[0:00] Uh, I'd like to welcome everybody to the
August 20th meeting of the town of
[0:03] Southeast. If you could rise for pledge
of allegiance.
[0:07] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:12] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:17] justice for all.
[0:22] » Thank you. Uh, just to remind everybody
of the exits. We have two exits in the
[0:25] back of the room on each corner and one
exit up here in case of an emergency.
[0:29] Uh, I would ask everybody to turn off
their cell phones or put it on vibrate.
[0:33] Um, appreciate that. And I'll ask the
clerk for roll call.
[0:39] » Councilman Cypress absent. Councilman
Larka
[0:42] » here.
>> Councilwoman Lewis absent. Councilman
[0:45] Mazada
>> here.
[0:47] » Supervisor Castellano
>> present. Thank you.
[0:51] » Uh, okay. Uh, first item on tonight is
public hearing. So, I'd like to make a
[0:54] motion to open up a public hearing uh
for Verizon of New York LLC. Do I have a
[1:00] second?
>> Second.
[1:01] » All in favor?
>> I
[1:02] » I Okay. Uh if anybody would like to
speak uh about the uh non-exclusive
[1:08] cable franchise with Verizon New York
LLC.
[1:13] Step up to the podium here.
[1:18] Well, I didn't get any um feedback from
the public the last couple weeks or
[1:23] anything about it. And um with that, I
guess I'll make a motion to close the
[1:28] public hearing.
>> Second. Second.
[1:29] » All in favor? Thank you. I
>> I
[1:32] » All right. Uh we'll move on to our
regular work session. Uh item number one
[1:37] uh for discussion is uh the building
department update from Michael Levine,
[1:40] our town building inspector.
[1:52] Is this on?
[1:58] » Good evening everyone.
Uh just have a brief summary tonight. Uh
[2:04] review some work activities uh
for the year to date. Uh so far we've
[2:12] done
946 permits compared to,266
[2:19] for
uh year end 2025.
[2:23] Uh we've issued 414 certificates year-to
date compared to year end 2025 we did
[2:31] 601
building inspections. Uh this year we've
[2:36] done 1120 year to date compared to year
end 2025 where we did 1125
[2:45] fire inspections year-to date we've done
246
[2:49] compared to year end for 2025
[clears throat]
[2:52] of 266
notices of violation year to date we've
[2:58] done 266
year end for 2025 we did 378 8
[3:05] uh revenue
year-to- date 446,880
[3:12] compared to year end 2025 of 471761.
[3:18] Um [laughter]
what these numbers reflect is that our
[3:23] office remains busy. Um they also
indicate that our work volume for the
[3:28] year is on par or trending higher than
last year. our revenue for 2026 already
[3:34] exceeds the budgeted amount for the
year. So fiscally, we're in good shape.
[3:41] Um, as a department anyway,
one of the biggest challenges the
[3:46] building department faces is dealing
with contractors and property owners
[3:50] that do not comply with our local
regulations and New York State code
[3:54] requirements.
The time and cost expended by the
[3:58] department in addressing and correcting
compliance issues is tremendous and it
[4:04] impacts opportunities for efficiency.
Um
[4:09] examples
range from people that pull permits
[4:15] don't close them out. So, we have to
chase after them,
[4:21] try to compel them to renew permits,
close out their permit, and to bring the
[4:27] the property into compliance. Um, other
examples would be somebody that applies
[4:34] for a permit,
um, does not submit a complete
[4:39] application
and we have to chase after them to get
[4:44] them to submit the the proper
documentation.
[4:49] Clearly, and probably the biggest issue
is property maintenance violations.
[4:54] People are not maintaining their
properties in accordance with the code.
[4:58] And that's not just residential
properties. Um,
[5:03] commercial properties that don't
maintain their their property in
[5:07] accordance with the code create a
situation where uh public safety is at
[5:13] risk. Um, so all of these issues and of
course it's it's part and parcel to what
[5:20] we do, but there's
I I think a lot of uh what we seem to
[5:29] experience
is
[5:32] something the public needs to take
responsibility for. Um, they don't they
[5:39] don't seem to take the fact that they
take out a permit seriously. they don't
[5:44] look at the permit, they don't look at
the scheduling requirements. Um, and
[5:50] over time, uh, obviously it's a
liability, but it's also it's a big cost
[5:55] issue. And, um, you know, it would be
something that would would be nice if,
[6:03] uh, we saw, uh, more compliance rather
than less.
[6:09] Um, as provided to the board, we're
beginning to see attrition in the
[6:13] department as anticipated,
and I've provided my current
[6:18] recommendations to the board in recent
correspondence. [snorts] Uh, looking
[6:22] ahead to 2027,
we'll prepare and train for the
[6:26] implementation of software upgrades to
provide an online permitting portal. The
[6:31] portal will provide contractors,
professionals, and property owners the
[6:35] ability to submit permit applications
electronically.
[6:39] Um, finally, I want to take the
opportunity to thank my staff for the
[6:43] work that they do.
Um, and
[6:47] if there's anybody that has any
questions on the board, I'd be more than
[6:52] happy to address them.
>> Sure. Any questions,
[6:56] » Mike? Uh, has that um no show fee helped
at all
[7:02] » for
uh was it inspections that we put in? I
[7:07] mean,
I don't think that you'd ever really see
[7:12] a big impact with that because it's kind
of
[7:18] somebody that that is a no-show that is
charged the fee. Of course, they won't
[7:24] won't do it again,
>> right?
[7:25] » But it's not going to impact the
hundreds or whatever other people that
[7:31] are are scheduling appointments. and
thanks for um the analysis that you and
[7:38] Alex worked on and we saw that come
through and we'll be discussing that. So
[7:44] » yeah, I I thought that that was
beneficial. I appreciate the uh being
[7:50] asked to to go through that exercise. It
was it was good. Yeah, it's always
[7:54] helpful um to to go through that, you
know, both from your perspective um to
[8:01] lay it out on paper and see how it looks
from a present state to what a desired
[8:06] future state might look like. It helped
us too because
[8:09] » sure,
>> we don't want to be in the position to
[8:12] to guess what you need, right? Because
you're the department head. You know
[8:16] exactly what it is. Um, but to be able
to spell that out on paper to help us
[8:21] like connect dots, I know for myself it
it helped a great deal. So, so thank you
[8:26] for doing that.
>> Sure.
[8:28] » Um, I had a question regarding
two items that you mentioned. You know,
[8:35] you mentioned how, you know, onus on the
public to some degree to assist in being
[8:41] more compliant with with their permit
requests,
[8:45] » right? So I how do you couple that when
we once we get the online permitting
[8:51] software up and running? Do
[clears throat] you think that will
[8:54] assist or make that maybe the public
more compliant because it's more user
[8:58] friendly, easier to manage, maybe easier
to communicate? So do you think
[9:04] ultimately when when we roll this out
that will yield a benefit to the
[9:08] department?
>> I hope so.
[9:10] uh
you know the the online portal
[9:16] uh is kind of an interesting
uh application for a building
[9:22] department. Um I I personally feel that
you're going to have a have a lot of
[9:30] people that are just going to kind of
continue to do it the oldfashioned way
[9:35] because that's how they do it.
There are going to be people that, you
[9:41] know, like let's just say like a a
plumbing contractor that might submit 75
[9:46] applications a year. Certainly for that
contractor,
[9:51] it would be very beneficial if they can
do it online because they could they
[9:56] could probably knock those out very
quickly. Um
[10:02] the person that I have concern is
where they try to use the portal and
[10:10] they experience issues and we have to
engage
[10:16] you know continuous kind of phone
dialogue or email dialogue to try to
[10:21] help them through the process. So I
think that that's kind of a concern of
[10:28] mine. Um but at the same time I think
that when we go through the training
[10:35] process we have to make sure that we
have a a standard or a system in place
[10:41] to address those questions as they come
up.
[10:46] » Yeah. FAQs on a website are always
helpful. you know with AI now there's
[10:52] there's chat bots right which which you
feed the information to which which
[10:56] certainly could be useful so I hope when
we deploy the software we're also kind
[11:03] of bringing that other technology right
behind it because it would address many
[11:07] of the things you just spoke of so that
you're less staff reliant
[11:11] » yeah I was I was actually thinking about
[clears throat] it yesterday because I
[11:14] was on I was on the phone with a robot
>> and I was asking the the robot questions
[11:19] and it was providing ing me with very
capable responses and I was like, how do
[11:23] you get that
into what I do for a living? And uh so
[11:30] it's definitely I guess that's where the
world is heading in a lot of a lot of
[11:35] ways.
