work has already been done. According to the Building Inspector, this happens a lot. To discourage this and to make sure people who are building are following Town codes both for their sake and for the Town, it is proposed that if one applies for an “as built” permit after the fact, the fee will be the same $100 as it would have originally been plus a $1000 penalty charge. In case of a commercial property it would be $100 plus a $2000 penalty. The hearing was set for 7:oo pm on September 24.
Refer Fence law changes to the Planning Board – Councilmember Lindsay again requested that an explanation be included. She was told that they were trying to bring the Town law in sync with the State law and that the first step was to refer it to the Planning Board. It unanimously agreed to do so.
Refer the proposed changes to the zoning law to the Planning Board. – These are changes that have come out of the Comprehensive Plan. As part of the process, it has to be referred to the Planning Board for comments. It was unanimously agreed to do so.
Refer the proposed changes for the ARB Board to the Planning Board. – Supervisor Rost explained that since they were considering moving the ARB work to the Planning Board, before they could make a formal proposal, have a discussion or a public hearing, it needed to be referred to the Planning Board. Councilmembers Lindsay and English wanted the resolution amended to refer the changes to the ARB as well. They were told by Town Attorney Protter that this could not be done because the resolution makes reference to a certain portion of the Town Code. However, he added they could add another resolution referring it to the ARB. Councilmember Lindsay then reiterated that she thought this should be taken up only after new members had been appointed to the Boards so that all those people could weigh in. She was told that the Boards had enough people to make a quorum so this would not be necessary but that her opinion had been noted. The vote on this was 4-1 with Councilmember Lindsay voting no. Supervisor Rost then added a resolution referring the changes to the ARB and that was passed unanimously.
Resolution to appoint Patricia Marsh as Deputy Registrar was passed unanimously.
Resolution to approve sign permit- The permit is for an 8’ X 4’ sign advertising the bank doing the financing on Tuxedo Manor apartments’ addition. All members seemed to think the proposed sign was too big but no one seemed to know whether it was permissible under the Town sign law. Ultimately It was determined that the sign was too big according to Town regulations. The bank has requested that the sign to be up for 2 weeks. It was agreed that they would approve the sign if it were made to a size that would conform with Town regulations. The vote was 4-1 with Councilmember McMillen voting no. He suggested that the Board needed to take a look at the entire Sign regulations.
Local Law extending Zoning Moratorium - This was done because the moratorium has expired and it was passed unanimously.
Sign permit – Tuxedo Recreation – This is a sign advertising Family Fun Day. It conforms to the Town’s regulations and it was passed unanimously.
10-Tuxedo Farms – Bond Reduction – Councilmember Lindsay that residents should have to look at the entrance to the development in the state that it is currently in for “who knows how long.” She noted that as a condition of the recently granted filling and grading permit, the developer was told that they had to come up with a landscaping plan to be approved by the Town Planner. However, all they had done was to put in some grass seed. Councilmember Lindsay suggested that the Town Board to write a letter to the Planning Board asking them to request that the applicant to put something in that would do more to mitigate the look of the entrance since it is located right at the entrance to the Town and the thing most people see first when driving in from the south. It was pointed out that the Town Planner had accepted the plan to just plant grass. It was then suggested that a letter could ask the Planning Board to take another look at the entrance and see if what had been done really did mitigate the visual impact of the entrance on the Town. Supervisor Rost pointed out that if they were to ask this of the Planning Board, then they should ask that all other properties near the entrance of Town be cleaned up as well. There followed a lengthy discussion about what the Town Board could and could not do about the situation. Councilmember Lindsay put forth a motion asking that the letter be sent to the Planning Board. The motion was seconded by Councilmember English. Councilmembers Lindsay and English both voted aye. The Supervisor voted no, Councilmember McMillen abstained and Councilmember Reardon’s Skype connection had disconnected.
Other Business:
It was proposed that the Board send an email to the County about the proposed shared services with the Village, taking the proposal to the next level. This was unanimously agreed to. There is no commitment at this time to move forward with any of the work.
Public Comments: School Superintendent Nancy Teed reported that at a meeting of the Board of Education held earlier in the evening, the Board had elected to sign an agreement with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to supply a School Resource Officer (SRO) to the School. This is being done for the safety of the students. She went on to say that the School had been working for several months with both the Town and the Village to put a local officer in the school for this purpose but the details could not be worked out so they had signed for one year with the County. However, she wanted to share the sentiments of her Board, which were that they would all prefer to see a local officer in this capacity and they hope that any differences can be worked out prior to the renewal of this agreement so that they can go local with the next contract. Councilmember McMillen stated that he wished the Town Board had known this was going to be proposed way before they did so that when they negotiated the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Town PBA (which is what sets how many part-timers the Town is allowed to hire) they could have negotiated that contract accordingly. As it is, that contract only allows for 6 part-time officers, which is not enough to staff planned overtime, the midnight shift and an SRO officer. He wanted to make it clear to Town residents that, contrary to rumors that he has heard around Town, the Board does care about student safety and security in the school. Tuxedo Park Trustee Maureen Coen read a statement from the Village stating that they were definitely in favor of the security for the students and stood willing to supply an officer if everything else could be worked out. Andy Berish expressed some concern with the fact that the Silver Dollars have a meeting scheduled for November 5, which is the day before Election Day and he wondered if they would have a problem with an election set up. He was told that it should not be a problem. Councilmember Lindsay asked about the agenda for the LDC meeting scheduled for the following evening. Supervisor Rost told her it was a meeting of the sewer LDC. She had thought it was the Hamlet Revitalization LDC. When she asked again about the agenda, she was told it was the annual meeting where they would set the dates for future meetings.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
*****This meeting is an informational session for those residents who are interested in circulating petitions for consolidation*****
From the Town Clerk:
A presentation was given several months ago regarding an action that would give the Town the same authority as a Village and City. We considered this action to strengthen our position in fighting the Pilgrim Pipeline. Residents are eager to pass petitions to get the process started but they requested to meet with the Town's attorney so they can ask questions before collecting signatures. Our attorney, Howard Protter will available at Town Hall 7pm on Wednesday September 5th to address any concerns you may have regarding this proposal. Attached is the presentation that was given and it is also on our website.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 27, 2018 at 7:00 pm. All members were present with Councilmember Reardon attending via video conference.
The Board held an Executive Session at 6 pm in order to receive advice from Town Attorney Howard Protter.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began by stating that all department heads had turned in their proposed budgets for the next year and he is now reviewing them and putting together the Town’s budget.
In other, more exciting news, the Supervisor is working with Deputy Supervisor McMillen on putting together a concert for October 6. October 6 is also Family Fun Day, but the concert will be held later in the day at Powerhouse Park. He also announced that Steve Germano has started construction on Steve’s, a new restaurant serving pizza at the old Take A Break location. Steve hopes to open by the end of November.
Reporting on the August 21 LDC meeting, the Supervisor stated that Michael Bruno had been awarded $350,000 to renovate the IGA building; and Steve Germano was awarded $80,000 to help with his construction.
Commenting on the October 6 concert, Deputy Supervisor McMillen said he had long wanted to do something at Powerhouse Park and had begun by talking with concert producer David Kramer who has put together a line up for the event which includes Commander Cody, Reverend Jefferson (the remnants of Jefferson Airplane) Pat Jones (who plays with Pete Seeger’s Band, the Lost River Boys and is also a well known Jimi Hendrix tribute artist) and Englishtown Project, a Grateful Dead tribute band. Since planning for the event got a late start, it was difficult to line-up any big names but they are hoping they will be able to put together a stronger line-up in the Spring. As details get worked out, they will be announced on the website for the concert series which is http://tuxedopowerhousepark.com. The hope is that the concerts will bring more people into Town and familiarize them with our area. Orange County is behind the idea and will help with promoting it. Dale Mottola wanted to know how they planned to coordinate the concert with Family Fun Day.
It was explained to her that the concert would not start until later in the day when the Family Fun Day events were almost over. Also, the general feeling is that the concert will likely appeal be to a different group of people than those who attend Family Fun Day. The Town is supporting both events. Nan Klein had a lot of questions about the LDC meeting. She wanted to know whether or not there was money in the Loan Fund and if not, why that was the case. If there are funds in there, she wanted to know why couldn’t the applicant, Rowena Scherer, get any of it. Supervisor Rost responded that the Town was working on all of this with their attorneys. Councilmember Lindsay stated that under the terms of the Special Permit, Related was supposed to give half of the money that was promised (or $1million to the Grant Fund and $2million to the Loan Fund) when the Permit was originally signed. However while Related did put $1 million into the Grant Fund, they had not put anything into the Loan Fund. The applicant who was denied was looking for a loan, not a grant.
Ms. Klein continued “so under the conditions of the Permit they were supposed to put this money in to the Loan Fund but they didn’t and they still have the Permit? Are there any penalties listed in the Permit for this or has the Town come up with a penalty?”
Supervisor Rost reiterated that the Board was discussing all of this with their attorney.
The Supervisor then asked for and received direction from Town Attorney Howard Protter with regard to changing some Town Laws. First, he noted that the Town law for fences around swimming pools is a height of 6 feet while State requirement is 5 feet. The Town would like to change their law to agree with the State.
Secondly, the fine for As Built permits (work that is done by residents without getting a permit) is presently $250 and the Building Inspector has suggested that this should be raised to at least $1000.) Proposals for these two laws will be prepared for the next Town Board meeting. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she had noticed that the next Town Board meeting was scheduled for Rosh Hashanah and wondered if they could change it from September 10 to September 12. It was agreed to do so. She also wondered about the meeting scheduled for Columbus Day, (October 8) which will be rescheduled for October 9.
From the audience, Norman Leckner wanted to know why the requirement for fences around swimming pools would be lowered.
The Supervisor replied that they were proposing to lower it to the State requirement in an effort to help quell the perception that it is difficult to build or do business in Tuxedo. Currently, the 6-foot requirement is higher than any of the others in the surrounding area. Councilmember Lindsay next reported on Shared Services explaining that New York State has a new program whereby if two municipalities get together and share services, the savings that are realized are eligible for reimbursement by the State. She emphasized that the savings were only eligible for reimbursement and there is no guarantee that reimbursement would happen. Accordingly, she recently met with Trustee Maureen Coen from the Village of Tuxedo Park and they have come up with several proposals. One proposal pertains to records management at the Highway Garage and another to sharing salt storage at that location. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum commented that at the moment, there was no room to store the Village’s salt at the Highway. He further commented that presently the Village owed the Town about 80 tons of salt that they borrowed last year and have not returned as of yet. He cautioned that he has serious reservations about sharing salt storage with the Village at the moment.
Councilmember Lindsay also mentioned that she was looking into a Dial a Bus program. Accordingly, she has been in touch with Silver Dollars President Andy Berish asking him to see how manly of his members would use this service. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum stated that the Town did have that service (in cooperation with Monroe) back when he was on the Town Board but it had been given up because not many people were using it and it wasn’t profitable or affordable for anyone to continue it. Presently Warwick has the service and is looking for someone to share the cost because it is underused there as well.
Other recommendations for shared services are having one tax assessor for both the Village and the Town as well as allowing the Village to use the Town court facilities.
Councilmember Reardon had some questions about the tax assessing. Apparently, the Town Tax Assessor already assesses Village properties but the Village does not necessarily adopt the Town tax roll. It was agreed that more research needed to be done on this suggestion. As far as the courtroom is concerned, the Supervisor stated that he had already told the Village they could use the Town Courtroom. The final suggested shared service involves acquiring an ATV vehicle for “rescues in the forest.” Councilmember Lindsay said she questioned who would be on the Rescue Squad and how would they would receive training. She was told that the Fire Department already has an ATV, which is used for this purpose. The vehicle was acquired via a grant written by the Police Department and is shared with them.
Finally, Councilmember Lindsay proposed two resolutions as a result of recent conversations with the State DOT. The first one empowered the Supervisor to send a letter to the DOT requesting a turning lane into the Duck Cedar Plaza on Route 17 north bound. This was passed unanimously.
The second resolution requests a speed reduction on Route 17 in an area to be determined between the Hamlet and the intersection with Route 17A.
This was also passed unanimously.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish wanted to know if the item about the bond reduction for Tuxedo Farms had anything to do with that property potentially going from residential to an amusement park. He was told it did not. He then wanted to know what was happening with the amusement park. Supervisor Rost responded that nothing was going on with that at the moment. There is an entertainment company who has expressed interest in possibly buying the property but there are also other builders who are interested in building there. He then asked Town Attorney, Howard Protter to explain the bond reduction. Mr. Protter explained that when Tuxedo Farms got permission to put build their roads, there was a requirement by the Planning Board that they post a bond for soil stabilization. They have done the majority of the work. The Planning Board had their engineer inspect the site and put together an estimate of how much the cost of any remaining work would be. The original bond was $265,000 and the engineer estimates that they would only need $32,000 to finish the work so they are proposing to reduce the bond accordingly. Nan Klein inquired as to whether or not this was a performance bond. She was told that it was. She then said it was her understanding that a performance bond was to cover all the infrastructure in a project. She was told that this was correct but it Related hadn’t filed a plan for any further infrastructure. Ms. Klein then wondered if the Town was only holding $32,000 for the whole project? Mr. Protter responded that this was only for soil stabilization. Ms. Klein then wondered about the possibility of Related planting some trees along Route 17 while they were deciding what to do. Mr. Protter replied that there is no obligation for them to do that. Ms. Klein wondered if the Board could ask them to do it anyway. Mr. Protter said that this would be up to the Planning Board. Councilmember Lindsay then interjected that at the Planning Board meeting, improving the entrance to the development was made an obligation of the latest clearing and grading permit. Ms. Klein then suggested that the Board had the power to refuse to return the bond money and it was explained to her that they do not as Related has fulfilled the requirements of the soil stabilization.
Referencing the police report, the Supervisor asked Sgt. Doug Russell what was happening with the midnight shifts. He was told that this was being worked on. The part-timers are in the process of getting certified and will be put on duty as that happens. When the Supervisor asked how many part-timers the department has, he was told a total of 6, which is what they are limited to under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Town and the PBA.
Agenda Items:
Michele Reed to propose construction of a Veteran’s Tribute Wall to be located in Town Hall – Town Resident Michele Reed would like to take a wall either in the Community Room or at the top of the stairs and install a heading and a painted frame in which they will hang pictures of all residents past and present who have served in the military. She would request an 8X10 framed photo from the families of these men. They would be hung on the wall under a statement like ‘our Heroes” or something similar. She’s seen it done in other places and thinks it would make a great addition to our Town as well as being a great tribute to the men. She would like the idea or plan to be announced on or around Veteran’s Day. The Board told her that they were very receptive to the idea and asked her roughly how many people would be represented on the wall. She responded that she did not know. When asked, she said she had not been in touch with Paul Mitchell who has been so active with the Veterans in Town. The Board said that they would need more information, such as numbers, so they would know how much space was needed before deciding on a location. Councilmember Reardon volunteered to work with anyone who volunteered to help with this project.
Resolution Approving Sign permit for Rhinebeck Bank. This Bank is doing the financing on the new construction at the Tuxedo Manor Apartments and has asked permission to put up a 8ft X 4 ft. sign advertising their part in the project. The Board members all expressed concern over the proposed size of the sign. They also wanted to know exactly would be written on the sign as well as how long the Bank wants to display it. They tabled their vote on this resolution pending the answers to these questions.
Resolution Approving Sign Permit – Masker Orchards – Deputy Supervisor McMillen pointed out that this business applies for these signs every year using the same application form. A year or so ago, when Apple Fest and the Renaissance Faire unfortunately overlapped, there were problems for cars getting through the Faire site and Maskers moved the signs creating an alternate route up Benjamin Meadow Road and through Braemertown. This causes havoc for those roads. This year the permit actually says that they want signs for the alternate routes. The Board ultimately approved the permits without the alternate route signs. They will also add language statng that any violation (putting up the alternate route signs anyway) will result in a revocation of the permit and all signs will be taken down.
Tuxedo Farms – Bond Reduction – Councilmember Lindsay asked Town Attorney Protter to explain exactly what the bond covered. Specifically, she wanted to know if it covered all of the spine roads for the project or just a small portion of them. She was told it was only for a small portion of the roads. She then wanted to know if, as is her understanding, all the spine roads for the project have been roughed out why there wasn’t a performance bond for all of them. Mr. Protter told her that there was no obligation to do that until they file a new plan. The only reason to file a bond is to guarantee improvements will be made to the roads. If instead a builder goes ahead and builds the roads and puts in the improvements before filing a plan, there is no need for a bond. Without filing a plan, they can’t do anything with the property. Councilmember Lindsay then stated that when she had attended the last Planning Board meeting, it was made a condition of the clearing and grading permit that Related submit a landscaping plan. As far as she knows, all that happened was that they submitted a narrative stating that they would seed the area with grass seed. She doesn’t think much of that and would like to see it rectified so that the Town doesn’t have to live with the “awful eyesore” of the current entrance, and in order to ensure that something nicely landscaped is done there as per the condition to the clearing and grading permit. Mr Protter replied that she could ask the Planning Board for that, but this was a separate issue from the bond reduction. Councilmember Reardon suggested that the Board send a formal letter to the Planning Board asking for an explanation of the condition Councilmember Lindsay had described and asking them to figure out a way to get it done. Councilmember Lindsay wanted to withhold the bond money until the landscaping was complete but Mr. Protter did not feel this could be done as the landscaping is a separate issue. Councilmember Reardon reminded everyone that the Town would still be holding $32,000 of Related’s money and suggested perhaps they could tell them that if they didn’t submit the landscaping plan, they would have a difficult time getting that money back. Thus the resolution was tabled until the next meeting while the letter goes to the Planning Board.
Resolution to approve Inter-Municipal Agreement between the Town, the Village of Tuxedo Park and the Tuxedo School District consenting to the use of Village Police Officers in the Schools. - There was a discussion with regard to this agreement between the Town and the Village as it relates to the School District hiring an SRO Officer for the upcoming school year. Chief Abbot was not present, but Sgt. Doug Russell represented the department in his absence. chool Board member Nancy Bourke was present in the audience and contributed to further conversation. To listen to this discussion, clickhere. At the end of the discussion, the Board decided to table this resolution while details were worked out between the various parties involved.
Councilmember Lindsay then made a statement about what had happened at the LDC meeting a week ago. She had done some research with the actual Special Permit document. To hear her statement as well as the ensuing discussion with other Board members and Town Attorney Howard Protter, click here.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola wondered what was happening with the Town incorporation into a Village which was presented a number of months ago. Supervisor Rost remarked he was glad she had brought the subject up as the Board wants to schedule a meeting with Town Attorney Howard Protter where the public can come and ask any questions they might have. Mrs. Mottla then asked what progress had been made with this idea. She was told that a petition had been drawn up and people were volunteering to walk it around town for signatures. The general consensus is that people need more information. Accordingly, Town Attorney Protter will meet with the public on Wednesday, September 5 at 7:00 pm to give an explanation of the concept and answer any questions from the public.
Next, Mrs. Mottola wanted to know if there has been any discussion about bringing the new sewer plant on line. She is concerned about how long the current plant can keep operating. Councilmember Lindsay commented that there is a separate LDC in place, which has been empowered to issue $30 million in bonds for the construction of the plant. She feels it would be interesting to hear where all that money has been spent. She and Mrs. Mottola both wanted to know what the plans are in the event that Tuxedo Farms doesn’t get built. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum opined that eventually the DEC would be the ones to decide this. Town Attorney Protter stated that there is money in place to pay for this. He added that the problem is that without additional hookups from Tuxedo Farms, there would not be enough flow and if the Town switched just the Hamlet over to the new plant, it would be a very inefficient system. At the moment, the Ramapo is not being polluted and the present plant is in compliance although it is admittedly old and needs to be replaced. The “Catch 22” is that it doesn’t make sense to operate the new plant for a small group of people who don’t generate enough flow. If the DEC fines the Town, they can and will switch to the new plant. If this should happen, the cost of running the new plant would be shared by Related and the sewer district. Councilmember Lindsay commented that given the reluctance of Related to honor other agreements, she feels it would be important to have a meeting with them to make sure the Town is protected. Everyone agreed. Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum reported that his department has been working on putting millings down on all the unpaved parking lots in Town. They have also done work on Quarry Field. He further stated that there has been a lot of illegal dumping around Town. Councilmember English wanted to know if they could put millings down in the secondary parking areas at the juncture of Routes 17 and 17a but he was told that this is PIPC property and the Town could not do this. Councilmember Lindsay volunteered to call PIPC Head Jim Hall and discuss the condition of the area with him. It was also noted that communter busses had been stopping at illegal parts of the ramps going up to Route 17A which the police and others think is very dangerous. Marie May, a 20-year teacher spoke in favor of having an SRO officer in the school and said it would be important to have someone that knows the kids and who the kids know. Supervisor Rost agreed and said that he feels that the Town police do a good job of spending time with/getting to know the kids in Town.
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
I have been made aware that trespassing tickets have been issued to Town residents who traditionally have entered the Village without incident. The Village Officers are simply following our security protocols. We plan to post clear instructions at the gates for Village residents and guests entering the Park without automobiles. Non-residents, if hosted by a Village resident, are given access to the Park regardless of where they live. If entering the Park, please do not go under or around a closed gate. Instead, use the intercom to state your name and whose guest you are. Thank you for your cooperation and I am sorry if you were inconvenienced.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 23, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by stating that there had been a lot of buzz around Town about the possibility of Tuxedo Farms being sold to Draggonsgate and added that any discussions about the project would be premature because Draggonsgate does not own the property. He said what he could tell people was that if they were able to purchase the property, Draggonsgate would use the entire property for the project. Their plan would be to hire roughly 2000 employees, most of whom would be actors and actresses. They would have 6 different theme “theatres” i.e. Roman Days, Stonehenge, Vikings etc. which would be educational as well as entertainment. They want to have 2 indoor movie sets for virtual reality and interactive activities such as video games. They anticipate investing about $500 million into the project which they anticipate would bring about 3 million visitors a year. The indoor facilities would be open year round but the outdoor facilities would be closed during the winter. The company is comprised of former entertainment industry executives, Broadway directors and actors and people from the video game industry. Draggonsgate plans to build 10 parks globally and have recently purchased property in Atlanta where they are intending to build. The Supervisor pledged that as he heard more, he would keep everyone informed.
He also reported that Steve’s, formerly Take A Break has begun construction and Steve can’t wait to get up and running.
It is getting to be budget time again and accordingly the Supervisor has asked all Department Heads to turn in their preliminary budgets no later than August 20.
Finally, Supervisor Rost reported that he had a phone call with Mayor McFadden and Trustee Coen over some issues happening in the Village. Traditionally Town residents have been able to go into the Village to walk, jog or walk around the lake, but recently there have been 5 citations issued for trespassing to town’s people who have historically enjoyed these activities. Mayor McFadden stated that they were trying to tighten up on their security but after the phone call, he said he would be discussing the issue with his Board
and hopefully they would come up with some solution that would allow people to continue these activities. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she and Trustee Coen would be meeting on Thursday to discuss shared services between the Town and the Village. She and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum were working on the application to get funding from the State for shared services.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Jim Hays commented that in regard to Draggonsgate, theirs is a very different kind of project than what the Special Permit issued to Related currently allows. He wondered if the purchase were to move forward whether they would have to write and have approved a new Special Permit in order to would cover their proposed activity?
Supervisor Rost responded that this was premature as they did not have an application yet.
Mr. Hays replied that he felt this was something that should be looked into before the purchase was completed.
The Supervisor replied that the attorneys would take care of it.
Mr. Hays then stated that with either the possibility of Draggonsgate or the build out of Tuxedo Farms, there was a lot of work to be done by the Planning Board so he doesn’t understand why the Town Board is looking to reduce the number of Planning Board members as well as eliminate the Architectural Review Board.
In response, Supervisor Rost stated that the resolution on the agenda for this meeting was just to forward these suggestions to the Planning Board to get their input. Should they decide to move forward with any of it, there will be a public hearing. Jerry Mottola wondered why, if they were looking for input from the Plannng Board, they were not also asking for input from t he ARB?
The response was that this is a good idea. John McNamara commended the Board for the appointment of 3 part time police officers. Jake Matthews noted that there are a lot of historical buildings in Town. He urged the Boards to keep this in mind and, not to make the process of starting businesses slower or more difficult for people but rather to do it in a way that would be in keeping with the nature of what already exists. Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution to promote Officer to Sergeant-Detective David Decker was promoted to Sergeant and took his oath of office.
A Resolution to appoint three part time Police Officers. Adam Bruce, Brendan Eirand and Christopher Friedman were appointed. Only Mr. Bruce was present and the Town Clerk administered his oath of office.
A Resolution to refer the proposed local law to change the Town Zoning Law by consolidating the functions of the ARB into the Planning Board to the Town Planning Board for review and recommendations. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she felt that the Town Board should explore all possibilities for streamlining the process of applications before moving to this step. Supervisor Rost reiterated that all they were doing was to askthe Planning Board to review the suggestion. They are not taking a next step. Councilmember Lindsay then asserted that there was a lot missing from the proposed local law and she feels that the Town Board needs to get it into shape before passing it on to the Planning Board for review. The Supervisor responded that with this step, the Planning Board attorney would now be looking at the proposed legislation and before they decided how or whether to rewrite the it, he would like to hear his advice. Councilmember Lindsay next asked whether the legislation would move directly to a public hearing after the Planning Board had reviewed it. The Supervisor replied “we just need to hear what they will come back with. We can’t know what we want to do next until we hear that.” Attorney Michelle Babcock (substituting for Town Attorney Howard Protter who was sick) stated that the process for a new law involves the Town Board sending the proposed law to the Planning Board for review and recommendation. The Planning Board would have up to 45 days to issue their report. After the 45 days, the Town Board could schedule a public hearing on the law. Councilmember Lindsay then restated her opinion that the Board should work out the law completely before moving to this step.
a Resolution to refer the proposed Revisions to the Town Zoning Law to the Planning Board for their review and recommendations after the Town Board has met with Counsel and is satisfied with the document – these revisions to the Zoning Law are to encompass any changes made in the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan into the Law.
a Resolution to grant special sign permit to the Renaissance Faire for directional signs. This is the same permit that is issued annually.
a Resolution authorizing execution of agreement for police coverage to the Renaissance Faire for the 2018 season. This is the same agreement that the Town always has with the Ren Faire. Councilmember English abstained because he hadn’t read the agreement.
a Resolution of acceptance of completed petitions which will allow a Library Funding Proposition to be included on the November, 2018 Ballot.
a Resolution to acknowledge receipt of the liquor license application and waive the 30 day waiting period for Tuxedo Hospitality Group dba Steve’s.
a Resolution to apply for the same CFA (consolidated funding application) grant applied for last year.
There was a discussion regarding updating the Town Sign Law. Councilmember McMillen started by recognizing that the Town Sign Law needs updating. All were in agreement that local residents and businesses should not be charged for putting signs up but that they would need to follow certain guidelines. There seem to be no time limits on sign permits as the School put up both a banner and lawn signs for the Stem Academy and never took them down and the Farmer’s Market puts signs up every year but doesn’t have any permit at all. The recommendation of Councilmember English was that the Board review what was already in the Town Code and start from there. It was agreed this would be done and that the Board would then have a discussion about what they think needs to be updated.
Other Business:
The Village of Tuxedo Park Court will be holding a jury trial (People of the State of New York vs. Eric Yacknowitz) in the Town Courtroom on August 10, 2018 at 9:00 am and August 17, 2018 at 9:00 am if needed.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola cautioned the Board that when reviewing the sign law in the code, they should be aware that there was a difference between permanent signs and temporary signs. She also wanted to know if there was any news about the turning lane into the Duck Cedar Plaza. Councilmember Lindsay replied that they don’t have any definitive new information yet but she has been in touch with someone at the DOT and they are working on it. Nan Klein wanted to know if the Tuxedo Farms project was dead? She said her only source of information so far had been the article in the Times Herald Record, which did not state that the project was dead. She realizes that at any time someone can approach a property owner and offer them money for their land. Secondly, she wanted to know who exactly had met with Draggonsgate and who had authorized the meeting? Thirdly, she said she was disturbed by the Supervisor’s comment that ”the attorneys will take care of” any possible zoning problems with the property. She went on to explain that the only way that Draggonsgate would buy Related’s property was if they already knew that Tuxedo would be willing to drastically change the zoning. “You don’t wait until they sell it and then have a lawyer look at it….that’s not the way it works!” she stated. She further commented that the first thing the Board should do is research who the possible applicant (Draggonsgate) is. She added that she had tried to research them and found that the principals of the company have experience but the company itself does not. In her opinion, it’s nothing more than a shell company….not that it’s a scam, but they have no experience. She is not even sure the Town should want to do the deal as there are obvious environmental concerns that would have to be looked at and she feels that now would be the appropriate time to be looking at it. She feels that the Town should not wait until the property has been sold to do their due diligence on the zoning and on the potential applicant, summing up her thoughts with “that’s not the way you do business!” She also said “the Town doesn’t have to help Related sell the property. It’s not up to Tuxedo to bail them out.” Nick Balistreri commented that he would like to add that it has taken about 30 years of “rocketing negotiations” to get the project this far and he felt that this Board had downgraded the negotiations and cheapened the project. If for any reason this property gets sold, he would like to see a reverter clause inserted into the negotiations stating that if someone else buys the property they would have to renegotiate the use. He fears that there might be a straw buyer who comes in and as they might only be open for a few months or years, they will not make sufficient income to buy and run the property and thus they could then decide the sell it. Ellen Gluck observed that she thought it would make sense to have the configuration of the two Boards (Planning and ARB) when looking at this project as it appears to be getting larger and larger and this proposal has, for her, as much concern as did the casino. Councilmember English asked for details about how the Supervisor had heard about the project and how the meeting had come to pass. Supervisor Rost responded that the procedure was no different than any business that wants to come to Town. He had been contacted by Andrew Dance and met with the real estate broker.. Then he set up a meeting with people in the County because Draggonsgate would need their help in terms of incentives and tax cuts and things that are “above the Town.” Councilmember Lindsay asked who exactly was at the meeting and the Supervisor replied that he was not going to name all 20 people Councilmember English inquired who had represented the Town? Supervisor Rost responded that he was there, Rick Golden, Larry Wolinsky and Mike Reardon as Planning Board Chair. Councilmember English then commented that he felt uncomfortable because a lot of people were approaching him for information and all he knew was what he had read in the newspaper.
An audience member asked if this was a done deal and Tuxedo Farms was dead? Councilmember Lindsay stated that she was the first she was hearing that the Farms Project could be dead. She added that the Board needed to be proactive. Councilmember McMillen wondered what they had to be proactive about? If Draggonsgate or anyone else should buy the property and then come to the Board for help and permissions, that would be the time to dig into whatever problems there might be. Supervisor Rost interjected that he didn’t think Draggonsgate would close the deal without coming to the Board first. Nick Balistreri repeated his opinion that the Town needs a reverter clause for the property. Jim Hays stated that in his view it was not the Town’s fault that the Tuxedo Farms project had been delayed and it was also not the Planning Board’s fault. However, he felt it probably wasn’t appropriate for the Board to sit back and wait for an applicant to come to them. Instead, he feels they should be asking themselves what they might need to do i.e. what would happen to the special permit?
The Supervisor stated that they needed to wait to see if Draggonsgate was serious about the project. Nan Klein wondered why they needed to wait until they determined that Draggonsgate was serious? She feels they ought to be investigating all these things right now so they could know if they wanted to get serious with them. She then proceeded to state that she’d never heard of anything being done like this in her life. The proper procedure, she feels, is for the Board to get every single piece of information on these people so that they could know everything about them. Then, if they come to the Town, they will be in a position to know if they want to get involved with them or not. Joe Hekl stated that he had been up on the Tuxedo Farms property recently and wondered if anyone in the Town knew that they had laid asphalt in the Commons area? He is puzzled as to why they would do that if they aren’t interested in building?
It was explained to him that Related still owned the property and had a perfect right to do that. It could be considered an improvement to the property and might make it worth more. Nancy Hays asked if there was a Building Inspector looking at the property so that everyone would know about the asphalt.
She was told they are allowed to put tar down. The Supervisor added that they are putting infrastructure in and there are engineers who up there on a regular basis looking at it. Councilmember Reardon then explained that the issues are not all Related’s. Related just does the infrastructure and they are hearing from the potential builders that none of them want to come to come to Tuxedo. When asked why not she said it was because of the price-point that the houses would have to sell for and also because of the state of the school. She finds it ironic that many of the people in the audience were people who had been fighting Related for 30 or more years and now they were blaming Related for pulling out and not building. Jake Matthews encouraged Town Board members to go out and speak to builders who are building in other areas and ask them if they would want or be willing to build in Tuxedo. On an entirely different note, he then commented that he has very poor cell reception in Town and he wondered why this was so? He encouraged the Board to figure a way to get better reception in Town. Finally, he commented that his car was being ruined by the sewer project in Sloatsburg. He has contacted officials in Sloatsburg as well as at the sewer authority. He also feels it causes damage to the reputation of the Town for people to have to drive through that mess. Tuxedo is being negatively impacted by the state of the road. He encouraged the Board to fight tooth and nail to see that the project gets brought to fruition as soon as possible. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum thanked resident Mary Hanson who rebuilt and reinstalled the Welcome to Tuxedo sign in the north end of Town. Next, he reported that chip sealing had been done and the department had installed a new walkway around Quarry Field which was larger and should be able to be plowed in winter making that walkway accessible to residents year round. Councilmember McMillen thanked the Superintendent for installing mirrors on Augusta Place and in the Nursery making that a safer place to drive in and out of. Councilmember English requested that the Board organize an update meeting so that everyone, Board members included, would know what was happening with Tuxedo Farms. He further said that he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this information from Andrew Dance; he would rather hear from Town Attorneys and from Board members. In his opinion the meeting should be well publicized so that everyone in Town could come and hear what is happening. He feels that because so many people in Town only got their information from a newspaper article, the Board owes it to people to hold a big meeting and explain it to everyone at the same time. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she agreed. She feels the Board needs to get more proactive because things with Tuxedo Farms are now at a critical juncture. Councilmember McMillen agreed. He feels they need to break the project in different scenarios of “what if” and then try to answer those questions. He wasn’t sure, however, that the what ifs would lead to a positive communication so he feels that this can’t be done quickly. Nan Klein stated “it’s always better to tell the truth and tell people everything you know,” adding that people should not have to learn things from the newspaper. She added that if the Board were forthcoming with the information, they would build trust with the people of the Town.
Minutes were approved, vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
There is quite a bit of social media activity over the re-birth of Take-A-Break. First, I want to thank the Eberlings for the memories they created over the years and their commitment to the Town of Tuxedo. They will be proud of what is to come. Steve Germano has purchased the property and fully intends to restore it to it's former glory. Steve wants to preserve the architecture and history of the Town of Tuxedo. I met Steve 4yrs ago when he wanted to purchase the Red Apple Rest but was unsuccessful. I sking forward to the grand opening of Steve's!
Michael Rosttayed in touch with Steve over the past 4yrs and was finally able to convince him that Tuxedo is the place he wants to move his business to. Steve's first experience with Tuxedo came when he rode his motorcycle through our beautiful parks and he became enamored with the area. Now when Steve comes to Tuxedo he drives his car as he fears for his life on 17 in Sloatsburg but that is an issue for a different day! Steve runs a successful business pastapizzastore.com and he intends to use Steve's as his working showcase for customers while providing a much needed service to the community. Steve's will be serving pizza, pasta, panini's, ice cream and gourmet coffee. Steve is already looking at another business in the corridor and will soon be calling Tuxedo home as he will be relocating to Tuxedo.
Looking forward to the grand opening of Steve's!
-Michael Rost
The Town Board met on Monday, June 25, 2018 at 7:00 pm . Supervisor Rost was absent as was Town Attorney Howard Protter.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had a conversation with Town Engineer Al Fusco and would be filling out the Consolidated Funding Application for a grant of $75,000 to help with the engineering plans for a downtown revitalization project. The Town applied for the same grant last year, but didn’t get it. The Consolidated Funding Application, much like the Common App for College applications, goes to anyone who is offering grants. Councilmember Lindsay and Mr. Fusco will work on strengthening the application. The other thing that they want to apply for is an electric vehicle charging station for the Town. Councilmember Lindsay commented that she would be doing further investigation into what other towns were doing about fees for charging. Councilmember Reardon suggested approaching Tesla to see if they would be interested in subsidizing a charging station and offered to approach them. Councilmember Lindsay also mentioned having seen something from the Orange County Planning Department urging every municipality, including Tuxedo, to get involved in shared services. She will be talking to the Village in order to determine what which services are already being shared so that they can “get points” for those and also to investigate any further opportunities for sharing services. Deputy Supervisor McMillen asked if other Board members had anything they’d like to say. Councilmember English responded that he would like the Board to move forward with compiling and reviewing a list of all present members of Boards in Town and when their terms expire.
All Board members agreed that it would be difficult to appoint new members to a Board if they didn’t have this information. Councilmember English added that he was looking to clean up the Town’s Reorganization document. Until this has been done, he doesn’t feel they can move forward with new appointments. He asked Town Clerk Donna Matthews to go through the Town records and compile a list of when all the current Board members were appointed.
Coucnilman English then requested if there was going to be extra worktime involved for this or any other Board related project that they try to schedule it for the two Mondays a month on which their meetings are being held. He has committed to giving these two days a month to the Town and if meetings are called for other days without notice he didn’t think it could be considered a fair roll call of the Board.
Next, Councilmember English requested that the Board be given an update from Tuxedo Farms.
The other Board members agreed that they would like this as well. Councilmember Reardon commented that she wasn’t sure Andrew Dance would agree to come because he felt he was always beat up on whenever he did appear. Councilmember Lindsay remarked that Mr. Dance had gotten everything he wanted with the waivers last December but even those had not been finalized because he hadn’t sent them the information they need from Related’s attorney. Additionally, she said that if the marketing plan for the project was changing, that would affect the financial projections which are a part of the SEQRA process. Councilmember English added that he had questions about the LDC which funded the sewage plant which s something that most people don’t even know exists. Councilmember Lindsay said she had additional questions about the Indiana bat and whether it was on the endangered species list and if it would impact the property. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that he would get back on the phone with Town Attorney Protter in an attempt to get some of the answers to these questions. Councilmember English stated that several residents who live near him had asked about the road construction for which they see signs in their neighborhood. The signs state that the construction could go on for a while so he wondered if a total repave would be happening. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum was not present but the other Board members assured Councilmember English that a total repave was not on the schedule.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen said he would call Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and find out or, he suggested, perhaps Councilmember English could do that as well. Deputy Supervisor McMillen brought up the subject of the hikers who arrive on the train and bus from Manhattan and how they are littering as they walk through and around the East Village to reach the trails in Harriman Park. This is a separate issue from the trashing of the bathrooms in the train station. Ultimately, it was decided that the Town would put up signs leading from the train station requesting people not to litter. They will also look into putting in a repository for trash in a convenient place so that hikers have an acceptable place to get rid of their trash. Town Clerk Matthews also stated that many times the hikers are walking to the trail along East Village Road and they spread out as though the road were a path. When a car comes around the corner near the Lucky, they often don’t see the group of hikers until they are almost on top of them. She is afraid there might be an accident there. Deputy Supervisor McMillen also mentioned that in the kiosk which was erected near the train station, the content is in bad shape. Much of it has faded and there are bugs inside the doors as well. He wondered who was responsible for updating the content. Councilmember Lindsay stated that it was the Chamber of Commerce who was supposed to be in charge of the content for the kiosk.
Deputy Supervisor McMillen also commented that the kiosk in the parking lot at the bus stop on Route 17A has some physical damage done to it. He added that if we’re going to have these kiosks in our Town, he thinks we’d want them to look good. Councilmember English volunteered to contact Supervisor’s Clerk Shari Brooks to see if she has a key to the kiosk. Councilmember Lindsay mentioned that she has a key.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish stated that he would like the Board to reconsider their intention to do away with the Architectural Review Board. In his opinion, with projects from Tuxedo Farms and Michael Bruno, he feels its better to have more oversight.
He was told that this was exactly the conversation the Board was attempting to have with the public by holding a public hearing. The Board had no intention of voting on anything at this meeting; they just wanted to set a date for a public hearing.
Agenda Items:
Discussion regarding Sign Permits with Code Enforcer – Building Inspector Maikisch said he tried to keep up with the signs and that he regularly removed ones from events that had already happened. The signs don’t usually provide contact information. He doesn’t always know whether people have gotten permits. It was agreed that going forward, the Town Clerk will notify the Building Inspector when a sign permit has been issued by the Town.
Mr. Maikisch also requested that the Town look into changing Town Law to agree with State Law about fences around swimming pools. Currently, the State Law requires a 4-foot fence around a pool while the Town Law requires a 5-foot fence.
Resolution to approve Towing License for NJV Auto – this was approved unanimously.
Discussion to Schedule Public Hearing to Change Town Law and Eliminate the Architectural Review Board – Councilmember Lindsay objected to having a hearing because she feels that there were many problems with the draft copy of the proposed law covering this subject. Given that the Town Attorney (who drew up the law) was not present at the meeting, the Board ultimately decided to table this discussion until such time as they had a full Board present and the Town Attorney could be there with them.
Resolution to approve Banner for St. Mary’s – the banner will advertise a country music concert being held at the church on July 7th. Unanimous approval was given.
Public Comments: Andy Berish wondered if there was anything the Town Board could or would do about the bear problem.
He was told all the usual advice about dealing with bears and Deputy Supervisor McMillen added that none of the usual suggestions would work if everyone in the neighborhood isn’t taking the same precautions. He further advised that one could always call the police and that they would help, but this could result in shooting the bear. Jerry Mottola said that he had been told that he had to separate his garbage, but he noticed the contractors collecting both the garbage and recycling are just throwing it all in the same truck. Deputy Supervisor McMillen responded that the contractor had recently acquired a new sorter which was capable of separating out the recycling from the trash and he felt they were probably using that now.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 11, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began by congratulating George F. Baker High School whose Varsity Baseball team won their division and went to the sectionals.
The Supervisor expressed his concern about the proliferation of signs around Town. (i.e. The Greek Festival and the Honey Festival). Councilmember Lindsay pointed out that there is a $25 per sign fee that the Town has missed out on with these signs. Also, she said, it doesn’t seem fair for the people who pay their permit fees.
It was suggested that there might be a contact number on the signs and if not a number, then a website where one could find a number and contact the individuals who had put them up.
It was ascertained that the Building Inspector was responsible for code enforcement. He should be removing the signs and contacting the appropriate, responsible organizations. Town Attorney Howard Protter read from the Town Code that the fine for putting up a sign without a permit was $250 per day! It was decided that Building Inspector Maikisch would be asked to contact the people who had put signs up and to tell them they needed a permit or they would be liable for the fine. ($250 per sign per day.) Supervisor Rost announced that as per their contract, the Police Department needs to appoint a Sergeant (a replacement position) and it was decided that the Police Chief would interview the candidates and make the decision who to appoint and the Board would approve.
Next, the Supervisor reported that the Building Inspector had asked for the Board to take a look at “As Built Permits.” These are permits given when people go ahead and do work on their homes without going through the process of getting a permit. Then, when they go to sell their home, they don’t have a Certificate of Occupancy for the improvements so they apply for and get an “As Built Permit.” The cost for those is currently $100. Meanwhile, the Town has missed out on the building permit fees and a possible raised assessment resulting in higher taxes. After a discussion, it was decided that the Board would declare a period of amnesty during which people who had done work and not gotten a permit could apply for the permit at the present price of $100. Starting in January 2019, there will be a fine of $2500 for these permits. Town Attorney Protter will research what the laws are in other towns in Orange County for this situation and the Building Inspector will be asked to come to a meeting to give the Board more background information.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
Resolution Approving Grant – Electric Refueling Station was tabled as the grant isn’t due until the end of July.
Resolution to Prohibit Electronic Device use during Executive Sessions – This was proposed because some members of the Board recorded interviews which were conducted during an Executive Session. It came to light that although it was advertised that the interviews would occur during an Executive Session, the Board never formally entered into one. Councilmember McMillen read from the Open Meetings Law which states that “matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension or removal of an employee,” are in fact eligible to be held in an Executive Session. The Board members who were present said that the recording was not done with any malicious intent. Also, the interviewees were told they were being recorded. After further discussion, the board voted in favor of this resolution having been assured by the Town Attorney that there were free to declare an exception to it if they all felt it was important to do so. Councilmember Lindsay added that they should have discussions regarding councilmembers texting during a meeting. It was decided that there was really no way to police this as people used their phones to take notes and to do research during a meeting. All the members stated their preference for not having texting occur during meetings
Other Business: Councilmember McMillen commented that he had been thinking about communication with the Town at large. He doesn’t believe that the existing email lists contain nearly enough emails to be comprehensive. He proposed adding a form to the Town website where citizens can input their email address and opt in to receiving communications from the Town. The alternative would appear to be sending announcements and information via “snail mail,” but that is very expensive. Councilperson Lindsay suggested getting a notice put into tax bills but was told that the County sends those out. She then suggested that perhaps a notice could be put in the water bill, but those are sent out by the Village and they only go to the residents in the Hamlet. Ultimately, the Board decided that they would try to collect emails via the website. They will ask TPFYI to publicize this and perhaps put an announcement in the Photo News as well. Councilmember Lindsay initiated a discussion with regard to training for Councilmembers. It was pointed out that Town Attorney Protter can supply this kind of training. He was asked to supply a menu of what kinds of training he could provide so that the Board could decide if they wanted to have some training in the future.
On the subject of training, Councilmember Reardon commented that they had all gotten an email recently stating that all seated members of the Planning Board have now completed or exceeded their required training.
Vouchers were then approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 7 pm. Councilmember Reardon was absent.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by stating that the Town Memorial Day celebration had been a great one and thanking some of the people who had been responsible: Councilmember Dave McMillen for his heartfelt speech, Shari Brooks and Bonny Takeuchi for organizing the parade, everyone at the Library for the picnic and Rob Dollbaum for making sure the Town was in pristine shape. He commented that this celebration was small town life at its best.
The first item on the agenda was a continuation of the Public Hearing to discuss reducing the Planning Board from 7 members to 5 members. The Supervisor called on Town Attorney Howard Protter to bring everyone up to date on this issue. Mr. Protter explained that the Department of State is where local laws get filed once they have been adopted. Normally, filing laws with them is the last part of the process and the laws are invalid until they have been filed there. In June of 2014, the Department of State’s records show that a local law was adopted increasing the Planning Board members from 5 to 7, however the Town Clerk’s office doesn’t have a record of the law being adopted and there is no record of a public hearing having been held.
Supervisor Rost interrupted to say that he thought the law had been adopted in 2012, not 2014.
Mr. Protter responded that on the face of the local law, it says 2012, but in the body of the state form, it says it was adopted on June 20, 2014. Councilmember McMillen interjected that the law had been executed by the Town Board on April 14, 2014 and added that it also appeared in the Town’s ecode.
Mr. Protter replied, “well, that’s a whole other thing,” and then added that his office had no record of that local law and they have done all of the Town’s local laws since 1996. The local law’s form has the signature of Don Nichols (Town Attorney at the time) but Jacobowitz and Gubits has no record of it and they didn’t prepare it. Therefore, before there are any further proceedings about this law, Mr. Protter recommends that the Town attempt to clear up this confusion.
Councilmember English requested that when clearing up the confusion, it be stated clearly when everyone’s terms were up. It was agreed this would be done. Town Attorney Protter interjected that according to Town Code in 2000l, there were 7 members on the Board. In 2006, membership was changed to 5 members because the Board was having a hard time getting a quorum for a meeting. Then, in 2014, when the Town was dealing with the proposed casino, they went back to 7 members (but may or may not have filed this/changed it correctly/legally). Mr. Protter further stated that he would research this latest information and report back to the Board at the next meeting. Councilmember Lindsay pointed out that several Planning Board members terms had expired without their being reappointed.
It was also reiterated that the State’s copy of the law has a coversheet dated 2012 and language adopted in 2014. Also, Jacobowitz and Gubits has no record of preparing the law.
Supervisor Rost then made a motion to table the public hearing until the Board got more information and it was passed unanimously.
Next, Town Auditor Andrew Arias gave a review of the 2017 Financial Audit Report. Having discovered a deficit of over $1million when this administration took over, they have been steadily climbing out of this position and are on track to have the deficit erased within another 2 to 3 years! To see a copy of Mr. Arias’ presentation, clickhere.
Supervisor Rost commented that there had been a lot of tough choices and decisions made since he took office, but these are finally beginning to pay off. He thanked Mr. Arias for his help in making this happen.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that the Building Inspector has been busy in Southfields trying to get Tuxedo Auto Body into compliance. (Currently they have been selling vehicles and they are not licensed to do that.)
Clean-up work continues at the Highway Garage property. Ben Veltidi has hired someone to come in a grind up the stumps. The DEC met with the Building Inspector, Town Engineer and Highway Superintendent. They want an updated site plan for the property. They also want to know how the Town plans to use the property once it is back in compliance. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that they are almost in compliance. Councilmember Lindsay reported that the County paid a site visit to the Town Hall for the purpose of looking at the projects the Town would like to do should they get money from the Community Block grant that they have applied for. She further commented that there was another deadline approaching for a different grant, which would help the town install an electric auto charging station. Councilmember McMillen stated that he wanted to make something transparent. The Town has always tried to be open to hikers in the community, but he finds that they are taking advantage of this hospitality by causing damage to the train station and its facilities. He went on to say that the Town has no choice but to close the bathrooms in the station on the weekends. Over the past weekend (Memorial Day) there was an unbelievable amount of damage.
Several members of the audience asked for details of the damage and they were told that the toilets get plugged up so people were relieving themselves on the floor. People also relieve themselves on newspaper and flush that down the toilets. Water in the sinks is left running and it is flooding the floors and the sinks are a mess. It was suggested that the Town install the kind of faucets that turn themselves off after a few minutes and the Board agreed that this was a good idea. It was also suggested that signs be put up announcing that cameras have been installed (and they have been) which would allow the Town to identify the people using the facilities. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum confirmed that the hikers had been a problem for a while. He further explained that Tuxedo’s station is the only one in the area with facilities so they tend to get all the abuse. The Town can’t find anyone who is willing to clean up this disgusting mess any longer. Someone in the audience suggested that the Town contact the New York New Jersey Trail Conference for help. From the audience, Sue Scher spoke up and said she was on a policy committee at the Trail Conference and had a meeting scheduled for this coming Saturday. She said she would bring up the subject. Marty Levanhar suggested that the Towb should contact other towns along the train line and find out how they deal with the problem. He was told that Tuxedo is unique in what they offer. Neither Sloatsburg nor Harriman, for example, has anything other than a platform when you get off the train there whereas Tuxedo has a nice building with restrooms and heat and air conditioning and a tv to watch! Highway Superintendent Dollbaum further commented that it was a real problem. He continued that Tuxedo wants to attract the hikers but he doesn’t see the benefit that they bring to the community. They get off the train, make a disgusting mess in the train station, go off and hike for the day leaving their garbage behind and then leave. They aren’t sticking around and doing anything in Town. Superintendent Rost added that part of the problem was that the Junction had been closed. The hikers used to go and trash those bathrooms instead when it was still open.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Pat Barone asked if the Ren Faire had petitioned the Town for zoning changes. The answer was that they have not.
With regard to the Planning Board, Lili Neuhauser commented that if theTown has candidates that are uniquely qualified, she thinks it’s hugely important to have the Board consist of 7 members. Several audience members called out that they agreed with her.
It was pointed out that it would be most useful if these statements could be made at an official public hearing on the subject.
Mrs. Neuhauser remarked that she would come back at the appropriate time to do so. Supervisor Rost responded that the reasoning behind moving to a 5 member board was to help with the decision making process. He added that the Town Board was considering moving the ARB function to the Planning Board.
Mrs. Neuhauser interposed that the Village went through the same thing and ended up separating the Boards and that now things run a lot smoother.
The Supervisor replied “if you’re a business owner and you’re coming into Town, you come in and you have to go in front of the Planning Board. Then you have to go in front of the ARB. If the ARB doesn’t like something, then you have to go back in front of the Planning Board. And no decisions have been made.”
And someone from the audience added “and those meetings are 30 days apart so look at the time it takes to get a project approved.” The Supervisor further commented, “the people who owned the Duck Cedar sold it because they said it was too difficult to do business in the Town of Tuxedo.”
An audience member commented that he didn’t know any municipality that made things easy for the applicant.
The Supervisor responded, “we’re not trying to make it easy. We still want applicants to go through the review process, but it doesn’t have to be as difficult and time consuming as it is.”
Another audience member wanted to know how dropping the membership from 7 to 5 would make that process easier.
The Supervisor remarked “We’re already at 5. We added two to make it 7 when the casino was looking to come to town. That project isn’t here any more so we don’t need any more than 5.” Then he turned the question around and wondered why the audience thought they needed 7? Sue Scher replied “I think we need to be protected.” Lili Neuhauser commented that she thought the Town needed to encourage volunteers. If they have two who are qualified, then why not appoint them and alleviate the need for alternates.
It was pointed out that by serving as alternates, the volunteers would be receiving “on the job training” for a year and would be up to date on any and all projects before the board. Jake Lindsay observed that reality is that amendments have been passed to the plans for Tuxedo Farms and as a result the Planning Board is supposed to be working with the applicant to get rid of on street parking. Also, there will be townhomes that need to be relocated. And then, he continued, there will be the Ren Faire and Warwick Brook Road. He stated that in his opinion, these are significant projects and the Town currently has a Planning Board that is “locked into one mentality.,” He feels that it needs to “open up a little bit more.” Supervisor Rost responded that he felt these comments needed to be saved for the public hearing, which will be coming up. Pat Barone wondered if the Town’s zoning law was going to be looked at, would this be done at Board meetings? Town Attorney Howard Protter replied yes. He further explained that this was something that came out of the recently approved Town Comprehensive Plan which had been in the works for many years and had had several public hearings and been worked on in public. Now the Board has passed the plan and it has been passed to the consultants, specifically the Town Planner and the attorneys, who are working on changes to the Town’s zoning code to make those changes to the code have been done, the attorneys will draft a local law encompassing the changes and when that is introduced there will be additional public hearings. When asked for a time frame on this, Mr. Protter replied that there had been a legal issue holding things up which needed to be researched. This has been done and he is satisfied with the results. The results have been shared with both Town Planner Bonnie Franson and Planning Board Attorney Rick Golden. Once they have signed off on it, it will come to the Board. It could be as soon as two weeks. Ned Kugel commented that in Airmont, there was a member of the Architectural Review Board who was an ad hoc member of the Planning Board and if something came up that needed review, he was there to do it which eliminated the delay period between board meetings. Supervisor Rost replied that this type of approach was what he was hoping could be worked out in Tuxedo. Marty Levanhar pointed out that Planning Board membership was a contentious issue. He also noted that it was going to be summer soon and some people would likely not be around to attend meetings and get involved. He wondered if the Board was a rush to pass these changes or if they could wait to move on it in the Fall when everyone was back.
The Supervisor responded that he didn’t think the Board had ever tried to “sneak anything through” since he had been in office and he didn’t plan to start now. Councilmember McMillen added that it had already been decided that this would be voted on in the Fall.
Changing the subject, Councilmember English wondered what was happening with the hiring of a deputy Town Clerk? He added that he and Councllmember Lindsay had been asked to work on a job description for this position. Supervisor Rost commented that this was still in the works but he didn’t feel it was proper to have this particular discussion in public because it involves employees who are currently working for the Town.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were approved:
A Resolution to approve St. Mary’s in Tuxedo to display the following signs on Route 17: June 9th-Sponsored bike ride in the Park; June 16th – Community Yard Sale in St. Mary’s parking lot;July 7th – Country Rock Concert on St. Mary’s lawn;Registration for St. Mary’s Pre School
A Resolution approving a Film Permit to Lunar Mining LLC. – Filming to take place at the Tuxedo Motel in Southfields. The permit covers a scene where a car comes off Route 17 and drives up to the motel. The permit runs from 5/31 to 6/2 with filming actually taking place on 6/1
Vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 14, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing – to Discuss Reducing the Planning Board from 7 Members to 5: Supervisor Rost opened the hearing by explaining that historically the Planning Board had consisted of 5 members, but that number was increased to 7 when it looked like the casino was going to be built. Being that the casino project did not move forward, the Supervisor, feels that the Planning Board would be able to operate more efficiently with 5 members and 2 alternates as opposed to 7 full time members. Councilmember Lindsay stated that she had a “procedural question.” Referencing the official notice for the public hearing, she noted that said that the hearing was being held “by order of the Town Board, however she had not been consulted. The Board had neither discussed this issue in public nor voted in favor of a public hearing. She further stated that she had called the Committee on Open Government in Albany and spoken with the Executive Director who concurred that using the language “by order of the Town Board,” implied that the Board had taken an action. She reiterated that the Board had not taken any action in public. Supervisor Rost responded that the purpose of the hearing was for the Board to hear what residents had to say about the idea of reducing the Board from seven members back down to five. Councilmember Lindsay then suggested that three members of the Board had made the decision to hold the hearing, but she had not had any part of that decision. Councilmember Reardon responded that Councilmember Lindsay had no way of knowing whether any of the other Board members had been discussing the hearing privately. Councilmember Lindsay then wanted to know who had decided to hold the public hearing? Supervisor Rost replied that it had been his decision. Town Attorney Howard Protter agreed that no formal action had been taken to call the public hearing. He subsequently proposed that the Board take comments from the members of the public who had come to speak. He further commented that this would not be a substitute for the hearing that would be required if the Board intended to vote on a local law reducing the number of members of the Planning Board. Additionally, he said the Board would need to pass a formal resolution to hold a public hearing on this subject. After listening to comments, he advised that they should not close the hearing but hold it open until the next Town Board meeting. At that point, they would be ready to vote on a local law if that is what they decide to do. Councilmember Lindsay responded that a couple of meetings ago the Board had held a hearing for the community block grants and although it was properly noticed, because it had not been discussed publicly, when people showed up, they were frustrated because they felt they had not been given enough information in order to form an opinion. When that happened, she said, she had promised people that in the interest of transparency, something like this would not happen again and she felt it had just happened again. Councilmember Reardon suggested that they allow the residents who had come prepared to make statements to speak. Councilmember Lindsay replied that she had never suggested that the people shouldn’t be allowed to speak but she felt the Board had not had a chance to discuss the proposal. Councilperson Reardon countered that the documents with the proposed public hearing had been in the hands of the Board members for a number of days and she felt that Councilmember Lindsay had ample time to have brought this up with the Board instead of waiting until the meeting and “airing dirty laundry in public.” Councilmember Lindsay replied that they needed to have transparency. “Your version of transparency is that every time there’s a mistake, everybody needs to know about it,” she countered. She expressed concern that what was getting out into the public was Councilmember Lindsay’s version of what was happening which was that the Board was not following the rules or giving people the ability to speak. This is not correct and what is happening is not fair.
From the audience, Nancy Hays asked the Supevisior to put an end to the “haranguing” that was going on between Councilmembers Lindsay and Reardon. Supervisor Rost responded by, addressing Councilmember Lindsay and stating “I sent this information out a week ago. If you had an issue with it, I wish you would have spoken up then.” Councilmember Mcmillen stated that he had come to the meeting with an open mind and very much wanted to hear what the public had to say before making up his mind. He felt that the Board had discussed this concept before.
“Not in public,” countered Councilmember Lindsay. Councilmember English then remarked that he wanted to hear everyone’s opinions and he hoped they would want to hear his thoughts as well.
Several audience members spoke up and said they didn’t understand why this concept was being proposed in the first place. The Supervisor reiterated the history of the planning Board and his reason for proposing the reduction. Councilmember Mcmillen commented that he was one of the people who had voted to expand the planning Board to seven, however being familiar with the work load presently before the them he believes that they do not need seven members. He added that they Board had recently agreed to add two alternates who will be compensated but will only vote when one of the regular board members is not able to be present. In his view, this is enough. Under the proposed plan, there will be seven people present at meetings, participating in discussions and formulating opinions. But when votes are taken, there will only be 5. He believes the present Board is strong and he considers this to be efficiency in government and feels it makes sense. Councilmember Lindsay suggested that since there is currently a strong applicant pool, the Board should choose two and add them to the Planning Board properly rather than to make them alternates.. When asked why, she replied giving the history of how many members had been on the board recently and how they got there. She asserted that the previous board had felt that seven people were needed in order to mange the Tuxedo Farms project. She wondered why had that changed? Councilmember Mcmillen responded that he had done some research and the Town of Newburgh’s Planning Board only has 5 members and they have a lot more business before them than Tuxedo does. The Town of New Windsor also has a five-member planning board. He reiterated that he doesn’t see any need for more than five members.
Again Councilmember Lindsay suggested that since there were so many qualified people applying for the Board, the Town should take advantage of their expertise. Councilmember Reardon replied that having two additional members could sometimes add expense for applicants when it came to reproducing their materials and also could make it more difficult for projects to get through the Board. She feels that putting new people on as alternates and letting them have some time to acquaint themselves with the Board and its processes would be a good thing. That way, since terms on the Board are staggered, when a term is up and there is a need for a new member, there will be two people who have been alternates and are familiar with the business of the board and the projects before them. She also feels that having seven members of a board allows for some complacency among board members who might feel it wasn’t as necessary for them to attend every meeting as there were plenty of other people to do it. Additionally, she has reviewed the minutes of the last several Planning Board meetings and reports that there “isn’t a lot going on in Town” so she doesn’t feel that they need seven members. Councilmember English asked what would be the role of the Architectural Review Board moving forward. He wondered if that was a group that would continue to work with the Planning Board? Supervisor Rost replied that they could either leave the Architectural Review Board as it was or they could move that review into the Planning Board but that this would be a separate discussion. Councilmember English commented that if the Board members were thinking of getting rid of the ARB, then that should be part of this discussion. He added that he was concerned about the expertise and the amount of eyes that would look at projects. He then read from the Planning Board’s website, stating that “the mission of the Planning Board is to maintain, and when possible, improve the quality of life in our community, governing issues such as growth, transportation, environmental protection, agriculture, historical preservation and forest conservation. The Planning Board is largely responsible for setting land use throughout the Town.” He remarked that this required a lot of expertise and thus he felt Michele’s desire to consider the applicants who have recently applied is something they need to consider. He recalled that when Town Attorney Protter was reading about the ARB, he mentioned that there should be two architects on the Board and that hopefully the Chairman would be one. Councilmember English searched the Town Code but couldn’t find anything along those lines about the Planning Board. While he was glad to hear that most of Tuxedo Farms’ approval were already on paper, he feels that things are changing and there are still sites, including the Ren. Faire property that could have potential development. He believes that increased expertise is important and also the idea of what the ARB will do or be is a connected notion. Councilmember Lindsay suggested that the Board should hold the interviews that they already had scheduled for the following night and if they found applicants who had enough expertise to go right on the Board, they should let them go right on the Board rather than to make them alternates. She feels that they should keep the possibility of two alternates for a time in the future where they might not have seven qualified people. Councilmember Mcmillen stated that it was his understanding that the alternate seat was the pathway to a permanent appointment and that’s where future board members would “go to school.” Speaking as someone who has served on the Planning Board, he said that he had found there to be a steep learning curve regardless of level of expertise. Councilmember Lindsay then stated that she would like to know what was happening with Tuxedo Farms. She recognized that there had recently been a Planning Board meeting but she had been unable to go. She has requested the minutes but hasn’t gotten them and so she doesn’t know what’s happening there. She knows they asked for another extension and a clearing and grading permit but doesn’t know if they got it or not. She feels that these are things they need to consider when discussing what to do about the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Board. Councilmember English further commented that upon reflection, he was worried about the concept of alternates moving up to permanent seats. This notion seems very vague to him in terms of what that mechanism actually is. Also, he feels that the terms for each board seat in Town should be clearly delineated on the Town’s website and it should also be clear when the appointments would be made and when people should apply for any vacancies that would be coming up. He also suggested that there should a clear mechanism to advertise for open positions. He feels it should be made clear for any termed position that if people wanted to continue once their term was up, they would have to re-interview for the seats just like Councilmembers have to rerun for their seats every four years. Councilmember Mcmillen agreed commenting that these thoughts had been discussed by the Board in the past. Councilmember English wondered whether these discussions had been casual or official? He added that the Board talked casually about a lot of things. Councilmember Mcmillen replied “so it has to be either casually or official?” and Councilmember English said yes.
Councilman Mcmillen suggested that they were getting away from what they needed to discuss. He asked the Supervisor if he had anything to add. Supervisor Rost responded that he would like to hear what the public had to say. Councilmember Lindsay interjected that she didn’t understand about the alternates because she thought that they had agreed that when a term was up, they would interview and the next thing she knew, two members of the Planning Board had been re-appointed with no interviews held.
Councilmember Mcmillan replied that Councilmembers Lindsay and English seemed to be the only ones who hadn’t interviewed those people. He personally had interviewed them and felt they should be re-appointed. Councilmember Lindsay expressed confusion about how the pathway from alternate to Board member would work. If someone was an appointed alternate and then the board member whose term was expiring also wanted to continue, what would happen? Supervisor Rost commented that he would place a lot of importance on comments from the Board Chairman as he thought their opinion should be considered. Councilmember Lindsay then reiterated that she felt it was very important to take into consideration what could be happening with the Architectural Review Board when deciding how many members to have on the Planning Board.
The hearing was then opened for public comment.
Mark Paige asked for clarification of how many members were currently allowed and how many are actually on the Board.
He was told that the law allows for seven members, but there are currently only five sitting members.
When he asked why, it was explained that one member had resigned and one had not been reappointed.
Next Mr. Paige wanted to know if the proposed alternate members could vote.
The answer was they only vote if a member was not present. Jim Hays said he had serious concerns about fully compensating the alternates but not tasking them with the responsibility to show up at the meetings and to vote. He added that if there was a problem with attendance, it would be easy to add a rule which states that if a member misses X number of meetings, then he/she was off the Board. Additionally, he suggested that although Tuxedo Farms is not presently under construction in the near future it might be. There have been changes made to the Special Permit which give more authority to the Planning Board for decisions than they originally had. Additionally, he said that while he had not attended every Planning Board meeting, he had been to a few and it was his experience that many of the current members were very quiet. There was nothing near the “healthy discussion” that he had just witnessed from the Town Board. Thus he considers seven members on the Board to be a good thing and he is also concerned about the potential elimination of the Architectural Review Board. Both Boards are meant to be checks on development in Town. In his opinion, there have already been changes made to the development that cheapen it and that is something that he feels should not continue. Suzanne Williams said she wanted it put on the record that she agrees with every single thing that Jim Hays said. Nan Klein stated that she doesn’t see any benefit to the Town by adding alternates to the Planning Board. In her opinion, if the people who are appointed had the proper credentials to begin with, there wouldn’t be a need for a training period…they could just jump right in. Ed Brennan remarked that he liked the idea of alternates and thought they should be made a permanent addition to the Board. Andy Berish said that with everything that is going on in Tuxedo such as Tuxedo Farms and Michael Bruno’s projects, he felt it was important to have more brains on the board than to limit the amount of members. Nancy Hays commented that she had attended a lot of Planning Board meetings and, aside from Chairman Mike Reardon, no one ever had anything to say – a fact she finds shocking. She wondered if the Planning Board has term limits and if so, when the present members’ terms are up. Councilmember Mcmillen responded that when the Board was working on reorganization this year, they were made aware that the Planning Board had five year terms, with the terms of the members being staggered. There did not seem to be a procedure in place for advertising open positions. He feels that there needs to be discussions among the Board covering these procedures, which should include interviewing the present members. At the end of the process, it might be that the code will be changed. Claudia Bakhtiary said that there had been discussions about the make up of the Planning Board because she had been present to hear them, but it seemed to her that there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered on the subject. She felt that perhaps the Board should wait to make any changes until the questions have been answered. Supervisor Rost replied that there was no plan to take action on the proposed change tonight, he simply wanted to hear how the public felt about it. Dan Castricone stated that historically the Planning Board had consisted of five members and when Tuxedo Reserve heated up and the casino was proposing to build in Town, it was expanded to seven members. He commented that there are approximately 3000 people in Town and there exists the Town Board, the Planning Board, the Architectural Review Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Ambulance Corps, the Little League, the Fire Department and more—all of which need people to serve and there is not an unlimited pool of talent to pick from! He remembers that when he was on the Town Board, they had a very hard time finding people to fill all the positions. He added that if they put the right people on the Board, then he thinks five is better than seven. Kimberly Breiland wondered how long the two vacant seats had been open? Supervisor Rost responded that this was a public hearing and not a time for questions. He thanked everyone for their comments and said the hearing would remain open until the Board’s next meeting in two weeks.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish wondered why the Town was selling the American Legion Hall and what would happen to the Veterans who used the building.
He was told that the new owner had agreed to continue to allow the veterans as well as the Board of Fire Commissioners to use the building. It was revealed that Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum is the new owner.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he has been working on the Highway workers contract and is making good progress with it.
The new owner of the Take A Break property is just waiting for one more approval from the ARB before moving forward with renovations. Dale Mottola, ARB Chair commented that they had granted the approval and the applicant had been notified that today. The Supervisor replied that this was good because now Mr. Germano will be able to close on the property.
The Town is continuing to work with Michael Bruno on his plans for his property in Town.
The Supervisor attended the opening event for Liz Manko’s yoga studio and reported it was a great event with good attendance.
Progress continues to be made at the Highway Garage with the dirt that is stored there and soon work will begin on the stumps. Councilmember Mcmillen announced that the Town is now fully subscribed to Nixle for emergency alerts. Details can be found on the Town Website. If you want to subscribe, simply text the work Tuxedo to 888777.
Agenda Items:
The following items were approved unanimously:
a Resolution to grant Special Use and Special Sign Permits for the Memorial Day Community Picnic at the Library
a Resolution approving form of Petition for the Proposition to Increase the Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library
a Resolution authorizing the sale of the American Legion Hall
a Resolution to convey Fishing Easement certified by the Town Clerk of the Town of Tuxedo – this is a follow up on the previously approved easement agreement for the new bridge over the Ramapo going into the East Village
New Business:
Greg Sovak from the Gulf Station appeared regarding the ice cream truck parked at the station. He said he had approached “someone in Town Hall” a year ago about what permits would be needed to sell ice cream there. He was told none were needed and then received a letter from the Town saying his business wasn’t allowed. Meanwhile, he has thousands of dollars invested in ice cream and he would like to be able to stay open while they sort out what to do about the problem.
Town Attorney Howard Protter said that the Town Board didn’t have the authority to make that decision; it will have to go before the Planning Board. After quite a bit of discussion, the Town Board granted them a waiver from the building moratorium and Mr. Sovak will appear at the next Planning Board meeting in order to sort out the situation.
Public Comments: Mike Reardon said he had come to a lot of Town Board meetings recently and it seemed to him that he always heard a lot of negative talk from people about Tuxedo Farms. He added that personally, he thinks the Farms is going to be a great project. He thinks it’s time that people started paying attention to what is happening to the south of Town. The Town of Ramapo has just approved a housing development (Ramapo Woodmont Hills) with 16 three-story buildings containing 384 housing units on the property just south of Auntie El’s (and encompassing Auntie El’s which has sold their property to them). At the same time, the Village of Sloatsburg has applied for a “road diet” which will narrow the roads coming in and going out of Town. Before long, Mr. Reardon believes, we will a not be able to get in or out of Town at certain times of days. There’s not much to be done about the development which has been given all their approvals. They have already started clearing the land. But, he urged the Town Board and everyone else to do whatever they can to fight the road diet.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into Executive Session for advice from Counsel.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a Public Hearing at Town Hall, 1 Temple Road, Tuxedo, New York, on May 14, 2018, at 7 p.m. for the following purpose: to solicit public comments on the proposed reduction of the Planning Board Members from a seven (7) person Board to a five (5) person board.
All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing
The Town Board met on Monday, April 23, 2018 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon attended via phone and Councilmember Mcmillen was absent.
Public Hearing on Community Block Grant Application:
It is a requirement of the application process for an Orange County Community Block grant that the Town hold a public hearing to allow for public input. These grants, distributed by the County, have Federal money and are available for projects that benefit senior citizens, low income residents or disabled residents. Engineer Al Fusco has been working on the application. According to Councilmember Lindsay, it has been decided that the Town will apply for projects having to do with ADA accessibility. Of first importance is fixing the back door and ramp which lead to the Community Room on the Second Floor of Town Hall. This room is used routinely by the Silver Dollars and elections are held here as well. Additionally, making an ADA accessible bathroom on the second floor of Town Hall as well as improving the ADA entrance to the Court are two projects which are also being considered Claudia Bakhtiary commented that because no agenda had been circulated for this meeting, she didn’t see how the Board could expect anyone could be there to comment on the application.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that it had been mentioned at the last Town Board meeting, but she agreed there could have been more public notice. She was told that the Town Clerk was away at a training class and that’s why the agenda had not been sent out. The hearing was the only item on the agenda and the deadline for filing the grant is Friday April 27, so unfortunately it couldn’t wait until the next meeting. Councilmember English wondered if during the grant application process people from the County would actually come and visit the site of the project. The answer was yes.
The public hearing was closed and the Board unanimously passed a resolution to apply for the grant.
Public Comments: Claudia Bakhtiary wondered if there was any news about the road in front of Dottie Audrey’s.
She was told that the State Department Of Transportation had required a traffic study to be done. Police Chief Abbott did the study and the results were sent to the DOT. It has been determined that there is enough room to put in a turning lane at that location. All that will be required is restriping of the road. Now the Town is waiting for the work to be done.
