[0:13] All right, welcome to our August 19th
combination work session and regular
[0:18] combination work session and regular
meeting.
[0:19] We'll do the pledge at the start of the
regular meeting,
[0:23] which is estimated to be at around 7 PM.
[0:25] And we'll start with our work session
items.
[0:28] So the first is an update from the chair
of our Sustainability Committee,
[0:33] Lindsay Auden, on battery energy storage
systems and our RFI process for them.
[0:39] Okay, the host has disabled my use of
screen share.
[0:44] Update that for him, please.
[0:50] Sorry, Lindsay, one minute.
[0:56] Okay, Lindsey, you should be able
[1:04] to do it now.
[1:07] Okay, let's see what happens here.
[1:10] All right, one moment.
[1:13] Okay, hold on, one more step.
[1:16] Just make that full screen so people can
see it.
[1:19] One second here. Here we are.
[1:22] Okay, you should be seeing my title
[1:26] slide.
[1:27] Yes.
[1:28] Good. Okay. All right, here we go.
[1:30] Thank you very much for the opportunity to
present to Croton Village Board of
[1:35] Trustees on the results of the August
request for information to developers of
[1:40] battery energy storage systems,
hereinafter known as BESS for short. Okay.
[1:45] In July, we assembled a list of best
developers and compiled that from a
[1:49] developers and compiled that from a
variety of
[1:50] sources, including a list from NYSERDA,
the New York State Energy Office,
[1:55] that listed the approved energy storage
contractors.
[1:58] We also went to the professional
association of the—
[2:01] of battery companies called BEST, Battery
Energy Storage Technology Consortium.
[2:06] And also, I have my own professional
contacts in the energy industry.
[2:11] many, many, many others.
[2:12] We found a total of 50 different firms,
identified them,
[2:16] and then initial contacts were made to
verify their statuses.
[2:20] And in so doing, we had to eliminate 21 of
them for various reasons.
[2:24] In some cases, they had been merged with
or acquired other best firms,
[2:29] or they were simply no longer in business,
[2:31] or they weren't doing business in the
United States,
[2:35] or they just failed to respond to multiple
efforts to communicate,
[2:39] including telephone, email, LinkedIn,
blah, blah.
[2:42] Which generally indicated that they
probably weren't really in business
[2:47] probably weren't really in business
anyway.
[2:47] Now, the draft RFI was assembled and
approved by the village manager.
[2:51] This was in July. It was distributed to
the remaining 29 vendors out of the 50 on
[2:57] August 3rd, with responses due August
17th, which was last Monday.
[3:01] Of that group, 6 vendors provided full
responses by the deadline.
[3:05] 3 others bounced back as undeliverable, so
we— as far as we're concerned,
[3:10] they're not in business.
[3:11] And the other 20 didn't respond at all and
did not bounce back.
[3:15] I expect most of that is due to the fact
that they are firms that primarily do
[3:20] larger projects than what we're interested
in.
[3:23] We had asked them if they would do
projects between 2 and 5 megawatts.
[3:28] Most of the companies in this business are
doing work at the utility-scale level,
[3:33] which is 5 to 10 times larger.
[3:35] So, I think they probably looked at us as
small potato and didn't bother.
[3:40] Based on experience, we had expected about
4 or 5 responses,
[3:43] so getting 6 was a success. Any questions
before I go on?
[3:47] No.
[3:49] Okay. So, let's look at the 6 responders.
[3:52] In alphabetical order, they are Luminase,
Microgrid Networks, New Lake Energy,
[3:57] Nine Dot Energy, Orenda Power, and RIC
Energy.
[4:00] And I'm sure you've never heard of any of
them.
[4:03] Suffice to say that all are well known in
the industry.
[4:06] You know, it's not the biggest industry in
the world.
[4:10] And they are actively developing projects
in our region and/or in New York City.
[4:15] One of them presently has 3 5-megawatt
battery energy storage systems operating
[4:20] battery energy storage systems operating
in
[4:20] Westchester County. Let's see, Hawthorne,
Yorktown, and Ossining.
[4:24] Others have other things being developed
in other areas,
[4:28] primarily in the city of New York. So we
have our 6 responders.
[4:32] They are backed up by a variety of
different financial firms.
[4:36] Primarily, they're all, you know,
[4:38] either startups or companies that are
still in the private capital region,
[4:43] so they have support from organizations
like Blackstone, Brookfield,
[4:47] and others that you've probably heard, you
know,
[4:50] do private equity for a variety of other
smaller companies.
[4:54] So the next steps, now that we've got 6
people interested,
[4:58] Next thing I gotta do is summarize the
responses to the RFIs in Word and Excel,
[5:03] and that'll be compiled by Labor Day,
[5:05] and I'll have that then ready for review
by the village manager.
[5:09] Then, because now we have 6 interested,
I'm going to draft a request for
[5:14] I'm going to draft a request for
proposals,
[5:15] RFP. I'll assemble that and try to get
that out by middle of September with
[5:19] responses by mid-October.
[5:21] If we hadn't gotten any responses to the
RFI,
[5:24] I wouldn't have bothered to do the RFP. So
I thought I'd wait till the RFI was done.
[5:29] Instead of wasting my time on something
that wouldn't go anywhere.
[5:33] If any of the best projects are proposed
as a result of the RFP in the middle of
[5:39] October, the sites and proposals that
they're discussing will be reviewed by
[5:44] they're discussing will be reviewed by
village
[5:44] officials and checked for their
feasibility.
[5:47] If any are acceptable, public discussion
will then be initiated as desired.
[5:52] If they want to have public meetings or,
you know, training session,
[5:56] whatever you want to do,
[5:58] we'll have at least something there to
bite on and have people will discuss.
[6:02] That's basically the story. Thank you for
your time and attention.
[6:07] I'm open for any questions, comments, or
whatever.
[6:10] Thank you, Lindsay.
[6:13] Thank you.
[6:15] Great, great, great presentation, Lindsay.
Just a real quick question.
[6:21] Once we get to the RFP process— and I
thought the RFI was superbly prepared,
[6:27] so thanks, thanks for that as well— but
once,
[6:31] once we get to the RFP process,
[6:34] will the RFP That goes to them include a
listing of eligible public parcels?
[6:40] After Bryan Healy and I go through and
whittle down the list,
[6:43] it's like he gave me a list of like
70-some-odd properties.
[6:46] I know a bunch of them aren't going to
make it right away.
[6:49] We have to look at which ones are zoned
properly and all the rest of that.
[6:53] That's the chunk of work between now and
the middle of September.
[6:57] I figure there's going to be probably
somewhere between 5 and 10 that might make
[7:01] somewhere between 5 and 10 that might make
it.
[7:01] The rest are either too close to homes or
whatever.
[7:04] And yes, there'll be a list of the
properties and also The, um, uh,
[7:07] whatever that tax number is that you need
to look it up on the site at the county to
[7:11] see exactly what the boundaries are and
all that stuff.
[7:14] They'll be sent that list that's been
approved,
[7:17] and then they will look at them and
they'll either come up with proposals or
[7:21] they'll either come up with proposals or
they
[7:21] say they're all too small or they're all
too wet or whatever and come back to us.
[7:25] And just a quick follow-up,
[7:28] and that sounds like a good approach on
the parcels.
[7:32] In the RFP, will you,
[7:34] or should we include a ballpark figure for
what we're looking for
[7:40] in terms of annual rental fees?
[7:43] I don't think that's wise.
[7:45] We already have a pretty good idea based
on preliminaries,
[7:49] and I can give you that number where it
ought to come out right now in Westchester
[7:54] County. The going rate is approximately
$30,000 a year. per megawatt.
[7:59] So if you had a 5-megawatt installation,
[8:01] you should be expecting that they'll offer
you at least $150,000 per year.
[8:06] If not, they're screwing around with us.
[8:09] So that's a ballpark, and I'm hoping it'll
be a lot more.
[8:12] Right.
[8:14] And so we would expect them to,
[8:15] to at least understand what the ballpark
is these days and maybe,
[8:19] maybe try to wow us, but maybe at least
come in at the ballpark level.
[8:23] If they don't, you know, we're not
required to do anything.
[8:26] We can drop this thing, come back later.
[8:28] It's just this way we find out if there's
anything worth fighting over.
[8:32] Very good. Thank you.
[8:35] I want to ask if it's possible for the
Board of Trustees to see the RFP before it
[8:42] goes out.
[8:45] Sure. I have to send it to Brian Healy,
[8:47] and he's got to bless it 7 different ways
to Sunday anyway,
[8:50] so I'm sure it'd be fine for you to see
that too.
[8:53] I mean, I don't have any issue with
sharing it, but generally speaking, the,
[8:58] you know, If the board has agreed to move
forward with it,
[9:01] it's an administrative task in actually
writing the document and publishing it.
[9:06] So I mean, we can have the conversation
either now or later as to whether or not
[9:10] either now or later as to whether or not
you
[9:10] want to.
[9:11] I would like to see the parcel list.
[9:13] Yeah.
[9:14] Oh yeah. I mean, we talked about that at
one point prior.
[9:18] I think it's going to be— I have to talk
to Lindsay about it and see,
[9:22] because there's a lot of parcels where it
simply wouldn't be possible, right?
[9:26] For example, We can't install it on
parkland because it's not right.
[9:30] It's not allowed by New York State law. So
all of those parcels come out.
[9:34] You know, we can't install it at the
firehouses because those buildings are
[9:39] firehouses because those buildings are
pretty
[9:39] much— those parcels are pretty much taken
up by the buildings themselves.
[9:43] So we have to go through the list, which
we haven't done yet,
[9:47] and narrow it down so I can report back as
to what the,
[9:50] what the potential parcels are.
[9:52] I think that would be really helpful.
[9:54] Because, and thank you for doing all that
legwork.
[9:57] Because I know it's a lot of work to go
through if you're starting with 70,
[10:01] and you're ending up potentially with 10,
however the number is.
[10:05] Yeah.
[10:06] But my question is, what if there are a
couple of parcels that meet the criteria,
[10:12] you could connect it to the utility line,
etc.,
[10:15] but the board may not feel comfortable
with The location, you know,
[10:20] I'm making this up, but maybe it's in a
bit of a dense location and it's,
[10:25] it's not a location that we want to
entertain.
[10:29] Are we better off crossing it off the list
before it goes to an RFP and a vendor
[10:35] spends time on it? Or, you know, I don't
know.
[10:38] I mean, that's really, that's really a
policy decision for, for you all to make.
[10:43] Um, you know, an RFP is, is just that,
it's a request.
[10:46] It's not— there's nothing binding about an
RFP. It's not a bid, right?
[10:50] When you do a bid, you generally have to
accept the results of the bid as long as
[10:54] it's a responsible bidder, right? That's
not the same with an RFP.
[10:58] You have full control over it.
[11:00] You could just say, you know what, we've
changed our mind,
[11:03] we don't really want to do a BES at this
time,
[11:06] and you don't have to move forward with
any of them.
[11:09] I mean, I get the point about not wanting
somebody to do all the work if it's
[11:13] something you're not interested in anyway.
[11:16] So, you know, that's something that you
could think about.
[11:19] But, you know, I think it—
[11:21] I think what's a good thing is to have me
and Lindsay go through the list and narrow
[11:25] it down, because there, there could not—
[11:28] there could very well not be that many
parcels that we talked about before,
[11:32] like how many parcels actually could
there— correct, there,
[11:35] it may not be a high number at all.
[11:38] Yeah.
[11:38] But I would say also looking at the train
station solar array as a comparable
[11:43] example. That came to the board in various
permutations a number of times.
[11:48] Yeah, the expectation is that at key, at
key moments, whether it's approving,
[11:53] you know, the RFP or different— or not,
not the RFP, approving the, the,
[11:58] the selected bidder or other aspects of
it, it'll come to the board.
[12:02] Yeah, you would just move it
hypothetically through the process, right?
[12:07] You would have to vote to award the RFP,
right?
[12:09] So you'd have to select a vendor,
[12:11] and then we would have to write out a
lease agreement,
[12:14] which you would then have to approve as
well, right?
[12:17] So there's, you know, there would be
multiple times, as Trustee Simon was
[12:21] multiple times, as Trustee Simon was
saying,
[12:22] that it would come before the board. Yeah.
[12:24] Can you remind me again the zones that
this is permitted use in?
[12:29] Uh, it's RA-40, RA-60, light industrial,
[12:34] And central commercial.
[12:37] So central commercial is C2.
[12:43] Okay,
[12:46] any other
[12:49] questions,
[12:54] comments,
[12:58] things?
[13:05] No, just thanks. Thanks so much.
[13:07] Thank you.
[13:08] Very enlightening and promising as well.
[13:10] We'll see. The last time we did this for
the train station,
[13:13] it took almost a year to get to anything
close to a contract.
[13:17] So, you know, this may be a while before
we talk again.
