[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.