>> Yeah.
[11:39] » No, I'm glad to see u you know the
increase in activity in the department
[11:42] and you guys are doing a great job
keeping up with it. Um so you know
[11:45] compliments to you and your staff on
that. Uh definitely looking forward to
[11:48] the online permitting uh issue. I think
that'll you know it's the next step for
[11:53] us and I'm looking forward to it and try
to help any way we can. So I appreciate
[11:58] that.
>> Super. Okay. I think that we're unless
[12:01] there's any other comments or questions.
>> Thanks for getting all the solicitors.
[12:06] » Thank you, Peter. [clears throat]
>> Hopefully the sheriff's department gets
[12:09] them too.
>> Thanks very much.
[12:13] » Okay. Good evening.
>> Thank you.
[12:17] Uh number two for discussion we have uh
Putnham County District Attorney Robert
[12:20] Tendy here to give us an update on uh
scamming that's affecting Putnham
[12:24] County.
>> Thank you.
[12:30] » Speaking of AI Sesan
>> okay um I want to thank you for letting
[12:35] me come here and talk about this because
this is something that uh four years ago
[12:41] was a concern, three years ago was more
of a concern. Lately, it's just gotten
[12:46] really, really crazy. And as this has
been happening more and more over the
[12:51] past several months, and I've been going
to various senior centers and various
[12:55] social groups and talking to them about
it,
[12:58] people are still getting scammed a lot,
not just in this county, but all all
[13:02] over the world. Certainly in America,
and certainly seniors are hit more than
[13:06] more than most. Um, so I thought it
would be a good idea to come to each
[13:11] town and talk to the board, but more
importantly, it's on it's televised, so
[13:16] people can watch it and see it because
these I'm going to give you an example
[13:20] of what I'm talking about. A very good
friend of mine who's an international
[13:23] attorney, a very bright man. He travels
all around the world. He got scammed not
[13:28] too long ago out of $250,000.
He's a really bright guy. Um, it was a
[13:35] email and a phone scam. It was very very
sophisticated. Uh he thought it was a
[13:39] bank. He thought it was a client and he
fell for it. Fortunately, he has
[13:44] commercial uh theft insurance, so they
covered it. But that's that's that's a
[13:49] lot of money. I mean, he's a
multi-millionaire. It's not a lot for
[13:53] him, but it's a lot of money. And it's
it's how they did it. It was so well
[13:57] done that this sophisticated businessman
actually fell for it. So, I want to go
[14:02] over a couple of some of these scams
you've all heard of, but even though
[14:05] you've heard of them, they bear
repeating because people keep falling
[14:08] for them. In Putham County, two years
ago, we had a woman who was scammed for
[14:12] $120,000.
Fortunately, we caught the person who
[14:15] did it. It's very unusual that the
person's actually in the country, but in
[14:18] this case, the person was uh not too
long ago in my town, Putnham Valley, a
[14:23] woman was scammed out of $50,000.
Recently, someone was scammed out of
[14:27] $15,000.
Um, some people have their bank accounts
[14:32] used as conduits to transfer money
because they think they're speaking to a
[14:38] friend and they're not and they get told
the story. But I'm going to go over some
[14:41] of these examples and uh, you really
need to be vigilant.
[14:45] Um,
one of the things that every is probably
[14:49] the oldest scam in the book as far as
phones go, it's the grandparent scam.
[14:55] your grandchild calls you and says, "I'm
in Mexico and I'm in jail and I need
[15:01] money to get out." And you may all be
familiar with it and you're like, "How
[15:05] could somebody fall for something like
that?" They do it all the time and they
[15:08] fall for it all the time. Um, sometimes
you get a call from somebody claiming to
[15:12] be your grandchild's friend. Your
grandchild's been in an accident.
[15:15] They're in the hospital. They can't
contact the parents. Uh, we need
[15:18] information for the doctor. Please give
us your credit card number. Something
[15:21] like that. People are still falling for
these scams. If you get a phone call
[15:25] from somebody who says, "I'm in Mexico
and I'm your grandson and or I'm the
[15:29] friend of your granddaughter or
whatever," just don't even say anything.
[15:33] Don't say, "Oh my god." Just hang out
the phone. It's a scam. It's a scam.
[15:38] That's all there is to it.
Um, speaking of AI, I speak to so many
[15:44] people who think they're being clever
when they get a phone call from an
[15:51] unknown party and they start talking to
them, grilling them, asking them
[15:56] questions, thinking they're going to
like, I'll show you. I know you're a
[15:59] scammer. All they're doing is cloning
your voice. They're recording your voice
[16:03] and they're cloning it. And if your kid
does it or a relative does it or a
[16:07] neighbor does it and these people are
very very sophisticated, you will
[16:11] eventually get a call from your neighbor
or your daughter or they might get a
[16:17] call from you and it's going to be your
voice and it's going to sound real
[16:23] and all you have to do is go online and
look at these AI videos. I mean, they
[16:26] looks they're amazingly real.
I just saw a video there that's it's
[16:32] spectacular. I'm so proud of this lion.
It raised a rabbit. It's amazing.
[16:38] It's fake.
My son-in-law had the opportunity to go
[16:44] to Egypt recently and he did an
archaeological dig and he sends me video
[16:50] from Egypt and he's surrounded by all
these ancient places and he's digging
[16:55] and he's talking to me.
He was in Walden, New York. The whole
[17:00] thing was fake. He wanted to show me how
easy it is. I'm like, I didn't know know
[17:05] you were in I didn't even know you knew
where Egypt was. [laughter] The It
[17:09] looked great. I was like, what the
hell's going on here? I really almost
[17:14] believed he was in Egypt.
Bank scams. If you get a call from your
[17:19] bank and your bank says your your
account's been compromised. We think it
[17:24] may have been hacked. We want to go over
some information with you to make sure
[17:27] that what's going on is legitimate or
illegitimate. give us your social last
[17:31] four digits of your Don't do it. Don't
do it. If your bank calls you,
[17:36] hang up the phone. Get in your car and
drive to the bank or hang up the phone.
[17:41] Go online, get the real bank number.
Call the bank number that you're used to
[17:45] calling and talk to them. Don't accept
the phone call from the bank.
[17:50] They are so good at that scam. It
happens all the time. I you may have
[17:55] heard a news reporter in Los Angeles
about two months ago fail for this. They
[17:59] called him up and they they wanted his
banking information and he went all the
[18:04] way to the point of actually going to
the bank to take out money for them.
[18:08] That's when he realized this is crazy.
This can't be real. But they're so good
[18:11] at it.
They're really good at it. So don't fall
[18:15] for it. If somebody calls you and they
say they're from the IRS and they're
[18:18] going to garnish your wages, just hang
up the phone. All right? The IRS when it
[18:24] contacts you folks is too late. All
right? When you get contacted by the
[18:29] IRS, it's going to be by a bank account
garnishment, wage garnishment, etc. You
[18:34] get a call from the IRS, just hang up
the phone. Then, if you want, you can
[18:36] call the IRS, but don't ever do anything
on a phone call. It's like when you're a
[18:41] kid, your your parents tell you not to
speak to strangers.
[18:45] You don't speak to strangers on the
phone. It's that simple. You just don't
[18:48] do it, but everybody falls for it
because you get you get comfortable.
[18:53] This scam is very, very dangerous and it
happens a lot in Putham County because
[18:56] we have a lot of power outages. the nice
egg scam. If somebody comes knocking on
[18:59] your door and says, "We're from Nice.
There's been a power outage. We have an
[19:03] indication that there might be a short
in the wire going, "Can we come in?"
[19:06] Don't let them in your house.
It's really, really dangerous. They'll
[19:10] either hurt you or when you're not
looking, they're going to steal
[19:12] something. Do not ever, ever let anyone
in your house if you don't know who they
[19:16] are. It's really, really dangerous and
it happens often.
