[0:00] Speed differentials.

[0:01] Be

[0:02] Sorry. That's okay. Between

[0:03] vehicles,

[0:04] some drivers obey the lowest posted speed while others

[0:07] feel it's unreasonable and simply ignore it.

[0:10] This disrupts the uniform traffic flow

[0:12] and increases accident potential.

[0:15] Traumatic in differences in vehicle speeds can lead

[0:17] to aggressive driving, tailgating, unsafe passing,

[0:20] and accidents associated with these conditions.

[0:24] Uniform predictable speeds provide

[0:26] for better accuracy when judging gaps in traffic,

[0:28] which is important for traffic entering from intersections

[0:32] and driveways and for pedestrians crossing the roadway.

[0:34] Furthermore, state directives recommend not placing more

[0:37] than 30% of drivers in violation of a posted speed limit.

[0:41] This recommendation is based on safety as well

[0:43] as the legal concept of imposing a speed trap,

[0:46] which can be deemed by the judicial system as unreasonable

[0:50] and therefore unenforceable.

[0:52] The 85% of percentile speed was measured near your driveway,

[0:57] which was at 1587.

[0:59] Route 17 B in bevel to be eight, I'm sorry,

[1:01] 45 miles an hour.

[1:03] Where Dan, where is that exactly?

[1:05] The late, um, It's, it's by Sue. It's by Right.

[1:10] Someone had written us a letter

[1:11] and we forwarded it to the state with her recommendations.

[1:15] Well, it says It took over a year for them to respond.

[1:18] Yeah. If we have, we've had a couple more Go ahead.

[1:21] Follow up letters since then about the highway.

[1:24] So here's, there's, if we were to lower the speed limit,

[1:27] if they approve the lower speed limit under 30 as requested,

[1:30] it would put 95% of the drivers in violation.

[1:34] Based on the previous information.

[1:36] The current posted speed limit of 40 is appropriate

[1:39] for this section of highway.

[1:41] Ms. Taylor. That was her name requested in police,

[1:45] police presence and enforcement in this vicinity.

[1:47] Your letter is attached and has been sent to the local

[1:50] and enforcement professionals in the area.

[1:53] Troop F, which is the state troopers

[1:56] and the Sullivan County Sheriff.

[1:57] Yes. For their review in action.

[1:59] Further, you can request a variable

[2:01] message board through them.

[2:03] She also, excuse me,

[2:04] requested flashing lights be installed on warning

[2:07] signs in this vicinity.

[2:09] This type of system is a high level safety device reserved

[2:12] for high accident locations with known crashes.

[2:15] The most currently available three years

[2:17] of crash data were reviewed.

[2:19] There are no pedestrians related crashes within that term.

[2:23] However, highway improvements will be accomplished

[2:25] as a result of your express concern.

[2:29] Two new pedestrian warning signs will be installed on 17 B

[2:32] facing east and westbound traffic.

[2:35] The new signs will be located near the firehouse

[2:38] and across the street.

[2:39] The intent of these signs is

[2:40] to give the road user increased notice

[2:42] of the potential for pedestrians.

[2:45] DOT maintenance forces.

[2:46] Sullivan County Residency will complete the upgrade

[2:49] as their time and resources allow.

[2:52] Thank you for your interest in highway

[2:53] safety, yada, yada, yada.

[2:57] So the bottom line is they're gonna put a few more signs up.

[2:59] They're not gonna lower the speed limit.

[3:01] It's more than they've done in the past. Right. So, uh, but

[3:05] The same recycled letter.

[3:06] Yeah, but they added a little, they did some stuff.

[3:08] Uh, motion to receive and file. I'll

[3:10] Make a Motion. Lillian

[3:11] second by Ernie. All in favor? Um,

[3:16] And she has a copy of this. Yeah,

[3:17] I think she sent it to her.

[3:18] Yeah. Again, I had an opportunity to meet about a month ago

[3:22] with Matt who's here with us tonight,

[3:25] and at Assemblywoman Gunther's office with

[3:28] the people from DOT to do a complete review outside

[3:31] of this request for 17 BI was able to, uh,

[3:36] point out the hot spots, the, the traffic issues that a lot

[3:40] of people up and down 17 B.