Since neither Councilmembers Lindsay nor English had reviewed the vouchers, those were tabled until the next meeting and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 9, 2018. All Members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting at 7:20 after Executive Session. He opened the
Public Hearing concerning Abolishing Elected Position of Tax Collector/Receiver of Taxes and transferring the duties to the Town Clerk. Andy Berish questioned the purpose of the change. Supervisor Rost explained that the previous collector, Greg Stevens, had retired and Brian Sullivan filled the role for the current tax year. Other towns do not have elected tax collectors and Tuxedo plans to increase staffing in the Town Clerk office and possibly reduce costs.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost asked Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum to give an update on the preparations for the Ramapo River Bridge Replacement project. Councilmember Lindsay asked Chief Abbott if the traffic study was completed. The Chief said yes and now the Town can ask the Department of Transportation to look at safety options for Route 17 near Duck Cedar Plaza. The Board needs to schedule a Public Hearing for April 23 before submitting an application for a Community Development Block grant on April 27 for renovating the ADA ramp and access to the upstairs door at Town Hall. Councilmember McMillan gave an update on the emergency alert system that will soon be operational with the help of the police department. Alerts will be sent by phone, text or email. Updates to the website are nearly complete.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Ed Brennan asked the purpose of Item #11 to waive training requirements for Planning, Zoning and Architectural Review Boards. He wondered why the Board would not want the Boards to go for training. Supervisor Rost and Councilmember Reardon explained that the appointed Board Chairs and Town Board were remiss in enforcing the required training. Current Planning and Zoning Board members must complete training within 60 days. Going forward the appointed Boards will need to fulfill the requirement of training each year.
Bahar Eretec said she wanted to get involved with serving on Boards and asked how the public knows when there is an opening. Supervisor Rost explained that each year the term of one person on each board expires. Councilman McMillan said the info can be found on the Home page of the Town’s website.
Agenda Items:
The Following resolutions were approved unanimously:
Resolution to approve a film permit
Resolution for a special permit for Chai Lifeline for fundraising cycling event
Resolution permitting Orange County to access rights to the Town Highway Right-of-Way and for ownership of the East Village Bridge over the Ramapo River
Resolution for real property acquisitions for the East Village Road for the bridge replacement project
Resolution appointing Rick Golden Esq as the Planning Board Attorney
Resolution appointing Michele Lindsay as Economic Development Coordinator
Resolution to change Town Law to eliminate the Receiver of Taxes position and incorporating it with the duties of the Town Clerk’s Office.
Resolution to waive training requirements for the Planning, Zoning and Architectural Review Boards with the provision that training is completed within 60 days.
The following resolutions were passed by Supervisor Rost, Councilmembers McMillan and Reardon with Councilmembers Lindsay and English abstaining:
Resolution to appoint Darrin Maynard to the Planning Board
Resolution to appoint Tom Darling to Zoning Board of Appeals
Councilmember Lindsay expressed appreciation for the service of all appointed Board members. She objected to the vote because the Town Board had agreed to follow Town policy which deals with Board appointments. That policy requires the Town to advertise the vacant positions. As a result of the ad several applications have been received. The Board is in the process of setting up interviews with incumbent members and new applicants. She suggested that the vote was “putting the cart before the horse” and believes the Board should postpone the vote until after interviews have been held. Councilmember English expressed his respect and appreciation for the service of appointed Board members. He emphasized that the Town Board had agreed to clarify which positions were vacant and follow the Town’s policy in filling those positions and had also agreed to fix the problems that have been uncovered. The Town Board still does not know which positions are vacant on each Board. Both Councilmembers Lindsay and English reiterated their commitment to following Town policy over the objections of the Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon.
As we close out the 1st quarter of 2018 I would like to take this opportunity to recap 2017 and give you an idea of what we have to look forward to for the remainder of the year.
The year-end audit is not yet complete for 2017 but it appears as if we have an additional $700,000 in our fund balance. This will be the second straight year we were able to put $700,000 against our deficit fund balance. We are working hard on the B fund as it continues to have a negative balance. In two years, the Town board and department heads have cut costs and spending, allowing the Town to now have a positive $1.5M combined fund balance. Thank you Chief Abbott and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for controlling cost while still providing a valuable service.
I also would like to recognize the efforts of all of our board members over the past 4 years. The Town Board has had nine new members on its five member board, the planning board has had four new members on its five member board, and the architectural review board has had three new members on its five member board. These individuals give their time and talent to support our current and future plans. We thank you for your commitment and engagement.
Driving south on Rt 17 into Town, I am excited to see the growth and development. The Duck Cedar Plaza is full of cars and Dottie Audrey’s is receiving recognition throughout the Hudson Valley. When you enter the Hamlet, Dan Castricone has opened a business and there is an application before the Planning Board for an ice cream parlor in the same building. Michael Bruno is working on the former IGA to open a market, tavern and antique store. Take a Break is going to reopen as a wood fired pizza , pasta, panini and gourmet coffee shop. The Hamlet LDC has received and approved several grant applications to assist businesses with their growth and development. We are all looking forward to welcoming and supporting these ventures.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 26, 2018 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember English was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by reporting that he and Councilmember Lindsay had attended a meeting in Sloatsburg about their proposed road diet. This project is scheduled for 2019 and, when completed, will double average commute time through the corridor. Currently, roughly 2,400 cars travel through Sloatsburg twice a day on a daily basis but once Tuxedo Farms is built, this number will increase. The road diet is meant to “calm” or slow down the traffic going through downtown Sloatsburg. The plan calls for the road to be reduced to 3 lanes (one northbound, one southbound and one turning) both South of Sloatsburg and between Sloatsburg and Tuxedo.
Additionally, the Supervisor announced that after 3 years, the Town has finally signed an agreement with the Police Department (PBA). Next up will be the Highway Workers contract.
The County is getting ready to begin work on the East Village bridge. They have secured all the necessary easements and right of ways and will next meet with the Town to go over exactly what will be done.
Work has been completed on the Comprehensive Plan. The Supervisor is striving to have the plan posted on the Town website soon and is hoping that it can be voted on and approved at the next meeting (April 9).
Additionally, the Supervisor announced that after 3 years, the Town has finally signed an agreement with the Police Department (PBA). Next up will be the Highway Workers contract.
The County is getting ready to begin work on the East Village bridge. They have secured all the necessary easements and right of ways and will next meet with the Town to go over exactly what will be done. Councilmember Mcmillen reported that he has been working on an emergency notification system called Nixle with Police Chief Abbott and Lieutenant Norton. This will be a system which residents can subscribe to that will send out information during emergency situations among many other features. He has also been working on upgrading the phone system in Town Hall and is building a new website for the Town! Councilmember Reardon has developed a form, which will be uploaded to the website, for any residents who want to apply for Board positions in Town. Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had contacted the Photo News about advertising the available positions and discovered that they have an opportunity for press releases. She recommended that the Town follow this procedure rather than to bury the notice in the advertisements in the back of the paper.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were approved unanimously:
A Resolution to refund late penalty charges to Tuxedo Farms on Sewer Levy – This was due to a “hiccup” in sending the tax bills out
A Resolution to grant a waiver from the Moratorium Local Law for Tuxedo Dairy, Inc. at 14 Store Rd.
A Resolution authorizing the Supervisor to enter into a contract with the PBA.
A Resolution to hire a part time police officer. (John Bronkowski, currently works for the Village and used to be a Town dispatcher).
Public Comments: Dale Mottola requested and received permission to put up road signs for a Bingo Night at the Sons of Italy on May 3.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 12, 2018 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost began the meeting by explaining that since Councilmember Lindsay had been asking for quite some time to have Board discussions in public, the Board was going to open the meeting with a workshop during which the Board would discuss various topics but there would be no public participation.
The Supervisor started this off by asking Town Attorney Howard Protter for the status of the Highway Garage. Specifically he wanted to know if that property was still under a consent order from the DEC.
He was told that the consent order is still in effect but it seems as if everything is “fine” with the property. Mr. Protter said he would check with the DEC to see what the next steps should be.
Next was a discussion of what to do about the Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer’s vehicle, which needs to be replaced, and whether they should they lease a new vehicle or pay Mr. Maikisch mileage for using his own vehicle.
The Board agreed they would ask Mr. Maikisch to give them an estimate of his mileage on a weekly or monthly basis and then they would make a determination based on that information.
Next came a lengthy discussion of the Town’s Reorganization and positions that still need to be filled. It appears that most if not all members of the Architectural Review Board (ARB) have terms that have expired and thus they will need to either be reappointed or replaced. There are also several openings on the
Planning Board and Zoning Board. New Councilmember Ken English wanted a job description for these Boards.
Town Attorney Protter read from the Town Code regarding the ARB in which it states several requirements for that Board including training that needs to be completed on an annual basis.
Councilmember Reardon pointed out that “succession planning” will be important when populating these Boards. She feels it would not be good to have a Board made entirely up of new members so that no one is familiar with projects that are being worked on and any plans for the future that might have been discussed.
The other Board members agreed this was important.
Councilmember Reardon also stated she feels its important for the Board Chairs to be involved in the process of choosing Board members as they are the ones who know what actually goes on in the Board meetings and they also know what is needed in their members.
Councilmember English felt this might be a problem if the Chair had an expired term, but Councilmember Reardon stated she felt the Chair’s opinion was important regardless of whether they were expired or choosing to retire.
Eventually, the Board concurred with this and it was resolved to make the Chairs part of the interview process. It was decided that the Board would put together job descriptions for the various Boards within the next day or two.
Councilmembers Mcmillen and Reardon agreed to work together on this. Discussion was also had on term expirations and following up on Board members taking an oath of office.
Councilmember English stated his strong conviction that the terms should be prominently stated on the Town website so that anyone in Town who wanted to serve on a Board could easily see what positions might be coming available.
Supervisor Rost stated that going forward the Reorganization document would be made part of the November budgeting process so that there would be ample time for the Board to be ready to make any appointments in January.
It was decided that someone on the Board would take on the role of compliance and keep track of the various Board members and whether they have done their required annual training.
Councilmember Reardon volunteered to take this on.
There followed a discussion regarding whether there should be 5 or 7 members of the Planning Board. Historically, there were 5 members and this is what is specified in the Town Code. The Board changed it to 7 members when the casino was in the application process and they knew Tuxedo Farms was coming as well.
Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon who was present spoke up and said he felt it should go back to 5 members.
Councilmember Mcmillen spoke on liking the idea of 7 members.
Town Attorney Protter pointed out that, to his knowledge, it had never been changed in the Town Code to reflect the 7 members. He agreed to check on this.
The Board then discussed advertising for new members.
Councilmember English feels strongly that the Town should do more advertising. He advocates that the advertising be done in the Photo News because, he believed, everyone in Town received that publication for free.
It was pointed out to him that this is not true.
He then stated that he felt advertising needed to be done because when he looked at the make up of the existing Boards, it was clear to him that they are not made up of a diversified group. In particular, he wants to see more variety in gender, where the people live and political party.
The next discussion was about the American Legion Hall. The Town put the building up for sale and was negotiating with Chester LeBaron who owned the parking lot to the building. Unfortunately, Mr. LeBaron passed away so now the Town needs to decide what to do. The Board decided that the building would not be a good solution to store Town records. The woman from the State Archives, who helped the Town Clerk go through the records downstairs in her office, has offered to come back and help go through the rest of the records. The Board would like to begin digitizing records in the future rather than archiving paper files. In the meantime, the use of the American Legion building is currently minimal (the American Legion uses it for meetings and the Board of Fire Commissioners meets there as well) and the fuel bills are running alarmingly high. The Town will try to find out if Mr. LeBaron’s family wants to sell the parking lot before they can put it up for sale. Since Jacobowitz & Gubits (Town Attorneys) is also handling Mr. LeBaron’s estate, it will be relatively easy to find this out.
The Supervisor next stated that Town Planner Bonnie Franson has been working along with Town Attorney Howard Protter on final adjustments to the Comprehensive Plan as well as the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms and they are hoping to have both items ready for discussion and action at the next Town Board meeting.
Councilmember English wanted to know what happened to remarks made at public hearings. He made some comments at the public hearing for the Comprehensive Plan, which he does not see reflected in the Plan. Since the Plan hasn’t been approved yet, he wonders if there is still time to incorporate those changes.
Town Attorney Protter explained that it might be that the Town had already considered those comments and decided not to incorporate them in the Plan. If this is not the case, there will be time for Councilmember English to propose adding them to the plan.
Councilmember Reardon stated that she felt the Comprehensive Plan had been under consideration for a very long time and it worried her that it might be postponed again. She offered that if Councilmember English needed to be brought up to speed on where they were and what their rationalizations were, she would be more than happy to spend time explaining it to him.
He responded that there was a short list of things he was concerned about.
Mrs. Reardon replied that she thought one of those was Thruway Exit 15B and he agreed.
Mrs. Reardon then explained that the State would be making the decision about the exit and that the Town Board would not have a say in it. The reason the Town incorporated the exit into the Plan was in an attempt to be “a good corporate citizen,” and help Town businesses who were looking to that exit as a vehicle which might drive some business traffic their way.
Mr. English responded that he looked at 15B as something that was proposed to make the development of the Renaissance Faire property attractive as a “mega development.” Since the casino didn’t happen, he and his neighbors in the north section of Town don’t want to see that property open up to another “mega development.” Also, he feels that what makes Greenwood Lake and Warwick unique and attractive is the fact that there isn’t a major road bringing traffic there.
Eventually he was told that he should spend some time with Town Planner Bonnie Franson and go over the plan so he would be able to understand how and why it had gotten to where it is now and then would be ready to responsibly vote on the Plan.
Councilmember English then inquired as to what the next step would be for the Village Town overlay.
He was told that the next step needed to come from Town residents. Councilmember English felt that the process has not been communicated well enough. He is looking for a presentation, perhaps at the High School, so that all residents in Town have an opportunity to be brought up to speed and to ask questions.
Ultimately it was agreed that Councilmember English would spearhead this issue. It was suggested that he should reach out to Don Nichol for information and also advice on what needs to/can be done next.
Councilmember Reardon then stated that she wanted it on the record that Superintendent Dollbaum and his crew had done an amazing job during the recent snowstorm.
Everyone agreed on this and the audience gave them a round of applause.
Councilmember Mcmlllen added that the Police Department had also done a great job especially dealing with cars, which were off the highway. And the audience gave them a round of applause as well.
Town Clerk Donna Matthews commented that there is a problem on Augusta Place because there are cars parked on both sides of the road and because of this the residents shovel snow into the middle of the street. The result of this is that the road is impassable. If an ambulance or Fire truck were needed, they would not be able to get through.
It was decided that the police will henceforth enforce the no parking during snow events rule (which is already in effect ) and have cars towed if people don’t move them. Trash cans being left out are also a problem and will be dealt with similarly.
Finally, there was a discussion over whether or not the Town Board has the authority to appoint consultants for their Boards. It was pointed out that Town law says that they don’t and the Comptrollers Office has recommended that the Planning Board especially should be independent and make the appointments for their consultants themselves.
Councilmember English said he was confused over this although he believes that although the Planning Board has the authority to appoint their own consultants the Town Board has the authority of funding them so if they don’t agree with an appointment, they have the option of not funding it. He added that he would want the Planning Board to be comfortable with their decision.
Councilmember Reardon then asked if Councilmember English would be comfortable with the Planning Board choosing the Town Board’s attorneys and then answered her own question with of course not.
It was finally decided that this discussion would be continued in an executive session.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Councilmember Lindsay reported having gone to the Association of Towns meeting where Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus informed them that he was going to appoint a Commissioner of Tourism. There is unexpected additional sales tax that Towns will be receiving (for Tuxedo, it’s about $24,000) and he is encouraging Towns to use that money for economic development.
Councilmember Mcmillen reported having found a texting system that could be used to for emergency notices to Town residents. The system is free and he is working on setting it up. Information will be available on the Town website.
Public Comments:
John MacNamara commented that he was concerned about continuity with compliance for Board members with training. If a Chairman is newly appointed, he might not know what is required and what has already been done.
Councilmember Reardon responded that she does this sort of thing for a living and will take this role on for all Boards in the future.
Agenda Items:
A Resolution was passed to approve the sale of 4 Town vehicles (a SUV, a Backhoe and 2 dump trucks)
Councilmember English asked for help in understanding the vouchers he was asked to sign.
Councilmember Mcmillen commented that one thing Councilmember English should understand that the vouchers used to total about $400,000 per meeting and now, under Supervisor Rost’s leadership and guidance, they usually total about $200,000!
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present with Councilmember Michele Lindsay attending via video conference.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by saying that there is “a lot going on in Town.” Specifically he mentioned that Michael Bruno has been busy doing work on the former IGA and is scheduled to appear at an LDC (Local Development Corp.) meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Mr. Bruno is looking to put in a market with a bar and some commercial space. The Supervisor mentioned that there had been a lot of rumors about Mr. Bruno going around Town including that he had taken grant money and wasn’t spending any of it in Tuxedo. The Supervisor stated that this rumor is untrue. He has spoken with Mr. Bruno and finds that he is totally committed to Tuxedo. Also, Steve Germano has purchased the former Take a Break and is currently going through the process to have a BBQ restaurant approved for the site. He has appeared before the ARB and is also slated to appear at the LDC meeting on Tuesday. ARB Chair Dale Mottola was present and reported that Mr. Germano’s is planning to keep the same footprint as Take a Break, however he intends to get rid of the walk up windows that are presently there and install double doors in their place. Entrance will be through those doors where one will encounter an ordering counter and the kitchen space. The current eating space will continue to be used for dining. Finally, the Supervisor mentioned that there has been “great buzz” everywhere in the County about Dottie Audrey’s. So, he concluded, there are exciting things happening in our Town.
Additionally, the Supervisor reported that he will be in Albany on March 6 & 7 to work on the police contract.
Police Chief Abbott announced that Officer Hall had arrested a 30-yearold Tuxedo resident for burglary as the resident entered a business, took checks and forged them. Officer Hall identified the resident and arrested him. The Chief also reported receiving a letter praising Officer Shiloh, which, among other things, mentioned how helpful and polite he had been.
Councilmember Mcmillen thanked the Tuxedo Volunteer Ambulance Corps for organizing and running the recent Community Meeting on citizen emergency preparedness. While at the meeting, a woman stood up and asked where she should go should there be a malfunction at the Indian Point nuclear plant. He subsequently realized that there aren’t any directions for that contingency on the Town website nor are they posted anywhere in Town Hall. This led him to wonder if the Town’s emergency plan needed to be reviewed and he has pledged to make sure this will happen.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked for an explanation of Item #8 (Resolution authorizing the Town to enter into amendment to the existing cooperation agreement.) Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that this was the agreement, signed annually, which allows the Town to participate in urban grant applications should there be any that the Town wants to apply for. Mr. Berish also wanted an explanation of Item #1 (petition of relief from moratorium local law by Tuxedo Park Associates). Mr. Protter explained that the TPA had come before the Town Board asking for relief from the moratorium and it became clear to him and the Board that, based on what it being proposed, they don’t need a waiver. Rather they just need to be declared exempt from the moratorium and so that is what they are requesting.
Donna Anderson, who lives on Warwick Brook Road, commented that no one who lives there is aware of what is being proposed by the TPA for their property which fronts on the road and she and her neighbors would like a description.
She was told that the determination that evening would only give the applicant permission to take their project to the Planning Board and that when that happens, she and her neighbors will have the opportunity to come and hear a detailed description of what is being proposed as well as an opportunity to give their opinions on the project.
Agenda Items:
The following items were approved:
a Petition of Relief from Moratorium Local Law for Tuxedo Park Associates and Site Work Services
a Resolution authorizing execution of agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 2018 Animal Shelter Services – the terms will be the same as last year.
a Resolution approving Refuse Collection Licenses (Interstate Waste Services, Marangi Disposal and Sterling Carting)
a Resolution approving Towing Licenses (Tuxedo Gulf, Harriman Auto and Harriman Auto Transmissions
a Resolution approving the Town Clerk to attend Town Clerk training in Albany 4/22-4/26.
a Resolution approving the Town Clerk to attend the NYALGRO (Records Management) Training 6/3-6/5.
a Resolution consenting to the sale of Raffle Tickets by the Onyx and Breezy Foundation (an animal rescue operation). This is an annual request
a Resolution authorizing the Town of Tuxedo enter into amendment to the existing Cooperation Agreement (as described above to allow Town to apply for urban grants)
a Resolution approving participation in Orange County 2018 STOP-DWI Enforcement Grant
New Business: Supervisor Rost stated that the Board was continuing work on their Reorganization document. As such he announced the following appointments:
Gardiner Hempel was appointed to the Board of Fire Commissioners
H2M and Al Fusco were appointed as Town Engineers
Cooper Arias was appointed as Town Bookkeeper and Brian Sullivan was appointed as Account Clerk
Dave Mcmillen was appointed Deputy Supervisor
Public Comments:
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum commented that he anticipated that there would be more potholes than usual this year.. He asked that residents speak up if they see potholes and asked that they call 351-2594 to report them. The Department has been doing tree trimming around Town and will be moving into the lower Commuter Lot to work on the trees there. They recently replaced all the bulbs in that lot with LED lights which has made a huge difference. Superintendent Dollbaum is hopeful that this will result in a reduction in the electricity bill. He also reported that O&R has cut the trees in the East Village in preparation for the new bridge that is supposed to be installed some time this year.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from counsel.
Hamlet Revitalization Board to Meet February 27 at 6pm
The Hamlet Revitalization Board is having a public meeting on February 27, 2018 at the Town Hall at 6pm. Both Michael Bruno's grant application and Steve Germano's (Take A Break) will be reviewed.
The Hamlet Revitalization Local Development Corporation (LDC) is encouraging business owners in the Hamlet to apply for grant and loan funds. Any questions can be sent to Supervisor Mike Rost. Michele Lindsay, answer questions, email is LindsayForTuxedo@gmail.com.
*AS OF 11AM ON 11/27, THIS MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. IT WILL BE RESCHEDULED - DATE TBD*
The Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will conduct a special meeting at 2:00 pm on February 22, 2018. The purpose of the meeting will be to enter into and conduct an executive session for purposes of discussing potential employment agreements with Town Consultants and for such other business as may be required.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 22, 2018 at 7 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with the Town Clerk administering the oath of office to new Town Councilman, Ken English. This was followed by the swearing in of Supervisor Mike Rost and Councilman Dave McMillen.
Reorganization Meeting: Supervisor Rost asked Town Attorney Howard Protter if they could put off voting on the reorganization items as the Board has not finished making appointments. Mr. Protter advised that this could be done.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked for and received a definition of the term sludge.
Agenda Items:
Sludge Removal Award- The bid was award to Capolla who currently holds the contract.
Shared Services Agreement – This came from the State and applies to the Department Of Transportation (DOT). The Agreement says that the Town and the County will assist each other if necessary in case of emergency. The Town agreed to sign this for 2 years.
Petition of Relief from Moritorium Local Law – Mike Santoianni representing the TPA, stated that the property in question was the 40 acres owned by the TPA which front on Warwick Brook Rd. The zoning for this property is listed as RO (Research/Office) but it is not slated to stay as RO under the new Master Plan. The TPA has a proposal that they took to the TAC Committee of the Planning Board. Basically, they want to build 5-6 buildings of 10-12,000 square feet each. Said buildings would be leased out to companies who provide services (contractors are an example). The TAC Committee, as well as the Town Engineer, Planning Board Chairman and Planning Board Attorney, loved the proposal but told the TPA that they needed to come to the Town Board for permission. Town Attorney Protter said that because the land is still zoned RO and this is not an appropriate use for RO zoned land, the Board should not rule on it. Mr. Santoianni expressed frustration because the planning Board Attorney specifically advised him to pursue a waiver from the Town Board. It was agreed that Mr. Santoianni and Mr. Protter would get together after the meeting so that Mr. Protter could explain what the correct procedure should be.
Resolution to extend the moratorium for another 6 months was passed unanimously
Appoint Tax Receiver – Brian Sullivan was appointed for the remainder of 2018. The vote was 4-1 in favor with Councilmember McMillen abstaining.
Resolution to approve Highway Garage lease with Ben Veltidi for 3 years was passed unanimously.
Town Clerk to request additional Staffilng from the Board – Clerk Donna Matthews is requesting a part time deputy. She was told that the Board needs to see a list of the functions carried out by the Clerks office with an approximate number of hours needed for each one. It was agreed she would provide such a list in time for the Board to vote on this at the next meeting.
Resolution for Town Clerk to put Town Vehicles out to surplus – there is an already replaced backhoe and the Building Inspector’s old Ford Explorer. It was passed unanimously.
Resolution authorizing the execution of agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 2018 animal shelter services was tabled.
Resolution to make budget modifications as submitted by Town Auditor Cooper Arias was passed unanimously.
Public Comments: Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum stated that the department was renting a bucket truck and would be taking down the Christmas lights in Town as well as changing light bulbs in the lower parking lot. They will also be marking trees that are hanging over or too close to power lines for O&R who will send their contractor to remove them. Dale Mottola requested a sign permit to advertise the upcoming venison buffet at the Sons of Italy lodge. It was approved. Andy Berish commended the Highway Department for the excellent job they did on snow removal.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The 2018 Tax bills are expected to be available by December 27, 2017
Tax payments should be mailed to Tuxedo Town Hall, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, NY 10987 attention Tuxedo Tax Collector.
In person payments can be made during the month of January.
Monday and Tuesdays 9:00am -3:00pm
Wednesday Night’s 4:30 – 6:30.
*early payment schedule will be released once the tax warrant has been issued.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 7;00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing to Solicit Comments on the Proposed Sewer Rates at the Woodlands:
The rates will be unchanged for next year. There were no comments and the hearing was closed.
Recognition of Councilmember Loncar: Supervisor Rost announced that as this could be Councilman Loncar’s last meeting, he wanted to thank him for the service he has given the Town on the Board over the course of the last 8 years. A plaque was presented to him.
Public Hearing on Tuxedo Farms Special Permit Amendments: Jim Hays stated that he had 2 concerns with regard to the proposed amendments: First, he understands that the Board conducted a workshop meeting with their architect and he thought he heard that a summary of that meeting would be provided to the public. Despite having searched on the Town website for such a summary, he has been unable to find it. His second concern has to do with the on street parking that has been proposed for the development. If there is parking on both sides of the street, he wondered what would happen if there was a snow storm and a fire…would fire trucks be able to get through? Lastly, he repeated his request for the Board members to state their reasons for voting whichever way they did as they voted.
Jake Lindsay also spoke about the parking. He expressed his confusion with the elimination of the previously approved garages for the project. He believes that this will have a negative impact on the project. Having recently spent some time researching similar developments in the area, he has found that most offer off street parking. He added that he had been told that the reason for the change was the difficulty of the topography but stated that he felt that should be Tuxedo Farms’ problem, not the Town of Tuxedo’s problem. Further, he stated that he understood they were considering offering parallel parking along the lower loop road, which he fears is a terrible mistake given Tuxedo’s winters. He asked that they please not allow parallel parking.
David du Pont stated that at the last public hearing there were two unresolved issues raised that he would like to know about. The first was the language pertaining to the authority of the Architectural Review Board versus the Planning Board. The second had to do with the proposed vinyl siding. Mr. du Pont said he that had sent an email to each Board member proposing that they give approval for the vinyl siding in the first phase of the project and, if they were happy with the outcome of that, they could subsequently approve it for more of the project. He asked for updates on both subjects.
He was informed that th current hearing was for public comments only and not questions.
JoAnn Hanson stated that she believes that the Tuxedo Farms development is critical to the community as it will eventually double the size of the Town. She said she looked forward to the day when Related would actually bring in some production builders and get started on building the project. However, she feels there are questions that need to be answered before that can happen. In the past Related has had to make changes to their plan as they faced the topography of the site. Will the newly proposed changes be built on the same footprint as the plans they are replacing? At this point, she feels the Boards should see plans of exactly what is being proposed – how the units will be laid out and physically what will be done. She made a plea to the Board to leave a Board of Architectural Review, which she considers critical, in place and to know exactly what Related is planning to do. If they would do these two things, she feels the Town will be able to look forward to this development.
Supervisor Rost then recognized County Legislator Barry Cheney who was sitting in the audience and asked if he had any comments. Mr. Cheney answered that he felt this was a local issue but that it would be good to see the project move into the construction phase. The Supervisor then read into the record a letter from County Legislator Karl Brabenec, which stated his full support of the project and his hope that the Board would approve the necessary waivers needed to get it moving.
Next, followed some comments and questions from the Board members:
Councilmember Loncar asked for some clarification regarding architectural details that were addressed in the technical memo. Clarification was provided.
Councilmember Lindsay had some questions about the requirements for shutters.
Councilmember McMillen wanted to know about parking and more specifically whether or not they could change to angled parking on the non-spine roads.
It was established that the majority of the units will be serviced by a parking lot rather than on street parking. Andrew Dance further stated that Related would be happy to explore angled parking for the units that need on street parking.
Councilmember Lindsay then inquired about language which eluded to eliminating all references to the Architectural Review Board as well as the Community Architect.
It was explained to her that these were just questions of language and the references were being eliminated to avoid confusing redundancies.
Councilmember Lindsay also had some questions about the bedroom mix.
She was told that the total unit number has not changed but that some condominiums have been changed into townhomes.
With respect to the vinyl siding, the memo from the Town Planners and Engineers suggested that it be allowed for the first building and then before subsequent buildings were built, it would have to be approved by the Architectural Review Board.
Andrew Dance responded that this was not acceptable to him at all. He continued that he had “poured tens of millions of dollars into the Town and after all that, he didn’t feel they were being served by an acceptable school district,” so he was not interested in this proposal at all. Additionally, he said that the Special permit went to great lengths to detail what is and what is not acceptable and he did not want to go before the Board again to beg.
Councilmember Lindsay then brought up a provision whereby if the multifamily or townhouse units had not commenced construction within 3 years, then a market study evaluating the market conditions for this type of housing would be required.
Mr. Dance’s response to that was “Nope. Strike it. That is not acceptable at all.” He then added “Can I put the same condition on the School District?” He went on to say that he would not accept anything with these proposed conditions and then added “if you want to put a condition in here that says a reasonable education will be provided to the kids of this Town, then I will absolutely accept it.” He further commented that he had not had a chance to review the memo because he had been very busy working on the project. Ultimately, the Board decided to strike both of the conditions that Mr. Dance objected to.
Councilmember Lindsay asked if the Board would still be receiving written comments from the public.
It was explained to her that this was already the second continuation of the public hearing and that, at this point, it seemed as if the Board had probably already heard from anyone who really wanted to be heard.
Town Planner Bonnie Franson interjected that she was recommending that they add some comments about the possibility of angled parking as opposed to parallel parking.
Supervisor Rost asked the Town Attorney and Town Planner if they would put together a clean copy of the proposed amendments so they could post it to the Town website and everyone would be able to have access to it. The Town Attorney agreed that this would be done.
The Board then voted on four proposals before them.
The first proposal was the SEQRA determination. It was unanimously agreed that the proposed changes to the project would not result in any negative environmental impacts and therefore the proposals were given a Negative Declaration.
The second proposal had to do with changes to the bedroom mix. The Board voted 4-1 in favor of approving the amendment, with Councilwoman Lindsay voting against.
The third proposal had to do with parking. There was some discussion about removing “conditions” a and c. (a copy of the resolutions has not been made public, so TPFYI can not report on what these conditions are). It was also agreed that they would add a condition asking the developer to explore angled parking. The Board then voted 4-1 in favor of the amendment, with councilwoman Lindsay voting against due to what she called “ lack of clarity with the zoning law.’
The fourth proposal dealt with changes to the design guidelines and Smart Code waivers. After agreeing that “Item x” would be striken from the proposal, this was passed unanimously with Councilperson Lindsay stating that she was “very happy with the progress made by the Board” on this subject.
Informal Informational Hearing on the Proposal for Consolidated Town of Tuxedo: Town Attorney Don Nichol began the presentation by providing some background about how and why the Town was looking to form a consolidated Town. He explained that when the Pilgrim Pipeline was proposed, the Town discovered that Villages and Cities in New York State have certain powers relating to this kind of project that Towns do not have. The proposal is to form a new Village, separate from the Village of Tuxedo Park comprised of all of the rest of the property within the Town to be called the Village of Tuxedo. If this can be done, not only would the residents of that Village have the same protections that other Villages and cities have against pipeline projects but also no other villages could ever be formed within the boundaries of the Town. He commented that just north of Tuxedo in Woodbury, they had formed a Village for some of the same reasons, but they ended up with two separate governments, which costs the residents/taxpayers a lot of money. After doing some research, Mr. Nichols discovered that the State had passed legislation allowing for the consolidation of governments so that the Town could become the Consolidated Town of Tuxedo with all the same powers of protections as a Village but without a separate government. To do this, a newly incorporated Village, consisting of all Town property outside Tuxedo Park would be formed and simultaneously consolidated with the existing Town of Tuxedo to become the Consolidated Town of Tuxedo. To view a copy of Mr. Nichols’ presentation, click here.
Mr. Nichols then took questions from the audience:
Dale Mottola wanted to know if it would be required for a percentage of the 10% of residents who were requesting the consolidation to come from the Village of Tuxedo Park or if it was 10% town-wide. She was told it was 10% town-wide.
Dan Castricone wondered if one could annex from a Village? Town Attorney Nichols responded that yes one could annex from a Village so this would not offer that kind of protection but it would prevent new governments being created from within.
Jen Creamer wondered how the Town was planning to this information to its residents, aside from putting the petition on its website. She pointed out that not all residents have access to the internet.
Mr. Nichols replied that the Town Board wanted everyone to know about this and he felt they would get the information out.
Mrs. Creamer responded that she felt a fact sheet clearly outlining the procedures and what the hoped for end result would be could be helpful.
Bonny Takeuchi pointed out that in order to avoid confusion, the Town should refer to the Village outside of Tuxedo Park.
Claudia Bakhtiary expressed some confusion about how a Village could be more powerful than a Town and stated that she thought a fact sheet, published on the Town webside would be really helpful.
Ken English asked for clarification on the two separation petitions, one requiring 10% of the voting population and the other requiring 20% of the voters. He was told that 20% of the people in the new Village outside the Park would have to request the new Village and then 10% of the total proposed Consolidated Town (which would include the Village of Tuxedo Park) would have to request the consolidation.
Helen Neuman wanted to know how the Board would disseminate the information aside from putting it on the website.
She was told that emails could be sent out and that also it was possible that a newsletter could be circulated from Town Hall.
Nate Wolinsky suggested that the Town should have a team of people ,who were educated on the subject, go out and get the necessary signatures on the required petitions and that this is how the information would get out.
Jerry Mottola inquired as to whether or not theTown Attorney was suggesting that if the Town were to consolidate in this way that Tuxedo Farms would not be able to separate and form their own Village or Town.
Mr. Nichols replied that as of right now if there were 500 people in that area, who decided that they wanted to petition to form their own Village, they could, but with this proposal there would not be that opportunity.
Ken English wondered how the Town would determine an area and what boundaries they would use.
Mr. Nichols replied that they would probably use the master lots for their boundaries.
Bonny Takeuchi inquired as to what “the negatives” were and wondered what, if anything, they had forgotten to ask?
Mr Nichols responded that when he was asked by the Town Board to look into this proposal, they told him to try to eliminate any potential negatives and he felt they had done that. That said, any time a layer of government is added or things are changed in this way, there are some expenses associated with the process. For example an election or two and dissemination of information could cost money.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost thanked Denise Tavani and Shari Brooks for spearheading the effort to get Holiday lights put up in Town. The Highway Department workers were tied up with leaves but thanks to these two ladies, the Town managed to get it done anyway.
He also announced that the Police Department would be receiving three laptops to be installed in patrol cars from the County.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Diane Petrosky commented that she was aware that the request for State intervention with the turn into Duck Cedar Plaza had been discussed at the last meeting, but she had been out of town and unable to attend the meeting., As she lives right off of Route 17 she has an opinion and would like the opportunity to express it, She added that she knew it took time to get the State to do anything, but in the meantime she felt certain things could be done such as putting signs up to slow people down and/or cautioning them that people might be wanting to turn into the Plaza.
Supervisor Rost assured her that these things were already in the works and that the Police Department would be doing a traffic study as well as putting officers on patrol out there to slow people down.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were approved unanimously:
A Resolution for the Town to enter into a intermunicipal agreement with the County to accept 3 laptops for the Police Department.
a Resolution to request that the DOT do a safety and speed study for Route 17
a Resolution to renew Edward Brennan’s term as Fire Commissioner.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned
Public Hearing to Solicit Comments on the Proposed Sewer Rates at the Woodlands
Public Hearing on Tuxedo Farms special Permit Amendments
Informal Informational Hearing on the Proposal for Consolidated Town of Tuxedo
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Supervisor Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution Approving the Sale of the American Legion Hall
2. Resolution to Request that the DOT to do a safety and speed study for Route 17
Any other Business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Hearing on Tuxedo Farms Waivers December 11 7pm
On Monday, December 11 as part of the regularly scheduled Town Board meeting there will be a public hearing on Related Companies requested amendments to the Special Permit for the Tuxedo Farms development. Among other things, the amendments include a proposed change in approved building materials to allow for Vinyl siding, the elimination of shared driveways and garages in phase one of the project to be replaced by two large parking lots and on-street parking, and a change in the previously approved housing mix to allow for more one bedroom apartments and fewer two-bedroom units initially, with more 3 and 4 bedroom Townhouses to be added at the of phase one. The overall proposed bedroom count has not changed.
Detailed documentation can be found on the Town Website or by clicking here.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 27, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by announcing that on December 5, he would be back in Albany along with Town Consultant Michael Richardson to meet with PERB (NYS Public Employees Relations Board) regarding the police contract. Although he originally thought this could be accomplished in one meeting, they will need to go back in March.
Additionally, he reported the following:
The Board is still reviewing the Public Comments on the Comprehensive Plan and Town Consultants are working on the next steps. As these are made aware to them, they will pass them on to the public.
With only one month left in the year, the Board is asking their Department Heads to tighten their belts and only spend money on necessary expenses.
Looking ahead to 2018 and further, the Supervisor will start conducting meetings using Roberts Rules of Order.
The agenda item on Town/Village consolidation is meant to add a level of protection to the Town. For example with the Pilgrim Pipeline, the Town does not have the same level of protection as Villages or Cities. This step would correct that. There will be an information session on this subject at the next Town Board meeting on December 12.
Following up on the last meeting where a resident expressed concern over recent vandalism around Town, he reported that Detective Christian had been working on this case for some time and within the last week, there had been an arrest and confession in the case.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: John McNamara asked for an update on Michael Bruno and his request for action “by a certain date.” He was told that Mr. Bruno has an application being submitted to the LDC. Councilmember Reardon added “The ball’s in his court.” Helen Neuman asked if the details of the settlement agreement between the Town and Xicom could be revealed. She was told that this is a confidential agreement.
Mrs. Neuman argued that she was aware of this but she had thought that the Town was going to ask for permission to reveal the contents of the settlement to the residents of Clinton Woods.
Town Attorney Protter responded that as per the law, in order to get around the confidentiality, all parties have to agree and not all parties will agree.
Mrs. Neuman expressed her frustration with this saying that the residents believe that they have a right to know what is happening in their neighborhood and that they would not be as upset as they are if they had known what was happening when it was happening rather than after it was a “fait accompli.”
Councilmember Reardon added that the confidentiality was not up to the Board members and that it is not the obligation of the Board members to educate all residents on the terms of law suits.
Mrs. Neuman replied “If this was your neighborhood, you might feel differently,” and Mrs. Reardon responded that as a Board member, the entire Town was her neighborhood.
Police Chief Art Abbott thanked the Supervisor for giving credit to Detective Christian for his part in solving the vandalism case. He further thanked him for allowing the overtime necessary to bring the case to conclusion. The department worked closely with the Ramapo Police Department as well as the Village of Suffern Police to solve the case. When it was all done, Suffern closed out 4-5 cases and Ramapo closed out 7 cases!
Councilmember Lindsay commented that a lot of people had been asking about the turning lane going into Duck Cedar Plaza. She has been in touch with the Department Of Transportation about it and has learned that the property owner must be the one to request this. She will be in touch with the owner to see if they can get this in the works.
Agenda Items:
The following agenda items were acted upon:
A Resolution amending the minutes of the meeting held on September 11, 2017 was changed to include the entire finance agreement.
A Resolution to enter into a lease agreement with Ben Veltidi was tabled as they are still waiting on information.
A Notice of RFP (request for proposals) for sewer sludge removal was approved unanimously
A Resolution to allow Town Clerk to solicit RFPs for Planning Board Attorney, Town Attorney, Town Planner, ZBA Attorney and Town Engineer was approved 4-1 with Councilmember Loncar voting no.
A Notice of Informal Public Informational Hearing Proposal for a Consolidated Town of Tuxedo was passed unanimously. The hearing will be held on December 11th at the Board’s Regular Meeting.
Public Comments: Jim Hays wondered when the meeting with the Town’s architectural consultant and different Town boards with regard to the proposed waivers to the Tuxedo Farms project would be be held.
He was informed that it would be held sometime this week (they are still waiting to hear from some of the participants) and that it would not be a public meeting.
Mr. Hays asked why not.
He was told that there would not be a full quorum for the meeting and therefore it would not be public.
Mr. Hays strongly objected to this. He said there were rumors around that several of the Board members would vote in favor of granting the waivers to Related. He added that many many years ago, the Town Board spent a long time hammering out the special permit under which the project could be built and to grant these waivers now was, in his opinion, a violation of the confidence that the Town put in that Board as well as in the present Board. Additionally, he said that there were many ways that Tuxedo Farms could save some money for the builders/developers. For one, they could lower the price of the land and Mr. Hays wondered if that had even been discussed. “Why should the Town of Tuxedo bear the burden when…..what is Related doing?”
Councilmember Lindsay asked how the information gleaned at the upcoming meeting would be disseminated to the public.
The Supervisor told her that just as he had set out in an email to the Board, they were waiting to hear back from the Architect and Town Planner before scheduling the meeting. Once the meeting had happened and they had all gotten their information, they would decide how to get it out to the public.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum announced that there is compost, top-soil and mulch available for residents only (not landscapers or contractors) at the Quarry Field property. Additionally, he inquired as to why the lease with Ben Veltidi had not been executed.
The Supervisor replied that they were waiting to hear back from Mr. Veltidi.
Superintendent Dollbaum then asked what the status was with the leases for Wayne Mullaney and Derrick Fisher.
Supervisor Rost responded that he was waiting for information from Superintendent Dollbaum and Supervisor’s Clerk Shari Brooks including information from Orange and Rockland Utilities.
Superintendent Dollbaum replied, “Not from me. Let’s make that clear….not from me.”
Supervisor Rost then stated that Mrs. Brooks has “all the information on the metering on the way that you wanted to do it and what it will cost.”
Superintendent Dollbaum countered “not what I wanted to do. It has nothing to do with me and you made that clear.”
The Supervisor replied, “then I’m done with it. If their leases expire, and they go, then they go. I’m not going to argue with you over O&R and meters as we’ve been talking about it for 6 months now.” Councilman McMillen commented that he thought this was supposed to be done by October and now it was almost December.
Superintendent Dollbaum asked “by who?”
Councilman McMillen replied “I thought it was you.” Superintendent Dollbaum responded, “you gave it to Shari and I wash my hands of the whole site.”
Jim Hays commented that he had one more request which was that when the Board does vote on the Tuxedo Farms waivers, that each one state why they have voted the way they have.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting adjourned into an Executive Session for advice from Counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 20, 2017. Councilmember Loncar was absent and Councilmember Reardon participated via speakerphone.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Adopt Final Town Budget – This was passed unanimously.
Resolution to Schedule a Public Hearing on Tuxedo Farms Special Permit Amendment. – Supervisor Rost proposed holding this meeting on December 11 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Lindsay expressed concern, commenting that she felt that the Town Board had not had enough time to do their due diligence on the proposed changes. She urged the Board to hold a workshop meeting with all of their Boards and consultants before conducting a public hearing.
The Supervisor responded that they could schedule such a meeting for next week once they had checked the availability of the various Board members and consultants.
Mrs. Lindsay then suggested holding the public hearing at a later date.
The Supervisor responded he didn’t understand why she didn’t want to hear what the public had to say on December 11.
She replied that she didn’t know what they would be giving the people to comment on.
The Supervisor said there was A LOT of information available and he wasn’t sure what else she thought she was going to hear.
Councilmember Lindsay responded that she thought the Boards needed to meet as a group in order to properly “”hammer out” what had been said.
Supervisor Rost replied that he knew that they were still waiting on information from the consultants, but they would need to give notice of a public meeting within a certain time frame (10 days) if they wanted to hold it. This is why he is proposing to hold the meeting on December 11. If they find, after the workshop that they are not ready, they can cancel the meeting and reschedule it. He further stated since he had been a member of the Board, he felt that they had never rushed through a vote and he wasn’t going to start now. If they feel that they need more information then they’ll get more information.
Schedule Public Hearing on Woodlands Sewer rates – This was scheduled for Monday, November 27 at 7:00 immediately followed by the regular Town Board meeting.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 6:30 pm. All members were present.
Continuation of Public Hearing on Tuxedo Farms, Proposed Changes:
Andrew Dance of Related spoke first and said that it has been a long journey with the application and that at this point, they would like to bring it to some sort of conclusion. The process began with a marketing study for the first four neighborhoods approximately two years ago. Mr. Dance stressed that Related believes that they will make the most amount of money from the project by sticking to the business plan of selling the property to builders who, in turn, would build out the project under the Permit, which was approved by the Town. At the time of the marketing study, the builders had two main concerns with the project: 1-uncertainty about the health of the High School and 2-they were uncomfortable with the material requirements in the design guidelines. Mr. Dance stated that he had spent time speaking with School Board members and also, more recently, members of the community about the school. Now Related is looking to bring about some conclusion to all the talking.
Councilmember Reardon observed that it had been a long time since the plans were laid out and asked Mr. Dance if he could speak about “consensus” and the type of people who would be in the proposed one-bedroom apartments.
Mr. Dance responded that the proliferation of multifamily housing in suburbia is being driven by Millenials who seem to want to spend less money on housing and maintenance than their predecessors did.
Councilmember Lindsay commented that she had attended several urban planning sessions and conferences where it was shown that there is interest in downtown areas where people could walk to downtown as well as to public transportation. This seems to be the way things are going in the Metropolitan area so she doesn’t understand market studies that suggest that Millenials would be interested in units where they have to have a car to get to the train station or anywhere else they want to go. She wondered if Mr. Dance could show the Board these market studies.
Mr. Dance responded that the neighborhood in question is the one closest to the Hamlet area and that it is considered walkable to Downtown.
Councilmember McMillen asked if there were any restrictions as to how many cars per unit would be allowed.
The answer was yes, these types of restrictions can be imposed. Councilmember Reardon next wanted to know once the units were built, who would manage and own them?
Mr. Dance replied that they would be managed by the owner, whoever that may be. He then added that a lot of builders sell their properties to insurance companies, who professionally manage them.
Mrs. Reardon then asked if they would be able to restrict the number of people allowed to reside in each 1-bedroom unit contractually with renters.
The answer was yes. It was further suggested that the Fire Code would be the best way to impose these restrictions.
Town Planner Bonnie Franson interjected that the Fire Code was not as restrictive as people thought.
Town Attorney Nichols added that the owner could impose restrictions on how many people would be allowed occupy a unit.
There followed a discussion of how many cars renters would be allowed and where they would be parked. Mr. Dance suggested that a majority of the cars would be parked in the parking lots with some of the cars on the street. It was mentioned that parking might turn into a problem with the addition of snow. Mr. Dance responded that looking at the history of the amount of snowfall over the last few years, they felt this would not be a big problem.
Mr. Dance then presented some renderings of the proposed buildings commenting that the buildings located on the upper parking lot would be bigger with 12 units per building and the ones on the lower lot smaller with 8 units per building. All buildings will have 3 stories from the parking lot and 4 stories from the street. There will be no elevators. The material used in the bottom level of the buildings will be stone and the upper levels are to be done in wide planked vinyl siding. The very top will be hardy board with asphalt/shingles for the roof. The style presented was called “Adirondack style.”
Mr. Dance next commented that while he personally had not grown up in a house with vinyl siding, when he talked to people who lived in them, he had found that they loved them because they don’t need to be repainted and have low-no maintenance.
In conversation with the Town Attorney, Supervisor Rost stated that he wanted to close the public hearing and then call a meeting in a few days to vote on the matter.
Councilmember Lindsay objected to this suggesting that many people hadn’t known they would be able to comment on this that evening as it had not appeared on the meeting agenda. It was pointed out that it did appear on the revised agenda, issued earlier that day, and that also that 3 weeks ago at the last regular meeting, when the public hearing was continued, it had been announced that there would be further comments at the November 13 meeting.
The Town Attorney commented that there were a lot of people present at the meeting. He recommended that they open the meeting to public comments and if it appeared that all comments were made and heard, they could then close the hearing. If it seemed that everyone had not been heard, they could extend it David du Pont wanted to know if the change to allow vinyl siding was the fifth change being requested to the application.
Supervisor Rost responded that this was the time for public comment, not questions and answers.
Mr. du Pont reiterated that he just wanted to know if this was, in fact, the fifth change to the application.
Andrew Dance stated that Related does not have an application before any of the Town Boards rather they have a Special Permit. Under this permit, the Planning Board is allowed to grant waivers on site-specific conditions. To date, there have been 4 waivers to the applications for site plan approvals for the first neighborhoods. The changes currently being proposed, however, constitute an amendment to the Special Permit which is an entirely different process.
Mr. du Pont then stated that he understood that Town Planner Franson was in the process of putting together a list of all the changes that the Planning Board has granted to the project since the Special Permit was issued in 2004. He observed that he thought it would be important for the Board to see this list before voting as many of the Board members had not been on the Board long enough to be aware of all the changes that have been made to the application.
Mr. du Pont then spoke on the subject of the “high school health,” commenting that although the enrollment of the high school was now at an all time low, he felt it was important to know that once a high school is closed in the state of New York, it is extremely difficult to reopen it. This information was based on conversations he had with a member of the New York State Board of Education, who stated that he didn’t know of a single school outside of an urban area, which had ever been reopened. Mr. du Pont feels this is important for everyone to keep in mind because if we don’t have a high school when the Tuxedo Farms project is finished, we will be in a lot of trouble.
Ann Marie Voss expressed disappointment in Mr. Dance’s stance on the school. She said she had been putting up with many inconveniences from the construction including bulldozers at 10 pm because she had been told it was being done “for the school.” Now she hears Mr. Dance saying builders don’t want to come because of the school.
Richard Bartlett stated that he had attended the last meeting when the public hearing was opened at which Mr. Dance was not present. It had been his understanding that the meeting had ended with a promise that there would be a workshop with the Town Board, Planning Board and Architectural Review Board and wondered what had happened with that.
Mr. Dance responded that he had not been able to attend the last meeting. He personally had cancelled the proposed workshop meeting because those meetings cost Related a lot of money (for consultants, etc. to be present) and such a workshop with those exact same boards had already occurred last Spring.
Mr. Bartlett also said that it was his recollection that Henry Heffner, who had been present at the meeting, had apologized for and disowned the mock up built to display the vinyl material.
Mr. Heffner responded that he had explained that the mock up was presented so that people could look at the materials and not necessarily the craftsmanship of the building. He reiterated that if he had known that, he would have used a builder to construct the mock up rather than their general contractor. In hindsight, since the issue is about the materials, he feels they should have just presented the materials and not a mock up.
Mr. Bartlett additionally stated that it had been his understanding that the Board was going to decide whether or not vinyl would be acceptable at all and, if they decided that it was, what specifically the requirements would be of the vinyl.
Councilmember McMillen remarked that this was his recollection as well.
Andrew Dance commented that there was a specified list of architectural grade vinyl types within the material guidelines. The mock up was constructed of one of those specified vinyls.
Mr. Bartlett replied that when he went to look at the mock up, it wasn’t the construction that he objected to, it was the fact that he found the vinyl exceedingly flimsy.
Mr. Dance replied that vinyl is flimsy….that’s how it works.
Town Planner Franson interjected, suggesting that what people might want to see is what the thickness of the vinyl would be.
She was told that the sample on the mock up was the thickness of what is being proposed.
Councilmember McMillen said that he needed to see a finished product using this material and he requested a list of completed sites, built with this material that he could drive to and see.
Andrew Dance responded by expressing his frustration because such a list has been provided to the Board and, to his knowledge, none of the Board had bothered to take a look at any of them.
Both Mike Reardon and Michele Lindsay responded saying that they had visited at least one of the samples on the list.
Mr. Barlett next expressed his confusion because he said he had heard Mr. Dance saying that Related had been having a hard time attracting builders for the project, but at the same time, they had decided to go ahead and construct the infrastructure. He feels that the community is saying that they are afraid that the requested material will lower the quality of the project and, at the same time, it sounds like Related is saying they don’t have a builder at the existing quality but they also don’t seem to have one at the lower quality either! It seems to him as though if the Town Board were to say yes to this, it would only be because it would provide for some forward movement on the project. He also recollected that at the last meeting someone had suggested that they would present “all of the ways that the project has been dumbed down.”
Mr. Dance took “incredible offense” to the last statement explaining that this project has always been something that relied on design guidelines and established standards and that this has not changed. He suggested that the fact that the “production builders” are not using wood or hardy board in this region is simply a reality. Things change over time. He went on to say that many waivers had been necessary with the first application for Northridge, due to engineering problems with the site and that the project had been changed from single-family dwellings to the apartment buildings. The number of waivers issued is an engineering discussion only. It has nothing to do with “dumbing the project down,” which he considers very insulting considering the amount of time and money Related has already invested.
Mr. Bartlett remarked that he was struggling with the fact that waivers might be granted without knowing whether or not this would produce a project. As someone who does transactions for a living, he is used to knowing “if I do x, y will happen,” but it seems as though what Mr. Dance is saying is that he needs to be given the additional latitude of vinyl siding but then he is hoping that a builder will say yes to that because they haven’t said yes to anything else. He has offered no guarantee that this will produce a builder.
Supervisor Rost interjected that he was not hearing the same thing as Mr. Bartlett. Speaking only for himself, he suggested that what he was hearing Mr. Dance say was that he needed this change in order to get some houses built.
Mr. Dance then stated that he was not having any trouble attracting builders. He then reiterated that builders today are not using wood and they are not using hardy board. He suggested that if anyone were to take a look at projects currently being constructed in this area, homes that be sold at $450k to $1.2 m, they are being built with the materials that have been proposed. This is how people are building today in this area.
Bonny Takeuchi began by saying she has a son who is remodeling a house in Cornwall and that he has been trying to find someone to put hardy board on the house and it has been impossible to find anyone to do so.
As far as parking is concerned, she would prefer off street parking and wonders if not having reserved parking would make it harder to sell the units. Concerning the building material, she wonders if the reduced cost material will deter people from wanting to build with higher priced materials in the same development, further noting that she was referencing the single-family homes that are slated to be built later in the project. She then stated that she had vinyl siding on her home and has had it for 30 years. There are no cracks; she washes it and it looks pristine. The bedroom mix is the topic of most concern to her as she feels there is a need for housing with 2 or 3 bedrooms within walking distance of the Town and the school. She heard the developer say that they had done research but has not seen any evidence of such research. She urged the Board to do their due diligence on this matter and confirm what Mr. Dance has been saying. Expressing her frustration, she said that she had seen20 years of development and planning and months of blasting yet not one structure has been built. There are promises of LDC funds to be spent revitalizing the Hamlet and yet no agreements with Mr. Bruno have been enacted and nothing else in addition to what he has proposed has been acted on. There is no support for the development for our High School. In fact, it seems to be just the opposite. As Suffern and Monroe School Districts face crises of their own, Tuxedo residents are asked to sign on with one of them in spite of the fact that to do so would mean giving up local control over education, a decision that would irreversible. She has heard talk about the formation of a committee to look into the economic viability of the high school but she hasn’t heard the names of any hamlet residents on that committee, which she feels is wrong. She wonders what will the residents get if these concessions are made to the developer? Commenting that she was speaking on behalf of the Hamlet residents, she then stated “We are tired of living in the land that time forgot. We want new neighbors, new students and new businesses.” She finished by asking the Town Board to bargain on the behalf of the residents to bring about the growth that they need.
JoAnn Hanson commented that she felt it was important that the approvals in question should be for the first phase of the development only or timed to show that making the proposed concessions would actually lead to the development. She finds that while Millenials might be looking for one-bedroom residences, if one does the research they will see that with time, these same people are shifting over and looking for larger units of 3 and 4 bedrooms. She thinks that this shift is the more important part of this proposal and sometimes she feels that the discussion of vinyl is just a distraction from this more important discussion. She believes that she understands the dilemma that the Board is faced with because the project has not moved forward, but she also feels that the fiduciary duty they have for everyone is to make the approval limited and to make the market prove that if these changes are granted, something will actually happen. She asked them not to change the whole project when they have not seen any proof to date that things will actually get built.
Ken English remarked that Councilmember Reardon had asked about who was expected to live in the Northridge section of the project, but he had not heard anything said about how the changes would affect the rest of the project and particularly the single family homes which he feels will bring the most promise to our community and will bring homes that will have a ratable that would be tax beneficial to the Town as well as a resurgence in the enrollment at the school. He wondered if the market analysis still showed a demand for the private homes that are supposed to be built?
Andrew Dance expressed his frustration at this and wondered if he could just turn back the clocks to 2008 and because all of this had been studied ad nauseam. Additionally, he suggested that the reason they had gotten to this point was because of the single family homes. There are over 900 proposed units of single family homes that will produce school children.
John MacNamara commented he was a proud owner of a townhouse in The Woodlands. He said he had used the word proud because he feels that The Woodlands is a nice community and, what he saw tonight of the proposed Tuxedo Farms looks even nicer. He further suggested that he didn’t think it was the responsibility of Related to build anything else in Town, but if they built what they have been given permission for and people buy the units and move to Tuxedo, there will be money for other things and businesses will be able to open. He urged the Board not to get stuck on “minutia” which might could make the planning process drag on for another 20 years before anything actually gets built. He called on the Board to work with what they have and to make sure that the development happens. Mike Santoianni commented that he felt the Board should not get involved in how many people comprise a family unit and restricting how many people can live in an apartment. Instead, he proposed that the Town consider incentivizing the developer by offering them more units. Instead of cheapening the product or taking a chance on more one bedroom units which would yield more transient residents, why not offer the developer more units so that he can make more money off the land?
Andrew Dance next stated he wanted to clarify that the proposal was for 180 units. Of those, 72 are 2 bedroom apartments. Of the 108 remaining, 30% are “one and a den” apartments. They will range from 750 square, feet to 1000 square feet, and will rent for $2,225 to $3000 per month. They are luxury apartments.
Supervisor Rost then made a resolution closing the public hearing, further stating that the Board would accept written comments for 3 more days. Such comments should be sent to the Town Clerk. The resolution passed 4-1 with Councilmember Lindsay voting against.
Public Hearing on 2018 Preliminary Budget: Supervisor Rost stated that the proposed budget has an increase of 2.21%. This year’s tax cap is 2.69.
There were no public comments on the budget so the hearing was closed.
Continuation of Public Hearing on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan: Town Planner Bonnie Franson began her remarks by stating that anyone who wanted to review the plan could find it online on the Town website (search for September 2017 Updated Comprehensive Plan). Highlights include
Adding sustainability trends and also includes objectives to be climate smart and a clean energy community. It’s important to put this language in the plan because having it in an adopted plan makes the Town eligible for various grants.
Acknowledging that there probably will not be significant sewering of Southfields.
A reference to continuing to promote the “River Trail” along the Ramapo
Recommendations to pay attention to the Tuxedo Hamlet, making it pedestrian and business friendly following the Town Center study which is an appendix to the Plan.
A discussion about slowing traffic through Town. Among other ways that are discussed is a road diet. This discussion was put into the plan years ago and during the time it was added, an additional place for traffic to go was expected (the Thruway interchange),
A consideration of impacts on the Town’s water sources
Updated demographics for the Town
Plans for Quarry Field
Changes to the Tuxedo Union Free School District
Discussion of possibly adding additional commuter parking at the 17A interchange
New language about the Tourism Business area and specifically with the Renaissance Faire property and what could potentially occur there.
Supervisor Rost inquired what could be done to get the Quarry Field property removed from the flood plain and there was a brief discussion of this. It was followed by a short discussion on recreation fees from developers.
John MacNamera asked if the plan allowed for a large commercial project, for example a Lowe’s store, to come into Town. He was told that this would be a zoning question and that there are sections in Town, which are zoned to accommodate this.
Damon Patrick, an attorney representing Faire Partners (the Renaissance Faire ) stated that he had submitted a letter explaining why they felt that the Tourism Business zone was not viable or feasible for their property. In brief, there is a restrictive covenant on the deed for their property, which doesn’t allow for this kind of zone.
Town Attorney Nichol responded that he had read Mr. Patrick’s letter on this subject and that the Town was not going to restrict the Renaissance Faire property, but if their private covenant restricts them, that would be something for them to deal with privately. The Town will make sure that there are methods by which anyone who has problems using their property will be able to get relief.
Since there were no other public comments, Supervisor Rost made a motion to close the public hearing and it was passed unanimously.
John MacNamara commented with his congratulations to those members who had run for office and been reelected and also offered his thanks to retiring Councilmember Loncar for his years of service.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost stated that the Town was getting close to having a lease agreement with the companies who are leasing space at the Highway Department. He also announced that Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has built containers for mulch and soil at Quarry Field and these things will be available to Town residents again. He also reported that the Town is still working with the Police over what they believed was a contract and what may not be a contract. To this end, they have spent some time up in Albany and are due back there in March.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that she is in receipt of several letters to the Board and the LDC Board in support of Michael Bruno and his plans for the buildings he owns in Town.
Councilmember Reardon replied that Mrs. Lindsay should ask him to submit an application. The Town still hasn’t received one and there is a process to be followed. As soon as an application is received, the Town would love to work with Mr. Bruno. Supervisor Rost interjected that he had met with Kathy from Mr. Bruno’s office last Friday and that she was putting together an application for the LDC.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that there were other entities, who were interested in the LDC funds besides Mr. Bruno. The Supervisor responded that the Town attorneys had made some revisions to the application and as soon as that is ready, it will be uploaded to the Town website so as to be available for all. The application has already been made available to Michael Bruno.
Councilmember Lindsay also announced that on Wednesday, Al Fusco would be coming to meet with some people on the committee for Hamlet revitalization. Supervisor Rost corrected Mrs. Lindsay stating there a committee for Hamlet Revitalization had not been assembled, but the Chamber of Commerce had been working on this.
Councilmember Reardon wondered on what authority they had been doing so.
It was explained that representatives of the local businesses were putting together a“plan” which would outline those things they felt were needed in order for businesses to be more successful in Town. Councilmember Lindsay is also recommending that the Town have engineering plans drawn up as these are requested whenever grants are applied for..
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution accepting the resignation of Greg Stevens as Receiver of Taxes effective December 1, 2017
A Resolution appointing Barbara Ginley as part time Court Clerk at $18/hour
A Resolution appointing Ralph Brooks to clean the Town owned buildings (Town Hall, Train Station, Police Station, Highway office and break room) weekly to be paid by voucher once a month in the amount of $1400 per month until such time as a reasonable bid is accepted for this job. There was a great deal of discussion about this and none of the Board members was happy about this. However, the Supervisor stated that there was an RFP out on this job and no one wanted the job. This appointment is just an interim one until a permanent bid can be accepted.
Public Comments: Town Clerk Donna Matthews reported that she had been contacted by an organization called Stars for the Troops. They collect old US flags that have been retired and cut the stars from them in order to redistribute to veterans. As such they send Mrs. Matthews a supply of the stars to be distributed in Tuxedo. Mrs. Matthews presented the first one to Councilmember David McMillen. She stated that if anyone would give her the names of additional veterans in Town, she would send them a star.
Joanna Sloan said she was a new resident of Tuxedo having only been here for 4 years. She and her husband live on Schoolhouse Lane. “You know me very well, Mike, you have not returned my phone calls,” she stated.
The Supervisor replied that he had returned her calls and upon verifying her number, showed her his phone to prove it.
She retorted that he had returned her husband’s phone calls, but not hers. She then continued on to say that her husband’s truck had been broken into 4 times although there have been 5 attempts. Pointing to the 3 police officers who were present, she said “these nice people have been there numerous times.” She then demanded of the Supervisor and Board “what are you going to do to protect the Town? There was a drug overdose on our street! I understand that you have vetoed down what these people want, but what are you going to do to protect the Town? Do you know what these people do all day long? They try to protect us and you are taking that away. So I just want to know what you are going to do?” She wondered if the Board was planning to turn down the proposed Police contract again in March?
The Supervisor replied that the contract had already been ratified.
Mrs. Sloan then wanted to know if they would turn down the new contract.
“What new contract?” responded the Supervisor.
At this point Officer Shiloh, PBA President began to explain their side of things with regard to the contract and the Board cut him off stating that this meeting was not time or place to be discussing the details of the police contract.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Voters in Tuxedo hit the polls on Tuesday, re-electing Supervisor Mike Rost, who’s candidacy was unchallenged, as well as two council members, Ken English and Dave McMillan.
Here are the preliminary results:
Mike Rost - 492
Ken English - 513
Dave McMillen - 413
Rich Rigoli - 393
Public Hearing on Town of Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan November 13
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION ON THE PROPOSED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to Section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a continuation of the Public Hearing at Town Hall, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York, on Monday November 13, 2017 at 6:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible for the purpose of soliciting public comments on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan Update. Copies of the proposed Comprehensive Plan update are available for inspection at Town Hall, on the Town of Tuxedo website at www.tuxedogov.org, at the Tuxedo Park Library, 227 Route 17, Tuxedo, New York and at the Village of Tuxedo Park, Village Hall, 80 Lorillard Rd., Tuxedo Park, NY.
All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing.
Public Hearing on 2018 Preliminary Budget November 13
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 2018 PRELIMINARY TOWN BUDGET
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a public hearing on the 2018 Preliminary Town Budget at the Tuxedo Town Hall, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, NY on Monday November 13, 2017at 6:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible. A Copy of the 2018 Preliminary Budget has been filed with the Town Clerk’s Office and is available for inspection by any interested person Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and can also be viewed online at www.tuxedogov.org NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that the proposed salaries for the elected officials of the Town, are as follows: Town Councilmembers $ 6,702.00 Each
Town Justice Brown $ 24,799.00
Town Justice Newman $ 23,927.00
Supervisor $ 33.728.00
Tax Collector $ 11,476.00Town Clerk $ 55,500.00
Superintendent of Highways $ 85,000.00
Tuesday, November 7 is Election Day in the Town of Tuxedo. This year, Supervisor Mike Rost is running unopposed for re-election while three candidates are vying for two open seats on the Town Board. In an effort to help residents get a better idea of who the Town Board candidates are, why they have chosen to run and which issues they believe to be of upmost importance to the community, TPFYI presented them each with the same three questions.. Below please find their un-ededited answers in the order they were received.
Name: David McMillen
Briefly, why are you running for public office, and what credentials do you have for this role?
I have enjoyed serving on the Tuxedo Town Council for the past 4 years. I value community service and the opportunity to address the issues that face our town. I take very seriously the responsibility of being a public servant. I will continue to apply common sense principles in the decision making process, and I will work diligently and cooperatively with my fellow board members to find common ground that serves the best interests of the Town and its residents. I want to continue my work to make Tuxedo a first rate affordable place to live, work and raise a family,
I spent 2 years on the town Planning Board and now almost 4 on the Town Board. It is important to note that there is a rather steep learning curve for understanding municipal law and processes when first coming into office and it takes quite a long time before a brand new council member is able to feel comfortable with the role. As a result of my experience on the board, I am a top level contributor and would like to take that seasoning into one more term.
What are the major town issues that you feel require your attention?
Of course the main issue that has plagued the town at large is the Tuxedo Farms project. Although the project has received negative attention since its inception, it can become a valuable growth asset to the town if we continue to hold the developer to the conditions set forth in the special permit.
Secondly, we must continue to keep a steady eye on the Town's financial condition. In my first year of office, I faced the unfortunate reality of the findings from the 2014 NYS Comptroller's report that resulted from a top down audit that was requested by Supervisor Mike Rost as he came into office. The Town's financial risk rating was the highest in the state at the time. We were left with only one option in order to get to financial solvency or we faced a state monitor coming in and running the Town. It was indeed unfortunate that we were forced to make cuts to services and although I was deeply against any cuts, the math kept proving to me that the only other option at the time was to raise taxes over 30% in order to maintain the cash outlay required to keep all services intact at that level. Our action plan sustained our ability to keep taxes at the NY caps in 3 of the 4 years I have served which includes the upcoming budget for 2018. We are in the process of rebuilding the overnight police coverage which to me has always been of paramount importance. We have successfully converted to the Orange County 911 system and have integrated the police department into it seamlessly. Most importantly, we received notification from the NY Comptroller's office that Tuxedo has now fallen completely off the "towns in severe fiscal stress" list and we now have a score that reflects fiscal responsibility. I want to keep it that way.
Specifically, what differentiates you from other candidates seeking the same Town Council position?
I work from my home office in Tuxedo and have the unique ability to be available 24x7 for all business needs of the town as well as taxpayer concerns. Experience of almost 6 years of town service. Dedication to problem solving using high level analytical techniques. Always coming to the table with a proposed solution for a problem I identify. Ability to work as a collaborative team member rather than hold my own opinions in higher regard or worry about political affiliations. I work for all Tuxedo residents, not for special interests. I am passionate about Tuxedo and its resident's needs and I reflect that in my work ethic which at times may seem louder and stronger than most, but you can't afford to be weak in this role. Challenges appear daily and I believe I am better suited than most to step up when it comes to protecting Tuxedo and its residents.
Name: Kenneth English
Briefly, why are you running for public office,
I’ve been involved in community organizing in Northern Tuxedo for more than ten years, most recently as President of the Northern Tuxedo Residents Association. I appreciate community service and I think I have talents that can benefit the Board.
I’d like to add my years of managerial experience to the established Town Board. I believe in making decisions through examining varied viewpoints, thoughtful discussion and listening, building consensus, supporting a decision and executing.
Provide geographic diversity in representation. I would be the only Town Board member from Northern Tuxedo
I’d hope to inspire a united Tuxedo and help to bring the various neighborhoods together.
Encourage residents to be involved in the town in any way they can contribute.
and what credentials do you have for this role?
Professional Experience:
The New York Public Library - Twenty years as Director of Adult Education. I manage a budget of over $6,000,000, lead a team of 120 employees, and establish a vision for programming that serves more than 12,000 students annually. I write grant proposals and work with a development team to secure funding for program growth.
Tuxedo Community Involvement:
Acting President of The Northern Tuxedo Residents Association
Volunteer with NY/NJ Trail Conference for ten years
Attend many Town Board meetings and liaise for NTRA
What are the major town issues that you feel require your attention?
Ensuring Tuxedo Farms lives up to the promises that were negotiated over many decades
Attracting appropriate development that compliments and benefits from the incredible park lands and family oriented community.
Monitoring the town’s fiscal position
Inspiring thoughtful discussion and citizen involvement in town government. We could develop strategies for nurturing the next generation of leadership
Specifically, what differentiates you from other candidates seeking the same Town Council position?
I don’t know Richard Rigoli but respect his tenure on the Planning Board.
I know David McMillan from his work on the Town Board, from attending meetings and hearing him speak on issues. I find him to be a thoughtful contributor to discussion who brings passion to the job. If elected, I’d be proud to work with him.
Name: Rich Rigoli
Briefly, why are you running for public office, and what credentials do you have for this role?
Four years ago, I ran for a seat on the Town Board because I believed it was time for a change in Town government. Under Supervisor Rost, the change has been occurring, but I feel there is more work to be done and I want to be a part of it. I feel I am uniquely qualified because I have experience on both the Town’s Architectural Review Board as well as the Planning Board.
What are the major town issues that you feel require your attention?
Some of the major issues facing the Town are first and foremost Tuxedo Farms. Our Town needs growth and I feel we need to do everything we can to bring this project to fruition while holding the developer to the conditions in the Special Permit that he agreed to. Also, I think the Town needs to take a hard look at the businesses located right on the Ramapo River. It is so important that we make sure they are following all the procedures to make sure it is not harming our river which is a supply of drinking water for so many people. I also feel the Board needs to keep a keen eye on what’s happening North of Town with the creation of the Town of Palm Tree. Since a portion of our Town is in the Monroe Woodbury School District, we need to keep abreast of what’s happening up there and help make sure it doesn’t have a negative impact on the school district.
Specifically, what differentiates you from other candidates seeking the same Town Council position?
I am different from the other candidates because I offer experience on both the ARB and Planning Board. This is so important as the Town Board charts the future for our Town.
Polls will be open on November 7 from 6am-9pm.
Orange County voters who will be out of the County on Election Day may request an Absentee Ballot Application by contacting our office at 845-360-6500 or 1-800-879-POLL, by email at elections@orangecountygov.com The last day to postmark application for a ballot is: Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Voters may also obtain a ballot in person at the Board of Elections office at 75 Webster Ave, Goshen between the hours of 9:00AM to 5:00PM, Monday thru Friday until November 6, 2017. The Board of Elections will have extended hours for Absentee Balloting on the following dates and times: Thursday, November 2 from 9am-8pm & Saturday, November 4 from 9am-12pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, October 23, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Councilmembers Loncar and Reardon were absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost said he had been very busy with the budget. He reported that Michael Bruno had approached the Town Board, as well as the LDC, requesting funds in order to get busy on some projects in Town. According to the Supervisor, Mr. Bruno is looking to tear down the Junction building in order to build a parking lot. He wants to put a market in the IGA building which would have a wood fired oven, rotisserie chicken, pizza, coffee during the day and a tavern at night. He has indicated that he is ready to get going and if he doesn’t get the permits that he needs when he needs them, he is prepared to build these things in Sloatsburg. He has given the Town a 10-day time period to produce the permissions which would include an indication that he will be able to get $1.4 million from the LDC. ($350,000 for the Junction site, $350,000 for the outside of the IGA building and then another $700,000 for the IGA) He would also like to convert some of the space in the building into retail sites, which he would put up for rent. While he has told the Board what he wants to do, he has not formally submitted plans to the Planning Board as yet.