[13:19] Anyway, I think it would be helpful to
have a site visit for the Board of
[13:26] have a site visit for the Board of
Trustees
[13:26] to go and visit. some of the buses that
are out there, Lindsay, that you had
[13:32] are out there, Lindsay, that you had
shared,
[13:33] whether in Ossining or, you know, just to
look at them.
[13:38] And I know one is in it in the church.
[13:43] No, it's behind— it's behind St.
[13:44] Augustine's Church in Ossining, just over
the border from Croton.
[13:48] It's like 5 minutes from here.
[13:49] Lindsay, would our own be comparable in
terms of just taking a look at it?
[13:55] At the train station.
[13:58] Um, yeah, it should be.
[13:59] Um, I've got aerial views of all the
others that are existing, and, uh,
[14:03] they all look pretty much the same,
though.
[14:05] Um, the other ones, the ones that I
mentioned, are, um, pretty much surrounded
[14:09] mentioned, are, um, pretty much surrounded
by,
[14:10] uh, like, uh, open space. One is near the
river.
[14:12] You know, they're, they're not nearly as
urbanized, if you will,
[14:16] as the one at the train station.
[14:17] Yeah, that— and I guess looking at your
maps again would be helpful,
[14:23] just revisiting that,
[14:25] looking at what is out there and How much
space is typically around these areas,
[14:32] you know, because we are getting a bit
more dense in the light industrial and the
[14:39] C-2 areas here in Croton. So, you know, I
don't know. But I'll do that.
[14:46] I'll go back and just kind of look at the
aerial shots of the examples you shared
[14:53] just to see how much surrounding space is
open, kind of open space around these.
[15:03] So—
[15:03] The one behind the church was going to be
a soccer field,
[15:05] and then for whatever reason they decided
not to do the soccer field,
[15:08] so they just plopped it right in the
middle and there's still a lot of empty
[15:11] middle and there's still a lot of empty
space.
[15:11] I know the guy down at St. Augustine, so
that's the easiest one to get to.
[15:14] So if you ever want to set something up,
you know,
[15:16] pick a time like a month in advance or
something, and I'm sure we can work it
[15:19] something, and I'm sure we can work it
out.
[15:20] Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate
it.
[15:23] Okay, thank you all very much. And I guess
I'll say good night then.
[15:27] Thank you.
[15:28] Okay. Bye-bye now.
[15:30] All right. And next is a presentation on
the use of principally
[15:36] license plate reading cameras by the
Croton-on-Hudson Police
[15:41] Department.
[15:46] All right, hello everyone. Nice to see you
all.
[15:51] Chief and Detective,
[15:52] would you mind introducing yourselves for
the folks watching online?
[15:54] I'm John Nicotopoulos, Croton-on-Hudson
Police Chief.
[15:58] Along with me is Detective Mark Fielding
of this department.
[16:02] We're going to give you a little
presentation on the license plate readers
[16:07] presentation on the license plate readers
that we
[16:08] currently have and maybe future sites if
you're interested,
[16:12] but the main thing is to talk about the
license plate readers that are currently
[16:18] license plate readers that are currently
up.
[16:18] I brought Detective Fielding with me
because he is part of the RTC,
[16:23] which we have been part of for the last 8
or 10 years.
[16:27] Real Time Crime Center.
[16:28] Excuse me.
[16:29] Yes.
[16:30] Yeah.
[16:30] Okay.
[16:31] Which is run by the county.
[16:33] Mark goes down there once a week,
generally on Monday,
[16:37] and he puts and time and assist down
there.
[16:40] He has access to the cameras down there
because he's part of the RTC.
[16:45] The cameras we currently have are
stationed at Croton Point Avenue and
[16:51] stationed at Croton Point Avenue and
Riverside
[16:51] Avenue, and Municipal and Riverside
Avenue.
[16:54] They're the 2 sites that are currently up.
[16:57] These cameras are used strictly for crime
analysis and solving crimes.
[17:02] The LPR license plate reader is basically
fixed to take a picture of the license
[17:08] plate. We really can't see who's operating
the car.
[17:12] The cameras are set up to take pictures of
the license plates,
[17:16] which helps us with investigation.
[17:19] So we did send you a study or, you know,
something that Mark put together together,
[17:25] which you have on the screen.
[17:27] And this has assisted us in numerous
cases, and some serious ones,
[17:32] throughout the crime, and, and some,
[17:34] even some little ones that turned into
bigger crimes, really.
[17:39] Uh, so I will let Mark, uh, go through the
study with you and explain to it,
[17:44] and then we have a couple of little
comments that we put together after the
[17:50] comments that we put together after the
fact.
[17:51] Okay.
[17:52] All right. Thank you.
[17:53] Good evening. Um, I understand there's
obviously some growing concerns about
[17:58] obviously some growing concerns about
privacy
[17:58] and data retention and things of that
nature.
[18:01] Um, so I just want to clarify that the
cameras that we use are not Flock cameras.
[18:06] Okay, it's not a private company that
manages data of where people are driving.
[18:11] This is all managed by the Westchester
County Police,
[18:15] and it's in the hands of law enforcement.
[18:17] Um, It's—
[18:21] the data is also stored there, so it's not
like some cloud.
[18:25] This is, this is all stored there.
[18:27] No third party has access to it, um, and
only local police officers can access it,
[18:32] only local, local law enforcement.
[18:34] And like the chief said, uh, it—
[18:36] the cameras take pictures of license
plates and vehicles.
[18:40] They're not taking pictures of your face
as you're driving.
[18:43] Um, it's just, it's, it's for vehicles.
[18:46] Not even every Croton officer accesses the
system.
[18:49] It's just, you know, investigative
purposes only.
[18:55] These—
[18:56] we've been using these cameras since
before Croton even had them installed in
[19:01] Croton. We've been using the countywide
system. They've helped us solve crimes.
[19:06] It's, it's, it's countless.
[19:08] I, I will say that every investigation I
conduct in some way, shape,
[19:12] or form We're at least checking LPRs,
[19:15] whether they're in Croton or on the way
south to New York City.
[19:19] They're always looked at.
[19:21] They've helped us solve larcenies,
burglaries, hit-and-runs, sexual assaults,
[19:26] organized retail theft, scams, fraud,
stolen vehicles, narcotics, missing
[19:30] stolen vehicles, narcotics, missing
persons.
[19:31] We've had missing person cases where
they're not missing from Croton,
[19:35] they're missing from elsewhere.
[19:38] That's right.
[19:38] And they're detected in Croton.
[19:40] So just to give you an idea of like the
network and how it works,
[19:44] there's been times where suspect vehicles
from other agencies are detected in
[19:49] Croton. Croton has assisted and our
officers have stopped the vehicle.
[19:53] And whether it be identifying occupants or
it's a stolen car, it gets impounded.
[19:58] There's, there's, there's so many things.
[20:00] Obviously, I have sent A list of some case
studies which we could talk about
[20:05] momentarily. I also want to clarify that
license plate readers are not automatic
[20:10] probable cause for an arrest.
[20:12] I've seen cases where there's reports—
again, I'm not there,
[20:15] I don't know what's happening—
[20:17] where somebody was wrongfully accused
based on a license plate reader detection
[20:22] based on a license plate reader detection
from
[20:22] Flock camera. I don't know if I
necessarily think that is accurate.
[20:26] I mean, who knows what we're being told
because we're not there.
[20:30] I But you don't know who's driving that
vehicle.
[20:33] A license plate detection is an
investigative lead.
[20:36] It's no different than other types of
investigative tools that we have,
[20:41] like a criminal history search, a TLO
report.
[20:43] There's things that we can use to develop
information, and that's what this is.
[20:48] This is just— it leads us to the next step
in the investigation.
[20:52] And like I said, we've had countless cases
that these have been instrumental in
[20:57] solving for us. Um, do we— do you want to
go through each case study, or—
[21:01] Well, for the public, maybe a few, or, you
know, just so they— That's a good idea.
[21:09] So I'll go through, and the ones that I
think should be highlighted, you know,
[21:13] pointing out that the—
[21:14] that whole document is part of our agenda
for tonight for people that want to follow
[21:19] up.
[21:19] Um, in the fall of 2024, we had a missing
juvenile.
[21:23] Um, we used a nearby LPR camera to
identify,
[21:27] identify a vehicle that arrived to pick up
a food order that we, that we saw, um,
[21:33] the juvenile ordered.
[21:35] So we were able to identify the vehicle,
uh,
[21:38] based on LPRs at the time it arrived for
the food order pickup.
[21:43] Um, and we located the missing juvenile.
[21:47] So again, that's— Obviously every missing
juvenile incident is taken very serious.
[21:53] Um, oh, this was, uh, the Gouveia property
window damage.
[21:58] Um, you guys have all read through this, I
assume?
[22:02] Yeah.
[22:02] Okay. Um, for, for those that weren't
working here, uh, in the summer of 2022,
[22:08] the Gouveia windows just kept getting
broken.
[22:12] It was 3 or 4 incidents separately, um,
very extensive damage, you know,
[22:18] high dollar amount. We didn't have LPRs at
the time,
[22:22] and we used the countywide LPRs to
ultimately solve and arrest the
[22:28] ultimately solve and arrest the
perpetrators of
[22:29] that incident, those incidents.
Smash-and-grab burglary.
[22:33] LPRs were instrumental in this one.
[22:36] We were able to link it to a Similar
burglary in Secaucus.
[22:41] The vehicle that targeted our business,
[22:44] we were able to link it to a similar
burglary of the same type of business in
[22:50] Secaucus, New Jersey. That one's still
ongoing. We know who the suspects are.
[22:57] I don't know if it's going to move
forward. Nursing home burglary.
[23:02] This one is still ongoing as well,
[23:05] and I don't know if this one is going to
be closed with the rest.
[23:10] The subjects live in a different state.
[23:13] And we were able to use the license plate
readers, including Flock in this case,
[23:20] to show that the suspect vehicle not only
was in Croton at the time of the crime,
[23:26] but was in another state at the time of a—
[23:30] the time a stolen credit card was used in
that vicinity.
[23:34] So that also gives you the idea of, you
know, the network is what works.
[23:40] This one, February 2023, counterfeit
currency arrest.
[23:44] I believe this one, a known counterfeit
currency vehicle,
[23:49] someone who operates this vehicle has done
counterfeit currency incidents in the
[23:56] past, was detected by our license plate
reader.
[23:59] Which in turn led our officers to go
investigate and stop the vehicle just
[24:05] investigate and stop the vehicle just
after it
[24:06] had attempted to use counterfeit currency
in Croton.
[24:10] Turned into a pursuit, and I believe the
suspect was arrested.
[24:15] We've had a couple of these, so I'm just
not positive on that one.
[24:21] Do you get alerted when the—
[24:23] if you're looking for a suspect and he's
connected to
[24:28] a certain license plate?
[24:31] Yes.
[24:31] Do you get an alert?
[24:32] Yes. So not directly.
[24:33] These cases could be— they've committed
this offense in other jurisdictions,
[24:38] this offense in other jurisdictions,
right,
[24:38] which we would have no idea of knowing
unless you're talking to that person,
[24:43] that officer directly.
[24:44] So the alert list is through the county
system, the Real-Time Crime Center.
[24:49] So they have the alerts.
[24:51] So if somebody— like if we have an
unsolved counterfeit currency case,
[24:55] we would Send that to the Real Time Crime
Center, and which our suspect—
[24:59] we'd identify our suspect vehicle, and it
would get added to an alert list.
[25:04] And if that vehicle is detected anywhere
in the network, not FLOC,
[25:08] this is the local, you know, the
Westchester network,
[25:12] all agencies get an alert about it.
[25:14] It goes out over what's called the hotline
radio.
[25:17] Okay.
[25:19] So that's how we're involved.
[25:20] If another agency has a suspect vehicle
that's detected in Croton,
[25:23] That's how sometimes we stop the vehicle
here because we know it's here based on
[25:27] here because we know it's here based on
the
[25:27] alert.
[25:27] And a lot of these people are repeat
offenders.
[25:31] That's right. Yeah, exactly.
[25:32] Elsewhere.
[25:33] And then, you know, so we just continue to
build the case with other agencies.
[25:36] Summer of 2023, fatal motorcycle accident.
[25:39] Without really getting into details of the
accident, the—
[25:44] there was a second vehicle involved that
fled the scene.
[25:48] And using license plate reads,
[25:51] we were able to identify the suspect
vehicle that was missing a piece of its,
[25:57] you know, missing a piece of its mirror
that was found at the scene.
[26:02] So instrumental in solving this.
[26:05] Detective, I want to point out, just from
having read some of these,
[26:08] you're summarizing them, which is great,
[26:10] but there's a lot of detective work that
goes into this before you even get to the
[26:15] LPR.
[26:15] Yeah.
[26:15] Yeah, a lot. Like, just this took around 3
days of searching LPRs to find this car.
[26:22] Right.
[26:23] So there is a— and that's what I— to my
point before,
[26:25] that an LPR read is not just automatic
probable cause for an arrest.