[19:21] Um, the debt collection scam. You get a
call from somebody who says, "We sent
[19:26] you a notice four months ago. You
haven't responded. It's for $2,500. It's
[19:31] at this address." They give you the
address. You're like, "Well, wait a
[19:33] minute. That's my neighbor's address."
And they go, "Oh, well, we have your
[19:38] address. We have your information. So,
it we're going to garnish your wages.
[19:42] You want to call an attorney, that's
fine." And you get all upset. And then
[19:45] they say, "Well, I tell you what, we'll
put everything on hold, but we got to
[19:49] make sure that you're you're being legit
with us. Give us $500. Give us your bank
[19:54] account number or give us your checking
account number, your debt debit card
[19:57] number, or even your credit card. Give
us 500 bucks. And you do it. You're
[20:02] talking to a stranger, a total stranger,
and you're giving them personal
[20:06] information and money. Don't do it.
Anytime you get a call from anybody or
[20:14] anytime anybody, if you don't know these
people and they ask you to transfer
[20:17] money from your account or give them
information to your bank, from your
[20:20] bank, just don't do it. Please don't do
it. And this one is very common among I
[20:27] guess you'd have to say seniors and it
it hits me really really hard because
[20:31] I'm 70 years old now. And if I get a
Facebook request from Destiny Love and
[20:39] Destiny Love tells me she really likes
my posts and she's really interested in
[20:42] me. She wants to know more about me.
Destiny Love doesn't give a damn about
[20:46] me. Destiny Love just wants my money.
And at 70 years old, I have to admit it.
[20:51] Even at 30 years old, you should admit
it. There is no destiny, love. It's some
[20:54] guy in Thailand who's trying to get in
my bank account.
[20:58] But you'd be surprised how many seniors
in Putham County have fallen for this
[21:03] where they get in touch or somebody from
their old high school days gets in touch
[21:08] with them via Facebook and before you
know it, they're talking to this person
[21:11] for 3 months, four months. They're
exchanging pictures. They're exchanging
[21:15] family pictures. because they're
exchanging information about where they
[21:17] live, their vacation homes, and next
thing you know it, your friend from high
[21:22] school, who was maybe your boyfriend in
in sophomore year is asking you if he
[21:26] can transfer money into your bank
account, not out, into your bank
[21:32] account. And you say, "Well, I don't
want to give you access to my bank
[21:35] account." He says, "Well, I'm just
transferring money in. I'm not taking it
[21:38] out." [snorts] And you're 75 years old
and you give them access to your bank
[21:41] account.
It's really common.
[21:45] So,
how do you prevent this from happening?
[21:51] It's really very easy. Don't talk to
strangers. It's that simple. Don't talk
[21:57] to strangers. Don't give them
information. Don't give them banking
[22:00] information. Don't give them any
information.
[22:04] If somebody calls you and you don't know
who it is before on my way here tonight,
[22:08] my phone's ringing. I don't recognize
the phone call. I could have hit answer
[22:11] on my car. I didn't recognize it. no
message. It's just a scam call.
[22:17] Everybody gets them. But sometimes
people pick it up.
[22:23] Lately, you're getting calls from
numbers that look like they're from this
[22:26] area because they're they're creating
fake phone numbers to appear on your
[22:32] phone. I forget what the term is. And
you say, "Oh, it's an 845225 number.
[22:37] It's got to be legit. Maybe it's a
friend of mine. I haven't had a call in
[22:41] four hours. I'm lonely. I want to pick
up." and you pick it up and you say
[22:45] hello and there's no answer and you say
hello and there's no answer and you say
[22:50] is anybody there and they're recording
your voice and every time they do that
[22:55] they get more voice information on you
but not only that I was speaking to a
[23:01] gentleman tonight says family members
getting a ton of these calls what
[23:07] happens is every time you pick up the
phone that's a data that's a data post
[23:13] for all these scam artists. They know
that you are likely to pick up the
[23:17] phone. You pick it up once and talk,
you're going to get five more calls. You
[23:20] pick it up twice, you're going to get 20
more calls. So, just don't pick up the
[23:24] phone. Don't talk to stranger. You don't
recognize the number. If it's somebody
[23:27] you know, they're going to leave a
message.
[23:32] If anybody says to you they want you to
be part of the investigation,
[23:37] hang up the phone. If anybody comes to
your house, and this has happened
[23:42] because it happened to the woman who
lost 50,000 bucks in Fountain Valley.
[23:44] They actually came to her house and they
convinced her that there was an there's
[23:48] a problem going on at the bank
and she gave them all the banking
[23:53] information because she thought they
were agents.
[23:58] This is really important and it sounds
silly and it might be a pain in the
[24:02] neck, but it's a good way to prevent any
scams, especially from family members.
[24:07] Have a code word with your grandkids or
your kids. Just keep it to your family
[24:15] whereby if if your grandchild's going to
call you or your child's going to call
[24:19] you and you you know your child's 38
years old, have a password. So if you if
[24:26] I see my son's calling me, I pick up the
phone. Password. Tomato feet. I know
[24:31] it's him. Password. Oh, come on, Dad.
Stop. Click. Hang up the phone. It's
[24:37] serious stuff. So, I hear tomato feet
all the time for my kids. Password
[24:41] tomato feet. If they don't say tomato
feet, I don't use tomato feet. I use
[24:46] something much better than that. I hang
up the phone
[24:49] and it's it's no nonsense. And I have to
say the same thing to them because it's
[24:54] too dangerous. There this is happening.
Uh last year in the United States over
[24:59] 20 billion dollars was stolen. 20
billion from scams.
[25:05] So, it's something that's really, really
serious. If you just stay vigilant, if
[25:09] you don't let your guard down, if you
don't talk to strangers, you're not
[25:13] going to have a problem. They only are
able to steal from you because you talk
[25:17] to them. So, please don't do it. It's
very easy to avoid it. Don't let your
[25:23] guard down and you'll be fine. All
right? So, I really appreciate the time
[25:28] that you gave me to talk to you today.
Um, it's a very important issue. It's
[25:32] very sad when I got a call from a
82-year-old male or female who I know
[25:37] and says,"I just lost 30,000 bucks."
I said, "Why didn't you call me?" And
[25:44] the answer is always the same. They
sounded so real.
[25:48] It's always that they sounded so real.
So, if you think you may be a victim of
[25:53] a scam or you have questions about it,
even mailings,
[25:58] you might get Oh, this is a great one.
I'm sorry I left this out. a fellow I
[26:02] work with who's in the cyber security
business received an envelope in the
[26:07] mail from a law firm saying that he's
part of a um
[26:13] class action suit which he was three or
four years ago and that he's got money
[26:18] coming to him even though the suit that
he was in was settled. So he's thinking
[26:21] well maybe there's more money.
So he calls
[26:27] and as he's talking to the person, he
says to himself, "Wait a minute. Wait a
[26:31] minute. What am I crazy?" Hangs up the
phone.
[26:35] He takes the paper that he got. He looks
up the law firm online. It doesn't
[26:39] exist.
The whole thing's fake. But he was about
[26:43] to talk to somebody because they thought
he had money coming to him. So it's
[26:48] something is if they look up to see what
law firms you've been in. They look up
[26:53] to see what lawsuits you've had. This
information is easily accessible to
[26:57] anybody who's really good at at um
technology. They can get a whole bunch
[27:01] of information about you and they do.
So, uh just be very careful about
[27:05] anything. And if you have any questions,
don't ever hes if especially if you're a
[27:09] senior, don't ever hesitate to call the
Putnham County District Attorney's
[27:12] Office. All you have to do is say, "I'm
a senior. I want to speak to Mr. Tendy.
[27:17] If I'm in the office, I'll take your
call. If I'm not, you'll speak to one of
[27:22] my investigators. But please call the
office. Don't do like two friends of
[27:26] mine did who did not call me and they're
they're friends. I said, 'Why didn't you
[27:30] call me? Because they sounded so real.
Just call the office or call the local
[27:34] PD or call somebody, but don't talk to
these people because you're going to get
[27:39] you're going to get scammed and it's
going to hurt. 50 grand is a lot of
[27:43] money to somebody who's 82 years old and
living on a fixed income. That's their
[27:46] savings, right? It's really rough. So,
please be vigilant. Please be careful.