Supervisor Rost also reported that although the Police had stated that they accepted the proposed contract, there have been some changes with their leadership in the PBA (Will Hall has stepped down as President and has been replaced by Officer Shiloh) and they have subsequently stated that they want changes in the contract. There have been meetings scheduled up in Albany with all parties present to decide if the Police have the right to change their minds after they had indicated that they accepted the contract.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that the NYS Department Of Transportation was looking into finding a solution for the left hand lane turn into the Duck Cedar Plaza. While they haven’t come up with a solution as yet, they are meeting and trying to find one.
They have partially trimmed the hedges along Route 17 from Van Zandt road going north, but she feels (and everyone agreed) that there is still a sight limitation for anyone trying to turn North out of Van Zandt Rd. Since the State owns the right of way along Route 17, this will be their problem/decision to make. The Town is still concerned about this as they consider it an issue of safety. Accordingly, Highway Superintendent Dollbaum will draft a letter to the property owner to see if he would agree to lower the hedge.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: John MacNamara noted that the Supervisor kept referencing digging out of a financial hole and wondered when he expected that the Town would be whole again.
Supervisor Rost replied that the financial strategy has been a “Five Year Plan.” They made a lot of strides last year and feel they are pretty much on target to hit their goal.
Mr. MacNamara also stated that he recalled Michael Bruno was considering putting in a hostel on the second floor of the IGA building as well as outdoor dining. He wondered if that was what he was trying to get through now or if he had changed his plan.
He was told that for now, the plan had been scaled back.
Andy Berish asked for an explanation of the resolution granting a moratorium waiver. He was told that this was for the Tuxedo Manor Apartments who had been given permission to build additional units back in 2006. The units were not built at that time, but recently the applicant has come back before the Boards requesting permission to build the units.
John MacNamara wondered about the building on the corner of Long Meadow Road and Sloatsburg Rd. Specifically, he wanted to know what the building would be used for. He was told it had been approved for offices only. The property is zoned R/O but nothing other than offices has been submitted.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed unanimously:
a Resolution to schedule a public hearing on the budget for November 13, 2017 at 7 pm.
a Resolution to schedule a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan for November 13, 2017 at 7 pm.
a Resolution declaring vehicles as surplus and authorizing a bid for sale – these are two trucks the Highway Department has recently replaced.
a Resolution granting a Moratorium Waiver – this is for the Tuxedo Manor Apartments who are looking to build more apartments behind the ones that already exist.
a Resolution to grant a Special Permit for Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Race – this is an annual occurance.
Public Comments: Claudia Bakhtiary wondered if granting Tuxedo Manor Apartments permission to build another 32 1 bedroom units might not be creating a glut on the market for that kind of housing.
Supervisor Rost responded that he thought the projects at Tuxedo Manor and Tuxedo Farms were two entirely different situations which would attract different renters.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that the mulch and topsoil bins have been completed and moved to Quarry Field.
He also stated there is a town-wide problem with the train station which is locked and he wonders if it will remain locked. In the ensuing discussion, it was stated that the bathrooms would remain locked with access provided only to people who rent the station. People have been regularly “trashing” the bathrooms and doing so in such a way that no one is willing to clean them any longer. It’s a vandalism issue as the toilet paper is also being stolen on a regular basis. Councilmember McMillen suggested installing cameras on the premises.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum also stated that the consent order from the DEC on the Highway property has been lifted for the most part. If the Department can get some of the dirt out, the DEC would no longer have to be there. Everyone agreed that the Town is very close to having the site cleaned up.
Police Officer Shiloh added his opinion that if the DOT would install a turning lane at the Duck Cedar Plaza, that would solve the problems they have been experiencing there. The Police Department is in favor of adding the turning lane. He also added his approval of locking the train station bathrooms.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into Executive Session to discuss a Labor Contract.
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Budget Workshop to discuss 2018 Budget
2. Resolution for sign permit, Tuxedo Wellness.
3. Resolution to schedule Budget Public Hearing for November 13, 2017
4. Resolution to Schedule Comprehensive Plan Public Hearing
Any other Business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Comments
Budget Transfers - Modifications
Vouchers
The Town Board met on Monday, October 10, 2017 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
After welcoming everyone, Supervisor Rost stated that he knew that most of the audience was there to hear about the Xicom settlement so he was going to amend the order of the agenda and take that item first. He began by introducing Monica Snitily who has been one of the principle negotiators on the case over the last several years. He then asked her to provide a brief history and a current update. Ms. Snitily began by explaining that the settlement in question had settled three active cases all brought by SRS (owner of the Xicom property) against the Town and “various individuals related to the Town.” SRS initially filed a case against the Town in 2007 and it went through all the different phases of litigation, including appeals after which it was decided that SRS would have to comply with all zoning regulations. SRS then brought two State court actions and one Federal court action. The State actions have taken a back seat to the Federal action and the Federal action has been pending since 2010. She went on to explain that a typical case has various phases: 1-the pleading 2-answers to the pleading or move to dismiss 3-discovery 4-another motion to dismiss and 5-trial. This particular case had nine actions and was sixty-five pages long. Ms. Snitily filed a motion to dismiss and the Judge dismissed five of the nine complaints leaving four. Based on those four complaints, SRS was claiming well over $4 million in damages. Considering the current state of the case (and the fact that the case is still facing discovery which would entail many hours of legal work as well as the likelihood of the case going to trial all of which could well take an additional five to-eight years) a settlement was recommended. The terms of the settlement are confidential. Neither party has admitted to any wrong doing. It has been determined that the property will have to go before all the pertinent Town Boards to get permissions before any building is allowed. Because Town Building Inspector David Maikisch has been sued individually in this matter, it has also been determined that he cannot serve as the Building Inspector for the property. The Town will be able to appoint another Building Inspector for this particular property.
Clinton Woods resident Sue Scher inquired as to what SRS was ultimately looking to do with the property. She was told that the Town does not know. They believe that SRS will sell the property and then we will see what a new owner proposes to do.
Town Judge and Clinton Woods resident Sandy Newman asked a lot of questions about the case and a pending motion to dismiss. He was told that the case was no longer pending because of the settlement.
Town Judge and Clinton Woods resident Sandy Newman asked a lot of questions about the case and a pending motion to dismiss. He was told that the case was no longer pending because of the settlement.
Several other residents had questions about what would and would not be allowed on the property. They were told that any applications for this property would need to go in front of all the appropriate Boards for approval. Nothing has been changed. Whatever existed before is what exists now. Several different residents stated that the owner is telling people, via a website, that he has 35 parking spaces and has been approved for certain businesses. It was reiterated by Supervisor Rost that the number of parking spaces is consistent with what it has always been and that no new permissions have been granted. If the owner wants to make changes, he will have to seek approvals from the various Boards in Town.
Judge Newman then expressed his extreme disapproval of the confidentiality of the settlement stating that he feels it is inappropriate for a public body such as a Town and will only lead to the applicant suing again if he should be turned down by any of the Boards. The Judge also stated that he would like to know what the owner plans to do with the property.
It was explained that no one knows what the owner is planning to do, but as of right now, he can only do what was approved 6 months ago for the property.
Judge Newman reiterated that he felt keeping the details of the settlement confidential was wrong.
Various other Clinton Woods residents expressed their dismay that the owner of the property has allegedly told people that he had approvals for a business that would have thirty five cars. The residents feel that this is too big a business for the site and potentially dangerous for the rest of the development.
It was again explained that no new approvals had been granted and that the owner retained the same permitted uses that he’ has always had. The Supervisor also stated that the Town cannot prevent the property owner from saying things which may or may not be true.
For a third time, Judge Newman expressed his disapproval of the settlement, further commenting that the owner is under the impression that he has thirty five parking spaces and therefore in the future, if an applicant comes before any of the Town Boards with a similar request and is told that thirty five spaces is too many, they will sue.
Supervisor Rost responded that Judge Newman might be right. He further commented that no one on the Board wanted this mess, but ultimately, without a settlement, further litigation could have proved extremely costly for the Town and they didn’t want this. The Board is simply doing the best the can to clean up the mess in the most responsible manner. When they started negotiating the settlement, SRS initially asked for $2.7 million dollars. The Board and their attorneys have successfully negotiated this down to $250,000. With out a settlement, there would have been no end in sight for this matter. It was not the Town Board who requested the confidentiality. This was requested by and granted to SRS. Judge Newman suggested that the Town should go back to the Judge on the case and ask if they could disclose the settlement to residents.
Ultimately, it was agreed that Ms. Snitily would ask, however she cautioned this this was something that would have to be signed by all the parties of the agreement and she feels strongly that the owner will not agree as he was the one who demanded it in the first place.
The Supervisor then thanked the residents for their comments and their interest reiterating that the Board was not happy about the settlement or the confidentiality of it. The Clinton Woods residents then left the meeting.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost announced that there had been a very successful Family Fun Day the previous Saturday and thanked Recreation Head Shari Brooks for all she had done to make it happen. Additionally, the Supervisor stated that the Tentative Budget has been submitted and he would like to schedule a workshop for October 23 at 6:30 pm. The regular Town Board meeting will follow. Finally, the Supervisor reported that while he was at Family Fun Day he had spent some time with Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who agreed to broker a meeting between the Town and the State DOT to see if they could get the State to install a turning lane on Route 17 in front of Dottie Audrey’s.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to obtain two trucks for the Highway Department under a lease/purchase agreement. A large portion of the cost will be covered by a grant.
a Resolution to hire a part time Police Officer – Clifford Weeks will start work immediately
a Resolution accepting the Tentative Budget
a Resolution to schedule the Budget Workshop for October 23rd at 6:30 pm
Someone asked if the Workshop about Tuxedo Farms and their most recent requests would be rescheduled.
It was explained that all of the consultants and Boards needed to work out and agree on what they were being asked to approve before the Workshop was rescheduled. This is still being worked out. Specifically, they need to agree on whether or not the Town Board should or could weigh in on the change in parking.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola requested permission for the Sons of Italy to put up road signs advertising the pasta dinner they will be holding on October 22. This was granted.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum inquired as to where the Town was with the sidewalk in front of the Shore Building.
Councilmember Lindsay advised that the State DOT was going to clear the hedges to the property line but they were no longer going to build the sidewalk because in order to do so they would have to trespass onto Mr. Shore’s property to do the work. She further commented that she would like to somehow find a way for people to walk to the Bank without having to walk in a road.
Jerry Mottola suggested that the Town should bring a police officer down into the Hamlet to issue speeding tickets in an effort to slow down traffic travelling through Town.
Lieutenant Norton responded that they are planning to do this. They are currently doing a study of the situation.
Mary MacFarland wondered if there was anything the police could do to stop Renaissance Faire traffic from blocking Clinton Woods and other roads and driveways.
Lieutenant Norton responded that they would need to look at the traffic flow for the Faire in general and work with the Renaissance people to make improve it, which would hopefully ease the situation.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
I want to share some good news with you from the State Comptroller’s office. They released their “Fiscal Stress” report for every municipality in the State and I am pleased to inform you that our Town of Tuxedo is not on the list. We still have some work in front of us but we went from being the only Town in the State last year to make the “seriously stressed” list at 78% fiscally stressed, to a rating of “no designation” and 37% fiscally stressed.
We have been through a lot. I inherited a fiscal situation that I was determined to correct. The board and I have had to make some tough decisions, trying to balance necessary expense cuts with maintaining services needed. It's been difficult, but our focus and (sometimes unpopular) fiscal decisions have begun to pay off for our town. I have attached the link so you can view the complete report. http://wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/fsms.cfm
Agenda for Town Board Meeting Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
1. Resolution to Purchase of 2 Trucks for the Highway Department.
2. Resolution to Hire Part Time Police Officer.
3. Schedule Budget Workshop for October 23, 2017.
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
Tuxedo Farms Town Boards Workshop Meeting October 10, 2017
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a workshop meeting to include the Town Board, The Planning Board, and the Architecture Review Board to review the proposed modifications to the Tuxedo Farms special permit at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at the Tuxedo Town Hall, Community Room, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York.
Immediately following the regular monthly meeting will take place.
Town Board Meeting/Tuxedo Farms Workshop & Public Hearing September 25, 2017
The Town Board met on Monday, September 25, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
The meeting was preceded by a workshop meeting for Board members with Town Planner Bonnie Franson as well as Joe Biglino and David Exroth from Alfandre Architecture. The subject of the workshop was the recent request by the Related Companies to add vinyl siding to the allowed materials for their Tuxedo Farms project as well as their request to reconfigure Phase One of the project. Ms. Franson gave an overview of the changes that have been proposed. These include changes to the allowed materials, the mix of housing and a complete reconfiguration of the parking. Ultimately, the question at hand is whether the Town will be getting the quality of development they thought they were going to get if they approve these changes. Ms. Franson explained that in the original proposals, the development contained a large area, which was zoned for research office. This has now disappeared from the proposal altogether. The LIO (Light Industry and Office) and RO (Research/Office) zoning areas have also been reduced in size. So, as currently proposed there is a significant reduction in the amount of non residential space than there was in in the original plan. Because the Town agreed to give up this non-residential space and it’s resulting tax revenue, the developer promised “high end” housing which would generate the desired tax revenue. The Special Permit allows for 10 different styles of housing. Ms. Franson cautioned that the Board should consider whether or not they think they will actually get those 10 different styles and in turn the level of diversity they have been promised if they approve the change in materials. According to Ms. Franson, Related has stated that the First Phase of the development needs to be done in “production housing” (i.e. by builders) in order for it to work and the builders want to use vinyl. The Architectural Review Board met with the architectural consultants a week ago in a workshop meeting, the result of which is that the ARB is recommending that the Town Board not allow for the use of vinyl.
Councilperson Reardon expressed her concern that the ARB had made this recommendation and did not perhaps know exactly which vinyl material was being proposed. In her mind, there are many different kinds of vinyl, and certainly there are more grades of vinyl available now than there were 20-30 years ago. In her view some of them are very nice while others would not work so well in the proposed development.
Ms. Franson reported a conversation she had with Mr. Dance in which he stated that the problem is with the laborers. Within the production housing companies, there are many labors who know how to install vinyl siding, but not as many who know how to install the alternative fiber cement (also known as Hardie Board which is a brand name).
Architectural Consultant David Exroth commented that he didn’t think there was much difference in cost between vinyl siding or fiber cement, but if he were looking at constructing a building, he would not use vinyl because he didn’t think it would last as long as the fiber cement.
Jay Myrow, attorney for Related, responded that in a phone call with Andrew Dance that afternoon, Mr. Dance had indicated that all of the production builders they are talking to have said they only want to work with vinyl. If Related can’t sell to production builders, then both the developer and the Town have a problem. He further pleaded for the Board to have some flexibility, commenting that he felt that it was in everybody’s best interest (the Town, the developers, the builders and the buyers) that this project is built with high quality materials that were attractive to everyone.
Ms. Franson then summarized the architectural changes that have been proposed, which are a change to the roof pitches in certain models and the ability to use vinyl siding. It was reiterated by the developer that they would not let two identical houses be built right next to each other and that they were going for a variety of the styles approved in the Special Permit.
Councilperson Reardon, who lives in the Hamilton Estates development, commented that when her neigborhood was being built, there were no rules about what materials could be used and yet they have a variety of styles and materials there.
Ms. Franson responded that Hamilton Estates had been built before the Town had an ARB.
Ms. Franson then reiterated that this was a time for the Town Board to ensure that the Town of Tuxedo would be getting the kind and quality of development that they thought they would and should be getting when they issued the Special Permit.
Commenting that he felt the Board needed to start with the materials, Councilperson McMillen stated that he felt there had been a failure with the mock up.
Councilperson Reardon added that she felt the Board needed to execute a careful review page by page review of what has been proposed, making sure to get a complete explanation of anything that they have questions about. She feels that there can be no room left for anyone to have any misconception about what will be built. Ms. Franson suggested that the Town Board would need to communicate their feelings to the ARB.
Henry Hefner of Related commented that in a phone conversation held that afternoon with Andrew Dance, the architects, the attorneys as well as the Town Planner, among others, it had been stated unequivocally that the developer understood that “specifications and guidelines” for the use of the vinyl would need to be developed. He also remarked that the mock up had not been meant to show “craftsmanship,” but rather how the material looked. It was put together by a general contractor and not by a homebuilder.
There followed a 5 minute recess and then the meeting recommenced with the public hearing on the subject.
The following people spoke during the hearing:
David du Pont – spoke about the expectations that he and others had for the project when it was originally proposed and passed. He implored the Board to stick to what was originally agreed upon. To read a copy of his remarks, click here.
Andy Berish inquired as to why the developer was looking to change the housing mix to incorporate so many more one-bedroom apartments?
Chiu Yin Hempel - spoke about the materials she had seen on the mock ups and said she agreed with the consulting architect as well as the ARB that these materials should not be approved. To read a copy of her remarks, click here.
JoAnn Hanson spoke of her concern that the quality of the proposed development is being diminished and said she felt Related needed to submit market studies to back up their claims. To read a copy of her remarks, click here.
George McCathern, a member of the Architectural Review Board, said he had been serving on the ARB since it was first set up to review the Tuxedo Farms project some 20 years ago. Commenting he still has all the original guidelines, he stated that over the years, this project “keeps being watered down.” He does not feel vinyl siding is acceptable for the project no matter what grade is used. Among other things, it is not possible to create decorative molding with vinyl siding but it is possible with fiber cement or Hardie Board. Without features such as this, there would be no way to set a $500,000+ house apart from those built with the lowest possible materials.
Ken English commented that he finds it odd that the production builders are stating that without the accommodations in materials, they would not be interested in building, and Mr. English finds is strange that the developer would “go ahead and dig that hole up without having known that.” He noted that the development was supposed to have 896 single-family homes and wondered what the developer would be telling those home buyers about the school district?
Richard Bartlett said that he had gone to look at the mock up. He noted that earlier in the evening he had heard representatives of the developer state that the mock-up was not about the building, rather it was about the materials. He feels that’s the problem as the materials are not good. He further stated that he had been following this project since the beginning and had been at the meeting with original Architect, Robert Stern. He remembers well what the Town was promised. He believes that the economic differences that would result from using vinyl would be ultimately be assumed by the builders as there is no proposed change to the cost of the units once built….and that this is Tuxedo’s problem… The problem the Town currently faces is in getting the tax base that they were promised back when the project was approved. He also cautioned that the “tone” of the first phase will set the tone of the entire project. He doesn’t feel there that the Town should allow the first phase to be built using cheaper materials because there’s no way they would get high end homes in the next phases if they were to allow for cheaper construction now. If the Town Board is feeling exhausted because they have been at this for so long, they should keep in mind that this is the moment that really counts and they need to stick with it because the developer will be gone and the people of Tuxedo will be left with what has been built.
Mike Santoianni urged the Town not to accept cheaper materials. He said the Board should be looking to talk to builders themselves rather than accepting whatever Mr. Dance says they will and will not do. As a Real Estate professional, he sees that there is a demand for 2 family homes no matter what Mr. Dance is saying. He further suggested that both the Town and the School District were now experiencing negative impacts because the developer has not built for all these years. The developer is blaming that impact on the School District, who is possibly feeling it most of all, when in fact they are responsible. He feels they are blaming the victim. Additionally, Mr. Santoianni noticed that the day after the developer managed to negotiate that the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline would go around their property instead of through it, something they didn’t disclose to anyone, they started blasting their hole. Clearly, that initial delay wasn’t because of the school district.
EJ Matthews suggested that he felt the vinyl siding being proposed could be a fire hazard. He recently heard about a building, which burned down in something like 10 minutes because the “cheap vinyl siding” was engulfed so quickly.
Supervisor Rost thanked everyone for their comments, stating that the public hearing would be kept open at least until the next Town Board meeting.
Councilman McMillen commented that he had just learned this was the 5th time Related had requested that the Special Permit be opened and revised. This disturbs him and he asked Ms. Franson if she would put together a memo enumerating the revisions to the permit. She agreed to do so.
George McCathern noted that Related had been in front of the ARB to discuss the townhouses and said they were asking for permission to use vinyl on those as well. He feels there are issues that the ARB and Planning Board need to discuss together.
Councilmember Reardon proposed that a workshop be held with members of the Town Board, Planning Board and ARB together so that they could all hear the same things at the same time. Everyone agreed this was a good idea and the meeting was set for Tuesday, October 11 at 7pm.
Jim Hays stated that he’d been following the development since 2000 and he’s noticed that Related has asked for many changes over the years, most recently a widening of the main road going into the project. He feels that Related should decide specifically what it is they want and then stick to that.
Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon commented that the Planning Board had recommended widening the road and Volunteer Fireman David du Pont echoed that the emergency services in Town had asked for that as well.
Mike Santoianni suggested that the Town Board should be negotiating with potential builders and not the developer.
Nate Wolinsky commented that he thought Andrew Dance and Related were “brilliant.” He said he’d been watching the progress for about 20 years as well and found them to be brilliant and so he feels that the Town needs the Boards to work together so that they can be as smart as they are.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost announced that Councilperson Lindsay had recently applied for a grant for improvements to Town Hall and she was successful in getting $50,000 for this.
Additionally, he stated that he was still working on the budget and was happy to report that it would once again come in under the cap. Further, the police have finally agreed to ratify their contract.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay stated that she would be applying for a Restore New York grant with a letter of intent due by October 13. The grant would be for restoring vacant, abandoned and condemned properties and for which they could receive up to $1 million.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Board Workshop With Alfandre Architecture and the Town Board to prepare for the Public Hearing Public Comments will not be allowed at this time
PUBLIC HEARING – TUXEDO FARMS
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 1 Temple Road, Tuxedo, New York, on September 25, 2017, at 7 p.m. for the following purpose: to consider the application of Tuxedo Farms for modifications to the Tuxedo Farms special permit
All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing
REGULAR BI-MONTHLY MEETING
Minutes
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
Town Board to Hold Workshop Meeting with Architects Prior to Public Hearing Monday, September 25
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold, a public workshop involving the Town Board, and Alfandre Architecture to prepare for the Public Hearing with Tuxedo Farms. Community Room, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York, on Monday, September 25 at 6:00 p.m
The Town Board met on Monday, September 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon was absent.
Tuxedo Farms Presentation:
Noting that he understood that a majority of people in the crowded meeting room had come to hear about Tuxedo Farms, Supervisor Rost introduced Andrew Dance of Related Companies., He also recognized Town Planner Bonnie Franson and Architect Joe Biglino of Alfandre Architecture, who are consultants to the Board and who were present in order to provide an overview to the Board in an effort to ensure that everyone would be prepared for the public hearing on September 25.
Mr. Dance explained that originally Northridge (phase one of the development) had been planned as a community of 2 and 3 bedroom units with a handful of 1-bedroom units in the mix, all of which would be available to for purchase. The present builders however are looking for 1 and 2 bedroom units, which would be rentals. Specifically, they are asking for is 180 units in total, comprised of 72 2 bedroom units and 108 1 bedroom units.. Within the 1-bedroom units, there would be some variation (i.e. some would be bigger than others). Since this plan is different than what was approved as part of the Special Permit back in 2010, it requires Town Board approval. The developer is also seeking a change in the previously approved building materials, most notably the inclusion of Vinyl siding. A presentation on these changes took place at a Town Board meeting several months prior. There will be a public hearing on all of the changes in two weeks on September 25. When Related appeared before the Town Planning Board, they were asked to fill out a Full Environmental Assessment Form as well as to write a Technical Memo outlining proposed changes.
Click here to see a copy of both the EAF and Technical Memo.
Mr. Dance pointed out that by changing the housing from condominiums to rental properties, their planners have advised them that they would be effectively adding school children to the plan as rental properties typically generate more children. They anticipate that there will be an increase of 36.8 school children. At the same time the valuation of the project, due to the proposed change in housing styles, will increase by $923,000. The overall bedroom count for Northridge remains the same as the 2015 approval—there are still 604 bedrooms and 293 multifamily units, just as there were before.
There is a slight decrease in the amount of sewage generated as well as in the amount of water needed.
Town Planner Bonnie Franson explained that these changes had come about during the Planning Board review of the Northridge subdivision. She further clarified that the proposed changes were to the Special Permit, the bulk of which was adopted in 2010 with a few changes done in 2015. The applicant is asking to be able to use vinyl siding, which was not included in the design guidelines within the Special Permit. They are also asking to change the mix of bedrooms as outlined by Mr. Dance. The attorneys for the Town have determined that these changes must be approved by the Town Board. The project is still subject to SEQRA regulations.
Some of the 1-bedroom rental units will feature dens. These rooms vary in size and have no bathrooms and no closets so they are not extra bedrooms. Related anticipates that they will be used as home offices or exercise rooms among other things.
Councilperson Michele Lindsay noted that units with 2 or more bedrooms have been shifted to the Townhouses in the Commons area. She feels that this is probably where schoolchildren will be situated. She inquired as to when Related plans to have those units ready for occupation.
Andrew Dance responded that those sites were “shovel ready,” but the timeline as to when they would built would depend on the school district. The home builders are not comfortable with the district as it exists today. Most of the projected schoolchildren will come in Phase Two of the project.
David du Pont requested that the Town ask Related to relocate the mock up of materials, which they recently erected at the request of the Town Board, so that it would be more accessible for people to look at.
An audience member inquired about the market studies that had been done on the project. Town Planner Franson responded that as far as she knew, there had not been any new market studies done. The analysis had been done using the figures from the 2010 market studies. The Town asked Related to use those figures so that they would be comparing “apples to apples.”
Architectural Consultant Joe Biglino submitted a memo to the Board with his comments on the application. Click here to see a copy of this memo. He expressed some frustration as well as some confusion with regard to the redlined proposal that he had been studying, commenting that he he was uncertain as to what was part of the original proposal and what was new. It was agreed that Ms. Franson would meet with him and clear this up.
Councilperson Lindsay asked if Mr. Dance had price points for the houses with the new materials. He responded that the “Village homes and below” would be below a million dollars.
Supervisor Rost asked for confirmation that not every house/structure was going to be built with vinyl and that home owners would be provided with a choice of materials.
The answer was that of course there would be choices and that the development would be designed to feature a variety of styles. The homes will basically be custom built according to the buyers choices..
Town Planner Franson commented that within the specifications outlined in the amendment they should specify what type/grade of vinyl would be allowed, noting that what is being shown on the mock up is different than the first samples the Town saw.
Councilperson Loncar asked if there all the houses/structures would be constructed with the vinyl siding or if they had a predetermined ratio of the different materials. Mr. Dance reiterated that the intent was for a variety of styles. It was also pointed out that some of the styles options do not lend themselves to being built with vinyl siding.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he was still working on the budget with various department heads. Additionally, he and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum met with the DEC about the Highway Department site. By and large, the Town is making good progress with the site although there is still work to be done on the stumps. In the near future there will be a meeting of the Town LDC (Local Development Corp) for the purpose of reorganizing that entity and also to work on the application forms, for hamlet revitalization projects.
Finally, the Supervisor noted that it had been a big weekend in Sloatsburg for Michael Bruno with the grand opening of his property. Commenting that he had been there on Sunday and that he thought it looked nice, he added that he hoped Mr. Bruno would get busy in Tuxedo soon, something the Board is looking forward to.
Councilperson Lindsay reminded everyone that September 15 is the deadline to sign up to have someone from Solarize Orange to come and evaluate their property. Anyone who is interested in this should call her. Additionally she reported having met with the State DOT about the upcoming highway project. The focus of the meeting was on sidewalks and improved ramps and pedestrian crosswalks that are being planned. The plan includes a sidewalk that will run to the end of the Chase Bank property as well as one from the Ambulance Building down to the Orange Top.
Mary Graetzer asked Councilperson Lindsay whether she had made any progress in securing a representative of the DOT to come talk to residents of Tuxedo about the upcoming road diet, which is planned for Sloatsburg. Mrs. Lindsay responded that Sloatsburg was planning to have one final meeting on this subject. Councilperson Loncar interjected that he wanted to see a meeting between the DOT and Tuxedo, not necessarily run by Sloatsburg. He asked Councilperson Lindsay to please give him her contact’s number so he could call and try to set up a meeting. Several people from the audience spoke on this subject and the majority of them were all cerned that if Sloatsburg carries through with this plan, it will end up being a nightmare here in Tuxedo.
Claudia Bakhtiary wondered what if anything could be done about the spot on Route 17 north where cars turn into the Duck Cedar plaza, commenting that she thought this was a potentially dangerous spot.
She was told it was very difficult to get the DOT to agree to install signs or reduce speeds. Since Route 17 is a State Highway, the Town Board has no jurisdiction over it.
Jim Hays asked how the units in Northridge, which are now proposed as all rental units, will be sold off? He was told that builders would buy the buildings and then rent the units out. Mr. Hays then wondered who would impose the variety with the buildings?
The answer was the Planning Board, together with the Architectural Review Board.
Ellen Gluck wondered where the developer was getting his information about what potential buyers want? JoAnn Hanson asked if a marketing study had been done? She was told that a study had been done in 2010. Ms. Hanson then commented that she felt they couldn’t have it both ways…the developer has stated that they need to have cheaper materials in order to make their sales and yet the price points will remain the same.
Diana Petrosky congratulated the Board saying that she thought the Highway Department looked a whole lot better.
Chiu Yin Hempel commented that she thought the driveway leading to the developers’ material mock ups was easy to miss and wondered if Related would put out a sign to help people to find it?
Brynna Pomp said she had made two trips to Sloatsburg over the past weekend and feels that what Michael Bruno is doing there is “remarkable.” She wanted to know if the Town was doing everything they could be doing to help him to go forward with plans here in Tuxedo.
She was told that at present there is no proposal from Mr. Bruno in front of the Town. In fact, the Town is looking forward to working with him. Councilperson Lindsay further stated that the Orange County IDC (Industrial Development Corp) would like to offer Mr. Bruno a sales tax reduction and property tax abatement for the first few years of operation and the Town has been very supportive of both of these ideas. In addition, the Board has granted Mr. Bruno his two requested waivers (a property line change and a waiver from the current moratorium). Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to adopt an updated Employee Compensation and Benefits Manual
a Resolution to adopt an updated Employee practices Compliance
a Bond Resolution to cover the settlement of a claim against the Town
a Resolution to increase the Court Clerk’s salary and title – Claire Squillini is moving up into Libby Smith’s position after her retirement.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss an employee matter.
Public Hearing on Changes to Phase One of The Tuxedo Farms Project To Be Held September 25, 2017
Notice is hereby given that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a Public Hearing to consider the application of Tuxedo Farms for modifications to the Tuxedo Farms special permit on Monday September 25, 2017 at the Tuxedo Town Hall, Community Room at 7:00 p.m.
The Town will make every effort to assure that the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Town Clerk.
EXECUTIVE SESSION- 6:30pm to seek advice from council
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
TUXEDO FARMS - Presentation by Related Companies of Special Use Permit Amendment Application- Changes in Bedroom Count by Unit Type
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Adopt Updated Employee Compensation and Benefits Manual
2. Resolution to Adopt Updated Employee Practices Compliance
3. Bond Resolution
4. Resolution to Increase Court Clerk Salary and Title
Any other Business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 28, 2017 at 7 pm. Councilperson Mcmillen was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost remarked that “like everyone else,” he had been on vacation.
Nevertheless, he has been working on closing out the 2017 budget as well as getting started on the 2018 budget with Brian Sullivan and all the Department Heads.
Tuxedo Farms has prepared some mock ups of the proposed buildings for Phase One of their project. The Supervisor is in the process of negotiating where these mock ups will be available for the Board members to inspect.
Deputy Supervisor Lindsay reported that a representative of Solarize Orange had been present at the August 19 Farmer’s Market. Solarize Orange is a State and Federal Subsidy program being promoted by the Orange County Department of Planning.
There were about 12 people who signed up to have them come look at their roofs and/or property. September 15 is the deadline so if anyone else is interested, they should contact Councilperson Lindsay.
Finally, Supervisor Rost announced that there would be electronic recycling on September 9th with items being collected at Town Hall.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked why the Board was looking to sell the American Legion hall? Supervisor Rost explained that originally, Chester LeBaron had owned the building and donated it to the veterans., When they could no longer afford upkeep on the building, they sold it to the Town for $1. Mr. LeBaron also donated a building to veterans in Goshen, NY. As time goes by, he finds that there are more and more veterans in this area and he runs a bus to take them to Washington DC. Now, he would like to regionalize his activities and include Tuxedo’s veterans. Accordingly, he has offered to pay the Town $50,000 for the building. The Supervisor feels this is a great solution because it guarantees that the veterans in Tuxedo will be taken care of. Also, Mr. LeBaron has said that all the people who presently use the building can continue to do so. Paul Mitchell, currently Commander of Tuxedo’s American Legion, was present and commented that their group would still like to be involved with the building. Following a somewhat lengthy discussion, it was agreed that they would ask Town Attorney Howard Protter to work with Mr. LeBaron on a contract, which was also something that the American Legion was happy with.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were discussed/approved:
A Resolution to approve sale of the American Legion Hall – see discussion above.
A Resolution to approve Film Permit – a Film called The Irishman is going to be shooting at the Orange Top from September 15-22. They have requested police presence and help in traffic control (one lane to be closed on September 20th approximately from 12 pm – 7pm).
A Resolution to approve sign permits for Masker Orchards – These would be the same as in previous years and would be up from August 29 – November 17, 2017.
A Resolution accepting completed petitions for Library Funding Proposition to be included on the November 2017 ballot – They are asking for an increase of $15,537.
Other Business:
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum spoke about the work to be done by Sterling Electric so as to make the outbuildings on Highway Department property independent of the Towns electric bill.
Wayne Mullaney and Derrick Fisher, current tenants on the property were present for the discussion and stated that they would pay for 50% of the installation and 100% of the usage going forward. In return, they would like assurance that they will be allowed to continue using their spaces. Supervisor Rost agreed, assuring them that they would.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum also reminded everyone that there is mulch and topsoil available for Tuxedo residents at the old Highway garage on Warwick Brook Road.
Gardiner Hempel stated that the Fire Department would like permission to install a programmable electronic sign in front of Company 1’s Firehouse on Route 17. Here, they would like to promote their recruitment and fund raising efforts. Mr. Hempel added that this would be a budget item in the Departments 2018 budgetand everyone agreed that there would be enough time to set up the rules and regulations for sign usage.
Public Comments: Town Clerk Donna Matthews thanked the Board for all their understanding and patience during her time of “double bereavement,” commenting she really appreciated it. She also thanked the Board for having allowed her to have summer help. She further stated that because of the assistance, she felt significant progress had been made in the organization of her office.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
6::30 PM - EXECUTIVE SESSION to seek advice from Counsel regarding litigation
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Approve Sale of The American Legion Hall.
2. Resolution to Approve film Permit.
3. Resolution Approving Sign Permit for Masker Orchards.
4. Resolution Accepting Completed Petitions for Library Funding Proposition to be included on the November, 2017 Ballot
Any other Business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Wayne Mullaney of Painting & Sandblasting and Derrick Fisher of Engines Plus
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, July 24, 2017 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost began his remarks stating that it had been a rough week in Town as Town Clerk Donna Matthews lost her mother, Town Planner Bonnie Franson lost her father and his family had laid his brother to rest on Friday.
Next, he reported that negotiations with the police are ongoing. Chief Abbott met with the PBA president and the Supervisor is in receipt of an informal offer which he has not yet had a chance to open. Once he has reviewed it, he will forward it on to Board members. He will be in Albany on Tuesday, July 25 to defend the Town against the improper practice charge filed by the PBA. (This has to do with the Town no longer using their own dispatchers).
Councilperson Loncar asked the Supervisor to update the Board on Related’s latest proposal for Tuxedo Farms.
The Supevisor asked Town Attorney Howard Protter to explain. Mr. Protter stated that it was his understanding that there has been a change in bedrooms and parking which may or may not require them to come before the Town Board for a change to the Special Permit.
Speaking for Tuxedo Farms, Henry Hefner stated that changes to Northridge apartments were as follows: they have eliminated garages and will offer instead street parking or space in a communal parking lot (there will be two available lots, one in the circle at the center of the neighborhood as well as a grass lot for overflow parking.) Bedroom counts have also changed and Andrew Dance will address that as he is presently looking into whether or not it can be approved. Studies done on water and sewer indicate that the systems can easily handle the additional bedrooms. Related feels that eliminating the garages for the Townhouse units will make it possible for everyone to have a view.
Councilperson Reardon asked what the rationale for the reconfiguration was?
Mr. Hefner responded that they felt it was a better looking neighborhood and more conducive to neighbors getting to know one another. Also, a lot of views have been opened up.
Councilperson Reardon expressed surprise that garages were being removed. She thought people would want garages but Mr. Hefner responded that “the market” was saying no.
Councilperson Lindsay inquired as to whether townhouses would be for sale and she was told no, they will all be rental units. She and others expressed some surprise that the Northridge neighborhood was planned to be all rental units. Mr. Hefner then stated that he was also present to request that a public hearing be set with the Town Board over the proposed change to the Special Permit, which would allow for the change in building materials requested by the developer. He added that they are not happy with the mockups that had been constructed and have started over on these. They anticipate that they may be finished and ready for viewing within a week. Therefore, they are requesting a public hearing for the August 14 Town Board meeting.
Town Attorney Protter expressed concern that this timing didn’t allow for adequate time to view the finished mockup.
Councilperson Reardon added that August is traditionally a very heavy vacation month and people in the Town have expressed a desire to see the mockups for the proposed changes. She does not feel it would be fair to schedule a public hearing before the September meeting. The Supervisor and other Board members agreed with this and the hearing was set for the September 11 meeting.
Councilperson Lindsay inquired as to the reasoning for reducing the number of bedrooms in the units from 2 to 1. Mr. Hefner replied that it was his understanding that this is what the market will bear. Mrs. Lindsay responded that this would influence the number of schoolchildren that the Town was hoping to get. There followed some discussion among Board members as to whether or not the Town should have a say in how many school children the project should be trying to attract. It was suggested that the Board and public might want to have a chance to look at the market study done by Related.
Mrs. Lindsay next reported that the SAM grant application had been submitted on July 14. The Town is asking for $100,000 to be used for future Town Hall updates and repairs.
The Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) is due Friday July 28. She is currently working on letters of support for that. The CFA funds would be used for a feasibility study and engineering drawings for future Town updates. The Town is asking for $100,000. 10% of whatever they get will have to come from the Town budget.
Additionally, Councilperson Lindsay announced that on August 19, the Town would be hosting a Solarize Orange meeting for the Orange County at the Train Station.
Finally, she reported that the Tuxedo Club wants to meet with representatives of the Town to discuss the remediation of algae in Alexander Pond.
Councilperson Lindsay then asked Town Attorney Protter whether or not the Town could apply to become an interested party in the proposed project at the Woodbury Train Station, siting concerns over possible traffic impacts on Tuxedo.
Councilperson Loncar stated that he felt a much bigger problem was the proposed “road diet” that Sloatsburg has just approved. Pretty much everyone agreed that this would end up being a nightmare for Tuxedo. It was decided that the Board would ask the DOT to come down and address the community about the impact of this project.
Agenda Items:
Sale of the American Legion Building. Councilperson Loncar strongly objected to the fact that the building was never put on the MLS and he thinks they are planning to sell it for too little money. It was explained that selling it to Chester Lebaron guaranteed that the existing uses would continue. It was decided to list the building on MLS for a couple of months and see what happens.
A Resolution granting additional compensation for the Tax Assessor. Since a substantial amount of work was not completed by the prior Assessor and since the work was time sensitive with a deadline, it was agreed to pay Jim Davies, the current part time Assessor an additional $1500.
Resolution in support of Consolidated Funding Application. This was passed unanimously.
Under New Business, The Renaissance Festival was granted the same sign permits that they ask for and are given every year.
John MacNamara wondered if there was any way of getting the State to revisit the plan for Exit 15B as a result of the Sloatsburg road diet and the expected increase in traffic. He was told that the Town’s understanding is that the exit is a dead deal. That said, the Board reiterated their desire to get the DOT to come discuss the impacts of the road diet with us.
Representing the residents of Patterson Hill, Nick Balistreri, said he had written a letter asking for the Highway Department to do pothole repair and, where necessary, resurfacing on that road. He maintains that the Town passed a resolution at their February, 2017 meeting naming Patterson Hill among others as a public highway. Therefore, he’d like to know when maintenance was going to start on this road. He gave a list of the “historic maintenance” they’d like to see happen including repairing potholes, blacktopping, regrading and installing guard rails.
Town Attorney Protter explained that there is a difference between maintenance and improvements. In his opinion, blacktopping, grading and installing guard rails where none exist are improvements and not maintenance. Snowplowing and salting and removing garbage are maintenance. Improvements get billed back to property owners along the road.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum explained there has been a lot of rain this year, which has resulted in bad potholes everywhere. He is presently in the middle of doing pothole repairs up in Laurel Ridge where there are many more people and roads than just Patterson Hill. When he is done there, he will get up to Patterson Hill.
Jimmy Eirand, another Patterson Hill resident, reiterated that all they were looking for was some “historic maintenance” as they were afraid the road was in danger of washing out.
There was a lot of discussion back and forth about what constitutes maintenance vs. improvements and what Patterson Hill is entitled to. Finally, it was agreed and the Board authorized the Highway Superintendent to go take a look at Patterson Hill and report back as to what he thought needed to be done there.
Mr. Eirand then stated that he’d had some problems due to the sewer line blasting. Supervisor Rost said he would look into it and report it to Tuxedo Farms.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 26, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Councilperson Loncar was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported having had a conversation with Andrew Dance of Related Companies, in which Mr. Dance said that the mockups of the proposed building materials that were being prepared off-site, had been damaged in transit and now needed to be repaired before being reshipped. Consequently, it will be another two weeks before those are ready to be viewed.
Work continues on the Comprehensive Plan. Councilperson Lindsay is presently working with Town Planner Bonnie Franson on some of the verbiage.
The Supervisor and Councilperson Reardon continue to negotiate with the Police as they are attempting to come up with a contract that is fair for both the department and the taxpayers.
Finally, the Supervisor noted that last year the Town had managed to save $980,000 and as of May they are $960,000 ahead of the budget. He recognized that this demonstrates hard work and sacrifices made by all Town employees and he thanked everyone for that.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that the amendment to the State Transportation Law, which would make it possible for Towns to ban pipelines, passed the State Assembly and was sent to the State Senate. Unfortunately, the Senate didn’t get around to voting on it before the close of the Session and so it will now have to wait for the new Session to start in January and will need to go back to the Assembly at that time.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution to appoint Michele Lindsay as Deputy Supervisor – Since the current Deputy Supervisor, Dave Mcmillen, has been promoted at IBM and thus has less time available, Supervisor Rost has decided to rotate the position of Deputy. The first appointee is Michele Lindsay.
A Resolution to appoint Michele Lindsay to the LDC – the Deputy Supervisor has always served on the LDC
A Resolution to Adopt Moratorium on Development Approvals – Public hearings were held on this law which is being enacted so that the Town can update their Comprehensive Plan. The moratorium will be in effect for 6 months.
Wayne Mullaney of Painting & Sandblasting and Derrick Fisher of Engines Plus, both of whom have been renting space at the Highway Department property and whose leases the Board voted to terminate appeared before the Board in an attempt to get them to change their minds. They said that they had heard that one problem had been that their electric bill was higher than the rent they were paying.
Superintendent of Highways Dollbaum confirmed that this was so and said the preliminary estimate for separating the electric on the rental properties from the actual highway garage was $21,000 and they had been told it would have to be installed underground. Mr. Mullaney and Mr. Fisher stated that they could do a lot of this work themselves and that they both have many friends who are electricians who could do the work for them at a lower cost. They also proposed that they could share a meter. The Town’s estimate was for 5 meters. The Board responded that as long as they were all licensed electricians, they would have no objection to that. There were a few other things that need to be done to the property as per the Building Inspector (who was not present) but the Board agreed they could try to ameliorate the problems and then possibly stay in their spaces. Supervisor Rost said they would address it at the next Board meeting when the regular Town Attorney would be present.
Public Comments: Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum announced that he has mulch and topsoil, available to Town residents (but not contractors or landscapers) at the old Highway Department around back where the school busses park. Residents will have to load it themselves as there is not anyone there to help.
Ted L’Estrange spoke briefly on behalf of the Falun Gong practitioners of the Hudson Valley. He distributed packets to all Board members. This group is being persecuted and killed for their organs by the Chinese government. They are arrested and tortured in prison, black jails and labor camps for refusing to renounce their faith. There have been over 1M transplants since 2000. It is genocide. Further information can be found at www.falundagfa.org or www.faluninfo.net. Mr. L’Estrange asked the Board to consider passing a resolution against these practices. The Supervisor said he would discuss it with the Town Attorney (who was not present).
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1.Resolution to Appoint Michele Lindsay as Deputy Supervisor
2.Resolution to Appoint Michele Lindsay to the LDC
3. Resolution to Adopt Moratorium on Development Approvals
Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Wayne Mullaney of Painting & Sandblasting and Derrick Fisher of Engines Plus
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, June 12, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting and reported that he and Councilperson Lindsay had hosted a lunch with the employees of Town Hall plus Highway Superintendent Dollbaum and Lieutenant Norton. According to the Supervisor, it was a chance to thank the employees for all that they do each and every day for the Town of Tuxedo. It was also an opportunity to answer any questions they might have about things going on around Town. The Board members discovered that there was a lot of misinformation being passed around and thought it was useful to be able to counter that. The Supervisor also mentioned that he is considering having such a meeting quarterly.
Next he reported that Michael Bruno’s corridor project is moving along and the Board hopes he will put an application before the Planning Board soon.
The Supervisor then thanked Lieutenant Norton for all his support over the past 7 months (during which he acted as Acting Chief) commenting that he would continue to be instrumental in the police force and important to the success of the department moving forward. One thing that became abundantly clear during the interview process, was that Lieutenant Norton loves being an officer and he is very good at it. The Supervisor feels that this is a very exciting time for Lieutenant Norton, soon to be Chief Abbott and the entire police department of the Town of Tuxedo. This statement was met by applause from the audience. Supervisor Rost then welcomed Art Abbott and his extended family, who were present, to the Town and followed that with a resolution appointing him to the position of Chief as a non union employee with a starting salary of $30,000. This was unanimously passed by the Board. Chief Abbott then spoke and thanked the Supervisor and Board for their confidence further commenting that he was looking forward to working together with the Board and the entire Police Department. He particularly thanked Lieutenant Norton for having reached out to him to offer his support. He and the Lieutenant have known each other for years as he has been on the force with the Town of Woodbury for 29 years and they have moved up through the ranks together. He also said he was honored and humbled to have been given this appointment and he looked forward to joining the Tuxedo community and protecting and serving it.
Public Hearing on extending the Moratorium on Building approvals: Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that the Town has been working on the Comprehensive Plan and has put a moratorium in place until that plan is adopted. The terms for the extended moratorium are the same as those for the current moratorium with one exception—an addition to Section 3A8. The new exception is for bulk land transfers to open space preservation so that if someone has a large piece of property—in excess of 45 acres—and they want to transfer it to an open space entity so that it will be preserved for the future, the Planning Board can review such an application
and that transaction can be processed during the moratorium.
Mary Graetzer asked how long the extension would be. The answer was that it was proposed to be for 6 months with the opportunity, if needed, for it be extended for 2 successful 3 month terms.
Andy Berish wondered if the moratorium would affect Michael Bruno’s Tuxedo projects. He added that he understood that Mr. Bruno was going around Town saying that the Town Board was not allowing him to do what he wants to do.
Supervisor Rost responded that the Board is hoping that Mr. Bruno will submit plans for his project but as of this time, he has not done so. He further explained that Mr. Bruno has been in front of the Planning Board, but he has not submitted plans.
Councilperson Reardon added that she suspects people are looking at the progress in Sloatsburg and concluding that the Town is putting up some kind of roadblock, but that isn’t true. She wanted it on the record that the Town is doing everything they can to accommodate Mr. Bruno and the ball is now in his court. When he comes with an application, all Boards are ready for him.
Comprehensive Plan comments: Councilperson Lindsay explained that Town Planner Bonnie Franson is adding language to the Comprehensive Plan because of new initiatives that have been introduced by New York State. They are reforming the energy vision, call the New York State REV Energy. The State has a goal of 50% of all energy supplied by renewable energy by 2030. Language will be added to the plan to allow the Town to consider Good Energy and the smart certifications of their action plan. The language changes may also help with future grant applications for the Town. The plan also allows the Town to look into a “road diet” and streetscape improvements.
Councilperson Loncar expressed his opposition to both the road diet and the clean energy plan. It was explained to him that the Town wasn’t signing up for either one, just making it possible to do so down the road if they wanted to.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution to hire summer help for the Town Clerk at $12/hour. The position will expire on Labor Day.
A Resolution appointing Anthony Abbott as Police Chief with a starting salary of $30,000/year.
A Resolution for the renewal of the Liquor License at the Orange Top.
Public Comments:
The only comment came from a member of the audience who wanted to know if there was anything new on the Pilgrim Pipeline. Councilperson Lindsay responded that there really isn’t anything new at this time and that the legislation to make it possible for Towns to ban pipelines is still in Albany.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Executive session at 6:00 pm to seek advice from council.
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Public Hearing Moratorium on Development Approvals
Continuation of Public Hearing regarding the Comprehensive Plan
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Appoint Police Chief
2. Resolution to hire summer help for Town Clerk.
3. Resolution to renew Liquor License
Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he and Coucilmember Reardon had inspected the Highway Department property earlier in the day and found that it looked great. He also mentioned that the Highway crew has been busy all over downtown mulching and washing down sidewalks in preparation for the Memorial Day parade.
Superintendent of Highways Dollbaum stated that his Department was going to start working on Warwick Brook Rd. on Tuesday, May 30. They may have to shut it down for a day or two while they are working.
Councilmember Lindsay reminded everyone that the Orange County Arts Council will be holding their Studio Art Tour on the weekend of June 3rd and 4th. They will be at 4 locations in Town. She also stated that the consolidated funding application was due at the end of July and she is hoping to have drawings done in time for that. She was told that this was an issue for the Tuxedo Farms LDC and not the Town Board.
Agenda Items: Presentation by Andrew Arias to review 2016 financial audit report.
Mr. Arias commented that although the Town’s financial picture is beginning to look better, they still have a way to go. He estimated that if all things remain equal, they should be able to eliminate their deficit by 2020. He emphasized that it would be important for the Board to monitor their budget throughout the year to ensure that there were no unpleasant surprises at the end of the year.
To see a copy of Mr. Arias’ presentation, click here.
Public Comments: Andy Berish wondered if the Town had been “involved” with Metro North’s blocking the bridge to the East Village (at the Lucky). He was told that the Railroad had decreed it was unsafe for people to walk over the tracks. The Town is working with Metro North to find a new crossing. Presently, they are looking to reopen an old tunnel that used to exist years ago. The reopening will be at Metro North’s expense.
Dale Mottola commented that the Spartan Race would be taking place at the same time as the Arts Council’s Open House and she wondered about police coverage for both events.
Acting Police Chief Norton said that the Spartan Race has always run very smoothly and believes this will be the case again this year. He agreed that a conversation should be had about the Arts Council’s event.
The meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost made the following announcements:
The Town is close to executing an agreement with Ben Veltidi and Irwin DeMarino for work at the Highway Garage.
The Town’s Annual Update document was accepted by the State Comptroller with no revisions. He hopes to have Town Auditor Andrew Arias at the next Town Board meeting to do a presentation.
He further noted that he has noticed an increase in residents lining up to talk to the Tax Assessor. He understands that no one wants the value of their home to go down and thus everyone looks at the taxes. In looking at everything he and the Board have done to lower expenses along with Highway Superintendent Dollbaum’s work on reducing expenses for his Department and Acting Chief Norton’s work on keeping expenses down in the Police Department, he requested that residents who are “complaining” about their taxes take a good look at their bill and determine exactly where their problem might be. Is it with the Fire Department or the Library? Those entities also appear on tax bills. The Library was on the agenda for this meeting looking for another increase in spending. Additionally, the Supervisor feels that people need to recognize that the School is also an independent part of taxes. Lastly, the Supervisor reported that Opening Day for the Tuxedo Little League was scheduled for the upcoming weekend.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that the CFA (Consolidated Funding Application – for New York State) is due in July. The Town needs engineering drawings and she is looking for money to pay for those through the LDC/Hamlet revitalization fund.
She also reported having attended Sloatsburg’s Community Meeting at the end of April. This was a meeting at which the DOT presented options for Route 17. The people were overwhelmingly in favor of a “road diet,” which would make Route 17 into 3 lanes, one in each direction and a middle lane for turning. Mrs. Lindsday said she had been told that if Sloatsburg could do a road diet, then Tuxedo would also be eligible to do it.
Mary Graetzer spoke up from the audience and stated that she had driven through Sloatsburg just the day before when the stoplight near the Village Hall/Characters was working and there was a huge back up of traffic. She predicted that if Sloatsburg made over Route 17 with a road diet, there would be huge traffic jams every morning and evening at rush hour.
Michael Bruno countered this statement, saying that there have been studies done on road diets and that they have found that some people who don’t actually have to be on the road will take another route so there shouldn’t be a traffic jam.
Councilmember Lindsay said that the DOT would come down and present all the studies on this and then the Town can decide.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Councilperson Reardon stated that every year the Library comes before the Board to ask permission to be put on the ballot for an increase in funds. She asked Town Attorney Protter to explain why the Library has to do that when other entities in Town don’t have to do it.
Mr. Protter explained that the Library is the only entity who does not have their own Tax District so if they want an increase, this is how they need to do it. They have a line item in the Town Budget, which is traditionally the same every year until they ask, by referendum, to increase it.
Agenda Items: Presentation by Mike Miele on behalf of Tuxedo Hudson Company:
Mr. Miele, engineer for Tuxedo Hudson Company, stated that their project for the former IGA building has been before both the ZBA and the Planning Board. The final layout for the project, a proposed Market/Restaurant/Lodging Facility, would encroach about 14 inches over the property line. Since Tuxedo Hudson owns both sides of Store Road, they are proposing to realign Store Road by 14 inches and then transition back to where the original property lines are which would bring the building into the allowed setback. They are also proposing 7 parking places on Store Road.
Tuxedo Farms Referral Resolution:
Representing Tuxedo Farms, Andrew Dance explained that their architects, Torti Gallas, had made a presentation to the Board, along with the Planning Board and Architectural Review Board, for certain proposed changes to the Design Guidelines for Tuxedo Farms. (click here to read our coverage of that presentation). Since that time, they have cleaned up some language in their proposal as requested by the Town and also provided a technical memo, which was also requested. They would now like to have the application referred to the Planning Board, the Architectural Review Board and the Orange County Planning Department so that they can move forward with their process. The aforementioned Boards/Department would then issue a memo with ideas about the proposal after which, hopefully, the Town Board would set a date for a public hearing on the proposed amendment.
Mr. Dance further stated that he had been approached by Supervisor Rost with regard to a rumor that Related had sold a large portion of the project’s property to an outside group and he said that was untrue and that Related hasn’t sold any of the property to anyone. As a “project update,” Mr. Dance reported that work continues on the Quail Road entrance. They have been doing blasting in small intervals so as not to inconvenience anyone. Additionally, he stated that two weeks prior, during the midnight to 5 am period, they excavated under Route 17 and the railroad tracks to install the hookup between the project and the sewer treatment plant. That should be ready to go within approximately 6 weeks. Progress is also being made on the Southern Entrance to project. Meanwhile, Related is dealing with prospective home builders. Mr. Dance stated that he knew there was some discussion in Town about schools. He believes that there are some residents who are “like minded” about the schools and, for the moment, Related is just watching the situation. He added that they are “supportive of anyone who wants to have a discussion about the schools.” He further commented that he had reached out to the Superintendent of the Suffern High School and encourages anyone in Town to visit the school to check it out and see for themselves what it is like. Suffern seems eager to have Tuxedo students and economically, Mr. Dance believes it would be better for the Town and certainly for Tuxedo Farms homeowners. It is Related’s objective to have the core infrastructure for the project “buttoned up” over the course of the Summer so that it can be shovel ready for homebuilders in the Fall. Mary Graetzer commented that it was her understanding after the Workshop meeting that the Town Board would be receiving some samples of the materials that Related is now proposing to use on their project. She wondered if that had happened.
Mr. Dance responded that it had not happened, but that it could be arranged if the Town Board so requested.
Supervisor Rost interjected that it had also been suggested at the Workshop that Related give the Board the names of some projects located nearby which used the proposed materials so that they could go and look at them. And, according to Councilperson Reardon, that did happen.
Councilmember Reardon went on to say that she feels it is important for Mr. Dance and potential builders to come and talk to Town residents. In her view, this needs to take place in a large space as she feels it’s important for people to come and understand what the problems are, “whether real or perceived,” with the school and how that is affecting the project. “Once and for all,” she said “ we need to give the people the ability to have discussions and make decisions. This is a critical issue for the Town and I don’t want to step on the school but I think at some point, we have to come together as a Town and have discussions about it that are led by the people who are in charge of the project.” Mr. Dance agreed although he said he thought the homebuilders should be left out of the meeting. Referencing the casino project, Mrs. Reardon said that in that situation the residents had been able to come together and listen to differing information and then make up their minds about what they thought would be good for the Town. She feels the same kind of thing needs to happen with the school. She then volunteered to organize such a meeting, further commenting that she would research a location and then set a date. She stressed that she would, of course, include the school in these plans. She wants to be “fair to all sides,” and feels that if the Town could have such a meeting, at the end of the day, no one would be able to say they didn’t know about the problem. She stated that she wasn’t giving her personal opinion on this subject although she has one and it is strong. She feels that when people see a school in their back yard, whether there are 10 students or 100, they think it’s a good thing. They think it’s good for a resale of their house and their property and she feels that these people just don’t understand.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that she would also like to see someone who can talk about the fact that New Jersey is running out of places for building and how this area is the logical next place for population and building to come. Additionally, she stated that if there were building sites that were shovel ready in the Fall, it seems to her that this would be a win/win for builders.
Mrs. Lindsay also expressed some skepticism about the request to lessen the amount of meetings with the Architectural Review Board. Mr. Dance responded that they didn’t want to take away any of the protections for the Town, but they were trying to get the process to the point where it was less subjective and more a case of “checking off boxes.”
It was pointed out to Councilmember Lindsay by the Supervisor, as well as Town Attorney Protter, that the action being considered at this meeting was just to send the applicant to the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Board as well as the Orange County Planning Department as a first step in the process leading to a public hearing where all questions could be asked and answered.
Councilmember Lindsay next wanted to know what the status of the Town LDC was as she was hoping to apply for a grant and needs engineering drawings, which she is hoping to get the LDC to fund.
Supervisor Rost responded that at the moment, he is working on the LDC. Gary Phelps will be coming off that Board and Deputy Supervisor Dave McMillen will be taking his place. Consultants are lined up. Thus, Mrs. Lindsay will be able to apply for her funding shortly.
Finally Mrs. Lindsay wanted to know as far as the SEQR Short Form was concerned if the requested change of materials would impact the financials, which set the housing prices that had been submitted for the project?
She was told that no one has an answer to that question. She then requested that this question be added to the short form. It was agreed that it would be.
The Board then unanimously supported the resolution to send the request to the Planning Board, ARB and OC Planning Department.
Introduction of Local Law regarding Police Discipline:
This item was tabled.
Resolution to appoint Gary Phelps to the Board of Assessment Review replacing Carol Matthews: Councilmember Lindsay commented that she thought the process for appointing people to Boards needed to be more open and above board. She requested resumes for the people being proposed and never received them.
Supervisor Rost responded “you didn’t get any bios?” and she replied that she had not. All the other Board members said that they had received the bios thus she abstained from voting.
Resolution to appoint Maria Warniaha to the Board of Assessment Review replacing Fred Jones.
The vote was 4-1 with Councilmember Lindsay abstaining.
Councilmember Reardon stated for the record that both Mr. Phelps and Mrs. Warniaha had taken the training offered by the County for this position and had been certified by the County.
Councilmember Mcmillen commented that there was still one more position available on this Board, which they were holding open for a resident of the Village. He asked when the next training was being offered by the County. The answer was May 15. Councilman Mcmellen then wondered if they could hope to make the next appointment at the next Town Board Meeting. He was told yes.
Councilmember Lindsay suggested that, in the future, when Board openings became available they be posted to the Town website. The Board agreed this was a good idea.
Resolution to extend the Building Moratorium by introduction of new Building Moratorium Local Law:
There will be a public hearing on this law on May 22, 2017 at 7 pm.
Resolution to Grant Special Use and Special Sign Permits for the Memorial Day Community Picnic to the Tuxedo Park Library.
This was unanimously approved.
Resolution approving Form of Petition for the Proposition to Increase Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library.
This was unanimously passed.
Other Business: A Resolution to appoint Deputy Supervisor Dave Mcmillen to the Town LDC replacing former Deputy Supervisor Gary Phelps:
This was unanimously passed.
Appointment of Gregory Hart as a part time officer to the Tuxedo Police Department.
This was unanimously approved and Mr. Hart, who was present, was introduced to all and welcomed to the Department.
Electrical Upgrade to Nursery Road:
By way of introduction, Councilmember Mcmillen explained that Orange & Rockland had requested relocating some power lines running from the Keep to Nursery Road. In return, Orange and Rockland has agreed to beautify the buffer zone between the Village and Nursery Road as well as supply a complete electrical upgrade to the residents of Nursery Road. Frank Peverly gave a brief explanation of what this would entail. Electricity for Nursery Road will be basically the same but with higher voltage. Some of the wires will be “cleaned up” at the same time. Any cost for this will be borne by the Village. There will be a Public Hearing for Nursery Road residents only on June 12, 2017 at 7 pm.
Public Comments: Sue Scher commented that she had attended the first Sloatsburg meeting with the DOT and said she thought it was very well done and is hoping that Tuxedo can have the same kind of meeting.
As far as the proposed meeting about Tuxedo Farms, she wanted to know if this would just be about how the school impacted the project or would it be an opportunity for people in Town to find out where things stand with the Tuxedo Farms project as a whole.
Councilmember Reardon replied that it was her intention to have it encompass the whole project and not just as it was impacted by the school.
Finally, Ms. Scher wanted to know what DeMarino and Veltidi were being hired to do at the Highway Department.
She was told that they would be working on cleaning up the property while following the parameters that have been set by the DEC. She was assured that the DEC was still overseeing all of the work on the property.
Jerry Mottola commented that during the blasting/construction stage of Tuxedo Farms construction, turning in and out of Southside Place had become a nightmare.
Lt. Norton suggested that putting a flag man there would be helpful.
Mr. Mottola was told that the Board would follow up with this.
John MacNamara commented that as far as the School was concerned, he attends almost every School Board meeting and that frequently/usually the only attendees are himself and TPFYI reporter Mary Graetzer. He encouraged more people to attend these meetings and educate themselves as to what is going on as well as express their opinions.
Councilmember Reardon asked who could attend the meetings?
She was told all residents could come. School Board President Diana Petrosky who was present said the Board welcomed anyone to the meetings.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into Executive Session to receive advice from counsel on a personnel issue.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Councilperson Loncar was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost began his report by stating that he wanted to address the sign permit process. He pointed out that there were some signs up in Town, which had not come before the Board for a permit. He added that the Board wanted to support all groups in Town, especially the volunteer organizations. Therefore, they would be working with these organizations to make sure they were in compliance. Going forward, if signs are put up without a permit, they will need to be taken down.
The Town is still closing out the books for 2016. The Supervisor is in touch with the auditor who wants to make sure that everything is correct as the State is waiting to look at the books.
The Supervisor complimented Highway Superintendent Dollbaum for a job well done, commenting that he had campaigned for his job with the promise that he would run the department as if it were his own business. Not only did Superintendent Dollbaum have to deal with a 50% reduction in his workforce and still manage to get all his work done, but he came in about a half million dollars under budget!!! Supervisor Rost thanked the Superintendent and he was given a huge round of applause.
It was pointed out that Town Hall is undergoing some mold remediation.
The Supervisor had a conversation with Andrew Dance during which Mr. Dance stated that Related was still moving forward with the Tuxedo Farms project.
Finally, the Supervisor said he would be interviewing Lieutenant Norton for the available Police Chief’s position and he and other Board members would also be interviewing candidates for the Board of Assessment Review.
Councilpersons Lindsay and Mcmillen met with O&R to discuss the Village of Tuxedo Park’s request to reroute some power lines through Nursery Rd en route to the Keep.
The Councilpersons made it clear that the residents of Nursery Road would have to agree to this and also that there should be an incentive of some kind for agreeing. After meeting with O&R, they announced that the utility is offering to upgrade the electrical service for all of Nursery Rd. in exchange for being able to route through that neighborhood. A beautification project for the buffer zone between the Village and Nursery Rd has also been proposed. The proposal will be put together and mailed to all the residents of Nursery Rd. after which a public hearing will be held with those residents.
Presentation by Niklas Moran of Hudson Valley Regional Council on Clean Energy Certification Process:
Mr. Moran went through all the steps the Town (and any other community) could take to get into the running for a possible $50,000 grant. There are 10 possible action items and in order to qualify to be considered for the grant, a community has to complete four of these items. To view the presentation with details on the items, click here.
Presentation by Don Weiss of New York New Jersey Trail Conference on new signage for Tuxedo Trails:
After giving a short history of the Trail Conference and their involvement with Tuxedo Trails, Mr. Weiss said he had come to talk about the Roadwalk portion of the trail, which leads from the Tuxedo Train Station to the trails in the forest. When these trails were first laid out, people hiking them tended to be somewhat local and were experienced hikers. Now, however, there are people coming from New York City and other areas on the train and a number of them are inexperienced and they are getting lost. He presented a slide show of pictures of the markings for how to find the trailhead and requested help in putting up signage that would assist those people who wanted to find their way easily to the trails. The Board agreed to help with this.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Niklas Moran, Hudson Valley Regional Council Coordinator.
Presentation on Clean Energy Community Certification process
2. Don Weiss, New York New Jersey Trail Conference.
Presentation on new signage for Tuxedo Trails.
Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
The Town Board met on Monday, April 10, 2017 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he and Councilperson Lindsay had met with Chamber of Commerce members to once again discuss their vision for the Hamlet Business District. The next step will be to coordinate with Sloatsburg and all of the different legislators and departments who are involved with the project there and project funding for the corridor.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has been busy getting the Town cleaned up and has tidied the back of the train station and the bus stop. He will move on to the Town of Tuxedo sign and soon be striping the commuter parking lots. He will also be upgrading the street signs in Town. Clean up continues up at the Highway garage and they are down to one pile of dirt which contains some stumps that need to be dealt with.
Councilperson Lindsay will be arranging for a meeting between the Town Council and Nicholas Moran of the Hudson Valley Regional Council. He will explain the necessary steps involved with the Clean Energy project as well as the grant writing assistance that may be available to the Town. She circulated a draft of a letter she’s written urging the pass of the legislation which would give the Town the authority to reject the Pilgrim Pipeline. Currently Villages and Counties can do this, but not Towns. Mary Graetzer asked if it would be possible for this legislation to move forward in time to actually help the Town to veto the Pipeline. Mrs. Lindsay replied the bill is currently in committee and in order to help, it just needs to be passed before the State Legislature adjourns their session in June.
Additionally, Councilperson Lindsay reminded everyone that the bears are out of hibernation and it’s time to bring in bird feeders.
Finally, She reported that she and Councilperson Mcmillen had met with both Orange & Rockland and Cablevision and are now just waiting to hear back from a tree company before they report on the proposed rerouting of wires from the Village to Nursery Rd.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Southfields resident Sasha Knittel inquired as to where the Town stood on the Pilgrim Pipeline, further stating that she was very much against the project. She was assured that the Town Board as a whole was also strongly opposed to it.
Agenda Items: Presentation by Orange County NY Film Office: Councilperson Lindsay introduced Dawn Ansbro, the Executive Director of the Orange County NY Arts Council.
Ms. Ansbro explained that this office was established about 3 years ago for the purpose of proactively marketing the County as a location for films. The state recently passed a tax incentive for filmmakers, effectively making it more cost effective for them to come out of New York City and film in Orange County. Among other things, the Film Office will act as a liaison between Towns in Orange County and the film industry.They maintain a database of possible locations and would love to add any in the Town of Tuxedo who would like to be considered for filming as well as a database of people who work in the film industry in various capacities who would be interested in working on films in the area. These databases exist on their website (orangecountynyfilm.org) If anyone would like to be added, they should contact Ms. Ansbro at the Film Office. She requested a copy of the section of the Town Code pertaining to filming as well as a listing of any permits that would need to be filed for filming permissions.
The Arts Council is also putting together a “studio tour” for the month of June and they ask any local artists with space here who would like to participate in the tour (June 3 and 4 are the dates for Southern Orange County) to get in touch with them.
The following resolutions were passed:
A resolution to terminate the Lease Agreement with Engines Plus, Inc.
A resolution to terminate the Lease Agreement with Painting and Sandblasting, Inc.
Both businesses have been renting space at the Highway Garage and the leases have expired. The Town has a need for storage for various things (files, recreation equipment and more) and has decided to take these spaces back to use this purpose. Both resolutions passed by a 4 to 1 vote with Councilmember Loncar voting no.
New Business: Supervisor Rost made a motion that pending review by Town Counsel, he would be able to sign the letter urging the passing of the legislation giving Towns the power to reject pipelines. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Public Comments: Dale Mottola requested permission for the Sons of Italy to put up a road sign advertising their upcoming pasta dinner. Permission was unanimously granted.
Speaking for the Northern Tuxedo Residents Association (NTRA) Claudia Bahktiary requested permission to clean up the overflow parking lot at the intersection of Routes 17 and 17A. This property is actually owned by PIPC and it was agreed that the NTRA would notify them before doing the work.
Tuxedo Park Mayor Mary Jo Guinchard stated that she was aware that perhaps some of the people in the Town had felt affronted by the Village during past public discussions and that this was never her intention, so she wanted to publicly apologize for it. She is hoping that the Village DPW and the Town DPW can work together moving forward on the beautification of the property near the gatehouse and between the Village and the Nursery Rd. neighborhood. Any plans for these projects will be presented to neighborhood residents before going forward.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus Presents Tuxedo with $5,000 For Trail Kiosk
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus journeyed to Tuxedo on Thursday, March 31, 2017 to present a $5000 check to the Town as a contribution toward the Trail Kiosk which was recently installed at the Tuxedo Train Station.
Pictured with Town Supervisor Mike Rost, Deputy Supervisor Dave Mcmillen and Councilperson Michele Lindsay are (from left) County Legislator Barry Cheney, County Executive Neuhaus, Don Weise from the NYNJ Trail Conference, Town resident Sue Scher and Mary Pat Smith from County Executive Neuhaus’ office.
Town Board Meeting March 27, 2017
The Town Board met on Monday, March 27, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported having met with some members of the Chamber of Commerce and other business owners in Town. The purpose of the meeting was for him to get an idea of what the needs of the group are as well as their vision for the hamlet as the Town gets ready to move forward with Tuxedo Farms as well as projects that Michael Bruno is proposing. He would also like to look into applying for some grant money similar to what Sloatsburg has recently received. He mentioned that years ago under Supervisor Ken Magar, the Town had looked into this and those plans would still be helpful to them now even though some of the work is now outdated although he added that because of work done during the proposed casino project, the Town does have some up-to-date plans. When Mr. Magar’s Board did their original study, “walkability” in the Town was looked at as well as the idea of putting in a “river walk” which would connect Tuxedo to Sloatsburg. Supervisor Rost would like to pursue those plans.
Next, the Supervisor explained that there were two resolutions on the agenda, which oppose the enforced shared services within the state. Although Tuxedo serves as a great example of using shared services as they have eliminated the police dispatchers and are successfully using Orange County 911, he believes that sometimes sharing services just doesn’t make sense. For example, he looked into sharing the services of the County Assessor and found that it would end up costing the Town considerably more than hiring a new Assessor.
Regarding the open Police Chief position, the Town is in receipt of the current civil service list. As required they have sent out letters to the top 3 candidates inviting them to come for interviews and are currently waiting for responses. He added that Lieutenant Norton would be a part of the process.
Councilperson Mcmillen stated that it had recently come to his attention that there was a high voltage power line soon to be installed in his neighborhood, (Nursery Rd.) which would benefit the Village of Tuxedo Park. He and Councilperson Lindsay, along with the Village engineer spent some time looking at the proposed project. He would like to make sure that when decisions are made about going forward with this project that the people who live in Nursery Rd. are consulted and kept in the loop. He would also like assurance that there will be a public hearing before approvals are given.
Councilperson Loncar stated that he understands that the town owned American Legion hall is going to be advertised for sale in the newspaper. He feels that is not an appropriate action, preferring that the hall be listed with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Councilmember Lindsay reported that she, Councilperson Mcmillen and other Town employees had a meeting with the State Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT called the meeting to apprise them of what the plans were in Sloatsburg and to let them know that they are one of twelve communities that the DOT will consider working with next. Sloatsburg is considering a “road diet” which is one lane in each direction with a middle lane for turning. The DOT said that since Tuxedo has less traffic than Sloatsburg, if Sloatsburg is eligible for the road diet, Tuxedo would probably be eligible as well. If Sloatsburg is not eligible, the DOT felt that Tuxedo should still apply for the road diet study. The group was told that the more things Tuxedo did to increase their visibility, the better chance they had of receiving approval for studies and ultimately funding through grants.
There ensued a discussion of what a road diet is and whether or not it would work in the Town. The DOT told people at the meeting that they need to look at the region as a whole and not just individual Towns. The DOT representatives also said they are going to repave Route 17 from Arden Road all the way down to the Thruway as well as make some improvements to the crosswalks at the Post Office and the High School and add a sidewalk between the Ambulance Building and the Orange Top.