[3:42] So they are reviewing the entire 17 B

[3:44] and maybe they'll make some improvements.

[3:46] Okay. So thank you Matt, for setting that up. Raymond.

[3:50] The interesting part is where they did the survey,

[3:53] if it would've gone to 15 96, 17 B,

[3:57] which is the white Lake firehouse, I used to write a quarter

[4:00] of a million dollars worth of tickets a year.

[4:05] Thank you Raymond. Alright. Uh, motion. I'm sorry.

[4:08] Motion to receive and file. Did we do that already? You did.

[4:11] We did. Okay. We did. Sorry, Brenda did that. Ready?

[4:14] Alright, Let's do one more. Uh, here's another one.

[4:19] This is an application.

[4:22] It's called Happy Family Farm Micro.

[4:25] And you know why it's gonna be a happy family farm? Yeah.

[4:28] They're, because they're looking for a notification

[4:32] of a micro business with retail authorization for

[4:37] marijuana cultivation and retail.

[4:39] Again, it's just a notification.

[4:40] We're not approving anything. It's a notice to us.

[4:43] Where, um, this one, I believe we looked it up today,

[4:47] it's on Happy Avenue near the, um,

[4:51] Happy, Uh, Sturgis, the old Sturgis farm. Okay.

[4:56] Possibly, yes. Somewhere around there.

[4:59] Somewhere around there.

[5:00] We weren't even hundred percent sure.

[5:01] Again, you know, we're not approving anything.

[5:03] Just getting the notice

[5:06] Every time I come to someone,

[5:10] we have a list on how many dispensaries we gonna have

[5:15] or just if everybody wants grow it

[5:17] And sell it.

[5:18] Yeah. I, you know what?

[5:19] I believe that the, the health department is the,

[5:21] is the agency that approves them.

[5:24] It has to be allowed, which it is

[5:26] allowed in the town of Bethel.

[5:27] Subject, a lengthy process.

[5:28] There's a lengthy process to go through. Yeah.

[5:30] But I mean, is there a limit?

[5:31] Are we gonna have one on every quarter

[5:33] Of a mile? I don't

[5:34] think they would approve something like

[5:35] that again, I don't think, I don't know for sure,

[5:37] but I don't know if all of these

[5:38] are gonna go through or not.

[5:40] Um, but we did receive a couple lately. Um, yeah,

[5:43] There was a, right, there was a moratorium for a year

[5:45] because there were so backlog and they rework their laws

[5:50] and that the window just open a 30 day window

[5:53] and that's why you're seeing them all at one.

[5:59] Hold on Angel. One second. One second. It's

[6:02] Full of all the information On.

[6:03] Alright, so just gimme one second.

[6:05] If we could, I'd like to add, uh, get a motion just

[6:08] to receive and file the notification by Vicky.

[6:13] I heard everybody, but both Bernie All in favor?

[6:17] And Andrew, you had a comment

[6:18] As I walked up, I realized this is not part

[6:21] of a budget discussion.

[6:22] Okay. So I

[6:23] That's cool. So yeah,

[6:24] So go ahead. I'll make

[6:25] it quick. Yep.

[6:26] So these, uh, anything cannabis related, will that be

[6:30] inclusive in the comprehensive plan?

[6:33] The new comprehensive plan? Is that where that all live?

[6:36] It could be, right? Could be.

[6:39] Uh, I mean right now it has to be. Um,

[6:42] So I talked some Yeah, go ahead.

[6:44] I talked to, is it, her name is Christine

[6:47] Or Christine Christie. Christine. C Right.

[6:49] She held up the paperwork, she said on about a quarter

[6:53] of the way through this enormous pile

[6:56] of papers from the state.

[6:58] Right. So I understand that she's like inundated

[7:02] with her job

[7:03] and also this new position of reading through all this code

[7:07] and trying to figure out how to write code

[7:09] and then also figure out how to enforce the code code.

[7:12] But I mean, this is coming in really quickly.

[7:16] Okay. Right.

[7:17] I know it's not part of the budget, that's all. I'm sorry.