[27:50] All right. Any questions?
>> I'm good.
[27:54] » All right. Thank you very much. I really
appreciate it.
[27:56] » Thank you for coming out today.
Appreciate
[27:57] » You're welcome. Take care. Thank you.
[clears throat]
[28:01] » Don't forget your
[28:06] » Okay. Uh number three on our agenda
tonight is the 2027 Putnham County Real
[28:11] Property Tax Services Contract. Um we
have this on the agenda. I I know uh
[28:17] Lori Bell, our tax assessor, is here.
Could you talk to about this um item?
[28:34] » Hi, good evening. So, every year the
town enters into a contract with Putnham
[28:38] County for various services.
um mostly printing of tax bills, change
[28:44] notices, um that the assessment role,
the tax role, a few other things, tax
[28:49] maps. And so the director over in Putham
County was trying to come up with a more
[28:55] um a fairer way to price those items
depending on what which town wanted
[29:00] which services. So a hard copy of a tax
map is a certain dollar amount. A
[29:04] digital copy is a different dollar
amount. And some towns still want the
[29:07] hard copies, some are okay with a
digital. How many copies of the role do
[29:11] you want? Two, [clears throat] one,
whatever. So, she worked through that
[29:14] contract last year to come up with a
flat rate per parcel for basic services
[29:19] and then almost like a like a Chinese
menu. You just pick whatever else you
[29:23] want and you add it to the contract. And
that's those are the items almost all of
[29:27] them that I've checked off for that
contract for 2027. And then they'll
[29:31] calculate what the total cost to the
town will be. I think for us, the way
[29:35] she broke it out, we're going to spend a
little bit more, but I guess it's fairer
[29:39] to some of the other smaller towns, but
it there's no change in the services
[29:42] that we're going to get from the county
is the bottom line.
[29:45] » Okay.
>> And they decided in the past they would
[29:48] start the signatures at the county level
and they circulate [laughter] it back to
[29:50] the towns. It makes more sense that the
town signs it first and then you get
[29:53] everybody else's signatures. That's why
you have it prior to July uh June
[29:58] January 1. We weren't getting the fully
executed copies until like April,
[30:02] halfway through the year.
>> [snorts]
[30:04] » So that's all that is
>> and you're comfortable with it. So
[30:06] » absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
>> Great. Thank you.
[30:10] » You're welcome.
>> Any discussion on this uh item?
[30:12] » No.
>> Uh item uh uh number four on our list is
[30:19] a New York State Crest grant
application. Um recently Senator Pete
[30:24] Arkham uh reached out to our office um
to tell us about a potential grant
[30:29] application that we could apply for. Uh,
so I did speak to some of the department
[30:33] heads and uh, you know, we're just
trying to narrow it down. Uh, the
[30:38] application is due on September 11th
this year. So I'd like to get ahead of
[30:42] it, make sure uh, you know, we get a
good application and hopefully have a
[30:47] fair shot at one of these grant
applications. $100,000 is a lot of money
[30:51] certainly to the town of Southeast. Um,
in speaking with Mike Berdick, our
[30:55] highway superintendent, he does have a
shovel ready project that he has at the
[30:58] highway department that he would like to
uh apply for, and certainly I think it's
[31:03] a good idea as well. It's uh to rebuild
the salt shed that they have. It was
[31:07] originally installed in 1998. Uh they
put a new roof on it in 2020, but it it
[31:12] does need some renovation and painting.
[laughter] And uh he has some estimates
[31:16] that cost about 150 to $160,000 on that
project. Obviously 100,000 would cover a
[31:22] substantial part of it. Um so that's one
project that uh I got from uh some of
[31:27] the department heads also from uh our
parks department. Uh we had a discussion
[31:32] about Lake Tanetta. There was an old
well at Lake Tanetta that is no longer
[31:36] active. They stopped using it years ago.
No one really seems to be quite sure
[31:40] when they stopped using it. Uh but they
do have water that's supplied to the to
[31:44] the restroom over there and to the um
lifeguard room, the snack shack. And uh
[31:49] we were thinking about potentially
putting in a well there so we'd have
[31:54] good drinking water available to the
people that go to that park. Um it also
[31:58] would help with the restrooms because
the water that they're using kind of
[32:02] causes some plumbing issues as times
goes by. Um we have a a rough estimate
[32:08] [laughter] that it's going to cost about
100,000 maybe a little bit more. So it
[32:11] would be a great thing to apply for
whether it's this year or maybe next
[32:15] year. Um but something to think about.
Another item that came up was security
[32:20] cameras for all our properties, uh, our
well systems in our sewer, uh,
[32:24] districts. Uh, you've seen it on the
news a lot lately. It's there's a lot
[32:28] of, uh, chaos going on and you don't and
having good legitimate security cameras
[32:34] would benefit this, and I I think we
could, uh, have a good application in
[32:38] for that as well. U, but those are just
three of the items that came forward to
[32:42] me. And um you know if anybody has any
other uh ideas certainly we have a
[32:46] couple weeks to think about it and talk
about it uh and then we'll put in an
[32:50] application to the senator's office. Any
questions or comments?
[32:54] » Joe, I see that they're [cough]
aimed at public safety.
[32:58] » Mhm.
>> Um [clears throat]
[33:00] does that mean I mean we're allocated
the money but is there any reason if it
[33:07] wasn't public safety related that they
could deny the application? Well, I
[33:11] » if it was a salt shed for instance,
>> I asked that question and really didn't
[33:16] get an answer other [cough] than, you
know, everything goes towards public
[33:20] safety. And
>> does a salt shed qualify? We're going to
[33:23] have to make that decision in the next
couple weeks.
[33:25] » Yeah. Provide salt for the roads when
it's snowing.
[33:28] » No, I'm sure there's a way we could we
could connect dots. Um,
[33:31] » it's for the safety during the
snowstorm. We definitely going to need
[33:34] salt on the roads. It it seemed very
vague to me when I asked about it. So,
[33:39] it seems like it's open to a bunch of
items. I mean, originally it was like a
[33:43] police car, but we don't have a police
uh department, that kind of stuff. Um,
[33:47] the security cameras were one of the
first things that came to my mind for
[33:50] security purposes. [cough] And, you
know, the health and well-being of the
[33:55] the the park would be uh another thing.
We'll look at it and try to narrow it
[34:00] down to to something that's uh and the
senator's office was great. Uh very easy
[34:06] to talk to. Um, and
>> I'm sure they would assist us and say
[34:10] you're you're way off. That's not going
to make it or
[34:12] » I think they will. That's why I'd like
to get ahead of it before September
[34:15] 11th. But we'll continue the
conversation, I guess, unless you guys
[34:18] have any other questions.
[34:24] » Okay. Uh, item number five on our list
here is a discussion for 1460 Route 22,
[34:31] Tax Map 57-1-14,
uh, performance bond. uh establishment.
[34:38] Um let's see here. Um so it was uh sent
to us from the uh planning uh board, an
[34:46] architectural review board. Um it is in
the amount of $15,500.
[34:52] Um this project has outside storage.
It's a construction company that's
[34:56] looking to take over the property. Um so
estimated site improvements which uh
[35:01] totals $39,300. [clears throat]
There's inspection fees and other uh
[35:06] involved there. $4,500.
Um and it's in front of us to if we set
[35:12] up a performance bond. Any questions,
discussion? Nope.
[35:16] » No.
>> Okay. Item number six.
[35:21] We have discussion um for APAP Land
Management LLC, the Putinham County
[35:27] Industrial Development Authority.
This is payment in lie of taxes, a pilot
[35:33] agreement for tax map 35-2-6.
[clears throat]
[35:39] » Hey, Mr. No, thanks for coming back. And
um I just uh I asked for this to be
[35:44] added. I know we're going to vote
tonight, but I did have some um
[35:48] questions since I wasn't here at the
last meeting. I watched the video, but I
[35:51] don't know that they were answered there
either. And I just want to confirm some
[35:55] things. So, just to confirm, you're
we're not being asked to approve the
[36:00] pilot itself. The pilot's approved, and
this is to vote to um authorize the
[36:07] supervisor
to sign some paperwork that allows us to
[36:13] be able to invoice the IDA for the money
per the schedule that's being presented
[36:20] as part of the already approved pilot.