Councilmember Lindsay also reported that she has been meeting with the regional coordinator for Clean Energy Communities, which is a NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research & Development) program, Nicholas Moran. He would like to come to a Board meeting to make a presentation about the benefits of becoming a Clean Energy Community. There are 10 high impact actions that the Town can take in order to be designated as a Clean Energy Community and once it has been designated, the Town would be eligible for a $50,000 no local match grant for further energy efficiency improvements as well as free grant writer assistance. 4 of the 10 possible actions must be completed on order to be considered for designation. One of the actions is converting street lights to LED bulbs. Councilmember Loncar pointed out that this would be very expensive. While no one is arguing that this is not so, in the end the Town would stand to save a lot of money. The Woodlands made this conversion several years ago and, according to Frank Peverly who was President of the HOA at the time, they have saved a lot over the years. Other actions for designation include undertaking a building audit, passing a unified solar permit process, and community choice aggregation.
Update on the County by Legislator Barry Cheney:
Mr. Cheney reported that the County is also working on being designated as a Clean Energy Community. As such, they have completed 3 of the 4 required actions and their 4th will probably be installing LED lighting in street lights. Mr. Cheney is also a Trustee and Deputy Mayor for the Village of Warwick where they are also working on LED street lighting.
Additionally, he suggested that the County has a “pretty robust” grant group within the Orange County Planning Department and he thought we might want to consider asking them for some help. For the “road diet” study he felt the Town might want to talk to the County Highway Department who in turn might be able to supply some good pointers about being successful with such a study. He also mentioned that the County IDA (Industrial Development Agency) was a potential resource and said he would be happy to facilitate getting together with them.
With regard to general goings on within the County, he mentioned that construction continues on the County Office Building with completion scheduled for October or November. While move in will happen as soon as it can, the courts will probably not move until their planned recess over the Holiday. The County has funded expansion of the Heritage Trail from Goshen to Middletown and they are now looking seriously at funding extending it from River Rd. in Harriman right down to the train station. They feel this would open up the trails to people who live in New York City who want to come up to hike on the weekends. He acknowledged that Tuxedo also has a lot of trails and is trying to attract people here for hiking. As such he suggests that linking to the County’s Tourism Department could be helpful.
Presentation by Good Energy regarding Community Choice Aggregation:
Edward Carey and Javiar Barrios from Good Energy again explained the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program, which is a new program to the State of New York. CCA is one of the 10 high impact actions available to be designated as a Clean Energy Community. They offer a program for residents. Presently, a resident can buy their energy from the utility or from one of the available firms in the market. Good Energy would offer a third choice, that of a group of residents banding together to make a large purchase of power at a reduced rate. Their program is an “opt out” program. Everyone will automatically be in it unless they opt out. There would be no penalties for leaving the program. Since their presentation a year ago, Good Energy has had much success within New York State and the State is the 7th state to adopt the program. Good Energy would like to be the Town’s CCA Administrator. In order for this to work, the Town would have to pass a local law and have a public hearing after which Good Energy would be able to collect the data necessary to report on how much money could be saved.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution extending the Moratorium on Residential and Non-Commercial Development approvals for 3 months
a Resolution to lease the Town’s Park fields to Northeast Tournaments LLC d/b/a PG Northeast Tournament
a Resolution objecting to New York State Budget Proposal to impose conditions on AIM funds
a Resolution objecting to enactment of the proposed “County-Wide Shared Services Property Tax Savings Plan”
a Resolution to surplus Highway equipment – Highway Superintenent Dollbaum wants to surplus the excavator which he feels they don’t need and with the money he gets, he wants to buy a much needed backhoe
a Resolution consenting to the sale of raffle tickets by Access Supports for Living, Inc.
a Resolution approving participation in Orange County 2017 STOP-DWI Enforcement Grant
The following resolution was tabled after a Board discussion:
a Resolution authorizing the lease of office space to ABS Eurodesign Group, LLC – Councilperson Mcmillen expressed his concerns about this transaction – he doesn’t feel that the Town should be acting as landlords. In his view, there need to be individual electric meters on all the potential rental properties at the highway garage property. Without this, the Town is losing money on these units. The proposed meters are expensive but they don’t have a definite estimate for them. At present there are tenants in 2 of these units and the leases are expired but those leases specified that the Town would pay the electrical charges. Presently, the electricity is costing more than the rent being paid. No one has been administering the leases so that there were supposed to be several bumps in rent that never happened. This discussion degenerated into an argument and the resolution was tabled.
Public Comments: Frank Peverly stated that the purchase of electricity has become “extremely complicated,” and he cautioned the Town Board to educated themselves on the process before deciding whether or not to go with Good Energy’s (or anyone’s) proposal.
Councilperson Lindsay announced that the Town would be receiving $5000 from the County for the Kiosk project. This money will go into the maintenance fund for the kiosk at the train station.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported that he had recently had the soil tested at the Highway garage and the results came back as clean!
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Agenda for Village Planning Board Meeting March 27, 2017
NOTICE is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Village of Tuxedo Park will hold a
public hearing on Monday, March 27, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall, 80 Lorillard Road, Tuxedo Park, New Yark on the following:
1. Application of Robert McQuilkin & William Russell, 82 Circuit Rd., Maureen Love,
72 Circuit Rd. and William Nixon, 62 Circuit Rd, to change the lot lines affecting three
parcels, resulting in a change of lot sizes of such parcels.
The application and plans are available for review Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Village Hall, Village of Tuxedo Park, 80 Lorillard Road, Tuxedo Park, NY.
All neighbors and/or parties interested will be heard.
BY ORDER OF THE
PLANNING BOARD
JoAnn Hanson, Chairman
Joint Town Board, Planning Board and Architectural Review Board Tuxedo Farms Workshop March 6, 2017
The Town held a workshop meeting for members of the Town Board, Planning Board and Architectural Board of Review on Monday, March 6, 2017 at 6 pm. The purpose of the workshop was to review the changes being proposed by Related Companies for the Tuxedo Farms project.
Andrew Dance of Related stated that a letter had been sent to the Town Board in December asking for several amendments to the Special Permit. In brief, they are requesting the use of vinyl siding for some structures, a reduction in roof pitch on some structures and assurance that if a building meets the design guidelines as outlined in the Permit, it will be approved by the Architectural Review Board. Additionally, Related has engaged the architectural firm of Torti Gallas a firm, which deals with designs of master planned communities.
Councilperson Loncar asked Mr. Dance to give an update as to where they stand with the project.
Mr. Dance responded that they are continuing to work on “earthwork,” moving down Quail Road to Route 17. They will also be moving forward with work on the Southern Entrances (near Jessie’s Bagels) and will be doing some stonework going down to Route 17 near the old Applewood Kennels working on the entrance as well as storm water drainage. Mr. Dance remarked that they feel they have had a very successful earthwork campaign thus far, with little to no interference with neighboring houses and no water supply issues. They are also working with Orange and Rockland on the gas and electric service to the project and that work will likely continue through the summer. Finally, the new sewer plant is coming along nicely, however in order to turn it on, they need effluent from the project as the Town doesn’t generate enough for the plant to run properly.
Brian O’Looney and Mark Bombaugh from Torti Gallas then gave a presentation on the proposed changes to the design guidelines. To view a copy of this presentation, click here.
In summation, Torti Gallas’s goal is to retain the standards that are already in the Special Permit while at the same time making the project buildable for builders in ways that are not visible to the general public. They repeatedly emphasized that they would like to
make sure that the vision presented in the Special Permit is actually achieved.
Specifically, they recommend that some vinyl siding (but not ALL brands) be approved for use in certain neighborhoods within the development, although not on all the buildings, and that more relaxed roof pitches and slopes be allowed. They also suggested that some pc and urethane and vinyl window products be permitted. They aim to come up with a list of approved products that will help the buildings in the development both to look better and retain those looks over a longer period of time.
Councilperson Loncar said that he had been working in construction for over 20 years and didn’t really have a great opinion of vinyl siding. He feels that it is not the quality, which was promised in the Smart Code. He asked if they were talking about seamed or seamless siding. The architects responded that they have done work with both.
Referencing some comments made during the presentation Councilperson Lindsay expressed some concern over the fact that the vinyl siding would “take work to get it right.” She wondered if this meant that there would be more oversight needed on the project than was previously proposed?
Andrew Dance responded that the builders they are talking to are largely from New Jersey and they are all working almost exclusively with the materials which are being proposed. He feels that “practice makes perfect,” and that these builders have had a lot od practice so an extraordinary amount of oversight would not be required.
Since the presentation suggested that these new materials would work better with some of the proposed home styles (Adirondack, Hudson River Dutch, Hudson River Gothic and Greek Revival) and not others Councilperson Loncar wondered if there would be a specific ratio of which styles of houses would be allowed.
Mr. Dance responded that the Special Permit requires that there be a certain amount of variety but that it does not get any more specific than that.
Mark Bombaugh added that by specifying that the materials were allowed on 4 different styles, they should end up with a variety of housing.
Councilperson Reardon asked how the change in materials would affect the pricing of the houses.
Andrew Dance replied that at $1.5 Million this region, what is being proposed is the predominant kind of construction that is being built.
Mrs. Reardon countered that she felt the reason that more builders were using the materials in question was because they were able to build houses at a reduced cost.
Mr. Dance remarked that there were regions in the country where it was actually cheaper to use hardy board and that this was because in those areas, the labor force was more skilled in using those materials. This is not the case in the North East region.
Planning Board Member John Ruel asked if vinyl siding was allowed, on what percentage of the houses would it be used?
Mr. Dance replied that they had no way of knowing but added that he did not see clapboard in use anywhere in this region. When questioned by Councilperson Reardon, he stated that the inability to use vinyl was a “non starter” for the builders in this region.
Councilperson Loncar stated that it had taken 20 years to plan this community and the design standards that they ended up with were ones that everyone wanted. Now he fears that if they move ahead with what is being proposed, the Town would be getting an inferior product, which will not look anything like what everyone envisioned.
He was reminded that the Town has an Architectural Review Board who can simply say no.
Brian O’Looney suggested that by specifying high end products, he felt they could circumvent this problem. The goal is to create a bridge between the feedback from prospective builders and the Town’s standards.
George McCathern, member of the Architectural Review Board. expressed his concern about allowing cheaper products. He wondered who would control how the vinyl siding was being installed. Additionally, Mr. McCathern stated that he wasn’t against using some of the new products that had been proposed and that he isn’t afraid of change, but he has seen a lot of bad looking vinyl siding. Should they see siding going up that they felt didn’t look good, he noted that they would not have the power to make the builders take it down. Who will control the builders who have signed on to the project because they can build cheaper products? Who will make sure that the vinyl siding goes up properly? He added that he has seen some vinyl siding in New Jersey that looks “horrible.”
Councilperson Mcmillen said he would like to know how the Town would be able to enforce the quality of construction.
Mr. Dance then stated that the design guidelines in the Special Permit were written in 2004 and haven’t been changed since. He believes, these guidelines are just not what builders are doing today. He went on to state that no one wanted to build cheap houses. Vinyl is the product that builders are using now he feels that it looks very nice. He suggested that the Board members take a few field trips and look at some examples of what he was referring to.
Given that Mr. Dance had suggested that not being able to use vinyl siding was a “non-starter” for many builders, Councilperson Lindsay wondered whether the French Country, English Country, English Arts and Crafts or Shingle styles homes would be eliminated altogether as certain styles in the Design Guidelines have been determined to not work well with the siding. Mr. Dance replied that they were starting with areas of the development, which were determined by lot size. They feel it’s important to get “critical mass” into the development at the beginning of the project in order to generate success. All the houses proposed for these areas are ones designed to be below a million dollars in price. However, as they move on to the other areas of the development, he feels that the styles Mrs. Lindsay has mentioned will then be appropriate.
Mr. McCathern wondered how they would be able to make the builders use the higher priced materials.
He was told that the later parts of the project would have higher priced, bigger homes and that people who wanted those, typically want the higher priced materials. Which materials are used will depend on the buyers, what they want and what they are willing to pay for.
Councilperson Loncar asked if Related would be agreeable to making the front of the houses as specified in the Special Permit and then allowing the sides and back of the houses to be built with vinyl siding.
Mr. Dance responded that while that sounded very reasonable to him, it was not what builders were doing or asking for.
Brian O’Looney suggested that Mr. Loncar might not be happy with that combination as it didn’t always work well.
Planning Board Chair Mike Reardon wondered what would happen if the vinyl siding was tied to Related’s staying involved with the project so that if Related were to walk away from the project, then the vinyl siding would go as well?
Mr. Dance responded that he didn’t know how this could be done.
Councilperson Mcmillen then asked for clarification as to what exactly was being asked for. Specifically, he wondered if it was just an adjustment of roof pitch and vinyl siding.
Several people called out that there were changes to the windows as well and that was confirmed. Brian O’Looney mentioned that there were other changes..
Town Attorney Don Nichol then stated that the Town wanted a redlined version of the proposal so they could see more accurately and quickly what was being asked for. He was told that this would be submitted.
It was agreed that in order to move forward the Special Permit would need to be amended so that it could include approved products and materials. Mr. Nichol stated he thought the Boards would need time to think about this and discuss it based on the presentation they had just viewed.
George McCathern stated that what was upsetting him was that a lot of the things that were being asked for now were things that had been rejected when putting together the guidelines that are in the existing permit.
He was told that some of the pictures he was referring to were not being recommended, and that the point of the pictures was to showcase the builders and what they were producing.
Mr. Dance was then asked to put together a list of communities with houses showcasing what was being asked for that members of the Board could easily go visit in order tosee first hand what was being discussed.
Mr. Dance responded that his letter from December provided such a list.
Mark Bombaugh stated that Tuxedo has a really great code in the Special Permit and that Related is only looking to amend small parts of it.
Supervisor Rost commented that his opinion was that it didn’t matter if the material was vinyl or hardy pine. The Town will need to “hold the builders’ feet to the fire” and that no matter what the material is, “it has to go up right.” He further stated that he thought they needed to take a look at the Town’s ARB to make sure they have everything they need in order to enforce the code.
It was agreed that Related would submit a redlined copy of the proposal with a list of the materials that are being proposed.
Councilperson Reardon reiterated that the Boards had spent more than 20 years working on this project and now when the end is so close, she feels an obligation to work together with the developer to make sure that what the Town ends up with is everything that they want and everything that they know it can be.
Joint Town Board, Planning Board and Architectural Review Board Public Workshop Regarding Tuxedo Farms March 6
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold, a public joint workshop involving the Town Board, Planning Board and ARB with Related Co. to review the progress and to review proposed changes of the Tuxedo Farms project. Community Room, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York, on Monday, March 6, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 13, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
A representative from Orange County Emergency services appeared before the Board to ask for relief from the building moratorium. They want to build two towers in the Maplebrook section of Town to improve their coverage in the Eagle Valley/Maplebrook area. A resolution granting relief was passed unanimously and the applicant was referred to the TAC Committee to get their process started.
Supervisor Rost announced that the scheduled presentation by Good Energy had been rescheduled for the first meeting in March.
Public Hearing on the Town Comprehensive Plan Amendment:
Supervisor Rost opened the hearing by saying that he felt there was a lot of misinformation within the community regarding the hearing. He stressed that the purpose of the hearing was to receive comments from residents about the plan and that the Board did not plan to vote on anything at this time. He added that when the comments had been received, they would probably close the public hearing but written comments would be accepted for the next two weeks, which would give everyone a chance to participate in the process.
Town Attorney Don Nichol then provided an overview, explaining that the Town’s master plan had been adopted a little over 5 years ago and that the proposal currently before the Board was an update to that. It is a conceptual plan, which outlines what the goals are for the Town. This revision is relatively minor and one of its main purposes is to protect the Town’s rate base. The Town’s demographics have been updated and there are a few more exhibits. The plan has been submitted to the Orange County Planning Department for their review and, although their time has expired, they haven’t as yet commented.
Dena Steele had many constructive suggestions to make for the Plan. To read a copy of her remarks, click here.
Steven Silverberg, an attorney with Silverberg Zalantis LLP representing Faire Partners, stated that he and his client felt there was no need for the “new” zoning, which would cover his client’s property. He feels that the proposed zoning was intended for the casino and since the Town will not be getting a casino, he sees no need for it. Furthermore, he feels the reasoning behind it is “suspect,” and although he has submitted more than one FOIL request for any documents exchanged between the Town and their consultants, he has not received any communication between the Town and their consultants at all. He further stated that if he did not receive some reasoning or motive for rezoning his client’s land, he felt they were headed down a “very expensive path for everybody,” and he hoped the Board would not do that.
Susan Roth from Hudson Valley Planning & Preservation, also representing Faire Partners, stated that she felt the rezoning of Ren Faire’s property was unwise. She said that she didn’t think anything less than the magnitude of Bear Mountain Lodge could possibly succeed there. She suggested that the Town had already had a “resort” (Timber Ridge Ski Center) that had closed there. She feels the Town should keep the Ren Faire property zoned as residential.
Ken English said he appreciated all the work that this Town Board and previous ones had put into the Plan. He offered constructive comments on various topics including Interchange 15B, the Indian Kill reservoir, School Districts consolidation and goals for possible future development in Arden.
Steven Spiegel, another attorney for Faire Partner stated that he thought the process of adopting a Comprehensive Plan was a great one. That said, he implored the Board to remember the fiscal responsibility involved. He feels that rezoning the land from residential to tourism would be a mistake and might end up being a hardship for his client. He asked the Board to remember that there is “a difference between a resort (such as the proposed casino) and an event (such as the Renaissance Faire).”
Jake Matthews asked the Board to keep in mind Tuxedo’s proximity to New York City and it’s standing as a commuter town. He feels it’s very important that we maintain as good of a commuting experience as we possibly can.
Karen Dougher said that she had lived in town for over 20 years and as long as she could remember, people have been trying to consolidate the school districts. She doesn’t understand why that has anything to do with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and stated that, in her opinion, consolidation is never going to happen. She believes that the State does not want to bring part of a larger district into a smaller district. Also, Monroe Woodbury would never, in her opinion, give up the tax money.
Michael Stewart wondered what was “going on with the school district.” His observation was that there were only 15-17 kids per grade and in his opinion, there isn’t a good reason to keep the school open. He lives in Juniper Terrace and has been trying to sell his house for a year and a half but says that no one is interested in moving here, mostly because of the school. He wondered what the plans were for the school. He was told that the Town Board is not in charge of the school and that if he wanted this kind of information, he would need to go and ask the School Board those questions.
Wayne Reuvers spoke up and stated that he wholeheartedly supports an exploration of consolidation of the school districts. He does not like seeing tax revenue going out of the Town and to another district. He further commented that he thought the Comprehensive Plan was “brilliant,” and that he very much liked the direction taken by the Board for the last year or year and a half.
Mike Santoianni spoke as a realtor as well as a representative of the Tuxedo Park Associates. He began by saying that he would like to see a “red lined” copy of the plan so that he and others could understand what differences are being proposed for the plan. He then went on to give comments about the proposed tourism business zone.
Town Attorney Nichol responded saying that what Mr. Santoianni was referring to was not a part of the Comprehensive Plan but rather a part of some zoning amendments which might be considered next but were not something under discussion currently and certainly not up for a decision tonight. He further stated that if zoning changes were contemplated there would be more public hearings at which the public would have ample opportunity to comment.
Mr. Santoianni then remarked that the TPA has a 40-acre parcel on Warwick Brook Rd., which it has been trying to sell for several years.
The land is presently zoned RO and even with that, they would need permission for any “use” of the property. Should that property be zoned Tourism Business, there would be even more restrictions on it. He cautioned that he believes the Plan has “unintended consequences” for future business development and he asked the Board to take a hard look at that.
Ginny Apostolides remarked that as a long time Town resident, she would like to see more recreational opportunities in Town such as a pool or “a real Park.” Commenting that she knew that these things cost money, she proposed that “events” should be held to raise funds to pay for them. She also supports changing Route 17 from 4 lanes to 3 in order to slow people down and perhaps encourage them to stop in Town and patronize local businesses.
The public comment hearing was then closed. Written comments will be accepted through February 27.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to grant relief to C&E Auto Body from the building moratorium local law. (This allows them to go before the Planning Board). The vote was 3-2 with Councilpersons Lindsay and Loncar voting no.
a Resolution consenting to the sale of raffle tickets by the Onyx and Breezy Foundation in the Town of Tuxedo (this is an annual occurrence)
a Resolution to approve the annual garbage collection permit (for Marangi).
a Resolution to authorize the Town Clerk to attend the NYS Town Clerks Training Conference in Rochester from 4/23-4/26
a Resolution to set the salary for part time Assessor at $20,000 per year and to appoint Jim Davies to fill the position.
a Resolution approving budget modifications
a Resolution declaring Tobins Way, Spartan Place, Patterson Hill Rd, Nolan’s Way and Chapel Turn to be public highways pursuant to New York State Highway Law section 189. This will allow the Town to service these roads but any improvements will need to be petitioned for by the residents. This was passed 4-1 with Councilperson Mcmillen voting no.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Town of Tuxedo Notice of Public Hearing - Amendment of Comprehensive Plan
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 1 Temple Road, Tuxedo, New York, on February 13, 2017, at 7 p.m. for the following purpose: to solicit public comments on the proposed Amendment of the Town of Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan.
Copies of the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment are available for inspection at Town Hall; on the Town of Tuxedo website, www.tuxedogov.org; and, at the Tuxedo Park Library, 227 Route 17, Tuxedo, New York.
All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing.
PUBLIC HEARING- COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 1 Temple Road, Tuxedo , New York, on January 23, 2017, at 7 p.m. for the following purpose : to solicit public comments on the proposed Amendment of the Town of Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan. Copies of the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment are available for inspection at Town Hall; on the Town of Tuxedo website, www.tuxedogov.org; and, at the Tuxedo Park Library, 227 Route 17, Tuxedo,New York. All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing.
REGULAR BI-MONTHLY MEETING
Minutes
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comment s on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by thanking everyone for the support he and his family have received during the last month. He added that because he has been out of Town so much recently, there are open and expired positions in the Reorganization document. These will be addressed by the Board before their next meeting. That said, he announced that Mike Reardon, Planning Board Chair and Frank Peverly, Zoning Board Chair, both of whom were present and both of whose terms have expired, would be reappointed during the meeting.
Highlighting the changes since last year, the Supervisor announced that Greg Stevens would be retiring from the position of Assessor although he will continue to be the Receiver of Taxes. The Town has already received one resume from someone interested in the position and the Supervisor added that he had also been talking to the County about possible ways of handling assessing going forward.
The Reorganization document was then approved unanimously. Details are as follows:
Appointments:
The following appointments were made:
Deputy Supervisor
David McMillen
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
Supervisor’s Bookkeeper
Andrew Arias
The yearly salaries were approved for the following Town Officials and Employees:
Town Supervisor
Michael Rost
$33,728.29
Town Council Member
Michele Lindsay
$ 6.634.89
Town Council Member
Clifford Loncar
$ 6.634.89
Town Council Member
David McMillen
$ 6.634.89
Town Council Member
Valerie Reardon
$ 6.634.89
Town Justice
Shawn Brown
$24,553.00
Town Justice
Sandy Newman
$23,690.00
Receiver of Taxes
Greg Stevens
$11,362.00
Town Clerk
Donna Matthews
$55,000.00
Superintendent of Highways
Rob Dollbaum
$85,000.00
Supervisory Court Clerk
Elizabeth Smith
$47,981.00
Justice Clerk
Claire Squillini
$40,053.00
Supervisor’s Clerk; Recreation Coordinator/Summer Camp Director; Payroll Coordinator; Permit Coordinator
Shari Brooks
$45,973.16
Account Clerk
Brian Sullivan
$20/hour
Dog Control Officer
Thomas Murphy
$ 7,522.00
Emergency Management Officer
Ralph Brooks
$ 793.00
P/T Clerk Typist for the Highway and Building Depts; Recording Secretary for ARB
Michelle Reed
$15/hour
Fire Inspector; Building Inspector; Code Enforcement Officer; Flood Damage Prevention Administrator
David Maikisch
$56,833.22
Project Coordinator for Building Dept; Recording Secretary for Planning Board, Zoning Board, Architectural Review Board
Deborah Villanueva
$48,064.77
Board of Assessment Review/Chairman
Louis DeBrino
(Term Expired)
$ 1,507.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Brennan
(Term Expired)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Frederick Jones
(9/30/18)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Carol Matthews
(9/30/19)
$ 538.00
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Joseph Ricard
(Term Expired)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Leslie DeVore
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Deborah Villanueva
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Paul Eichengreen
(12/31/20)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Jeff Dowding
(12/31/20)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Gardiner Hempel Jr.
(12/31/16)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Edward Brennan Jr.
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Ralph Brooks Sr.
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Todd J. Darling
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Charles Jones
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Zoning Board of Appeals/Chairman
Francis W. Peverly
$ 1,611.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Andrew Rogers
(12/31/16)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Thomas Darling
(12/31/17)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
George Langberg III
(12/31/18)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Russell Shaver
(12/31/19)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Alternate
Position Open
Planning Board/Chairman
Michael Reardon
$ 5,864.00
Planning Board/Member
Linda Phelps
(Term Expired)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Darren Maynard
(12/31/17)
$ 2, 661.00
Planning Board/Member
Joseph Gartiser
(12/31/18)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
John Ruel
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Raymond Ferri
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Richard Rigoli
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Architectural Review Board/Chairman
Dale Mottola
(12/31/17)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Michael Rothlauf
(Term Expired)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
George McCathern
(Term Expired)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Todd Tereshkow
(Term Expired)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Position Open
(12/31/17)
In addition, the following appointments were made:
Town Veteran’s Officer
Paul Mitchell
Town Historian
George Langberg
Official Newspaper of Record
Times Herald Record
Official Depository
JP Morgan Chase
Requests for proposals have gone out for Town Attorneys, Town Engineers and Town Auditors. Until such time as a successor is appointed, Jacobowitz & Gubits was retained as Town Counsel, Legal Counsel and ZBA Legal Counsel. Alyse Terhune was similarly retained as Planning Board Legal Counsel. Until such time as a successor is retained, Holzmacher, McLendon & Murrell P.C. (H2M) was appointed as Town Enginee and Andrew Arias of Cooper Arias was appointed as Town Auditor.
The regular bi-monthly meeting followed.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost commented he had nothing to report as he has been out of town.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that she had met with Good Energy, a community choice aggregating energy company, which is signing up towns in our area. After signing towns up, they will put the energy out to bid and as a result, residents’ energy bills would be reduced. There is still a process to be followed. This would affect just the supply of energy, not the delivery and residents could easily opt out if they so choose. Generally, people see a 10% reduction in their energy costs.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Jim Hays stated that he felt it would be helpful if, when Andrew Dance of Related was going to appear as he was tonight, it was actually listed on the agenda. Mr. Hays felt if it had been noticed, more people would have shown up to listen to what Mr. Dance had to say.
Supervisor Rost apologized to Mr. Hays and stated that a big part of the reason why this hadn’t happened was because he had been tied up with family matters for the past several weeks.
The following Resolution was passed unanimously:
A Resolution authorizing the execution of agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 2017 Animal Shelter Services.
New Business:
Andrew Dance of Related Companies stated he was following up on a letter he had recently sent to the Supervisor and Town Council members. His project, Tuxedo Farms, is proceeding satisfactorily as far as they are concerned. According to Mr. Dance, they are optimistic about the home building market although he reports that builders they are talking to have reservations about “the condition of the high school.” While he is still in touch with members of the community, he is no longer actively engaged with members of the school board. It is his position that the school cannot continue to operate in its current condition and he hopes that the Town as a whole comes to a similar conclusion.
Related plans to come before the appropriate boards to ask for some changes in design guidelines for Tuxedo Farms. They are asking for three things:
1- to able to use high-grade vinyl in siding and windows.
2- to reduce the required roof pitch.
3- assurance that if a house meets the design guidelines, it will be approved by the Board of Architectural Review.
These are all things that have been requested by builders looking to build the project.
After some discussion among the Board members, they decided that they needed advice from their attorneys regarding possible changes to the Special Permit as well as input from the Planning Board and Architectural Review Board.
Acting Police Chief, Lt. Norton next presented an award to both Detective Decker and Deputy Supervisor Mcmillen for their part in helping to solve several burglaries in the region, starting with one in the East Village. Councilperson Mcmillen was able to pull up video footage of the suspect’s van that enabled Detective Decker to put an alert out to surrounding areas and ultimately, the suspects were caught.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Town Board To Hold Public Hearing on Amendment to Comprehensive Plan January 23
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to section 272-a of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, I Temple Road, Tuxedo, New York, on January 23, 2017, at 7 p.m. for the following purpose: to solicit public comments on the proposed Amendment of the Town of Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan.
Copies of the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment are available for inspection at Town Hall; on the Town of Tuxedo website, www.tuxedogov.org; and, at the Tuxedo Park Library, 227 Route 17, Tuxedo, New York.
All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard at this hearing.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Councilmember Lindsay reported that Tuxedo Hudson Company had received $750,000 from the Consolidated Funding grant. She also thanked the Highway Department for their help in getting the new kiosk at the Train station installed. Content will be going up in the kiosk shortly. Right now, the content is still being printed. Councilmember Lindsay also reported that there had been a meeting at the train station about the Pilgrim Pipeline.
Approximately 40 people from Tuxedo, Newburgh and Rockland were in attendance. People signed up to follow through with some actions and it was generally thought to have been a very productive meeting. People are encouraged to contact their representatives in Albany in regard to the Transportation Corporation Law amendment, which will be voted on in February. This amendment would make it possible for Towns to ban pipelines from coming through. Currently, Villages and Cities have this right, but not Towns.
Deputy Supervisor Mcmillen said he’d had some questions about the deed for the easement on the Northern Tract property and asked Town Attorney Don Nichol if he had a copy of the deed. Mr. Nichol responded that he had just gotten a copy but that he didn’t have it with him at the moment. He further stated that it was hoped that the closing on this would be this coming Friday and that he will make sure all Town Board members get a copy of the deed with all the language.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Paul Gluck asked if there had been any changes to the agreement for the Northern Tract that was signed a year ago.
Councilmember Lindsay and Town Attorney Nichol both responded that there had been several changes made to the agreement and they both felt that it was ready to close now.
Andy Berish asked what the proposed sign on the IGA would say. He was told that it is a mural in two panels with a picture of a winter scene. It is already up.
Dena Steele said she wanted to make sure that the language for the Northern Tract would not interfere with the Town’s right to participate in SEQRA or to oppose the pipeline. Town Attorney Nichol told her that from what he’d seen, the Town retains all it’s rights to exercise its governmental rights to make sure the public’s interests are protected.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed unanimously:
a Resolution authorizing agreement for snow and ice control on Old Forge Road in Warwick. This is the same agreement that has been in place for the last several years Councilmember Loncar commented that he still doesn’t understand why the Town will no longer be plowing Long Meadow Rd. which it always used to do in return for a fee of approximately $50,000. He said he would call the County and inquire.
a Resolution to approve temporary sign at Tuxedo IGA Building
a Resolution to extend the Building Moratorium. As explained by Town Attorney Nichol, the moratorium was put in place so the Town could update it’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code. Since this has not been finished (public hearing to be set later in the meeting) they want to extend the moratorium for 3 months.
an Approval accepting bid amounts for various surplus items. This was approved except for the ton of stone and the “brush tire fire pump” which no one seemed to know about. It was agreed to get answers from Highway Superintendent Dolbaum in the morning.
Other Business:
A Resolution setting a Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Plan Revisions for January 23, 2017 at 7 pm was passed unanimously.
In addition Councilmember Reardon stated that she had been informed that the Eagle Valley Fire Company needs members and she urged anyone who could do so to sign up.
Public Comments: Andy Berish stated he’d seen articles in the Times Herald Record about various towns in the areas getting grants and wondered why Tuxedo was not among them.
Councilmember Lindsay replied that the Town had applied for a community block grant but had not been accepted. There was another grant available that the Town didn’t apply for because they don’t have any engineering drawings. These grants are awarded on a yearly basis so they will reapply next year. They are hopeful that they will be able to get some money for the engineering drawings from the Tuxedo Farms LDC
Sue Scher and Karen Dougher announced that the Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline (CAPP) has a petition available online against the Pilgrim Pipeline. The Tuxedo members of CAPP will be working on a phone in campaign to get people to call Governor Cuomo to ask him to not allow the Pilgrim Pipeline.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution Authorizing Agreement for Snow and Ice Control on Old Forge Road in Warwick
2. Resolution to Approve Temporary Sign at Tuxedo IGA Building
3. Resolution to extend the Building Moratorium
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
The Town Board met on Thursday, November 17, 2016 for a workshop meeting at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by stating that the Board had two different goals with the budget. The priority for some of them is providing 24/7 police coverage, while others are concerned with controlling spending and getting the Town off the State’s stressed list while restoring their credit rating. He added that he hoped they could work together and find a way to satisfy everyone and arrive at a compromise.
Councilmember Mcmillen commented that he had run some numbers that were a lot more specific than those that the residents were used to seeing. He further said he felt it was necessary to have “our security” back as it’s a service he feels the Town can’t afford to be without. Explaining that the Board had discussed several different scenarios, he stated that they were “thinking about using part timers,” and for him part timers “aren’t a wish, they’re a need.” He further disclosed that there is a $135,000 “bucket of money” set aside with which to pay for a full time police chief and partially staff the A line with part timers. He has considered what’s it will look like for the town monetarily if they staff the A line fully with part timers as well as the vacancy that exists on the force and he has concluded that this would cost $217,000. To him, the irony of this is that this cost is less than that of hiring one full time officer! To do this would require a 2.9% increase in the tax levy. He added that he understands the desire to stay under the tax cap, but, in his view, the prior administration’s having done that doing that is what got the Town where they are today. He went on to state, “if you’re looking to what I want to do…..I want the $217,000.”
Supervisor Rost commented that it wasn’t so much that the prior administration had kept the budget at the tax cap, it was that they simultaneously increased spending.
Councilmember Mcmillen responded “last year, you asked for the Board to be in solidarity and we gave that to you. We were at a difference of 3% at that point. If we’d built that in then, we wouldn’t have a problem now. Now, I’m asking you for the $217,000.”
Councilmember Loncar commented “I totally agree with Dave.”
The Supervisor summarized by saying “we cut the 3% last year and now you’re looking to put that back? We’re right back where we were last year!” Councilmember Mcmillen agreed.
Councilmember Reardon inquired “what’s changed since then? What’s the difference now?” She added that Councilman Mcmillen was calculating using the $135,000 that had already been set aside and further commented that he had to realize that it had taken a lot of work to come up with the $135,000!
Councilmember Mcmillen then asked “if you add that back in, where are we at…because that would be the cost to pay for a full time police chief, right?”
Supervisor Rost then interceded saying that the Board had not even agreed on whether they would be hiring a full time or part time Chief.
Councilmember Mcmillen admitted this was so and further stated “we don’t even have a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Mike, and we need to be prepared for that!” He went on to suggest “not having a midnight shift makes the Town unattractive to businesses and new residents!”
Councilmember Reardon wondered if this was on the top of the list as to why people weren’t coming to Town?
Councilmember Loncar stated “It’s a major issue in this Town!”
Councilmember Mcmillen added “how about property devaluation?”
Councilmember Reardon responded “well, my property taxes certainly haven’t gone down! Perhaps we need to have a total reassessment of our properties and what will that do to our budget?”
Supervisor Rost stated that “property value, according to the State Comptroller, has gone down 7% in the last 4 years.”
Councilmember Mcmillen then stated, “we know the State Police solution isn’t working and I can provide a series of logs that will prove it. Just the other day, the Village police refused to respond to a 911 call!” He then suggested “since we know that they are violating Town Rule 150, let’s assess the Village the tax!”
Supervisor Rost responded that the Village is counting their Chief as a full time employee.
Councilmember Mcmillen countered with “I have it in writing from Steve Gross at Orange County Human resources that the Village Chief is not classified as a full time employee.
He makes $32,000 a year and he does not have a ‘201 waiver.’” He went on to reiterate his suggestion that since the Village is “violating Town Rule 150, let’s put the onus back on them to cover the difference.”
Supervisor Rost responded that the proposed budget gives the Town extra coverage. It will give the Town a will call and also coverage on the weekends.
Councilmember Loncar replied “but if something happens on a Wednesday night…….it’s a problem!”
The Supervisor said “It IS a problem. Do I want 24/7 police coverage? Absolutely I do, but the problem is that police costs have gone up 91% since 2006 and the taxes didn’t come up with it and we didn’t cut spending anywhere else and we went into the savings account to pay for it. That’s kind of what you want to do now and that didn’t work for us before!!”
Councilmember Mcmillen asked “what level of tax levy are you opposed to? Any?”
The Supervisor replied “I wanted to stay below the cap so that we can send a message to people that we have our spending under control.”
Councilmember Mcmillen stated “I am not going to worry about a tax rebate of $200 to a taxpayer right now. We need our security back! This is said to me over and over again by the taxpayers around town.”
The Supervisor replied “and I have gotten calls from taxpayers all over town saying ‘it’s a great job you guys are doing and we appreciate that we are going to get more police coverage and we understand it’s going to take a little time to get back to where we were.”
Councilmember Mcmillen asked “then what was your idea of getting back to that level? How many days of the A line were you going to pay for with what’s in the budget?”
The Supervisor responded “I wasn’t just looking at the A line. I was also looking at putting part timers on planned overtime which gives us additional money.”
Councilmember Mcmillen replied “we didn’t argue with you last year when you made a great argument that we needed to be in unity. It was for 3% and now that’s what we’re talking about here.”
The Supervisor reminded the Board that the budget had been out since the end of September. He wondered if anyone had looked at it to see where else there might be money in the budget?
Councilmember Mcmillen stated that he felt it was unfair that the school and the library get to raise their money by referendum but 5 people have to sit at a table and make the decision for the Town.
Councilmember Reardon replied that “it’s not fair, but until we decide to take on that issue, it’s what we’ve got.”
Councilmember Mcmillen then said “well then we have to weigh it like this: a couple hundred grand….or full security for your residents? How can you weigh that?”
Councilmember Lindsay responded that she thought one thing the Town could do would be to approach the Village and work out the problems with the coverage from their police. In her view it is unacceptable that the Town police assist the Village but they can refuse to reciprocate.
Councilmember Mcmillen then asked “were the dispatchers in the 2016 budget?”
“You know they were,” was the Supervisor’s reply.
“So how much money did we lay out on that?” was Councilmember Mcmillen’s next question.
“You know that too,” replied the Supervisor “it was $200,000.”
Councilmember Mcmillen then stated “I’m just getting it in public.”
Councilmember Loncar then commented “I told you this couldn’t be done. You said it would take a month to get back to where we were. It’s been 10 months.”
Supervisor Rost countered “did we know that the ambulance corps was in the shape it was in? Did we know…..”
Councilmember Loncar interrupted “Listen……..”
Supervisor Rost kept talking “No, YOU listen. You are the reason we’re in this mess! How many years did you sit up on the dais and vote for budgets when you didn’t even know the numbers?!! The Town was a MILLION DOLLARS SHORT when we took over!!”
Councilmember Loncar: “let’s get the facts out! Because of a bad accountant, we had NO idea.”
Councilmember Mcmillen then stated that he thought the finances made a good picture right now. Even with the “small carry overs, we came out flat at the end of the year. Why can’t we do the same thing with this?”
Supervisor Rost responded, “if we’re that close, why cost the taxpayers their rebate? Why can’t we find the money within the budget?”
Councilmember Mcmillen stated “we tried. How about if we borrow money from our reserve fund at an interest rate over 5 years?”
Councilmember Reardon immediately joined in saying “you do NOT want to borrow money! Moody’s and the ratings agencies have already downgraded us again; you do NOT want to do that. It sends a bad message. Our goal, and it’s what we said last year as well…we need to turn this ship around. We knew it would be slow but you have to find a way. If we want to do this, you’ve got to cut something else.”
Councilmember Mcmillen: “so you’re saying we should stay at the cap?”
The Supervisor interjected “why cost the residents their $280 rebate?”
Councilmember Mcmillen interrupted him “Really? I can’t believe you’re saying that! $200? How about if I donate my salary back? I make $3.38 an hour. If we all did that, it would add up to $26,000 for the cause. Really?”
The Supervisor replied, “Really? We can’t find the money in the budget?”
Councilmember Reardon commented “It sends two messages. First it gives the taxpayers a little bit of a break. The people who come to this room tell us that $200 a year makes a difference to them.”
Councilmember Mcmillen responded “how do we know that without a referendum because I’ve got people telling me they’d pay 5-6% to get the cops back.”
Supervisor Rost cut in with “and I’ve got people calling me saying ‘thanks for sticking to your guns.’”
Councilmember Reardon continued “we have to look at the information we’ve had from other towns and statistically, we’re outliers. With the size of our Town and the size of our population, we have more police than towns our size and bigger! But, there is no higher priority than our residents safety.” Councilmember Mcmillen then stated he was a fanatic on this subject.
Councilmember Loncar chimed in with “there’s nobody on in the middle of the night. We’ve had domestics that nobody has responded to. Somebody’s going to get killed and then what? It’s just a matter of time.”
Councilmember Mcmillan stated that he was “all for trying to find $217,000 but we just don’t have it! We’re forced to make the tax levy.”
Councilmember Reardon added “the other thing that’s worth noting is that since 2006, we have a 91% increase in the police budget!”
Councilmember Mcmillen then wanted to know “what’s it look like now after we gutted it last year. It’s a new baseline now.”
Councilmember Lindsay commented that she thought the Town needed creativity. She feels the Board has had some opportunities this year. For example, the Town could have had a solar field that would have raised $45,000.”
Councilmember Loncar interrupted with “Right…on a $2 million property! That doesn’t make any sense!” After some back and forth quibbling about the value of Quarry Field, Councilmember Lindsay continued with “why can’t we take the $135,000 that’s already in the budget and then use some creativity like a solar field or a community choice aggregation energy buying plan to add to that amount to get where we want to be.”
Councilmember Mcmillen interrupted her with “it still doesn’t solve our security problem! This impacts the Village too, you know.”
Councilmember Lindsay went on to say “To try to have a full part time force by January 1 will be difficult if not impossible. The Village has been trying to do it….”
Councilmember Mcmillen continued “we can’t have it on January 1 because we don’t even have a collective bargaining agreement and it could be that they will reject our offer and we won’t be able to do it at all. And we have to let the police know what the projected amount is that they will have to work with.”
Councilmember Reardon replied “they know.”
Councilmember Mcmillen responded “no they don’t because we don’t even know!”
Councilmember Lindsay restated that she would like to go with the plan of still trying to work to find some creative solutions to finding some revenue. She then asked if Lt. Norton or anyone could tell her what the total was this year versus last year in ticket revenue.
Lt. Norton said he didn’t know.
Councilmember Mcmillen remarked that ticket revenue didn’t go into the B fund, it goes into the A fund so it’s irrelevant for financing the A line and he considers that a tragedy.
Councilmember Reardon commented that the Board all knew this but every little bit helps. She continued that since they have been seeing monthly reports, they all know that this revenue is down and income has been lost.”
Councilmember Mcmillen replied “well, yes because of the cuts that were made to the department.”
Councilmember Reardon replied “not just because of the cuts. If you look at the number of tickets written for the number of officers on duty, the number is down. I don’t know if that’s because they are expressing displeasure with us or some other reason. And, when they aren’t writing tickets, then they aren’t protecting us.”
Councilmember Mcmillen admitted it had been an issue and the revenue was low but, “when we brought it to their attention…”
Councilmember Reardon interjected “it stayed low. We brought it to their attention and it stayed low. It’s only within the last month or so that it has started going back up!”
Councilmember Mcmillan countered with “we’re not talking about police performance here. We’re talking about how to enable them to perform.”
Councilmember Reardon replied “for me, it does pertain. If I saw those officers, the ones who were here last year complaining about the proposed cuts, out there performing, it would say to me that they care about the people in this town, that no matter what happens they are going to protect us. But I kind of felt like that wasn’t the case.”
Councilmember Mcmillen then said he saw her point and agreed with her, but that it still wouldn’t produce enough money to solve the problem.
Councilmember Loncar stated they he felt they could count on getting the part timers (although this has not been agreed to yet by the police union).
Supervisor Rost said that the “corporate view” would be “this is what you’ve got, go work with it. You’ve got 4 corporate people on the board, let’s think corporate. You’ve got $135,000 and we say we need another $90,000. But maybe if you knocked off one day out of the week……there are a lot of different things we can do.”
Councilmember Lindsay suggested “since nothing will happen as of January 1, we could start off with a few part timers and slowly build up our part time police force.”
Councilmember Loncar disagreed “You’ve got to budget for it. Either it’s in the budget or you can’t do it!”
Councilmember Mcmillen asked “are you talking about starting with the A line on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then moving it up?”
Yes, he was told. The price for that would be $40,000.
The Supervisor pointed out “now you’re looking for $50,000. We started at $90,000 and now we’re at $50,000. I think we can find that during the year.”
Councilmember Mcmillen stated that the only way to get this done is if the cooperation between the Town and the Village was reestablished.
Councilmember Lindsay agreed saying she had already spoken a little bit to the Village Chief about it and was trying to set up a meeting with him.
Supervisor Rost also suggested that they could set up a routine where officers who weren’t working would be “on call” and if something came up and they were needed, they would come in and work for overtime.
Councilmember Loncar said he would ease up on his position if the Town got an agreement from the Village that they would be willing to come in and help out. Councilmember Mcmillen said that was where he stood as well.
The Supervisor and Councilmember Mcmillen were in agreement that they could work out a plan. Then Councilmember Loncar interjected “but does that include a full time Chief?”
Councilmember McMillen then expressed his bewilderment that for such a “small amount of money,” they couldn’t just add it to the budget.
Councilmember Reardon responded “but then you are exceeding the tax cap and that sends a very bad message to the State and to Moody’s and the other ratings agencies. You have to look at the optics of what is being proposed. We’re giving people back what we all agree is a minimal amount of money but it shows them that we are making progress, that we’re taking the steps that are necessary and building a foundation to push the Town forward. We are still in significant debt.”
There followed a disagreement as to whether or not the Town had a reserve fund. Town Account Andrew Arias confirmed that there is not a reserve fund. He added however that he thought the Town was in a better position with the proposed budget and that there was every possibility they would be able to find the money they are looking for at some point during the year.
Councilmember Loncar then commented “so you are saying in 6 months, we will be able to fully staff the A line?”
He was told that this is what the goal is but it will depend on whether or not the police are willing to make some concessions.
Councilmember Loncar then said “it’s not about the police making concessions. It’s about the public safety.”
Councilmember Reardon responded “you can keep singing that song, but at what cost?”
Councilmember Mcmillen stated that he was willing to vote for whatever cost was necessary to bring back a fully staffed A line.
The Supervisor countered that he felt they could sharpen their pencils and find the money without raising the tax levy.
Councilmember Mcmillen said “well how do we do that? Guarantee that in 6 months, as of June 1, we will fully staff that midnight shift?”
After some more discussion, Councilmembers Mcmillen, Reardon and Lindsay all agreed that they could find the money in the budget.
Supervisor Rost added that he felt they also had to look at some creative solutions about how the actual staffing would take place.
Councilmember Mcmillen then stated that upon further consideration, he was not going to give in. “Last year, we were at 12.9 and you guys wanted 9.9 and we gave in for unity. But, I’m sticking to my guns this year. I’m gonna vote no. If you have the votes, then go ahead and vote on it! I’m a taxpayer. I want my police. I don’t care what plan you have in mind.”
Councilmember Loncar added “you’ve got to find the money for me to vote yes on this,” and Councilmember Mcmillen agreed.
Town Accountant Arias explained to Councilmembers Mcmillen and Loncar that finding the money really was possible with Mcmillen adding “if it was that simple, why did it take us so long to get there?”
Councilmember Reardon responded “why? Because you just had a conniption fit!”
And Councilmember Mcmillen replied “conniption? Then you had a conniption last year. You forget that we gave you solidarity last year. There’s no solidarity in this board. It’s the worst board in Tuxedo’s history. Really.”
Councilmember Reardon responded “really? If you’re not happy with it, then please keep your comments to yourself and let us do the work.” To which Councilmember Mcmillen replied “really? I’m the one doing all the work now!”
Town Accountant Arias then pointed out that as example, the budget line for police contractual (expenses at the department, repairs to cars, etc) had room, in his opinion to be reduced. He had other suggestions as well concerning lines where there would be money left as the year unfolds. When asked where the Town stood on the 2016 budget vs actual figures, he reported that, in his opinion, he felt the Town would break even.
Councilmember Loncar then stated, again, that he wanted an agreement from the Board that they would fund a full A line as well as a full time chief.
Supervisor Rost responded that the full time chief is not in the budget per se. What is in the budget is the “bucket of money” or the $135,000 and it will be up to the Board to figure out how to spend it.
Councilmember Mcmillen then stated that as long as there was enough money to fund a fully staffed A line at some point during the calendar year and they have enough money left over to fund at full time chief if they decide to go that way, he was ok with the budget.
When asked where he stood, Councilmember Loncar again repeated that his goal was a full time police chief and a fully staffed part time A line. Councilmember Mcmillen told him he thought that’s where they were.
After some further discussion with the accountant about specific items in the budget, Councilmember Loncar stated that he was ok with the solution about the police as long as the Board did what they said they would do and Councilmember Mcmillen agreed.
The meeting was then adjourned and a regular Board meeting was convened. The only business was a resolution to adopt the 2017 Preliminary Budget as the Final Budget. It was passed unanimously.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 14, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Councilmember Reardon was absent.
The meeting opened with a Continuation of the Public Hearing on the 2017 Budget:
There were no comments from the public, so the public hearing was closed.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that work continues at the Highway Department. While the Town is waiting for guidance from the DEC to establish measurables that are used on the property, the Supervisor expressed gratitude to Ben Veltidi and Irwin DeMarino for all the work they have done on the property at no expense to the Town. The goal is to make sure that the Town recovers from the past and is protected in the future.
Turning to the budget, the Supervisor commented that he had noticed a big difference from working on last year’s budget. There were a lot of painful cuts from various departments and morale has been low, but he thanked each and every employee in all departments for working through the challenges. He further cautioned warned that this trend would need to continue until the Town is back to where it needs to be. He believes that the 2017 Preliminary Budget is fiscally responsible as it remains below the tax cap and also allows for an increase in police coverage while addressing the deficit. He asked everyone to keep in mind that the Town has a five-year recovery plan. Finally, he reminded everyone that since this is the Preliminary Budget, Board members have the opportunity to make changes to it.
Moving on, Supervisor Rost reported that the Pilgrim Pipeline will be moving to the top of his priority list. Councilmember Lindsay has been the lead on this project and she will continue in that role and the Supervisor will work with her. They will keep the Board and the public informed. The Board has adopted resolutions in opposition to the Pipeline and they continue to oppose it.
With respect to Tuxedo Farms, the Supervisor reported that the wastewater treatment plant is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. Also, Related continues to work on their infrastructure. In a recent conversation with Andrew Dance, he informed the Supervisor that they are planning on trying to court interested builders for the project.
Transfer of easements – This has taken longer than anyone expected but the Town and Village have both been able to negotiate and sign a declaration of covenants and restrictions which takes the terms and conditions of the entire Special Permit and places them into a land use plan that has been subjected to SEQRA and regulatory approval making the covenants enforceable by the Town against subsequent owners.
Councilmember Lindsay reported on the meeting held in the last week with Con Ed Solutions The Town will need to find a 3-acre plot within the Quarry Field property that won’t interfere with plans for future Town building or recreation. If this can’t be done, they will have to look again for another location. There isn’t time to get this done by the end of the year, but provided they can find another location by the end of the first quarter of 2017, they would still be able to take advantage of the incentives and regulations offered in the Power Purchase agreement. After that time, regulations are bound to be changing.
Councilmember Mcmillen asked for an update on the planned kiosk. Ms. Lindsay responded that it had been ordered and is being built.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Stating that her comments were on the Board updates, Dena Steele first asked that the entire Board get involved in the Pilgrim Pipeline proposal. Specifically, she urged them to contact and meet with State representatives to implore them to pass the Transportation Law Amendment, which would give Towns the right to restrict regulated pipelines coming through their jurisdiction. Secondly, she addressed the proposed solar project about which she has 3 main concerns: 1-the financial projections for the project and how detailed they are, 2-the structural arrangements for the field and 3-the site selection. Specifically, she is concerned about the possibility of the project being located in a flood plain. Also, she feels that solar panels are “unattractive,” and it would be a shame to have them visible as one drives down Route 17. She was told that her concerns were also the concerns of the majority of the Board. In particular, Councilmember Loncar is opposed to the location in Quarry Field as he wants that property to be preserved for future recreation. Councilmember Lindsay added that if the Board decides to pursue this project, all of these issues would be covered in the SEQRA process.
Jim Hays reported having attended the recent Town Planning Board meeting where Tuxedo Farms was granted an extension for their filling, grading and clearing permit. At that time, the representative of Tuxedo Farms stated that at the present time, there are no contractors interested in building any houses on the property. Mr. Hays wondered if the Board could give him an update as to where the project currently stands as he is concerned about their continuing cutting down of trees if they aren’t going to build anything.
Supervisor Rost reiterated that in his conversation with Andrew Dance that afternoon, Mr. Dance had said Related planned to court builders to come in and build houses so they will continue to work on their infrastructure. Now that they have reached a certain point in the project it is time to put on a full court press to bring builders in.
Mr. Hays wondered if there was a time line for the project? Will they continue to clear indefinitely if no builders come in? Will the Town keep giving them extensions?
The Supervisor responded that the Town had the same concerns, which is why he had called Mr. Dance that afternoon.
Mr. Hays mentioned that he was concerned that Related might walk away from the project. He further pointed out that a lot of time had passed without any prospects for builders. Therefore, it seems to him that Tuxedo Farms must have a Plan B, C and possibly D. He wondered if the Supervisor could tell him what those plans were? What happens if they never get anyone who wants to build on the property?
Supervisor Rost responded that Related’s plan A, B, C & D was to develop the property.
Mr. Hays replied “well, that’s what they tell you, but I don’t think you can believe that!”
The Supervisor responded “well if you’re saying I can’t believe them and I ask them what their Plan B, C or D is and they tell me, I wouldn’t be able to believe that either.”
Mr. Hays said he thought the Town ought to press the developer and the Supervisor repeated that it is his opinion they will just tell him they are going to sell the property to builders.
Mr. Hays then wondered who on the Board was responsible for dealing with Tuxedo Farms?
The answer was the Supervisor.
Mr. Hays then said he thought that the Board and the Town had the right to know what Related’s plans were for the property.
“They’re going to build houses,” was the Supervisor’s reply. “If they’d wanted to sell off the property, they could have done that years ago.”
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were considered:
A Resolution to approve relief from the Building Moratorium for the Orange County Dept. of Emergency Services. Alan Wierzbicki, Deputy Commisioner of Emergency Services for Orange County, explained that they were installing a new system for 911. There is a problem with radio coverage in the Eagle Valley area. They are looking to be able to install a new, bigger tower. He mentioned that adding room for a cell tower was possible. This possibility was enthusiastically endorsed, especially by Councilmember Loncar. Mr. Wierzbicki was referred to the TAC Committee for their review. Relief from the moratorium was granted.
A Resolution to adopt the 2017 Final Town Budget – Councilmember Loncar stated that his only comment on the budget was a public safety issue. Since the Town doesn’t have police coverage in the middle of the night, and he feels that it is the number one priority for the Board to provide that safety to it’s residents, he doesn’t feel he can vote for the budget without having the overnight shift restored. He is also 100 per cent against a part time Chief for the police department. Councilmember Mcmillan responded that the money was in the budget should they choose to go with a full time police chief. The Supervisor stated that there is $135,000 in the budget to deal with possibly increasing the “A line” as well as for the Chief. He also expressed frustration that this should have been discussed and settled at the budget workshop (not attended by all the Board members). Instead, here they were at the last minute still wanting to discuss other options. He stated that the options right now were to a-go with what was presented or b-make a motion to raise taxes in order to fund what Councilmembers Mcmillen and Loncar were suggesting (a full time Chief as well as full coverage of the overnight shift) or c-make a motion to make cuts somewhere else in the budget. Councilmember Loncar suggested another workshop. The Supervisor asked if everyone would commit to attending the workshop? Since the Budget needs to be adopted by November 21st, this doesn’t leave a lot of time! The Supervisor noted that the reason he felt it was so important to stay below the tax cap is because the State has placed the Town on the “seriously stressed list” and Moody’s has downgraded it. If the Town were to exceed the tax cap, it won’t have much of a chance to get off that list! It was finally agreed that individual Board members would go to Town Hall and meet with Bookkeeper Brian Sullivan to try to find additional places to cut funds from the budget. Since Mr. Sullivan will not be available on Wednesday, that would have to happen on Tuesday and then the Board can have another meeting on Thursday night. The resolution was then tabled.
A Resolution to grant a Special Permit for Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run. This is an annual even and the resolution was granted unanimously.
Public Comments: Jerry Mottola wondered why the money for the police couldn’t come out of the money set aside for “fund balance restoration?”
Supervisor Rost responded that it could if everyone wanted to take 10 years, instead of the planned 5, to restore the balance. It was also explained to him that the State Comptroller had guidelines about restoring the balance that the Board wants to adhere to.
Other Business: Town Clerk Donna Matthews reported that she has received numerous complaints from residents of Hospital Rd. Historically, the entire loop up and back to the Promenade site was one way (one way up and one way down on the other side). At some point when the Promenade came, it became a two way street and people feel that it’s dangerous. The Board asked Town Attorney Nichol to look into what the process would need to be to make this change.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
We will be voting tonight on the adopting the 2017 budget and I want to inform you of the progress we have made.
The 2017 budget will address a majority of the concerns affecting our Town.
Fiscal:
The budget is not only balanced but has $250,000 set aside for fund balance restoration. This means that Tuxedo will finally have a cash reserve for “rainy day.” In addition, there is a contingency line item to ensure dollars set aside for a reserve will be used for that purpose. As many of you are aware, upon taking office we inherited a budget deficit in excess of $1,000,000 and the Town board is committed to returning Tuxedo to solid financial footing.
Tax Cap:
For 2017 we will remain under the cap and our residents will enjoy a rebate from the State of NY. The increase will be 0.76%.
Police Protection:
We have heard from our residents and our volunteer first responders who have concerns about safety. The 2017 budget has dollars included to fund additional police coverage for our protection. While it will take some time to return to 24/7 coverage, we are taking steps to increase police protection from 2016. The board wants the most protection we can provide at a cost that we can afford. 800 homes simply cannot sustain the police department at its current structure of $200,000 in total compensation per officer on average. We are working with the Police Union and the State to modify our force to allow for part time officers to pick up some of the exposure and lower the costs to our taxpayers while maintaining the current, outstanding officers we have on our force. It is our goal to work with the Police department to identify creative win-win solutions to produce a fiscally responsible path forward.
Board members will have opportunity to make changes in the budget before adoption. But, in its current form, the 2017 is a responsible budget and more than balanced. It will increase police protection, improve our fund balance, set aside monies for unanticipated expenses while allowing our residents to enjoy a state rebate check for staying below the property tax cap. While we have much work ahead to control spending and restore our fund balance, we have made some real progress with putting a structure in place to ensure our success in years to come.
The Town is on the State’s “seriously stressed” list and has been downgraded again by Moody’s. Controlling spending is the only way to change our fiscal situation. Together, we worked through a very difficult 2016, but 2017 promises to be better. That being said, we need to maintain the focus on controlling spending and identifying creative solutions.
Continuation of Public Hearing on the 2017 Preliminary Budget
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to adopt the 2017 Final Town Budget
2. Resolution to Grant Special Permit for our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run
3. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, October 24, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Councilmembers Loncar and Reardon were absent.
Supervisor Mike Rost opened the meeting with a public hearing on the Preliminary Budget. Town Auditor Andrew Arias and Bookkeeper Brian Sullivan were present to answer any questions the public might have. A copy of the budget can be viewed here:
Ed Brennan asked if there was money being put into the budget for reserve funds? He was told that $250,000 was put in for fund balance restoration. There is also a line for contingency funds.
Nick Balistreri wanted to know what the “base” is for the Town. The Supervisor told him there were approximately 800 homes outside the Village of Tuxedo Park.
Vera Johnson wondered if anyone knew what the plans were to repave Route 17? She was told that the road is a State Highway and, as such, the State will be in charge of repaving. Councilperson McMillen added that the police chief had told him that State Highway workers had recently been seen doing measurements on it is assumed that this was for a repaving project. The Councilman said he would look into it and try to have more details by the next Board meeting.
There were no further questions from the public so the hearing was continued to the next Town Board meeting, which will be on November 9.
Public Hearing to receive comments regarding Introductory Local Law “Repeal of Obsolete and Redundant Fire Prevention Local Law”:
Andy Berish asked for an explanation of the law.
Town Attorney Howard Protter explained that around 1984 the Town had adopted a law to provide for installing sprinklers in properties that otherwise weren’t required to be sprinkled. Since that time, State law has changed several times and now our law is redundant and not as comprehensive as the State law. Since we currently enforce the State law, this will just clean up the Code and get rid of any confusion for the Building Department.
Mike Santoianni inquired if the State law was more restrictive than Town law. The answer was yes and also much more comprehensive.
As there were no more comments or questions, the hearing was closed.
The Board then unanimously passed a resolution repealing the local law and adopting the state law in the Town code.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he had been spending the majority of his time working on the budget. Along with auditor Andrew Arias and bookkeeper Brian Sullivan, he has been cleaning up the budget. One such measure has been to add more lines so that residents reading it will be able to get more information. Additionally, he said that Irwin DeMarino and Ben Veltidi are still working with the DEC to clean up the Highway Department property. They are coming to a resolution as to what soil can be touched and what can’t. They have been working on digging up the stumps that were buried under the dirt piles and will begin grinding those up. The DEC is testing all the dirt and there is still some dirt that the Town can’t touch because they are waiting for results of the testing.
Councilperson Lindsay reported she has submitted the grant application for sidewalk improvements in the Hamlet. She added that this is the second application that she has worked on that requires engineering plans and the Town doesn’t have any updated plans. She proposed getting some new plans done and is hoping that there might be some funds in the LDC to pay for them.
Additionally she said she had forwarded the Board plans from Con Ed Solutions for the proposed solar project on the Quarry Field property. They are projecting a reduction in electricity costs by 30-43%. The proposal is for a 750 kw system and would produce electricity for the Town offices, Village offices and hopefully, the School. There is a deadline of November 14 for the Town to decide and state whether they are going forward with the project or not. She wondered if the Board wanted to have another meeting before that time for the purpose of meeting with Con Ed Solutions to discuss plans for the project and answer questions. The Board thought another meeting would be a good idea and will schedule one. If they decide to go ahead with the project, there will still be “off ramps” so they can decide down the pike not to move forward if they don’t want to.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Diana Petrosky wanted to know who was involved the tax certiorari proceedings in Item # 3. The answer was David Dangoor
Jerry Mottola inquired as to who owns the Superfund site on Route 17. There was some confusion as to whether or not the property reverted to Town ownership after a set number of years. Town Attorney Howard Protter said he would check into this.
Agenda Items:
The following items were passed unanimously:
Budget modifications. – Modifications were made to certain lines in the current budget so to correct projected deficits.
A Resolution to approve 2017 Woodlands Sewer rates. There was no change from last year’s rates
A Resolution retaining Jacobowitz & Gubitz LLC in 2016/17 Tax Certiorari Proceedings
Public Comments: Nick Balistreri representing the residents of Patterson Hill wondered if the Town had made any resolution to their request to have the Town continue to maintain their road. He feels that the issue is pretty straight forward as the Town has been maintaining it for 20 years.
Supervisor Rost responded that the Board had heard all of Mr. Balistreri’s arguments, which were put forward at the last meeting, but the issue is still being researched and worked on by the Town Attorney because the road was never dedicated to the Town.
Janet Galuska stated that when the seniors met in Town Hall and then exited the room to the outside at night, there was not enough light for them to get to their cars.
Sue Scher announced that the Tuxedo Historical Society is having an Antiques Appraisal Day on Saturday, October 29 from 10am to 1 pm followed by a speaker at 3 pm.
Deputy Supervisor David McMillen announced that on behalf of acting police chief Norton, there will be a curfew imposed on all Town residents for October 30 and 31. Everyone 16 and under must be off the streets and home by 9 pm on both nights unless accompanied by a responsible adult. Additionally the police will be participating in No Shave November in order to call attention to cancer.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting adjourned.
After the arrival of Town Planner Bonnie Franson, the meeting became a Workshop on the Proposed Pilgrim Pipeline.
Councilperson Michele Lindsay opened the meeting stating that on September 14, the DEC and the Thruway Authority, who are co-Lead Agencies on the project, issued a positive declaration for the proposed project. This means that “there is a potential for multiple significant adverse environmental impacts from the construction, operation and maintenance of the Pipeline.” Both Mrs. Lindsay and Ms. Franson have been calling the DEC to ask for the schedule and any updated maps of the project that they might have but so far they have not gotten any results. Because the Town does not want to be caught off guard once the official environmental review starts, they are starting to work on their submission. Additionally Councilperson Lindsay disclosed that their attorneys had advised them that representatives of the Pipeline and Tuxedo Farms are in negotiations to change the route of the project so that it will no longer go through the Tuxedo Farms property but instead through the Northern Tract. As the Town Attorneys are currently reviewing the easements for the Northern Tract, there won’t be any changes to the map until those are finalized. The plan is for the Town Board to submit their own concerns and questions about the proposed project for the environmental review and the public will also be asked to submit their views separately.
There is a State law, which says that Villages and Cities are allowed to veto a project such as the Pipeline. The Village of Tuxedo Park has already sent a letter doing this. There is currently a proposal in Albany, which would extend this right to Towns.
Ms. Franson displayed maps of the proposed route of the Pipeline. These maps, however, have not been updated in quite a while and they do not take into consideration any of the negotiations that are currently ongoing.
Additionally she reported that the Pilgrim Pipeline has already prepared a DEIS document which they were hoping to submit to the DEC and Thruway Authority. However, those agencies did not accept it, determining instead that the agencies will be required to hold formal public scoping sessions. The dates for these sessions have not been determined nor has it been announced where the sessions will take place. There is some feeling that since the proposed Pipeline is so long, there will be multiple sites for the scoping sessions.
Ms. Franson has been working on the Town’s questions for the scoping documents and as such as been working on a list of resources within the Town that they would like to see protected.
Additionally, she reported that the old airfield in Sterling Forest, which was the proposed site for the Casino, is slated to become a staging area for the Pipeline project.
Some of the resources that the Town will be concentrating on for the Scoping Session are the Ramapo River (a sole source aquifer that is protected because it’s a source of drinking water and is situated in a flood plain) the wooded parklands surrounding the Town are part of an important birding area (so designated by the National Audubon Society as well as the DEC) and endangered species which are present in the Town (timber rattlesnakes and others)
Following the scoping session(s), the project will follow the regular SEQRA process.
Ms. Franson then took comments and questions from the audience along with Councilperson Lindsay and Sue Scher and Karen Dougher, who are members of the Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline.
Jim Hays wondered how deep the Pipeline would be buried. The answer was it varies. The minimum depth seems to be 6 feet, but when it goes under the Hudson River, it extends to 40 feet.
Someone asked if they would be condemning property. Karen Dougher responded that as an oil transportation company, they have the right of eminent domain “should it be decided that there was a benefit to the public.” Despite these plans, the Pipeline company has not been in touch with Sterling Forest State Park or PIPC both of whose properties are in the proposed route.
Speaking as School Board President, Diana Petrosky expressed concern because it looks as though the route will go right through the property, which was slated to be donated to the School District from Tuxedo Farms. She wondered this would have any effect on the Special Permit and/or if the School should be negotiating for different property? No one had an answer to that but she was encouraged to have the School Board make a statement about this during the scoping process.
Town Planner Franson mentioned that the Village of Tuxedo Park should get involved as the proposed route does go near and through some of their infrastructure (roads and water lines) which needs to be pointed out. She also pointed out that as far as alternative routes go, it is important that we see the route during the DEIS process and NOT during the FEIS process because if it happens then, there would be no opportunity for public comments and questions which would need to be addressed.
Gary Pompan stated that in his opinion if the Pipeline is routed through the Tuxedo Farms property, it would have a huge negative financial impact on the project and ultimately the Town. Supervisor Rost commented that it would kill the project. Mr. Pompan then wanted to know what the status of Tuxedo Farms was, specifically whether it was going forward or whether they applying for extensions? Ms. Franson responded that Related had been in front of the Planning Board and had received clearing, filling and grading permits and, as such, have been grading out certain neighborhoods to accommodate the utilities for the project. They are continuing on. The Wastewater Treatment Plant is on schedule and is due to be finished by the end of the year. Tuxedo Park Mayor Guinchard commented that it seemed to her that Related would not be proceeding in that manner if the Pipeline were going to come straight through the middle of their project. Therefore, she thinks that it’s more likely that there will be an alternate route. However, she thinks it would be prudent to research all possible alternatives.
Jim Hays stated his feeling that it would be important for the Towns and Villages along the proposed Pipeline route, along with organizations such as Scenic Hudson, to get together and share concerns. He was told that the Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline had been in contact with every municipality along the route along with Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper and OSI.
Mike Santoianni wanted to know exactly where Tuxedo Farms was in its’ permit process. It was explained to him that they were in the process of getting certain permits. This will affect what the Pipeline is able to do.
Karen Dougher gave a list of suggested actions people can try in order to try to stop the project.
Jerry Mottola wanted to know what the plans the Town has as well as the Railroad for if there is an accident with the transport of oil. No one seemed to know the answer to this question but several people, including the Supervisor, said they would look into it.
PUBLIC HEARINGS to Receive Comments Regarding:
Introductory Local Law “Repeal of Obsolete and Redundant Fire Prevention Local Law”
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Approve 2017 Woodlands Sewer Rates, Unchanged from Prior Year
2. Resolution retaining Jacobowitz and Gubits LLP, in 2016/17 Tax Certiorari Proceedings
3. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
4. Pilgrim Pipeline Workshop
We took another step forward in our 2017 budget process last week when the preliminary budget was submitted to the Board for its review and input. For 2016, the Board and I were committed to controlling costs and restoring our fund balance, and the 2017 budget continues that focus.
The State Comptroller has placed the “severe economic stress” label on the Town of Tuxedo based on our 2015 audit document that was submitted to the State. While this is cause for great concern, it also came as no surprise as it is based on 2015 results, not 2016. As I have stated before, it took our auditor and the State Comptroller 18 months to agree on what the Town’s fund balances were and all correcting entries were made in July 2015. The Board made very difficult decisions last year to cut spending and put controls in place to ensure this never happens again. This course of action was necessary, and the restructuring will protect the Town from future mismanagement. We expect it will take 5-8 years to restore the fund balances, but we are on the road to recovery.
The Board members will now analyze the 2017 budget and make recommendations for any modifications they may wish to see. I will keep you informed as we work towards adopting the 2017 budget.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 26, 2016 at 7 pm. Supervisor Rost and Councilperson Reardon were absent. Deputy Supervisor McMillen ran the meeting.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish wanted an explanation for how Pilgrim Pipeline would be able to dig through all the rock in our area in order to lay pipes. He was told that those details should be forthcoming as the process unfolds.
Houston Stebbins inquired as to a list of topics that the Town would be asking for in the scoping document.
Councilperson Lindsay responded that in The Town’s review of their Comprehensive Plan, they would be identifying both environmental and historical areas of Town that needed to be protected and that pointing those out would be a concern.
Mr. Stebbins then wanted to know if the Town had passed any resolutions concerning the proposed Pipeline.
He was told that they had and that those, along with letters that had been signed and sent to the DEC and Thruway Authority (joint lead agencies for the project) were available on the Pipeline tab of the Town’s website.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Deputy Supervisor McMillen reported having spoken to Supervisor Rost who is still working on the budget with Bookkeeper Brian Sullivan. He hopes to have the preliminary budget finished and in the hands of the Board members by midweek.
The Deputy Supervisor expressed his concern over the traffic snarl up which is a result of the Renaissance Faire and apple-picking going on simultaneously. Next weekend promises to be even worse as it will be Apple Fest in Warwick and the Renaissance Faire still going on. Lt. Norton spoke to the plans he has made for that time. There are 3 electronic signs coming on loan from Orange County and the strategy will be to set one up at Sterling Mine Rd. which will send as many people as possible to Margaret King Highway and then into Warwick that way. Further down Route 17, only Renaissance traffic will be allowed to turn onto Route 17A with other Apple Fest goers directed to the Quickway to use Exits 124, 125 or 126 to access Warwick. Also, Benjamin Meadow Rd. will be closed to all but local traffic. The police are working with the Renaissance Faire to get the traffic off the road and into the parking lots as quickly as possible. Supervisor’s Clerk Shari Brooks will be sending out details of this plan through her email list, however the Lieutenant is also trying to find a way to reach potential Applefest visitors from NYC so they can be advised to take these alternate routes around Tuxedo altogether.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum reported on his findings with regard to bear proof garbage receptacles. He spoke with someone at Interstate Waste who stated that any bear proof container would have to be a custom ordered item. The smallest container that they make is a 6-8 yard container and there are no guarantees that it would be bear proof.
Mary Graetzer reported that the Wee Wah Beach Club had a bear proof container one year (not from Interstate Waste) the bears still found a way in and the lid was so heavy that the humans couldn’t lift it to put garbage inside!
Superintendent Dollbaum also reported that Interstate stated that they don’t have any bear proof containers for residential garbage.
Houston Stebbins commented that he had found one that worked. It has a lid which screws on that the bears are unable to operate. This will not work with the Town’s garbage service however, as they have special cans that the truck lifts up and empties at each residence.
Agenda Items:
1-Further Discussion on the Environmental Impact of the Pilgrim Pipeline:
Councilperson Lindsay reported that the Thruway Authority and DEC have identified problems with the proposed Pipeline. Among them are removal or destruction of 611 acres of forest and 9.2 miles of wetlands; endangered or threatened adult species and their habitats; 3 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Archaeological sites and any material conflict with Comprehensive Plans. As such, Town Planner Franson is working on putting together a list of the historic and environmental places in Town that will be included in the Comprehensive Plan. She has already sent a letter to the DEC asking for an updated map as well as details as to what alternative routes the Pipeline is considering. The plan is to schedule a public workshop meeting with Ms. Franson so the Board and community members can come and discuss plans for the scoping session with her.