[7:20] No problem. But, uh, we need to figure out

[7:23] where this is gonna live

[7:24] and how it's gonna be appropriately handled.

[7:29] Okay. So is it Like, I don't know.

[7:31] Alright, let me just try to Yeah. Clarify some of that.

[7:33] These are just notifications which may or may not happen.

[7:36] Yeah, yeah, yeah. However, uh, year ago

[7:38] or thereabouts, the towns had an option to either opt in

[7:42] or opt retail or opt out.

[7:43] The town of Bethel did not opt out.

[7:45] We, we opted in opt, we did not opt out. Sure.

[7:48] It would've been a, a vote.

[7:50] I think it was a public hearing you had to have.

[7:51] We did not do that. Yeah.

[7:53] So now that people are allowed to do it in the town

[7:55] of Bethel, but we do have zoning in the town of Bethel.

[7:57] Sure. So you can't just open up a store,

[7:59] even if the health department gives you approval

[8:01] and the cannabis board gives you approval.

[8:03] He can't just open up a store and

[8:05] It's too early to figure out where.

[8:07] Well, at the moment it's a retail use.

[8:10] So anywhere that the retail use is allowed, it restricts you

[8:14] to where retail use is allowed.

[8:15] Retail is not allowed in every district. Right.

[8:17] But you could do it in, in Lake is one

[8:20] of those commun CS district.

[8:21] Yes. It would be allowed. Yeah.

[8:24] But so the ones that we have, if I'm not mistaken,

[8:28] so we do have zoning for right now,

[8:29] absent any other thing that the health department does.

[8:32] We have zoning right now, the ones that are here,

[8:35] for example, the River Edge is an

[8:37] existing, it was a restaurant.

[8:38] Right. You know, so they would uh,

[8:41] they put would be allowed to sell, you know,

[8:44] Anything of the the,

[8:46] Uh, I will tell you, lemme tell you

[8:48] where we got 'em so far.

[8:49] We have one for tonight for the River Edge. Right.

[8:52] We have one for Java Love, which was an existing business.

[8:55] Yeah. Uh, Woodstock Oasis. Sure.

[8:58] Three don't, don't tell me, uh, the one tonight

[9:01] for Happy Avenue, which is a little complicated

[9:04] because that's uh, an ag district.

[9:06] So I'm sure they're okay to grow it.

[9:08] I don't know offhand if they can have a retail out.

[9:13] Maybe. I, I don't know.

[9:14] That's a question for the, uh, building department. Right.

[9:16] Whether you could actually sell what you grow.

[9:19] 'cause it's retail use is not allowed in the Ag zone. Sure.

[9:22] So that, I'm not sure that's a

[9:24] question for the building department.

[9:25] Okay. And there was one one and Bethel Woods had one. Right.

[9:28] Which is allowed as a, as a business that's allowed,

[9:30] it's the only ones I know of

[9:31] so far, unless I missed a couple.

[9:33] Five. Five Five.

[9:34] And again, we have zoning there

[9:36] so you can't just throw it anywhere in town. Right.

[9:38] And one, we're not sure about the retail

[9:40] And we're not sure about that one in

[9:41] retail for growing only.

[9:42] We don't, these are,

[9:45] I understand that it's all new and code is not written

[9:49] and it's not even kind of a bullet on the regular.

[9:53] So I would say we're covered for now. Yeah.

[9:56] As far as not no zoning.

[9:57] We have some zoning that covers that we do.

[9:59] Um, and also one

[10:00] of the things is when we're talking about the budget,

[10:03] the marijuana sales is one of the only things,

[10:06] the only thing in New York State that gets sold

[10:08] with a local municipality gets either two

[10:12] or 3% of the sales tax outside of the county.

[10:16] Matt, I don't know if you know the number No,

[10:19] but it's either two or 3%.

[10:20] I read that. Yeah. But again, it's, you know, the state,

[10:22] the county does not share sales tax with us.

[10:24] So anything, I've never, you know,

[10:26] that's the only thing in New York state that they came up

[10:28] with, with their actual local municipality is allowed

[10:31] to get some of the sales tax.