[26:29] If your car is detected in the area during
that motorcycle accident,
[26:32] you're not going to be arrested for this
crime of leaving the scene.
[26:36] There's so much more investigative work
that goes on behind the scenes.
[26:39] This is just an investigative lead.
[26:42] And presumably in some cases, maybe a lot
of them,
[26:44] there's a lot of work that you have to do
before you even reach for the LPR.
[26:48] Yeah, I mean, that's not even including
like the investigation at the scene,
[26:53] scene processing, right?
[26:55] We're not— we're typically not opening
license plate readers before we actually
[27:00] license plate readers before we actually
know
[27:00] what we have after our investigation at
the scene.
[27:04] In certain instances, that does happen.
[27:06] If somebody fled, you know, you may want
to see where they're going because Again,
[27:12] to my point that it's not probable cause
for an arrest,
[27:16] we still have to identify who was driving.
[27:18] If a vehicle flees the scene and doesn't
get stopped before it reaches its
[27:23] destination, we may never find out who was
driving it because an argument could be
[27:29] made that, you know, this, this guy wasn't
driving that, it was somebody else,
[27:34] and we don't know because we didn't stop
them at the time it was driving.
[27:39] So typically it's best to get the alerts
out there sooner rather than later.
[27:44] So it can get stopped around the time that
the crime occurred,
[27:48] and we could identify who was involved.
Another smash-and-grab burglary.
[27:53] I believe this one was over $20,000 worth
of proceeds.
[27:57] Again, without the LPRs on this, I don't
know if this gets solved.
[28:01] This was our LPR at Croton Point Avenue
was the one that detected this vehicle.
[28:07] And again, instrumental in making an
arrest on this.
[28:10] Member of service stolen license plate.
[28:13] Someone that works here had their license
plate get stolen.
[28:17] Now typically, if you notice your license
plate is missing,
[28:21] You may not automatically assume that it's
stolen, right?
[28:25] It could have just fallen off somewhere,
[28:27] except when it's detected in an alert that
it was detected by an LPR read on a
[28:32] different car. Then you know that there's
some criminal activity afoot.
[28:37] So that happened to somebody close to home
because they're an employee here.
[28:42] So that car was detected.
[28:44] Unfortunately, that was the only time the
plate was ever used again,
[28:49] and no arrest was made. We were not able
to identify—
[28:52] Who was driving it.
[28:53] the perpetrators. Stolen envelope of cash,
[28:56] our license plate reader at Municipal
Place detected that one.
[29:01] Stolen vehicle, October of 2023. It was
detected traveling north on Route 9.
[29:08] And we responded out there and it drove
past us and we were able to stop it
[29:14] and close out that case for Peekskill
Police.
[29:18] Does the board want to continue going
through these?
[29:22] Or do you want to spend some time asking?
[29:25] Yeah, I mean, I think we can ask some
questions.
[29:29] Yeah. Sure.
[29:31] So I mean, the police work and the, you
know,
[29:35] the need for the license plate readers, I
mean,
[29:39] from a crime-solving perspective is very
essential.
[29:43] But, you know, with the concerns of the
public for privacy,
[29:48] I just want to sort of talk through that a
little bit.
[29:52] So just to reiterate,
[29:54] the system that we have our license plate
readers on is run by Westchester County,
[30:01] correct? That system is not run by a third
party, correct?
[30:05] And that system is not out there for
consumption in any way, correct?
[30:11] Correct.
[30:12] When we use Flock, right, because we don't
have Flock cameras here, but there—
[30:17] it's a network. Like, can you just explain
that?
[30:20] So, um, yeah, Flock cameras, I mean, I'm
sure you've seen the maps.
[30:23] There's a lot of them.
[30:25] Yeah.
[30:25] Um, so I personally don't have access to
Flock.
[30:28] Uh, what I, what I have to do if I need to
see if a vehicle was detected by a
[30:33] different license plate reader besides the
ones that are in West Chester,
[30:37] I have to send an official request I make
a request to other agencies,
[30:41] whether it be the State Police Crime
Analysis Center,
[30:44] and they provide me with the reads that I
was asking for.
[30:48] It's not just like I pop in and peek at
who was doing what.
[30:51] It's an official request. I need a case
number.
[30:54] It has to be an active criminal
investigation.
[30:57] And again, those are different than how
the Westchester ones work.
[31:01] Do you have any— part of the issue is that
there is a Flock
[31:05] camera map, right? And some of our cameras
are on that map.
[31:10] Correct.
[31:10] And do you have any idea why that would be
the case?
[31:13] So I don't expect somebody who's
organizing like an anti-license plate
[31:16] organizing like an anti-license plate
reader
[31:17] movement to know the difference between
Flock or ReCore or Westchester.
[31:20] You know, it's just different equipment,
different databases.
[31:23] So that particular map isn't coming from
Flock itself, it's coming from—
[31:27] That's coming from, I think, people that
are seeing them.
[31:29] Yeah. If you look at the map and you hover
over the ones that are in the Village,
[31:35] you'll see that they do label it as Ricoh.
[31:38] So, but it's, you know,
[31:40] they just list all cameras on that website
regardless of what model or what
[31:46] company they are.
[31:47] The general consensus is they're all
Flock.
[31:51] Yes, because people don't know the
difference.
[31:53] It's like using Xerox for photocopying.
[31:56] Correct.
[31:57] Correct.
[31:58] And I don't expect them to know the
difference by looking at it.
[32:01] You know, they— you could definitely see
that we have cameras when you drive past
[32:05] the sites.
[32:05] So when you look on that website, though,
it looks like— like, does—
[32:10] I assume the town of Cortland must have
cameras because they're—
[32:15] they use the county police.
[32:18] I mean, they're all over the county.
[32:19] If it's in Westchester—
[32:20] When you look on that website, whether or
not it's accurate, I mean, we can, like,
[32:25] debate, like, you know, people get
information on the internet.
[32:28] So, like, I don't know if it's accurate or
not.
[32:31] I just know when I pull up the website
what I see.
[32:34] And when I run my license plate number
through the have you been flocked, you
[32:38] through the have you been flocked, you
know,
[32:38] there's a lot of information out there,
accurate or not.
[32:42] But it doesn't, that doesn't show any
cameras in Cortland.
[32:45] It only shows cameras in Croton.
[32:47] Then whoever organized the website may
have missed the ones in Cortland.
[32:51] I think that's why people are thinking
it's flocked.
[32:54] I don't, I think what all this says to me
is, and people have questions,
[32:59] people talk, I mean, we talk about this at
PAC every single meeting.
[33:03] That's why we're here.
[33:04] But I sort of, the way when I saw this,
the way it was set up on the agenda,
[33:09] I kind of thought we were gonna have like
more of an overall conversation about,
[33:14] and maybe I walked in a few minutes late,
so maybe we did, what all the cameras are,
[33:19] what the difference is, you know, like the
body cameras,
[33:23] Body cam is a whole different thing than
this, but it's all cameras.
[33:27] And I think there is an opportunity to
educate the public.
[33:31] I'll just speak for myself.
[33:32] I want you guys to be in a position to do
your job and to be safe and to be safe
[33:37] from being harmed and also to be safe from
being accused of something that a body
[33:42] cam would, would be able to protect you
from.
[33:45] But at the same time, Citizens are super
concerned.
[33:48] You're being monitored everywhere you go.
[33:51] And like, I mean, there is a, there's a
huge lawsuit going on.
[33:55] It's not like it's coming from nowhere. I
don't think, you know.
[33:58] Yeah.
[33:59] So I think that people's concerns are
real.
[34:01] So I do think that if we're gonna have
cameras, which we do,
[34:04] and it sounds like we're gonna have
others, there is,
[34:07] we do have some responsibility to explain
to people Maybe not show them exactly
[34:12] where they are, because again, we talk
about this in PAC, you know,
[34:15] what's the right way to have signage,
right?
[34:18] Should we point out exactly where they
are, or should we just say like,
[34:21] there are cameras? Like when you pull onto
a school ground, it says,
[34:25] this is monitored by cameras.
[34:27] It doesn't say— Smile, you're on camera.
[34:29] But I, you know, I do think there's an
opportunity and a responsibility for us to
[34:34] opportunity and a responsibility for us to
be
[34:34] educating people about what's going on.
[34:36] We—
[34:36] the relationship with the police
department is fabulous.
[34:39] But when you feel like you're being
monitored and what's happening with that
[34:44] footage— also, our contract is not with
the county and it's not with you,
[34:48] it's with ReCore. And we don't— do we know
what they're doing?
[34:51] Like, is that a— can you speak to that? So
what are they doing?
[34:54] I can speak to that.
[34:56] Um, the county is actually moving away
from ReCore and keeping everything
[35:00] from ReCore and keeping everything
entirely
[35:00] on premise at Westchester County PD.
[35:02] So they're gonna— but it's also like the
infrastructure,
[35:05] like the county PD has the Technological
infrastructure to be able to run the
[35:09] county, like do all whatever the back end
of it that RECORR would do?
[35:12] It's already almost complete, the
transition.
[35:15] And actually, another— this, I was going
to mention this later—
[35:18] another positive thing about this is that
we're going to save a lot of money on
[35:21] maintenance fees. We pay annual fees for
the RECORR service,
[35:24] which the county is not going to continue
charging once it's been migrated to their
[35:28] system.
[35:29] Okay. So does that mean that we need a new
contract with I mean,
[35:33] if the county presents us with one, I'm
based on, based on the information, right,
[35:39] that we have, we don't have a— we don't,
[35:42] we don't have an existing intermunicipal
agreement with them.
[35:47] I would like to suggest that we talk about
that, discuss that.
[35:51] I know we don't have an agreement with
them now on this,
[35:55] which is why there are a lot of unknown
questions. questions, right?
[36:00] Like, we don't, we don't know how they're
using the data other than what you're
[36:05] telling us.
[36:06] How—
[36:07] who's using the data?
[36:08] The county.
[36:08] Okay.
[36:09] That's what the county is.
[36:10] It's odd to me that we wouldn't have a
municipal agreement with the county over
[36:15] municipal agreement with the county over
the—
[36:16] I mean, the only reason we get some access
to the cameras is because Mark happens to
[36:20] work there once a week. There are a lot of
agencies that don't have people there.
[36:24] A lot of them But, you know, like Mark
said, if you have to,
[36:28] you would have to request information from
the county then to get it correct.
[36:32] You know, I mean, we just happen to have
some of our staff work there.
[36:35] So we're— we can get it a little easier.
[36:37] But so we're on county computers when we
are in the county offices looking at the
[36:43] footage.
[36:44] When I go there?
[36:45] Yes.
[36:46] Yeah.
[36:46] So when you—
[36:47] what do you see?
[36:48] Like, do you see a car? Do you see Do you
see just a license plate?
[36:51] Like, what do you see?
[36:53] You see a picture of the car and a
zoomed-out picture of the
[36:58] license plate. And yeah, it's a very clear
photo.
[37:02] And so you cannot view this footage from
Croton?
[37:08] I can. Yes, I can review it at my desk.
[37:10] You can review it once you have it.
[37:12] You could put more part of it there.
[37:13] So you download it.
[37:15] It's essentially a login.
[37:17] Oh, okay.
[37:18] Yeah.
[37:18] Okay.
[37:19] So it's like in the cloud somewhere?
[37:20] No, it's at Westchester County PD physical
storage.
[37:23] So do you have to VPN into the—
[37:25] No.
[37:26] No.
[37:26] So then I don't understand how you get
access to it from here.
[37:31] So they keep the data physically at County
PD, and I can log in to that.
[37:38] So that's basically a VPN, right?
[37:40] I mean, that's— I don't know if I'd—
[37:42] I don't know.
[37:42] Yeah, I mean, that's the only way you can
get down there, I would imagine.
[37:45] Sounds like it.
[37:46] Yeah, because you're remotely logging into
their system.
[37:49] It's— I mean, yeah, I guess so. I don't
know if that's the same as when you're
[37:54] know if that's the same as when you're
out.
[37:54] But I also think some of these questions
are not—
[37:56] I appreciate all the questions that you
can answer.
[37:58] Like, I have questions that there's no
possible way you could answer about data
[38:02] storage and things like that. Like, this
conversation is much—
[38:05] So even, even Like before the transition
from RECOR to county doing it themselves,
[38:09] um, RECOR didn't even store the data for
the county.
[38:12] The county has always stored the data.
[38:15] Um, but RECOR owns it because RECOR is the
company that—
[38:19] We were just using— and again, this is
more a question for county, but, um,
[38:24] just to be able to, to search, we'd use
their system.
[38:27] But it was all Westchester County data,
was Westchester County data.
[38:31] I think it's not like Flock collecting
data and storing it in their server or
[38:35] data and storing it in their server or
their
[38:35] cloud. It was always controlled by
Westchester.
[38:38] Yeah, I guess I just have data security
issues that I don't even— I mean,
[38:42] I'm not a data security expert, but I have
a lot of data security concerns,
[38:46] not just about this, about, you know,
medical records,
[38:49] whatever kind of records you have that are
out there. Right. I'm sure we all do.