>> That's that's correct. We've we've gone
[36:24] through the entire well actually the
whole uh project has gone through the
[36:29] entire process approval process
>> and we don't authorize the project until
[36:34] it's completed all of those
authorizations.
[36:37] » Okay. And then what we're asking you to
do is we're notifying you that yes, we
[36:42] we've come to this part now and because
the IDA has taken hold [clears throat]
[36:50] of the property, okay, we are a
taxexempt uh operation and when we lease
[36:56] it back to them, we send that to them so
that they would be taxexempt. But rather
[37:00] than do that, the legislation has set it
up this way and our [clears throat] own
[37:05] tax uh un Unified tax exempt policy uh
has set it up so that we create this
[37:13] pilot payment in le of taxes program
where you get the value of uh the
[37:19] assessed property that was originally
there. So that that whatever the taxes
[37:24] on that is that continues and then you
get a portion in our case the typical
[37:30] portion is 50% for uh the first year and
then it goes in a cascading uh amount up
[37:37] to paying full amount over 10 years uh
for the rest of the benefit or the uh
[37:45] » improvements
>> the
[37:47] okay
>> the improvements [clears throat]
[37:49] » the the improvements the improvements of
the project Okay. And so that's that's
[37:53] what we're asking you to do is just
basically sign the agreement so that we
[37:57] can facilitate the processing and the
administration of that uh process.
[38:02] » Okay. Yeah. Thank you for clarifying
that. Um we've gotten or I've been on
[38:06] the board with other pilots and we've
gotten beat up like we are giving a
[38:10] discount and we shouldn't approve it.
But if we we're not approving that.
[38:15] We're just approving a signature to to
get money or we get no money. That's it.
[38:19] Those are our options. So, I do have two
questions. You just actually hit on one.
[38:23] I didn't hear it last time, but um my
understanding was that the pilot only
[38:29] applies to the improvements, but the IDA
takes title of the property, leases it
[38:36] back to the owner. So does how does the
land value or the property
[38:44] pre-improvements
does that stay on the tax roll or is it
[38:48] calculated that full amount today plus
50% of the
[38:52] » part of the arrangement is that you
would get the value of the property the
[38:57] property is uh the the tax bill that we
get from Lori
[39:03] is uh is a bill that shows us the full
value of the property. property and then
[39:08] the value of the the assessed value of
the improvements with the discount based
[39:15] on the pilot in whatever year it's in.
And that's the bill that we pay. So the
[39:19] bill comes from from her office. Okay.
As opposed from the regular uh tax
[39:26] office.
>> Okay. So the whole property comes off
[39:28] the tax roles.
>> That's correct. They pay 100% of
[39:32] whatever the land was or pre-improvement
value plus 50% of the improvements.
[39:39] » That's correct. Well, the first year and
then 45, you know, 50
[39:42] » and then and then we invoice for that
amount.
[39:44] » That's correct.
>> Okay. Um and then my last question is
[39:49] about the clawback. not has nothing to
do with these two projects, but there
[39:53] are um or is a pilot on other big
projects and part of that calculation
[39:59] [clears throat] was jobs. I think there
were supposed to be a few hundred um but
[40:04] it doesn't have to be specific about
that, but
[40:07] if job count commitment is not met, does
that warrant a clawback?
[40:14] » It it can and it does. it gets, you
know, it gets looked at uh in the case
[40:20] of one of the projects that was along uh
Route 22. Um they the comp the company
[40:28] had gone bankrupt and uh so it got a
little crazy because we didn't give back
[40:35] and turn the title back over to the town
so that they could completely take care
[40:38] of it. This was in the town of Patterson
and uh you know it it it complicated
[40:44] things but uh the clawback is something
that's decided on by the board but our
[40:51] we have a policy for it and basically
[clears throat] in our uh authorizing uh
[41:01] uh lease we uh establish you know goals
and then we re review those goals.
[41:09] And if they don't make them, then
there's the possibility depending on
[41:13] what the problems are that we can claw
back certain percentages and we have a a
[41:19] schedule that that we would look at
based on, you know, their failure to
[41:23] meet the goals.
>> And if there is a clawback, does that
[41:26] get uh dispersed to the taxing
authorities?
[41:30] » I don't know because I've never done one
yet. Okay.
[41:32] » But I believe it does. It comes back and
and and we get uh I think it goes back
[41:37] to the state though.
>> Okay.
[41:39] » Okay.
>> Um Okay. I just think Southeast is the
[41:45] uh best town in Putnham County for
development and economic growth and I
[41:51] would like to see you know some more
solicitation of businesses in but um
[41:57] anyway you've answered questions. That's
that's the important thing that the IDA
[42:01] and the whole economic development team
in Putham County is trying to do is
[42:06] develop our commercial base so that we
can, you know, ease the the burden on
[42:11] the residential base and uh
>> I guess the last two have been here
[42:16] already. Um but anyway, uh you've
answered my questions, so thank you.
[42:20] » Yeah,
>> thank you very much. Unless there's any
[42:23] other questions.
>> Any other questions? We're good. I just
[42:25] have Bill at the end of the pilot period
the property reverts back to the
[42:30] property owner. Correct.
>> At that time we return back or
[42:32] » Yeah. We we return the uh the property
well we return the title to the property
[42:38] owner
>> or the the original property owner and
[42:41] it goes back on the tax roll
>> right at the full value at that time.
[42:44] » Do they have to refinance it at that
point?
[42:46] » Excuse me.
>> Do they have to refinance it? How how
[42:48] does that work with the title change
>> the title? No, it just that that's part
[42:53] of the [clears throat]
in our case it's like a $500 fee just to
[42:57] return the fee the title.
>> Okay.
[43:00] » But it's uh
>> you know it's just part of the closeout
[43:02] of the the whole lease agreement.
>> Thank you.
[43:06] » Thank you.
[43:10] » Okay. Uh item number seven is the exact
same uh situation with the Kinsley Group
[43:15] for development. Uh we won't rehash it
again, but it is the Putin County
[43:19] Industrial Development Authority. Uh
payment in le of complaint is this pilot
[43:22] agreement for tax map 7-2-252,
but everything was just uh discussed, so
[43:28] I don't think we need to belabor that
anymore. And then I'll go to item number
[43:34] eight. That's discussion on the A
districts that we're trying to have. Um
[43:40] would you like to speak to that one at
all because we don't have unless we have
[43:43] somebody here?
>> Yeah. Uh there's been an ongoing issue
[43:45] with um uh some confusion around a
districts and what um protections there
[43:50] are aren't. Um we've invited the uh
members of the a board to come. Um this
[43:56] is like the fifth time they they were
supposed to be here tonight. Uh they did
[44:00] let us know two days ago they wouldn't
be able to attend. So um I believe
[44:04] they're going to attend the next
meeting. So we'll put on for discussion
[44:06] at that point.
>> Hopefully Thursday, September 3rd. They
[44:09] indicated they would be here. So
hopefully we'll see. [clears throat]
[44:13] Okay. Uh, with that, I'm going to make a
motion to go into our regular meeting.
[44:17] Do I have a second?
>> Second.
[44:19] » All in favor? I.
>> Okay. Item number one, I'd like to make
[44:23] a motion to wave the reading of the
correspondence.
[44:26] » Second.
>> Second. Thank you. All in favor? I.
[44:30] » Um, number two, I'd like to make a
motion to approve the vouchers in the
[44:34] amount of 1,71,41.72.
[44:40] » Second. Thank you. All in favor? I.
>> Uh item number three, I'd like to make a
[44:47] motion to wave the readings of the
budget [clears throat] transfer and
[44:49] accept such transfers as submitted. Do I
have a second?
[44:53] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[44:54] » I.