2-Resolution granting Relief from the Building Moratorium Vested Rights to Tuxedo Manor Apartments. This was passed unanimously
3-Resolution to approve Relief from the Building Moratorium Local Law to the Tuxedo Hudson Company. This was also passed unanimously
4-Set Public Hearing for change in Fire Code: A public hearing was set for Tuesday, October 11 at 7pm. This law will bring Town Code into agreement with the State Code and will eliminate the need for sprinklers in single-family residences.
Public Comments:
Town Clerk Donna Matthews asked for a remembrance of her recently deceased mother in law, former Deputy Town Clerk Nina Matthews. A moment of silence was observed. Mrs. Matthews was Deputy Town Clerk for 20 years.
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum commented that he had met with representatives of the Department of Transportation and expressed his concern about the ledges on the side of Route 17 just north of the Tuxedo Farms entrance (the old Applewood Kennels site). Some of these ledges have already fallen onto Route 17. They will be coming up with a plan to combat any more of the ledges falling.
The meeting was then adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
The Town Board met on Monday, September 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm in the Courtroom. All members were present.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that Irwin DeMarino and Ben Veltidi continue to work with the DEC field monitor to clean up the Highway Garage property. The DEC is satisfied with their progress. They continue to move dirt off the piles and have wind rows cut in. They are moving material off the property. The Town’s legal counsel and engineer are working with the DEC to satisfy any concerns that they might have about any of the material that is there. The work is being done at no cost to the Town.
The Supervisor also reported that he and Deputy Supervisor McMillen had met with Michael Bruno in the last week. Mr. Bruno informed them that he has applied for a million dollar state grant and he expects to have an answer by December. While he is waiting to hear about the grant, he will be submitting his final plans to the Planning Board so that he can be all ready to go when he gets the go ahead from the State.
The Supervisor announced that there would be a School Board meeting on Thursday, September 15 at 7 pm. He encouraged residents to attend as the school is an important part of the community and can have an impact on the future viability of the Town.
Next, Supervisor Rost commented that he had sent out a Supervisor’s Update newsletter via email which focused on the Budget. The bottom line is that the Town has made progress but still has a lot of work ahead. He hopes to have a preliminary version of the budget within the next week. He will continue to send updates to the residents through out the budget process.
Councilperson Lindsay reported she had been in Albany at a grant workshop that morning. The particular grant she was there for has a preliminary deadline of September 30. The Department of Transportation will have $98 million available to support bicycle pedestrian multiuse paths as well as other transportation related projects. As she’d like to improve pedestrian and pedaling access throughout the Hamlet, she will be applying for that grant. With regard to the bear problem around the downtown area, Councilperson Lindsay has suggested that Highway Superintendent Dollbaum contact the container company to look into a bear proof dumpster to be located somewhere downtown for commercial use.
Agenda Items: 1-Tuxedo Manor, request for Moratorium Waiver, Recognition of Vested Rights:
The attorney for Tuxedo Manor made a presentation in which he stated that they would like to build two new buildings, (behind or to the West of the original buildings) which would have a total of 32 one-bedroom units. The original owner of the buildings had received permission to build in 1986 but the project never moved forward. The subsequent owners bought the property in 1994 and came before the Planning Board in 2000 looking to build the additional 32 units. There was discussion at that point as to whether or not the new owners had vested rights to build. It was agreed that they did have the right to build. The present owner purchased the property in 2006 and once again went through having their vested rights verified. They were told they did not have vested rights. Litigation was instigated and then a settlement was reached with the Town that granted the owner the right to continue the process of the additional units. There was a problem at that time with getting water for the project and it was sidelined during which time the owner bought Sterling Forest apartments from NYU and spent time getting those finished. Just as they were getting ready to come back to the Board for site plan approval, the moratorium was adopted. They feel that since they already had approval and vested rights through the litigation, they should be permitted to build regardless of the moratorium.
Supervisor Rost wondered about the condition of the complex’s sewage plant and whether it had the capacity for the proposed additional units. He was told that they had more capacity than they were presently using and that the applicant had been advised that the plant would operated at a better efficiency if it received more effluent. Also, the present owners have made significant improvements to the plant within the last 5 years. It has a capacity of 4000 gallons a day and is presently receiving less than 1500 gallons a day – in other words, there is plenty of sewage capacity.
The Supervisor thanked them for coming and making their presentation. He stated that the Board would meet with their counsel and afterwards would decide on the best solution going forward.
Janet Galuska inquired as to why they were only proposing single bedroom units. She feels 2 bedroom units would make more sense as the school needs children and 2 bedrooms would produce school children.
She was told that the Town could not dictate what size units should be applied for and that it could be assumed that the applicants’ research showed that one bedroom units were in demand.
2-Resolution to grant the purchase of a parcel of property to resident:
The Town owns a small piece of property between Fairway Lane and Birch Road in Eagle Valley, which has no access except through the property of the adjoining resident who has erected a shed on the property. There is no easement to the property and the adjoining owner, Steven Dougherty, would like to purchase it for $2000.
The motion was passed with 4-1 with Councilperson Loncar voting against. He stated he thought it looked like a political payoff and set a dangerous precedent.
3-Resolution to approve relief from the Building Moratorium Local Law to The Tuxedo Hudson Company: Michael Bruno made a presentation detailing his plans for the properties he has purchased in the center of Town. The plan involves moving the sidewalk, presently in front of the old IGA, up to the front door of that building and then filling in the property between the sidewalk and the street with “green.” He is also planning to knock down the Junction building and fill that space in with green as well. He invisions a second sidewalk along Store Rd., and the eventual changing of Library Road to a one-way street (going South). In the old IGA building, plans call for for a kitchen in the middle, with a restaurant/bar and a coffeehouse on one side and the market on the other. He also hopes to have extra buildings on several vacant spots along Store Rd.
Eventually, Mr. Bruno sees a “Sugar Loaf” ambiance on Library Road with shops and cafes in the historic buildings that are located there.
Mary Graetzer pointed out that the buildings on Library Road are presently residences with people living in them.
Mr. Bruno responded that he wasn’t proposing that the buildings would have to be turned into commercial uses but that they would have the right to do so. “Sometimes,” he continued, “you have to look at what is best to create a village.”
Bill Clarke stated “Leave it the way it is!” and Mr. Bruno responded that he could put a chain link fence right around the IGA and put up a For Sale sign.
Mr. Bruno continued that he didn’t own the properties but he was merely suggesting that if Library Rd was zoned for mixed use, the owners who were going to be living in more of a commercial ambiance than they presently are, might want to convert those houses to either storefronts or cafes or any other commercial use. He went on to say “we all know that downtown Tuxedo commercial will never survive on its own.” He said he hadn’t kept the Junction open because he was paying their power, water and staff bills and was losing a lot of money. He needs his properties as well as those surrounding them to be a destination for people from out of the area in order to be successful.
Mr. Bruno further stated that he was at the meeting to find out what the process was so that he could make plans to move forward.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum asked Mr. Bruno if he would consider either moving the privet hedge recently installed in front of the Junction property back or lowering as it creates a dangerous situation for someone trying to turn left out of that road.
4-Resolution Requesting the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation and NY Thruway Authority to assure opportunities for lmeaningful public and municipal participation in the Scoping Process for the State Environmental Quality Review of the Pilgrim Pipeline Project:
The motion was passed unanimously.
Councilperson Lindsay commented that she was in receipt of a map of the Project ,which had been included in the project’s application. It shows a staging area for the project on the Renaissance Faire’s airstrip property.
Councilperson McMillen added that he had had a conversation with the operator of the Renaissance Faire and she stated she had never heard from the Pipeline people.
Sue Scher stated she had been to several meetings about the Pipeline and to the best of her knowledge it looked as though scoping could start by the end of September or beginning of October. She wanted to know what the Town’s plans for the scoping session were.
Supervisor Rost said that he already had Town Planner Bonnie Franson working on this.
5-Resolution to Exceed the State Tax Cap if necessary:
Supervisor Rost stated that this year’s tax cap was either .78 or .79 and he would like for the Town to have the flexibility to exceed that if they absolutely had to. The motion passed 3-2 with Councilpersons McMillen and Reardon voting against.
Kathy Balistreri wondered if the Board was going to put a limit on how much they could raise the taxes?
She was told that they couldn’t really place a limit since they didn’t have the budget as yet. This is a time sensitive matter and the Board is simply leaving themselves the option to exceed the tax cap.
6-Resolution granting Filming Permit to Take the Stairs, Inc.:
Take the Stairs, a film production company is going to be filming it’s movie, “You Were Never Really Here,” in Tuxedo on Tuesday, September 13. Plans call for filming at the Orange Top Restaurant in the morning and the Gulf Station later in the day. Take the Stairs has requested and been granted a police presence (at the same rate as is charged to the Renaissance Faire) and they have also paid an application fee.
The resolution was unanimously approved.
7-Discussion on moratorium Relief for Applying for Clearing and Grading Permits.
The moratorium simply states that anyone looking for relief for clearing and grading needs to come before the Town Board. It was decided that Building Inspector Maikisch would have the flexibility to give permission for minor requests for filling and grading on single-family residences, but if a project involved any problems with drainage, etc., then it would have to come before the Board.
8-Discussion regarding Tuxedo Law requiring new single family houses to be sprinkled:
The Town’s requirements for sprinkler systems were added to the Code at a time when there were no State building or fire codes. As such, the requirements for sprinkler systems are now overly stringent. The Building Inspector and the Town Attorney are recommending that the Town adopt the uniform State code, which has a widespread requirement for sprinklers that is more reasonable than the present Town code. The Board agreed this was a good idea and Town Attorney Nichol will put together a new law reflecting this for the next Town Board meeting.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska stated that she understood that Patrick Welsh has officially retired as Police Chief. She was told that this was true. She then wanted to know when Acting Chief Lieutenant Norton would be named the new Chief? She feels he is very qualified would do a great job.
Bill Clarke inquired about the possibility of the Town’s installing a bear-proof dumpster at Town Hall for commercial use, which would be locked and only certain Town employees would have the keys to access it.
He was told that Highway Superintendent Dollbaum was already looking into this.
Nick Balistreri asked about the schedule for the Highway Department to maintain his road, Patterson Hill, further stating they had been maintaining it for 20 years until just recently. Past services included not only snowplowing, but also filling holes, re-grading and re-tarring the road in the summers as well as weed whacking the side of the road and picking up grass clippings which had been bagged and left for them by the residents.
Supervisor Rost responded that there has been discussion about this and it appears that there is going to be a change because the Town does not own the road.
Mr. Balistreri replied that he had documentation dating back to 1996 and an agreement signed by then Supervisor Ken Magar creating Highway Resolution 171, which states that exceptions could be made for roads that don’t meet Town specifications. He then added that no roads in Town met Town specifications and backed this claim up with statistics from several roads (among them Spartan place) which he has personally had measured. Mr. Balistreri stated that the residents on Patterson Hill are not looking to dedicate their road to the Town. They want to be grandfathered in and for Town maintenance to continue. He quoted a law that said that if a road had been maintained for 10 consecutive years, it became grandfathered. He stated that he brought copies of all the laws and agreements for the members of the Board to review.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum responded that he would like to see Mr. Balistreri’s documents. Just because prior administrations had done something which might be illegal (maintaining roads they don’t own) doesn’t mean he is going to do that. He promised to look at the documentation. Town Attorney Nichol agreed that he would also look into this.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from counsel.
As we enter into September and the summer comes to a close, we turn our attention to the coming year’s budget. I will share some important factors that will have an impact on the 2017 budget:
· Property values continue to decline
· Number of retail businesses are on the decline
· We continue to carry a deficiency balance in our B fund (Town outside of Village) from the end of the 2013 fiscal year. The 2016 budget has a fund balance restoration line item that will be continued going forward until we have an acceptable positive fund balance. Please refer to last year’s presentation as it tells the story of how we arrived where we are today.( http://www.tuxedogov.org/departments/supervisor)
· We are on the right track. The last two budgets increased the cash reserves of the Town for the first time in a decade. The Town Board took extensive measures to improve our cash position. The Town Board and I have worked hard to restore financial accountability.
· Please refer to this board presentation that was prepared by our Town Auditor. (http://www.tuxedogov.org/departments/supervisor/2015financialauditsummary)
· While we are making some progress, we cannot lose focus on the task at hand. We must continue to monitor and control the spending of your hard earned tax dollars.
· This year, we will produce a budget that is not just balanced, but will continue to restore the deficient fund balance in the B fund.
We have had some success in 2016 but there is still much to be done over the next few years. I will continue to provide you with updates as we move through the budget process.
1. Resolution to Grant the Purchase of a Parcel of Property to a Resident
2. Tuxedo Manor, request for Moratorium Waiver, Recognition of Vested Rights.
3. Resolution Requesting the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation and NY Thruway Authority to Assure Opportunities for Meaningful Public and Municipal Participation in the Scoping Process for the State Environmental Quality Review of the Pilgrim Pipelines Project
4. Resolution to Exceed the State Tax Cap if Necessary
5. Resolution to Approve Relief from the Building Moratorium Local Law to The Tuxedo Hudson Company
6. Resolution Granting Filming Permit to Take The Stairs Inc.
7. Discussion on Moratorium Relief for Applying for Clearing and Grading Permits.
8. Discussion regarding Tuxedo Law requiring new single family homes to be sprinkled.
Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
The Town Board met on Monday, August 8, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that since it is “budget time,” he had met with the Town Auditor and Bookkeeper earlier in the day. Another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday with the Bookkeeper and Bill Sweet, who will be helping out with the budget again this year. His goal is to get the Preliminary Budget to the Board by early September.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had represented the Town Board at the opening of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s new Outdoor Center in Harriman State Park. She commented that it was a fabulous facility.
Public Comments on Agenda items: Andy Berish asked for an explanation of Item #2, commenting that he had heard that Tuxedo Farms wants to close the school.
Supervisor Rost replied that wasn’t what the item was about and that Town Attorney Nichol would explain the Item when they got to it.
Agenda Items:
a Resolution determining the validity of a petition for a proposition to increase the budgetary allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be included on the November 8 ballot. The resolution was passed unanimously. Councilmember McMillen commented, however, that in this time when “everybody is cutting back,” he was somewhat dismayed to see yet another proposed raise from the Library. Ultimately, the taxpayers will decide if they get it or not.
A Resolution to approve Tuxedo Farms – Declaration of Special Permit Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions. Town Attorney Nichol explained as follows: A condition of the Special Permit is that it be recorded in the Book of Deeds so that anyone buying property in the development can see what covenants and restrictions apply. Since the Special Permit itself is very long document, the Town has put together a document which acknowledges the Special Permit and advises people where and how to get to it, and that the Town has rights and duties with respect to the Permit that can be enforced. The covenant states that the Special Permit runs with the land so that anyone purchasing the property in the future would be bound by the Special Permit. It will give the Town the ability to enforce the environmental conditions laid out in the Special Permit. Mary Graetzer commented that she thought the Town already
had that right. Town Attorney Nichol responded that certain conditions could change such as if a Village would be formed within the development which would give authority to a different government and this covenant would leave the authority over the environmental concerns with the Town. He then asked Andy Berish if this answered his question. Mr. Berish replied no, it didn’t. He went on to say that he understood that Tuxedo Farms was not going to move until the school agreed to merge or send the students elsewhere. Mr. Berish feels that after 20 years, the Town needs to do something to tell Tuxedo Farms it’s time to get moving! Mr. Nichol responded that the Town does not have the authority to tell any property owner what and when to do something with their property! This covenant is another layer of protection for the Town to ensure that what was approved by the Town after years and years of review and discussion, can be enforced by the Town.
The resolution was passed unanimously.
A Resolution granting Special Sign Permits to Masker Orchards for Directional Signs was approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Andy Berish wanted to know why the street lights were not lit after 10 or 10:30 pm. He was told that this would be looked into for his area of Town (the Nursery).
Councilmember Reardon commented that in her area of Town (Hamilton Estates) several of the lights have been disabled by residents to avoid having the lights shine into their homes.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum stated that he was making arrangements with Orange and Rockland for bulb replacement.
Councilmember Reardon commented that, in her opinion, the issue was that without the lights, people were more frightened by the bears. She also feels that the Town needs to send out another notice to residents about people not taking their garbage out the night before it will be collected in order to avoid “feeding the bears,” and thus encouraging their continued presence.
Dena Steele recommended that residents in areas where the bears are frequently found should be using bear proof canisters.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session for the Board to receive advice from counsel. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum was invited to join the session.
AGENDA ITEMS:
1. Resolution Determining the Validity of a Petition for a Proposition to Increase the Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be Included on the November 8, Ballot.
2. Resolution to Approve Tuxedo Farms - Declaration of Special Permit Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions
3. Resolution Granting Special Sign Permits to Masker Orchards for Directional Signs
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, July 25, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Councilperson Reardon was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that although he had spent a fair amount of time working with the BBQ restaurant, which had expressed an interest in building and opening up in Town, in the long run, they were unable to find a suitable location. Additionally, he stated that he and Department Heads are working with the Bookkeeper with the goal to have the Preliminary Budget turned in by September.
Councilperson McMillen stated that “hardware wise” the 911 changeover has been completed and successfully tested. They still need to reach out to the Ambulance Corps to make sure that their radio challenges have been fixed. The Town is currently running in “911 mode” at the Police Station. He then asked Lieutenant Norton to explain what the procedure will be as of August 2nd. The Lieutenant stated that as of August 2,the department would be turning the Town communications over entirety to 911. They are testing the system for the rest of this week while they still have a dispatcher on duty in case of emergency. Anyone dialing the Police number, 351-5111 will now get an automated message instructing them to hang up and call 911 with any and all emergencies. The message will also name every police officer on the force and gives the caller an opportunity to leave voice mail for them along with providing the phone numbers for Town Hall the Supervisor, Town Clerk and Court. The Police are still working on installing a video system. Also, in the next week, the ABL system, which will allow the 911 operators to see where every police car is located, will be installed. Still on his wish list are mobile data terminators with air cards for all the cars. Councilperson McMillen noted that those would be standard for all cars once the County switches over to microwave coverage, which is slated to happen in about a year. The Councilman also noted that further information about contacting the police once the transition is complete would be posted on the Town’s website by Wednesday, July 27th and information will also be sent out to all residents via a direct mailing. He further stated that if anyone had any questions about this, they should not hesitate to call him or Lieutenant Norton.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that a new contract has been negotiated with the Renaissance Faire. Henceforth, instead of paying the prevailing wage for whichever officer was on duty, the Faire will be paying a fee of $90 and hour for a policeman and $100 a day for each car.
Councilperson McMillen noted that there seemed to be a proliferation of new signs around Town. He asked Town Attorney Howard Protter if he could simply pull the unwanted signs out of the ground. Since all the signs seem to be on Town owned public property, Mr. Protter told him he would look into it.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that she had been working on various grant applications and as such is meeting with Bonnie Franson and Shirley Johnson from Creighton Manning about some proposals for updating the Town’s engineering plans. Currently, the plans being submitted with grants are from 2003. She is hoping to get funding for this from the Tuxedo Farms LDC.
She is also working on the applications for solar farms.
Councilperson Loncar objected, asking exactly what the application was and where the proposed farm would be located. It was explained to him that the application Mrs. Lindsay is currently working on is “simply to get in the queue,” with details about location to be worked out later. This was then debated for several minutes with councilman Loncar asserting that he did not feel they should be pursuing a solar field if they did not have a location in mind for it.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Ken Magar and Mike Santoianni both wanted to know about the language clarification referenced in Item 5.
Town Attorney Protter stated that he could answer questions after
Tuxedo Farms had made their presentation.
Agenda Items:
1-A Resolution to grant the purchase of a parcel of property to resident Stephen Donaghy was tabled.
The following resolutions were approved:
A Resolution appointing Michelle Reed as part time clerk typist at $13,50/hr for 14 hours a week was passed unanimously.
A Resolution to grant a special sign permit to Renaissance Faire for directional signs was passed 4 -1 with Councilperson McMillen voting no.
A Resolution to approve the agreement between the Renaissance Faire Entertainment Corp and the Town of Tuxedo for the 2016 season was passed 4 1- with Councilman Loncar voting no.
5-Tuxedo Farms – Clarification of Language included in Article
Public Comments:
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum stated that there were already ledges overhanging Route 17, north of the proposed entrance to Tuxedo Farms. He asked that the developer exercise extreme caution when blasting starts to make sure that these ledges don’t fall down on passing cars!XV of the 2015 Special Use Permit for the project.
Andrew Dance of Related stated that they were moving through the approved site work for the project, which includes Quail Rd., the Commons (clearing and stabilizing as it’s being used as a staging area for the project as well as a pump station) and West Terrace (water tanks. Material taken from here is being used to make the flat area in the Commons.) A significant amount of blasting will need to be done in this area. Clearing and grading has been done in all of these areas and the next stage will involve pouring foundations for the infrastructure to be built (pump station, water tanks, well head). While they acknowledge that Town Code says these activities require a building permit, they are wanting to wait until they see how “the success of the school goes” before having to pay the money due to the school (which is triggered by the issuance of a building permit) Thus they are asking for a language change to the Special Permit. According to Mr. Dance, the builders have been very unimpressed with the school’s performance and claim it will keep them from selling lots. Mr. Dance believes that the spirit of the Special Permit was for the payment to the school to be made when the first permit for a house was issued. He doesn’t believe that these infrastructure projects should be counted as they won’t generate any residents or specifically students.
Councilperson Lindsay asked what information from the school they were waiting for.
Mr. Dance responded that the builders they were trying to sell lots to have 3 qualifications they are looking for in prospective property: commutability, taxes and schools. None of the prospective buyers were happy with the state of the school. While commutability is great, taxes have been going through some tough times and the school situation is not good.
Noting that there were other things besides the payment that were triggered by the issuance of the first building permit, Supervisor Rost stated that there were new School Board members and he felt it would behoove Related to sit down with them and have a discussion.
Acknowledging the members of the School Board that were present, Mr. Dance suggested that perhaps they could talk about setting up a meeting when the current meeting was over.
School Board Vice President Joanne Vernon responded that under no circumstance would any of the Board members speak to Mr. Dance without an attorney present and that if he wanted to set a meeting, he would have to call the Superintendent for an appointment.
Town Attorney Protter reiterated that this is a larger issue than just the school. The issuance of the first building permit also starts the Library’s clock to obtain financing to building a facility within the development; it precipitates the formation of a water corporation; it triggers the balance of the Hamlet Revitalization funding, both the grant and the loans; it starts the requirements for PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments as well as requirements for bonding. He went on to say that there was nothing in the permit, which said that any of these things were triggered only by permits for residences. If that was what was intended, he feels it would have clearly stated that.
Supervisor Rost pointed out that if the Board were to say they agreed with Tuxedo Farms and thus gave them leave to not pay the school, the school could take legal action.
Mr. Protter agreed and said in order to avoid that, the Board would have to amend the Special Permit, which is in itself a somewhat complicated process.
Mr. Dance stated that although they were very disappointed in the direction the school has taken in the last year and a half, they were not trying to get out of their obligation. Since Related has investors and lenders, they don’t feel they can make such “willy nilly” payments just for a pump station.
Public Comments:
Highway Superintendent Rob Dollbaum stated that there were already ledges overhanging Route 17, north of the proposed entrance to Tuxedo Farms. He asked that the developer exercise extreme caution when blasting starts to make sure that these ledges don’t fall down on passing cars!
Mike Santoianni reiterated that the Town of Tuxedo has great commutability to offer and our tax structure is better than any of the surrounding areas. As far as the school is concerned, he suggested that none of the prospective builders have reached out to the school for a presentation or for any answers. He inquired of Mr. Dance as to specifically who the builders are. Mr. Santoianni feels there needs to be a better attitude from the developer toward the School District to back the school and help to make it a success. He also feels that the School might be more flexible if they knew the developer was behind them instead of trying to destroy them. The Town wants Related to succeed, but Related has to want the Town and the School to succeed as well. “This is a billion dollar project,” he stated, “you need to get behind the school and help to make it a success.”
Andrew Grippo from Juniper Terrace, stated that theirs is the highest taxed development in Town and in the last couple of years “everybody is leaving,” and he feels the reason is that the school is no good.
Andrew Dance commented that he had met with then School Board President Joanne Vernon and he felt they just had to agree to disagree.
Mrs. Vernon stated that she had not had a conversation with Mr. Dance since last August.
Mr. Dance then stated that Related couldn’t make the school do anything but, he said, they were not going to give them a million dollars to “flush down the toilet due to poor financial management as the State Comptroller has clearly identified the mishandling of funds.”
Supervisor Rost then intervened in the discussion saying it was nothing the Town Board wanted to get involved in.
Mr. Dance retorted “I’ll just bet you don’t!”
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into Executive Session to receive advice from Council.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 27, 2016 at 7 pm in the Courtroom. Councilperson Loncar was absent.
The meeting began with the continuation of the Public Hearing on the Building Moratorium. There were no comments from the public so the hearing was closed.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported the following items:
the BBQ restaurant that has been looking to open in town has been talking with Mike Yaeger from Hickory Hollow and they are trying to make a deal on some property. The next step will be to have the BBQ people appear at a TAC meeting.
Irwin DeMarino continues to work on reducing the mulch pile at the highway garage. He is working with the DEC monitor on a regular basis.
The land transfers for the easements on Tuxedo Farms should be ready to close very soon. They are just waiting for title reports and then a closing date will be set.
The Supervisor thanked Andrew Arias from auditing firm Cooper Arias for all the work he has done in making sure that the Town is being brought into compliance with the State Comptrollers requirements.
Councilperson Lindsay gave an update on the kiosk for the train platform, which is being planned by the Trail Conference, the Chamber of Commerce and A Better Tuxedo. She has been in contact with Metro North and they are just about ready to finalize the location. The plan is for a slightly smaller kiosk than what was originally proposed. They are presently working on a maintenance and inspection schedule to be carried out by volunteers. These volunteers will be solicited at the booth maintained by the Trail Conference at the Farmers Market as well as on the Train Conference’s website., A Better Tuxedo has applied for grant money with which to fund the project. The Appalachian Mountain Club has offered to build the kiosk if the plans and materials are decided before they leave at the end of the summer. Donations will also be solicited on the Trail Conference’s website.
Presentation of 2015 Audit:
Andrew Arias from Cooper Arias gave a report on the recently completed 2015 Town Audit.
To see a copy of Mr. Arias’ presentationclick here and to view a copy of the full audit report, click here.
Agenda Items:
The following resolutions were passed unanimously:
A Resolution accepting Rachel Artrip’s resignatipon as part time clerk typist
A Resolution to tender an offer to Michelle Reed for the position of part time clerk typist
A Resolution to enact a Building Moratorium until the Comprehensive Plan is adopted.
Public Comments: Joanne Ennis, Deputy Town Clerk who is retiring due to her relocation read a statement in which she pleaded with the Supervisor and Town Board to reconsider their decision to not replace her once she has left her job. She contends that there is too much work to be done by the Town Clerk’s office for just one person. Also, she expressed her concern over what would happen when the Town Clerk was either at training conferences or sick or on vacation. There are certain things that are handled by the office, such as death certificates, which must be accomplished within strict time constraints.
Janet Galuska thanked Mrs. Ennis for her service as Deputy Town Clerk and Registrar. She feels that without her, residents expectations for service from the Clerk may well fall short and she thinks the Board should be looking for a replacement.
Councilperson Reardon inquired as to what other Towns of similar size to Tuxedo do in this situation.
Supervisor Rost responded that other small towns just have a Town Clerk and if the Clerk was sick, or away for training or on vacation, the office was closed. He added that he felt that in this type of situation, a Town should have a back up registrar so that should the need for a time sensitive task, such as a death certificate,arise when the Clerk was away, someone would be able to take care of it.
Town Clerk Donna Matthews asked which towns specifically did not have a Deputy Clerk as she has done some research and she had not been able to find one.
The Supervisor replied that he didn’t have the list with him.
Mrs. Matthews then read a statement in which she said that before she decided to run for office she had asked the Supervisor what changes would be made to the department as she knew that the Town was having financial difficulties. She said she was told that there would be no changes and that “she would be fine.” While she knew that her salary would not be the same as her predecessor, she did not know that she would have to pay for health insurance and that she would not be getting stipends for the registrar position as well as records management. She also didn’t know that when her deputy retired, she would not be permitted to hire a replacement. Further, she said she had just attended a conference on records management where it was explained to her how important this part of her job was. Tuxedo’s records management is a mess and she has been so busy since taking over the Clerk’s job that she has not had a chance to start cleaning it up. She has been attending as many classes as possible in order to learn about her job while relying on her deputy, Joanne to run the office. She comes in early and leaves late and has been working on her days off. She said that while she does not mlnd doing this, to suggest that she does not need a helper is, in her opinion, a disservice to the community. There are time sensitive duties that need to be performed and if Joanne is not replaced, there will be no one there to do it. Mrs. Matthews said that she was told that her predecessor didn’t come in to Town Hall very often and that was why the Board would not replace Joanne. She further stated that while Mrs. Laurent may not have spent regular office hours in Town Hall, she did come in on weekends and evenings to get the job done. Also, Mrs. Matthews stated that she’d been left with huge piles of unfinished time sensitive work on her desk in January, which delayed her efforts to move forward.. She has talked to and met with many Town Clerks in the process of becoming acclimated to her position and reported that none of them thought it was a good idea to not replace her deputy. While she appreciated the offer of a Councilperson coming in to help her occasionally, she feels this wouldn’t solve the problem. She is not suggesting that they hire a replacement with as many hours as the current deputy, but she really feels she needs regular help. Also, she would like the Board to reconsider the stipend for records management. She reiterated that she doesn’t mind working extra hours but she feels like she is “being cut off at the knees.”
Councilperson Reardon asked Mrs. Matthews if she had passed the notary exam. Mrs. Matthews replied she had not. To date she has attended one conference where she took a 3 hour class and then had less than a day to read and study the material.
Councilperson Reardon stated that she had taken the test and didn’t find it that hard. She wondered what the Board could do to help Mrs. Matthews pass the test because she feels being a notary is an important part of the Town Clerk job.
The Supervisor commented that he felt they could circle back and continue talking.
Mrs. Matthews responded that she felt she had tried talking about it but everything had been cut and she was putting in long hours and not making much money.
Councilperson Reardon commented that she wanted to help and wanted to know what the Board could do so that Mrs. Matthews could get her work under control and also study and pass her notary test.
The answer was “you can get me some help.”
Councilperson McMillen stated that he felt the Board needed to sit down and talk about the situation and decide collectively what to do.
Mrs. Matthews responded that all she heard was that she was doing a bad job and she didn’t think anybody knew what her job entailed. She was told that no one had said she was doing a bad job. The Board would like to further evaluate her workload and then they will decide about the deputy position.
Councilperson Reardon reiterated that she felt they needed to take a week or so to fully evaluate everything encompassed by Mrs. Matthew’s position so they can decide whether or not to hire help for the office. No one wants to see the Town Clerk stressed out. If she needs help, they will get it for her. If the records are a mess, left over from the previous Town Clerk, then they need to figure out how to straighten them out and get the necessary so that it can be handled correctly moving forward.
Diana Petrosky suggested that the Town should look into creative ways of saving money, such as hiring two part time assistants instead of one full timer.
Katie Marusich, Captain of the Volunteer Ambulance Corps., expressed concern with the fact that after 11 pm, there are no cops on duty in the Town so if the ambulance gets a call, there is no longer a Town policeman to also respond and “clear the scene,” for the ambulance corps and offer protection if necessary. She hears that Ramapo police or Tuxedo Park police may respond to calls and that the State Police may come down but she worries that while the State Police will probably respond to major EMS calls (i.e.an auto accident or if someone is not breathing) she doesn’t think they will come for minor calls such as someone is vomiting. Mrs. Marusich stated that they never knew what might happen. They could get a call that someone is vomiting but walk into the house and find someone holding a knife or a gun. She wondered if there was any kind of agreement between the Town and the other possible responding police departments that stated they would come and cover for the ambulance corps.
Supervisor Rost replied that there was no written agreement. He then asked Mrs. Marusich if she was asking for the Town to put the cops back on the midnight shift?
Mrs. Marusich replied no, she was not asking that but she wanted to know who would be the agency that would protect them? Who should they call if they got into trouble?
The answer was they should call 911. That response led a lot of ambulance corps members in the audience to laugh and scoff saying that 911 wasn’t working.
Councilperson McMillen then stated for the record that it had never been the intention of the Board to keep the midnight shift (or A line) permanently from working but so far, the union was not willing to negotiate with the town.
In the meantime, the ambulance corps needs to know who will dispatch police to protect them. At the moment, the Tuxedo police are still dispatching the police and the ambulance but when those departments switch to 911, which is slated to happen within the next2 months, who will be doing the dispatching and providing protection?
There was some discussion among the ambulance corps members and the Board members as whether or not the radios were working. The members claimed that they were not working but miraculously after there was a conference call with the radio people, the radio seems to be working.
Councilperson McMillen stated that there were some problems with the company who is working with the radios. He also stated that the Town will not flip the switch on 911 dispatching until everyone is satisfied.
Lieutenant Norton commented that he had had conversations with Captain Casey from the State Police who had advised him that it was a bad idea to rely on them for midnight shift calls because they don’t think the Town will be satisfied with their response time.
The Supervisor wondered if the Lieutenant had had a separate meeting with the Captain because in the meeting that he had attended, the Captain never said anything like that.
Councilperson McMillen then stated “we all agree that the A line has to return for everybody’s safety. So let’s stop the heel dragging on both sides and start negotiating so we can make that happen.”
Captain Marusich then assured the Board that the Corps wants to work with the Town, but they are concerned for their safety and they need to know that they will be covered and protected. At the moment, there are members of the Corps who don’t want to come out and answer calls after 11 pm. She is concerned that they will lose members/volunteers.
Councilperson McMillen then stated that if anyone had listened to the auditor’s report given earlier in the evening, they would know that the finances of the Town had a lot to do with the problem. He added that the present Board didn’t cause the problems but they had to do whatever was necessary to fix them.
Andy Rogers remembered that in years past the Tuxedo Park police had dispatched both the Town and the Village police as well as the Ambulance Corps and Fire Departments. He suggested that the Town go back to that arrangement if the Village was willing because it would mean the dispatching could be done by someone who knew the area.
There was some discussion about whether or not the Town could hire a special security guard to answer the ambulance calls during the midnight shift but it was explained that this would be in direct violation to the Town PBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
The Board agreed that they would have more discussions with the State police as well as with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to try to secure assurance that those agencies would respond to calls during the midnight shift.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
The meeting opened with the Continuation of the Public Hearing for the proposed Building Moratorium.
There were no comments from the public.
Andy Berish did ask for an explanation of the moratorium.
Supervisor Rost explained that if anyone wanted to do any building in Town, they would have to appear before the Town Board who would then check to decide if the proposed project was in keeping with the new Town Comprehensive Plan which they have been reviewing and which they hope to pass soon.
Mr. Berish wanted to know how this would affect Tuxedo Farms.
He was told that it would not affect that project as they already have their approvals in place.
The Supervisor further commented that the moratorium would be in place until the new plan has been adopted.
Town Attorney Nichol added that there is a six-month time frame to the moratorium but it is extendable in 6 month increments.
The Town is still waiting for comments on the proposed plan to come from the County.
The public hearing will remain open until the next scheduled Town Board meeting, which is June 27.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that Tuxedo Farms continues with their clearing and grading on the site.
The clean up at the Highway Garage is progressing as they move piles of chips out. Both De Marino and Ben Veltiti have been on site helping to screen the material and also to move it out.
Councilperson McMillen reported on the progress of the move to 911. He stated that all the hardware was in stock and had been tested. Now they are just waiting for some training on the equipment for the police officers, after which they will just need a cut off date. As per the current schedule, this should happen before July 4th.
Councilperson Lindsay stated that she had heard from Con Ed Solutions who wants to visit the Highway Department to see if it might be possible to install solar panels on the roof of the Highway garage. They would also like to look to see if there might be a site for a solar field after the mulch is all cleaned up.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said if he was given a little notice this would of course be possible. Currently, the crew is paving roads so they need to know in advance if someone needs to be on site.
Public Comments: Village Mayor Mary Jo Guinchard stated that she had noticed that the Village had been on the original agenda for the meeting with regard to their proposed Home Rule resolution and more specifically, the support of the Town Board. She requested to know why the item had been removed from the agenda when they had already received a letter of support from the Town to Albany over something which, she said, had a negative impact on the Town. She further commented that if anyone had any questions about the Home Rule she would be more than happy to explain it and provide the necessary answers.
Supervisor Rost replied that it had been removed from the agenda because there wasn’t enough support on the Board to pass the resolution.
Mayor Guinchard then requested that the resolution be brought to a vote so the Village Board could see that it had been denied.
Supervisor Rost responded that for now it would stay off the agenda unless a Board member made a motion to bring it to the table and that motion was seconded.
Councilperson Lindsay moved to bring the matter to the table for discussion purposes only.
The Supervisor seconded the motion.
Councilperson Reardon stated that she felt it had already been discussed in public (on Thursday, June 9) and thus she didn’t see any reason to do it again.
Trustee John Kilduff questioned whether it had been discussed in public because he had been at that meeting and didn’t recall it being discussed.
He was told that he had left the meeting before it was over and that it had been discussed after he left.
He responded, “oh you discussed it in the secret meeting part?”
Andy Berish asked for an explanation of the Home Rule and law 150.
Mayor Guinchard asked if she could explain it from a Village point of view.
Supervisor Rost replied that first Town Attorney Nichol would explain it.
Attorney Nichol explained that Town Law, Section 150 has a provision that indicates that the Town can excuse the Village from taxation for police purposes if the Village Department has at least 4 full time officers. He added that it was his understanding that the Village would like the law changed so that the Town could excuse the Village if they had 2 full time officers, not 4. He further commented that this is a provision in the Town law not the Village law and to change it at the State level would require the Town to affirmatively request that the law be changed.
Mayor Guinchard then further commented on the situation, stating that “it’s not as if we would drop it to 2. The resolution doesn’t state that we would have to do it, just that we would have the option to do it.” She added that the Village is a population of 623 (according to the 2010 census). There are other Villages who have appealed to reduce the number to 2 full time officers from 4 because of their size and it has been granted. Currently, she said, the Village has a “very nice roster” of part time officers who they would like to use instead of 4 full timers. Additionally, she explained that the Village only has one full time and one part time officer on duty at a time. They work in rotating shifts. The Village also used to have traffic guards. They have now decided to fill that position with police officers so that there would be two officers on duty at a time. They are in transition for hiring new part time officers to take on the positions and according to the Mayor, they are almost done fulfilling that roster. Mayor Guinchard stated that the Village would not, therefore, be adding any stress to the Town’s police department. In fact, if anything, due to the fact that the Town has recently eliminated their midnight shift, they will be in a better position to help assist the Town if needed. The Mayor stated that she thought this was a “wonderful opportunity” for the Town and the Village to work together to provide safety for all residents. She outlined how she had taken this idea to Assemblyman Brabenec who actually wrote the bill to be taken to Albany after which it was decided to take it to the next step, which was the Senate. Senator Bonacic gave his support because Supervisor Rost wrote a letter of support. The next step is to take it to the legislature to have a “one sentence change” made to the Home Rule law. She implored the Board to think about the resolution because she felt it was a “wonderful opportunity” for the Town and the Village to work together on something that would make a positive impact on both the Town and the Village. She suggested that it would benefit both the Ambulance and the Town . She suggested that it would benefit both the Ambulance and the Town Police.
Martin Lavanhar recalled that he had asked if anything was being done about the Red Apple Rest at the last meeting and that the Supervisor had commented that there were “things in the works.” He wondered if there was any news on this subject?
Supervisor Rost responded that there are currently two different businesses who are interested in buying the Red Apple Rest and they are trying to negotiate with the owner.
John McNamara wondered if any thought had been given to waiting until after the July 4 weekend before making the switch over to 911 for police coverage?
Supervisor Rost assured Mr. McNamara that the switch over to 911 would not be made until the Town was certain that everything was absolutely right.
Kim Stevens, an Ambulance Corps volunteer, wondered if the communication under 911 would be any better than it presently is as she says at the moment they can barely understand what is coming over their radio.
John Kilduff, President of the Ambulance Corps, stated that presently the service they receive is not very good.
It was explained to him that there are 3 separate services with 911, the police, the fire and the ambulance. Some of these have been removed from the Maplebrook tower.
Assurances were given that the Town will not move forward with the switch until everyone at all 3 services was satisfied with what they are getting. The ambulance corps was asked to work with the Town to make sure this was happening.
Mrs. Stevens stated that presently she has to relay information through the Town dispatchers or she can’t hear where they need to go. Upon further questioning, she added that this has gotten worse recently.
Councilperson McMillen said he had been told that the police communication was being moved to something called the MRD channel, which would leave the present channels available for the ambulance and fire. 911 is telling him that when this switch is made, the problems currently being experienced by the ambulance corps will no longer exist.
Councilperson McMillen said they would do extensive testing of this before the final switch was made. He asked the ambulance corps to work with him and Lt. Norton to make sure that this would be satisfactory.
Village Trustee John Kilduff expressed his disappointment that there would not be a vote on what he considered to be an important matter to the Village. He added that he feels that the Village residents are also Town constituents and, as such, are entitled to know where the Board stands on helping the Village deal with budgetary problems. According to Mr. Kilduff, the change will not impact the Town in any way “today, tomorrow or ever.” In fact, in his opinion, it’s a way for the Village Board to deal with finances and personnel problems that they have been struggling with. Also, he said, he takes umbrage with the fact that the Town attorney stated that Home Rule was a Town law because it is a State law. To be clear, he added, that neither two nor four full time police officers would cover the Village shifts. They have always used part time officers and this proposal is actually part of a restructuring which is a significant upgrade: Now, instead of one full time and one gate guard, they will have two officers on duty at all times. The Village Board eliminated the Civil Service positions in order to bring about this upgrade and also to help out the Town by being able to help out with their overnight shift. The ambulance corps needs a scene to be “deemed safe” before they can go in to help someone and, presently, with no coverage from the Town, there is a problem with this. Mr. Kilduff reiterated that the Corps will not respond to a call if the “scene” cannot be deemed safe ahead of time.
Councilperson Reardon asked Supervisor Rost to please give a description of what the Town has already done to support the Village’s effort. The Supervisor then stated that originally what the Town Board had said was that they would not oppose the action being sought by the Village Board. Then Albany came back to the Village and said they needed something in writing from the Town. A letter was sent which said that they supported the effort being made by the Village to control their costs and that the Town would not oppose the Village’s plan to go to two, instead of four, full time police officers. Now, Albany has come back and said they want a resolution from the Town and the Board has made it very clear that they don’t want to take action although they will not oppose what the Village is doing. Councilperson Reardon further commented that in her opinion the Board doesn’t see this as something that is the Town’s issue. They have gone to the authorities and said they won’t oppose what the Village wants to do. Trustee Kilduff interjected that it was just minor paperwork. Councilperson Reardon responded that she didn’t feel it was minor paperwork. She added, “if it were minor paperwork, then it wouldn’t really matter and it does matter.” Trustee Kilduff then replied it was just “the arcane rules of the New York State Assembly…” to which Councilperson Reardon responded “arcane? Well, we choose to follow the arcane rules.” Trustee Kilduff added that the “arcanity” came in with having to fill out the forms. Councilperson Reardon replied “you’re clearly not going to have a discussion here so we will stop here. I don’t want people walking out of the room thinking that the Town was negligent in any obligation that they had because they are not.” Trustee Kilduff then replied “no, to be clear I think what it is is that the Town opposes what we’re trying to do here.” Mrs. Reardon denied this. She added that the Town had stated they didn’t oppose the Village’s plan and that they supported them in their budget struggles. However, she doesn’t feel it is for the Town to have a say in how the Village staffs their police force. Trustee Kilduff repeated “so you are opposing the Village.” Councilperson Reardon responded, “if you want my vote, I will vote no on a resolution.” Mr. Kilduff replied “ok, we’ve got one vote…..” At this point Councilperson McMillen spoke up and said “it’s a no from me.” To this Trustee Kilduff responded “good to know.”
Mayor Guinchard then stated “just so you know, the Village will never go below 4 officers. We never have and we never will.”
Councilperson McMillan replied “then why does your resolution from December state that you want to get Law 150 enacted before the Town can assess a tax on you?” Mayor Guinchard quickly responded “and you will!” Councilperson McMillen said “well, we didn’t know what you were doing and I have a problem when I see that I’m going to lose the right to tax you down the road when you are diminishing your police force. That’s the problem.” Mayor Guinchard said “well we’re not going to do that.” Councilperson McMillen kept going saying “there was no discussion with us and no discussion with the police. Did you have a discussion with me, Maam?” The Mayor replied “I asked if I could speak with each of you individually. I asked the Supervisor if I could get all of your phone numbers so I could do that and he never gave them to me.” Supervisor Rost quickly responded “I sent them to you today as requested,” to which Mayor Guinchard replied “well, I didn’t get them.” Councilperson Reardon interjected “well, you certainly have my phone number and you never contacted me.” The Mayor continued “I asked if I could reach out to all of you and the Supervisor said he had spoken to you all and that we have the support of the Board.” Supervisor Rost then responded, “No. Now you are twisting words. What I said was that I have a Board that says they are not going to oppose what you want to do. That’s what we talked about. Then you wanted the letter and I gave that to you. Albany came back and said they needed a resolution and the Board has said they don’t want to do the resolution.” Mayor Guinchard replied “but that was Albany that said that because that is how they do it. We don’t have a say in how they do it.” Councilman McMillen interjected “you say that you’re not worried about the tax problem, but your resolution clearly talks about the taxing.” “Because,” explained the Mayor “that’s how it is.” Councilman McMillan then stated “we didn’t even know that the document existed. No courtesy was given to our Board.” Trustee Kilduff then added you’re confusing the issues, Dave. We’re trying to explain it to you.” Councilman McMillan interrupted with “Rule 150 says anything below 4 full time officers and we lose the right to tax you.” To this Trustee Kilduff retorted “Do the math…it will never make sense for us to go in violation of the law whether it’s 4 or 2 full time officers, so if we have to keep it at 4 so we don’t get the tax burden from the Town, we’re gonna keep it at 4 because that’s just how the numbers work. Now, we’re asking if we can go down to 2 so we can staff the balance of the hours with part-timers.”
Councilman Loncar stated that there was a level of dishonesty here and he didn’t feel that the Village had been straight with them.”
“What do you mean,” asked Mr. Kilduff. We have a letter of support from the Supervisor.” Supervisor Rost then clarified “this was discussed in executive session and what we all said in that meeting was ‘we won’t oppose.’ “ Councilperson Lindsay then asked if that letter was enough for Albany?” “It’s not,” replied the Mayor “and what you don’t understand is we’re trying to make it stronger. If you do the math, you will understand that it will NEVER make sense for us to drop below the required number of officers and have you tax us, so we’ll have to find another way to make it all work. What we’re trying to say is that we’re trying to work together and you’re the ones who have left us in the midnight hours with nothing out there except for state troopers.” She further suggested that since the Village already worked with part timers, she felt they could be helpful to the Town and that is what she is trying to do. The Mayor continued ”I’ve spoken to Mike about it and we’ve talked about it in our open meetings so it’s been no secret, it’s been going through the process.”
Trustee Kilduff then stated “we’ll just have to keep the 4 then, Dave because we will never be subject to your jurisdiction. Never.”
Someone from the audience interjected “wouldn’t it make sense to just merge the 2 departments?” The Mayor replied “no, if you do the math you can see that it would cost the Village too much to do that. But, I have offered to the Supervisor that he can merge your department into ours and then we could save all of us a lot of money. We could become a police force that way. I have spoken to our Senator and Assemblyman about it and it could be possible.” Upon questioning from the audience, the Mayor added that the Village has a lot of part timers and thus they don’t have to pay benefits and pensions for them. If the Town were to merge into the Village Department, they could still cover everything and the Town could save an immense amount of money.
Councilperson Reardon then stated. “so the way you would solve the problems would be to get rid of our full time police and thus save the money on their higher salaries and benefits?”
The Mayor replied “that would depend upon how it was structured.”
Councilperson Reardon said “but that is what you’re trying to do with your department.” The Mayor denied this and said they were just looking for the option to do this.”
“So,” replied Councilperson Reardon “you’re not going to do it?”
The Mayor responded “we may not or we may.” Then, she added “you were doing the same thing when you got rid of your A line.”
“But,” Mrs Reardon responded, “we didn’t say we might get rid of them. We knew exactly what we had to do to get back on track financially and it was painful and we did it.”
The Mayor then said “we can sustain at our level. But why would we take 2 more full time officers when we know there are communities who are looking for and need full time officers? Why would we want to take those 2 full time officers when we’re such a small community when other people could be using them?”
Councilperson Reardon countered “my problem is in dealing with our Town. If I have an officer and I need him, they’re going to be here. I can’t worry about every other town and or village in Orange County.”
“But that’s what we do,” exclaimed the Mayor.
“Well, don’t tell me then that if we have “extras,” it’s a great idea to give them to people that need it,” responded the Councilperson.
“Yeah, you’re right,” interjected Trustee Kilduff, “it’s better to farm out your overnight shift to the State Police. They’ll be here in about 20 to 40 minutes.”
“So now, they’re ours?” responded Mrs. Reardon, “when there’s something you don’t like, it’s all our problem? I’ve had quite enough of this discussion.”
Councilperson Lindsay said she wanted to try to clarify something. She explained that the resolution passed by the Village Board in December said that they wanted to changed the requirement from 4 full time officers to 2 full time officers before the Town can tax them. In her opinion that makes it sound as though the Village wants to rush it through so they can’t get taxed. It feels to her as though the Village is saying “lets get this done before the Town can tax us.”
Trustee Kilduff said “I didn’t realize it said that.”
Councilperson Lindsay then added that the new resolution they were proposing had the exact same wording and this is where she thinks the problem lies.
Councilperson McMillen explained that his main responsibility was to the Town and to its residents and he felt he couldn’t be suspicious about what the Village was trying to do. He added that he wished they had come forward earlier so that there was time to work with them, but they didn’t come forward until the very last minute and he felt he had to do the responsible thing.
Supervisor Rost stated that the problem was that the Village now wanted a resolution when the Town had already given a letter.
Councilperson Lindsay asked when the Village found out that they needed a resolution?
The answer was perhaps last Wednesday or Thursday.
Trustee Kilduff then stated “this is how Albany works. Read the papers and you’ll see in the next couple of weeks that there are a lot of things being jammed through the legislature at the end of their session.”
“So, unless you have a resolution from us, this will not move forward?” asked Councilperson Reardon.
Both the Mayor and Trustee Kilduff replied “no, no, it won’t.” The Mayor added “but we thank you for your time.”
Councilperson McMillen stated “there’s a lot of confusion here. I would have liked to have the confusion cleared up and the information given to us in time for us to make an informed vote.
The Supervisor then asked if there were any more public comments.
Mark Briggs said he had rented the pavilion at Murphy Field to have a party over the weekend and wanted to tell the Town what a wonderful experience it was. The venue is great and they look forward to renting it again in the future.
On another note, he said he lives on Eagle Valley Road and while it was nice having the golf course as a neighbor as it is beautiful to look at and it is also nice not having development right in his back yard, in the last year it has become a real problem as they are starting their machinery at 6:30 in the morning, seven days a week which is becoming unbearable.
Councilperson Loncar replied that he had noticed that perhaps a week ago and the Club is not supposed to run their machinery anywhere near the houses early in the morning.
Councilperson Reardon volunteered to take this on. She said she is a member of the Club and will personally speak to the people in charge at the Golf Club and see what can be done.
The Board then went into executive session to receive advice of counsel.
When they came back out, they signed vouchers and there was a motion to adjourn.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing – Moratorium on Development Approvals:
The meeting opened with a public hearing on the proposed moratorium on development approvals. There were no comments from the public. Town Attorney Don Nichol explained that the hearing would have to remain open until the next meeting on June 13 because the Town had sent the proposal to the Orange County Planning Department but had not yet heard back from them.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that work continues at the Highway garage with the leftover material from Perfect Cut. Specifically, they pulled a lot of the chips that were catching fire off the piles and moved them off site via outside vendors who came and took them away. He added that the Town Board would now be taking some time to decide what will happen at that site going forward.
The Supervisor also reported that he had asked Building Inspector Maikisch to contact the people who have been working on Rte. 17 between Tuxedo and Sloatsburg to see if they could provide better signage about the slow moving trucks turning into the old Applewood Kennels site.
Finally, he reminded everyone about the upcoming Memorial Day celebration stating that line up for the ceremony at the Police Department in Southfields was at 9:45 am and the one for the parade was at 11 am at the High School.
Councilperson McMillen gave an update on the progress with the 911 system. He said he had received an email from the equipment supplier saying that everything has been installed and they are ready to test the system. However, he cautioned that he wasn’t sure they understood that the radios needed to be reprogramed. Lieutenant Norton remarked that he had reached out to the company that day and that he believes that when they say they are ready to test, they are referring to the ambulance and fire companies. The Lieutenant has requested a meeting with the equipment company as well as Councilperson McMillen and any other interested board members to discuss protocols and training for everyone going forward.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Martin Lavanhar stated that he had driven past the Red Apple Rest recently and had two questions for the Board. First, why hasn’t the building been torn down? Secondly he wondered if he were to let his house get into a similar shape, what would the Town be doing to him?
Supervisor Rost responded that there is a new business that is looking to open up in Tuxedo and they are currently talking to the Red Apple Rest along with looking at other locations. He went on to say that the Town couldn’t regulate the price point on the Red Apple Rest but said the Board was hopeful that something would happen there.
Councilperson McMillen added that he also was dismayed by the look of this property and he feels that it has looked this way for long enough now and that perhaps there is some section of the Town Code, which would cover doing something about it. He further stated that the building had been condemned by the Building Inspector because the roof collapsed and a fence was erected around it.
Town Attorney Nichol said the Town does have an unsafe building local law. It requires an engineering report to verify the condition of the building. which must be unsafe for the public. Because there is a fence around the building, it might not be considered unsafe.
It was suggested that the Building Department should look at the building and if they thought it was unsafe, it should be brought back to the Board who could order the required engineering report.
Agenda Items:
The following resolution were passed:
A Resolution approval participation in Orange County Stop DWI Enforcement program. This is something the Town participates in annually.
There was also a discussion about bids made on surplus equipment that the Town is looking to get rid of. Councilperson Loncar felt that the Town could get more money than was currently being offered. Because the Superintendent of Highways was not present, the other Board members didn’t feel they could judge how good the bids were. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided to table this until the next meeting.
Public Comments: Janet Galuska commended Highway worker Jeff Dowding for the excellent job he does in trimming and weeding on Town properties as well as along the roads.
Mrs. Galuska also wondered what was happening with the old Jasmine site in Southfields. She mentioned there was a sign on the building, which says Pharma.
She was told that no plans for that building have been submitted to the Town. They believe that Pharma is a business selling vitamins and supplements. Until, plans are formally submitted, the Board really doesn’t know much.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, May 9, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he is still working on getting the mulch moved out of the Highway Department location. While someone was supposed to start removing it on May 9, this did not occur. The Board is concerned about getting the material moved as soon as they can as they are concerned about the possibility of fires. So far, Highway Superintendent Dollbaum has been doing a good job of keeping the fires out and under control.
The Supervisor further stated that the property transferals and easement agreements with Related should be wrapped up within the next 30 days.
There have been rumors that Pilgrim Pipeline is using the airstrip property in Sterling Forest for a staging area. The Supervisor stated that no one from Pilgrim had contacted him or anyone else in Town. He has asked Councilperson Lindsay to look into this and find out exactly what is being said and what is actually happening.
Finally, he announced that he was going to schedule a workshop meeting with the Town Auditor for the purpose of reviewing the report turned in to the Board last week.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had received an email from the Orange County Community Block Grant department stating that the grant the Town applied for is moving on to the next step which will be a site visit on Thursday, May 13. This grant would be for $375,000 to improve the Hamlet streetscape and would be for 3 years.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked for an explanation of the proposed Building Moratorium. Specifically, he wanted to know if it would affect Tuxedo Farms?
He was told that it would not affect that project as they already have their approvals in place.
Town Attorney Nichol then gave an explanation of the proposal, and commented that in reviewing the zoning which would come from the plan, it appeared that it would come up for pubic hearings and votes
in the summer. He doesn’t feel that summer is an optimal time for people to attend public hearings and/or votes and thus they will postpone the public hearing and vote on the plan until early Fall. In the meantime, they are proposing to halt any future building that does not already have approval until it can be covered by the new zoning.
Mary Graetzer stated that it seems silly to her to postpone this any longer as the plan has been under consideration for years.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed unanimously:
a Resolution granting a special permit for Chai Lifeline to allow their Bike 4 Chai cyclists to ride through a part of Town (NY 17-A, Benjamin Meadow Rd., Bramertown Rd. and W Mombasha Rd) beginning at 7 am on August 3rd. This is the third year the event has come through Tuxedo.
a Resolution approving a towing license for CAR Autobody of Southfields.
a Resolution to enact a Building Moratorium until the Comprehensive Plan is adopted. There will be a public hearing on this on May 23rd.
Public Comments: Kristen Heard from the Chamber of Commerce spoke in favor of the kiosk that has been proposed for the platform of the train station. The kiosk would have maps and information about hiking trails as well as a listing of all businesses in Town.
Supervisor Rost wanted to know who would maintain the kiosk. He was told that the “trail people” and the Chamber would be jointly updating it on a regular basis.
Don Weise from the NY/NJ Trail Conference said his group was very excited about the kiosk. They already do a lot of work to try to bring people here and he feels that since the trails are a bit separated from the train station, the kiosk, which would direct them, makes a lot of sense. As his organization is a 501C3, they would be willing to have any donations toward the kiosk go through them.
Councilperson Loncar asked for details about the construction of the kiosk and how it would be maintained. He stated that he is in favor of putting the information inside the train station instead of in a kiosk.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that the kiosk would be constructed of the same wood as the train station and the roof will be the same as that on the platform.
Vinnie Spiotti from the Appalachian Mountain Club, who has had quite a bit of experience with kiosks, added that it would be stained regularly.
There was conversation about how many hikers could be expected to come through and it was stated that last summer, about 100 per weekend day were counted.
Michael Bruno wondered how much the kiosk would cost? He was told that the project would cost approximately $5,500.
Mr. Bruno then wanted to know who was paying for it.
Councilperson Lindsay responded that they were hoping to fundraise for a major portion of it and they were also planning to apply to the LDC for funds.
Dena Steele stated that she thought putting the kiosk on the platform was a mistake. In her opinion, the train station, which so many people in Town contributed to, is an iconic building and the kiosk will ruin the look. She feels that the information belongs either inside the train station or closer to the trailhead at the other end of the parking lot.
Vinnie Spiotti responded that part of the purpose of the kiosk would be to point out all the things that were available to people in the Town of Tuxedo and thus he felt that the platform was the right place to position it.
Councilperson Lindsay added that pamphlets could also be located inside the train station.
Mike Reardon said that he thought if the Town were going to invest money, it would be better done by having a website that draws people to Town.
Councilperson Lindsay responded that plans are in the works to get Tuxedo designated as an Appalachian Trail Town and that, she felt, this would help get the word out about the town.
Vinnie Spiotti added that there were links off of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s website which also lead people to Tuxedo.
Suzy Allman added that she hoped to get her shuttle to the trails going again this summer.
Mr. Spiotti stated that AMC would be opening a camp in Harriman Park this summer and that a lot of their guests would be arriving through the Town of Tuxedo by train or bus.
Ken English said that he had been to the various “save Tuxedo” meetings around Town and wanted to say that he was proud of the people who were volunteering to promote the Town. He feels that one of the important points of the work being done is to let the vendors and business owners in Town know that people care about their businesses and what happens to them. He also feels that the kiosk is an extension of this.
Karen Dougher stated that she would do research and get back to the Supervisor about Pilgrim Pipeline and their “plan” to stage work at the airstrip in Sterling Forest.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from their Counsel.
1. Resolution Granting Special Permit for Chailifeline to host Fund Raising Cycling Event.
2. Resolution Approving Towing Licenses
3. Resolution to enact a Building Moratorium until the Comprehensive Plan is adopted.
4. Resolution to Approve a Lot Line Change
5. Resolution to enter into Executive Session for Purpose of Receiving Advice from Council.
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost began his report by saying that he thought the previous day’s Clean Up in the Town had been a great success. He gave thanks to Shari Brooks for organizing the event as well as for effectively communicating the details of it to the community. He also thanked Friends of Sterling Forest who held a clean up of the commuter parking lots at 17A the day before, Watchtower for donating the vests worn by workers along Route 17, Lt. Decker of the police department who controlled traffic, the Boy Scouts and all the volunteers who turned out to help. Additionally, he thanked Michael Bruno for feeding all the volunteers at the Junction after the event.
The AFR (Annual Financial Report) for 2015 has been filed with the Comptroller’s office and will be posted on the Town website. The big picture is that the Town needs to continue to reduce costs until it is whole again.
First quarter financial reports have been distributed to the Board for their review. There is a lot of information to be digested but the Supervisor feels these reports will prove to be a great tool for the Board.
Since there are a lot of projects going on around Town, as residents see or hear things, it’s always good to bring information back to Town Hall. The Building Department is the first place where anything should be reported should anyone see anything they think doesn’t look right. The Board has ordered a new tablet for the Building Inspector Maikisch. Since it runs the same software that is on the Town’s computer, he will be able to update everyone while he is out in the field and thus communicate more effectively.
Councilperson Lindsay reported that there has been some confusion from people who read that the Constitution Pipeline had been denied by the DEC. She clarified that it is not the Pilgrim Pipeline that has been stopped, but a natural gas pipeline coming from Pennsylvania and going up to Albany.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to grant special Use and special sign permits for the Memorial Day Community Picnic at the Lbrary on May 30, 2016 from noon to 4 pm. This was passed unanimously
Resolution approving form of petition for the proposition to increase Town Board Budgetary allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library. This was also passed unanimously.
Update on Perfect Cut/Options at Site – The Supervisor reported that the Board was still receiving written proposals for the site. He added that he felt it might be an option to move DeMarino off the river and up to the Highway Department property if the Town can enact “measurables” that could be enforced. At this point, this is just an idea that the Town is exploring.
Councilperson McMillen wanted to know what would happen to the present site if that were to happen. He was told that nothing had been worked out yet but it is hoped that the dirt pile would then go away.
DeMarino might be able to do something different on the river involving containment vessels or perhaps stones but the dirt operation would move to the Highway Department lot.
Councilperson Lindsay asked if the plan would be to move all the dirt from the present site up to the Highway Department? Supervisor Rost responded that he felt the pile should be drawn down and therefore, not everything would be moved up to the Highway department.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said he had spoken with Mr. DeMarino and he felt it would tak about 2 years to move the dirt operation up to the Highway site. The present site would be kept only as a retail site as well as a garage for storage of his equipment. Part of the deal would be for him to process yard debris from the Town and the Village.
Sue Scher wanted to know how much dirt would be kept up at the Highway site? She was told that this would need to be negotiated.
Jim Hays wondered if it was the storage of the dirt or it’s recycling which had economic value? He was told that DeMarino made their moneys from selling topsoil not storing it. The Supervisor then reiterated that at this point, this was just an idea, which was being explored. He emphasized that without “measurables” which could be enforced, it was not, in his opinion, an idea that would work. ,,
Ken English inquired if Perfect Cut had ceased operations on the site. He was told yes they had ceased and were gone. Mr. English then wanted to know if Perfect Cut were obligated to restore the property to the condition it was in before they moved in.
Supervisor Rost replied “yes, but he’s not going to.”
Mr. English then asked what the Town was doing to prevent fires from happening with the mulch left behind. He was told if a fire occurred, they put it out.
John McNamara asked if DeMarino needed water to do what he does and if so where he would be getting it. The answer was no, he does not require water for his business.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaumpresented a “284 form” authorizing the Superintendent to spend the monies levied and collected by the Town for repair and improvement of highways. The Board agreed to have the Town Attorney look this over and then advise them if this should be signed.
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum advised the Board that he was designating East Mombasha Rd. as a seasonal limited use highway. This would mean the Town will discontinue snow and ice removal and maintenance on the road between December 1 and April 1. No one lives on this road and although the road is used, there are other routes people can take. The Board agreed to check with their counsel to see if this can be done.
A request was made by the Highway Department to hire three season employees as needed. This was approved unanimously.
Public Comments:
Highway Superintendent Dollbaum said his department was spending a lot of time picking up brush that people were raking off their properties and into the road. He requested that at this time of year, residents should be asked to bag their brush. Among other reasons is that there is usually a lot of stones and gravel mixed in with the brush and he has just had all the Town’s equipment repaired at a great expense.
Councilperson Loncar responded that he didn’t want to ask residents to put things in bags but he was told that at this time of year, people have always had to bag brush. In the Fall, leaves can be raked into the street but not in the spring.
Sue Scher inquired whether the people who have been looking at the mulching business were ldoing so with the intent of simply cleaning it up or if they intended to work there as a mulching operation?
Supervisor Rost responded that we would know the answer after all proposals were in.
Ms. Scher then asked if the Board was considering having a mulching operation on the property?
The Supervisor replied that the Town and the Village need a place to take their brush and yard waste and therefore they were looking into it on a much smaller basis with measurables that could be enforced.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Grant Special Use and Special Sign Permits for the Memorial Day Community Picnic at the Library on May 30, 2016 from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
2. Resolution approving Form of Petition for the Proposition to Increase Town Board Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library.
3 Update on Perfect Cut/options at the site.
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, April 11, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing regarding Block Grant Application for the improvement of the American Legion Hall and to the Sidewalks/Walkways to the Hamlet:
Before opening the hearing, Supervisor Rost asked Councilmember Lindsay to say a few words explaining the grant. She stated that the Orange County Community Development Department has available “community block grants” for projects that would improve economic development or that benefit residents. There are two projects being considered by the Town, sidewalks/crosswalks in the Hamlet and the American Legion building in Southfields. The grants are either for one year for $125,000 or 3 years with $125,000 each year. In the Town’s Comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2011, there are a lot of references to pedestrian “walkability” which it was felt would help to increase tourism and bring more business to the area. The money from this grant would be available starting in the Spring of 2017.
Supervisor Rost added that what was being discussed was the “streetscape” as this would also include things like lamp posts and landscaping.
Councilmember Lindsay noted that this would also be addressed in the Comprehensive Plan, which the Board would be reviewing and revising, but the deadline for the grant applications is April 15 and thus the public hearing (a requirement of the grant application) was taking place first.
Mary Graetzer remarked that when the multimodal plan from Burgess Associates, copies of which Councilmember Lindsay had distributed to the Board and audience, was first introduced and being considered, the one main point of discussion was the lack of parking in Town. Without parking, people would not come into or stop in Town to make use of sidewalks. Mrs. Graetzer wondered if Councilmember Lindsay had considered this? She responded that this would have to wait for the Comprehensive Plan review. Mrs. Graetzer reiterated that they could add all the sidewalks in the world but if there was nowhere for people to park in order to use them, what good would they be?
Jim Hays noted that he felt the Town should encourage people to walk more as it was good for them as well as the environment and, if they needed to park, they could use the commuter lot.
Mrs. Graetzer responded that this was full all day long.
Mr. Hays replied it was not full on the weekend.
Several people then spoke up and said this plan was not a weekend only plan.
Dena Steele wondered about the possibility of getting Route 17 reduced to two lanes through Town with parking on the side of the street. Then, if the Town were to enforce the 35-mile an hour speed limit in conjunction with reducing the road, people would be more likelty to take the Thruway or Long Meadow Road (if they were going to Warwick)
Councilmember Lindsay responded that this is called a “road diet,” and in her discussions with the Department of Transportation, she discovered that while they might have thought favorably about something of this nature a few years ago, there were new people in charge now. However, she feels it might be worth a try.
The Public Hearing was then officially opened.
John McNamara wondered if anyone knew how many cars/people drove through Town and if the Town were able to get the road downsized to two lanes, wouldn’t that reduce the amount of potential customers for businesses in Town.
Supervisor Rost responded that during the casino application process, the businesses in Town had all said that they would welcome less traffic coming through because it would mean that the traffic that was in fact there, was not just passing through and more likely to stop and do business. This however, was with the understanding that a new Thruway exit might be constructed at the 17A interchange.
Highway Superintendant Dollbaum noted that the only people who would walk to Town were those who lived in the Hamlet as people from Eagle Valley, the Park and Laurel Ridge/Clinton Woods would be driving and then would need a place to park.
Councilmember Lindsay reiterated that parking would have to wait for the Comprehensive Plan review.
Councilmember Loncar then stated that he didn’t feel he could vote on this issue as, despite his having asked for it, he had never been given the specifics of what was in the grant.
It was explained to him by Councilmember Lindsay, Supervisor Rost and Town Attorney Nichol that that isn’t how grants work. What is being considered is the application for the grant. No one will know what the specifics are until/unless the grant is offered to the Town.
At that point, the Town is not under any obligation to accept the terms or the grant if they don’t like what is being offered.
John McNamara asked if any taxpayer money would go into the project?
He was told no, it would be funded entirely by grant money coming from the County. If more money were needed, it would come from the first LDC, which had been set up for Town “beautification” under the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit.
Councilmember Loncar then stated that he would go along with the application for the grant as long as the Town was not bound by it but that he could not go along with taking any money for the American Legion building as it isn’t being used for anything.
Jim Hays commented that he felt a lot of what was being proposed and discussed were things that would improve the appearance of the Town regardless of whether we have parking or not and he was in favor of doing that.
Councilmember Reardon added that it would improve safety at the same time.
When asked for her thought on the American Legion building, Councilmember Lindsay replied that a part of the grant is for improving the appearance of rundown sections of Towns. Since there is no handicapped accessibility to that building, she felt they could add a ramp in the front, making it resemble a porch, and then paint the outside of the building which, in her opinion, would make it look a lot better.
Councilmember McMillen wondered if the American Legion had an active charter and if so why weren’t they responsible for fixing up the building?
He was told that the American Legion had given the building to the Town while reserving the right to use it for meetings.
Dena Steele commented that if the Town were going to be improving the look of the Town, she felt they ought to be doing something to hide the DeMarino dirt farm that is the first thing anyone sees when entering Town from the South.
Councilman McMillen agreed and said he had been involved in trying to get this “regulated.”
Jim Hays wondered what was happening with the “Iazzetti dump.” Property is being cleared but no one seems to know what is going on there.
Supervisor Rost stated that they have the necessary permits and also have containment vessels for whatever they are taking up there.
Mr. Hays then stated that “dumps have a way of growing, and this town seems to have problems with dumps.” He went on to say that DeMarino must be over the existing height they are allowed to have on their property.
At this point, it was pointed out that the Board was getting off the subject of the public hearing.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that the application was for a 3-year grant for the streetscape, with the description being left as broad as possible.
As there were no more comments, the public hearing was then closed.
Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that he is continuing to work on the Highway Department property. The Town is in the process of obtaining written quotes from different vendors for the cleaning up of the property. Additionally, the Town’s consultants are working on the Comprehensive Plan with the hope that a public hearing on that can be scheduled relatively soon.
Councilmember McMillen stated that he has received a lot of complaints within the last month about garbage cans, which are left out perpetually on the street in certain areas of Town. He checked the code and discovered that there is nothing within that addresses this issue. He feels that the complaints are justified not only because is it unattractive but also because it warrants a safety hazard as cans become an obstruction to the view of both vehicles and pedestrians. Also, he reported, bulk pickup items are a problem. Some people have put items out and they sit there without being collected sometimes for 2 weeks or more. Councilmember McMillen feels that many people probably don’t know that they have to call the garbage contractor directly when they have bulk pick up items and thus he feel the Town needs to do more education about this. He also recommends that they update the code to “bring it into the modern day.” This particular section of the code has not been revised for 58 years.
Diane Petrosky commented that she had called the garbage company more than once to request a bulk pickup. The company says they will come and then doesn’t for 2-3 weeks. So, she feels the problem lies at least partly, if not entirely, with the vendor.
It was agreed that Shari Brooks would be asked to send out a reminder about garbage cans in her next mailing.
There was also discussion about bears getting into garbage.
Residents must be reminded that they should not put their cans out the night before at this time of year.
Councilmember Lindsay stated that there was a deadline to get “into the queue” for possible community solar projects.
Councilperson Loncar again expressed his opposition saying that the Town has no good place to put a solar farm.
Councilperson McMillen said he would not be in favor unless the savings were over 25%.
Councilmember Lindsay reminded the Board that what was being discussed was only to “get into the queue” and without that, there wouldn’t be an option of a solar project.
A motion was made and passed unanimously to have the Town Attorney review the application, which would then be sent to Con Ed. There is no stipulation that the Town has to go on to place a solar farm anywhere.
There were NO public comments on agenda items.
Agenda Items
Resolution to approve Tuxedo School District’s “STEM” Banner – The School has requested permission to place banners advertising their STEM program at the North and South entrance of Tuxedo on Route 17. These will be on stakes near the “Welcome to Tuxedo” signs. It was unanimously approved.
Public Comments: Andy Berish inquired if the Board had considered any candidates for the Chief of Police position and suggested that Lieutenant John Norton should be considered.
John McNamara noted that there had been a presentation about bulk power purchase given a few meetings ago and wondered if anything more had happened with that. He was told nothing further has been done with this.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 28, 2016 at 7 pm. Councilmember Reardon was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that Perfect Cut has completely vacated the Highway Department property and a gate has been installed to prevent anyone entering to dump any material there. There have been as many as eight vendors who have expressed interest in cleaning up the property. Highway Supervisor Dollbaum has been showing them around the site. The Supervisor will give another report when more information is known.