[38:53] So I feel like that's the component of
this conversation that's missing.
[38:57] I am grateful that you guys are able to
Tell us all these successes you've had
[39:01] Tell us all these successes you've had
that
[39:02] you wouldn't have had without the cameras.
[39:04] But that, I feel like there's a piece of,
a big chunk of this pie,
[39:07] of this conversation that we can't just
have.
[39:10] It's helpful to hear how beneficial it is
to you and technically how you use it and
[39:14] why it's important, but—
[39:16] It needs to be with the county.
[39:17] And the county is not able to talk about
it at the moment.
[39:20] Well, but there's gotta be somebody, I
don't, I mean, I guess—
[39:24] I know I'm not a computer scientist,
[39:25] but I do know that this is not part of any
national network, right?
[39:29] Somebody from a federal agency would still
need to contact the county police to get
[39:33] data. It's controlled by law enforcement.
It's not controlled by Flock.
[39:36] Okay, I know that's a big concern is,
okay, if it's controlled by Flock,
[39:40] who can ask Flock for the information,
right? That's not happening here.
[39:43] This is the county that you have to go
through and you need an active
[39:47] through and you need an active
investigation
[39:47] to get data from them.
[39:49] And they need a case number.
[39:50] You need a case number, yes.
[39:51] So, Detective, you were talking about
making a request of some of the
[39:54] making a request of some of the
third-party
[39:55] networks.
[39:55] Correct, like a Find Your Truck.
[39:56] And then you were saying, it's not like
that for us.
[40:00] Can you elaborate on— and when you say us,
you mean dealing with,
[40:04] obviously, the Canadians?
[40:05] Local, local, local, yes.
[40:06] So can you elaborate on what it is like?
Do you need a written request, et cetera?
[40:10] So, because I work at the RTC, I do— I can
log in myself and—
[40:13] conduct my investigation.
[40:14] Other agencies that need data from the RTC
would have to submit a request to them.
[40:19] And again, I can't speak for them.
[40:20] I don't work— I'm not a county police
officer who's assigned.
[40:23] I just am a Croton cop who's assigned
there.
[40:26] But I know that, like I gave you the
example before, when I need FLOC,
[40:29] I have to submit an official written
request.
[40:32] It's similar to, you know, again, I know
there's data and privacy concerns.
[40:36] You go into a local business, like You
know, ShopRite, for example, your face,
[40:40] they have a facial recognition camera that
it's like I'm sitting here right next to
[40:44] you. That's how clear the photo is.
[40:46] If I need that as a law enforcement
officer,
[40:48] I have to send an official written request
and then I can obtain that, right?
[40:52] So that's the same thing with license
plate readers, except it's not your face,
[40:56] it's just your license plate.
[40:58] Well, and identifying, like, you know,
[41:00] I think you can see identifying pieces of
the car.
[41:02] Sometimes you can see, sometimes in the
license plate reader, because whenever,
[41:06] like, If you get a picture of a ticket,
you know, in the city, if you get a—
[41:09] you can see that it's not just the license
plate.
[41:12] You can see the license plate in the
picture, but it's like your car.
[41:15] They can— you can't necessarily make out a
face, but—
[41:18] Well, yeah, so I'm talking like
specifically about, you know,
[41:20] like probable cause for an arrest.
[41:22] There's no way you could use a photo that
was taken by the license plate reader to
[41:26] say, oh yeah, that's John Nikitopoulos and
he, you know.
[41:29] And I don't know if you might have walked
in after I said this,
[41:32] being detained Being detected by a license
plate reader is not probable cause for an
[41:36] arrest. I've seen reports that somebody
got arrested because the Flock camera
[41:39] detected them. That's not how it works. I
don't know what those reports are.
[41:43] You still need other investigative steps
because your car being there does not mean
[41:47] you committed the crime, if that makes
sense.
[41:49] I just want to—
[41:50] We believe that the county tells us the
truth, obviously.
[41:53] We don't think they're hiding anything
from us.
[41:56] They're telling us it's kept in-house. We
believe that.
[41:59] Mark is part of the team down there and he
has access to it.
[42:02] You know, we don't use them for anything
else other than investigative leads.
[42:06] You know, Mark's just not going on there
saying, oh,
[42:09] let me see who's driving through Croton.
You know, we don't do that stuff.
[42:13] Yeah, I don't mean like,
[42:15] I'm not worried about you guys using it
for those kind of reasons.
[42:18] I'm not, you know, you misusing it is not
my concern.
[42:22] Well, I don't believe that the county's
misusing it either. You know, as I said.
[42:26] No, but it's where it is after that and it
sounds like we're not Totally sure.
[42:31] I don't feel totally confident from what
they tell us that everything is kept
[42:35] in-house down there.
[42:36] It's kept in-house.
[42:36] You know, that's—
[42:37] so why can't we have a municipal agreement
with the county with them putting that in
[42:44] writing to the village?
[42:46] Because right now we have, we have an
agreement with RECOR,
[42:51] and one of the issues is it's on— it's a
public contract.
[42:56] And so in the contract,
[42:58] and this is what's kind of making the
public nervous is that there's—
[43:03] under data rights, the contract says user
retains all rights and ownership.
[43:10] The provider may use the operational data
for—
[43:14] and it says use with other governmental or
quasi-governmental agencies.
[43:19] That is in our RECOR contract. That's
what's making the public nervous as well.
[43:26] It's— from what you're saying, this—
that's not hap— like, it's not happening.
[43:33] Well, a governmental agency can, with a
case number,
[43:36] can contact the county police and get an
investigative lead or data that they're
[43:41] seeking. It's a governmental agency.
[43:43] It's not like, you know,
[43:44] some random person Who's curious about
what's going on can contact them and
[43:49] what's going on can contact them and
obtain
[43:49] that. Which, again, I don't know if that's
the case for FLOC,
[43:53] because FLOC is third party, right?
That's, that's the concern.
[43:57] In this case, the governmental agency
would have to contact the county for the
[44:02] would have to contact the county for the
data.
[44:02] Correct.
[44:03] Yes.
[44:03] But in our contract, the county is not the
provider. RECOR is the provider.
[44:09] I thought you said the user. The user.
[44:12] We're the user.
[44:13] Okay.
[44:14] Yeah. And in our contract—
[44:16] It says both.
[44:16] Okay.
[44:17] Right?
[44:17] So, I mean, you know, I have it up.
[44:20] I don't want to misquote it,
[44:23] but it talks about the provider may use
the operational data for—
[44:29] and if RECOR is the provider and we're the
user, in this case,
[44:34] that's wrong. It's creating
misinformation, if you will,
[44:39] because The county is the provider of the
data.
[44:43] Unless we'd have to look at this in a
little more detail.
[44:48] Yeah, I mean, I'm not— I thought the— what
we signed back in '22, thank you,
[44:53] had to do more with the maintenance of the
equipment.
[44:59] Correct.
[44:59] Right.
[44:59] So because it's okay, take a look at the
contract. It's in Exhibit C.
[45:04] And this is what was posted Online.
[45:07] Yep.
[45:07] Was also making the public—
[45:10] yeah. And in terms of an IMA with the
county, I'm certainly not opposed to that.
[45:15] But that would need to be at the— the
county would need to request that.
[45:19] Yeah, would need to do that. You know,
they, they generate the IMAs.
[45:25] So, so we have no— there's no
intermunicipal agreement in
[45:30] terms of You know, Detective Fielding
being in that building
[45:35] or—
[45:35] Not that I'm aware of.
[45:38] Equipment or anything like that, right?
[45:40] No, it's more of a—
[45:42] Agency agreement.
[45:44] Yeah, it's more like the mutual aid
situation, right?
[45:47] Where we have, you know,
[45:49] Detective Fielding works 5 days a week and
one of his 5 days he's assigned to work
[45:54] at the RTC. So it's just, that's where he
reports.
[45:58] So when you're reporting to that facility,
[46:00] are you looking at active cases?
[46:02] Like, what are you sort of spending your
time doing?
[46:06] Well, it depends on what's going on in
that particular day,
[46:10] but I'm free to work on my own cases.
[46:12] If it's a slow day there, I can work on my
own cases that, you know, from Croton,
[46:18] because I'm employed by Croton.
[46:20] Like, my primary responsibility is
obviously to solve crimes that occurred in
[46:26] Croton. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's
kind of getting away from the—
[46:31] Right.
[46:32] So you're not really looking at the
license plate readers?
[46:35] I do when I'm there. Yeah.
[46:38] Yeah.
[46:38] They have, they have full-time, they have
full-time, you know,
[46:41] officers that are monitoring the license
plate readers for alerts and things like
[46:45] that. That's not my primary responsibility
there.
[46:48] So I do look at the license plate readers
there if I'm investigating something or if
[46:52] they need assistance with something. It's
kind of like as needed, you know.
[46:56] You know, and we know the information is
going there because counties are the ones
[46:59] that come and hook up the cameras for us.
[47:01] Yeah, they do the installation.
[47:02] They're the ones that install, which saves
us, which saves us a lot of money.
[47:05] You know, we just get the equipment and
they come and hook it up.
[47:08] Right.
[47:09] Attorney, can I ask you, Lori, don't mean
to put you on the spot, Lori Lee.
[47:15] But how do these intermunicipal agreements
work?
[47:19] Does it have to start from the county, or
could we draft something up?
[47:25] And— No, it would, it would be a county
IMA.
[47:29] They generate it using their forms of
contract, and they send it to us.
[47:35] So it's generated as it starts the county.
[47:39] So is this Do all municipalities who are
using this have this?
[47:43] Is this—
[47:43] I mean, is this the contract they have?
[47:45] All of those municipalities are contracted
with ReCore, or some—
[47:49] nobody's contracted with the county?
[47:51] I can't speak for other agencies, but I
know that the system was ReCore.
[47:55] Like, ReCore has our maintenance fees.
That's just the equipment they used.
[47:59] So now there's going to be—
[48:01] I don't know if they're going to send
something new out for us now that they're
[48:05] switching away from ReCore. Again, because
I, I can't speak for what they're doing.
[48:10] But if an agency is participating in
having license plate readers installed, I
[48:14] having license plate readers installed, I
mean,
[48:14] I think they're free to use whoever they
choose.
[48:17] But if they want to be on this county
network,
[48:20] they'd have to go through ReCore for now.
[48:22] If the county is going to take on
maintenance of the system going forward,
[48:26] and they're going to expect us— if they're
going to charge us,
[48:29] or even if they're not going to charge us,
[48:31] I would imagine that there would be some
sort of I agree.
[48:34] And then you terminate ReCore, maybe.
[48:37] I would assume so. If the county is taking
over the
[48:41] maintenance, there would be no need for us
to have ReCore
[48:45] anymore.
[48:45] They're not totally transitioned yet.
[48:48] It's close, but not quite there.
[48:50] We'd retain the ReCore hardware, and then
the county would—
[48:54] So the hardware that we have is—
[48:56] there's multiple manufacturers of the
hardware that's used to install this.
[49:01] The cameras themselves, I think, are
manufactured by Mobotix.
[49:05] So once— and again, I didn't organize this
whole thing—
[49:09] once they migrate to the county system,
[49:12] I don't think we're going to be dealing
with ReCore at all anymore.
[49:17] So getting ReCore out of the storage
system doesn't affect the hardware or
[49:21] system doesn't affect the hardware or
anything
[49:21] like that?
[49:22] No, it shouldn't.
[49:24] I think, and this is a suggestion of
Stacey, Trustee Nachtaler, I mean,
[49:28] I think that there's an opportunity for us
to have a Q&A sort of developed with the
[49:33] information that you've shared with us
this evening,
[49:36] information that we have from the county,
[49:39] and then sort of what's unanswered from
the county, and be clear,
[49:43] because there are some questions that the
county is no longer able to answer due to
[49:48] the lawsuit. So I think we just need to be
clear to the community that, you know,
[49:53] what you're seeing on the internet is not
true in terms of, you know,
[49:57] these are not flock cams.
[49:59] Maybe explaining— I mean,
[50:01] I learned a lot in terms of what a flock
cam even was this evening.
[50:05] Really understanding sort of the
difference between a third-party system,
[50:09] what we're currently using in the county,
[50:12] the county's aspirations to move it
entirely in-house,
[50:15] kind of all those things in a, you know,
in a way that the public can understand
[50:20] in a way that the public can understand
it.
[50:20] And hopefully, you know, ease some fear.
[50:23] I mean, we're just not living in the same
world that we were living in in 2022,
[50:28] unfortunately. So there's a great,
[50:30] great amount of distrust of the government
right now.
[50:33] Well, clear, you know, and I also think
that, I mean, you know, when we,
[50:38] we got that communication from our county
legislator regarding the Q&A that the
[50:43] county is in the process of Putting
together or wants to put together once
[50:47] together or wants to put together once
the—
[50:47] I don't remember exactly what this— where
we were with that.