[10:32] Right. So that's not a bad thing. It'll help our budget.

[10:35] 'cause we have a lot of people that are a lot, a lot

[10:38] of entities that are not paying their fair share Right.

[10:41] To the town. Right. So we might as well get whatever we can.

[10:44] I think so. Right. We agree.

[10:46] Yeah. So, but we will keep an eye on that, um,

[10:48] to make sure it doesn't get outta hand

[10:51] Get, I'm sorry.

[10:53] That's okay. But I get your point.

[10:55] Alright, thank you very much.

[10:57] Um, well let's do this, let's do, uh,

[10:59] comments from the board and then we'll open it up

[11:01] for more public comment from the audience.

[11:03] And Lillian,

[11:06] It is very, very nice to see all

[11:10] here from the government list.

[11:12] I a few from Monticello.

[11:14] I don't know if anybody is from anywhere else,

[11:18] but it's very nice to see you at our town board meeting.

[11:22] Um, I hope you're enjoying your government class

[11:26] and I hope the three of you don go to college.

[11:29] I know one because he's my favorite boy.

[11:32] So that young man is the nicest young man

[11:35] and he works at McDonald's now

[11:38] and his stomach wine, then he works with his father.

[11:42] Yeah. He worked in the, at McDonald's

[11:45] and then he works at my, so we go there.

[11:52] Very, very nice to see.

[11:55] It's very important that you get involved in government.

[11:58] Very important. And I hope you all succeed in life.

[12:04] Have a good time in college,

[12:05] but make sure, keep your grades up.

[12:08] Okay. Thank you. Especially you my little man.

[12:12] Thank you Lillian. Anna comments? Vicki?

[12:15] Yeah, I just wanna say, um, this is the last budget

[12:19] I'm gonna be working on and uh, it is really nice

[12:23] to see so many people out.

[12:24] I, I don't remember such a lively discussion

[12:26] of a town budget, um, in years.

[12:29] And it is, it's really wonderful to see

[12:32] so many people, so interested.

[12:33] Um, and I really, I really mean that I, I hope more

[12:37] and more people get involved, um,

[12:39] because I've had the pleasure of working with this board

[12:43] and, and this gentleman right here who will start tomorrow

[12:48] probably working on next year's budget.

[12:50] Yeah. Once I get this in, he'll get all the papers out

[12:53] and start working on it.

[12:54] And, and he's been a wonderful, wonderful, um,

[12:58] budget officer, class supervisor for so many years.

[13:02] And as you can see, we have come a long way where we used

[13:05] to be so much with so much debt to the point

[13:08] where I believe right now, um, the highway department,

[13:11] we don't have any, no bonds, any bonds, anything.

[13:16] And, and that doesn't just happen.

[13:18] That's a lot of careful planning

[13:21] and there's been a lot of careful planning over the years.

[13:23] And Dan, it has been my pleasure to work

[13:26] with you on these budgets over the years.

[13:28] So I thank you for that very much. Likewise.

[13:29] And again, I thank everybody for coming out tonight.

[13:32] This has been a pleasure to,

[13:34] to see everybody so interested in it.

[13:36] So I thank you all

[13:38] and, uh, I can't say I'll miss working on the budget,

[13:42] but, uh, uh, this has been, um, a great experience tonight

[13:47] and I want to thank you all for coming.

[13:49] Thank you. Uh, Lillian, you had,

[13:50] I'd like to say one more thing.

[13:52] I don't know how we're gonna get along without she,

[13:57] when I first came on the town board, she helped me so much.

[14:01] She is just a wonderful, wonderful person

[14:06] and she knows a thank you.

[14:10] Thank you, Lillian. I agree. Thank you, Lillian.

[14:12] Thank you Vicki. Uh, Bernie.

[14:14] Okay, well I hope this isn't my last budget,

[14:17] but, uh, I, uh, I just want

[14:22] to comment that the, uh, Robbie's doing a good job.

[14:26] He's, uh, he's been on, on the job every day of the week,

[14:30] uh, early in the morning

[14:32] and I hope he don't fall asleep on the way home.