>> Great. Um item number four is um the
[44:59] supervisor's report. I just want to give
a brief update on what's some of the
[45:03] stuff that's going around in town. Um
we're we remain in great financial
[45:07] shape. uh we've begun the um budget
process for the uh for the 2027 uh year
[45:13] and uh started speaking to all the
department heads. Everything's moving
[45:17] along nicely, so we're trying to stay
ahead of the curve and get everything
[45:20] taken care of uh so we're ready for the
budget season entirely. Uh we're
[45:24] [snorts] looking to make some
improvements here at Town Hall and at
[45:26] Lake View Manor. Uh we're in the process
of getting some new doors for both uh
[45:30] the town hall and Lake View Manner and
that's moving along well. Uh also get
[45:34] some new windows here at Town Hall. So
hopefully we'll see some of these
[45:37] improvements in the next couple of
months. [clears throat] Um,
[45:40] additionally, uh, we're looking at
resurfacing the field in front of the
[45:45] gazebo and the lecture zone field. Uh,
as many of you know, it used to be a
[45:49] baseball field or softball field. There
was a lot of clay in the middle there.
[45:52] We got a lot of calls from youth uh,
sports that wanted to use the field. I
[45:58] think it'd be ideal for younger uh,
people to use the field. Um, but in
[46:03] order to do so, we're going to have to
tear up all the clay, uh, fill it with
[46:06] top soil. Uh, our highway department is,
uh, ready and capable of doing it. So,
[46:11] we've already had some discussions with
them, and then we're going to seed it,
[46:14] and hopefully by next year we'll be able
to use it for youth soccer, lacrosse,
[46:19] um, pee-wee football, or something to
that effect. Um, with that, I went to
[46:23] the Village of Brewster uh board meeting
last night to discuss uh they have the
[46:28] Tri-State parking lot there um right
next to the gazebo. Um, a lot of the
[46:34] feedback I got from the school and
people that wanted to use the field was
[46:37] there was no place to park. There's
minimal parking there, but we have this
[46:40] big um parking area that's called a
tri-state parking that's owned by the
[46:46] village. uh the village was very
interested in participating in allowing
[46:50] us to allowing these groups to use the
field whenever there's an organized
[46:55] event. Uh they were very kind to have
the sunset uh concert series use the
[47:00] parking lot during that time period. So
late in the day and on weekends when
[47:04] there's an organized event there,
they're going to let us use their
[47:06] parking facility which will be fantastic
and make it um much nicer to get there.
[47:11] And certainly it's a it's a gateway to
the village of Brewster and it's a it's
[47:15] a gem in the town of Southeast with the
reservoirs in the background and I'm
[47:19] hoping this all comes to fruition um as
we move forward. Um and u I had the
[47:26] honor of attending uh Putnham County
Sheriff's substation naming in
[47:30] Nelsonville today after uh late uh
Sheriff Kevin McCall. It's a great
[47:35] ceremony by the uh Putnham County
Sheriff's Department. Um Kevin was a
[47:39] dear friend, outstanding guy and it was
a really beautiful event they had over
[47:44] there. So I was glad to attend on behalf
of the town of Southeast. Uh finally I
[47:48] I'd like to tell everybody that uh we
got our first uh film permit issued
[47:52] which is exciting and uh you know
hopefully more to come in the future. We
[47:56] just passed the passed it recently and
uh like the next day I got a call from
[48:02] somebody who works for Netflix and uh
they're going to be they got issued a
[48:05] film permit. So, good stuff for town of
southeast. And that's uh that's all I
[48:10] have for the supervisor's report.
So, we will move on to um item number
[48:17] five. Uh setting of the uh meetings and
dates uh public hearings. All meetings
[48:23] will be held at 1360 Route 22 in
Brewster, New York at 7 o'clock unless
[48:27] otherwise noted uh for next month uh
Thursday uh September 3rd, 2026 and
[48:34] Thursday, September 26 uh September 17,
2026.
[48:40] » Second.
>> Second.
[48:41] » Make a motion. Second. All in favor? I.
>> And on next on the agenda, we have
[48:54] Uh, I have a resolution authorizing the
supervisor to execute a non exclusive
[48:59] cable franchise
uh with Verizon New York Incorporated.
[49:05] So, I'd like to make that motion. Um, do
I have a second?
[49:09] » You have to read it.
>> I'll read the resolution. Sure. Um,
[49:13] [clears throat] it resolved that the
supervisor is hereby authorized to
[49:16] execute a cable television franchise
agreement with Verizon New York
[49:20] Incorporated for the provision of cable
television service within the town of
[49:25] Southeast in a form and substance that
is approved by the town attorney and to
[49:30] intend authorized to the extent
authorized by New York State Public
[49:35] Service Commission. I will make that
motion. Do I have a second?
[49:38] » Second.
>> All in favor? I
[49:41] » great. Thank you.
Uh item number seven uh is another
[49:47] resolution we have. This is again going
back to the pilot agreements that we had
[49:51] before that we just discussed. Uh the
first one is for APAP Land Management
[49:55] LLC. uh resolved that the town of South
resolved that the town board of the town
[50:01] of Southeast hereby approves the town's
participation and in acceptance of its
[50:07] application shares of payments made
pursuant to the pilot arrangement
[50:11] approved by the Putinham County
Industrial Development Agency based upon
[50:15] the following uh schedule actual only to
increase the assessed violation of
[50:23] subject premises attributed to the
improvement ments made in connection
[50:27] with the project. Uh first year is 50%,
second year is 45%. Third year is 40%,
[50:34] year four is 35%, year five is 30%, year
six 25%.
[50:40] Year 7 20%, year 8 15%, year 9 10%, year
10 5%. And be it further resolved that
[50:47] the clerk of the town of southeast is a
authorized and directed to transmit a
[50:52] certified copy of this resolution to the
Putnham County Industrial Development
[50:56] Agency and the assessor of the town of
Southeast and the Town of Southeast
[51:01] receiver of taxes. I'll make that
motion. Do I have a second?
[51:05] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[51:07] » I I
[51:10] » Okay, moving on to number eight. This is
the Kinsley Group resolution. It's uh
[51:15] the same as we just discussed a moment
ago. be resolved that the town board of
[51:20] the town of southeast is hereby hereby
approves the town's participation and
[51:24] acceptance in its applicical share of
payments made pursuant to the pilot
[51:30] arrangement approved by the Putnham
County Industrial Development Agency
[51:34] based upon uh the following schedule
only only to increase the assessed
[51:41] valuation of subject premises attributed
to improvements made in connection to
[51:45] the project same schedule as before Year
1 150% year 245%
[51:51] year 3 40% year 4 35% year 530% year 6
25% year 7 20% year 8 15% year 9 10%
[52:02] and year 10 5% and be it further
resolved that the town of southeast is
[52:08] authorized and directed to transmit a
certifi be it also resolved that the
[52:12] clerk of the town of southeast is
authorized and directed to transmit a
[52:17] certified provide a copy of this
resolution to the Putham County
[52:20] Industrial Development Agency, the
assessor of the Town of Southeast, and
[52:26] the Southeast Receiver of Taxes. I'll
make that motion. Do I have a second?
[52:32] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[52:33] » I.
>> Thank you.
[52:38] » And we're moving on to item number nine.
Uh this is a resolution of the 2027
[52:42] Putham County Real Property Tax Services
as previously discussed tonight. uh
[52:47] resolved [clears throat] that the
supervisor is hereby authorized to
[52:51] execute and deliver to Putnham County a
uh a Putham County real property tax
[52:58] service contract dated as of the 1st of
January 2027 for the 2027 tax year in
[53:06] the form and substance annexed here too
and it and be it further resolved that
[53:12] the town clerk shall forward a copy of
this resolution to the assessor forth.
[53:16] with. I'll make that motion. Do I have a
second?
[53:19] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[53:20] » I.
>> Okay. Item number 10.
[53:26] Um, this is uh involving the uh 1460
Route 22 uh site plan uh tax map
[53:34] 57-4-1-14
[53:38] performance bond establishment. um the
project name um be resolved. Um let the
[53:45] bond in the amount be established for
this project set forth the project name
[53:50] 1460 Route 22 commercial site plan. Uh
the bond amount the site improvements is
[53:56] $89,300.
The erosion and settlement and sediment
[54:00] control $15,500.
And be it further resolved that a
[54:05] certified copy of this resolution shall
be transmitted by the town clerk to the
[54:10] planning board secretary and to the
building inspector Fort W. I will make
[54:15] that motion. Is there a second?
>> Second.
[54:17] » All in favor? I
[54:22] » item number 11 uh this evening is a big
geyser. This is 22 Sutton Place tax map
[54:28] 78-2-16.3.