[50:51] But there is an advocacy piece that we
should be doing, asking the county to—
[50:56] she is advocating for—
[50:57] to her colleagues and the county staff to
put together this Q&A.
[51:01] But her ask to us was we should be doing
the same thing.
[51:05] There are only so many questions Detective
Fielding can answer,
[51:09] and I really do appreciate it.
[51:10] Good.
[51:11] I'm sorry for putting you on the spot.
[51:12] No, no.
[51:12] I know you're not a data expert, but I
think this conversation, the questions,
[51:18] some of the questions we have, you can't
possibly answer.
[51:21] But that is definitely not making them go
away for me.
[51:25] I feel a little, I feel like I have more
information than I did.
[51:29] And it is great to see how successful some
of the, this has been for us,
[51:34] but I don't feel any better about the
cameras than I did before we put this on
[51:39] cameras than I did before we put this on
as a
[51:40] topic. So I guess my question, you know, I
want to keep the conversation going.
[51:45] You know, and I guess drafting a Q&A is a
good first start,
[51:49] but also the advocacy piece,
[51:51] because we need to understand we're just
guessing if we're not getting the
[51:56] information from the county.
[51:57] Yeah, well, and, and to what Trustee
Nicholson said, right, I mean, I'm—
[52:02] if I'm putting up Putting together a Q&A,
I'm not going to guess, right?
[52:06] I mean, if there are things that we don't
know the answer to,
[52:09] we just have to say we are not able to get
the answers to these questions at this
[52:14] time. And I mean, the county is not going
to comment on pending litigation, right?
[52:19] I mean, there's not—
[52:20] But I think sometimes an answer is we
don't know.
[52:22] We don't know an answer is an answer.
[52:24] That's what I just said.
[52:25] Right. But I think that I would not leave
that question off just because because we
[52:29] don't have an answer.
[52:29] I think the more transparent we can be—
yeah, I'm agreeing with you.
[52:32] Okay.
[52:33] Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
[52:34] You know, it's just that there are going
to be some things that we don't know the
[52:38] answer to. So we have to say it, say that.
Yeah.
[52:40] Yeah. Can I ask a question just for
clarification of the detective?
[52:47] Is the license plate reader cameras the
same as the red light
[52:53] cameras?
[52:54] No, the license plate cameras They don't
issue tickets, which is the primary,
[53:00] I think, responsibility of the red light
cameras, right?
[53:04] They'll send you a fee in the mail for not
stopping for a red light.
[53:09] The license plate cameras are not that.
[53:12] They take photos of the vehicle as it
passes and stores that for investigative
[53:18] leads.
[53:18] Okay, so you don't see the drivers?
[53:22] Like I think one of the trustees
mentioned,
[53:25] You might see a human being driving the
vehicle.
[53:28] You might be able to tell it's a female,
not a man.
[53:31] Correct.
[53:32] You know, something like that.
[53:33] A red shirt versus a blue shirt, things
like that.
[53:35] But there's nothing that's gonna
automatically give somebody probable cause
[53:39] automatically give somebody probable cause
for an
[53:40] arrest because of a picture that was taken
of the car.
[53:43] It's just, you're— there's so many— so
much glass involved.
[53:46] Think about it, the windshield, the side
windows, window tints,
[53:49] it's almost impossible to see in the
Vehicle, you know, and then like,
[53:53] I just hone in on the plate. Correct.
[53:55] Right. I think that that's an important
point for the public, is that we can—
[54:03] those of us who know the vernacular, we
can say it's not probable cause.
[54:08] But perhaps that would be part of the Q&A
or the FAQ to explain exactly what that
[54:15] means. Probable cause means you can make
an arrest based upon this one Photograph.
[54:22] Yeah, there's other investigative steps
that need to take place once you identify
[54:26] that need to take place once you identify
a
[54:27] suspect vehicle.
[54:27] Thank you.
[54:29] Yeah.
[54:30] Welcome.
[54:30] So it was earlier mentioned that not all
the officers in the department have
[54:36] access to, you know, the, the LPR data
from the Real Time Crime Center.
[54:41] I assume— well, Detective Fielding
obviously does. Chief, I assume you do.
[54:47] What other What would— what other
situation would, you know, create—
[54:52] why would an officer have access?
[54:54] We generally try and keep it in-house to
supervisors and stuff like that.
[55:00] There are a couple of officers that like
to follow up on some of their own
[55:05] cases, so we may give them temporary
access to use it to follow up on their own
[55:11] cases.
[55:11] Okay. So as a general matter, it's the
detectives, sergeants,
[55:15] and on a temporary basis, officers?
[55:17] Generally supervisors and above. Okay.
[55:21] But all sworn law enforcement?
[55:24] Yeah.
[55:24] Which is also important.
[55:25] Yeah.
[55:25] Anyone using the system has to go to
Westchester County?
[55:31] No, no, no.
[55:33] You can log in?
[55:34] Correct.
[55:41] You know, we didn't touch base on the ones
in the cars.
[55:44] We do have ones in some of the patrol cars
that, you know, I mean,
[55:47] the officers are driving around and it
reads the license plates as they go by.
[55:51] And it may pop up on the screen that this
car has a suspended license,
[55:55] that's probable cause to pull them over,
you know, and stuff like that.
[55:59] So, you know, we do have several of those
also.
[56:02] Correct.
[56:03] We keep that data In-house?
[56:06] It's on the same, same system.
[56:07] Same system.
[56:08] Same system.
[56:09] Yeah.
[56:09] What about our parking enforcement?
[56:10] That's, that's non-law enforcement.
[56:13] So that's just used for enforcement and
for permits.
[56:17] So they don't have access to that.
[56:20] Correct.
[56:21] And we're not really storing that either.
[56:23] Not that I'm aware of. Yeah.
[56:26] So that's just, it's just, you know,
[56:29] maintained by our parking permit vendor.
[56:33] You know, the big thing with our cameras
is we're not using them to focus on any
[56:38] particular person, group, or anything
else.
[56:41] They're just used for investigative
purposes if we need them.
[56:44] Okay, other than that, they just sit there
and take pictures of plates.
[56:48] And I think a big concern with the Flock,
[56:51] this Flock movement that seems to be
growing, is, uh, you know, who,
[56:55] who has access to it, who can access it,
who is Flock giving it to, right?
[56:59] In our situation, We know who has access
to it—
[57:02] cops that work in Westchester and Putnam,
right?
[57:05] Or who are assigned to the Real Time Crime
Center.
[57:07] So it's not just some random third-party
company that happened to grow nationwide
[57:12] and is giving the data out.
[57:14] But in your experience with FLOC, you are
required to share a case number.
[57:20] Correct. And I don't even deal with FLOC
directly.
[57:23] I deal with a crime analysis center that
then takes a day or two to get me the
[57:28] results that I'm looking for.
[57:30] So it's not like I can just log in and
peek at what's going on with Flock.
[57:34] There's a process, which I imagine is the
same process for an outside agency looking
[57:39] to get data from the county police. Hey,
I'm investigating this.
[57:43] This is my case number. I'm looking for
this crime window in this location, right?
[57:48] And the county police, again, I don't work
for them, They, I'm sure,
[57:52] have their policy on how to answer those
things,
[57:55] but I know that a lawful request for
information, I'm sure they would provide.
[58:00] So who would work on this FAQ?
[58:04] Is it like, would it start with you,
[58:09] manager, and then you would get the input
[58:15] from— Detective.
[58:17] Yeah, I mean, I'll have to— I will talk to
the chief about it and see.
[58:21] Yeah.
[58:21] So, but we'll combine our forces and put
it together.
[58:27] Yeah. Thank you.
[58:27] And then from a timeline perspective on
kind of a
[58:31] separate issue, where are we at with the
body cams?
[58:35] The body cams, the manager and I have a
meeting tomorrow.
[58:40] We're going to try and finalize the
policies we have.
[58:45] Once we finalize them,
[58:46] we have to send them back to Lexipol
because they're the only ones that can
[58:53] because they're the only ones that can
edit
[58:53] what we changed. Okay, once we get that
back,
[58:57] we're going to put it in part of our
policies.
[59:01] We're going to send it out to the rank and
file so that they have a copy of it.
[59:07] I have a meeting scheduled for September
9th, I believe, to sit down.
[59:13] It's going to be a staff meeting with the
supervisors.
[59:17] We're going to start to explain what the
policy and program is about.
[59:23] We have the cameras right now.
[59:25] Okay.
[59:26] They're in. We don't have them in the cars
yet.
[59:29] That's going to be coming soon too,
[59:31] because you'll have both body cams and
you'll have cameras in the cars.
[59:36] We're hoping to have this rolled out.
[59:38] We're hoping to have it rolled out by the
end of September,
[59:42] where people start using them. That's our,
that's our goal.
[59:45] We're hoping to achieve that.
[59:47] So just from a communications perspective
to the public, I think—
[59:52] Yeah, we need to, we need to have a
comprehensive message.
[59:56] Another FAQ and maybe video. Yeah.
[1:00:00] Yep.
[1:00:02] And then what, you know, I would like to
see the policy, you know,
[1:00:07] just to understand what it is.
[1:00:09] Yeah, we've been working—
[1:00:10] Kind of an overview of what it is.
[1:00:11] We've been working with Labor Council for
a while now.
[1:00:14] I mean, there were, there were, there were
some breaks in between,
[1:00:18] but we've probably been working on it for
4 or 5 months, going back and forth about,
[1:00:22] you know, what to include, what not to
include, what, you know,
[1:00:26] what needs to be revised.
[1:00:27] And that's— hopefully we're having our
final meeting tomorrow where we can all
[1:00:31] final meeting tomorrow where we can all
come
[1:00:32] to An agreement.
[1:00:33] And that data is being housed by our—
[1:00:37] Housed in-house, right?
[1:00:40] Housed in-house.
[1:00:41] Yeah.
[1:00:41] The body cam data?
[1:00:42] Yeah.
[1:00:42] Aren't we paying $50,000 a year for cloud
storage?
[1:00:45] Yes, but it goes to a cloud storage for—
to keep the, you know, so cool.
[1:00:50] So we have it for an indefinite period of
time.
[1:00:54] But, you know, it's housed so we can just
access it. So that's our goal.
[1:00:59] Hopefully by, you know, October 1st, you
know, we can have everything operational.
[1:01:04] We may have it sooner, it may be a couple
weeks later, but we're going to have them.
[1:01:10] Like I said, the, the equipment is in now.
[1:01:13] We have to start setting it up, we have to
start assigning,
[1:01:17] but we want to get the policy done because
we don't know, you know,
[1:01:22] it is a It is a subject that we have to
negotiate with the union on.
[1:01:26] So we have to make sure that they don't
have any issues with the policy too.
[1:01:32] So the policy might change a little after
we finalize it.
[1:01:36] But I mean, we've already— we've had
initial conversations with the, with the
[1:01:40] initial conversations with the, with the
union,
[1:01:40] with the union.
[1:01:41] So, so yeah, we don't see anything coming
out of that.
[1:01:46] I know cloud storage makes the public
anxious because of how it could be
[1:01:51] hacked, or, you know, so if, as you're
reviewing the policy,
[1:01:56] if you could just shed a little light
about this cloud storage,
[1:02:02] the protections that are on it.
[1:02:04] Sure.
[1:02:05] Thank you.
[1:02:06] Yep.
[1:02:07] It would be great in the FAQ is if we saw
a mocked-up picture or an actual picture
[1:02:12] with obviously no— but just kind of what
you see, just to give people an idea.
[1:02:16] of like, this is a car with a license
plate kind of thing blown up,
[1:02:20] just so people can understand a little bit
about, you know, what it is,
[1:02:25] how much detail you're seeing?
[1:02:27] I could certainly check with the county
police
[1:02:30] about what we'd be able to release and get
back to
[1:02:35] you.
[1:02:35] Yeah, I mean, if need be,
[1:02:36] we could have just one of the police
vehicles go through and pull the plate.
[1:02:39] I think we might have their own people to
do something.
[1:02:41] Yeah.
[1:02:41] Okay.
[1:02:43] You know, because it'll be our cars and
stuff like that.
[1:02:46] So, so that's where we are with, with all
that.
[1:02:49] So I'm hoping to get it implemented very
soon.
[1:02:52] Yeah, thank you so much.
[1:02:54] It's a lot of work pulling that together,
[1:02:57] but the public is super grateful, I, I'm
sure,
[1:03:00] for seeing how it's used.
[1:03:02] Of course.
[1:03:03] Thank you.
[1:03:03] Well, I mean, if any questions develop out
of tonight,
[1:03:06] you can let us know and we'll answer them
for you. Thank you.
[1:03:09] Thank you.
[1:03:10] You're welcome.
[1:03:10] Thank you, Detective.
[1:03:11] You're welcome.
[1:03:12] Good evening.
[1:03:12] Have a good night.
[1:03:13] Thank you.
[1:03:13] Can we take like a 3-minute break?
[1:03:17] Yeah, we can take 3 minutes break.