[14:38] But anyway, uh, a lot of stuff's getting done

[14:42] and uh, I know he's, uh, he did a lot

[14:45] of black topping this year and, uh, just did a good job.

[14:49] The roads, uh, the roads really show it.

[14:53] It's, uh, it's nice. People are happy. Thank you Rob.

[14:57] Alright, thanks Bernie. And Billy comments,

[15:01] Uh, CBH quiet last couple months?

[15:04] No, uh, no variances, parks

[15:06] and rec Sunday, we had a hall fun day.

[15:08] It was a good day. Chilly. But it worked out well.

[15:12] And, uh, the Christmas fed interviews will start soon.

[15:15] I'll keep you updated. Thanks for coming out everybody.

[15:19] Thank you, Billy. And we do, uh, comments from the public.

[15:25] Mary Ellen, it doesn't have to be about the budget.

[15:27] Oh, good.

[15:30] Okay. I have three items that I did wanna talk about.

[15:33] One was the sewer overflow on Lee Cole Road.

[15:37] Uh, apparently a bunch of buildings were built

[15:40] and, uh, they didn't hook up to the sewer

[15:43] and they were discharging into one of the local rivers.

[15:47] And DEC apparently has fined those people up

[15:51] to $37,000 a day.

[15:54] I don't know if they ever fixed anything,

[15:57] but my concern is if they were able to bill

[16:00] and didn't bother hooking up to the sewer plant

[16:04] and somebody would've been notified if they actually

[16:07] had hooked up to the sewer.

[16:09] So somebody, so I don't know how she got,

[16:11] they got certificates of occupancy

[16:13] and weren't hooked up to the sewer.

[16:15] Okay. That's one question. Go ahead.

[16:17] Um, um, I don't mean to interrupt you.

[16:19] Yeah, but I think the students have to be out by nine.

[16:21] Is that right? So if you would just come

[16:23] up, I'll sign your papers.

[16:25] All right. You have to be out by nine. Am I right or wrong?

[16:28] Okay. Mary Ellen, go ahead. I was gonna sign him over here.

[16:33] Mary Ellen, go ahead. I don't wanna stop you.

[16:36] No, it's not.

[16:44] Oh, Mary Ellen, that may be the Town of Liberty.

[16:46] They, the DEC sent a copy to our town.

[16:50] Why would they send to town if they

[16:52] didn't Liberty?

[17:01] They applied to Liberty,

[17:02] I believe half of their development.

[17:04] Mm-Hmm. And I think the other half counter,

[17:07] because BC identified

[17:11] Bethel hel Well, they sent a copy to Bethel.

[17:14] Why would they send a copy to Bethel? But they didn't.

[17:17] Right. They notified Bethel about the issue.

[17:19] All right. That should be looked into.

[17:21] Yeah. Sewer

[17:22] Districts have the Swan Lake.

[17:24] Right, right. That's right.

[17:26] But that's part of that Doesn't matter.

[17:32] They pay taxes to the Swan Lake Sewer District.

[17:37] I'm sorry Mary Ellen, but we

[17:38] gotta get 'em out. Yeah, that's

[17:39] Okay. I'm

[17:40] sorry. I heard the, Um, the problem is, of course,

[17:44] the discharge goes into a tributary of the screens

[17:47] that eventually go to the New York City water supply.

[17:51] So I think it would be nice. Yeah.

[17:53] They get the, um, the other question I have is,

[17:58] how exactly do we ensure

[18:01] that the building department knows of people

[18:04] who are building without permits?

[18:07] I had a neighbor who started working,

[18:09] they didn't have a permit.

[18:11] And when I called the building department, they said, well,

[18:13] you have to fill out a form.

[18:14] You have to complain.

[18:17] I know a lot of people aren't issued,

[18:19] aren't interested in complaining about their neighbors.

[18:22] Okay. And I would've thought that my phone call alone,

[18:26] phone would've been enough to get,

[18:27] someone could at least drive by.

[18:29] Not so far, it's down the road that someone would come by

[18:32] and CG there, or they could, I'm sure they would have a list

[18:34] of who's got permits and to look up an address

[18:37] and see whether there's a permit or not.