Tuxedo Farms is still putting in their infrastructure. They have made a lot of progress on the sewer plant and the Supervisor is hopeful that the plant will be brought online by the end of October.
As far as the conservation easements are concerned, there is a title issue on one parcel that is still being worked on.
Councilmember McMillen gave an update on the 911 system. 911 is just waiting waiting for a phone line to be installed. Once that goes in, the Town will be able to turn everything over to 911. Councilmember McMillen hopes to have this done within 30 days.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that the deadline for submitting projects for the Community Block Grant program was March 28 and she has submitted two projects: improvements to sidewalks in the Hamlet area of Town and improvements to the American Legion building in Southfields. The money for these projects, if approved, would not be available until 2017. She has also been in touch with the Department of Transportation regarding money for the sidewalks. The Block grant could either be for $125,000 for one year for up to 3 projects or as a 3 year grant for one project which could yield $125,000 each year. As part of the application process, there needs to be a public hearing on the subject. She is hoping this can be scheduled for the next Town Board meeting. There followed some discussion regarding the American Legion and it’s potential uses as currently no group in Town seems to want to have anything to do with the building. There was also discussion about which parts of the sidewalks in Town could be widened.
Town Attorney Don Nichol explained there were three items in the request. One has to do with the type of pipes used in the water system; one relates to the size of the pipes in certain storm sewers and the third has to do with the size of various manholes.
He further explained that when Town Engineers H2M were inspecting some of the work going on, they discovered that while the Special Permit called for cast iron piping for the water system, what was being installed is PVC piping. Dennis Lindsay of H2M has stated that while his preference would be for the iron piping, he didn’t think the PVC pipes would be a mistake. If properly installed, it should have a comparable life span to the iron pipes.
Mr. Nichol feels that the Board needs to identify and put into place procedures for moving forward with waivers as it is his opinion that there will be many requests for these due to the size and scope of the project. This particular request (PVC piping for water system) has been through the Planning Board and has been approved by them but it must be signed off on by the Town Board as mandated by the Special Permit.
Mr. Nichol also feels that the Town needs to tighten up on the inspection process. Right now, H2M is doing spot checks. Tuxedo Farms is using a company called Advanced Testing who are on site daily. Mr. Nichols checked the company out and finds good reviews of their work. He recommends that the Town request that Advanced Testing report directly to them while continuing to be paid by the applicant. It is in the best interest of both the Town and the applicant that the work being done be of the highest, best quality.
The motion to grant the request was approved unanimously.
2-Resolution authorizing the Town to approve a gift agreement of ski equipment from Genting.
Genting had purchased equipment for the Ski Center during the casino proposal process. An inventory of said equipment needs to be done. Genting has provided the Town with their bill of sale for the ski center, which included a lot of equipment. They would like to give the equipment to the Town. Once passed, this resolution would give the Town the right to hunt down any of the equipment should it be missing.
The motion was passed unanimously.
3-Resolution authorizing Edith Stevens to continue to participate in the Town’s Medical Insurance program for retirees. Mrs. Stevens is currently receiving benefits as the surviving spouse of a Highway Department employee.
The motion was approved unanimously.
4-Resolution granting a waiver allowing Elizabeth Smith to participate in the Town’s Medical Insurance program for Retirees before Retirement Age of 62.
The resolution was approved unanimously.
Public Comments: Jim Hays wondered if cast iron pipes would be better for the water system in Tuxedo Farms, why the Town Board would approve PVC?
He was told that the Planning Board, County Planning Board and H2M had all approved the PVC and since, installation is already under way, there seems to be no reason to make them take it out. Town Attorney Nichol added that he had been told that both pipes had the same life span. Councilmember Loncar further stated that the use of PVC was more and more common these days. Building Inspector Dave Makisch added that cast iron was good for locating buried pipes later on but every turn that Is being installed has some cast iron installed on top of it so it will still work for that.
Dena Steele stated that she had heard that on the conservation easement for the Northern Tract there was “a carve out” for the Pilgrim Pipeline and that if this is true, the Town will have given up any basis they might have to object to the pipeline.
She was told that as far as anyone on the Board knew, this was not true.
She also commented that as far as the American Legion building was concerned, she felt it was a very poor facility and that it would be a waste for the Town to spend any money on it.
Jim Hays said that Tuxedo Farms had cleared a very large area and he wanted to know if it was true that they would not clear any more until they build out and sell what they have already cleared.
He was told that the Board had heard nothing about that.
Mike Santoianni wanted to know what equipment was included in the gift from Genting.
He was told that the Town would be sending someone up to take inventory and that, until this was done, they have no way of knowing what is there. They have not been able to do this so far because they didn’t own the equipment. Now they do.
Michael Bruno wondered about the possibility of closing one lane of Route 17 to traffic for perhaps an hour, maybe on a Sunday so that a trash pickup could be organized. He expressed dismay at the amount of trash to be seen along the side of the road.
Supervisor Rost responded that the Chamber of Commerce used to sponsor a trash pick up day and that he had contacted some of their Board members to see if they could get one going for this year. Sue Scher added that the Friends of Sterling Forest would be having a clean up of the parking lots at the junction of 17 and 17a on Earth Day.
Jim Hays wondered if the gift of ski equipment included the ski lifts.
He was told no, that is a permanent installation.
John McNamara inquired whether the Board had heard further from the residents of Sapphire Lake (who had appeared inquiring about being annexed into the Town).
Supervisor Rost replied he was trying to set up a meeting with them.
John Kilduff commented that he remembered that a few years ago, Take-a-Break had tried to install a small neon sign advertising pizza for sale and they were shut down pursuant to the town’s Sign Law.
He wondered if the sign law was still in effect and if so, what about the awful looking closeout signs that were all over the windows of the former IGA. In his opinion, it looks awful.
He was told that the Building Inspector has been on vacation but now that he is back, he will be dealing with this.
Mr. Kilduff then stated that all the work being done on Tuxedo Farms property, clear cutting the land, couldn’t possibly require a building permit. He further commented that a building permit came with massive implications, not the least of which was support for our schools. Since he has been involved watching this project for many years, he felt compelled to state that this stage of development is when developers “do all their damage” to the property and then pull out. He mentioned that Related had a history of this kind of behavior as this is what happened in Aspen, Colorado. Mr. Kilduff is unhappy to hear that Related is trying to get out of making a payment to the school because of the technicality of not having been issued a building permit. In his opinion, they are doing a whole lot of work on the property and now is the time when the school needs their support. Since this is precisely the stage when Related defaulted both in Aspen and Miami, he wanted to make sure the Board would be on the look out for this.
Councilmember Loncar responded that Related was not required to pay until they were granted the first home-building permit. The Supervisor subsequently corrected that it was the first structure-building permit and it will be triggered with the YMCA.
Mr. Kilduff responded that it looked like building permit material to him and then stated “if they’re in the deal, they should get into the deal and support the school.”
The Building Inspector stated that the permits they have now are clearing and grading permits, not building permits.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Agenda Items:
1. Grant Waiver Request - Tuxedo Farms
2. Resolution Authorizing the Town of Tuxedo to Approve a Gift Agreement of Ski
Equipment from Genting.
3. Resolution, Authorizing Edith Stevens to Continue to Participate in the Town’s
Medical Insurance Program for Retirees.
4. Resolution Granting a Waiver Allowing Elizabeth Smith to Participate in the Town’s
Medical Insurance Program for Retirees before Retirement Age of 62 .
.
Any other business that may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
The Town Board met on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 7 pm. Councilman McMillen was absent.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that Town Auditor, Cooper Arias, has begun the 2015 audit. Additionally, he mentioned that Perfect Cut has vacated the Highway Department property and that his office has been contacted by three or four different vendors who are interested in removing the material left behind there. Highway Superintendent Dollbaum is working with the various vendors to let them inspect the property and the Supervisor said he would update the Board as bids for this work come in. Finally, he reported that the Town Consultants would be scheduling a meeting shortly to do a “final scrub” on the Comprehensive Plan.
Councilperson Lindsay reported having been to a meeting in New Paltz with municipal officials located in municipalities along the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline, discussing what municipalities can do to oppose the Pipeline. They discussed a letter received by all in response to their opposition to the Thruway Authority’s dual lead agency status with the DEC. The deadline for a response to this letter is March 21. If Tuxedo intends to respond, the letter will need to consist of the Town’s reiterating and clarifying their original opposition to the dual lead agency status. Councilwomakn Lindsay then introduced a resolution to have Town Attorney Nichol compose the letter and giving permission for Supervisor Rost to sign such a letter. It was passed unanimously.
Next, Councilwoman Lindsay reported that A Better Tuxedo was working with the Chamber of Commerce on the proposal for a kiosk in Town and hoped to have a proposal for an upcoming meeting. Also, she is still working with solar companies and hopes to receive proposals from them in the near future.
Agenda Items: Presentation by Good Energy:
Edward Carey and Javier Barrios of Good Energy LLC gave a presentation on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) for energy bills. Aggregation for many things is something that Governor Cuomo is encouraging municipalities to do. CCAs enable residents to aggregate their buying power for energy. A company called Sustainable Westchester will be doing this over in Westchester County. Good Energy proposes to put together a group for Orange County. It would be an opt-out program. Residents would be able to choose from dealing with Orange and Rockland, dealing with the companies which call and pitch residents over the phone or dealing with Good Energy which, they feel, will offer the lowest rate because they will be representing residents from all over Orange County and thus will be able to buy in a larger bulk. What Good Energy is looking for is a letter of intent or support from Tuxedo.
They are hoping to obtain similar letters from many municipalities in Orange County. Then, the County could petition the PSC for a CCA.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to put Surplus Vehicles and Equipment up for Auction
a Resolution appointing the Town Bookkeeper – Town Auditor Cooper Arias was appointed to the position, replacing Bill Sweet who has taken a job in NYC and thus cannot continue as Bookkeeper.
a Resolution to approve annual towing licenses – Loyal Tire and Apple Auto
Public Comments: Dale Mottola requested temporary sign permits for:
1-The Sons of Italy pasta dinner on April 3
2-TPAG for their next event on April 19th.
Both permits were approved.
Councilmember Reardon reported having seen the George F. Baker production of the Wizard of Oz and said it was excellent!
Andy Berish inquired as to the status of the proposed Sapphire Lake annexation. He was told that it was still being considered.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Agenda Items:
1. Presentation by Good Energy
2. Resolution to put Surplus Vehicles and Equipment up for Auction
3. Resolution Appointing the Town Bookkeeper
4. Resolution to Approve Annual Towing Licenses
Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 22, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that someone has expressed interested in purchasing the old Red Apple Rest for the purpose of opening a new restaurant. He will keep everyone apprised as information becomes available. He also announced that the School will be opening the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9 pm for all residents 19 and older to play basketball. This will begin on March 1.
The Board did some work on the Town’s Comprehensive Plan during their Executive Session (immediately preceding the meeting). There is some more work to be done on the document, but the Board is working toward holding a public hearing during their second March meeting.
Presentation by T.U.F.S.D to Update the Community on the STEM Program:
The Supervisor opened this part of the meeting by announcing that the purpose of this presentation was solely to bring the Board up to date on the STEM program being offered by the School. He added that questions would not be taken at the conclusion of the meeting and that the presentation would not include any detailed financial information. The Board members were all provided with an email address to which they could submit any questions they might have. He then turned the floor over to Nancy Teed, Interim Superintendent, who began the presentation by introducing the team present from the School. They were: Jason Schrammel, K-12 Principal; Marco Margotta, Technology and Engineering Teacher as well as STEM Advisor and Eric Sorenson, Assistant K-12 Principal. Also present were Board of Education Member Meg Vaught and Board Vice President Diana Petrosky.
Utilizing a powerpoint presentation, Mr. Schrammel and Mr. Margota addressed what STEM education is and explained how the program is working at George F. Baker and George Grant Mason Schools. The High School offers diplomas in Regents, Advanced Regents and Local programs. There are 5 different “Pathways” within the program: traditional engineering, computer science, environmental science, health science and the cross content pathway (where the student puts together different parts of the pathways to make an individualized program). During their Freshman and Sophomore year students take basic introductory STEM courses, which provide them with a more detailed understanding of each pathway. Each Student then selects the pathway that is best for them on which to focus during their Junior and Senior years. The program focuses on various methods of advanced critical thinking and utilizes hands on learning methods both in and outside of the classroom that will help to ensure future success. Many Pathways include job shadowing and/or internship opportunities within the Senior year.
The District has held several Open Houses and to date, there have been 65 inquiries and 41 families have attended and expressed interest, representing a potential 43 students. Additionally, the school has launched a “Tornado For A Day” initiative in which prospective students are given the opportunity to attend the high school for a day and shadow a current student. This has been fairly successful, with 11 prospective students having participated thus far. Based on the success of these open houses, an additional Open House has been scheduled for the month of March.
There will also be an Open House for the Community in during the month of April and all are encouraged to attend.
In terms of growth and fiscal sustainability, Mrs. Teed reported that based on current marketing efforts the district believes they will be able to attract enough non-resident students to increase the High School population by a minimum of 25% over the next 3 years. She further stated that while these non-resident students would certainly enhance the program, the district does not need them in order to financially sustain it’s self moving forward. Based on current available data, the Board anticipates the ability of the District to maintain all programs at both bot the Elementary and High School levels without substantial increases in school taxes for the 2016-2017 school year and beyond.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were approved:
a Resolution to approve the Town Clerk attending Town Clerk Training in Saratoga April 17-April 20, 2016
a Resolution to authorize using Auctions International to sell the Town’s Surplus Vehicles and Equipment.
a Resolution to approve annual towing licenses for Harriman Auto, C.A.R.S. and Tuxedo Gulf
a Resolution authorizing application for a $75,000 grant for two dump trucks. was not voted on. Councilperson Loncar voted no saying he had a problem with the fact that the Town had just eliminated a shift of police and then were looking to buy 2 trucks. It was agreed that the deadline for the grant would be researched and the Supervisor would have authorization to submit the grant if the dates allowed.
Discussion regarding Solar Fields:
Superintendent Rost asked Councilperson Lindsay to lead this discussion. She began by reporting that the plan would require 3 separate entities to build and operate the proposed field: the builder, a separate administrator and the entity responsible for doing operations and maintenance. The Town would have a power purchase agreement whereby after 20 years, ownership will transfer to the Town. What needs to be decided next is the location.
The companies have been looking at the Quarry Field property, however Councilperson Loncar stated that he feels strongly that that property was purchased for future recreation in the Town so he doesn’t want to see it used for a solar field.
Councilperson Lindsay responded that the proposed field would not be in the middle of the property,(aka the ball field) but instead more toward and on the hillside. This section of land cannot be used for ball fields or soccer fields anyway. Councilman McMillan agreed commenting that he had visited the site and would be happy to re-walk it with Councilman Loncar so that he could get a better idea of the proposed location.
Ultimately, it was agreed that the Board would like to see a detailed plan from the company. Also several Board members and Highway Superintendent Dollbaum want to walk the property.
Public Comments: Diana Petrosky stated that she is a notary and will make her services available to the Town until the Town Clerk has gotten her notary license. She also mentioned that the School Board has also been looking into a solar field and suggested that perhaps the Town and the School could join forces on this subject.
Fidelis Curry requested that the Town consider making video recordings of their meetings and then making these available online. She was told that the Board would look into it.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost reported that he had been working on executing the insurance plan for Town employees as well as the Orange County 911 migration.
CouncilmemberMcMillen commented that a lease has been signed and most of the necessary equipment for the 911 migration has arrived, but they are still waiting for a couple of items. As soon as these arrive, they will be installed and then the Town will begin testing the system. He will have an update at the next meeting.
Councilmember Reardon commented that any changes to the insurance had been made as of February 1 and that she had been working with the brokers on that.
Councilmember Lindsay reported that she had met with On Force Solar regarding the proposed solar field. She wondered how she could move to the next step? The application to O&R requires the Town to name a company with whom they are working, so they will need to decide whether they will use Con Ed Solutions or On Force Solar. Both companies have offered to make a presentation to the Board. After some discussion, it was decided that both companies would be asked to submit a formal written presentation so that the Town Attorney and Town Planner can review them. The Board also needs to decide where they want to site the proposed Solar Field. Currently, locations at Quarry Field as well as the Highway Garage are being considered.
Mrs. Lindsay also commented that Supervisor Rost has sent letter to the DEC stating that the Town Board opposes a dual Lead Agency status for the DEC and the Thruway Authority for the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline project and that the Town supports the DEC for that position.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked if the garbage companies mentioned in Items 2 and 3 were the same ones being presently used.
He was told that the action being considered was to issue licenses for different companies to be able to do business in Tuxedo and this was not the Town’s (resident) garbage collection contract.
Mr. Berish commented that he hoped residents knew that they had to call the garbage company in order to arrange a bulk pickup. He has noticed several items left curbside on his street for a while now. He was told that if he noticed this in the future, he should call Town Hall and report it.
Sue Scher stated that shortly after the Lead Agency status for the Pilgrim Pipeline is determined, they will be moving on to the scoping process and she hopes that the Town will be involved in this process.
Supervisor Rost assured her that Councilmember Lindsay would be taking care of this.
Mike Reardon wondered if anyone had checked to see whether the equipment that Genting had given to Tuxedo Ridge Ski Center was still there.
Supervisor Rost replied that he was waiting to get a list of this equipment from Genting so it could be looked into.
Jim Hays inquired as to whether or not the agreement the Town has with Perfect Cut includes their removing the dirt pile located at the Highway Garage property.
Supervisor Rost responded that it does not.
Hilary Lindsay, speaking on behalf of Michael Bruno, wondered what locations would be approved for the kiosk, which has been proposed for the Town. Mr. Bruno is thinking of two locations, one to be in the train station parking lot and perhaps another one in the IGA parking lot.
Agenda Items:
A Better Tuxedo Committee to discuss possible locations for an Information kiosk.
Councilmember Lindsay outlined a couple of different locations within the train station parking lot. The kiosk will be a double sided structure with a map of different businesses and restaurants available around Town on one side and maps and information about hiking trails on the other side. There was discussion as to whether to put this on the north end of the parking lot or on the south side of the station. Pros and cons for both locations were discussed. Ultimately, Supervisor Rost told the Committee to put together a couple of designs and possible locations and then come back to the Board for approval.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were approved:
A Resolution approving a refuse collection license for Cottage Carting D/B/A Marangi Disposal
A Resolution approving a refuse collection license for Interstate Waste Services, Inc.
A Resolution stating that any Board member wishing to attend the Association of Towns event in Manhattan would be permitted to attend.
Vouchers were then signed and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from council and to discuss Zoning and the Comprehensive Plan.
The Town Board met on Monday, January 25, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost began his report by thanking the Highway Department for the great job they did clearing the snow over the weekend. He also gave his thanks to Captain Casey of the State Troopers and Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois. He noted that cars from both departments have been all over town at all hours of the day, not just between 11 pm and 7 am. He further mentioned that Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus has been very supportive during the Town’s 911 migration.
Speaking about the Town’s employee insurance plan, the Supervisor said that the contribution rate for all non-bargaining employees and new hires had been painstakingly analyzed and discussed by the Board. The changes being made must be made in order to put the Town back on track financially. He then thanked Councilwoman Reardon for all of her effort working with Consultant Michael Richardson on this.
Regarding Perfect Cut, Supervisor Rost stated that the Town Attorney would be contacting the attorney for Perfect Cut in order to discuss the wind down of the business as well as putting a halt to any new material being brought on to the property.
Finally, the Supervisor said he had been working on liaison positions for the Board members and hoped to have those assignments ready by the following Wednesday.
Councilman McMillen next gave an update on the 911 migration efforts. It has turned out to be an expensive proposition as 4 repeaters had to be added to existing towers and new filters were needed for the radios. The estimated cost for all this was $75,000. Instead of incurring those costs, the Town will be leasing the equipment from the County at a cost of $1,800 per month. At the end of 2 years, the system will be changed over to microwave with the cost being borne by the County. The work to bring this system online currently underway and in approximately 3 weeks, they will go to a test phase where both systems (dispatchers and 911) will work side by side. This phase will continue until the Board is satisfied the new system is working well. Police Lieutenant Norton and Councilman Loncar are also working on the project. Councilman McMillen vowed to make sure the system was working 110% before the switch was flipped.
Councilwoman Lindsay next reported on her efforts regarding the potential Town solar field. She met with Con Ed Solutions, a subsidiary of Con Ed. They are looking at various Town properties to see if there is a suitable site to install a solar field. The projection was that the Town would save about $50,000 a year in their electrical costs. The project would be built, maintained and operated by Con Ed. (They will also be looking at other companies) If the Town is able to get into the Community Solar Program, they would be able to install a large enough field to produce enough electricity so that some could be sold to residents and businesses in Town. The first buildings to benefit from this would be the Town buildings as well as those owned by the Village of Tuxedo Park. They will be meeting with two additional companies to hear their proposals. The Community Solar Program, a State program, is presently shut down because it reached its limit. If the legislature decides to extend it, getting in would require the Town to build a much bigger project. Councilman Loncar objected saying that in his opinion the only suitable property the Town has is Quarry Field and that was purchased specifically for future Town recreation.
Councilwoman Lindsay replied that they had also looked at the DPW site and the Con Ed representative felt that once it was cleaned up, that would be a great location because it could easily be leveled out.
Speaking about the Pilgrim Pipeline, Councilwoman Lindsay first provided a brief background as to what led up to the DEC and Thruway Authority having been named as Co-Lead Agencies for SEQRA review of the project. The City of New Paltz has sent a letter stating that they oppose the dual Lead Agency appointment and further stating that they support the DEC being named as the sole Lead Agency. They are asking other municipalities to make the same statement/request. Supervisor Rost then made a motion to authorize Town Attorney Nichol to write a letter to that end. It was passed unanimously.
Mrs. Lindsay also reported that the organization A Better Tuxedo, of which she is a part, is working with an organization called Trail Corridor comprised of members from Sloatsburg and Suffern as well as Tuxedo. They will be holding a benefit Film Festival in Suffern on Feb. 23 and 24 to raise funds to promote the area.
Agenda Items:
Presentation by Bonnie Franson, Town Planner, Regarding Proposed Zoning Changes:
Ms. Franson gave a history and overview of the proposed zoning changes starting with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, which was passed in 2011. The amendments are meant to make sure that the Town’s Zoning Law agrees with the Comprehensive Plan. This report was made in order to bring the new Board members up to speed on the project before moving forward, which they hope to be able to do soon.
Councilwoman Lindsay as to whether any part of the plan or amendments would be useful in the Pilgrim Pipeline negotiations. Specifically she wondered if there was a list of watersheds and environmentally sensitive areas in the Town.
Ms. Franson replied that the Pipeline wasn’t mentioned in the Comprehensive Plan as it did not exist when the plan was adopted. She recommended that Councilperson Lindsay look in the Zoning Regulations for those things that regulate public utilities in Town.
Town Resident Karen Dougher read aloud from Pilgrim Pipeline’s website their opinion that the proposed pipeline was consistent with both the Town’s Comprehensive Plan as well as the Village’s Zoning. To read Pilgrim’s statement, click here.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution appointing Mr. Al Jensen as Town Court Security Officer (Councilman Loncar abstained saying he hadn’t had enough time to consider Mr. Jensen’s background).
a Resolution authorizing execution of Agreement with Warwick Humane Socieity for 2016 Animal Shelter Services. This is basically the same agreement signed every year.
a Resolution approving a Refuse Collection License for Sterling Carting (this gives them the right to do business in Town. The Town is NOT changing garbage carriers).
a Resolution to amend the 1991 medical plan for retirees.*
a Resolution to amend the 1991 medical plan for active employees*
This subject was discussed at the recent Town Board workshop with consultant Michael Richardson. In addition Councilwoman Reardon has spent many hours reviewing the policies. She recently sent the details out to the Board members and identified her latest report as the final version. Councilman Loncar declared that he hadn’t had enough time to study the changes. No one else seemed to have a problem. Thus the vote on both resolutions was 4-1 with Councilman Loncar abstaining. The deadine for signing up for these policies is February 1, which made it imperative that it be voted on at this meeting.
Henceforth, for non-bargaining employees, the Town will pay 70% of the premium for families the first year and 50% for single employees. This percentage will be phased down in subsequent years. The Town will also pay 75% of the high deductible the first year, also to be phased down to 25% the second year and then none.
Retirees are being switched over to a policy from Benistar, which costs less and gives them better coverage. The Town had a policy stating that people hired after 2001 would have to contribute to their medical expenses but it had never been enforced. Going forward, retirees will have to contribute to the expenses.
Public Comments: Ray Jaros representing Assemblyman Karl Brabenec said he had come to offer their services to the Town.
Supervisor Rost welcomed him and thanked him for coming.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Town Board Annual Reorganization/Regular-Bi-Monthly Meeting January 11, 2016
The Town Board met on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7 pm. All members were present.
The first item of business was the 2016 Reorganization meeting, which began with the swearing in of newly elected officials. As such, Town Clerk, Donna Matthews, was first sworn in by Deputy Town Clerk Joanne Ennis. Following that, Ms. Matthews swore in Supervisor of Highways Rob Dollbaum, Councilpersons Val Reardon and Michele Lindsay and last but not least, Supervisor Mike Rost.
The Supervisor then thanked outgoing Highway Chief Ed Pfizenmaier, Town Clerk Elaine Laurent and Councilman Gary Phelps for all their years of service to the Town.
Next, Supervisor Rost highlighted the changes in the Reorganization document as follows:
Town Hall will be closed on Fridays and open on Monday-Thursday. Thus all employees, with the exception of the court, will become part time employees and thus are no longer eligible for medical benefits. (In the court office, there was a retirement but there are still two full time court clerks working and they will receive their benefits).
The Supervisor’s salary will be reduced 10% from last year.
Bill Sweet is appointed as Budget Officer, as well as Supervisor’s Bookkeeper. Given all the cuts and reductions, Mr. Sweet has volunteered to do this job for no compensation.
The annual parking fee for residents will be $178 and for non-residents $228. This is the first increase in approximately 10 years!
Councilman Loncar complained that he had only gotten his copy of the reorganization document the day before and said that he didn’t feel he had been given enough time to review it. He added that he wanted to discuss bringing the Planning Board back down to 5 members from the current 7. He was told that this could be discussed at the next meeting.
The Reorganization Document was then unanimously accepted. Details are as follows: Appointments:
The following appointments were made:
Deputy Supervisor
David McMillen
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
Supervisor’s Bookkeeper
William Sweet
Deputy Registrar
Joanne Ennis
First Deputy Town Clerk
Joanne Ennis
The yearly salaries were approved for the following Town Officials and Employees:
P/T Clerk Typist for the Highway and Building Depts; Recording Secretary for ARB
Rachel Artrip
$15/hour
Fire Inspector; Building Inspector; Code Enforcement Officer; Flood Damage Prevention Administrator
David Maikisch
$56,833.22
Project Coordinator for Building Dept; Recording Secretary for Planning Board, Zoning Board, Architectural Review Board
Deborah Villanueva
$48,064.77
Board of Assessment Review/Chairman
Louis DeBrino
(9/30/16)
$ 1,507.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Brennan
(9/30/15)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Nathaniel Jackson
(9/30/17)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Frederick Jones
(9/30/18)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Carol Matthews
(9/30/19)
$ 538.00
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Joseph Ricard
(12/31/15)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Jean Ruffino
(12/31/16)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Leslie DeVore
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Edward Pfizenmaier
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Deborah Villanueva
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Adam Frank
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board/Member
Paul DiPaulo
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Paul Eichengreen
(12/31/20)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Jeff Dowding
(12/31/20)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Gardiner Hempel Jr.
(12/31/16)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Edward Brennan Jr.
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Ralph Brooks Sr.
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Todd J. Darling
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners/Member
Charles Jones
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Zoning Board of Appeals/Chairman
Francis W. Peverly
(12/31/15)
$ 1,611.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Andrew Rogers
(12/31/16)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Thomas Darling
(12/31/17)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
George Langberg III
(12/31/18)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Russell Shaver
(12/31/19)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Alternate
Position Open
Planning Board/Chairman
Michael Reardon
(12/31/16)
$ 5,864.00
Planning Board/Member
Linda Phelps
(12/31/15)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Darren Maynard
(12/31/17)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Joseph Gartiser
(12/31/18)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
John Ruel
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Raymond Ferri
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Richard Rigoli
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Architectural Review Board/Chairman
Dale Mottola
(12/31/17)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Michael Rothlauf
(12/31/15)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
George McCathern
(12/31/16)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Todd Tereshkow
(12/31/16)
$ 1,801.00
Architectural Review Board/Member
Position Open
(12/31/17)
In addition, the following appointments were made:
Town Veteran’s Officer
Paul Mitchell
Town Historian
George Langberg
Official Newspaper of Record
Times Herald Record
Official Depository
JP Morgan Chase
Requests for proposals have gone out for Town Attorneys, Town Engineers and Town Auditors. Until such time as a successor is appointed, Jacobowitz & Gubits was retained as Town Counsel, Planning Board Legal Counsel and ZBA Legal Counsel. Until such time as a successor is retained, Holzmacher, McLendon & Murrell P.C. (H2M) was appointed as Town Engineer. Until such time as a successor is appointed, Andrew Arias of Cooper Arias was appointed as Town Auditor.
The regular bi-monthly meeting of the Board followed.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that the Town is still working with the County on the migration to 911. Councilman McMillen has taken the lead on that project. Additionally, he stated that the insurance for non-bargaining position employees should be figured out by the end of the week. Councilperson Reardon has taken the lead on this project.
The Supervisor further reported that he had just been given word that afternoon that the Court has upheld Perfect Cut’s eviction from the Highway Garage property with an exit date of February 29, 2016. There is approximately $100,000 due to the Town from Perfect Cut.
Public Comments: Diana Petrosky asked about the value the bond held by the Town from Perfect Cut to be used for cleaning up of the property. She was told $50,000.
Nate Wolinsky thanked Supervisor Rost for his email, sent that afternoon town-wide, regarding the Police and asked for further clarification. Specifically he wanted to know what areas the police covering the Town would be responsible for.
The Supervisor said that the State Police had a regular route that patrolled in Monroe, then went to Warwick and Greenwood Lake and then down to Tuxedo. In addition, there will be a municipal agreement with the Village of Tuxedo Park who can also respond to any calls. Jim Hays wanted to know if the logging operation part of Perfect Cut would also cease with the judgment from the court.
He was told it would.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
I want to inform you of some changes that came into effect on Jan 1, 2016. As you are all well aware, we have made some very tough decisions to correct our fiscal condition in Town. We were unable to reach an agreement with the Police Department to reduce current and future expenses. We are mandated by the State of New York to maintain an acceptable fund balance. Because of this, if one of our residents requires assistance from the Police Department between the hours of 11pm to 7am, a State Trooper will be dispatched. Mutual assistance will also be provided by the Village of Tuxedo Park Police.
Tuxedo Police will continue to provide coverage between the hours of 7am to 11pm.
The Town Board met on Monday, December 28, 2015 at 7 pm. Council person Reardon was absent.
Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost stated that things were winding down and that he has been putting the final pieces of the budget in place. Also, with the holidays, people have been on vacation and there was not much to report.
He further stated that Perfect Cut had made their final arguments on the eviction lawsuit in court two weeks ago and now the Town is waiting for the Judge’s decision.
Councilman Loncar wanted to know “what’s going on with the 911 dispatchers?”
Supervisor Rost responded that just as he had explained to Councilman Loncar on the phone, the police dispatchers would probably be around until the end of January. While the Town could probably go ahead with the switchover to 911, he feels they need to take a step backward and let the EMS and Village of Tuxedo Park catch up to where the Town already is.
Councilman Loncar next requested that the Supervisor send out emails to the Board stating exactly what was being done and what it was going to cost.
Supervisor Rost replied that he did not have these answers as yet as he is waiting for the price quotes to come in. When he receives them, he will share them with the Board.
Councilman Loncar then stated “the problem is that when we were passing the budget, you told us it was a $8000 fix. I knew differently and a bunch of people knew differently so I’m trying to figure out where the disconnect is.”
The Supervisor responded that the “disconnect” was that he has been working to move forward with the police and having 911 do the dispatching. The work that has been done would have made that possible but they now have to wait while the EMS and the Village of Tuxedo Park catch up to where the Town already is as there is other equipment that needs to be installed as well.
Councilman Loncar then stated “I know that and that’s what I told you.”
Councilman McMillen then interjected that they had just found out about the EMS “problem.”
Councilman Loncar insisted that they had known. He added that he had been listening to a local fireman’s radio in his neighborhood and only about half the calls came through.
Supervisor Rost then exclaimed that if it didn’t work, the Town would not do it.
Councilman McMillen seconded this assertion.
Councilman Loncar commented that the budget had been passed and that they had only given themselves a $2000-3000 cushion so he wondered what would happen next?
The Supervisor replied that they would need to wait to get the price quotes as well as to see what Orange County plans to contribute because they have an obligation as well. He reiterated that as the information became available, it would in turn be made available to the Board.
Councilman Loncar then insisted “I need something in writing!”
The Supervisor responded, “I don’t have it! When I get it, you will get it.”
Councilman Loncar again insisted “I need the details and not just a week before the meeting!”
Supervisor Rost again replied definitively “when I get the details, you will have them.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Mike Squillini stated that in 2013 Councilman Loncar had signed the budget knowing that there was a million dollar shortfall and he wondered how he could have done that?
Councilman Loncar replied that he had no idea there would be such a shortfall.
Mr. Squillini then asked “did you read the budget?”
Councilman Loncar assured him that he had.
Mr. Squillini next commented that he didn’t think Mr. Loncar had done a very good job of reading the budget.
Councilman Loncar said he’d done a very good job of reading the budget.
Mr. Squillini then wanted to know why the Councilman had signed the budget.
Councilman Loncar stated he had no idea there would be a million dollar shortfall. He further commented “the accountants had no idea…nobody did.”
he conversation then degenerated into name calling between Mr. Squillini and Councilman Loncar.
Agenda Items:
Notification was given of a Public Hearing on proposed Village of Tuxedo Park water rate increase to be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the Village Office
A Resolution of restatement and modification of Employee Health Benefits contribution policy was tabled.
A Resolution appoint JS Braddock agency as Town General Liability Insurance broker was passed unanimously.
Public Comments: Diana Petrosky wondered if the public hearing for the water rate increase in the Village was for all customers of the Village Water Company or just Village residents.
She was told that comments from all water company customers would be welcome.
Michele Lindsay wondered if anyone had looked further into setting up a water district that would be able to levy the unpaid water charges for the Village of Tuxedo Park?
Supervisor Rost told her that it was his understanding that the Village Attorney was working on that possibility with the Town Attorney.
Councilman Loncar commented that the way he understood this, the Village wants the Town to be their tax collectors and Town Clerk Elaine Laurent added “we can’t do it.” Supervisor Rost explained that the Village could certainly request that such a district be set up, but the Town Board does not necessarily have to approve it. He added that he felt they needed more information from both legal counsels.
Supervisor Rost then gave a tribute to retiring Highway Superintendent Ed Pfizenmaier who was not present. Following that, he paid tribute to Elaine Laurent who is retiring after serving the Town for 23 years in various positions including 18 years as Town Clerk. The Supervisor called her one of the most gracious and dedicated Town Clerks the Town had ever seen and said her expertise and knowledge would be sorely missed. Last, but not least, Supervisor Rost saluted Councilman Gary Phelps who has served the Town for 25 years with 17 years on the Town Planning Board and the last 8 years as a member of the Town Board. Mr. Phelps was presented with a Key to the Town of Tuxedo. He commented that he owed a lot to Former Planning Board Chairman Nils Gerling and Planning Board Member Joe Gartiser.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Notification of Public Hearing on Proposed Village of Tuxedo Park Water Rate Increase - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at Village Hall
2. Resolution to Appoint Town General Liability Insurance Company
3. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, December 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with a public hearing to receive comments on the 2016 Woodlands sewer rates. There is no proposed change in these rates and there were no speakers so the public hearing was closed.
Supervisor Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that he had been very busy tying up loose ends with the budget. He added that there was a lot that needed to be executed by the end of the year and this had taken most of his time. Perfect Cut was in court last week and is due back on Tuesday, December 15th. The Board is hoping to get a ruling on the eviction soon.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Andy Berish asked for an explanation of an agenda item about the annexation of property in Sapphire Lake. He was told that this was just an exploratory action at this time and that there would be more information when the item was raised.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to establish 2016 Woodlands sewer rates
a Resolution to appoint Jeffrey Dowding as Fire Commissioner with a term running from 12/1/16 to12/31/20.
a Resolution to appoint Donna Matthews as Registrar and JoAnne Ennis as Deputy Registrar
Discussion:
The following discussions took place:
A discussion of an annexation request by Sapphire Lake Residents. Tom Luddington, President of the Sapphire Lake Residents Association and Jim O’Donnell, a resident of Sapphire Lake, whose property is already in the Town of Tuxedo, were present to present their request. Their association currently has 60 members. Three of the homes are already part of the Town of Tuxedo and is located on the northern border between Tuxedo and Monroe just off of Harriman Heights Rd. They are a self-sustaining community as they own their own roads and maintain them, including plowing. They also pay for their own electricity for street lights. The only service they presently receive, from the County, is waste removal. As a community they don’t feel as though they are well represented by the current Monroe Town Board and, in looking ahead to the future with the potential annexation of property into Kiryas Joel, they would like to explore becoming part of the Town of Tuxedo. They would like to get things rolling, if the Board was amenable to the annexation.
Councilman Phelps remembered that some of these residents had come before the Town to talk about annexation in the past. It was his recollection that these talks didn’t go anywhere mainly because the roads within their community are so narrow that it would be impossible to maintain and/or service them. Mr. Luddington admitted that this was correct, but he said that their community now maintains and plows their own roads so this shouldn’t be a problem.
All Board members expressed their willingness to continue this discussion.
Town Attorney Don Nichol explained that with annexation, a petition would have to be presented to both the Town of Tuxedo and the Town of Monroe, both of which would have to agree in order it to take place. The petition would have to contain both a map of the proposed property and a description. Next, the Town of Tuxedo would need to do an environmental review, which would be followed by a public hearing, ultimately determining whether or not it would be in the “public interest” to make the annexation. The action would need to be approved by both the Town Board in Tuxedo and the Town Board in Monroe. Should one of the Boards not approve, it would then become a court proceeding. He added that before moving forward, the residents should get some idea as to whether or not Monroe would be willing to let them go.
New Business:
The Board held a discussion regarding their choice of a lead agency for the Pilgrim Pipeline proposal as they need to respond by Wednesday, December 16 to the Thruway Authority’s request to be the lead agency. The choices are: The New York State Thruway, The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) the Town of Tuxedo and the Village of New Paltz. Board members expressed their reservations about the DEC, but they said they did not want to give the authority to the Thruway and they certainly didn’t want to take the responsibility themselves.
When asked for his opinion, Town Attorney Nichol stated that he understood that the Board had reservations about the DEC, but he feels they are more likely to do an environmentally sensitive review than the Thruway. He also feels that the DEC would be more thorough. No one thought it would be a good idea to have New Paltz handle it. Agreeing that it was probably the lesser of the evils, the Board voted to approve the DEC as Lead Agency.
Councilman McMillen stated he had heard of municipalities in New Jersey, which had outright banned the Pipeline from coming through their Towns and he wondered if that was something they might consider doing.
Town Attorney Nichol responded that he didn’t think that would be affective as the State law would trump anything a municipality might pass.
The Board then passed two additional Resolutions:
One to approve the DEC as Lead Agency for the Pilgrim Pipeline Project and another to approve a contract for DUI coverage with the County. There are grants available to pay for this service. Lt. Norton explained that this is something the Town has done annually and it is in addition to the Town’s own regular DUI program.
PUBLIC HEARING to Receive Comments Regarding 2016 Woodlands Sewer Rates
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Establish 2016 Woodlands Sewer Rates
2. Resolution to Appoint Jeffrey Dowding as Fire Commissioner
3. Resolution to Appoint Registrar and Deputy Registrar
4. Discussion of Annexation Request by Sapphire Lake Residents
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board held a Special Meeting on Monday, December 7, 2015. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost made a motion for the Board to go into Executive Session to receive counsel from Town Attorney Howard Protter on contractual matters.
When they returned, Mr. Protter was asked to give an overview of what the meeting was about. He stated that on the agenda was the approval of documents which were put together to implement the Special Permit conditions for the Tuxedo Farms project. Article 13 of the Special Permit contains provisions regarding how the open space is to be protected. The property needing to be protected involves parcels in both the Southern Tract and the Northern Tract. In the Southern Tract, some of the properties will be owned by the Village of Tuxedo Park and covered by an easement held by the Town of Tuxedo. There is also a conservation buffer in the Southern tract. This will also be owned by the Village with a conservation easement limiting what can be done on the property held by the Town. In the Northern Tract, there is an open space area of about 700 acres that is going to be encumbered by a conservation easement held by the Orange County Land Trust. The property will be owned by the Town. The Conservation Easement has been negotiated by the Village and the Town. The Fox Hill tract will be owned by the Village of Tuxedo Park and encumbered by a conservation easement held by the Orange County Land Trust. This conservation easement is consistent with a 2005 agreement between the Village and Related Companies. Mr. Protter explained that what the Board would be considering was an agreement for the Conservation Easement as well as a form of the Conservation Easement. The agreement authorizes the Supervisor to sign the Easement subject to one further look by the Town Board once all the attachments have been put together.
Councilman Loncar wanted to know if the agreement was the same for both the Village and the Park.
Mr. Protter said that it was. He further explained that within the easement, restrictions differed for different parcels being covered.
Supervisor Rost added that the rules and restrictions were identified in the Special Permit and the document simply implements those rules and restrictions.
Mr. Protter further explained that flexibility for the future in so much as it was possible has been provided subject to those rules and restrictions.
Resolution:
The following was passed unanimously:
• a Resolution for the execution of the agreement for the Conservation Easement in the Tuxedo Farms development to be signed by the Supervisor after final Board review.
The Board then went back into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters.
When they reconvened, they passed the following Resolutions:
• a Resolution accepting the gifting of land for the Army Corps of Engineers project (DeMarino filled in the wetland behind their property and the new sewage plant location. Related gifted the Town with some property to be turned back into a wetland. The Town will turn the property over to the Army Corps of Engineers to make it into a wetland.
• a Resolution to authorize the Supervisor to enter into a confidential severance agreement with Patrick Welsh
• a Resolution to approve an Emergency Access Road easement (Councilman Loncar voted no on this).
• a Resolution approving a Conservation Easement on the Southern Tract
• a Resolution authorizing attendance of newly elected officials at Training School in Albany.
Agenda for Special Town Board Meeting December 7 2015
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda Item:
1. Resolution to Authorize Execution of Agreement for Conservation Easements in Tuxedo Farms Development
2. Resolution to Enter Into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel Issues Regarding Specific Employees and to Receive Advice from Counsel Regarding Pending Legal Matters
The Town Board met on Monday, November 23, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost commented that he had been so busy with the budget for the last couple of weeks, that he had nothing else to report.
Agenda Items:
A resolution appointing Paul Eichengreen as Fire Commissioner for the Tuxedo Joint Fire District with a term to commence on January 1, 2016 and continue until December 31, 2010 was passed unanimously.
Public Comments: Jim Hays stated that he knew the Board had been negotiating with the Orange County Land Trust to take over the conservation easement on the Northern Tract and for the Town to take over the Northern Tract from Related. It is not clear to him what the Town proposes to use the Northern Tract for and how this land would benefit the Town. He noted that at a meeting several weeks ago, Supervisor Rost had agreed to call Jim Hall of PIPC and discuss the possibility of having them take over the Northern Tract and pay taxes on the land. He commented that he thought the Supervisor had probably called Mr. Hall but if he hadn’t, he wanted to point out that to give up the taxes given the Town’s present fiscal situation, without a clear and pressing reason would be a mistake and that the Town should reconsider that decision.
The Supervisor responded that he had indeed called Mr. Hall. The problem is that the land coming from Related is not just the Northern Tract. Jim Hall would indeed take the Northern Tract and the Orange County Land Trust is eager to take it as well. There are other pieces of property that need easements however and these Mr. Hall and PIPC are not interested in taking on while Orange County Land Trust has agreed to take all of the property needing easements.
Mr. Hays responded that he had gotten different information and that it was his understanding that PIPC would be willing to take on “the green doughnut” as the other pieces are sometimes referred to.
The Supervisor replied that Mr. Hall had told him that in order for PIPC to hold a conservation easement, the property had to have conservation value and PIPC doesn’t feel there is enough conservation value on the green doughnut. He added that PIPC had been in contact with Orange County Land Trust about all of this and that PIPC is very satisfied about what is happening to the property.
Mr. Hays retorted that there were other options for dealing with this. He suggested perhaps the Town could form its own Land Trust to hold an easement on the “green doughnut” and give the Northern Tract to PIPC. He feels the Board should reconsider giving up the taxes on the Northern Tract.
Michele Lindsay said it was her understanding that PIPC only wants the Northern Tract but she wondered why the properties couldn’t be split into 2 parcels with the Northern Tract being given to PIPC and the other parcel could be all the other little pieces which Orange County Land Trust could hold a conservation easement on.
Supervisor Rost responded that the Land Trust wasn’t interested in just “the little pieces.”
Mrs. Lindsay then said “so it’s the Orange County Land Trust that does’t want the property now that they’ve gone down the road with all their expenses and legal fees and everything?”
The Supervisor explained again that there has to be conservation value to the property and without the Northern Tract, this doesn’t exist.
Mrs. Lindsay then reiterated “so it’s the Orange County Land Trust saying they will only take the whole thing?”
The Supervisor said he must be explaining it incorrectly as he hasn’t been able to make Mrs. Lindsay understand. PIPC would only take the Northern Tract. They are not interested in the other properties at all. The Orange County Land Trust will take the Northern Tract AND the other properties but they would not take the other properties without the Northern Tract, which is the only parcel that has conservation value.
Mrs. Lindsay again stated “so it’s the Orange County Land Trust that’s the problem.”
The Supervisor replied that it was not.
Mrs. Lindsay wanted to know how the Town would pay the upfront money that the Land Trust would keep in escrow for “future legal issues?”
The Supervisor replied that Related would be paying that.
Mrs. Lindsay then wondered who would pay to maintain and improve the trails.
The Supervisor said they would cross that bridge when they came to it and that they didn’t know as yet how many trails there would be on the Northern Tract.
Mrs. Lindsay responded that several bridal trails already existed and that people were using them.
Andy Berish inquired as to why the Town Board couldn’t be more transparent about the budget. “Why can’t you explain instead of just saying numbers?” He also wondered why the Town couldn’t tell him what was going on with Perfect Cut and the Court.
The Supervisor responded that he didn’t know what Mr. Berish was talking about with the budget as they had been more transparent with the process than any Board had ever been in the past. There were presentations, public workshops and a detailed explanation sent out via email.
Councilmember Reardon asked if Mr. Berish had a specific question that he would like answered.
Mr. Berish replied he would like to know who and how many people were being let go.
The Supervisor responded that this was still “in the works,” as they have to request seniority lists from Orange County; there people who may retire and there are other people who were talking about taking other jobs. Nothing has been finalized.
Mr. Berish then stated that he had heard there was some kind of lawsuit with Perfect Cut and wondered “what that was all about.”
Supervisor Rost replied that the Town has served Perfect Cut with notice of eviction and Perfect Cut is contesting. They were in court last week and they will be there again on November 24 at 3:30 pm.
Councilperson Reardon offered the following explanation about the budget: the Town Board set an amount that will be raised by taxes and now the individual departments have to work out what will be done with their allotments of that amount.
Denise Byrnes stated that she is worried that with budget cuts, if the midnight shift is done away with, she and other people will not feel safe or secure. She wonders if there’s another way to cover things so as not to sacrifice this security.
The Supervisor explained to her that the Town had to work within the boundaries of the collective bargaining agreement which sets rules as how many people must be on each shift. The Town tried to work on such ideas as having minimum people per shift with additional coverage as needed from the Village Police, but the police union rejected that idea. He furtger stated that the union had been trying to work with the Town and that they were willing to give things back, but the dollar amount of what was offered was just not enough. The Town has to stay within the confines of the contract. What that does allow is eliminating a shift. But, there are other things the Town can do to ensure that it’s residents are safe. For example, if something happens during the shift in question, they could call the Village of Tuxedo Park police and have them respond until the State Police get there. The Board wanted to continue to have full police protection at night but the dollar amount was just too great. He also commented that if you looked around at neighboring municipalities, Tuxedo is not unique. The Town of Monroe, for example, doesn’t have a police department at all. The Supervisor also commented that Ms. Byrnes should realize that it isn’t just the police that have been impacted as there are people in the Highway Department and workers from Town Hall who will be impacted as well.
Ms. Byrnes then wondered about snow removal and wanted to know if this meant we just wouldn’t have any?
The Supervisor assured her we would still have snow removal explaining that the Town will maintain a list of seasonal workers to call when there are snow storms.
Ms. Byrnes wondered if the Town and Police and Highway workers were still negotiating.
Supervisor Rost explained that the tax levy has been set, but the Town is still open to talking about how that money might be allocated within departments.
Deborah Eirand, Town resident for 53 years, said she was well aware that the Town had to make cuts but she finds it inexcusable that the Town had cut law enforcement especially considering what is going on in the world today. It doesn’t concern her whether or not Monroe has coverage but she is upset that there won’t be police on duty during the midnight tour.
She also pointed out that this idea was tried many years ago and it didn’t work out well. She then asked Supervisor Rost, “are you a Tuxedo resident?”
He responded “of course I am.”
Ms. EIrand wondered “how many years have you been a resident.”
The Supervisor told her he had lived in Tuxedo for 20 years.
Ms. Eirand then asked if he remembered the last time the Town cut the midnight shift?
The Supervisor said he did not.
Ms. Eirand then stated “you need coverage at midnight.”
The Supervisor replied “We tried to work with them as best we could. Unfortunately both sides fell short.”
Karen Dougher wondered if the Town had received the letter from the NYS Thruway Authority regarding their request to be lead agency during the Pilgrim Pipeline application.
The Supervisor replied he had just received it that day.
Mrs. Dougher wondered what his response would be to that letter. She believes that the DEC would make a better lead agency than the Thruway Authority.
The Supervisor responded that this was something they plan to discuss with their attorney who has just returned from vacation.
Councilperson Reardon wondered why the DEC would be a good entity to take on lead agencyship.
The letter from the Thruway asks that the Town either agree for them to be the lead agency or take that position themselves.
Mrs. Dougher feels that the DEC would care more about the wetlands and the aquifer than the Thruway. She understands that the Town does not want to take on the role of lead agency.
The Town must respond to the Thruway by December 16.
The Supervisor reiterated that they would be discussing this with their attorney.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Friday, November 20. All members were present. The meeting was called for 3 pm, however at that time the members of the Board were negotiating with members of the Police Collective Bargaining unit. The meeting was called to order at 4:40 pm.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by thanking everyone who had been participating in negotiations with the Town including the Highway employees, the Police Department and the Board members. He stated that this had been a very difficult position to be in noting that one of the big differences between negotiating for the Town and doing so in the corporate world was that the Townspeople were not just employees but they were also friends and neighbors and people know their families and friends. The process has been very hard on everyone.
Announcing that there were NO line item changes to the budget, the Supervisor read the resolution to adopt the budget. It was passed with a unanimous vote of the Board.
The Town Board met on Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting with some comments. First he recognized the efforts of those Town employees who are represented by unions and stated that the Board appreciates all the work that they do. He then explained that the process of the present budget had started back in July when the Board finally received the closing figures for fiscal year 2013 and the opening balances for 2014. in order to understand how the Town got to the position it is currently in, one needs to go back to November of 2013 when the Town Board adopted a budget that had a $1 million shortfall. For the past two years, the present Town Board has been able to negotiate revenues to plug the gap and keep the Town solvent. This meant they could meet their payroll, pay the bills and not have to have any layoffs. Commenting that this budget process has been hard on everyone, employees and board alike, he said that the Board had done what they could to get the information out to the public: by holding presentations, public workshops and a public hearing.
They have also posted information on the Town website and sent a detailed explanation out via e-mail to those residents for whom they have email addresses. With respect to the budget they are considering now, the Supervisor remarked that in five years time, there should be $1 million in reserve funds and the Town will save approximately $6 million in tax money. Most importantly, the plan is to align the budget with the demographics of the Town. The 1200 homes and 3600 residents of Tuxedo simply can’t afford the cost of the services that are presently being provided.
Councilmember Reardon commented that the whole budget process had been excruciatingly difficult. She assured those present that the Board members all realized that the decisions made would affect the lives of many people in very significant ways and that The Board doesn’t take anything for granted. She added that they had looked at anything and everything they could and further stated that for her, it was important that any cuts that were made would be made evenly across the board. She feels strongly that if cuts aren’t made now, the Town will be in a downward spiral that they will never be able to get out of. Although the Board is being asked to make very difficult choices, she feels they have to do what is best for the future of the Town. Finally, she said she hoped everyone would understand the position that the Board is in commenting that the Board takes it very seriously and that it isn’t easy.
Councilman McMillen stated that he had worked very hard to “save heads.” He added that he wished they could have started the collective bargaining earlier because it had broken down at the 11th hour and this had put the Board in a bad position.
Councilman Loncar said he had worked hard during the process and that the Board had tried to save everything they could. He commented that he would be voting no on the budget because he considers it to be an issue of safety and security. Removing a shift of police is, in his view, a bad idea.
Councilman Phelps observed that he had been involved in budget processes longer than anyone else on the Board and that the process this year had been sickening for him. His goal had been to save everybody but he said he didn’t know if that would be possible.
Michele Lindsay stated that she had seen a lot of buzz going around social media that afternoon due to the report done by Channel 12 on the Town’s financial situation. She wondered if the Supervisor would like to address some of the inaccuracies in that report.
Supervisor Rost responded that he had not seen any of the social media and without having done so, he could not address the situation. The Town did make a lot of it’s fiscal information available via public workshops and a budget presentation but he reiterated that without seeing any of the reports on social media, he could not address them.
Dawn Graham stated that she although she was not a resident of the Town she has been an employee of the Tuxedo for the last 28 years. (Mrs. Graham is the head dispatcher) She commented that she had read the recent letter of explanation of the Town’s fiscal situation written by Bill Sweet and circulated by the Town. When she attended the latest budget workshop, the Board had discussed eliminating all the dispatchers and she wondered if the budget they were considering that night still intended to do that.
The answer was yes.
Mrs. Graham then said she wanted the Townspeople to know that this included 3 full time employees and 8 part timers. The residents might not know the dispachers as well as they know the police officers, but whenever anyone calls the police, they are the ones who answer the phone and assist people. They consider themselves the cops’ lifeline and the officers depend on them for their safety as they try to protect the residents. While 911 does provide a service for everyone Mrs. Graham does not feel that the Town will get the same degree of dedicated service from 911 as they do from the local dispatchers. As an example, she stated that when the flooding happened in Town several years ago, all emergency phone calls were routed through her home, which is located 25 miles away. She further noted that with the present radio system, the policemen could not speak directly with the 911 operators. She asked that the Board seriously consider what they would be losing and also how they would feel and what they would do if they called for help and all they could get was “911, please hold.”
A resident from Alma Court who has lived in Town for 20 years stated that she considers the dispatchers and police officers to be family. She went on to say they had done a lot of things for her over the years. Once she called them because her husband had spilled gasoline in his eye and the dispatcher knew just what to tell her to do and because they knew exactly where she lived, they were able to be at her house within minutes. She doesn’t believe residents will receive the same kind of service with 911. The present dispatchers and police officers make her and her neighbors feel safe. She stated that she understood that the Board had to cut their budget, but she begged them to please find another way.
Kevin McDevitt stated that in 2006 he had lost a young daughter and believes that the loss was directly related to 911 response time because they didn’t know where he was. In hindsight, Mr. McDevitt wishes he had called the police directly because perhaps he might not have lost his daughter. Then, about 5 years ago, his son was murdered in Atlantic City. Mr. McDevitt has been chasing the man who committed the murder for 4 and a half years now. As of October 1, the suspect in question has been released on bail and he has a website back up and running. On the website, there’s a message for Mr. McDevitt which says “keep an eye in your rear view mirror, I’m coming.” Mr. McDevitt wonders who is going to protect him and his family? He doesn’t think State Police will be able to react in time if the man shows up at his house.
Jill Pfizenmaier stated that she understood the dilemma that the Board was facing with regard to the budget. However, she has been observing the Highway Department for the last 30 years and wanted to make sure that everyone understands that it is a 24/7 job. There is always something that needs to be done which involves the safety of the Town. She urged the Board to consider the people who have been working for the protection and safety of the Town and their families.
Will Hall, police officer and PBA President, stated that for the Board to suggest that the talks between the police and the Town had “crumbled at the 11th hour” was simply not true and he felt that it was disingenuous of the Board to say so. Rather, he felt the Town Board had been “moving the goal posts” during all of the negotiations, changing the numbers as the police were trying to work with them. The police made every effort to avoid the cuts but it appears as though the Board is making cuts at the 11th hour, not the police. The police are suffering, the highway department is suffering, and dispatch is gone. He added that perhaps if the Board was so concerned, they should just raise taxes a little bit.
Gerard Shiloh, police officer and Town resident, stated that he understood that the Town needs to make adjustments but he also feels that no one has any real idea of what goes on after 11 pm at night! He went on to say that if the Board let this happen, he believed that the Town would be at risk. He feels that the criminals “will start working a shift. They will work from 11:30 pm to 6:30 am.” These officers will be doing jobs that the local officers are usually able to do immediately. He cautioned that if the Board let that shift go, they would be liable for whatever might happen.. He ended by dramatically stating that if something happened, residents should call the Board members because if they hadn’t eliminated the midnight shift, the police would be there.
Supervisor Rost then stated that it was looking as though there was no other option aside frm doing away with the midnight shift., There had been some discussion about possibly hiring part time police officers and minimum staffing with a back up from Tuxedo Park. Up until now, they had not been able to agree on that. He stated “it’s not like we’re saying that we want the police to go and we don’t want coverage at midnight. That is not what we are saying. But we have a fiscal responsibility to shorten the gap that we have right now. There are other ways to get there. Don’t just think we were saying we want the police to go and we want the dispatchers to go.”
An audience member then countered “but the basic issue is lives over money..that’s really what it comes down to…you’ve chosen money over lives.”
Councilperson Reardon added that if one were to look at the police departments in the surrounding area, they would find that they are able to keep their residents safe utilizing a mixture of full time and part time officers. Some areas staff exclusively with part time employees.. She further explained with part time employees, the Town did not have to pay health benefits and could control overtime. She stated the Board is offering a mix of that, and they would like to see it happen. She then stated “There is nobody on this Board that does not take the priority of keeping the residents safe as the number one priority and responsibility that they have, but they have to be able to get there. Other towns can do this and with the size of the Town and number of residents, we are clearly outriders with the number of people we have on our police force as well as our highway department.”
Officer Tony DeLia said it really bothered him when his department was compared to other towns. He added that the court made $826,000 last year on summons written by Tuxedo’s 11-man department. “That’s more money than Woodbury!” he observed. He wondered how the Town would make up that money? He also claimed that “every D.U.I. and domestic call we go to is after 11 pm.”
Nate Wolinsky congratulated the Board on the most thorough budget he had seen. While he has read it, he hasn’t had a chance to go over every line. He wondered if the Town had looked into reducing trash collection to one day a week.
The Supervisor replied that this would only amount to $900 a month savings.
Mike Squillini commented that he thinks the Board is doing a good job and he wouldn’t want to be in any of their shoes right now.
Dave Maikisch, Town Building inspector and 12-year resident stated that he had called the police twice and if it weren’t for their fast response, he believed that two of his children would not be here today.
Paul Eichengreen remarked that he lives on the Circle. If it weren’t for the cops and the firemen, he feels he could have lost his mother during the recent house fires there. Therefore, he hopes the Town does “the right thing” by the people who saved his mother.
Lt. John Norton said he wanted to assure people that he will continue to “be there” for the residents regardless of whatever might be going on with contract negotiations, etc. He is hopeful that a contract acceptable to both sides can be found but more importantly, he wanted to assure residents that he would be there no matter what. He pointed out that all members of the force work weekends and holidays and are always available for the residents so he was hopeful that the residents would convince the Town Board to keep all the police and highway workers working….he urged people to find a way to do that.
Heather Pfizenmaier commented that she had heard that 4 highway workers would be laid off. She wondered who was going to keep up with snow removal in the Town. She further commented that with all the hills in Town it was important to keep the roads clear so that the police and ambulance workers could do their jobs.
Supervisor Rost responded that there would still be seasonal employees who would come in to help clear the roads.
Audience members wanted to know how these seasonal workers would know where to plow and the Supervisor replied that the names on the list were people who already live in Town and know where they are going.
Nate Wolinsky wondered if there were still talks going on regarding the contract.
The Supervisor replied that there wasn’t an exact time set for any more talks but there was conversation going back and forth.
Joe Rickard wondered whether the Town ever worked out a budget for several years in advance?
Supervisor Rost responded that they were trying to do that right now.
Mr. Rickard expressed his approval of this, saying he thought it would be helpful for the present negotiations as well as making sure that the Town doesn’t end up in this same position every year!
The Supervisor replied that the Town was finally in a place where they could do this as they have straightened out the books, have Bill Sweet in place and are trying to project for the future. Five years from now, there should be a million dollars in the bank and Tuxedo will be able to save millions of dollars.
“And that will make it possible to avoid all of this?” asked Mr. Rickard.
“Exactly,” replied the Supervisor.
Jimmy Eirand made a plea for the Town to make sure the police have active shooter training, even if they end up using part timers. With all the schools in Town, he feels this is very important.
Jennifer Steindler Darling commented that she is in support of keeping all the police. She said she also wanted to talk about the Recreation Program, which she noticed had been taken out of the budget. She feels that Tuxedo is about families and to take the recreation program away is sending a bad message.
Bobby Marsh said while he appreciated the Town’s police force, he was dismayed that nobody seemed to be backing the Highway Department. At this point several audience members spoke up in defense of the highway workers saying they were necessary so that people could get to work.
John McNamara who used to be a dispatcher in Warwick and Greenwood Lake, said that while he didn’t want to see anybody out of work, it seemed to him that the sins of the past had caught up with the Town of Tuxedo. “We’ve been living beyond our means,” he said. He noted that salaries keep going up, little by little to cover cost of living, etc., but at the same time, the revenues in the Town aren’t going up. While he doesn’t want to see people out of work, he also doesn’t want to see people priced out of living here! He mentioned that since he’s been living here, his taxes have doubled but his salary has not doubled. Since Tuxedo is looking at more residents coming in (with Tuxedo Farms) down the road, he wondered if the collective bargaining units had considered taking a hit in order to stay here? Kim Stevens stated that she is on the Ambulance Corps and wondered whether the seasonal highway workers would come in the middle of the night to clear roads so the ambulance could make their calls?
Jill Pfizenmaier wondered what the Town would have to pay the seasonal workers and if it would be less than they pay the highway workers now.
Supervisor Rost responded that a highway worker, with his benefits, currently cost the Town about $125,000 a year while and the proposed seasonal workers, even if we have a bad winter, would not cost that much.
There was then some disagreement between the Board and Officer Hall, PBA President, as to where the negotiations had left off, with Officer Hall expressing confusion. Officer DeLia again brought up the amount of revenue generated by the police through writing tickets. The Supervisor then stated that last year’s revenue from tickets had totaled $360,000 (not the $826,000 mentioned by Officer DeLia) and over 50% of that was written by State Troopers and Park Police.
Several more audience members called out support for keeping workers, with one mentioning that the Highway employees were important to keep the roads clear so that utility workers could get around in case of loss of power.
Amid calls for the talks between the Board and the unions to keep going, Supervisor Rost stood up and invited PBA President Hall to join him in his office. The two then left the meeting. When they returned, about 10 minutes later, the public hearing was closed. The Supervisor announced that the Board had decided to table the resolution to pass the budget as they were going to continue negotiating with the police at 3 pm the following day.
Councilmember Reardon thanked everyone present for coming out to the public hearing. She assured all that the Board had heard their comments.
The Town Board met on Monday, November 9, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing on 2016 Preliminary Budget:
Supervisor Rost opened the public hearing by reminding the large crowd who was present that no decisions had been made and that this hearing was a part of the process, which so far has included a detailed presentation on the budget as well as a Budget Workshop. The Budget is available on the Town website for all to download and study. The Board wants the process to be as transparent as possible. They are continuing to have conversations with the collective bargaining units (both the PBA and the Highway Department Union) with the ultimate goal of determining what can be done to work together to pull the Town out of the hole they are in. He further stated that no one on the Board wants anyone to lose their job and that it is not their goal to eliminate anyone. Both bargaining units have shown a willingness to work with the Town. The public hearing is a chance for the Board to hear from the residents.
Marilyn Berson, an attorney with the New York State Union of Police Associations stated that she was representing the PBA. She read a statement from Anthony Solfaro, President of the Union who was not able to be at the hearing. In his letter, Mr. Solfaro described the meetings which have already occurred as lengthy and productive. He said the both parties had expressed mutual concerns and their hope for maintaining the level of service provided by the PBA membership. He further stated that the PBA believes that both parties are willing to make “the difficult decisions necessary to protect the interests of the PBA members and the residents of the Town of Tuxedo.” On behalf of the PBA, he asked that the Board keep the hearing open as long as the meetings between the PBA and Town were ongoing and, if necessary, that the Town continue the hearing prior to finalizing the 2016 budget. He thanked Supervisor Rost and Councilman Loncar for their time and understanding in working with the PBA to come to a resolution that would be beneficial to both the Town and the members of the PBA.
Michele Lindsay stated that she was glad to hear that negotiations between the Town and the unions seem to be going well. She wondered if there weren’t some small things that could be done which while they might not seem significant, could add up to substantial savings when they were all put together. Specifically, she referred to garbage pickups and leaf pickup.
Supervisor Rost assured her that the Board had looked at all of those things.
Mrs. Lindsay asked if there was a way for her to get an “itemized report” so she would know just how much each of these things cost.
Dena Steele stated that she too hoped the Town would look at little cuts that might add up to substantial savings. She further said that she couldn’t understand why the Town refused to deed the Northern Tract to the PIPC as that would provide additional tax revenue. In the event that the Town decided to eliminate the midnight shift for police coverage, she wondered what would happen to the “backup relationship” that the Town and the Village of Tuxedo Park have had for many years. She feels that eliminating the shift would thus directly affect the security of Park residents.
Mary Hanson stated that if her taxes were going to go up, she wanted to be sure that Watchtower and the Jehovah’s Witnesses were paying their fair share of Town expenses. She declared that she has no intention of paying any increase above the 2% tax cap.
George Mitchell, a police officer who lives on Benjamin Meadow Rd., said that in his experience, the police were always the first ones to respond to an emergency, medical or otherwise. He wonders if police are cut, who will be the first responders?
Rick Marsh remarked that he had heard rumors that if the midnight shift was cut, Tuxedo would be covered by State Police. He wondered how many people knew that on the midnight shift, there are only 4 State Police officers—2 are in Middletown, 1 is in Monroe and 1 in Montgomery. In contrast, Tuxedo presently has 2 officers patrolling on the midnight shift.
He also expressed his concern about the possibility of cutting the dispatchers and replacing them with Orange County 911 operators. His experience has been that the radios used by 911 have fuzzy reception and the operators using them can’t be heard or understood.
When a fire call comes in over these radios, the only way the Fire Department gets the details is when the Tuxedo dispatchers relay the information.
Mr. Marsh also conveyed his concern about cutting personnel from the Highway Department, stating that many of those workers came from families who had worked hard for the Highway Department for generations.
Finally, he urged the Board to cut everything except personnel.
Kim Stevens, a member of the Ambulance Corps, reiterated that the dispatches coming from Orange County 911 were so fuzzy as to be useless.
Nate Wolinsky stated it was his understanding that the Orange County 911 had just undertaken a capital project which will start in 2016 and end in 2017 and thus they wouldn’t be available to take over our dispatching until that project is done. He added that for State police, there is no guarantee of any time frame for responses at night and finally, he pointed out that the County Sheriff is just an office and doesn’t have any staff to help out either.
Supervisor Rost responded that he has had talks with 911 and when Mr. Wollinsky asked if his information was correct, the answer was no.
Since there were no other persons desiring to be heard at this time, the Board continued the public hearing to a later date to be announced.
Public Hearing on Special Improvement Districts Charges including Hamlet Sewer and Sterling Mine Estates Drainage District:
There were no public comments and the hearing was declared closed.
Public Hearing Continuation regarding Introductory Local law #2 of 2015 entitled, “A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments to Chapter 98, Zonng,’ of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to create the ‘Tourism Business’ Zoning District:
Town Planner Bonnie Franson opened the hearing with a few remarks. This law has been before the Board for quite a while. It has gone to the Orange County Planning Department and their comments have been received. The only comment that needs to be addressed is regarding the need for definition for agricultural operations. This has been addressed and also will be finalized when the complete zoning amendments are voted on.
Steven Siegal, attorney for Faire Partners said he hadn’t heard from the Town in a while and wondered what was happening.
The Supervisor responded that this was a time for comments on the zoning amendment only and that he would follow up with Mr. Siegal the next day.
There were no other public comments and the public hearing was then closed.
Supervisor Update:
Supervisor Rost commented that he had spent all his time working on the budget and in negotiations with the PBA with whom he has another meeting on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to be in court with Perfect Cut on November 12th.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were none.
Resolutions, etc.:
The following resolutions were adopted:
a Resolution to adopt Introductory Local Law #2 0f 2015 (zoning amendment) was tabled until they can change some of the language.
a Resolution to schedule annual Public Hearing on Woodlands Sewer Rates – set for December 14th at 7 pm
a Resolution to grant Special Permit for Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run on December 5th at 12 noon – this is an annual event.
a Reminder that the vote on the Library budget will take place on November 10th in the Town Clerk’s office from 9 am to 8 pm
Public Comments: Jim Hays stated that he had been coming to Town Board meetings since Ken Magar was Supervisor and, as such, has been watching the Tuxedo Farms development. When it was first proposed, there were 3,000 square feet of commercial space and both the Town and the County were aware of and concerned about not letting that commercial space do any harm to the businesses in the Hamlet. Now, Mr. Hays hears that Related is planning on building a shopping center at the intersection of Quail Rd and Route 17 in Sloatsburg which will have perhaps 65,000 square feet of commercial space. The Town’s engineers have reviewed the whole project. The retention ponds in Sloatsburg were part of the SEQRA process as were the traffic studies. But, this new shopping center is being reviewed and will be decided upon by the Town of Sloatsburg and Mr. Hays wants to know why Tuxedo doesn’t have any say in the matter. He feels that almost 100,000 ft of commercial space between the shopping center and what’s being planned for the Commons area will certainly have a negative impact on the businesses in the Hamlet.
Town Attorney Nichol responded that since this shopping center will affect the entire project, at the very least the environmental effects should be studied by the Town of Tuxedo. He added that he didn’t think the Town had been very well informed about the plans for the shopping center, but now that they know about it, they can certainly take a look at it and see if they think it should be covered by SEQRA, which would perhaps need to be amended or have a Supplemental study.
Mr. Hays further commented that he thought the fact that Related was advertising the space and seeking potential clients for it while it was still under review by Sloatsburg made the whole thing even more egregious.
Town Planner Franson added that she felt the Town needed to check to see if the parcels on which the shopping plaza is being proposed were ever included in the evaluation, which has already been done. Her recollection is that Related stated that they had a couple of parcels that might be used for “later development,” although there were no plans for them at the time the original evaluation was done. It will need to be decided whether these parcels were ever a part of Tuxedo Farms or if they were separate from the project. Both Mr. Nichol and Ms. Franson will look into this and report back to the Board.
Michele Lindsay noted that part of the SEQRA review had been the economic impact of the project. which included all the potential tax revenues that would come to the Town. She wonders how the new shopping center will impact those financial projections. She is also concerned about the impact of added traffic from the shopping center.
Ms. Franson responded that there was nothing to stop the Town of Tuxedo from making comments to Sloatsburg during their review process and they could certainly request that a new updated traffic study be done and recommend that Sloatsburg consider the cumulative effect of the traffic, including that which has already been approved.
Mr. Nichol added that while Tuxedo does not have any authority over building applications in Sloatsburg, they do have authority over the overall environmental review to consider every part of the project whether it’s located within the Town or not as it is all one related project.
Dale Mottola commented that she would like clarification that the
30,000 sq. ft. of retail space in the Commons area is not being replaced by the YMCA.
Supervisor Rost confirmed that Related is planning to build retail space in addition to the Y.
Mary Jo Guinchard, Mayor of Tuxedo Park, stated that her Board had sent a request in the last week to the Town Board asking for their help in collecting money due to the Village for water bills. The Village is facing a very serious shortfall in revenue from water. Without penalties, this adds up to almost $70,000 and with penalties it will total $90,000. They are asking the Town to levy the bills on the appropriate tax bills.
Town Attorney Nichol responded that without there being a Town water district in place, the Town doesn’t have a mechanism to re-levy this money on the property. In order to do anything for this year, a water district would have had to have been formed.
Supervisor Rost said the Board would look into it.
President of the Ambulance Corps John Kilduff noted that the Corps, like the Fire Departments is staffed by volunteers. He said that EMS training has been realigned over the years so that now the first thing that responders worry about is scene safety A large part of the scene safety for the Corps comes from the participation of the Town police as well as the dispatchers. The Corps is very concerned about how this would be impacted if dispatchers were laid off and the midnight shift of police was done away with.
Andy Berish stated that he had been told that Tuxedo Farms had recently purchased Jesse’s Bagels and that’s where they are planning to put a shopping center.