[1:03:18] Let personnel switch around here.
[1:03:59] Statement from the county.
[1:04:01] What she did was give like a personal
assurance that the county would never use
[1:04:05] assurance that the county would never use
this
[1:04:05] for or would never hand it over. But
that's not— that was like her personal
[1:04:09] that's not— that was like her personal
opinion.
[1:04:10] And that's the way any legislator, any,
anyone would have answered it.
[1:04:13] I understand why she did. But I think the
ask needs to be directly to the county.
[1:04:18] We need to see, as you said, what their
policy looks like.
[1:04:21] And we need to understand because I don't—
[1:04:23] the county doesn't own it.
[1:04:24] RECOR owns it.
[1:04:25] Right.
[1:04:25] And we have no idea what RECORP,
absolutely no idea what RECORP is doing.
[1:04:28] So—
[1:04:29] Not—
[1:04:30] She's on vacation?
[1:04:31] No.
[1:04:32] I know that this is on.
[1:04:33] All right, well—
[1:04:35] Should we break it?
[1:04:37] Yeah, just don't—
[1:04:40] this is—
[1:04:40] we're not meeting— this is not—
[1:04:42] let's stop.
[1:04:42] I don't feel like my questions were
necessarily answered
[1:04:48] by the people we— Had,
[1:04:50] not because they couldn't answer it.
[1:04:53] Yes.
[1:04:54] Because they couldn't answer it, not
because they weren't answering it.
[1:04:57] It's the beginning of a process, as with
all things.
[1:05:48] You can make that smaller.
[1:05:49] The kids off to
[1:05:53] school now?
[1:05:55] Isabel left.
[1:05:58] Isabel went Sunday. Frankie's going a week
from Friday.
[1:06:03] So it's like madness.
[1:06:05] Madness.
[1:06:07] You have a dog, right?
[1:06:09] Uh, yeah, so we're gonna return— we're
gonna begin a regular session.
[1:06:13] Um, so we've concluded our work session,
[1:06:16] so please join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
[1:06:19] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of
[1:06:24] America and to the republic for which it
stands,
[1:06:28] one nation under God, indivisible,
[1:06:32] with liberty and justice for all.
[1:06:35] All right, our first item of
[1:06:40] business is the approval of
[1:06:45] vouchers.
[1:06:46] Yes, Wednesday, August 5th meeting.
[1:06:52] General fund is $545,512.10.
[1:06:56] Water fund, $54,368.97.
[1:07:02] The sewer fund is $2,204.31.
[1:07:06] Capital fund, $152,208.52. And trust fund,
$8,490.02.
[1:07:13] Uh, do I have a motion to approve?
[1:07:17] So moved.
[1:07:18] Second.
[1:07:19] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. All in favor?
[1:07:22] Aye.
[1:07:23] All right.
[1:07:26] We have the next warrant.
[1:07:27] Oh, okay. Excuse me.
[1:07:29] Next warrant, August 19th.
[1:07:31] General fund, $182,077.50.
[1:07:34] Water fund, $12,054.52.
[1:07:37] Sewer fund, $3,807.15.
[1:07:43] And the capital fund, $810,638.15.
[1:07:44] Do I have a motion to approve?
[1:07:49] So moved.
[1:07:50] Second.
[1:07:51] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. All in favor?
[1:07:56] Aye.
[1:07:57] All right, we proceed to responses to
questions submitted via email. Manager?
[1:08:01] No questions, Mayor.
[1:08:02] All right, very good. We proceed to public
comment on agenda items.
[1:08:05] Anyone with any, uh, who would like to
speak to any item on the agenda,
[1:08:09] this is your opportunity. Uh, please state
your name and address.
[1:08:12] All speakers have 5 minutes.
[1:08:14] Good evening, uh, Manager, Mayor, and
members of the board. I'm Tom Kaplan.
[1:08:18] I'm a captain in the fire department.
[1:08:20] And I have the privilege of chairing our
Fire Prevention Committee.
[1:08:24] I'm here tonight to provide a brief update
on our upcoming fire prevention and
[1:08:29] education programs heading into our
busiest season.
[1:08:32] The National Fire Protection Association's
annual Fire Prevention Week kicks off on
[1:08:36] Sunday, October 4th, 2026.
[1:08:38] To mark the occasion, the fire department
will host our annual Fire Fair,
[1:08:42] a staple event we've proudly held right
here in the village for over 30 years.
[1:08:47] We invite you all and all members of the
public to join us on October 4th from 1 to
[1:08:52] 5 PM at our Harmon Firehouse.
[1:08:53] This year's theme builds on last year's
Charge into Fire Safety:
[1:08:57] Safe Charging is a Superpower.
[1:08:59] The NFPA is continuing to report an
increase in battery-related fires,
[1:09:03] which underscores the critical need for
public education and safe use of
[1:09:07] public education and safe use of
lithium-ion
[1:09:08] batteries and devices.
[1:09:09] Accordingly, we're in the final stages of
coordinating our senior outreach and local
[1:09:14] school assemblies. leading up to Fire
Prevention Week,
[1:09:17] along with updating our website and social
media materials.
[1:09:20] I would be remiss if I didn't express our
committee's deep appreciation for the
[1:09:25] support of our entire department.
[1:09:27] These dedicated volunteers not only give
up their time to train and respond to
[1:09:31] alarms, but they also prepare and execute
these vital public relations initiatives
[1:09:36] year-round. I'd also like to thank the
numerous village departments that make
[1:09:41] numerous village departments that make
fire
[1:09:41] fair possible— EMS, engineering, police,
public works, recreation—
[1:09:45] and all the amazing staff office.
[1:09:46] We're also teaming up with several outside
agencies.
[1:09:50] This includes having the Westchester
County Department of Emergency Services
[1:09:54] Communications Division on site this year
for our Learn to Call 911 station.
[1:09:58] Kids will get to talk to a live dispatcher
learning how to call 911.
[1:10:02] Additionally, we've secured sponsorships
from several local business partners for
[1:10:07] various fire safety stations.
[1:10:09] This is an arrangement that significantly
reduces our overall cost and strengthens
[1:10:13] our ties with the Croton business
community.
[1:10:16] Finally, we're extremely grateful to the
board for your consideration in funding a
[1:10:21] new Sparky the Fire Dog costume.
[1:10:23] Because our previous costume served us
well for over a decade,
[1:10:26] this new suit will be a lasting tool for
the village for several years to come.
[1:10:31] It's a tremendous asset for engaging the
public with our messaging,
[1:10:35] and we're hopeful that Sparky's cousin
Smokey the Bear may pay us a visit as
[1:10:39] Smokey the Bear may pay us a visit as
we're
[1:10:39] in coordination with the New York State—
[1:10:42] Thank you.
[1:10:42] Forest Service. With the exception of
Sparky,
[1:10:44] we've secured all the other resources
required for this year's event.
[1:10:47] We can't wait to see everyone there, and
we thank you very much for your support.
[1:10:51] Thank you.
[1:10:52] Thank you.
[1:10:53] Thank you.
[1:10:54] Wait, can I ask you a question?
[1:10:55] Are you asking for the funding for Sparky
for this year's event?
[1:10:58] Uh, yes, ma'am, and I believe there is a
resolution on the agenda tonight,
[1:11:03] so we're eager, uh, we're eager to see if
that passes through, and then, uh, we're,
[1:11:08] we're prepared to cut that Fantastic.
[1:11:10] Thank you.
[1:11:11] Thank you.
[1:11:11] Mayor, is it appropriate to talk about the
presentation that you had previously?
[1:11:19] Yes, that was— that would— I'll count that
as an agenda item. So, yep.
[1:11:23] Joe Stringy, Assistant Fire Chief.
[1:11:26] As you heard Tom just mention, the
increase in battery fires that he
[1:11:30] increase in battery fires that he
mentioned,
[1:11:31] according to the NFPA,
[1:11:32] and of course we've had a few in our own
village of those things,
[1:11:36] makes this a concern for us because
obviously we have to protect it all.
[1:11:41] The battery storage systems that Lindsay
talked about, when we get to, you know,
[1:11:46] siting them, a couple things concern me.
[1:11:49] One is, you know, location, location,
location, exposures that we have to
[1:11:54] location, exposures that we have to
protect,
[1:11:54] things of that nature.
[1:11:56] But the other thing that I need to
consider at this point in time is we don't
[1:12:01] consider at this point in time is we don't
have
[1:12:01] all of the information we should have and
need for the current battery storage area.
[1:12:06] I can't tell you honestly, after doing
this job for the last 8 months,
[1:12:11] whether it's on or off. They were nice
enough to provide us with a walkthrough.
[1:12:16] Is there battery storage taking place? Are
those systems loaded?
[1:12:20] I can't say I know for sure. I think
that's a good question.
[1:12:24] But there's things such as the fire safety
plan, additional fire training.
[1:12:29] Well, they did do a walkthrough with us a
few months ago.
[1:12:33] All of the things that are required, um, I
don't believe are in place.
[1:12:37] An example, that the Knox box they
installed,
[1:12:40] which was very nice so we could gain
access to the facility, has nothing in it.
[1:12:46] Another example, I know you've had some
ups and downs,
[1:12:49] or they've had some ups and downs with the
contractor, the management of Location,
[1:12:54] change of ownership, whatever the case may
be.
[1:12:57] But before we start going into more
battery systems in the village, A,
[1:13:02] we want to play a role in that, which I'm
sure we will,
[1:13:06] and we want to understand the areas that
they're going to go into because we've got
[1:13:11] to protect them. The other thing that's a
little bit outside the box is, I guess,
[1:13:16] a question to Brian.
[1:13:18] Do we require financials from these
investment companies Lindsay started out
[1:13:23] investment companies Lindsay started out
saying
[1:13:23] there was 100 of them, and we only heard
from 6,
[1:13:26] and a lot of them have been in business,
out of business, sold, this, that,
[1:13:31] and the other thing.
[1:13:32] I'm hoping that we do get financials from
them to see how solvent they are,
[1:13:37] and are they going to move forward with us
in a progressive way as an entity and not
[1:13:43] just make an installation for us and find
out in a year or 2 or 5.
[1:13:47] Okay.
[1:13:48] That they're no longer in business or
somebody else bought them and they don't
[1:13:53] somebody else bought them and they don't
care
[1:13:53] about battery systems that are placed in
our village.
[1:13:57] So that's something that I think the RFP
should absolutely contain,
[1:14:01] which I think is important to know what
their financial status is of any one of
[1:14:07] those companies, especially after
listening to Lindsay's— some of his
[1:14:11] listening to Lindsay's— some of his
explanations.
[1:14:12] And that's it.
[1:14:14] That's it for right now.
[1:14:14] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:14:16] Thank you.
[1:14:17] I think it's just important to point out
that the battery system that's at the
[1:14:25] train station, as well as the future
systems that may or may not be researched
[1:14:33] further, are lithium iron phosphate.
[1:14:36] They are not the lithium-ion that have
caught fire in previous places.
[1:14:43] The lithium iron phosphate is much more
durable.
[1:14:48] Yeah. But the chief raises good points and
we'll—
[1:14:52] Well, I will investigate his other, his
other points.
[1:14:55] You know, I'm not, I'm not aware of what
the answers are right now.
[1:15:00] Just learning about them now. All right.
Thank you.
[1:15:03] Ed Riley from Truesdale Drive. Thank you
to the chief for bringing those 2 items
[1:15:09] to the chief for bringing those 2 items
up.
[1:15:10] It's a shocker to know that the fire
department,
[1:15:13] who has to respond everywhere and more
than usual to a government-run railroad
[1:15:19] than usual to a government-run railroad
and
[1:15:20] the facilities nearby, does not—
[1:15:22] has not been told the status of a very
controversial type of power accumulation.
[1:15:28] And the first thing I—
[1:15:30] when he mentioned that they went to 41
companies or whatever and half of them are
[1:15:36] out of business, we've seen this before
with buses,
[1:15:40] electric buses and everything else under
the sun.
[1:15:44] So thank you very much, Chief, for
bringing those up.
[1:15:48] It's also interesting based upon the
camera presentation by the police
[1:15:53] camera presentation by the police
department is
[1:15:54] probably half the crimes are solved with
private cameras.
[1:15:59] I provided information from my cameras on
Truesdale Drive for people stealing checks
[1:16:05] out of mailboxes and stuff like that.
Sometimes we have them, sometimes we
[1:16:11] Sometimes we have them, sometimes we
don't.
[1:16:11] And, and I hope they continue to rely on
that.
[1:16:15] What concerns me is the state of New York
just passed a law that says The state or
[1:16:21] any one of its functionaries,
[1:16:23] including the Village of Croton and their
police department,
[1:16:28] can't cooperate with federal authorities
on illegal immigrants,
[1:16:33] and that there are now 27,000 illegal
immigrants convicted of crimes which the
[1:16:39] immigrants convicted of crimes which the
state
[1:16:39] of New York is not going to share
information with the federal government.