[18:39] Um, so, so the people next to me didn't have a permit.

[18:43] They, they finally went and got a permit.

[18:46] They haven't done anything on the house.

[18:48] Now they've lifted the house up in the air.

[18:51] There's no fence around it or anything.

[18:54] They haven't done any work.

[18:56] Whatever dirt they dug up is washing into the lake.

[18:59] I, I don't know how the, you know, I don't know

[19:02] what the, I don't know.

[19:04] Is that okay? Is it not okay? I don't know. Okay.

[19:07] Um, the other question I have is, there's a house on, uh,

[19:11] lake Street that was built and looks abandoned.

[19:15] It's half built. And someone told

[19:17] me they never got a permit.

[19:18] I said, how did they build the whole house

[19:20] and never get a permit?

[19:22] That doesn't sound reasonable to me.

[19:24] So again, I don't know how, what the process is

[19:29] to make sure that the building department knows whether

[19:31] something has a permit,

[19:33] doesn't have a permit, or needs a permit.

[19:36] And the guy, the guy down the block from

[19:38] me renovated his house.

[19:39] He just put four steps on the, up to his front door.

[19:43] I personally know you need to have a railing.

[19:45] He doesn't have a railing.

[19:46] What am I supposed to be the one calling the

[19:49] building department and saying,

[19:50] how come he doesn't have a rail?

[19:52] I I don't do that. So, okay.

[19:54] That's, that's, that's your question.

[19:56] I don't know how that goes. Um,

[19:58] and the other comment I want to make was on 17 B,

[20:02] if we have more people walking on 17 B, we have

[20:05] to clear the shoulders because there's no way to walk.

[20:08] Right. On 17 b, when people are parking on 17 B

[20:13] and there's a lot of parking.

[20:15] Right. And I was told it's not legal.

[20:18] Well, that's not my job.

[20:21] So if we can't have the people, we're gonna have a ton

[20:25] of people walking there

[20:27] and there's no, they're gonna be forced into the street.

[20:30] I actually was driving home one day

[20:32] and everybody was parked on both sides of 17 B

[20:35] and that someone backed out another car

[20:37] came from the other direction.

[20:38] They almost hit me because that go around the car

[20:41] that was backing out.

[20:42] So, okay. Something gotta get,

[20:44] thank you. Thank you. Mary Ellen.

[20:47] Uh, comic Jonathan.

[20:57] I dunno, before I respond, uh, well,

[21:04] it would appear that everything I wanna talk about is

[21:06] something that Maryanne,

[21:12] uh, listen, what Mary Ellen is discussing is

[21:15] palpable and dangerous.

[21:18] And this town has to do better.

[21:20] The idea that she could call up and complain,

[21:23] or someone could compete money about our house being

[21:26] built illegally.

[21:27] And she's told that she has to fill out a form is outrageous

[21:32] and everybody knows it.

[21:34] We have got to be more, more proactive

[21:37] and enforce our zoning and enforce our code.

[21:40] And people should be afraid to put a back door in

[21:44] and isn't on the right engine for goodness sake.

[21:46] I mean, of course it's that hyperbolic,

[21:48] but I mean, this has been on here 30 years

[21:51] and this has been going on forever.

[21:53] It has to stop Supervisor Stern.

[21:55] You're terrific with the budget.

[21:56] You do all kinds of wonderful things. Make this your goal.

[22:00] Let's turn this down into a place

[22:03] where people are afraid to make mistakes.

[22:05] Let's turn it into a town where people are willing

[22:08] to follow the rules, follow the law with regard to building.

[22:13] So nobody has to make those kind

[22:15] of calls saying everyone's afraid.

[22:16] I, and this is not hyperbole. I heard it for decades.

[22:21] If I call on that guy, he's gonna burn my house down.

[22:24] Mm-Hmm. And I'm not being hyperbolic.

[22:26] We hear this all the time. This has to stop.

[22:29] This is the town of Ville.

[22:31] Look at the performing arts sector.

[22:33] We're about to build a new, uh, town board, uh, a town hall.

[22:38] I mean, I, I, I think I've said enough about that.