He was informed that a different piece of property was being considered for the shopping center.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
PUBLIC HEARINGS: 2016 Preliminary Budget and Special Improvement District Charges, Including Hamlet Sewer and Sterling Mine Estates Drainage District
PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION Regarding Introductory Local Law #2 of 2015 Entitled, "A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments to Chapter 98, 'Zoning,' of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Create the 'Tourism Business' Zoning District"
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
I. Resolution to Adopt Introductory Local Law #2 of 2015 Entitled, "A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments to Chapter 98, 'Zoning,' of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Create the 'Tourism Business' Zoning District"
2. Resolution to Schedule Annual Public Hearing on Woodlands Sewer Rates
3. Resolution to Grant Special Permit for Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Relay Run- 12/05/2015 at 12:00 Noon
4. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The purpose of the meeting was a workshop on the 2016 Budget. Supervisor Rost reminded everyone present that this was a workshop meeting for the Board and that no public participation would be allowed.
As they are facing a sizeable shortfall, the Board then discussed several ways to reduce spending and increase revenues. They did not vote on anything.
There will be a public hearing on the budget, which will then be the Preliminary Budget on Monday, November 9th at 7 pm. At that time the public will be heard. A copy of the budget can be found on the Town website. (click here to download a copy of the Budget).
November 3 is Election Day in Tuxedo. This year, three candidates are vying for two open seats on the Town Council. They are Michele Lindsay, Valerie Reardon and Gary Phelps.
In an effort to help the voters get a better understanding of who these candidates are and what they stand for, TPFYI circulated a basic questionnaire to all three. Following are their responses in the order in which they were received.
Please don’t forget to vote on November 3! Polls will be open from 6am-9pm.
Former Vice President, JP Morgan and Dean Witter Reynolds. I worked as a Research Analyst for Money Markets, Municipal Bonds and Mortgage-backed Securities. My sales and trading experience was in Municipal Bonds and Mortgage-backed Securities. I served as Head of Short-term Municipal Bond Sales at Dean Witter.
At Tuxedo Park School, I taught and tutored Pre-Algebra and Algebra.
Years of Residency in the Town
Jake and I moved to Tuxedo in 1995 with our two daughters. I am a native of Ramsey, NJ.
Government Experience
This is my first campaign for election to a public office. I have served as Chair of the Village Improvement Advisory Committee in Tuxedo Park.
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo
Community involvement: Tuxedo Park School
Committee Chair: Facilities and Technology Strategic Planning; Lecture Series; Benefits
Committee Member: Development Committee; Class Parent Committee
St. Mary’s Preschool Treasurer Tuxedo Park Garden Club President, Treasurer, Community Projects Co-Chair Sterling Forest Partnership Board Member A Better Tuxedo Founding Member
Why are You running for Town Council?
For 20 years I have been attending Board meetings, asking the questions that need to be answered. Tuxedo is facing challenges (outlined below) that I want to help solve by applying my business experience in Municipal Bonds and my education in Mathematics and Business Management. If elected, I will research issues and communicate information to the public. On the campaign trail I have enjoyed meeting residents and discussing their concerns. I will continue to encourage this community dialogue and will encourage involvement in building a united community. I believe that together we can find long-term solutions for sustainable economic growth that will benefit the Town and our schools. I support the collaboration between our Chamber of Commerce and A Better Tuxedo which is a first step in building a community we can be proud of.
What attributes will You bring to the Town Government?
During the campaign, each candidate promotes his or her qualifications for the elected office. If elected, I will immediately reach out to all officials, Boards and Departments to begin working together to resolve Tuxedo’s problems. As a successful leader in our community, I have enjoyed working collaboratively with my colleagues. I value other people’s ideas for creative solutions and I look for ways to involve interested people in projects. I am research-oriented and I can thoroughly study complex issues.
What are the three most important issues currently facing the Town?
The State Comptroller’s Office has categorized Tuxedo as “Susceptible to Fiscal Stress” for the last three years. For too long our Town Board has not implemented monetary controls or properly overseen town operations, resulting in deficits exceeding $1million in our +/- $9.5 million budget. I will apply my business experience in Municipal Bonds, working with municipal budgets, to resolving our budget crisis.
Tuxedo Farms will bring growth to Tuxedo but oversight of the development is critical. The developer, Related, has been granted many waivers from the Special Permit, some of which alter the quality development that was negotiated. Furthermore, Related’s new plan to build a shopping center in Sloatsburg will reduce the tax revenues that were promised to Tuxedo and will drastically increase the traffic that was projected in the Environmental Impact Statement. I will also provide critical oversight of the Local Development Corp, funded by Tuxedo Farms, which will support local businesses. And I will make sure that Tuxedo Farms fulfills its commitments to our schools and library.
Tuxedo and our surrounding area continue to be threatened by outsiders’ developments and projects such as Pilgrim Pipeline. We must act proactively, not reactively, to protect Tuxedo. To protect our future from inappropriate development, I believe that our entire zoning code needs to be reviewed and strengthened.
In lieu of a questionnaire, Gary Phelps has submitted the following:
About Gary
Vietnam War Veteran
32 Year Resident of Tuxedo
25 + Years of Public Service to the Town of Tuxedo
Tuxedo Chamber Of Commerce Trustee
Member of the Downtown Revitalization LDC
Married - 3 Children - 8 Grandchildren
Over the past several years, things have changed at Tuxedo Town Hall, and I have been proud to be a part of that positive change. The challenges have been great, but they are being met in an open, transparent and fair manner. I am gratified to have served the Town of Tuxedo in different capacities for over 20 years. I bring the benefits of perspective and experience to my role as Board Member and Deputy Supervisor, and I have worked hard to assist Supervisor Rost grapple with some significant issues and opportunities before the Town.
We are making real progress, and we continue to reach out to many members of the community to get their insights and ideas for solving our problems. We are truly, Team Tuxedo! The budget is tight, but it is on the right track. Every expense is being closely scrutinized with an eye toward building the right Town government for the future and the growth it holds in store for us all. Tuxedo Farms is about to break ground, and, no matter how you feel about the project, it is a reality, and I intend on making that reality the best it can be for all the residents of Tuxedo, especially our long-time residents who want to see our Town remain beautiful.
The Town Board met on Monday, October 26, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost commented that he been very busy with the budget. He is trying to find a time to schedule a workshop meeting for next week. He also reported that he’d had another meeting with the Police Union the previous Saturday and that the Town is still waiting for a court date for Perfect Cut. Finally, he stated that the budget presentation given at the last meeting is now available on the Town website.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Jim Hays asked for an explanation of the “Resolution to Authorize Execution of Security and Inspection Agreement with Related Co.”
Town Attorney Howard Protter responded that this resolution would not be acted on at this meeting because it hadn’t been finalized. Once finalized, the resolution will explain in detail how the bonding for both the public improvements and the neighborhood improvements to be owned by the HOA will occur. He added that there would also be provisions dealing the tEngineers’ inspection.
Diana Petrosky inquired whether the Town receives a fee when they plow roads for other municipalities or the County. The answer was yes.
Resolutions, etc:
The following Resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to authorize agreement to perform snow and ice control on Old Forge Road in Warwick – this is located right across the street from the Highway Department and is not difficult for the men to do. The Town will receive $5000 for the service
a Resolution to authorize agreement to perform snow and ice control on county roads – was discussed with Deputy Highway Superintendent Marusich. He reported that because there was so much traffic on Long Meadow Road, this one is really difficult to get done. The County is proposing to pay $45,000 for the season but this doesn’t cover what it costs the Town to do the job. Mr. Marusich was tasked with calling the County to negotiate a fair payment for the job. The resolution was tabled until that could be accomplished.
a Resolution granting a special sign permit for the Ladies Auxilliary of the Eagle Valley Fire Department to advertise their annual Craft Fair on November 1st.
a Resolution Opposing the Pilgrim Pipeline - as promised at the last meeting, Town Attorney Nichol authored a very strong resolution against the Pipeline and calling for a moratorium on all activity pending a full environmental review. To read a copy of the resolution, click here .
Reminders:
1-there will be a Public Hearing on November9 commencing at 7:00 pm regardinga-a Local Law enacting certain zoning amendments to create the “Tourism Business” zoning district
b-2016 Preliminary Budget and Special Improvement District charges including Hamlet Sewer and Sterling Mine Estates Drainage districts
2- there will be a Special Town Election on November 10tfor the proposition to increase budgetary allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library – voting will take place in the Town Clerk’s office.
Public Comments: John Kwasnicki from Sloatsburg commented that he had seen a recent copy of the NYDEC’s ENB,(what does that stand for) which listed a Negative Declaration for Tuxedo Farms but identified it as being in Rockland County. Mr. Kwasnicki feels that this should be corrected.
Mr. Kwasnicki also brought to the Board’s attention an application he found on the internet from Tuxedo Farms for building a 35,000 sq. ft. “shopping mall,” on Route 17 in Sloatsburg near Jessie’s Bagels.
Councilperson Reardon asked if he were referring to the YMCA in the Commons area of Tuxedo Farms.
Mr. Kwasnicki responded that he was not and that noone in Sloatsburg knew anything about this although he noted that Related had submitted an application to the Sloatsburg Planning Board.
Supervisor Rost asked if Mr. Kwasnicki had discussed this with Mayor Carl Wright of Sloatsburg. The answer was no.
The Supervisor pledged to keep information as current as possible on the Town website so everyone could be informed.
Mr. Kwasnicki also commented that he had not seen any comments regarding the impact of the new sewage plant on the Ramapo River.
On behalf of TPAG, Dale Mottola, requested permission to erect 10 signs for their next concert, which will take place on November 15. This request waswas granted.
Andy Berish stated that he had heard on News 12 that Police Chief Welsh had been fired and wanted to know if it were true.
He was told that this was a personnel issue and that the Board could not comment on it.
When Mr. Berish expressed concern that such news should have been broadcast on a local television station, the Board agreed that this was very unfortunate.
Joe Rickard stated that he had come to the meeting for the same reason and wanted to know how this had gotten out to the media.
Councilman Loncar stated that he had asked the Supervisor 3 times to tell him who knew what and when but the Supervisor had told him that he couldn’t comment on it.
Jim Hays stated that he didn’t remember seeing anything about a shopping center in any of Related’s plans.
He was told that what Mr. Kwasnicki had submitted was in Sloatsburg.
Mr. Hays responded that since the Tuxedo Town Board had signed the Special Permit, they were responsible for the whole development, including what is in Sloatsburg.
Michele Lindsay stated that the Special Permit also clearly stated that no building could take place until the conservation easements were in place for the different parcels being donated to the Town, the Village and the Tuxedo Club.
Councilperson Reardon responded that she had followed up on this and that when Related breaks ground, they must immediately transfer all the deeded areas. It will be a simultaneous action.
Jim Hays responded that Related has already broken ground.
He was told that the work being done was only for the sewer plant.
He replied that if one went up behind the old Applewood Kennels, they would find a wasteland and in his opinion ground has been broken.
Town Attorney Protter interjected that they were very close to finalizing language on the conservation easements and the situation was “entirely under control.” He added that whatever work is being done is related to the sewer plant because the developer needs fill to lay the pipe.
Michele Lindsay then asked “does that mean that you’ve definitely made the decision to take the 700 acres (Northern Tract) off the tax role?”
Supervisor Rost replied yes.
Mrs. Lindsday then continued “without even talking to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission?”
The Supervisor responded that, as he had already told Mrs. Lindsay, there are many different parcels that have to be covered by a conservation easement. All of these properties (for both the Village and the Town) are being bundled together so that the easement will be for all the properties. PIPC has refused to hold an easement on the parcels going to the Village, so the Town has agreed to work with the Village and bundle the properties so this can get done.
Mrs. Lindsay wondered if there could be two pieces with the 700 acres of the Northern Tract being one parcel, which could be handled by PIPC who would pay taxes. All the other properties could then be bundled and handled by the Orange County Land Trust.
Town Attorney Protter replied that it was a little more complicated than that. He added that there were certain things that the Town wanted done with their property that couldn’t happen if PIPC is holding the easement.
Mrs. Lindsay wanted to know specifically what he was talking about.
Mr. Protter said one thing was being able to restrict access to the property to residents of Tuxedo.
Mrs. Lindsay wondered how they would even do that.
Mr. Protter said initially it would be done with signage.
Jim Hays asked if they had carefully considered what they would do with the acreage in the Northern Tract.
Supervisor Rost replied that they were working with Orange County Land Trust on that.
Mrs. Lindsay interjected that if the Town gave the property to PIPC, they wouldn’t need an easement. She further commented that she had been on a conference call in May where PIPC Director Jim Hall said that he had not been approached by the Town about this parcel but if he were, he would be happy to bring the matter to his Board.
Councilperson Reardon inquired as to the amount PIPC would pay In Taxes.
Mrs. Lindsay replied she thought it was $75,000 plus school taxes.
The Supervisor commented that the Board was very close to an agreement on the easement and that they had voted as a Board to go in that direction.
Mrs. Reardon replied that she hadn’t been part of that vote and she she had not heard any solid reasons to go that way as $75 K annually is a lot of money when peoples jobs and livelihoods are on the line.
Jim Hays added that if the land were given to PIPC, there would also be money going to the School , the Library and Fire District.
After more discussion, the Supervisor stated that he would call Jim Hall the next day and inquire.
Nate Wolinsky stated he had noticed on the revised agenda that the Board had held an Executive Session before the meeting to discuss a personnel matter and he wondered if they were prepared to discuss what had happened at that meeting.
He was told they had no comment as no action had been taken.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was then adjourned .The Board went back into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present. Due to a Planning Board meeting being held at the same time, the meeting was held in the Multipurpose Room at George Grant Mason School.
Presentation regarding 2016 Tentative Town Budget: Supervisor Rost opened the discussion by stating that this was the first time ever a Town Board had offered a presentation on the Tentative Budget. In the past, the budget has not been introduced to the public until it reached the Preliminary Budget stage.However, the Board woulf like to get the information contained in this budget out to the residents and they welcome the public into the process. He reminded everyone that the information being presented was the Tentative budget and not the final one. As such, it is a work in progress. He pointed out that a lot has already changed in the document during the process. Town Employees have made suggestions and the Town’s labor unions are currently working with Town Consultant, Michael Richardson to also make some changes.
The Supervisor went on to say that he feels the present Town Board is doing a better job at being managers of the Town.They hired Bill Sweet, CPA, to be the bookkeeper; they appointed Val Reardon who is also a CPA to the Board; they hired a new auditor and they hired Michael Richardson to help guide them through labor negotiations.
The budget consists of an A Fund and a B Fund. The A Fund covers the entire Town, including the Village of Tuxedo Park while the B Fund covers only the Town outside of the Village. The Revenues that were negotiated over the last couple of years (payments from Genting and Related) went into the A Fund. Because the Town does not have those revenues anymore, there is unfortunately a big shortfall in the A Fund. One of the benefits of the these revenues going into the A Fund however, was that last year those enjoyed approximately a 40% tax decrease. This year, however the A Fund is penciled in for a 28% increase. If one looks at where the Town was 2 years ago though, things are still 12% to the better.
Were the Board to do absolutely nothing else with the budget, the Town would still be facing roughly a 30% tax increase.
The question going around Town seems to be “what happened to the million dollars?” (which was the shortfall at the beginning of last year) Supervisor Rost stated once and for all that the money was never there. The balance book was misstated. This Board hired a new auditor and he has been working hard to reset everything to accurately reflect the Town’s finances. He then turned the floor over to Bill Sweet, Town Bookkeeper and Michael Richardsson, the Town’s labor consultant.
Bill Sweet prefaced his remarks stating that he wanted to try and explain how the Town had gotten to its current financial state. He further stated that in the months ahead the Town Board would be facing the difficult decision of whether to raise the Town Taxes by 30% or to cut roughly 30% from the Town Budget.
Michael Richardson next explained the costs of the Town’s contractural labor force (Highway and Police
Mr. Sweet then provided an overview of the revenues in Town. t Commenting “the damage wasn’t done in one year and it’s not going to get fixed in one year, and unfortunately everybody is going to feel it,” hecautioned that for the past two years, the Town had been trying to keep everyone employed business as usual, but in 2016 hard choices will need to be made.
Mr. Sweet then introduced the 2016 Tentative Budget, which includes a 12% decrease in expenses and $8.6 million in expenses. This translates into approximately a 6.2% increase spread across the entire Town.
At the conclusion of the presentation, Supervisor Rost commented that there was a lot of information for everyone to take in and digest. He pledged to keep the lines of communication with residents open and said he would be sharing information as he received it.
Click here to View a copy of the presentation. This information can also be found on the Town’s website.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
The Supervisor reported that he has been so tied up with the budget that he he didn’t have much to report for his update. He did say, however, that he had been in court with Perfect Cut a week prior at which time Perfect Cut filed a motion for a change of venue. They have a week to submit that request In writing and then all will wait for a ruling on that motion.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Rick Marsh wondered whether the Board could make any projections regarding what the might do to resolve the budget crisis? He added that it appeared to him that they were leaning toward cutting jobs.
Supervisor Rost responded that thiswas certainly one of the things that was on the table.
Mr. Marsh further commented that he had heard that the Board was looking at hiring more part-timer police officers while at the same time cutting dispatchers by taking midnight shifts away (to have that time covered by State Police) He asked if those things were being considered.
The Supervisor replied that every option is currently on the table.
Mr. Marsh then commented that in his personal experience (he is currently a full time police officer who started as a part-timer) while part-timers seemed like a good idea from a fiscal stanpoint , what tended to happen was that younger officers were hired for these jobs, trained and puton the road and then picked up other police departments. Also prevalent among part-timers are older policemen who are a little bit slower on response time. He also has concerns about coverage by State Police who are busy covering many other towns. He doesn’t feel that they would be able to respond to calls in Tuxedo in a timely manner. As far as cutting dispatchers is concerned, Mr. Marsh worries that the Town would not be able to reach Goshen because of poor radio reception in the area. He implored the Board to take all of these things into consideratiom when making decisions.
Supervisor Rost assured him that they would.
Resolutions, etc:
The following resolutions were adopted:
a Resolution to set Town Election on November 10, 2015 regarding Proposition to Increase Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library (Since the Board of Elections never received the application for this from the Town, thus a special election needs to be held.) Polling place will be the Town Clerk’s office.
Acknowledgment of Filing of 2016 Tentative Budget on September 30, 2015
a Resolution to adopt Introductory Local law #1 of 2015 entitled “Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law §3-c”
a Resolution to schedule Public Hearings to receive comments on 2016 Preliminary Budget and Special Improvement District charges, including Hamlet Sewer ad Sterling Mine Estates Drainage Districts on November 9, 2015 at 7:00 pm
a Resolution to authorize agreement to perform snow and ice control on County roads was TABLED.
Public Comments: Andy Berish asked for clarification on Election dates.
He was told that the General Election would be held on November 3and the Library Budget Election on November 10th.
Diana Petrosky asked for an update on the Pilgrim Pipeline.
Town Attorney Don Nichol replied that he was working on a draft resolution, which he hoped to have to the Town Board for their consideration shortly.
Councilman McMillan asked if Mr. Nichol was drafting a resolution to protest the pipeline in symbolism or “an ordinance with meat “that the Board could use?
Mr. Nichol replied that is the resolution was more of a protest but they are trying to back it up with some specific information. He further stated that technically, the Board can’t pass an ordinance that overrules State Law, however the State will consider what they pass.
Kim Stevens said she had been greatly disturbed by the blasting being done by Tuxedo Farms.
She was told to please call the Town Hall right away should this happen again and they would follow up with Related.
TOWN OF TUXEDO
NOTICE OF CHANGE OF DATE
PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION
INTRODUCTORY LOCAL LAW
TITLE: “A LOCAL LAW ENACTING CERTAIN ZONING AMENDMENTS
TO CHAPTER 98, ‘ZONING,’ OF THE CODE OF THE TOWN OF TUXEDO
TO CREATE THE ‘TOURISM BUSINESS’ ZONING DISTRICT”
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will continue the public hearing to hear comments on Introductory Local Law entitled, “A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments To Chapter 98, ‘Zoning,’ Of The Code Of The Town Of Tuxedo To Create The ‘Tourism Business’ Zoning District,” at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 9, 2015 at the Tuxedo Town Hall, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York, at which time all persons interested therein shall be heard.
Such Introductory Local Law would establish a new Tourism Business zoning district encompassing properties primarily with frontage on Route 17A located centrally within the Town of Tuxedo and Sterling Forest State Park which, once implemented, would (1) achieve the goals, objectives and vision of the Town of Tuxedo Comprehensive Plan Update and (2) introduce certain design standards which shall apply to uses within such district as well as the existing districts in the Town of Tuxedo. A complete copy of the Introductory Local Law is available for inspection at the Town Clerk's Office and at the Town website, www.tuxedogov.org.
The Town of Tuxedo will make every effort to assure that the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Town Clerk.
BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOARD
OF THE TOWN OF TUXEDO
ELAINE M. LAURENT, TOWN CLERK
Notice of Location Change For October 13 Town Board Meeting
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, 2015 will be held at the George Grant Mason Elementary School Multipurpose Room, 11 Hillside Avenue, Tuxedo, New York, commencing at 7:00 p.m.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Set Town Election on November 3, 2015 Regarding Proposition to Increase Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library
2. Acknowledgment of Filing of 2016 Tentative Budget on September 30, 2015
3. Resolution to Adopt Introductory Local Law #1 of 2015 Entitled, “Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law §3-c”
4. Resolution to Schedule Public Hearings to Receive Comments on 2016 Preliminary Budget and Special Improvement District Charges, Including Hamlet Sewer and Sterling Mine Estates Drainage District
5. Resolution to Authorize Agreement to Perform Snow and Ice Control on County Roads
6. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, September 28, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Public Hearing regarding Introductory Local Law Entitled “Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law 3-c”
Supervisor Rost opened the hearing by reading a statement from the Association of Towns which stated that the tax cap for 2016 will be 0.73%. This is less than half of 2015’s property tax cap! To read this statement, click here.
Michele Lindsay stated that, while she understood that a .73% cap might be too restrictive, the way the proposed law is written seems too open-ended to her. She wondered if the Board would consider passing a law which included a 2% cap or some other figure instead of “no control at all.”
The Supervisor responded that this was something they could look at.
Mrs. Lindsay also wondered if there was a period during which public comments would be accepted. She was told that comments had to be made at the public hearing.
Ulrich Pendl protested that he had only heard of the proposal the day prior when he received the meeting agenda via email. He was told that the proposed law had been posted on the Town’s website for 2 weeks and had also been published in the newspaper Mr. Pendl then wanted to know what the intent of the Board was in terms of how much they might need to exceed the cap. He further wondered when the budget would be available.
Supervisor Rost replied that he had started the budget process early because it entails so much work. The tentative budget will be turned in to the Town Clerk, as required, on Wednesday, September 30. Because .73% is such a small increase, the Board feels they need the option to raise the cap.. Mr. Pendl then wondered if there would be another public hearing setting a new tax cap and he was told there would be a public hearing on the budget. Mr. Pendl then complained that the agenda stated that the Board would vote on the law immediately following the public hearing. He was told that the resolution to adopt was going to be tabled.
Karen Dougher wondered if there was any penalty if the Town should exceed the tax cap.
The Supervisor replied that residents would not receive rebate checks from the State of New York.
Mrs. Dougher wondered if there was any further penalty and was told no.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported that a court date was being scheduled for the eviction of Perfect Cut. It looks like this might take place in the first week of October, but the date has not been confirmed as yet.
He added that he has been spending the majority of his time working on the budget and so he had nothing further to report.
Councilman McMillen reported receiving “many calls” from people complaining that Hunan Gardens restaurant has begun dumping greasy water on the road behind their building and this water has stained the road. This has created an eyesore as well as a dangerous, greasy condition. He requested that the Code Enforcement Officer go to investigate.
Resolutions/Reminders:
A Resolution to adopt Introductory Local Law #1 was tabled
A Reminder that there will be a continuation of the Public Hearing on Introductory Local Law on Zoning amendments which creates a “Tourism Business Zoning District” on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:00 pm
A Reminder of Family Fun Day at Murphy Field (which has since been rescheduled for Sat. October 10 from 11am to 3 pm.)
Public Comments: Michele Lindsay stated she was planning to attend the Village Board of Trustees meeting later that evening to hear the representative from Pilgrim Pipeline speak. She wondered if the Supervisor had any updates on the pipeline.
The Supervisor replied that he had not heard anything from the company and stated that if the Village meeting had been on a different night, he would have attended as well.
Karen Dougher wondered if there was an update from the Town Attorney on the resolution about the pipeline.
Supervisor Rost responded that they were still working on the verbiage for the resolution.
Mrs. Dougher asked if there were plans to include zoning ordinances.
The Supevisor replied that if Pilgrim Pipeline were to invoke eminent domain, there would be no point in anything like that. This is why the attorneys are studying it.
Mrs. Dougher then stated that since Pilgrim Pipeline is not a New York company, they can’t invoke eminent domain.
She was told they would become a New York company.
Town Attorney Protter was asked if he thought passing any zoning ordinances might make a difference and he declined to give an opinion since he is not the one who has been working on this matter.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter.
PUBLIC HEARING Regarding Introductory Local Law Entitled, "Relief from Tax Levy Limit
under General Municipal Law §3-c"
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Adopt Introductory Local Law Entitled, "Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law §3-c"
2. Reminder of Public Hearing Continuation at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 Regarding Introductory Local Law Entitled, "A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments to Chapter 98, 'Zoning,' of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Create the 'Tourism Business' Zoning District"
3. Reminder of 14th Annual Family Fun Day at Murphy Field on Saturday, October 3, 2015
4. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, September 14, 2015 at 7 pm. Councilman Phelps was absent.
Public Hearing regarding Introductory Local Law #1 of 2015 entitled “A Local Law enacting certai zoning amendments to Chapter 98, ‘Zoning’ of the Code of theTown of Tuxedo to create the ‘Tourism Business’ Zoning District”:
Town Attorney Don Nichols opened the hearing with a short history of the amendments, which were created to bring the Zoning Code in compliance with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan that was adopted two years ago. During the public hearings for the Comprehensive Plan, the section dealing with this district was one that was agreed upon by the majority of the public commenting at the time. The law covers the part of Town comprised of the Ski Center, the Renaissance Faire and the old Sterling Forest Gardens. It is intended to encourage those kinds of businesses for that area.
Andy Berish wondered if this law was what was causing the Ski Center to remain closed for the coming year. He was told no. In fact this law would encourage that kind of business!
Sue Papke asked for an “overview” of who owns what property in the proposed District. She was told this is a matter of public record.
Steven Spiegel, attorney for Faire Partners, wanted to know exactly which areas were covered and how the regulations would change. Supervisor Rost responded that he would be happy to provide him with all the information he needed. He promised to call him the next day to find out what that might be.
Mrs. Papke stated it was hard to make public comments when she didn’t know the details. When asked what details she wanted, she replied that there were “all sorts of talk around Town about the Town buying the Ski Center and then it stopped,” and she wondered why.
The Supervisor replied that the Town had merely looked into the property and this is as far as it had ever gone. Mrs. Papke then asked “but aren’t there numerous owners of the property?”
Attorney Nichols explained that ownership of the property was not the focus of this law, it is the use of the property that the Town is interested in.
Mr. Spiegel wondered whether there were plans to let the usage expand…for example to allow for housing on golf courses or ski mountains. It was explained to him that the area in question doesn’t have any golf courses and that the “ski mountain” really doesn’t lend itself to housing. Residential development is not permitted in the area.
The Supervisor again stated that if Mr. Spiegel would call him and give him a list of things he wanted to know, the Supervisor would provide it to him. He also stated that the Public Hearing would be kept open until at least the next Town Board meeting on September 28th.
Michele Lindsay wondered if some of the property was in Sterling Forest State Park and if so, how that would work? The Supervisor confirmed that some of the property was PIPC property and said that the District had stated that one purpose allowed for the land was recreational which is what Sterling Forest is. Attorney Nichols added that because Sterling Forest is a State Park, they will continue to be governed by the State laws and could override local zoning.
Mrs. Lindsay also wondered about the proposed usage as camps and wanted to know precisely what kind of camps would be allowed.
Mr. Nichols replied that it would depend on what was proposed by the owner of the property. At this point, no camps have been proposed.
Mrs. Lindsay also asked to have a letter written by Kristy Apostolides read into the record. She was told that the letter had been received and would be made a part of the official record.
Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost stated that he was still in talks with two different solar companies. He mentioned that a new program called Community Solar has come online. In it, certain members of the community will be able to participate in the program and receive discounts.
The Supervisor also reported that he was still working on the budget. The deadline for town departments is fast approaching and the Town Board is acutely aware that they need to roll up their sleeves and get to work on finalizing the budget. They are committed to doing things the right way and have an auditor who won’t allow them to do it any other way.
Additionally, he announced that Related has broken ground on the Sewer Plant.
The Supervisor further stated that the Town has received a number of complaints about invasive plant(s) in Town and thus the Board would be discussing this and possible solutions later in the meeting.
Finally, the Supervisor said that the tax cap for the town would be about .7% next year and therefore they would be introducing a new law to address this.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Dale Mottola asked about the identity of the Certiorari proceedings in Item #3. She was told it was David Dangoor and Specialized Reality Services, LLC.
Resolutions, etc:
The following were passed:
a Resolution to re-appoint Edward Brennan a Member of the Board of Assessment Review with a term expiring on 9/30/20.
a Discussion of Invasive Plant Species in Town. The Supervisor reported that the Board has received some complaints about invasive species particularly bamboo and they are wondering how to address these complaints. The possibility of drafting a law to prohibit a list of species was discussed but no one was quite sure how that would/could be enforced. It was suggested that a list could be drawn up and given to the Planning Board for use when approving future landscaping plans.
a Resolution to authorize Town Counsel to Defend Town in Certiorari Proceedings
a Resolution to introduce Local Law #2 of 2015 entitled, “Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law §3-c” This needs to be introduced now just in case the Town needs it. There will be a public hearing on September 28, 2015 at 7 pm
a Reminder of Family Fun Day to be held at Murphy Field on Saturday, October 3.
a Resolution to grant Special Use and Special Sign Permits for St. Mary’s Community Yard Sale at the Train Station on September 26
Public Comments:
Michele Lindsay stated that she was leaving flyers for A Better Tuxedo’s Community Forum to be held at 9 am on Saturday September 19 at George Grant Mason’s Community Room.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to discuss contract negotiations.
PUBLIC HEARING Regarding Introductory Local Law #1 of 2015 Entitled, "A Local Law Enacting Certain Zoning Amendments to Chapter 98, 'Zoning,' of the Code of the Town of Tuxedo to Create the 'Tourism Business' Zoning District"
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Re-Appoint Edward Brennan as Member of Board of Assessment Review
2. Resolution to Authorize Town Counsel to Draft Local Law Prohibiting Invasive Plant Species
3. Resolution to Authorize Town Counsel to Defend Town in Certiorari Proceedings
4. Resolution to Introduce Local Law #2 of2015 Entitled, "Relief from Tax Levy Limit under General Municipal Law §3-c"
5. Reminder of 141h Annual Family Fun Day at Murphy Field on Saturday, October 3, 2015
6. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
At Monday’s Town Board meeting, we received a full report from the town’s new auditor covering Fiscal Year 2014. We believe firmly in creating a new era of transparency and accountability here in Tuxedo, and the entire report and presentation can be reviewed here.
I had many concerns about the Town’s fiscal condition coming into office in 2014 and sought assistance from various individuals and agencies in evaluating the situation. That led to the State Comptroller General conducting an audit for the period of January 2013 to January 2014, but we were only made aware of the findings of this review in January of this year. The independent auditors from New York State confirmed some of my concerns - their report can be read here.
We took swift and immediate action. Since none of the issues raised by the Comptroller were evaluated by our independent accountant and auditor, we terminated our relationship and sought new professional help with the accounting team at Cooper Arias. The new auditors, Andrew Arias in particular, spent four months reviewing our records for 2013 and 2014, and did an outstanding job. This resulted in a restatement of balances going back two accounting years to more accurately reflect reality. Cooper Arias was instrumental in bringing many issues to light, and the Town Board takes their findings very seriously.
Although we only received the full audit report in July, we have already made several changes internally that will address the concerns found by Cooper Arias and Mrs. Easley. We have hired two new financially-savvy individuals - one in the finance department, and one on our Town Board - who have the skills and expertise to implement common-sense policies and procedures to fix the problems that exist. We have segregated duties and responsibilities within our financial management, updated our internal controls, outsourced our payroll processing, and are implementing time clocks in several departments. Since our accounting software is generations out-of-date, we evaluated four accounting systems earlier this year, one of which will be implemented on January 1st, 2016.
While the report was sobering, we welcome the findings as it reflects an accurate picture of the Town’s fiscal condition prior to 2015. I assure you that this year and moving forward will be different. The damage wasn’t done in a year, and although we have come a long way, many of the issues continue to require attention and thoughtful action.
The Town Board met on Monday, August 24, 2015 at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Rost was absent.
The meeting began with a presentation on Town Finances given by Town Auditor Andrew Arias and Town Bookkeeper Bill Sweet. A copy of their presentation can be seen here
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Michele Lindsay inquired about the item identifying Orange County Land Trust as a entity to hold conservation easements for the Town.
Attorney Larry Wolinsky explained that the resolution was merely to state that Orange County Land Trust would be an acceptable organization to hold the conservation easements. He added that this was only a very preliminary step in the process of dealing with the Northern Tract.
An attorney representing owner of the Renaissance Faire and Ski Center properties requested that the Town not schedule a public hearing on zoning changes until they had an opportunity to discuss the changes with the Town.
Town Attorney Wolinsky said that such comments were appropriate for a public hearing. He further commented that the property owner was welcome to contact the Board for discussion in advance of the hearing if he so chose.
A resident of Laurel Ridge wondered how he would go about finding out what the proposed zoning changes were? He was told that after the resolution was passed, the complete of the proposal would be posted on the Town’s website.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution introducing Local Law #1 of 2015 which creates a “Tourism Business Zoning District in Sterling Forest State Park for properties primarily with frontage on Route 17A. A public hearing on this law was set for September 14th at 7:00 pm.
A Resolution affirming that Orange County Land Trust would be an acceptable land trust to hold the conservation easements contemplated by the Special Permit as the same may ultimately be approved by the Town Board.
A Resolution to approve Towing License for C&E Autobody of Southfields.
A Resolution determining the validity of a petition for a proposition to increase the budgetary allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be included on the November 3, 2015 Ballot
A Resolution to grant special Sign Permits to Maskers Orchards for directional signs.
A Resolution to grant special Sign Permits to promote the Powerhouse Jam on September12th benefitting MyHarriman.com.
Public Comments: Andy Berish thanked the Board for passing a resolution against the Pilgrim Pipeline and asked if there was anything else that could be done to prevent the pipeline from coming to Town?
He was told that until the Pipeline announces a plan, there really is nothing that can legally be done.
It was pointed out that Mr. Berish and other residents could start a petition against the Pipeline stating their opposition to the project. It was also mentioned that the Town could start looking into changing their zoning code to prohibit any pipelines.
Bill Sweet stated that he and Mrs. Lindsay were present to represent the group “A Better Tuxedo,” which is trying to get the various parts of Town together to promote the Town and make improvements to it. This group is sponsoring a public meeting at GGM on September 19th at which residents from all parts of Town are invited to come and voice their thoughts on the future of the Town.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
PRESENTATIONS BY TOWN AUDITOR REGARDING RESULTS OF 2014 INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL AUDIT AND BY TOWN BOOKKEEPER REGARDING CURRENT TOWN FINANCES
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing on Zoning Changes
2. Resolution Affirming that Orange County Land Trust would be an acceptable land trust to hold the conservation easements contemplated by the Special Permit as the same may ultimately be approved by the Town Board.
3. Resolution to Approve Towing License for C&E Autobody, Southfields, NY
4. Resolution Determining the Validity of a Petition for a Proposition to Increase the Budgetary Allocation for the Tuxedo Park Library to be Included on the November 3, 2015 Ballot
5. Resolution to Grant Special Sign Permits to Masker Orchards for Directional Signs
6. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, August 10, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting and thanked everyone for coming. Although the meeting was slated to be a vouchers only meeting, the Board also was receiving a presentation from Kate Hudson of Riverkeeper on the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline project.
Prior to that presentation, the Supervisor announced that the Board had directed their counsel to draft a resolution in opposition to the Pipeline. This announcement was met with applause from the audience. Additionally, he reported that the complaint filed by Perfect Cut against the Town has been dismissed by the Judge so now they can move back to the Tuxedo Town Court for the eviction proceeding.
The Supervisor then turned the meeting over to Ms. Hudson, after stating that she would be giving a presentation to the Board and thus there would be no question and answer period. However, he added that perhaps Ms. Hudson would agree to answer a few questions while the Board signed their vouchers.
After introducing herself and giving a brief description of Riverkeeper, Ms. Hudson spoke on the Pipeline and its perils. To see a copy of her presentation, click here. After the presentation, vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 27, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported having met with the Finance Committee last week and noted that they were starting work on the budget. Additionally, he stated that the Town Auditor has finished his report on Fiscal 2014. This will be posted to the Town website. Bill Sweet is working on setting up a time in August when the Auditor can be present to answer any questions the Board members or residents might have for him. At that time, Mr. Sweet will also give a presentation about where the Town currently stands financially.
Supervisor Rost and Councilman McMillan met with the OnForce Solar Company to discuss bids and figures. They have decided to get a few more bids from additional companies in order to make sure that the Town gets the best possible deal.
Agenda Items:
Resolution to Grant Special Sign Permit to Northern Tuxedo Residents Association for Signboard at Entrance to Tichy Field.
Residents Claudia Baktiary and Donna Weinand requested permission to erect a plexiglass enclosed signboard at the entrance to Tichy Field for the purpose of posting community events and information. The sign will be locked and posting will only be able to be done by Ms. Baktiary and Weinand who will have the only keys. Council Member Reardon expressed some concern that the board should be updated in a timely manner and that it should consist of information from all parts of Town. The Northern Tuxedo residents stressed that this was not a board run by the Town Board, but rather by the residents.
Resolution to Grant Special Sign Permit to Tuxedo School District for Signs Promoting School Distric and Nonresident Scholarships.
Although the school had only requested 4 signs, the Clerk wrote the resolution for 20 signs which will be displayed between July 30-August 31, 2015. The Board approved the 20 signs.
Discussion and Possible Resolution to Approve Overflow Renaissance Faire Parking at Red Apple Rest. The intention is that this will put an end to parking along Route 17A. There are an additional 300 spots at the Red Apple site and more spots could be made available by the Tuxedo Auto Body. The Faire will fill their lots first and then start diverting Faire-goers to the Red Apple site which will be served by School buses transferring people back and forth. These buses will drive on back roads through Benjamin Meadow. It is anticipated that these routes would start around 3 pm and the buses would run approximately every 45 minutes. This would be for the month of September only. The Renaissance Faire has also rented 4 electronic signs for September, which will direct people for parking as well as for apple picking.
Discussion of Blasting Fees. The company that was awarded the bid for blasting in Tuxedo Farms has asked the Town to consider lowering their blasting fees as it finds our fees significantly higher than other towns in the region. Apparently they did not check this prior to making their bid. There was some feeling that if the company had failed to do their homework and thus not made their bid high enough, this should not be the Town’s problem. It was decided that the Board would do some more research in regard to the fees charged by other Towns and the matter was thus tabled until a future meeting.
5. Discussion of Zoning Amendment. Supervisor Rost opened the discussion by saying that the Board had been working on zoning amendments for quite a long time. While there is still some work to be done to fine tune the amendments, they are all in agreement on the zoning for the area around the Ski Center as a Tourism/Business Zone. Town Attorney Nichol explained that instead of waiting for everything else to be done, they are proposing to send that part of the amendments to Orange County for their review (maximum of 30 days) after which a public hearing will be scheduled and the Board can move forward and vote on this part of the amendments. Kristy Apostolides wanted to know why this was being done and expressed her opinion that this could be an issue with the SEQR process if it was determined to be segmentation. Mr. Nichol assured her that this would not be the case.
Public Comments: Andy Berish wondered if there was anything that could be done to stop the Pilgrim Pipeline.
Supervisor Rost responded that as there is not a proposal currently in front of the Town, he doesn’t see that there is anything that can be done.
Kristy Apostolides pointed out that they could pass a resolution against it but the Board doesn’t feel that this would do any good without a prior proposal. Ms. Apostolides pointed out that the pipeline people might not need permission in order to proceed with the project.
Supervisor Rost responded that if they didn’t need permission, then there would be no point in passing a resolution to prevent it.
Sue Scher asked if a representative from Riverkeeper would still be speaking on the Pipeline.
Councilman McMillan replied that yes, they were still trying to schedule this.
Ms. Scher then asked for details about what is happening with the mulch pile and the court.
Town Attorney Nichol replied that Perfect Cut has asked for something called a Yellowstone Injunction, which would allow them to cure their defaults. Since one of the defaults has to do with nonpayment of fees and there has been no attempt by Perfect Cut to pay what is owed, the Town has asked for a dismissal of this injunction. The Judge said that he wouldn’t delay his decision on this dismissal but he also wouldn’t expedite it, and since he presently has many many cases in front of him, the Town will have to wait its turn.
Vouchers were then signed and the Board adjourned into Executive Session to receive legal counsel.
A message from the Town Supervisor
Posted: 7/22/15
Hello Tuxedo,
Things have been quiet but I want to update you all on some current issues. The Town Board on Monday voted unanimously to appoint Valerie Reardon to the seat vacated by Kristian Matthews. Val will apply her experience in ethics compliance and internal controls auditing, making her uniquely qualified for this position. Val also holds two MBA’s, a BA and is a CPA. We are fortunate she is willing to bring her talents to Town Hall and welcome her to the team. Please follow this link to see her bio. http://www.tuxedogov.org/ The business before the Town Board has been negotiating our police and highway labor contracts. The Town is still in the process of evicting Perfect Cut from our property located on Long Meadow Road. We began working on our 2016 budget, and 2016 will prove to be a very challenging year financially. Finally, we will be breaking ground on the new sewer plant for the Hamlet very soon.
The Town Board retained a labor consultant to work with our town attorney to manage the negotiations with both the highway and police unions. These bargaining agreements are very important for the Town, and need to be done correctly and favorable for both parties. We felt it was best to hire someone with the experience and knowledge to guide us through this process. While the highway talks are progressing, the police talks are more complicated because the board wants to exercise its’ right to introduce a part time position to the police force and have our employees punch in and out on a time clock.
The part time position, as originally proposed, would let the Town hire part time officers through attrition. No officer would lose his employment with the Town of Tuxedo and it would lead to future savings for the Town. While the Board recognizes we have a highly trained and professional police department, the current structure is simply not sustainable. We are determined to work towards the best deal for the Town that will improve controls, limit risk and be the most cost effective while being fair to our employees. Attached to this email you will find information published in 2010 from Orange County that compares the Tuxedo police department to other towns.
The implementation of the time clock at the police station has been delayed because the Town must first negotiate this “new procedure” with the police union. The Town Board approved the outsourcing of payroll to increase productivity and efficiencies at Town Hall. We currently manually track time and attendance as well as process manual checks. We need to move forward with the outsourcing not simply to improve efficiencies at Town Hall but also to improve controls. Please follow this link to see a report from the Comptroller’s office and newspaper article regarding this issue. http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/towns/2015/goshen.htm http://www.recordonline.com/article/20150202/NEWS/150209859
Concerning the litigation between Perfect Cut and the Town, there is a meeting scheduled for the 28th in front of the Judge and we are hopeful for a favorable outcome for the Town so we can move forward with the eviction process.
The first building permit for the Tuxedo Farms development is close to being issued. This building permit would be for clearing and grading. The Northern Tract is a popular subject for discussion lately and I met with the Orange County Land trust on July 8th to discuss the easement on the Northern Tract. More meetings need to be held and I will keep you informed as the information becomes available.
I will keep you updated on these and any other events that come before the board.
The Town Board met on Monday, July 13, 2015 at 7 pm. Councilman Loncar was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost reported having met with representatives of Orange County Land Trust to begin talks about their managing the easement on the Northern Tract land. He described it as a very preliminary but good meeting. There will be many more meetings to follow up on this subject.
The Supervisor also reported that Perfect Cut will be in Orange County Court, before the Judge on July 28th. In the meantime, they have done a lot of work on the site at the Highway garage. A tremendous amount of mulch has been moved out and the piles are way down. Even the logs are starting to move out and there has been some progress made on the dirt.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
There were no comments or questions from the public.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed unanimously:
a Resolution to appoint Valerie Reardon as Town Councilmember to fill a vacancy. This resolution was preceeded by discussion among the Board members. The Supervisor said that the Board had decided to go for the rest of the year without appointing anyone to this position because they could not agree on any of the people who had expressed interest. However, when they found out that Mrs. Reardon was interested, this changed. Her credentials are impeccable and include skills that will add to Town Board i.e. she is “responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of EmblemHealth’s (where she is Senior VP) Compliance program.” She is also a CPA and hold a BA and two MBAs. The Board feels lucky that Mrs. Reardon has agreed to serve. Councilman Phelps concurred and said he had interviewed her both for the Board and with the Republican Committee and was very impressed with her both times. Councilman McMillen said he also agreed.
a Resolution to approve $265,000.00 Improvement Bond and $50,000 Inspection Escrow for Tuxedo Farms Development. This was studied and approved by the Town Planning Board.
Public Comments: Andy Berish asked where the Town stood with the Pilgrim Pipeline. He attended the meeting at St. Mary’s where Target Tuxedo presented a talk on the subject. He reported not being able to see the map well and wondered if the Town could provide him with a better one.
Supervisor Rost responded that he had also attended the meeting. The map shown was one they had obtained from the Town. There is no definite route for the Pipeline that he knows of. When they hear that a route has been chosen, they will certainly delve into the subject and let the residents know what they find out.
Janet Galuska thanked the Town for the work they have done on cleaning up Powerhouse Park. She would like to see the Town put up a sign asking people to comply with the Town’s existing leash law as many people are letting their dogs run free in the Park and the dogs are making a mess on the property.
Since both Mrs. Reardon and the Town Clerk were present, she was then sworn in as Councilperson.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board held a Special Meeting on Monday, June 29, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
The reason for the meeting was to hold an executive session for the purpose of interviewing a candidate for the vacant Town Board seat. Town resident Kristy Apostolides objected to this. Supervisor Rost told her that interviews were always conducted in closed sessions. He added that the Board did not intend to appoint anyone to the seat at this time; they were merely conducting an interview. Ms. Apostolides countered that she was not concerned with what had happened in the past, rather she wanted to address what was happening right now. The Supervisor reiterated that interviews were always conducted in closed sessions. Ms. Apostolides replied that she found what the Board was doing a little strange so she had contacted the Committee on Open Meetings and they referred her to a court decision which states that when appointing someone to fulfill an unexpired term of an elected official, the discussion of selection should be subject to public input and scrutiny. The Supervisor and Board members assured Ms. Apostolides that they would not be “discussing the selection” of the Board member, they were merely conducting an interview. The Board stated that any discussion of the selection would, in fact, be done in a public meeting. Ms Apostolides then stated that she hoped the Board would be conducting interviews with the other people who had expressed interest in the position as well. She said she knew of 3 people who were interested. She was told that the Board members, individually, had been talking to people. She was also told that this process was no different from the one followed when Councilman McMillan was appointed to the Board. Ms. Apostolides answered, “I know. But, it’s questionable. I want to make sure that you are aware of the Open Meetings Law. You promised transparency and this is one of the things you should be well versed in.” She was told that the Board was following advice of their attorney to which she replied “attorneys can make mistakes as well.” After thanking Ms. Apostolides for her comments, the Board adjourned into Executive Session.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 22, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Monthly Reports:
Highway Dept: Deputy Superintendent Marusich stated that presently Orange County is paying the Town $44,600 per year for plowing of Long Meadow Road and part of Sterling Mine Road. This amount has not increased in at least 5 years, but given the rise in the price for salt, Mr. Marusich feels the Town should consider asking for more money. Next he noted that there was a house in Southfields, north of Brandy Hill, which he believes is owned by the Bank and which has some trees that block the view for motorists. Last year, the Town pruned the trees and sent a bill to the Bank and Mr. Marusich would like to do so again this year. Permission was given. Recently, the Town Highway Dept. has done some patching of potholes on Route 17 and Mr. Marusich would like to submit a bill to the State in order to recoup some of the money that this cost. He agreed to supply the numbers on the costs and the Town will try to get the State to pay. Mr. Marusich has been approached by an Eagle Scout for assistance to do an Eagle project near the Fire Pond on Salierno Drive. The project would consist of installing a railroad tie fence, a picnic table and bench as well as two planters. The Board gave permission for him to assist. Lastly, Mr. Marusich reported that the street signs (speed limit) in Town are not up to the present code (they need to be bigger) so he suggested that the Town start thinking about replacing them. The Board said they would look into running this through the LDC for Tuxedo Farms.
Police Dept: Chief Welsh said the department was looking forward to the State’s installing No Parking signs on Route 17, which would make for a safer experience during the Renaissance Faire. He reported that the State is still repairing some potholes. He is also working to bring the security equipment in the Police Headquarters up to date. Councilman McMillen has been assisting Lieutenant Norton with this project.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update: Supervisor Rost stated that he is about to start working on the budget. He is starting this process much earlier than in previous years as he feels this will be the most challenging year yet for the Town. Over the last 2 years, he has negotiated payments to the Town of $2.5 million (from Genting and Tuxedo Farms) but those payments will not be coming this year. Meanwhile, Healthcare costs are increasing and there are contractual raises and retirement needs to be accounted for, i.e. there are a lot of challenges to be faced in the coming year.
The Supervisor reported that the Town is still waiting for a court date regarding the Perfect Cut eviction. Town Attorney Nichol added that he had just written a letter to Judge Onofry asking him to uphold the Town’s motion to dismiss Mr. Guggino’s Order to Show Cause.
Perfect Cut is still not paying any rent and continues to operate on the Town property. Mr. Nichol asked the Judge to dissolve the Restraining Order or, at a minimum, order compliance with the lease pending the decision.
Supervisor Rost also announced that Tuxedo Farms should be breaking ground for the sewer plant in the first week of July. On Tuesday, the Board has meetings to begin contract negotiations with both the police and highway departments.
Turning his attention to the proposed Agenda Item #2 (establishment of a part time Police position) the Supervisor stated that he had been discussing this with other Supervisors and Mayors at the Association of Towns. All of them reported a reduction of costs when taking on part timers as there is no paying of sick days, vacation days, health benefits or retirement. While he values the present police department and looks forward to having them serve the Town for many years to come, the population of the Town will be increasing with the build out of Tuxedo Farms and the department will need to grow. The Supervisor would like to have the option of growing the Force with part time officers.
Deputy Supervisor Phelps reported having met with two representatives of the Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses) to discuss a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program. He said he had laid out the Town’s needs and also pointed out all of the properties that had come off the tax roll. The Witnesses said they would discuss this possibility with their Board.
Mr. Phelps also stated that there probably wasn’t anyone on the Board who had been a bigger supporter of the Town’s Police Department than himself, but he felt the time has come for the Town to look ahead and consider some part timers.
Councilman McMillen stated that as a way of doing due diligence, he had contacted 3 police departments in the area. He said that using part timers simply because “everyone else is doing it,” wasn’t a good enough reason for him. He discovered that the Town of Walkill had gone to part timers because they had a “financial emergency” and thus had no choice. The Town of Montgomery is in “such a war with the PBA” that they declared they would push through the use of part timers. The Town of New Windsor is currently at $37,000 in expenses from fighting litigation with the PBA. The Councilman added that with part timers comes a reduced skill set. As a result of not having them, the Town of Tuxedo has the lowest crime rate in all of Orange County. He also stated that he hadn’t seen any cost analyses and felt he couldn’t vote on the resolution because of this.
Councilman Loncar added that he agreed with Councilman McMillen that there hadn’t been enough due diligence done. He feels that the Board should look at “other cost savings” before they go to part time policemen. He wonders how many part timers would be necessary in order to save money?
Councilman McMillen expressed his opinion that down the line the Town would be replacing full timers with part timers due to attrition. He fears that this will result in a revolving door of officers. He worries about the cost to the community.
Councilman Phelps responded that not paying healthcare and pensions will relieve a huge financial burden that is currently placed on the Town. He pointed out that he had been a champion of moving salaries up in order to keep the officers. He also pushed for 2 detectives and 2 sergeants so that the men would have something to move up to and thus would stay here. Although he wants to work with the present force, he feels the Town has to start to look ahead.
Police Chief Welsh stated that Walkill’s move to part timers was due to a federal decree because all the full timers got fired due to corruption. The Chief stated that he was both the Chief and a resident/taxpayer of the Town. As a resident, he can’t disagree with the numbers being talked about. As a Police Chief, he wants to see a professional police department. For the amount of taxes that he pays, he sees a volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance corps and he doesn’t want a part time police department. He asked the question “if you have a water leak in the middle of the night and your ceiling starts to fall in, do you call an electrician? No, you call a plumber, so please don’t call an electrician to do our job.” He added that there is a place for part timers and he admitted that they would indeed save money for the Town. He also agreed that Councilman Phelps had always been a 100% backer of the Police Department. Finally, he stated that there were good part time police officers out there and said that if his department had to go part time, he would ensure that he would only hire the best.
Councilman Phelps interjected that the part timers were not being proposed to replace any officers, but as supplementary officers.
Councilman McMillen further stated that there might need to be negotiations with the PBA to allow part timers, which could run into litigation.
Councilman Phelps responded that it was part of the negotiations. He added that sometimes one just has to have the courage to butt heads with people.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Sue Papke wondered if anyone had done an analysis of police overtime?
Supervisor Rost replied no because there is a lot of contractual overtime that is not manageable.
Councilman Loncar disagreed saying he has been asking for an analysis and he feels it is manageable.
Police Chief Welsh stated that 90% of the overtime is contractual. He went on to say that when he took over the department, there was “a revolving door police department,” by which he means that young officers out of the Academy would be hired and they would come and get trained by the Tuxedo force and then move on to “greener pastures.” This practice has since stopped that and now The Town employes 7 full time police officers, who have unfortunately reached top pay. In order to keep officers in Tuxedo, there’s a price to be paid. Now Tuxedo has officers who are collecting top pay and the collective bargaining agreement says that there has to be two of them on duty at all times, 24 hours a day. In addition there is vacation time, holiday time, sick time, comp time and that costs money. He acknowledged that the Board was doing their due diligence and looking at ways to cut costs because that is what they are elected to do. He wondered, however, at what price? He admitted that the force was very “top heavy” at the moment but he said it was something he took pride in because it meant that nobody left. He reiterated that the Board was just doing their job and said he was also doing his.
Mrs. Papke then asked what the projected deficit would be for next year?
Supervisor Rost responded that the Town had received $750,000 from Related last year and that they would not be receiving that this year. He added that he was just starting the budget process and that he had spent the last year and a half digging the Town out of a hole. Mrs. Papke conceded this. The Supervisor said this was why he was starting the budget process early.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were acted on:
a Resolution to authorize posting of open Architectural Review Board position to replace Robert Currie who has resigned
a Resolution to approve establishment of part-time police position was tabled due to lack of votes
a Resolution to approved towing license for Apple Automotive, Inc. was passed unanimously.
Other Business:
A Resolution to establish the Summer Town Board meeting schedule was passed. The meeting dates are as follows:
July 13 – Voucher meeting
July 27 – Regular meeting
August 10 – Voucher meeting
August 24 – Regular meeting
Public Comments: Claudia Baktiary wondered if there was any way to fund raise for the Police Department?
Chief Welsh thanked her for the thought but said it was not acceptable for the police to accept money from Town residents. However, he added something might be arranged through the PBA. Ms. Baktiary asked if there was a wish list?
Michele Lindsay pointed out that Town Attorney Nichol is also the lawyer for Kiryas Joel and wondered how this would impact any open discussion of the issues of the proposed annexation in Monroe?
Councilman Loncar responded that he didn’t see the situation as an issue at all.
Attorney Nichol said that if he couldn’t represent the Town to the fullest he would have to recuse himself. So far, there hasn’t been an issue that was impacted.
Councilman McMillen stated that a few meetings ago, the Town had listened to someone representing the Pilgrim Pipeline present their case to the Town. Since then he has received email from people who are opposed to the Pipeline. He has been approached by Kate Hutson who represents Riverkeepers. She would like to make a presentation to the Town. He asked if that was something that could be done. He was told yes, the Board feels the better educated they are, the better.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Monday, June 8, 2015 qt 7 pm. Councilman Phelps was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
The Supervisor reported having spent time working on Perfect Cut. He added that the Board would be going into Executive Session to receive legal counsel on this subject at the conclusion of the meeting. A court date has still not been scheduled.
Mike Marusich from the Highway Department will be meeting with the representative from On Force Solar on Tuesday, June 9 and taking him around to look at possible sites to install solar panels in town.
The Board has also been involved in labor negotiations with the Highway and Police departments, both of which are progressing.
Supervisor Rost thanked the boy scouts who spent time the past weekend cleaning up Tichy Field.
Coming up this weekend is the Placemaking Tour of Tuxedo. Detailed information can be found on the Town website. This tour is being sponsored by the Orange County Citizens Foundation along with the Orange County Partnership and the Sterling Forest Partnership. The tour will take place from 9-11:30 am. Interested participants should be at the Train Station by 9 am.
The Supervisor then asked Town Attorney Don Nichol to explain the first two items on the agenda. Mr. Nichol responded that these were follow ups to the MOU (Memo of Understanding) that the Town has entered into relating to the wastewater treatment plant for Tuxedo Farms. The first agreement spells out the legalities of the sewer services which are to be provided to the new district for Tuxedo Farms. The second agreement relates to the funding of the sewer improvements and how that will be handled. Essentially, there is a fail safe provision where, in the unanticipated event that something goes wrong, the costs will go back to the Related Companies.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were acted upon:
a Resolution to approve execution of Sewer Services Agreement dated as of June 1, 2015 by and among the Town of Tuxedo on its behalf and that of the Hamlet of Tuxedo Sewer District and the Tuxedo Farms Sewer District; the Tuxedo Farms Local Development Corporation; Tuxedo Reserve Owner, LLC; and the Tuxedo Sewage Works Corp. – passed unanimously.
a Resolution to consent to Sewer Construction and Funding Agreement by and among Tuxedo Farms Local Development Corporation, Tuxedo Reserve Owner, LL and Tuxedo Sewage-Works Corp. – passed unanimously
a Resolution to approve the towing license for Apple Auto Body – this was tabled pending further investigation.
a Resolution to authorize Agreement for Police Coverage for Renaissance Faire 2015 – passed unanimously however Councilmen McMillen and Loncar will pursue a meeting with the head of the Ren Faire to try to find a way to produce more positive revenue for the Town.
a Resolution to grant special Sign Permit to Renaissance Faire for directional signs – passed unanimously however Councilman McMillen will have further discussions with the Ren Faire about providing an electronic sign for traffic control. Dale Mottola suggested that the Town ask the Ren Faire to purchase the electronic signs for the Town (we currently borrow them the County and they aren’t always available).
Public Comments: Dale Mottola, Chair of the Town Architectural Review Board, announced that member Bob Currie has resigned thus creating a vacancy on that Board.
Karen Dougher stated that she has been in communication with the Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline (CAP) and that they are willing to come in and address the Board.
She was told that she should wait on the proposition since the Board doesn’t have any hard information about the Pipeline including where they are proposing to locate it. Supervisor Rost further commented that when the time is right, the Board will be happy to have CAP come in and address them.
Iris Marie Bloom, representing CAP, stated that the Town of Newburgh has passed a resolution noting their opposition to the Pipeline becoming the 15th Town in New York State to do so. She, too, was told that the Board was not at the point where they wanted to consider such a resolution because they simply don’t have enough information. She offered to forward to the Board a statement on pipeline safety written by a former Tuxedo resident. The Board thanked her for her offer and said they would be happy to look at the statement.
Vouchers were signed and the Board adjourned into Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Approve Towing License
2. Resolution to Authorize Agreement for Police Coverage for Renaissance Faire® 2015
3. Resolution to Grant Special Sign Permit to Renaissance Faire® for Directional Signs
4. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Agenda for Special Town Board Meeting June 1, 2015
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Recess into Executive Session for the Purposes of Discussing Upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations and Receiving Advice from Counsel Regarding Tuxedo Farms Northern Tract
2. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost began by commenting that the previous day’s Memorial Day celebration had been a great one.
He went on to say that the Tuxedo Farms LDC has been meeting regularly and has reached a preliminary approval to move forward on the bonds. As long as the attorneys can agree on the language, Related may break ground on the sewage plant during the first week of July!
The Supervisor also stated that Perfect Cut is still waiting for their next court date.
Councilman McMillan gave the following explanation for Agenda item #1, a resolution to ban 53 ft. trucks from Route 17.
Assemblyman James Skoufis (99th Assembly District) came to the Town asking for their support in banning these trucks from Route 17 from Exit 15A to Newburgh. These trucks are getting off the Thruway and using Route 17 as a way to avoid the toll. There is a safety issue for the Town, as well as a noise issue. Also, the fact that the road wasn’t designed to hold up to the weight of these vehicles means that they contribute seriously to the potholes on the road. Trucks that are 48 feet and below, which are the local delivery vehicles, will not be affected. The 53 -oot trucks basically go from terminal to terminal so there is no good reason for them to be on Route 17.
Police Chief Welsh gave an explanation for Agenda Item # 2 (which was not voted on because it needs to be rewritten) When it is finalized, the resolution will prohibit all parking on Route 17A due to the Renaissance Faire or other large events such as the Spartan Race. Instead of parking on the roadway, the Ren. Faire people will rent alternative parking lots (such as the Red Apple Rest) and school buses will then ferry people from these lots via Bramertown Road directly to the Ren Faire property (thus arriving on the proper side of the road to avoid the need for people to cross the road). This will be voted on at the next Town Board meeting.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish wondered what the proposed parking ban would do with the Coach buses which are now stopping to take on passengers on the ramp from 17 to 17A (and thus creating a traffic jam).
Councilman McMillan responded that he had discovered that the place where the bus is stopping is owned by PIPC so he is trying to arrange a conversation with them in order to work on ameliorating this problem.
Nate Wolinsky wondered if there was any way the Town could host some of the overflow parking from the Renaissance Faire and other events on Quarry Field and thus have a way to make some money.
Supervisor Rost and Councilman McMillan responded that they were looking into that.
Mr. Wolinsky also asked for an explanation of Item #3—Ski Side Villas.
He was told that this is the 5-house subdivision on Katrina Court. When it was built, the developer didn’t do a very good job on the road and the Town and Developer have been feuding for a while about who should pay for bringing the road up to the standards demanded by the Town before they would accept the road.
Dale Mottola stated that although she is a customer of the Village of Tuxedo Park’s water company, she did not get a notice of a public hearing for a rate increase.
No one else in the room knew anything about a hearing either. It was decided that Supervisor Rost would contact Tuxedo Park Mayor Neuhauser and ask about a public hearing as many people present had questions about the increase.
Resolutions, etc.:
The following were passed unanimously:
a Resolution to request De-Designation of Route 17 as an Access Route for Tractor-Trailers between mile markers 17/8310//1284 and 17/8310/132 Southbound – Northbound mile markers will be added to the resolution.
a Resolution to finalize outstanding issues regarding Ski Side Villas subdivision -- Developer Torso will pay the Town $25,000.
a Notification of water rate increase by Village of Tuxedo Park effective June 1, 2015.
Other Business:
An amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding for the construction and operation of a new wastewater collection system and sewage treatment plant for Tuxedo Farms was discussed and passed unanimously. Town Attorney explained that this amendment did the following things:
Formally makes mention of the new Special Permit issued to Related
Includes a listing of the plans for the wastewater collection system and sewage treatment plant
Waives the requirement for sprinklers – since there are no residents in the building
Sets a payment schedule
Public Comments: Dale Mottola commented that the last time she had been down to the site for the new sewage plant, she noticed what looked like an awful lot of new dirt on Town property. She wondered if any arrangements had been made to move it?
Supervisor Rost replied that he had recently received an email from Orange and Rockland Utilities stating that they have a problem with the height of the dirt so this problem is definitely about to be addressed.
Town Attorney Nichol commented that any dirt on the property where the plant will be built must be moved. Tuxedo Farms has taken the responsibility to get it moved. One of the attorneys for Tuxedo Farms added that they were not moving the dirt but had made an arrangement with the excavator (DeMarino) to get it moved.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Request De-Designation of Route 17 as an Access Route for Tractor Trailers Between Mile Markers 17/8310/1284 and 17/8310/1312 Southbound
2. Resolution to Request Parking Prohibition on South Ramp from Route 17A to Southbound Route 17
3. Resolution to Finalize Outstanding Issues Regarding Ski Side Villas Subdivision
4. Notification of Water Rate Increase by Village of Tuxedo Park Effective June 1, 2015
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 7 pm. All members were present.
Public hearings regarding the Establishment of the Tuxedo Farms Drainage District and Lighting District:
There were no comments from the public on either of the proposed districts.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost announced that the Town had been in court in Goshen on May 6 regarding the Perfect Cut eviction. The Judge heard arguments but did not make any ruling so this will be followed up with another court date.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Sue Scher asked the Supervisor if he would give more details about what had happened in court with Perfect Cut.
The Supervisor asked Town Attorney Howard Protter to answer. Mr. Protter, who had not been in court himself but who had been briefed by Attorney Don Nichol, said that Perfect Cut was contesting the fact that the Town says Perfect Cut is in breach of contract. They are contesting the fact that the agreement was not renewed and that they are now a “holdover.” They allege that they had oral discussions with “various people around Town” which supports their contention and explains their behavior. The Judge declined to rule on any motions and said he needed time to research it and would make a ruling shortly.
Presentation by Mr. John Casellini, President of Ways & Means NY, regarding Pilgrim Pipeline:
Mr. Casellini began his presentation by stating that the Northeast uses 2% of the world’s oil. Because they are a demand driven market, there are approximately 3 billion gallons of “finished product” moving from NJ up to Albany. Right now, it is being moved by barge. That alone was enough to get people thinking about a cheaper, safer way to move the product. Then crude oil is travelling the reverse course coming south to NJ to be refined. This is coming both by rail and by barge. Thus, ), the Pilgrim Pipeline people thought it was time to provide a new way for it to travel and are proposing to put in two pipelines. A formal submission for the Pipeline has not yet occurred When it does happen, it will be an environmental filing that will go first to the Thruway Authority and then to all the Towns and Villages (including Tuxedo) that exist along the right of way.
While there are not as yet any definitive plans, the basic idea is to move the product in a safer, more effective manor than what is currently being utilized. The pipeline would make things both safer and more effective by removing the volatility from the product while it is being moved. The pipelines being used today are all built post 1990 and are completely safe. There are no instances of pipeline failure in the post 1990 pipelines.
Mr Casellini also apologized for any pipeline representatives who had approached residents in the past about using their property, in some cases trespassing on said property. He said all those workers had been fired and representatives have not been back out in the field since.
Mr. Casellini then presented a map of the proposed path for the the Pipeline. Click here to view a copy of the map. For the most part, the path follows the Thruway’s right of way and lies between the Thruway and Route 17. Click here to see a copy of Mr. Casellini’s presentation.
The floor was then opened up to questions.
Supervisor Rost commented that he thought some of the concerns of residents had been addressed—chiefly those about the safety of the pipeline itself—but he wondered if the pipeline would be above or below ground. Mr. Casellini responded that it would be at least 5 ½ feet below ground in a 3 foot wide trench and would always be below the frost line. Near any waterways, it would always go underneath those in the bedrock. The pipeline is segmented with a shut off valve every 10 miles. Councilman McMillen wondered why they were following the Thruway rather than the rail line.
Mr. Casellini replied that the rail line was not likely to want a competing form of transport using their right of way. Once the project is completed, there will be 3 possible modes of transportation: rail, barge and pipeline with the pipeline being by far the cheapest and safest option.
Iris Marie Bloom, representing the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline, inquired as to the track record of the executives of Pilgrim Pipeline. She said she had heard they had several people from Koch Industries which has the worst track record of all pipeline companies, with over 300 spills that they are responsible for. She wondered how the people who would be directly impacted by the Pipeline could gauge the track record? She also wanted to know what company would actually build the Pipeline. She has heard that it might be Enbridge, the company responsible for the Kalamazoo disaster.
Mr. Casellini replied that neither the Koch Brothers, Koch Industries or Enbridge have anything to do with the Pipeline.
Geoff Welsh of the Ramapo River Watershed said that the Ramapo is a sole source aquifer and as such is especially environmentally sensitive. He mentioned that there is considerable opposition to the project in New Jersey as well.
Mr. Casellini responded that they have no interest in trying to jeopardize any environmentally sensitive areas.
Jim Hays wondered if the pipeline would be buried in bedrock throughout Tuxedo?
He was told yes, it would be.
Ken English asked if any of the land on the proposed route for the pipeline was owned by the Town of Tuxedo?
Supervisor Rost replied that to be honest, he didn’t know as this was the first time he had seen the map.
Mr. Casellini added that this was the first proposed route and as the process continues, he was sure there would be objections which would need to be worked out.
Michele Lindsay inquired as to how they planned to deal with private property?
Mr. Casellini responded that they would meet with any and all owners of private property to request permission to travel through the property and then negotiate with the property owners. He further stated that they have no eminent domain powers.
Kristy Apostolides stated that she had looked at plans for the pipeline last year and found that what was being presented was
substantially different so she wondered what had happened in the meantime.
Mr. Casellini said there had been some changes made with the Thruway. Specifically, there have been changes made in the makeup of the Board of the Pilgrim Pipeline with many personnel changes having been made.
Ms. Apostolides said she had heard of a lot of opposition to the pipeline and wondered how the company could move forward in the face of that opposition.
Mr. Casellini replied that there were 15 Towns which had passed resolutions against the Pipeline, but those resolutions are not binding and the project is proposing to be constructed in the Thruway right of way through many of them.
Finally, Ms. Apostolides wondered what benefit the pipeline would offer the affected Towns considering the amount of inconvenience in as far as the amount of blasting that would be required.Mr. Casellini said that this was a very good question and it is one they’ve encountered in every Town they’ve visited so far. He said there would be local benefit funds established to assist the Towns financially and they would work with local responders to make sure that they are capable of dealing with whatever might be required of them.
Dan Castricone stated the rail cars carrying the fuel were basically moving bombs and he feels a safer way to transport it has to be found. That being said, he’s not sure that moving it through Tuxedo is his preferred solution. He also mentioned that putting anything under the Ramapo River seems like a very bad idea to him. He then asked who Mr. Casellini thought the Lead Agency would be in the Environmental Review.
The answer was most probably the Thruway Authority would be the Lead Agency as they have the most involvement but that the State DEC will also be involved.
Sue Scher wanted to know about the pump stations. Where would they be located?
She was told pump stations would be located at Albany, Kingston, Newburgh and in Northern New Jersey. All would be staffed.
Supervisor Rost thanked Mr. Casellini for his time and they both agreed that there would be further presentations as the project moves along and more information becomes available.
Presentation by Mr. Daniel Castricone Regarding Kiryas Joel Annexation:
Mr. Castricone began by explaining that in the Village of Kiryas Joel, there is a Power Elite that makes decisions. The Grand Rabbe tells people what’s going on and people go along with it. Likewise, they are told who to vote for. The Town Board in the Town of Monroe was almost entirely elected by this bloc vote. (There is one Councilman, backed by United Monroe, who was not elected this way. He got in because he was supported by a smaller group within the Village of KJ known as the Alliance). The Village of KJ has petitioned to annex 507 acres of land from the Town of Monroe into KJ. The land in question currently has 1 acre zoning but should it be annexed into KJ, it would immediately be rezoned for high density housing. Because the Village of KJ doesn’t have enough water to support their population, they have borrowed around $40M from the NYS Facilities Corp. to finance a pipeline which will allow them to tap into the NYC water being moved from reservoirs to the City. They don’t have the money to pay for this loan. The paperwork submitted to the State of New York says that they propose to pay for the loan by charging $25,000 per hookup for each new residence that gets built inside the land which they are proposing to annex. They expect to bring in 8,500 new units of housing. This adds up to about $200 million of revenue. Annexation law makes it illegal for the purpose of annexation (to be to) ? change the zoning on property. Yet, there are papers filed with the State saying that this is what they are going to do. The hookups and the money they bring in will make the Village of KJ very rich. The developers brought in to build the high density housing will also get very rich. And, the Ramapo River will be killed as there is no plan about what to do with the effluent from the proposed high density housing! The Village of Kiryas Joel will probably go from 20,000 people to 100,000 people in 10 years as a result of this. Already with their bloc vote of around 7000, these people have a huge influence in every elected county wide office. If the annexation goes through and their population swells to 100,000, we will no longer have a say in who our County Executive, District Attorney or Congressman are.
Ultimately, the State DEC assigned Lead Agency status on the annexation request to the Village of Kiryas Joel. They have submitted their first DEIS. It ignores the fact that the zoning will be changed. Basically, the report claims that all the annexation is doing is changing ownership and there will be no environmental impact from that. It’s as if the document, filed with the state, about repaying their loan by charging $25,000 each to 8,500 new water hookups, doesn’t exist. The DEIS also says that whether or not the annexation goes through, the Village of KJ will grow by 20,000 people in the next 10 years.
Jim Hays asked if the State had accepted the $25,000 per future water hookup as collateral for their loan. The answer was yes.
Nate Wolinsky asked Mr. Castricone to explain the difference between the main KJ group and the KJ Alliance.
Mr. Castricone responded that this went back to two brothers who were Rabbis. The larger group is pretty much in control over the smaller KJ Alliance. The people in the Alliance are not treated well.
They split off from the main group and voted to back the United Monroe candidate in the last Town election and thus that candidate won. Mr. Castricone feels that may be enough to make the main group want to make peace with the Alliance and thus reel them back in so they can continue to influence elections.
Pat Welsh who said he was speaking as a resident and not as Police Chief, noted that the estimated 100,000 population was important because it meant that they could apply for city status. Once they have that, they will be able to compete for and win many more grants which will leave just that many less available for everyone else.