[1:16:45] If that's the case, I hope the federal
government doesn't share any money with
[1:16:51] government doesn't share any money with
them.
[1:16:51] that would be appropriate.
[1:16:53] And that's 17,000 convicted illegal
immigrants in the city of New York.
[1:16:59] The city will not be able to share the
status of those criminals with the federal
[1:17:05] government. So I would— and then I would
like to know, oh well,
[1:17:10] we'll do it for criminals, we'll do it for
murderers, we'll do it for rapists.
[1:17:16] That's what you said when the state of New
York and its governor and its assembly
[1:17:22] and its Senate passed no cash bail for
murderers, rapists, burglars,
[1:17:27] and everybody else that committed crimes
in New York. We don't trust you.
[1:17:33] You're not trustworthy. I'm sorry.
[1:17:35] So, um, I hope that— it's certainly a big
issue with cameras and license plates.
[1:17:42] Uh, also, a lot of the stuff on here has
to do with, um,
[1:17:46] environmental review of projects. There's
3 items on here.
[1:17:50] Yes.
[1:17:52] Um, and that the current proposal,
[1:17:54] which is creating so much heat besides
bringing pot to Croton,
[1:17:58] which was a decision by the village board,
irrevocable, which shouldn't be,
[1:18:04] but it's irrevocable, is to build a—
[1:18:06] to encourage a 49-unit project across from
ShopRite, which, like the other project,
[1:18:12] which was built by a,
[1:18:13] a contractor with a good reputation as
opposed to a contractor with a bad
[1:18:18] reputation. The one that's completed,
which is mostly luxury, is well built.
[1:18:23] It just looks like crap, but it's well
built, and it was built too high.
[1:18:28] In other words, the top deck is perfectly
viewable by the people on Van Wyck Street,
[1:18:34] a place they used to live, so I know a lot
about that.
[1:18:38] And its elevator and its appurtenances are
too high,
[1:18:41] necessitating that that contractor come
back,
[1:18:44] rebuild the reinforcement structures on
that hill about 3 different times and
[1:18:49] that hill about 3 different times and
plant
[1:18:50] trees, which then block the view of some
of the people on Van Wyck Street.
[1:18:55] So it looks like we're headed down the
same road.
[1:18:58] And just for the review, I'd like to
remind people,
[1:19:02] one of the worst offenders for pollution
besides the state of New York and its park
[1:19:07] system and its railroad is Westchester
County sewer system.
[1:19:11] And that they not once but twice,
[1:19:13] the sewer system of Westchester County has
broken and dumped effluent into the
[1:19:19] Hudson River system and the Croton system,
[1:19:22] so much so that the Croton River was shut
down, I believe, for a month,
[1:19:26] and the Hudson the Hudson River was shut
down for two months during the summertime
[1:19:32] when it gets hot and people are supposed
to go swimming at places like Croton Point
[1:19:38] and the Hudson River, and.
[1:19:39] denied you revenue because you couldn't
put canoes and kayaks on the Croton River.
[1:19:45] Not that it's a lot of money.
[1:19:47] So, and that sewer system,
[1:19:49] which these major projects which you
encourage because there's 2 members of
[1:19:54] encourage because there's 2 members of
your
[1:19:54] board want to be a housing state housing
community where you pledge to change the
[1:20:00] complexion of the community and to
encourage regional planning as opposed to
[1:20:05] encourage regional planning as opposed to
local
[1:20:05] planning. Which is what the citizens of
Croton elected you to do.
[1:20:10] Thank you.
[1:20:12] Thank you.
[1:20:13] Hi, thank you. Um, my name is Nora
Regis-Odland. I'm on Van Wyck Street.
[1:20:18] Uh, I am, uh, speaking today about the—
[1:20:21] I know it's to schedule the public hearing
on Local Law 10.
[1:20:25] But I did want to just address it now so
that— because I have concerns,
[1:20:30] and hopefully we can revise it before
scheduling needs to occur.
[1:20:35] I understand that something about the
pigeons was rooted in health risks.
[1:20:40] However, I know Manager Healy has done a
lot of research,
[1:20:44] and my friend Kate Elliott and I have as
well, and pigeons don't carry bird flu.
[1:20:50] I know that there have been other members
of the public that are concerned about
[1:20:56] that. Pigeons don't carry bird flu.
[1:20:58] Their biggest risk comes from their
droppings when they are dried.
[1:21:03] But even that, it's a disease I can't
pronounce, pituitosis, comes from—
[1:21:08] there's only been 10 confirmed cases by
the CDC over the past 16 years.
[1:21:14] And most of the symptoms, they're
flu-like.
[1:21:17] It's not pleasant, but it only has like a
15% mortality rate.
[1:21:21] Pigeon— not pigeons, Chickens, on the
other hand, actually do carry bird flu.
[1:21:27] And I think that we should keep backyard
chickens.
[1:21:30] I like the resolutions about backyard
chickens personally.
[1:21:34] A friend mentioned that New York State
sells them in groups of 6,
[1:21:39] so that might be something to go back and
look at. But I like chickens.
[1:21:44] We aren't thinking about banning chickens.
[1:21:47] So I, with my remaining time,
[1:21:49] I'm going to read Kate's letter because I
think it's really good.
[1:21:54] Okay.
[1:21:55] Hi, to the mayor and board of trustees.
[1:21:57] I'm writing because I'm having a hard time
understanding the need for a complete ban
[1:22:01] on keeping pigeons in the village, and I
keep coming back to one basic question:
[1:22:06] what is this specific problem the ban is
trying to solve?
[1:22:09] If the concern is public health,
[1:22:11] I'd like to understand what evidence shows
that responsibly kept domestic pigeons
[1:22:15] pose a meaningful risk.
[1:22:16] If the concern is cleanliness, odor,
noise, or overcrowding,
[1:22:20] Those are issues that can be addressed
directly through reasonable rules—
[1:22:24] sanitation standards, limits on flock
size, housing requirements,
[1:22:27] enforcement of existing nuisance laws.
[1:22:29] Those kinds of regulations would address
the actual concerns without banning pigeon
[1:22:34] keeping altogether. I was also struck by
comments from the May 27th work session
[1:22:38] where the village attorney reportedly
suggested that even a temporary moratorium
[1:22:43] might be excessive, given that only one
resident has expressed interest in keeping
[1:22:47] pigeons. If that's the case,
[1:22:49] it's hard to understand why a permanent
village-wide prohibition is now being
[1:22:53] considered, especially one that would
exist and impact an existing keeper and
[1:22:57] exist and impact an existing keeper and
his
[1:22:57] birds. I'm also concerned about the
decision to not grandfather existing
[1:23:01] decision to not grandfather existing
pigeons.
[1:23:02] Tarrytown was mentioned as a nearby
example where pigeon keeping is prohibited
[1:23:06] example where pigeon keeping is prohibited
but
[1:23:06] existing owners are grandfathered in.
[1:23:08] That feels like a reasonable and humane
compromise here.
[1:23:11] If the village believes a ban is necessary
going forward,
[1:23:14] Why not allow the current flock to remain?
[1:23:17] If the board is rejecting that option,
[1:23:19] I'd appreciate an explanation of what
specific harm would result from allowing
[1:23:23] specific harm would result from allowing
these
[1:23:23] existing birds to stay under reasonable
conditions.
[1:23:26] I also want to ask how pigeons being
defined— would domesticated doves be
[1:23:30] defined— would domesticated doves be
included?
[1:23:30] Since pigeons and doves are part of the
same biological family,
[1:23:34] that distinction matters, and it should be
spelled out clearly in any law.
[1:23:38] Finally, I hope the board will consider
the animals themselves.
[1:23:41] Pigeons are intelligent social animals
that form strong bonds with each other and
[1:23:46] with their caretakers.
[1:23:47] Asking someone to disperse an established
flock isn't just regulating a hobby.
[1:23:51] It has real consequences for living
creatures that have formed a home and
[1:23:55] creatures that have formed a home and
social
[1:23:56] structure here in Croton.
[1:23:57] I am not arguing for unlimited or
unregulated pigeon keeping.
[1:24:00] If there's legitimate concerns, they
should be addressed.
[1:24:03] But regulation and prohibition are not the
same thing,
[1:24:06] and a ban should require a clear,
well-supported justification.
[1:24:10] I'm going to skip her questions because
you guys have them, um,
[1:24:13] and just go with her closer because it was
good. Also, hi Kate.
[1:24:17] Um, if there's a specific issue at a
specific property,
[1:24:20] that should be addressed directly,
[1:24:22] but a village-wide ban feels like a very
broad solution to what appears to be a
[1:24:26] broad solution to what appears to be a
very
[1:24:26] limited situation. Croton's a community
that values fairness and thoughtful
[1:24:30] decision-making, and I hope those values
guide this process.
[1:24:34] At a minimum, I ask the board to
reconsider grandfathering the existing
[1:24:37] reconsider grandfathering the existing
birds so
[1:24:38] they can remain with their owner. Thank
you.
[1:24:40] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:24:42] Thank you.
[1:24:49] Yes, of course.
[1:24:51] Hi everyone. First, I feel like I'm—
[1:24:56] Sir, would you mind stating your name and
address?
[1:24:57] Uh, my name is Tony. I live on 148 Old
Post Road North.
[1:25:01] I'm the owner of the pigeons.
[1:25:04] I feel like I own an explanation to the
town because I know a lot of people,
[1:25:09] they've been supporting me and a lot of
people, they have questions.
[1:25:14] So the pigeons I have, I tried to explain
last time,
[1:25:18] but I think you guys were in a rush or
something.
[1:25:22] So the pigeons I have, I vaccinate them 2
to 3 times a year. I train them well.
[1:25:28] I release them once, once a day, probably
1 or 2 hours just for training.
[1:25:33] I feed them on the wood feeder. They don't
get fed on the floor or outside.
[1:25:39] As a specific person keeps describing
them, they're like rats or roaches.
[1:25:44] They're not. They're blessed by Jesus
Christ. I feed them well.
[1:25:49] I vaccinate them 2 to 3 times a year. I
train them well.
[1:25:53] I feed them on the wood feeder. I water
them. They have their can.
[1:25:58] It's not like they drink anywhere.
[1:26:01] They have grids on the floor, which means
they won't be eating bad food.
[1:26:06] So they're not going to contain— it's hard
to explain myself.
[1:26:11] So it's not like they're going to get
disease from other pigeons because the
[1:26:16] disease from other pigeons because the
food
[1:26:17] they eat, they only eat it from the clean
Like feeder where I give it to them.
[1:26:23] Whatever comes out, it goes down the grid,
[1:26:26] and I clean them like 2 to 3 times a week.
[1:26:29] So it's not like they're gonna eat bad
food and get disease.
[1:26:33] And honestly, I never heard about people
having problems for pigeons getting
[1:26:39] different disease, which a person is—
again, I— it's been mentioning, um,
[1:26:44] trying to explain himself, I guess, trying
to give people bad ideas.
[1:26:50] So, uh, I don't know, like, it's,
[1:26:52] it's very hard for me to explain myself
probably in English to you guys and
[1:26:58] understand me well, but I've been keeping
them since I was 6 years old.
[1:27:03] I never have any problems from, from them.
[1:27:06] Um, my father had them I got this from
him. He died.
[1:27:10] He passed from from this world, and I feel
like they're my memories from him.
[1:27:16] So, so like dividing me from them is just
I I just can't see myself without them.
[1:27:22] I specifically bought this house for them
because first of all,
[1:27:27] when I saw the house, I searched.
[1:27:29] This town, it shows like I'm so I could
keep pigeons, and that was a law.
[1:27:35] So, and then I wanted to make sure I
called the village;
[1:27:39] they told me I can keep the pigeons.
[1:27:41] I emailed just to have a proof; they told
me I can keep the pigeons.
[1:27:46] So now it feels like personal to me trying
to remove them.
[1:27:51] And as I mentioned the last time, it I
mean this town is amazing.
[1:27:56] It seems like everybody like it's very
respectful, but it seems like.
[1:28:01] Somehow somebody got it personal with me,
which I don't even know the reason why.
[1:28:07] But I don't understand why should I be
separated from them?
[1:28:11] I don't understand why they should be
removed if I got done everything right
[1:28:17] removed if I got done everything right
from
[1:28:17] the beginning, pulled the permit, done the
shed right,
[1:28:21] get the get the approved to keep them.
[1:28:24] So I would really appreciate if I could
get an answer for that,
[1:28:29] and I just need to know what I done wrong.
[1:28:32] Like, why do you guys have to remove them
if I done everything right from the
[1:28:38] beginning? So that is all.
[1:28:40] If anybody from town, they have any
questions after this, I could explain.
[1:28:45] I could try to explain. I could answer any
questions you guys have.
[1:28:50] It's not like I read something because I
didn't even know I'm supposed to stand
[1:28:56] didn't even know I'm supposed to stand
here
[1:28:57] and talk. I thought I was just supposed to
listen.