[22:41] Um, that really gets, okay.

[22:44] Anyway, um, I, I wanna address this idea about,

[22:48] I moratorium, I wanna not correct

[22:50] but clarify some things for Marya

[22:53] because she said, when we have this, um, planner,

[22:56] she decides where this is gonna go, where

[22:59] that's gonna marielle.

[23:01] The thing is, is that this is a community process.

[23:04] The comprehensive plan, by its very nature

[23:07] and the design of it, is that this isn't, this is a, uh, uh,

[23:11] a pla uh, an opportunity

[23:13] to have what's called vision sessions where this planner

[23:17] and a talent doing their job correctly.

[23:19] We'll have sessions

[23:21] where community members will come together,

[23:23] sit at various tables and talk about who do we wanna be

[23:27] and what do we wanna look like in 10, 20, 30, 50 years.

[23:31] One of those questions that might be asked is,

[23:33] where do we want, where do we wanna put dispensaries?

[23:36] Do we want dispensaries up

[23:37] and down 17 d Maybe we do, do we want them somewhere else?

[23:41] I don't know. But I know that one,

[23:44] maybe there's a place who, who knows.

[23:46] But the point is this is a really important thing

[23:48] in this comprehensive plan.

[23:50] And so, um, the other thing with regard

[23:53] to comprehensive plan, uh,

[23:55] and it worked for us last time, it wasn't easy to get,

[23:58] but we did have a moratorium.

[23:59] And a moratorium doesn't necessarily put an end to projects

[24:04] that are before the planning board during the pipeline,

[24:07] but the courts have ruled for a law.

[24:09] And it was ruled a long time ago that a, that a project

[24:12] for instance, could be before the planning board

[24:15] for several years in discussion.

[24:18] But if they don't have what they call, uh,

[24:20] significant instruction,

[24:22] if they don't have just the project's being considered,

[24:25] that doesn't mean that they're in the pipeline, so to speak.

[24:28] They have to have what's used,

[24:29] what's what's kind of in the trade.

[24:31] They say that of Mary Ellen.

[24:33] They say, you have to have bulldozers on the ground.

[24:35] You have to have made significant progress on the

[24:39] development of that land.

[24:41] And that came into a play that, you know, last night

[24:44] around when we had that moratorium.

[24:46] It's possible. And Dan, maybe you, you wouldn't mind,

[24:48] you would add, because you brought this up at another town,

[24:51] Morgan, you would, uh, explain what the last moratorium was

[24:55] with regard to five lots or more.

[24:58] I mean, there is a way to do this if it's the will

[25:00] of the town board and or the will of the people.

[25:03] And I would urge that we seriously consider this.

[25:05] I mean, I don't, I I, I don't think I've ever seen a time,

[25:08] uh, other than 2008,

[25:11] 5, 6, 7 8 when Bethel Elizabeth being developed

[25:13] and everybody was speculating when there's been this many

[25:16] developments proposed.

[25:18] Certainly they're being proposed on a grander

[25:21] and larger scale, which is why I want to conclude by saying

[25:25] this is why I'm being very strong

[25:26] and advocating for water quality and watershed protection.

[25:31] Thank you for considering my remarks all night.

[25:33] Thank you for a wonderful discussion on the budget.

[25:36] Thank you. Thank you, Jonathan. Appreciate it.

[25:40] Um, comments,

[25:47] Samantha.

[25:47] Thank you. You're welcome.

[25:49] Thank you again. You're welcome. I'll make this break.

[25:52] Okay. How about we consider going forward

[25:57] the next plan

[25:59] or reconnect your budget, whatever it may be,

[26:04] enforcing a user fee, the tax exempt entities

[26:09] that are in the town of Bethel use water, sewer,

[26:14] roads and don't pay taxes.

[26:17] Is it fair? No.

[26:21] And there's a lot of them, whatever they are,

[26:25] including about the woods.

[26:27] So it would be nice to have a conversation about

[26:32] a user bait tacked onto every purchase

[26:35] or, I mean, this would be for a ticket sale

[26:39] for instance, about the woods.

[26:41] And I don't know how that works, a conversation, a proposal

[26:46] to them in general.