Sue Papke asked what is the solution?
Mr. Castricone replied that the people need to unite and show that there is another block vote, as big as or bigger than the KJ block. He maintains that there is such a block which is comprised of “all the rest of us” but people need to learn to put petty differences aside and band together.
Mike Santoianni pointed out that if the annexation goes through it will have huge impact on the Monroe Woodbury School District to which one third of our Town belongs. It will also impact us because we are downstream on the Ramapo River. He feels that these two issues together give us standing in the issue of annexation.
Mr. Castricone agreed that the Town has standing. Supervisor Rost commented that the Town has already filed to be an interested party in the annexation proceeding.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to establish Tuxedo Farms Drainage District
a Resolution to establish Tuxedo Farms Lighting District
a Resolution to authorize purchase of two 2015 Ford Sedan Police Interceptor vehicles
a Resolution to authorize agreement for police coverage at Spartan Race Event at Tuxedo Ridge Ski Center – May 30, May 31, June 6 and June 7, 2015. The Town will be fully reimbursed for this.
Public Comments: Kristy Apostolides proposed that the Town should charge a tax on tickets for events such as the Spartan Race in order to raise revenue for the Town. She was told that it would be illegal for the Town to do this. Town Attorney Howard Protter said he had not researched it personally but he was not aware of any authority that would allow the Town to do that.
Janet Galuska said she was a frequent user of the Powerhouse Park and she loves it but she has a few suggestions for its improvement. Some of those she suggested are erecting a sign as you first arrive giving Park hours and also banning smoking at the children’s playground and dog park. She would also like to see more trash cans. Another suggestion is to neaten up the pile of baseball sand and put new tarps on it. She also suggested several other clean up ideas for the whole area, including the commuter parking lot. There followed some discussion on getting volunteers to do some of the work including the possibility of scouting groups.
Rich Rigoli stated that the chain link fence along the Thruway in the East Village is all rusty and needs to be replaced. He claimed that the Thruway promised to do it and hasn’t. The Supervisor said he would look into it. Sue Scher wondered if the Town would schedule time for people who are opposed to the Pilgrim Pipeline to come in and express their concerns? She was told that the route for the Pipeline hasn’t been determined as yet but once it is, it is a possibility that those opposed might be invited to come and speak.
Michele Lindsay wondered if the $200,000 study being done by the County about the KJ annexation was just someone “going through the motions.” Dan Castricone responded to this and stated that he thought the study was legitimate and would be useful.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
1. Resolution to Recess into Executive Session for the Purpose of Conducting Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations for Police Department and Highway Department
2. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, April 27, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost opened his remarks by stating that the School and The Related Companies were still working on their agreement. It is his understanding that they have a signed “term sheet,” but do not yet have a signed agreement and that they were meeting the following day to work out the details. He then stated that this was all the information that he had on the school.
Supevisor’s Clerk, Shari Brooks, followed up with the Pilgrim Pipeline representatives and they told her that so far they hadn’t done anything. Supervisor Rost has invited the representatives to come to the next meeting (May 11) so if anyone has questions for them, they should come to that meeting prepared to ask them.
Perfect Cut has brought a proceeding to enjoin the Town from proceeding in the Justice Court and, as a result, the matter which was previously on the schedule for May 5 has been now moved to Orange County Court on May 6.
Traffic Safety Check point – the property on Route 17 where the Town has been running safety checks, has been leased by PIPC to the Jehovahs Witnesses. Consequently, the Town is now looking for a new place to set up their operation. They will be able to continue at the present location until October. They are also looking to set up some safety checks on Long Meadow Road.
Police vehicles are aging and the Town has been spending a lot of money on repairs. Lt. Norton addressed the Board on the department’s recommendations saying that the fleet was down from 9 working vehicles to 5. He noted that most police departments get of their police cars at 100,000 miles. The Department is asking to purchase 2 new vehicles at $37,600 each. This price is not just for the cars but also for fully equipping them. Payments would be split into 3 annual installments in a “lease to buy” arrangement.
Supervisor Rost stated that the Board was going to table Agenda Item #4 (Resolution to grant a Special Sign Permit to a resident to place a sign at Woodlands entrance to publicize per-pupil costs contained in proposed School budget) because they didn’t have enough information to vote on it.
From the audience, George Mollo spoke and said that there was precedence for this action as it had happened in 2006 and Mr. Chivu (the individual who is currently seeking the permit) had been given permission at that time. There was a discussion as to whether the property proposed for the sign was private property and or whether it was in Tuxedo, Warwick or the Orange County right of way between them. Mr. Mollo kept trying to make the point that the information they were proposing to put on the sign was important, but the Board told him over and over that they had no jurisdiction over the School and its policies and thus what was on the sign was not important to them. The only decision within their purview was whether or not any kind of sign could be erected in the proposed location. Attorney Howard Protter stated that residents had a First Amendment right to state their opinion and probably didn’t need a sign permit (as long as it was on Town property). Mr. Mollo and Mr. Chivu then stated that IF they got the answers they wanted from the Board of Education on May 5, they would not even want to put up a sign. They just wanted to be able to use the sign should the Board of Education not satisfy their request for information. Both Councilman McMillan and Councilman Phelps expressed their concern that this might be setting a precedent where by anyone in Town with an opinion about the school or any other controversy might start erecting signs and in their opinion, that would not be a good thing for the Town. From the audience, Bonny Takeuchi concurred saying she thought a plethora of signs would look “tacky.”
Supervisor Rost then called on Town Attorney Howard Protter to explain the resolutions about the drainage and lighting districts in Tuxedo Farms. Mr. Protter stated that Tuxedo Farms would be building several drainage facilities and that this is a mechanism to make sure that when repairs and maintenance are necessary, those costs are borne by the residents of the development only and not the Town at large. Similarly, the development will be installing street lights and lights in parking areas, etc. and the lighting district will ensure that the costs associated with those lights are borne by Tuxedo Farms residents only.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to adopt order scheduling a Public Hearing to consider establishment of Tuxedo Farms Drainage District. This was set for May 11th.
a Resolution to adopt order scheduling a Public Hearing to consider establishment of Tuxed Farms Lighting District. This was also set for May 11th.
a Resolution to approve form of petition of Proposition to raise Library Taxes. (the same as in previous years).
Public Comments:
Sue Papke stated that she had questions for Councilmen Phelps and Loncar. The first question was “why did you not know that the Town had a $1.7 million deficit?”
Councilman Phelps replied that if Mrs. Papke would read the Auditor’s Report, he felt that was clearly stated.
Mrs. Papke replied that that “wasn’t good enough, “ to which both Councilmen Phelps and Loncar responded that it “was the answer.”
Mrs. Papke then wanted to know why both Councilmen had supported bringing the Jehovah’s Witnesses into Town.
The response was that they didn’t have any choice. Most of the the Jehovah’s Project is in the Town of Warwick over which they have no jurisdiction. The property purchased in the Town of Tuxedo (International Paper) was not owned by the Town and they did not have any say in who it was sold to.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Agenda For Town Board Meeting April 27 2015 7:00pm
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution to Adopt Order Scheduling Public Hearing to Consider Establishment of Tuxedo Farms Drainage District
2. Resolution to Adopt Order Scheduling Public Hearing to Consider Establishment of Tuxedo Farms Lighting District
3. Resolution to Approve Form of Petition of Proposition to Raise Library Taxes
4. Resolution to Grant Special Sign Permit to Resident to Place Sign at Woodlands Entrance to Publicize Per-Pupil Costs Contained in Proposed School Budget
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board held a continuation of the Public Hearing on the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit Amendments, together with a Special Meeting on Monday, April 20, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting by recounting the tragic fire, which occurred on Saturday night and resulted in the loss of two houses on the Circle. He thanked the volunteer Firemen for their effort and listed the various ways people can donate to help the families who have been left homeless.
PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION Regarding Tuxedo Farms Amendment to Special Permit:
The Supervisor asked for comments from people who had not already commented on this or had something new to say.
John Kwasnicki of Sloatsburg stated that residents of Sloatsburg were not even aware that a public hearing on this project had been going on. Since part of the project lies in Sloatsburg and will affect these residents, he feels they should be allowed to comment.
Dena Steele said she was not there to delay or stop the Tuxedo Farms project. Rather, she was there to implore the Supervisor and Board members to be sure they have the facts regarding the future ownership and use of the Northern Tract. In particular she said she was concerned about the Town’s relationship with PIPC who she identified as the largest single taxpayer in Town (over a million dollars to the Town, School, Fire, Refuse district last year). She added she was aware of past unhappiness by Town officials with PIPC due to perceived lack of cooperation and support with the mulch pile as well as the blocking of the Thruway exit during the casino process. Despite this, she wonders how the Town can make a decision about the future of the Northern Tract without talking to PIPC directly. She feels they should figure out what the determined assessed value of the property would be if PIPC held it, what taxes they would pay and what plans they might have for the property. If the Town doesn’t talk to PIPC, she feels it could be viewed as arbitrary and capricious action, which could leave money on the table as well as leave the Town open for a future lawsuit. She urged the Supervisor and Board to meet with Executive Director Jim Hall and get the facts before making their decision.
Michele Lindsay said she had done research on the Orange County government website and was able to find the taxes levied on the 6 parcels which make up the Northern Tract for 2014. That amount was close to $45,000. School taxes for the same property were $89,000. She also looked at the taxes that PIPC had paid to the Town (over $1million) and figured that proportionally they pay the same amount as Related has been. She feels this is a large amount of money to ignore and asks the Board to take it into consideration when making their decision.
Jim Hays observed that when the Tuxedo Farms (aka Tuxedo Reserve) project was started development rights from the Northern and Fox Hill tracts were transferred to the Southern tract in order to cluster all of the building in one area. In fact, he said he had seen conservation easements, which had been written for the Northern and Fox Hill tracts although they had not actually been put in place. Those agreements are very strict. He further stated that he had never heard the Board say what they wanted to do with the Northern Tract if they were to take ownership of it but he wonders if they realize what they could do with the property? It is his opinion that what can be done with this acreage is probably very limited. He wonders if whatever the Town has planned for this property is worth giving up the taxes and paying the liability insurance costs of maintaining the property. He believes that unless the Town has something of real importance that they want to do with the property, which is something that they could do, then it probably isn’t worth giving up the money it would generate in taxes. Additionally, he said he knew the Board had some concerns about PIPC but he feels they should bury their feelings as they are responsible for the Town and all the taxpayers in it. He feels it is wrong to hold grudges. Also, he noted there have been “a lot of numbers thrown out which turn out to be wrong.” He feels the Board tends to believe what they are told and he urged them to instead do their own homework.
Larry Darby stated that he had read the conservation easements and felt it would be a good idea to add a clause, which said that “no future building on the Northern Tract” did not include any future improvements for recreational purposes.
After Mr. Darby’s remarks, the Public Hearing was declared closed.
Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky explained that the application had gone back to the Planning Board to make sure that everything in the amendments had been looked at by that Board. He then reviewed the memo that was subsequently received by the Town from the Planning Board. To read a copy of the memo, click here,
On the subject of the Northern Tract, Mr. Wolinsky said that he didn’t understand how this had come to be an economic issue. When the permit was originally drawn up, everyone who was involved in it understood that this property would be coming off the tax rolls. He further added that the monetary issue may become relevant further down the line when the Town is voting whether to take on the property or not, but for the vote on the permit all they are doing is making it possible for the Town to acquire the property, they are not actually voting to do so at this time.
Mr. Wolinsky then stated that he had sent the Board for their review the following documents: a Negative Declaration document (click here to read), a Notification of Non Significance (click here to read), the 2013 Amended Findings Statement (click here to read), the 2015 Special Permit ) click here to read), and the actual resolution that they voted on (click here to read).
Resolution:
The following resolution was adopted unanimously:
a Resolution to approve amendment to Special Use Permit and Preliminary Plan of “Tuxedo Farms” formerly known as “Tuxedo Reserve.”
Supervisor Rost then stated for the record that there seemed to be a perception that there is ill will between the Town and PIPC. He does not see any sign of this from any of the Board members and does not feel this way himself. As far as the tax numbers being incorrect, he took responsibility for this saying he had asked for the numbers and been given the wrong ones. He further stated that before any action is taken on that property, the fact that there was a mistake would have been identified. He said the Board was working with the Town Planner and each other to try to get as much information as they can In order to make the best decision.
Other Business:
A Resolution was passed granting a special sign permit for a Chamber Event to be held jointly with MyHarriman.com on May 9th at the Tuxedo Train Station.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
Clarification of Conservation Easement Requirement Northern Tract – Tuxedo Farms Development
NOTICE Clarification of Conservation Easement Requirement Northern Tract – Tuxedo Farms Development
The proposed Amendment to the 2010 Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms, formerly known as Tuxedo Reserve, would clarify that the Town of Tuxedo is a permissible recipient (donee) of the Northern Tract. The Applicant has taken the position that this was permitted by the 2010 Special Permit. The proposed Amendment clarifies that this is the case.
The proposed Amendment retains the requirement that any such donation must be subject to a Conservation Easement acceptable to the Town. This requirement would not affect a donation to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Thus, a donation of the Northern Tract to the Town would be subject to a Conservation Easement.
The fiscal impact of this Amendment is neutral based on potential yearly property taxes:
Thus, the donation to the Town would have the same fiscal impact as a donation to a charitable conservation organization as currently authorized by the 2010 Special Permit. The potential taxes from PIPC are minimal.
The Special Permit requirement is set forth in Article XVIII, Open Space (Page 29) of the red-lined Special Permit posted on the Town Website. This is the applicable regulatory section of the Special Permit.
It was brought to the attention of the Town that a parallel provision of the findings in the adoption resolution (Page 11) contains language which is in error as it does not conform to the regulatory provision in Article XVIII of the Special Permit. We regret this error. The proposed Amendment of the Special Permit being considered by the Town Board would retain the requirement of a Conservation Easement for all recipients of the Northern Tract, except the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.
Notice of Public Hearing Continuation to April 20, 2015
TOWN OF TUXEDO NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION TUXEDO FARMS DEVELOPMENT (Formerly Tuxedo Reserve) AMENDMENT OF SPECIAL PERMIT
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo will continue the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20, 2015 at the Tuxedo Town Hall, One Temple Drive, Tuxedo, New York, on a proposed amendment of the Special Permit for the Planned Integrated Development now known as “Tuxedo Farms,” formerly “Tuxedo Reserve,” which Special Permit was initially granted by the Town Board on November 15, 2004 and amended through November 22, 2010.
The Owner has applied to the Town Board seeking amendment of the Special Permit, such amendment consisting of a number of technical revisions to conform to Planning Board and subsequent review of the application as listed below. [Note: See additional items 11 and 12.]
1. Add two tax lots to the PID without any increase in dwelling units;
2. Relocate greeting center and meeting hall to a more interior location;
3. Relocate required maintenance facility, subject to final plans;
4. Relocate potential sewer main outside existing road alignment of Quail Road;
5. Construct stormwater infrastructure consistent with current NYSDEC standards;
6. Revise Commons area to permit relocation of types of dwellings, and associated revision to the Regulating Plan;
7. Revise preliminary plan map set, specifying required maps. The special use permit will include guidelines to be used by the Planning Board in determining what constitutes a map change subject to Town Board referral and approval, in compliance with the PID regulations under which the development is grandfathered;
8. Update preliminary plan to depict all three tracts;
9. Revise WWTP size to eliminate excessive capacity;
10. Allow the ownership of the Northern Tract by the Town of Tuxedo;
11. Confirm the Developer’s modified agreement with the Tuxedo UF School District;
12. Allow flexibility in security for public improvements
A copy of the proposed Amended Special Permit with supporting documents and exhibits is posted online at www.tuxedogov.org and is on file in the office of the Town Clerk and available for inspection by interested persons from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Tuxedo Town Hall.
The Town Board will, at the above date, time and place, hear all persons interested in the subject matter hereof. Persons may appear in person or by agent. All written communications addressed to the Town Board must be received by the Town Board at or prior to the public hearing.
BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOARD TOWN OF TUXEDO ELAINE M. LAURENT, TOWN CLERK
Dated: April 15, 2015
The Town Board met on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for lifelong Town resident Anna Kovaly who died on Easter Sunday at the age of 101.
Public Hearing Continuation regarding Tuxedo Farms Amendments to Special Permit:
Supervisor Rost began by stating that if the Town does acquire the Northern Tract from Related, they have every intention of complying with the restrictions that have been placed on the property in the Special Permit. Acquiring the property would open up options for the Town’s other property on Warwick Brook Rd (Quarry Field).
Presently, the Town receives $15,000 in taxes on the property from Related. If the property goes to PIPC, the Town would only receive $1500.
Additionally, the Supervisor stated that the Board would not be voting on the proposed amendments that night but would instead extend the Public Hearing until Monday, April 20 at 7 pm.
Town Attorney Don Nichols stated that there is a redlined copy of the Special Permit with the changes in red available for download on the Town website.
Lori Smyla of Sloatsburg, referenced a letter from the Rockland County Drainage Agency which stated that Related does not currently have a stream control permit for their property in Sloatsburg. This means that no construction should be allowed although Ms. Smyla says she has personally observed road construction happening on the site. Additionally, Ms. Smyla stated that at the last meeting, Andrew Dance had indicated that Related had received a letter rescinding the letter that Ms. Smyla referenced. However, she put in a FOIL request for any such letter and no one could find anything rescinding the order to cease all construction.
Lili Neuhauser stated she was speaking for herself and not as Mayor of Tuxedo Park. Referencing the Special Permit, she said it provided for 3 parcels of land to be gifted to the Village of Tuxedo Park each subject to a conservation easement, which requires them to remain open space. The conservation easement on two of the parcels, the Northern Tract buffer and the Fox Hill tract must be held by a land trust or other open space protection agency acceptable to the Town. The 3rd parcel, the Southern Tract buffer, requires that the Town be granted the conservation easement and Mrs. Neuhauser requests that the permit be amended to say that the easement on this parcel should also be held by a land trust or open space protection agency acceptable to the Town. She feels that all 3 parcels should be held by the same land trust or open space protection agency. Secondly, Mrs Neuhauser noted that the Special Permit provides for the 702-acre Northern Tract to be gifted to the Town without a conservation easement. She believes that this property should also have a conservation easement, which would prohibit its use for anything other than passive recreation.
Town Attorney Nichol stated that the amendment requires a conservation easement to be placed on the property.
JoAnn Hanson stated that the conservation easement for the 702-acre Northern Tract has not been shared with the public. She feels it is important to be able to see the language to make sure it complies with the scope and intent of the Special Permit and requests that it be made available before the public hearing is closed and the amendments voted on.
Michele Lindsay said she was speaking for the Sterling Forest Partnership and expressed their concern about the passage, which reads that “the requirement for a conservation easement shall not be applicable to any lands gifted to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission or to the Town of Tuxedo.” Further as a Tuxedo taxpayer, Mrs. Lindsay said she was concerned that the Town was not in a position to monitor the 702 acres and ensure that it be conserved and protected. She is also concerned about the cost of monitoring as well as the cost of not giving the land to PIPC which would pay taxes and maintain the property.
Jim Hays asked for clarification as he thought Town Attorney Nichols had said that if the land were given to the Town, there would be a conservation easement on it, but now he hears that this isn’t required.
Attorney Nichols responded that this was news to him. The final version of the document that he has signed off on requires that there be a conservation easement. He will check to make sure that the final draft properly reflects this.
In view of what is happening with the School, Andy Berish inquired as to when the construction will start? He feels the Town and the School need these units to be built so hopes the Town could stop holding up the permit process so that construction can begin.
Town Attorney Nichol stated that there were 3 items that had not been reviewed by the Planning Board but which were on the agenda for the following night. Thus, the Board would not be voting on the amendments until the following week after the Planning Board had commented on the additional items.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were approved:
a Resolution authorizing Memorandum of Understanding and DEC documents for Tuxedo Farms Wastewater Treatment Plant. To read a copy of the Memorandum, click here.
a Resolution to grant special use and special sign permits for thee Memorial Day Community Piucnic at the Library on May 25, 2015 from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm
a Resolution consenting to sales of raffle tickets by Access: Supports for Living Foundation (formerly Occupations, Inc.) in the Town of Tuxedo. This permit is granted annually.
a Resolution granting special permit to TriState Motorcycle Club for Off-Road Race at Tuxedo Ridge on May 304, 2015 with the condition that if police were needed for traffic control, they would pay for it.
Publlc Comments:
A gentleman from Southfields who owns the property across from the Police Station wanted to know when the proposed Zoning Amendments were going to be passed as he would like to turn the property into rental units. This will be allowable under the new zoning.
He was told that this would be happening very soon. Supervisor Rost stated he would speak with Town Planner Bonnie Franson in the morning and then give the gentleman a call.
Vouchers were tabled for the evening and the meeting was adjourned.
PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUATION Regarding Tuxedo Farms Amendment to Special Permit
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Resolution authorizing Memorandum of Understanding and DEC documents for Tuxedo Farms Wastewater Treatment Plant.
2. Resolution accepting minutes.
3. Acknowledgement receipt of Monthly Reports.
4. Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
5. Resolution to Grant Special Use and Special Sign Permits for the Memorial Day Community Picnic at the Library on May 25, 2014 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
6. Resolution Consenting to Sales of Raffle Tickets by Access: Supports for Living Foundation in the Town of Tuxedo
7. Resolution Granting Special Permit to Tri-State Motorcycle Club for Off-Road Race at Tuxedo Ridge - May 3-4, 2014
8. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, March 23, 2015 at 7:00 pm. All members were present.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost announced that the Board would be having an Executive Session following the meeting to receive advice from legal counsel regarding Perfect Cut as well as to discuss filling the available Board seat.
The Supervisor has asked Tuxedo Farms to work with the Town’s consultants to put together a timeline of their future plans so that everyone will know what’s coming and when on the project. When it’s done, it will be available on the Town website.
Bill Sweet is working on putting together financial reports for the first quarter. When they’re done, the Board will be able to compare this year to last year and thus get a better picture of where the Town is.
Supervisor Rost is going to start looking at the Pilgrim Pipeline on a bi-weekly basis. There has been talk that these people have been around town, but when called, they say they haven’t done anything so he feels it’s time to start keeping tabs on them.
Public Comments on Agenda Items: Andy Berish asked if the proposed pipeline would be coming down Route 17.
Supervisor Rost replied that it was hard to tell what the plans were which is why he is going to be looking at it on a regular, bi-weekly basis.
Kristy Apostoledes stated that the Pipeline was coming down the Thruway but then took detours occasionally as they ran into the river. She feels they hadn’t finalized their route as yet.
Janet Galuska wondered if with the proposed Parking fee increase everyone would have the same fee? Do Tuxedo residents get a cheaper fee for parking there?
Town Clerk Elaine Laurent explained that Tuxedo residents are eligible to park in the Upper lot and that the increase is being proposed for the Lower lot. The proposed increased is for 10%. This will bring the fee closer to what is charged in Harriman.
Presentation by Neil Weiss of OnForce Solar, Inc. regarding Solar Energy Systems:
Mr. Weiss spoke about installing solar panels in Town in order to give the Town a cheaper energy bill as his company has done in Clarkstown. To see some information on what OnForce Solar can offer, click here.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
A Resolution to file Interested Agency Status in Petition for Annexation of Acreage from the Town of Monroe to the Village of Kiryas Joel – the Town will thus be provided with all information filed in regards to this action
A Resolution to Increase Parking Fees at Commuter Parking Lot on Powerhouse Lane – the Daily rate will increase to $3.00 per day (from $2.00) and permit parking will be increased 10% so that 3 months will be $71.36, 6 months will be $133.21 and 12 months will be $228.36.
A Resolution to establish amount of payment in lieu of Health Insurance Coverage pursuant to Chapter 16 in Town Code – the amount will be $3000 per year which is what it is presently.
A Resolution to authorize Police Chief Welsh to attend the 2015 Annual Training Conference of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police in Saratoga, NY. July 12-15, 2015.
Public Comments: Kristy Apostolides thanked the Board for taking action on the proposed Kiryas Joal annexation issue.
Claudia Baktiary wondered what the plans were for the “lower” parking lot as one heads up the ramp to Route 17A. This lot has just seemed to pop up as the upper one has filled up. It was explained to her that the Town doesn’t own that property—PIPC does—and thus doesn’t have any jurisdiction over what happens there. Ms. Baktiary feels this lower lot is a hazard. Councilman McMillan offered to call PIPC and find out what the plans are.
Dale Mottola reminded everyone of the Chamber of Commerce’s Have a Heart Campaign whereby 20% of all meals served at the Junction on Sat. 3/28 will be donated to the Campaign. This campaign benefits the School District’s backpack program.
Michele Lindsay inquired if there had been any changes to the redlined copy of the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms? In particular, Ms. Lindsay wanted to know if there were any changes to the clause that requires all conservation easements to be finalized before any disturbance is allowed on the property. She was told there were no changes. She then wondered if the public would be able to see the agreements as well as the bonds for the LDC.
Town Attorney Nichol responded that those documents were being drawn up by Related so the Town doesn’t have any control over when they will be available.
Kristy Apostolides asked why was the Town considering being the recipient of the land in the Northern Tract?
The Supervisor responded “why wouldn’t we be?”
Ms. Apostolides replied that it was her understanding that PIPC would pay taxes on the land and the Town wouldn’t so she wondered why they would want the land?
The Supervisor said it was just something they were considering.
Claudia Baktiary asked if there was any collection of expired medications in Town? She was told that she could bring them to the Police Department and they would dispose of them. She also wondered about a collection of old electronics and was told that the Town does this on an annual basis. They held one of these in the Fall and will do so again before the year is out. Once scheduled, it will be announced on the Town website
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned into Executive Session.
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Conunents on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Presentation by Neil Weiss ofOnForce Solar, Inc. Regarding Solar Energy Systems
2. Resolution to File Interested Agency Status in Petition for Annexation of Acreage from the Town of Monroe to the Village of Kiryas Joel
3. Resolution to Increase Parking Fees at Commuter Parking Lot on Powerhouse Lane
4. Resolution to Establish Amount of Payment in Lieu of Health Insurance Coverage Pursuant to Chapter 16 of the Town Code
5. Resolution to Authorize Police Chiefto Attend the 2015 Annual Training Conference of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police in Saratoga, New York, July 12 through July 15, 2015
6. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
The Town Board met on Monday, March 9, 2015. Councilman Phelps was absent.
Public Hearing regarding Tuxedo Farms Amendment to Special Permit:
Prior to opening the floor to comments from the public, Supervisor Rost asked Town Attorney Larry Wolinsky and Town Planner Bonnie Franson to give an overview of the amendments.
Mr. Wolinsky began by stating that what is being proposed is a series of targeted amendments to the 2010 Special Permit. He further stated that the purpose of the hearing was to take comment only on the targeted amendments, not to reopen the project and take comments on things that have long since been passed. After all comments have been received and digested by the Board, any adjustments deemed necessary will be made and then the Board will be in a position to make a SEQRA determination followed by a vote on the amendments.
Ms. Franson ran through the amendments with a brief explanation of each. They are:
1-Two tax lots are being added to the PID. The total size is about one acre. There is no increase in dwelling units being sought as a result of the addition. The lots are located behind Tuxedo Motor Sports.
2-The Greeting Center is being moved from Route 17 to the Commons area. Also, the required meeting space will be situated in the Commons.
3-3000 sq. ft. of maintenance space is already required to be leased to the Town for use by the Highway Dept. Originally located in Upland Park, the applicant is proposing to move this closer to Route 17. The Planning Board reviewed this and has asked that some flexibility be allowed so the location can be chosen a little later in the process.
4-a request to relocate a sewer main outside the existing road alignment of Quail Rd. The line would cross through Northridge and the cut needed for it would also be tied to a pedestrian connection which would tie Northridge to the Hamlet area.
5-A request for the flexibility to change stormwater retention to smaller structures, closer to the development all done to comply with DEC regulations.
6-A revision to the Preliminary Plan for the Commons area which would be relocated the multifamily dwellings originally proposed for that area to Northridge. This means the Regulatory Plan must be revised.
7-A revision to the Preliminary Plan map set with the map being redrawn so that it allows the flexibility that was intended when the 2010 Special Permit was passed.
8-A revision to the schedule for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The current permit says that there should be a 500,000 gpd plant in operation on Day 1 but the NYS DEC regulations don’t allow for that as they want the plant to be sized for the current development only. Thus the language is being changed to reflect that as the project develops out, the capacity will be in place.
In addition, a memorandum of understanding is being developed to cover the LDC and the Transportation Corp. This is probably 95% complete, but needs to be 100% complete before it is acted upon. The language will reflect that none of this will incur any expense to the Town.
9-The Town has expressed a desire to be eligible to receive the gift of the Northern Tract and the Applicant has agreed to this so the Permit will be changed to reflect this.
10-In both the 2004 and 2010 Permits, the Applicant was required to supply an Irrevocable Letter of Credit as a form of security. These no longer make sense today so the language will be broadened to allow for some flexibility with equivalent mechanisms.
Public Comments: Jim Hays – expressed his dismay with the process of constructing the wastewater treatment plant. He stated that he had been following the project since before the 2004 Special Permit was signed. At that time, the Town’s wastewater treatment plant was not in compliance with the DEC regulations and Related offered to build a new plant as well as the collection system to bring the sewage from both the Hamlet and the Development. He further stated that this has been a part of every amendment to the Special Permit since 2004. Now, all of a sudden, the Town is being asked to finance the construction of the wastewater treatment plant through their Local Development Corporation (LDC). Mr. Hays feels that this action gets the Town mixed up in the development and he feels that to become part of the project in this way is a big mistake. Since Related has been promising to finance and build the plant since 2004, he feels they should be held to this promise. He is worried that if the bonds fail, the Town’s credit rating will be ruined.
Andrew Berish – wanted to know what was happening on the Northern Tract. It was explained to him that this property would remain in conservation, but it is being proposed that it be gifted to the Town.
Michele Lindsay – stated that the agreement for the conservation of the Northern Tract was supposed to be finalized before any disturbance happened to the property. Despite the agreement not having been finalized, disturbance has indeed happened. She acknowledged that the distrubance was in Sloatsburg but maintained she didn’t think that made any difference. She went on to say that the Northern Tract consists of approximately 702 acres situated on Long Meadow and Warwick Brook Roads. The Special Permit designates that it be gifted to a conservation organization and governed by a Conservation Easement. She wondered if any conservation organizations and specifically PIPC had even been approached about this. She then urged the Town NOT to take the land but instead to support its gift to PIPC as they pay property, school and county taxes on the property as well as maintaining and managing the property.
Nancy Hays - reminded the Board that there is a large Timber Rattlesnake den on the Northern tract and said that she thought mixing any kind of passive recreation with the rattlesnakes was a very bad idea.
Lori Smyla (from Sloatsburg) – stated that construction has begun on some retention basins in Sloatsburg. She added that the Rockland County Supervisor has written a letter to Related asking them not to continue until they receive necessary approvals from the Rockland County Drainage Agency.
Andrew Dance responded that Related had met with the Rockland County Drainage Agency and that the letter has been rescinded. Additionally he stated that the work that is being done is not part of the project.
Superisor Rost asked Ms. Smyla to please submit her comments in writing so that the Board could look into her questions and get answers to them.
JoAnn Hanson – said she had come to speak about the open space. She noted that there was a section of open space within the project in the Southern Tract and then there are other areas, surrounding the Village, which are the conservation buffer, the Northern tract and the Fox Hill tract. Since the last public hearing with the Planning Board, at which she spoke, she noted that the Village Counsel has been working with the Town and with Related to complete the required agreements. She requested that the open space component be tabled while these discussions are being completed.
Patsy Wooters – stated that since the Town Board of Tuxedo has lead agency status for the entire project, there is not a separate review going on in the Village of Sloatsburg. Therefore, she wonders if the work going on in Sloatsburg was in fact, as Mr. Dance mentioned, not a part of the project. She further wondered if this did not constituenot segmentation and a violation of SEQRA?
Al Natoli (attorney for Related) said he wanted to clarify the process for the construction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Plant will be built by the Transportation Corporation under contract by the LDC. The LDC will raise money exclusively for this plant. The Town is not taking on any responsibility for the financing except that it flows through the LDC. If there is a default by the LDC, it doesn’t go on the Town, it goes against the property.
Andy Berish – wanted to know when they expect to get started.
Andrew Dance responded that they have 3 subdivision applications that have completed their preliminary review at the Planning Board level. Once the amendments have been passed, the Planning Board can take action and issue Final Approval and their plan is to break ground as soon as the snow melts. They have engaged a contractor and they have homebuilders who are in contract. In other words, the project is imminent!
The Public Hearing was not closed as the Town has not received a report from Orange County so they held the hearing open pending the receipt of that report. The comment period will remain open until the Board’s next meeting on March 23.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost stated that work continues on the response to the Comptroller’s Office and they are also working on closing out the financials for 2014.
The Supervisor also stated that they were all very aware of the situation with potholes on Route 17. Assemblyman Karl Brabenec is putting together a meeting with representatives from affected municipalities and the DOT and hopefully some progress can be made.
Presentation by Neil Weiss of OnForce Solar, Inc. Regarding Solar Energy Systems – Mr. Weiss was unable to attend this meeting so this will be rescheduled for a future meeting.
Resolutions, etc.:
The following were passed:
an Acknowledgment of Resignations of Councilman Kristian Matthews and Prosecutor Joseph Villanueva
a Resolution to authorize Town Clerk to attend the NYS Town Clerks’ Association Training Conference in Rochester, NY April 25-30, 2
a Resolution to approve Towing Licences for Tuxedo Gulf, Loyal Tire, NJV Auto, Harriman Auto and C.A.R.S.
Public Comments: Michele Lindsay noted that in the 2004 Special Permit, there was a provision for a 3000 sq. ft. facility for a Farmers’ Market. She remarked that in 2004, the Town didn’t have a Farmers’ Market, but now they do so she wondered if that could be taken out of the Special Permit. She was told the Board would look into it.
Mrs. Lindsay also wanted to know if the public would have an opportunity to review the LDC bonding agreement and whether they would be able to comment on it.
Town Attorney Wolinksy replied that there was a memorandum of agreement that was being finalized and when it is done, comment will be taken. Also, there will eventually be agreements with the Districts when they are formed, and there will be time to comment then as well.
Town Planner Franson added that as far as the Farmers’ Market goes, the facility being contemplated was not an outdoor market but something akin to Laura Ann’s in Monroe. The proposed location is in Sloatsburg.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting was adjourned.
On Wednesday, March 5, 2015 the Town Board held a workshop on the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms. Councilman Loncar was not present. Members of the Planning Board, Architectural Review Board and Zoning Board as well as Village of Tuxedo Park Mayor Neuhauser and Village Planning Board Chairman JoAnn Hanson were present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting and explained that the purpose of the workshop was to bring all the Board members up to speed on the Special Permit. In his view this is timely because the Town Board has a Public Hearing coming up on Monday, March 9 on some revisions being sought to the Special Permit. He then turned the meeting over to Town Planner, Bonnie Franson.
Acknowledging that there were Board members who were new to their boards, Ms. Franson began her presentation with a short history of the Tuxedo Farms project. Next, she reviewed PID regulations. Although, PIDs are no longer allowed in Tuxedo, Tuxedo Farms was grandfathered in so they do apply to this project. Following the discussion of PIDS, Ms. Franson laid out the roles of the various Boards as they are involved in the Tuxedo Farms application.
The next topic was an explanation of the Preliminary Plan, followed by a description of the 2010 Regulating Plan, which includes Transect Zones and introduces the Smart Code.
Following that, there was a discussion of the Open Spaces within the project. This includes the gifting of land to the Village of Tuxedo Park as well as conservation buffers and easements.
The final topic of Ms. Franson’s presentation was the Special Use Permit. She went through what the various attachments to the document were and concluded by listing the main characteristics of the Permit. To view a copy of Ms. Franson’s presentation, click here.
Larry Wolinsky, who was involved in advising the Town Boards during both versions of the Special Permit, said there was a theme in both of the Permits in terms of compliance or making sure that the Town gets what was represented to them. Thus there are a lot of enforcement mechanisms built into the Permit in order to make that happen. He cautioned the Boards not to forget about this.
Supervisor Rost asked what the mechanism for the grants would be. Planning Board Attorney Alyse McCathern said money would be deposited into the LDC, which would then oversee low interest loans to local businesses. The theory was to spruce things up so that the new people moving into Tuxedo Farms would want to come into the Town to shop and do business. Appendix M to the 2010 Permit has the Hamlet Revitalization Program and spells out how it will work.
Councilman McMillen asked about Emergency Services and how they factor into the Permit. Ms. McCathern said that this was covered in detail in the Fiscal Analysis of the Permit.
Mr. Wolinsky commented that when the Special Permit was written, the performance guarantee was a letter of credit but since that form of financing has become much more expensive, currently another form of guarantee are being looked at.
PUBLIC HEARING Regarding Tuxedo Farms Amendment to Special Permit
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Presentation by Neil Weiss ofOnForce Solar, Inc. Regarding Solar Energy Systems
2. Acknowledgment of Resignations of Councilman Kristian Matthews and Prosecutor Joseph Villanueva
3. Resolution to Authorize Town Clerk to Attend the New York State Town Clerks Association Training Conference in Rochester, New York, Apri125 through April30, 2015
4. Resolution to Approve Towing Licenses
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
2015 is shaping up to be the year of the Sunday snow storms. I would like to thank the highway department for their efforts in dealing with the storms this year. They have spent many weekends away from their families to ensure our streets are safe to travel on. Job well done highway department!
Board member Kristian Matthews has tendered his resignation from the board for personal reasons. On behalf of the board and entire Town, I would like to thank Kristian for his service to the Town and wish him and his family the best. The board is working together on an appointment who will serve on the Board for the remainder of 2015.
The organic recycling center located at our highway department on Long Meadow Rd. currently being operated by Perfect Cut is being closed down. More details will be made available as we move forward in the eviction process.
Tuxedo Farms is eagerly awaiting the end of winter to begin work on their project. The attorneys are hard at work assembling the documents and LDC to source the revenue to construct the waste water treatment plant and YMCA. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday March 9th concerning some revisions being proposed to the special permit.
Councilmen Phelps and McMillen spent time this past Saturday walking Rt 17, visiting town businesses and talking to the owners. They found it to be useful and informative so we are going to make this a regular routine in Town going forward.
Our finance team, Bill Sweet and Brian Sullivan, along with Town auditor, Cooper Arias, have been hard at work with closing out 2014 in preparation for the Annual Update Document that will be filed with the State Comptroller’s office. They have also been working together to identify a vendor who can deliver an affordable software package that will provide us with the tools to better manage the Towns finances. We need accurate real time information to make adjustments and identify both risks and opportunities in our finances. This need was identified during the audit and we are excited about finally having the ability to track, monitor and control our finances.
We continue to work on our action plans and response to the State Comptroller’s audit of the Town. Some of these controls will be negotiated into the highway department contract that expires at the end of March and then rolled out Town wide.
Agenda for Special Joint Workshop Meeting March 5, 2015
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
1. Joint Town Board, Architectural Review Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals Workshop Session Regarding Tuxedo Farms Proposed Special Use Permit Amendment
Note: Members of the public are welcome to attend and listen at workshop session; however, no audience participation will be accommodated.
Councilman Kristian Matthews has resigned from the Town Board effective immediately. In a letter written to Supervisor Rost, the Councilman stated that the resignation was for personal reasons. The Town Board will appoint someone to serve out Mr. Matthews’ term which is up as of 12/31/15.
The Town Board met on Monday, February 23, 2015 at 7:00 pm. Councilmen Loncar and Matthews were absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
The Supervisor reported that he and the Board were working on their response and action plan with policies and procedures for the Comptroller. This is due by the end of March, so they hope to have it completed within the next couple of weeks.
Councilman McMillen reported that he is still working on changing the parking behind Bentley’s. The resolution needs a minor language change and thus another resolution. Plans are not to put new signs in, but rather to paint on the roadway itself that the area in question is a fire zone, not a no parking zone.
Presentation by Paul Koksvik of Sve Energy USA LLC regarding Implementation Plan for Renewable/Clean Energy and Community Choice Aggregation:
Mr. Koksvik, who is from Ulster County, started by stating that this area of New York hasn’t hit their renewable energy goals for 2008, never mind 2015. The population is growing and all coal-fired plants have been shut down because they are toxic. Therefore, there is a big strain on the grid and utility companies are being backed into a corner, which he thinks is a good thing for consumers. Ulster County is looking at a pilot program and Mr. Koksvik is pushing for it to apply to all of the Hudson Valley as well. Ulster is putting together and developing their own alternative energy generation plan. This could bring jobs and development to the community which, in his view, would be a good thing. According to Mr. Koksvik, there are grants available to help put together community planning for generating energy. After seeing the recent article about Tuxedo in the Times Herald Record, he reached out to the Supevisor thinking this might be something to help revitalize the Town. He is available for consulting on a project and would like to be considered for the project.
Mary Graetzer wondered if he was proposing that the Town take themselves off the grid in the future?
Mr. Koksvik replied no, the energy would still be delivered by the utility company (Orange and Rockland) but it would not be coming from the generation plants. The resistance along the lines as they transmit goes down so that it becomes more efficient for a Town to generate its own electricity locally. How the energy would be generated depends on the geography of a community. A consult comes in and does a feasibility study. Hydro, wind, heat pumps, solar panels are all possible.
Alyse McCathern stated that years ago the Town used to generate power via the hydroelectric dam at the Powerhouse property. The equipment is gone now, but the waterfall is still there.
She recalled that years ago, when she was a member of the Town Board, this had been studied. It was also looked at a few years after that when Councilman Tom Darling investigated the possibility of getting the dam up and running again. Nothing was ever done with the suggestion either time.
Kristy Apostolides commented that when she had seen this item on the agenda, she looked into the legislation for Community Choice Aggregation and wasn’t sure whether it had been passed in New York or not.
Mr. Koksvik responded that there was a lot of minutiae left to be worked out with the PSC and utilities but, in his opinion, there was nothing to stop the Town from going ahead and doing it right now.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to Urge Public Service Commision to exercise due diligence in review of rate increase proposed by Orange & Rockland Utilities
a Resolution to appoint Alyse McCathern as Counsel to Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (Mrs. McCathern has recently switched firms. RFPs for new counsel have been issued and are due in March. Mrs. McCathern was appointed until such time as a successor might be appointed.)
a Resolution to approve participation in Orange County 2015 STOP-DWI Enforcement Grant
A Resolution to approve Towing Licenses was tabled until the next meeting.
Public Comments: Andy Berish commended the Highway Department for the job they’ve done in clearing and sanding the roads.
Jim Hays congratulated the Board for closing down Perfect Cut saying he was very glad they had done so and that he recognized it had taken some courage.
On the issue of the “Town versus Environmentalists,” Mr. Hays said that there were voices within the Town that were in conflict at times, but he thinks they are voices that need to be heard. He further stated that the charge that environmentalists had slowed the progress of Tuxedo Reserve was absurd. He elaborated on this statement saying that he and Councilman Phelps had served together on the Planning Board when that developer was in front of them. At that time, perhaps 7 years ago, the Planning Board had given Related all the permits it needed to build Northridge, their first phase, and Related had decided not to build it but instead to come back to the Board for more changes. Councilman Phelps agreed that a lot of changes had been made. Mr. Hays continued to say that in his opinion, the Town had done the right thing and should not be made to feel guilty about the amount of time it’s taken for Related to get where they are. He added that he believes that Related is only in Tuxedo to make money and will take advantage of the Town whenever and wherever they can. He expressed disappointment that the Town had created an LDC to issue bonds for the sewage plant wondering why Related didn’t issue the bonds themselves. He urged the Board to be careful going forward.
Michele Lindsay said she had recently been reviewing the 2004 Special Permit granted to Related and wondered if there was an update on the required conservation agreements which she said, she had been asking for since last fall. She listed 3 agreements: 1-2 acres to be gifted to the Tuxedo Club 2-30 some acres to be gifted to the Village of Tuxedo Park as a buffer zone and 3-the Fox Hill and Northern tracts which were to be put into a conservation easement. She specifically wondered if the Board had decided who the 3rd party holding the easement would be.
Planning Board Attorney Alyse McCathern responded that Mrs. Lindsay was correct that these agreements had been part of the 2004 Special Permit and also part of the amendments passed in 2010. The Board is presently looking at some of the language in these agreements, but it didn’t obviate the requirement to place the property in conservation. She advised Mrs. Lindsay that the property to be donated to the Park for a buffer was a contract between the Village and the developer and suggested Mrs. Lindsay ask the Village where it stood. She further commented that it was her understanding that there was no change in the requirement that these properties be donated.
Town Attorney Howard Protter added that the property had to be conserved and that the Town Board had final say to approve who the conservation easements were deeded to.
Mrs. McCathern further commented that the development rights on these properties have been transferred so nothing else can be done on them. The Town will be reviewing these agreements.
Mrs. Lindsay then asked “what exactly does conservation mean? It can mean anything!”
Mrs. McCathern replied that she thought everyone knew what conservation meant…it means one doesn’t use the property for building houses or commercial uses. The whole intent in 2004 and then again in 2010 was that the development rights on those properties have been transferred and now the property has to be conserved….no one will get to “double dip” and develop it after the rights have been transferred to other parts of Tuxedo Farms.
Mr. Protter concurred saying “there are no development rights left on any of those parcels so they can’t be used for any purpose.”
Mrs. Lindsay wondered if it could be developed for something the Town considered to be recreational? She was told no, it could be open space or perhaps passive recreation. Mrs. Lindsay then asked for a definition of passive recreation and was told “hiking trails.”
Kristy Apostolides then asked for an explanation of transferring development rights. Mrs. McCathern explained this to her.
Mrs. Lindsay next asked if the Town Board were to consider using the land for passive recreation, would it make sense to bring in an organization such as the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference to lay out and manage the trails as she wondered where the money to do this would come from.
Supervisor Rost told her that the Board has not gotten that far as yet. Right now, they are focusing on getting the sewer plant up and running and the financing done.
Mrs. Lindsay then said “when it is considered, would that be something you would look into?” and she was told yes.
Changing the subject, Mrs. Lindsay wondered if the Town was going to do anything to highlight the mistakes that were made in the recent article that appeared in the Times Herald Record. As examples she listed the fact that neither the Town nor the School presently has a million dollar deficit and also the fact that the article said there hadbeen no development in Town since the 1960s but in fact the Woodlands, Hamilton Estates, Table Rock and Juniper Terrace have all been built and “come on board” since that time. She is hoping that someone from the Town is going to step up and tell the Record that they got a lot of things wrong and that they have unfairly put the Town in a negative light.
Kristy Apostolides remarked that she had also been quoted in the article and felt that the reporter had an idea about what she wanted to write and it didn’t matter what anyone had said, she was going to write what she wanted to. She further commented that she had been working with Chamber of Commerce President Bill Sweet on finding ways to highlight the idea of Tuxedo’s being a Gateway Community. She felt the article had served to get people talking about this possibility once again.
Councilman Phelps stated that as a Trustee of the Chamber he had spoken with Mr. Sweet who had spent time showing the reporter all the good things in Town, none of which she reported on.
Sue Papke spoke up and observed that the article was killing real estate values around Town. She stated that she feels what the Town needs is a public relations effort and if no one else wants to run it, she will be happy to do so.
Supervisor Rost responded that it wasn’t a matter of no one wanting to do so. He feels the Board’s time is better spent in working to get the Town moving again. There is no guarantee that if he or the Board were to write a rebuttal, the paper would print it. He added that hopefully, the Town would be getting good news about the school in the next couple of weeks. Good things are going to be happening.
Vouchers were then signed and the meeting was adjourned.
EXECUTIVE SESSION to Discuss Collective Bargaining Agreement for Highway Department
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Presentation by Paul Koksvik of Save Energy USA LLC Regarding Implementation Plan for
Renewable/Clean Energy and Community Choice Aggregation
2. Resolution to Urge Public Service Commission to Exercise Due Diligence in Review of Rate Increase Proposed by Orange & Rockland Utilities
3. Resolution to Appoint Alyse McCathern as Counsel to Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals
4. Resolution to Approve Towing Licenses
5. Resolution to Approve Participation in Orange County 2015 STOP-DWI Enforcement Grant
6. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agend ais posted
The Town Board met on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 7:00 pm. Councilmen Loncar and Matthews were absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
Supervisor Rost announced that the installation of time clocks at the Police Department as well as the Highway Department is almost complete. This is being done as a direct result of the State Audit, which recommended a more accurate time keeping system to the Town. Recently other Towns, most noticeably Goshen, have been in the news for falsifying Police payroll records as well as “double dipping,” and this will ensure that can’t happen in Tuxedo The clocks will protect the Town employees as well as serve as added security that our payroll records are backed up and correct.
Councilman McMillen stated that he had received a complaint that a lot of cars are parked on Southside Place in violation of the code for this time of year. The Chief of Police and the Building Inspector both looked into the situation and reported that there simply isn’t enough room for the cars there. Councilman McMillen feels that the Town should amend the code to take into consideration the amount of cars that people living on the road have. There are other roads in Town that need to be studied as well. Chief Welsh stated that he feels that amending the code to say that overnight parking would be allowed except in cases of snow emergencies. Town Highway employee Mike Marusich was present and was asked how well they were able to plow around the cars. Both he and Chief Welsh said that most people moved their cars when they heard the plow coming in order to accommodate it. The Board and the Town Attorney will look into changing the code.
Report on Perfect Cut:
Town Attorney Nichol reported that issues with Perfect Cut have not been resolved. The latest report from the DEC shows several areas at the site are not being operated according to the plan that was worked out. Also, Perfect Cut is not up to date with their rent payments. Mr. Nichol spoke with Perfect Cut’s attorney and enumerated the issues that he wanted to see sorted out by the end of January. If he had seen these issues settled, he would have prepared a proposed lease for the site for the Board’s consideration.
However, they are still in arrears on their rent and the situation with the DEC has not been resolved. Thus, Mr. Nichols recommends that the Board “take appropriate action.”
David Asher, attorney for Perfect Cut, presented a cashier’s check, which he said covered what they owed in rent as well as “inbound and outbound payments” as per the old lease.
Councilman Phelps inquired as to the amount of the check was informed that it was in the amount of $26,645. Councilman Phelps responded that this was a lot different from the list of money owed that he had.
Councilman McMillen added that the Board’s list came to $133,000.
Mr. Asher replied that the Town’s list included things like the H2M bill for engineering and attorney’s fees. He added that he was perfectly willing to work with the Town on the numbers, but he wanted to make sure the rent and the inbound and outbound were paid first. Additionally, he said he had reached out to the Supervisor but had not been able to get in touch with him.
Supervisor Rost responded that things had reached the point where communication needed to be between the attorneys.
Mr. Asher said he had been in touch with Mr. Nichol. He stated that Perfect Cut had been informed by former Supervisor Dolan that the Town would be absorbing the cost of the engineering plans as well as the attorney’s fees.
At this point, Councilman Phelps stated that he had been on the Board at that time that they would never, ever have agreed to those terms.
Mr. Asher replied he wasn’t saying that they did, but that was what Mr. Dolan told Perfect Cut owner, John Guggino.
Next, Mr. Asher stated that there were many things that Perfect Cut had done as improvements to the Highway Garage property which, as discussed with Mr. Dolan, he felt were significant offsets to the money the Town now says they owe. Mr. Asher also stated that Perfect Cut had installed a drainage system on the property which would also benefit the Town and which cost well over $100,000.
Additionally, he presented the Board with a list of work. which had been done by Perfect Cut, not because anyone had asked them to do the work, but because they “wanted to provide services to the Town which houses their business for good will.” Mr. Asher figures this work totals at least $915,000. Click here to see a copy of the list.
Councilman McMillen responded to Mr. Asher stating that they had all had a meeting a few months ago during which the Board had laid out the things they felt it was necessary that Perfect Cut should do in order for the Board to consider extending their lease, however the Town has heard nothing from Perfect Cut until now. Perfect Cut was given until the end of January to respond and Mr. McMillen pointed out that it was now February. Secondly, he stated that the improvements listed by Perfect Cut were not a condition of the lease. As a result, he does not see how the Board can recognize them.
Councilman Phelps commented that all of the dollars represented on the list could have been better spent paying the rent. He added that as far as the drainage or containment system referenced by Mr. Asher was concerned, that was necessary because the mulch pile was leaking, not because of anything the Town had done.
Mr. Asher replied, “but Mr. Phelps, regardless of who or what was operating on the property, it benefits the property,” to which the Councilman replied “but what was operating on the property was causing the problem!”
Councilman McMillen added that the items on the list should have gone out to bid. It is illegal for Perfect Cut to go ahead and do them on their own.
Mr. Asher suggested that should they go into another lease, which was what they were there to request, such things would have to be treated more formally going forward. In the future, they are suggesting a formal landlord/tenant relationship. Additionally, he stated that the only issue left to be resolved with the DEC is a dollar amount. Perfect Cut has offered to take over the consent order because they want to remain in a relationship with the Town. They have been working with the DEC. The height of the pile has been addressed. The logs have been removed. Wind rows have been created and 4 flag poles have been installed. Supervisor Rost then produced the latest report from the DEC dated January 21 and asked Mr. Asher if he had seen it. He replied he was sure he had seen it but he had not read it before tonight. The Supervisor stated that the report said that the site was not in compliance. Mr. Asher replied that he didn’t disagree with the report but he didn’t really understand what the DEC was saying. He feels the DEC is being difficult as they are complaining about the stump pile when “everyone knows that you can’t work on a stump pile during snow season.” The Supervisor replied that the stump pile had been there even during the summer. Mr. Asher responded that he was working with the attorney for the DEC on a resolution and that dollars and cents is the last issue that needs to be worked out.
The Supervisor then stated that personally, he had an issue with the fact that Perfect Cut was there talking about a new lease. To his recollection, they have been talking about a new lease since August. But, they have just tonight paid up their rent from April through January. Councilman McMillen added that because of the non-payment, the Town has been operating at a deficit with Perfect Cut and that this directly affects the taxpayers. Mr. Asher responded that the Town had never lost money with Perfect Cut. He added that he would not try to say that the rent hadn’t been late because clearly it had been, but now it was up date, and the benefits and services that have been provided by Perfect Cut have more than made up for that. Mr. Guggino added that inbound and outbound charges alone had netted the Town $1,300,000.
Councilman McMillan then stated that he had gone over the books and he completely disagreed with Mr. Asher and Mr. Guggino. To him, it looked as though the Town had made some money for the first 3 years and then after that, it had steadily dropped off until they had 0 profit. He offered to share the numbers with Mr. Asher.
Additionally, the Supervisor pointed out that the Town had to pay for the engineering and the attorney, which added up to over $100,000 out of pocket for the Town. Mr. Asher responded that he understood this and that, as he had astated earlier, he was willing to discuss these things. He also wanted to go on the record as saying he was not a party to the discussions between Mr. Guggino and Former Supervisor Dolan. He only knew what he had been told. He added that Perfect Cut hoped to maintain a long-term relationship with the Town and he would be happy to answer any other questions they might have. Mr. Guggino then offered to sit down with the Supervisor and compare numbers as well as go through the books because whatever decision they made, he felt the Board should do so fully informed.
The Supervisor then made a motion to go into Executive Session to receive advice from Counsel; it was passed unanimously and the Board and Mr. Nichol left the room.
Resolution Authorizing Summary Proceeding:
When the Board returned and the meeting was resumed, Supervisor Rost made a motion that the Town Board commence a summary proceeding against J&G Tree Corporation/Perfect Cut to obtain a Warrant for Eviction and Judgment for monies due to the Town. Councilman Phelps seconded the resolution and it was passed unanimously.
Public Comments:
Mary Graetzer congratulated the Board on their action against Perfect cut, commenting they had done well. She then asked if the Supervisor had any idea as to the timing of what would happen next. Supervisor Rost replied that he did not as it was in the hands of the attorneys now.
Town Attorney Nichol commented that a summary proceeding using the Justice Court was usually a fairly quick and accurate thing.
Mrs. Graetzer asked where the case would be heard and she was told it would go to the local Tuxedo Justice Court. Mr. Nichol characterized it as a “landlord/tenant matter,” and said that going to court locally would save the Town from having questions opened that would perhaps be debatable.
The vouchers were then approved and the meeting was adjourned.
The Town Board met on Tuesday, February 3, 2014 at 7:30 pm. Councilmen Loncar and Matthews were absent.
The first item of business was the 2015 Reorganization Meeting, which began with the swearing in of recently elected Councilman David McMillen.
Supervisor Rost next recounted the changes, which appear in the Reorganization document.
The meeting time for Town Board meetings will now be 7pm instead of 7:30
Contractual raises for Town Employees are as follows:
Police – 3%
Highway Department – 4%
Town Hall Employees – 1%
Board members – no raise
Bill Sweet will join the administration as Bookkeeper at $20,000 per year
Brian Sullivan will be the Account Clerk at $20/hour, limited to 20 hours per week.
The Reorg. Document was then unanimously accepted. Details are as follows: Appointments:
The following appointments were made:
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
Supervisor’s Bookkeeper
Bill Sweet
Account Clerk
Brian Sullivan
Deputy Supervisor
Gary Phelps
Deputy Registrar
Joanne Ennis
First Deputy Town Clerk
Joanne Ennis
Town Planner
Bonnie Franson
The yearly salaries were approved for the following Town Officials:
Supervisor
Michael Rost
$37,475.00
Town Council Member
Clifford Loncar
$ 6,634.89
Town Council Member
Kristian Matthews
$ 6,634.89
Town Council Member
David McMillen
$ 6,634.89
Town Council Member
Gary L. Phelps
$ 6,634.89
Town Justice
Shawn Brown
$24,553.00
Town Justice
Sandy Newman
$23,690.00
Receiver of Taxes
Greg Stevens
$11,362.00
Town Clerk
Elaine Laurent
$63,295.00
Superintendent of Highways
Edward Pfizenmaier
$97,068.00
Supervisory Court Clerk
Elizabeth Smith
$47,981.00
Justice Clerk
Claire Squillini
$40,053.00
PT Court Clerk
Mary Stalnaker
$29.605.00
Supervisor’s Clerk
Shari Brooks
$38,611.29
Recreation/Summer Camp Director
Shari Brooks
$18,242.70
PT Town Bookkeeper
Bill Sweet
$20,000.00
PT Account Clerk
Brian Sullivan
$20/hr.
Budget Officer
Michael Rost
No compensation
PT Assessor
Gregory Stevens
$40,709.00
Payroll Clerk
Deborah Villanueva
$ 2,800.00
Records Management Officer
Elaine Laurent
$ 3,767.00
Deputy Records Management Officer
Joanne Ennis
$ 2,495.00
Dog Control Officer
Thomas Murphy
$ 7,522.00
Emergency Management Officer
Ralph Brooks
$ 793.00
Clerk for Highway & Building Depts + Recording Sec. for ARB
Rachel Artrip
$15/hr
PT Parking Fee Collector
Mary Stalnaker
$15.27/hr.
Police Chief
Patrick Welsh IV
As per contract
Supervisor of Dog Control Officer
Patrick Welsh IV
$ 2,500.00
Police Lieutenant, Sargeants and Patrolmen
As per contract
Full-time Police Dispatchers
As per contract
Police Matron
Margaret Baruffaldi
As per contract
Police Matron
Dawn Graham
As per contract
Part-time Police Dispatchers
Kim Hall, Daniel Jones, Kathleen Marusich, Kathleen Miller, Joseph Russo, Antoinette Soriano, Sara Troxell, Kevin Bonkowski
Fire Inspector/Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer/Flood Damage Prevention Administrator
David Maikisch
$63,148.00
Project Coordinator for Building Dept/Sec. for Zoning Bd., Planning Bd., ARB
Deborah Villanueva
$50,606.00
Board of Assessment Review/Chairman
Louis DeBrino
(9/30/16)
$ 1,507.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Edward Brennan
(9/30/15)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Nathaniel Jackson
(9/30/17)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Frederick Jones
(9/30/18)
$ 538.00
Board of Assessment Review/Member
Carol Matthews
(9/30/19)
$ 538.00
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Joseph Ricard
(12/31/15)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Jean Ruffino
(12/31/16)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Leslie DeVore
(12/31/17)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Edward Pfisenmaier
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Deborah Villanueva
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Adam Frank
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Member
Paul DiPaulo
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Elwood J. Briggs
(12/31/15)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Kent Clark
(12/31/15)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Gardiner Hempel, Jr.
(12/31/16)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Edward J. Brennan, Jr. (12/31/17)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Ralph Brooks, Sr.
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Todd J Darling
(12/31/18)
No compensation
Board of Fire Commissioners Member
Charles Jones
(12/31/19)
No compensation
Zoning Board of Appeals/Chairman
Frank Peverly
(12/31/15)
$ 1,611.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Andrew Rogers
(12/31/16)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Thomas Darling
(12/31/17)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
George D. Langberg III (12/31/18)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Member
Russell Shaver
(12/31/19)
$ 1,166.00
Zoning Board of Appeals/Alternate
Open
(12/31/15)
Planning Board/Chairman
Michael Reardon
(12/31/16)
$ 5,864.00
Planning Board/Member
Linda Phelps
(12/31/15)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Darren Maynard
(12/31/17)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Joseph Gartiser
(12/31/18)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
John Ruel
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Raymond Ferri
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Planning Board/Member
Richard Rigoli
(12/31/19)
$ 2,661.00
Architectural Review Board/Chairman
Dale Mottola
(12/31/17)
$ 1,801.00
Archtectural Review Board/Member
Michael Rothlauf
(12/31/15)
$ 1,165.00
Archtectural Review Board/Member
George McCathern
(12/31/16)
$ 1,165.00
Archtectural Review Board/Member
Todd Tereshkow
(12/31/16)
$ 1,165.00
Archtectural Review Board/Member
Robert Currie
(12/31/17)
$ 1,165.00
In addition, the following appointments were made:
Town Veteran’s Officer
Paul Mitchell
Town Historian
George D. Langberg, Jr.
Official Newspaper of Record
Times Herald Record
Official Depository
JP Morgan Chase
Requests for proposals have gone out for Town Attorneys, Town Engineers and Town Auditors. Until such time as a successor is appointed, Jacobowitz & Gubits was retained as Town Counsel, Planning Board Legal Counsel and ZBA Legal Counsel. Until such time as a successor is retained, Holzmacher, McLendon & Murrell P.C. (H2M) was appointed as Town Engineer. Until such time as a successor is appointed, Andrew Arias of Cooper Arias was appointed as Town Auditor.
The regular bi-monthly meeting of the Board followed.
Supervisor’s Update:
Supervisor Rost stated that he felt one of the best predictions for the future was the past and, as such, he has been spending a lot of time studying how business was done in Town over the past year, the past 8 years and the past 12 years. He feels that if the Board wants to change where the Town is headed, they need to change the way that business is done in Town. Therefore, the Board is very focused on implementing controls, policies and procedures to make sure that they change the direction in which the Town seems to be headed. Councilman McMillen is working with A&M and Bill Sweet on a lot of things and the Supervisor will be working with A&M on the response to the audit. Cameras have been installed at the Highway garage and controls have been added at the fuel pumps, which the Supervisor feels is a good start. Time clocks have been installed and as soon as training is complete and the payroll can be run without errors, they will be turned on. Supervisor Rost believes that the addition of Bill Sweet is a big part of the solution, stating that it was a really good idea to have a CPA in charge.
Councilman McMillen added that the locks at the Police Station had also been fixed.
Notification:
The following was read into the record:
A Notification of Receipt, Publication of Notice, Website Posting and Distribution of the Official NYS Comptroller’s Audit of the Town’s Financial Operations -1/01/2013 -01/29/2014
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed
A Resolution to declare Vehicles (2005 GMAC Yukon, 2009 Ford Crown Victoria, 2002 Chevrolet Bus) as Surplus and advertised for sale with a bid opening on 3/19 @ 1 pm in the Town Clerk’s office.
A Resolution to Schedule a Public Hearing regarding Amendments to Tuxedo Farms Special Permit***
***Town Attorney Don Nichol explained that there were a number of things which need to be amended in the Tuxedo Farms Special Permit. Some of these things are discussed in a memo to the Planning Board written by Town Planner Bonnie Franson. Proposed changes include some Sewer Plant issues, the addition of a few acres to the project, moving the location of the Vistor’s Center to the center of the project in the Town Center and an update to the Preliminary Plan as well as an adjustment to the Regulatory Plan. Also, in regards to the property that is going to be donated (Fox Hill tract) there is a proposal to give it to the Town but it will need some language adjustments before it will be allowed. These changes need to be put into the proper legal language by the Tuxedo Farms attorneys and then submitted to the Town. Once they have been received, the Town Clerk will schedule a Public Hearing. As there is a minimum of 10 days notice required for scheduling a Public Hearing, this will not take place at the next scheduled Board meeting (Monday, February 9 ) but will either have totake place at a Special Meeting or the February 23 Board meeting.
Project Manager Andrew Dance added that the Planning Board memo was a result of 7 months review by that Board and concerned updating the Preliminary Plan. The Planning Board can, under the process, recommend that the Preliminary Plan be updated and refer it to the Town Board. This is what’s happening now. Mr. Dance added that since the property to be donated is adjacent to the Quarry Field property, it made sense to him to gift it to the Town to be added to that tract. However, he hoped that changing this from donating it to an approved “conservation entity” to the Town would not delay the project. Town Attorney Nichol responded that this would take some research on his part to see if this would be possible. He added that the changes should also be enumerated in a summary so that the general public could easily see what was being asked.
The Resolution in Opposition of Electric and Gas Rate Increase proposed by Orange and Rockland was tabled for two reasons. First, the full Board was not present. This is a significant increase and the Supervisor attended an Association of Towns meeting the week prior where he was asked to participate in a joint lawsuit with other Towns and Villages. There would be a required contribution of $5000 to participate so he wants to wait for a vote of the full Board. Also, O&R employee,Town Resident and ZBA Chair Frank Peverly has asked to address the Board on this subject and the Supervisor would like to give him the chance to do so.
Other Business:
The following resolution was passed:
A Resolution approving posting of $6,620.00 performance bond for filling and grading at the Iazzetti property as confirmed by Planning Board Chairman Michael Reardon.
After vouchers were signed, the meeting was adjourned into an Executive Session to receive advice from the Town Attorney.
Agenda for Rescheduled Town Board Reorg/Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting - February 3, 2015
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
2015 REORGANIZATION MEETING
REGULAR BI-MONTHLY MEETING
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Notification of Receipt, Publication ofNotice, Website Posting and Distribution of the Official
NYS Comptroller's Audit of the Town's Financial Operations- 01/01/2013 Through 01/29/2014
2. Resolution to Bid Police Vehicles for Sale
3. Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing Regarding Amendments to Tuxedo Farms Special Permit
4. Resolution in Opposition of Electric and Gas Rate Increase Proposed by Orange & Rockland Utilities
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The audit report of our Town’s finances has been completed and published. You can access the full report here http://www.tuxedogov.org/news
The audit raised serious concerns about the Town’s accounting. I would like to point out the following:
Immediately after taking office last January, I learned that the Town’s bank account was overdrawn, even though the financial records showed a surplus. At once, I requested the Office of the New York State Comptroller to conduct an audit of the Town’s finances.
I reached out to some individuals in the community with financial backgrounds and formed a citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee to review our finances and make recommendations.
The Town Board worked with a consultant to put action plans in place to address the deficiencies. The consultant, paid with fees from Genting, helped the Town put in place appropriate procedures and controls. The Town’s books are balanced and money has been accounted for.
The Town Board hired a new accounting firm to perform audits
Moving forward, Bill Sweet will be joining our team to provide oversight and segregation of duties of the Town finances.
Below is an article that appeared in the Times Herald Record.
State blasts Tuxedo's poor bookkeeping
By Hema Easley
Times Herald-Record
Posted Jan. 20, 2015 @ 7:24 pm
An audit by the state Comptroller's Office offers a scathing rebuke of Tuxedo's fiscal controls and accounting methods, saying the poor bookkeeping makes it impossible for the state, and the town itself, to determine its true financial condition.
The audit, which covers the period Jan. 1, 2013, to Jan. 29, 2014, found that the supervisor delegated the town's accounting responsibilities to an untrained bookkeeper without providing oversight. The Town Board, in turn, depended on the supervisor's financial updates to make decisions, without ensuring he provided sufficient and adequate information.
The audit also found that certain account balances in the town's ledger did not agree with the audited financial statements. The Town Board and the supervisor also did not ensure that all money spent was for proper town purposes.
The town's accountant did not assess internal controls, ensure financial records were complete or account for court revenue, making Tuxedo's annual audits unreliable, the Comptroller's Office said.
The audit covers the final year of the administration of former supervisor Peter Dolan. Mike Rost, the current supervisor, said he was aware of issues in the town's finances coming in and had asked the Comptroller's Office to perform an audit.
The results were not a surprise. The town was already facing a $1 million deficit, and in October the Comptroller's Office included Tuxedo in its list of municipalities in fiscal stress. In April, the credit rating firm Moody's downgraded the town to A3 from A1 with a negative outlook.
The town received a copy of the audit and accompanying recommendations in December, but Rost and the Town Board had already started implementing changes during the summer in consultation with the Comptroller's Office.
The town let go the accountant who had been overseeing the town's finances for more than a decade, and hired the accounting firm Cooper Arias. It has proposed reducing the responsibilities of its bookkeeper, sending him on training for municipal accounting, and hiring a Certified Public Accountant to provide oversight.
In addition, Tuxedo hired New York City-based Alvarez & Marsal to analyze current policies, establish proper controls, make cost-saving recommendations and assist with police and highway contracts. The consultants were also tasked with helping the town with financial planning for one-, two-, five- and 10-year outlooks.
Agenda for Town Board Reorganization Meeting and Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting January 26, 2015
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
2015 REORGANIZATION MEETING
REGULAR BI-MONTHLY MEETING
Minutes
Monthly Reports
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update
Public Comments on Agenda Items
Agenda Items:
1. Notification of Receipt, Publication ofNotice, Website Posting and Distribution of the Official
NYS Comptroller's Audit of the Town's Financial Operations- 01/01/2013 Through 01/29/2014
2. Resolution to Bid Police Vehicles for Sale
3. Resolution to Schedule Public Hearing Regarding Amendments to Tuxedo Farms Special Permit
4. Resolution in Opposition of Electric and Gas Rate Increase Proposed by Orange & Rockland Utilities
5. Any other business as may come before the Board after this Agenda is posted
Public Comments
Budget Transfers
Vouchers
Adjournment
The Town Board met on Monday, January 12, 2015 at 7:30 pm. Councilman Loncar was absent.
Town Supervisor/Town Board Update:
The Supervisor stated that he had no update.
Public Comments on Agenda Items:
Councilman McMillen asked for an explanation of Agenda Item # 2 (the annual contract with Warwick Humane Society) and was told this was the same contract that had been in place last year. The fees will remain the same--$75 per cat and $85 per dog.
Resolutions:
The following resolutions were passed:
a Resolution to Schedule the 2015 Reorganization Meeting for January 26, 2015
a Resolution to authorize execution of Agreement with Warwick Humane Society for 2015 Animal Shelter Services
Public Comments:
There were no public comments.
Vouchers were signed and the meeting adjourned into an Executive Session to receive legal counsel.
The Town Board held a Special Meeting on January 7, 2015 at 7 pm. Councilman Matthews was not present.
Supervisor Rost opened the meeting, which he stated was being held for the purpose of voting on a resolution to authorize the establishment of the Tuxedo Farms Local Development Corporation. Before taking the vote, the Supervisor stated that if anyone had any questions about the resolution, Chris Andreucci of Harris Beach (attorneys for Related Companies) and Howard Protter of Jacobowitz & Gubits (Town attorneys) were present to answer them.
Councilman Loncar asked how the list of people who make up the Directors of the LDC had been arrived upon.
Supervisor Rost replied that this had been discussed at the last meeting and then asked Mr. Andreucci if he had anything to add.
Mr. Andreucci stated that these people were the initial directors, appointed by the Supervisor, who were needed to form the LDC. After the Corporation has been established, the directors can be changed. This would be done by appointment of the Town Supervisor acting ex officio. The appointed directors can be different than the initial ones.
Supervisor Rost added that the Town Board was not going to be administering the LDC, they will have oversight provided by Harris Beach.
Councilman McMillen asked if it were true that the Directors of the LDC were not individually liable and Mr. Andreucci confirmed that this was so. There is no individual liability or personal guarantee for the loan for the bonds. Mr. McMillen then wondered who was liable and he was told nobody was. He went on to say that “the only security package for the bonds is the right of the Trustee to stand in the shoes of the LDC to enforce the Town’s obligation to levy the special assessments.”
Peter Bush inquired how the project would be financed by the LDC.
Mr. Andreucci responded that the LDC was formed so that bonds could be issued. Only certain entities are allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds and they need to be a subdivision of a state or municipal government. These are called constitute authorities or “on behalf of issuers and” this is what is being done in this situation. They are using the ability to access the tax exempt market to reduce the project cost.
Mr. Bush then wondered if that meant that the financing was not entirely in place for the project.
Mr. Andreucci replied that they have a pretty strong commitment from the underwriters who they believe tcan sell the bonds and that they will also sell the bonds. He is confident that there won’t be any issues with this.
Mr. Bush then wondered if there was grant money or funding coming from Orange County for the project?
He was told that Orange County was not providing any grant money.
There were no further questions so the vote was taken. It was 4 in favor and none opposed. A complete copy of the resolution as voted on can be found here (http://goo.gl/kgOANI)
Mr. Andreucci asked if the Board were going to schedule a public hearing for the Special Permit for Tuxedo Farms.
Town Attorney Howard Protter replied that the Board was waiting to receive a “complete list” of items from the Planning Board as they did not wish to have two separate public hearings.
Resolution to Appoint Part-Time Seasonal Laborer – A resolution appointing Kristian Matthews as seasonal laborer in the Highway Department at the hourly rate of $20 was passed unanimously. 