[54:32] This is a release of a performance bond
established uh establishment of a
[54:36] maintenance bonds. So, uh, resolve that
the town clerk is hereby directed to
[54:41] cancel and return the original
performance security for Big Geyser site
[54:45] plan site plan, uh, 22 Sutton Place in
Southeast, tax map number 78-2-16.3,
[54:56] uh, in the remainder of the secured
amount of 22,500
[54:59] and to return any and all original
bonds,
[55:04] uh, deposits, letters of credit,
dictionary
[55:09] and of secured posted connected um
connections with the project. Upon the
[55:16] express condition that the applicant
owner first file a landscape maintenance
[55:21] bond in this in the security amount of
13,000 for a period of two years and a
[55:28] storm water maintenance bond
in the security amount of $14,500
[55:34] for a period of four years.
I will make that motion. Is there a
[55:39] second?
>> Second. Is there a type?
[55:42] » There's a 14,500.
[clears throat]
[55:48] » You seconded.
>> You seconded. All in favor? I
[55:50] » I
>> Thank you.
[55:56] Then moving on to uh new business. If
any town board member has any new
[56:00] business they would like to bring
forward.
[56:04] » I do not.
>> Okay. Being none, uh, we'll open it up
[56:08] for, uh, recognition of the public for
public comment. Please come up and state
[56:11] your name if you could state your name
and and, uh, Yep.
[56:14] » right up front here.
>> And you're at and you reside at
[56:19] Southeast. So,
[56:27] » hi. Good evening.
>> My name is Joy Sarah and I'm a resident
[56:34] in Brewster here. And I would like to
make the town aware of an incident that
[56:40] occurred on July 29th at the building
department in connection with a foil
[56:48] request that I submitted.
I wanted several copies of documents,
[56:54] most of which could be copied at the
building department, but weren't because
[56:59] the clerk assigned to assist me was
incapable of making photocopies.
[57:05] I was told that I was not allowed to
assist her. Ultimately, I was told that
[57:11] I would have to return on Friday to pick
up the photocopies that I could have
[57:16] walked out with on Wednesday while I was
there. I was also told by this clerk
[57:22] that the copies would be made at a fee
of the hourly rate of the lowest paid
[57:28] employee of the town of Southeast. I was
not told what that rate was, nor was I
[57:36] told how long the process of inserting
the single 8 1/2x 14 page and 26 11 by
[57:45] 17in documents into a document feeder to
copy would take.
[57:52] Mind you that the consumer protection
laws clearly state that employee time
[57:58] may only be charged when the request
involves other records, those that are
[58:04] larger than 9 by 14 in or which are
maintained electronically and even then
[58:11] only in circumstances in which at least
2 hours of employee time are needed to
[58:18] prepare the records. I picked up the
documents on Friday, July 31st. I was
[58:25] charged 50 cents
for 27 11 by 17 in pages and 25 cents
[58:35] for the 1 8 1/2 by 11 14 uh to 8 1/2 x
14inch page. Whether this was computed
[58:43] as I was advised it would be or in some
other fashion, I can't say because the
[58:48] invoice I was presented with did not
indicate.
[58:52] Contrary to the consumer protection laws
governing foil requests, I was not shown
[58:59] nor advised of a published fee schedule
prior to fulfilling my document request.
[59:04] [clears throat]
I also needed copies of three mapsized
[59:09] pages that I was told had to be sent to
the town engineer for copying at a fee
[59:16] of $15 paid in advance. I paid the
requested fee and I asked for a receipt
[59:22] on town letterhead acknowledging the
payment and noting the names of the two
[59:28] documents I was paying for. The clerk
refused to note the names of the two
[59:34] documents on the receipt. Not only is it
entirely reasonable for me to have asked
[59:40] that the names or a clear description of
the documents be noted on the receipt,
[59:46] failing to do so cannot create a record
of which documents my prepayment
[59:51] covered, effectively leaving me without
proof of payment for the [clears throat]
[59:56] documents in question being reproduced
and leaving the town vulnerable to a
[1:00:01] claim that they failed to provide the
requested prepaid documents. I waited
[1:00:06] three weeks to receive those three
pages. I [snorts] would like to point
[1:00:10] out that under foil, records must be
available for inspection and copying.
[1:00:15] This is a direct quote, i.e. at at all
reasonable times, i.e. during all hours
[1:00:22] that the entity is regularly open for
business. End quote. There must also be
[1:00:28] a published schedule [clears throat] of
fees if more than the 25 cent per copy
[1:00:34] allowed by law is to be charged. I'm
pretty wellversed on foil law. New York
[1:00:40] State Association of Town Clerks,
Association of Towns, and New York State
[1:00:45] Committee on Open Government all offer
online courses on foil law as does Sunni
[1:00:52] Sunni Albany. I'm aed at the egregious
incompetence of the clerk that I dealt
[1:00:58] with. Not only did she lack the basic
skill of photocopying, she had a huge
[1:01:04] chip on her shoulder.
It is disconcerting that the town with
[1:01:10] our tax dollars pays for the services of
such an unskilled, ill-mannered, and
[1:01:17] unprofessional individual.
I left there insensed and I wanted to
[1:01:23] file a complaint with the attorney
general's office and let them decide if
[1:01:28] in fact the consumer protection laws
were violated by the actions of the town
[1:01:32] so that the town can be guided
accordingly in the future. It is pretty
[1:01:37] sad that I even have to come before this
board with such a narrative.
[1:01:43] So that is what I have to say.
>> Thank you. Appreciate your time. We'll
[1:01:49] certainly investigate it.
>> Thank you.
[1:01:52] » Oh, I'm getting your microphone here.
Sorry.
[1:01:54] » It's okay.
[1:01:58] » And I waited two weeks to come here so
that I could be civil
[1:02:04] and not name names or or or
detail the shenanigans that I had to put
[1:02:12] up with.
>> Well, we appreciate you coming out
[1:02:14] tonight. We'll take a look at it.
>> Thank you.
[1:02:23] » [clears throat]
[1:02:25] » Hi everyone.
>> How are you?
[1:02:27] » I'm fine. Um my request is going to be
simple then. Um
[1:02:32] what would be really helpful? I'm really
interested in when the a districts are
[1:02:36] in front of you and I was very
interested in the IDA and I'm not sure
[1:02:40] how you can do this or if you can do
this and certainly you don't need to
[1:02:44] hold a public hearing but is there any
way I mean tonight Bill's still here but
[1:02:49] is there any way to accommodate the
public by allowing them to ask any
[1:02:53] questions at that point or does it have
to be in a public hearing it's just or
[1:02:58] because I don't want I mean no one wants
[clears throat] to hang out till the end
[1:03:01] of the meeting till public comment so
that's my question
[1:03:04] » for certain things we've like your
favorite topic maple road you know we've
[1:03:10] kind of opened the floor up um
>> I know and that was really rough so I
[1:03:14] understand why it's not it's difficult
>> you know for the a [clears throat] I
[1:03:19] thought about this for the a board I
didn't know if any of the um a property
[1:03:24] owners would come in if they had I would
have you know asked the board if it was
[1:03:29] okay if they could speak um but you know
I I don't know if you're asking for like
[1:03:35] every topic. Um but you could always I
mean there's usually only six people
[1:03:40] here. You could always throw your hand
up and we're pretty good at recognizing
[1:03:44] people that want to talk. I think
>> because I really don't believe it or not
[1:03:47] I don't like to be disruptive during
your meeting. But I do and I do love
[1:03:50] public hearings even when on the
planning board. But I'm just trying to
[1:03:55] think of how we can make it user
friendly without being disruptive
[1:03:58] because I know the Maple Road one I
think went off the rails and and lasted
[1:04:02] a really much longer than we would have
thought. I mean, I was grateful to Joe,
[1:04:06] but I think it was rough.
>> It was it was I think we've talked about
[1:04:10] this. It's always good to let people
>> Yeah.
[1:04:12] » you know, get it out. Um
>> Yes.