[26:48] But I know in other

[26:51] tourism areas across the country, for instance, you go

[26:56] and you ski somewhere, you're paying a user de towards

[27:01] that town's taxes.

[27:03] If you go into a restaurant,

[27:04] you're paying a user fee in this tourism place.

[27:08] It's just a thought, small nominal fee.

[27:12] It could be one, $2, whatever it is, tack onto X.

[27:17] But it's something we need to help ourselves here.

[27:22] And we can't hold the weight of the town taxes

[27:27] on all of us taxpayers.

[27:30] Well, everyone else who's not paying taxes don't pay their

[27:33] fair share the fire department.

[27:35] I mean, you name it. So I just like for that

[27:39] to be considered going forward. Great.

[27:42] Thank you Samantha. Thank you.

[27:44] Thank you. Uh,

[27:47] comments a Joyce?

[27:51] Very agree. Okay. That's fine.

[27:59] I just wanted to mention that I had requested

[28:04] that the lights be prepared in the parking lot

[28:08] with a safety issue.

[28:10] This is the third time.

[28:11] Could you please have them fixed? Thank you.

[28:14] You're welcome. Um, just so you know, Joyce,

[28:16] after the last town board meeting, we,

[28:18] those are school lights.

[28:20] They're responsible for fixing up.

[28:22] We put the request in and they said they would get to it.

[28:25] I reminded them again, we're doing the best we can,

[28:28] but they, it is up to the school to fix those.

[28:31] Yep. No, I agree. And they assured me they would

[28:33] be fixed within a week or so.

[28:35] Okay. And they're usually pretty good

[28:36] when they tell us things like that.

[28:38] Okay. You work that, uh, Jonathan, sorry

[28:41] Guys. Uh,

[28:42] this Saturday, 3:30 PM at the parking lot

[28:46] of the, uh, mountain Lake Beach in Smallwood is the, uh,

[28:50] fourth annual Halloween, uh, children walk around the lake,

[28:54] their family, children.

[28:56] We have everyone shows up 32 tree tables

[29:01] with a fire truck leading the walk.

[29:03] Um, please come on out.

[29:06] All family members and children in Beville are invited.

[29:09] Um, we can tell you

[29:11] that there's gonna be some people scaring the children.

[29:14] There's gonna be some people scaring the parents probably.

[29:18] And we invite everybody to come. Police participate.

[29:20] It's a great event. Thank you.

[29:23] And thank

[29:25] you to the fire police.

[29:28] Thank you. Advance to the constable.

[29:32] It's a real town effort. Uh, I can't wait.

[29:35] Uh, hope everybody comes. Cool.

[29:37] Thank you. Um, announcement please. I'm sorry.

[29:42] With there comment. Did I miss something?

[29:44] Uh, uh, briefly check their planning

[29:46] and zoning board agendas

[29:47] and legal notices online for meetings and cancellations.

[29:50] There is a planning board this Monday, I think the sixth.

[29:53] Yes. Sorry, the sixth. Right? Not this Monday.

[29:55] Next Monday the sixth Pacific. Jonathan took care of that.

[29:59] Uh, suicide awareness Walker is 11 o'clock at the

[30:02] Bethel Senior Center.

[30:03] We haven't done it in three or four years.

[30:05] We stopped doing it for Covid,

[30:07] but we would encourage everybody to come.

[30:09] Let's have a good showing to. Really good event.

[30:11] Very important. Sunday,

[30:13] 11 o'clock Senior center election day.

[30:16] All departments are closed.

[30:17] The polls are open from six in the

[30:19] morning till nine at night.

[30:21] Town departments are closed on the 10th for Veteran's Day

[30:24] and Veteran's Day Services.

[30:26] 11. 11 at 11.

[30:29] And for other town board we discussed is 1115,

[30:32] the one meeting for November at seven 30.

[30:35] Um, thank you all for coming.

[30:37] Absent any other comments, I'll entertain a motion

[30:40] to adjourn motion by Vicky and Bernie.

[30:43] All in favor. You have a great weekend

[30:45] and nice h uh, Halloween weekend.

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