[1:04:15] » But I mean, if you if you want to ask a
question and Bill wants to answer, I'm
[1:04:20] have no problem with that. when the a um
Will and I talked about this at one
[1:04:24] point like you don't
>> I I wanted to make maple or it may have
[1:04:30] been another topic a public hearing but
it's not a public hearing so you can't
[1:04:34] make it a public hearing but we can kind
of open the floor up
[1:04:38] » okay
>> um
[1:04:39] » so it could be case by case or or if
someone were interested they could get
[1:04:43] in touch early and say that's something
they want I mean because I admire
[1:04:47] » um Miss Zero had to you know waited
through this meeting to speak her piece
[1:04:52] and I I just think it's so important to
hear the public and I know that you
[1:04:55] » Yeah, I I don't disagree with you at
all. Uh 12 years on the legislature, I
[1:05:00] we had endless committee meetings on
topics and we always had a great
[1:05:03] opportunity to talk to people and you've
been to plenty of those meetings as
[1:05:06] well. Uh we had great conversations with
people and then when we had our full
[1:05:10] meeting at the end of the month or
beginning of the month I should say uh
[1:05:14] then it was for the legislators to make
a decision and then hear afterwards. So
[1:05:18] it's a learning process for me as well,
but I am always open to if somebody
[1:05:22] raises their hand to allow them to
speak. I think that's always the best
[1:05:25] thing to do in government. But case by
case like you said and certainly call us
[1:05:29] in advance anytime.
>> The other thing we've done sometimes is
[1:05:32] uh we've acknowledged it's controversial
or that people are here. We've asked
[1:05:38] that person to stay like I think for CAC
one time we did that and it turned out
[1:05:43] to be a disaster because we made him
stay for two hours. But we have done
[1:05:46] that in the past too which is right
helpful. But
[1:05:49] » right well any way that this board can
be accommodating would be really
[1:05:53] appreciated and I understand it's case
by case and I have no problem calling it
[1:05:57] advance as you know so um that would be
great and I do have one question if you
[1:06:02] don't mind Bill. Um, so I if the town,
and I think this was handled really
[1:06:08] well, but if the town didn't sign on on
these two parcels, because they, one of
[1:06:13] them certainly has been on in town for
years,
[1:06:17] would the IDA really not withhold our
share of the taxes?
[1:06:23] » That's a hypothetical question that I
can't answer because I've never heard of
[1:06:26] it happening.
>> Okay. because it Yeah, it sounds to me
[1:06:30] » it's it's like hi, you know, yes, we
could have taken all the money off the
[1:06:34] tax roll and you guys would be, you
know, left left hanging. But the answer
[1:06:40] is that the legislature when it said
this said that we had to set up a system
[1:06:45] where we would get back the money that
rightfully belongs to the the towns
[1:06:51] giving the benefit and the incentive
benefits that we want to the uh project
[1:06:57] and that's why we have that universal
tax exempt policy that sets this up and
[1:07:03] that's that's what we use. So the answer
is number one, I can never see somebody
[1:07:08] saying, "No, we don't want your money."
And number two, we we're trying to make
[1:07:13] it as easy as possible.
>> Well, I I think it's a case of um and I
[1:07:16] know we don't want to go back and forth,
but I think it's a case sometimes of the
[1:07:20] the town really would like the full bill
to be paid, not not have a pilot in some
[1:07:26] cases, not all cases. And I think that's
fair enough. Um, I'm not a big fan, as
[1:07:31] you know, of pilots, but it seems to me,
and I am not accusing anyone of a crime,
[1:07:37] let's be very clear, but it seems to me
it's kind of if you don't do this, I
[1:07:43] mean, life is full of this, you're not
going to get your even if you don't vote
[1:07:46] for this, even if you have good reason,
we're going to withhold money from you
[1:07:50] even though you're entitled. And that's
>> that is not the situation.
[1:07:53] » Let me let me just chime in here because
I I was thinking about this too
[1:07:56] » [clears throat]
>> um just now as you were talking. the the
[1:07:59] way I see what we approved and it's been
so um
[1:08:05] uh misrepresented in the past of what
our actual role in this is,
[1:08:10] » right?
>> Um when I rewatched the meeting from
[1:08:12] last week, something that uh clicked was
that we have to invoice you for the
[1:08:18] money.
>> And this just seems purely
[1:08:21] administrative. like any company to set
up like a vend we're almost setting up
[1:08:24] like you as a vendor of ours so that we
could send you a bill. So I think if we
[1:08:29] voted no and again hypothetically and we
said hey where's our money you guys
[1:08:34] would say sign this paper and send us an
invoice,
[1:08:38] » right? So it's almost like this this
whole thing about pilots it's
[1:08:42] » it's
>> it seems like a dog and pony show and a
[1:08:45] little bit of jazz hands thrown in.
>> They're like a horrible show that nobody
[1:08:48] wants to watch.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's something I really
[1:08:51] don't like, but I appreciate you're
sticking around and um that that does
[1:08:56] clarify
>> through the arguments. [laughter]
[1:08:59] » No, but um anyhow, um thank you all. I
appreciate it.
[1:09:02] » Thank you.
[1:09:12] » Hi, my name is Dashel. I'm a resident of
the town and I also represent the Hudson
[1:09:16] Valley Transparency Project. Um just I
recently attended a meeting at the
[1:09:20] Brewster Central School District and
what they tend to do at the beginning of
[1:09:23] their sessions between the um work and
the regular session and the pledge of
[1:09:26] allegiance. They'll have a they'll have
two public comment sessions. They'll
[1:09:30] have one at the beginning that's for
agenda items only so that people can ask
[1:09:35] questions of some people that might be
there early in the meeting. And then
[1:09:38] they have a public comment that's just
general. It could be on action items, it
[1:09:41] might not be at the very end of the
session, which I think that might
[1:09:44] alleviate what um some of the concerns
she had with not being able to ask
[1:09:49] questions of people who were going to
speak here later. I think that um might
[1:09:53] be
I can't think of the word, but a
[1:09:56] consideration for the board to take.
Thank you.
[1:09:58] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:10:00] » Uh oh, school board member back there.
>> We also don't have time limits.
[1:10:08] » Three minutes. Are you all you get?
[1:10:15] » Uh Scott Seaman, Time of Southeast Bruce
Board of Education. Like to thank him
[1:10:19] for making the comment. I was going to
make the same exact suggestion.
[1:10:22] » We'll do that if you get rid of time
limits.
[1:10:25] » I have no trouble getting rid of time.
[laughter]
[1:10:27] I when I first joined the board, the
time limit was two minutes.
[1:10:30] » I suggested five and they we agreed on
three. So, and most people if you talk
[1:10:35] past three minutes,
>> no one's listening. you're out of
[1:10:38] control and there's a problem. Anyway,
so um we're uh full into finishing up
[1:10:43] construction, getting ready school
starting in a couple weeks. On Monday,
[1:10:47] we do have the back to the den uh school
event again where we um have a lot of
[1:10:52] people members from the school, the
sports, all the activities. We also
[1:10:55] invent our community, invite our
community partners down to the turf
[1:10:58] field and people come and talk and meet
everybody and and get um you know better
[1:11:02] feeling, get the young men and women
prepared for school. Um everything else
[1:11:08] is, you know, we're hoping to have the
uh Rosi Center and some of the interior
[1:11:12] work done at the high school uh prior to
work. Uh of course, we thank the town
[1:11:16] for all the work they've done on all the
adjoining roads and uh to get ready for
[1:11:20] school and to get as much done before we
send our 100 buses out onto the road and
[1:11:25] back up traffic. Um
and um over at CV Star, we're hoping the
[1:11:30] cafeterium will be done. Um obviously it
won't be done at opening but I think the
[1:11:35] plan is either November uh October or
November it'll be done so those students
[1:11:40] can be the first ones to actually take
place in having their own cafeteria and
[1:11:45] their own gathering area. Right now they
have to go to the middle school and it
[1:11:49] also frees up space that we can give
back to the middle school um just to um
[1:11:54] alterations changes pull out a lot of
additional work can be done. Um, and as
[1:11:59] always, you know, we thank the town for
the work you do on our behalf. And if
[1:12:02] there's anything we can do, please let
us know.
[1:12:05] » Thanks, guys.
[1:12:12] » Okay. Unless there's anyone else,
um, recognition of the town board for
[1:12:17] town board comment.
>> Any comments?
[1:12:21] » No comments.
>> Okay.
[1:12:24] I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Is there
a second?
[1:12:26] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[1:12:28] Thank