[1:29:00] 'Cause I just noticed yesterday this, this
meeting is happening.
[1:29:05] I didn't even know I'm supposed to stand
and talk,
[1:29:09] but I wasn't prepared for everything.
[1:29:12] But if anybody has any questions after
we're done here,
[1:29:16] I would be more than happy to explain
myself for everything.
[1:29:20] Thank you so much for your time.
[1:29:23] Thank you very much.
[1:29:24] Thank you. Yeah.
[1:29:25] I'm sorry for the loss of your father.
[1:29:27] Thank you.
[1:29:37] Anyone else wishing to comment on any
agenda items?
[1:29:39] Mayor, I'll just note that we received a
number of
[1:29:43] written comments which are posted as part
of the agenda
[1:29:47] backup.
[1:29:47] Thank you, Manager.
[1:29:49] Yep.
[1:29:50] And thank you for coming out to speak.
[1:29:52] I know that this is a topic of a lot of
interest, and again,
[1:29:55] as was previously noted, there will be a
public hearing on this.
[1:29:59] The board is not making a final decision
tonight. Thank you.
[1:30:02] All right, report from the village
manager.
[1:30:05] Oh, thank you.
[1:30:08] Okay, so just a few items this evening.
[1:30:12] The first item I wanted to talk about was
PFAS and the water supply.
[1:30:18] I understand that there was a some
commentary about this late last week.
[1:30:24] Our water supply is safe.
[1:30:26] It does have some low levels of PFAS
contamination, which are well below the
[1:30:33] contamination, which are well below the
state,
[1:30:34] the state and federal guidelines.
[1:30:37] The exact levels are listed in our water
quality report that gets sent out to every
[1:30:44] user of the Um, of the water system and is
available on the village website.
[1:30:51] Um, but there is no, no reason that the
public should have any immediate concerns.
[1:30:58] We constantly monitor the water quality.
[1:31:02] Uh, the water is tested on a regular
basis, and, uh,
[1:31:06] the test results are sent to Westchester
County.
[1:31:10] And, um, you know, we have a very, uh,
[1:31:14] Competent water department that maintains
our water pumps and our water supply.
[1:31:21] And if there was at any point an issue or
concern, you know,
[1:31:26] we would immediately communicate that
with, with all the,
[1:31:31] all the residents of the village.
[1:31:34] Um, that being said, you know,
[1:31:37] we do want to take steps to recoup
whatever funds we can so that if there
[1:31:43] whatever funds we can so that if there
needs to
[1:31:44] be potential remediation in the future,
you know,
[1:31:48] the residents and the ratepayers of the
water fund do not have to fund that.
[1:31:55] Why should, why should residents have to
pay the costs of what corporations did,
[1:32:02] you know, 30 years ago?
[1:32:04] So back in 2023, the board did retain this
law firm to represent us in these various
[1:32:11] lawsuits. To date, we have Recouped over
$1 million in, in funds for this,
[1:32:18] $1,078,778 to be exact.
[1:32:20] And these funds are in the,
[1:32:22] in the water fund and can be used for
future projects related to the water
[1:32:29] future projects related to the water
system.
[1:32:30] So those funds came from the corporations
that voluntarily agreed to settle.
[1:32:36] With the attorney.
[1:32:38] Transaction.
[1:32:39] Correct. Yeah, with our law firm.
[1:32:41] Um, the remaining, uh, companies that did
not settle were—
[1:32:46] a lawsuit was filed against them last
week.
[1:32:49] And so we will now, uh, you know, this law
firm, which is not our,
[1:32:54] our village law firm, it's a special
counsel, uh, law firm, uh, you know,
[1:32:59] they're going to represent us as this case
moves forward, and we will see what the,
[1:33:05] um, you know, what the verdict is on that.
[1:33:09] So are there any questions on that before
I move into the rest of my report?
[1:33:15] Thank you, Manager. Where is the report
located on the annual water quality
[1:33:21] located on the annual water quality
report?
[1:33:21] Yeah, so you can get to it either on the
water department page, okay,
[1:33:25] or if under the Citizen Action Center, if
you Click public documents,
[1:33:29] all of the water reports are listed there.
[1:33:31] Thank you.
[1:33:32] Yep.
[1:33:32] I was going to mention, Mayor— Manager, we
are,
[1:33:37] we are part of the National Rural Water
Association.
[1:33:41] We're not rural, but—
[1:33:43] It's kind of funny, but yes, it's based on
population.
[1:33:46] I worked with them for many years, great
organization,
[1:33:50] and their members are smaller water
systems like ours.
[1:33:53] So much of our legal work, legal activity
has gone through that.
[1:33:57] Yes, correct.
[1:33:59] And they, as I mentioned,
[1:34:01] they're well respected for what they do
both legislatively and legally.
[1:34:05] Thank you.
[1:34:06] Yep.
[1:34:09] Okay, just an update on the food scrap
program.
[1:34:12] I reached out to our coordinator and she
let me know that we currently have 229
[1:34:18] families that are participating.
[1:34:20] So we did see a slight uptick since we
released our PSA on the program,
[1:34:25] but there is still room for 70 more
families to participate.
[1:34:29] So if there's anyone interested, you know,
we can—
[1:34:33] you can either contact my office or just
go on the village website and get the
[1:34:38] contact information for the food scrap
program,
[1:34:42] and we'll be more than happy to put you in
touch with, with the right people.
[1:34:47] Uh, in terms of leaf blower violations, we
have issued a total of 16 this year.
[1:34:53] So there's been 3 additional violations
issued since the last meeting.
[1:34:58] Uh, and are those to landscapers as well?
[1:35:02] Uh, I mean, the enforcement—
[1:35:04] the enforcement officer has the discretion
as to whether or not to issue it to the
[1:35:09] homeowner or to the landscaper.
[1:35:11] Uh, generally, our practice has been that
You know, the homeowner has been—
[1:35:16] I should say the property owner has been
receiving the violation.
[1:35:20] Okay.
[1:35:22] Yep. The Half Moon Bay Bridge project is
moving along.
[1:35:26] I feel like I say that at almost every
meeting, but it is true.
[1:35:31] Our final plans, specifications, and
estimate, or the PS&E,
[1:35:36] has been submitted to New York State DOT,
and that was submitted on Monday.
[1:35:42] They are going to be reviewing that.
[1:35:45] We have received some additional funding
from New York State towards this project.
[1:35:51] So the bond that the board approved in
June, which was for $1,250,000,
[1:35:57] we most likely will not have to take out
because of this additional funding from
[1:36:03] because of this additional funding from
the
[1:36:04] state. So we're very happy about that. So
more to come on that.
[1:36:09] The Farrington Road steps, the railing is
going to be installed over the next weeks,
[1:36:15] or the railings on either side.
[1:36:18] And then once that's done, they will be
ready to open.
[1:36:22] So DPW thinks by the end of next week,
[1:36:25] they'll be open just in time for school to
begin.
[1:36:29] We are working on our new website, which
is very exciting.
[1:36:33] We're hoping to launch that a week from
tomorrow.
[1:36:37] So I had originally thought, or I was
under the impression,
[1:36:42] that people were going to have to
resubscribe to get the emails,
[1:36:47] but that's not the case. Everybody's email
addresses have been migrated over.
[1:36:53] So I just wanted to clarify that because I
don't know if I've said that at a
[1:36:59] previous meeting or not. But people will
not need to resubscribe.
[1:37:04] You will continue to get our emails.
[1:37:07] So Miguel in my office has been working
with all the different department heads to
[1:37:14] make sure their information is up to date
and populate the calendar and everything
[1:37:20] else that goes along with launching a new
website.
[1:37:24] So hopefully we're ready to launch that
next week.
[1:37:28] The governor has signed our red light
camera bill.
[1:37:32] That bill was signed into law on August
14th.
[1:37:36] I'm sure the mayor may have some more
comments on this later in the meeting,
[1:37:42] but we'll probably have a work session
discussion on that at some point in the
[1:37:48] future. And then lastly,
[1:37:50] we received our sales tax payment from the
county for the second quarter,
[1:37:55] and we saw a 5.1% increase in our sales
tax payment from last year to this year.
[1:38:02] So that was very much appreciated.
[1:38:04] So that 5.1% turned into—
[1:38:06] equals roughly about $40,000 more than
what we got last year.
[1:38:11] So, and that is my report. Oh, I'm sorry,
what did I say?
[1:38:16] Oh, I'm sorry, I meant the school speed
camera bill. Got signed into law.
[1:38:22] The red light camera bill was signed into
law last year. So I apologize.
[1:38:27] No, the governor signed our, our speed,
[1:38:30] our school speed zone camera bill into law
on August 14th.
[1:38:35] Thank you.
[1:38:36] Yeah, sorry. I apologize for that.
[1:38:38] I just figured she liked it so much.
[1:38:42] She signed it twice.
[1:38:45] Yeah.
[1:38:45] Oh, and while we're on that topic, I'll
just note,
[1:38:48] and I meant to mention this in our earlier
work session,
[1:38:51] although there is authorization for red
light cameras,
[1:38:54] the village has Currently non-deployed.
[1:38:56] And I agree, that should probably be a
work session now that the 2 have been—
[1:39:00] 2 authorizations for the automated traffic
enforcement have been signed.
[1:39:04] We should have a work session on that.
[1:39:06] And is the $40,000 additional dollars over
[1:39:11] your budget? Like, how did we plan sales
[1:39:15] tax?
[1:39:16] No, we're significantly over. Well, sorry,
let me clarify.
[1:39:19] Are you talking about the year that just
ended May 31st or the current year that
[1:39:24] we're in? So most of that month,
[1:39:27] 2/3 of the money that just came in goes to
the old year because it covers April,
[1:39:32] May, and June.
[1:39:33] Got it.
[1:39:33] So, um, but we were— we generally have
been, um,
[1:39:37] somewhere around a quarter of a million or
slightly more, um,
[1:39:43] Over our projections.
[1:39:45] So like in last year's budget,
[1:39:48] we had $2,125,000 budgeted and we brought
in $2,399,000.
[1:39:53] So we try to, you know, budget
conservatively so that, you know,
[1:39:59] we end up with a surplus.
[1:40:01] So, and that's what the county is seeing
as well for that.
[1:40:04] You know, they just released new updated
numbers and they're seeing a positive
[1:40:08] increase in county sales tax, which is
fantastic.
[1:40:13] Yes. Where does the money go? Which fund?
[1:40:15] Uh, the general fund.
[1:40:16] Right.
[1:40:17] Thank you.
[1:40:17] All right, and with that,
[1:40:19] we proceed to the consent agenda.
[1:40:22] Do I have a motion on the consent agenda?
[1:40:26] So moved.
[1:40:27] Second.
[1:40:28] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. Discussion?
[1:40:31] Just a few words here and there, Mayor.
[1:40:34] Just congratulating the police on the AAA
Gold Award. That's wonderful.
[1:40:40] We've gotten that before, and it's
terrific that their good work is
[1:40:45] terrific that their good work is
recognized.
[1:40:46] Thanks to Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber
for once again sponsoring our October
[1:40:52] Halloween scarecrow contest.
[1:40:54] Thanks to the manager and all the
individual managers out there for the good
[1:41:00] individual managers out there for the good
energy
[1:41:00] consumption report. And and then the The,
uh, I was gonna say a word or two.
[1:41:06] I think we've said it all about— I guess,
uh, thanks for the—
[1:41:11] to the fire department for their
leadership in general, but particularly on
[1:41:16] leadership in general, but particularly on
the,
[1:41:17] on the Sparky, uh, uh, fire, fire costume.
[1:41:20] We actually, in Tacoma, it's incredible
how, um, how these costumes and are, are
[1:41:26] how, um, how these costumes and are, are
so,
[1:41:26] uh, are things that kids are so responsive
to.
[1:41:30] We had, uh, in Tacoma, we had, uh, Froggy
the Recycling Toad,
[1:41:35] and it became so successful they wanted
federal funding for a second one.
[1:41:40] So, you know, that was pretty terrific.
[1:41:43] And finally, just very glad that we're
making progress on the—
[1:41:48] with DOT on the rapid reflecting flashing
beacon for Maple and Wells,
[1:41:53] and hopefully we can get that up and
running as soon as possible.
[1:41:58] Second, I apologize.
[1:42:03] Further discussion?
[1:42:04] Um, I think this is just a process
question.
[1:42:09] I would like to pull out the MTA MNR, um,
[1:42:13] referral to the Waterfront Advisory
Committee for
[1:42:18] discussion. So is that—
[1:42:20] You don't need to, you don't need to pull
it out. You can—
[1:42:23] Because it's combined in resolution with a
lot of other things.
[1:42:27] Yeah, but you can have the discussion on
it right now unless you,
[1:42:30] unless you specifically want to vote on
that separately than the rest. But—
[1:42:34] Yes, I would like to vote on it
separately.
[1:42:37] Oh, the consent agenda requires unanimous
consent, so we will remove it.
[1:42:41] Further discussion?
[1:42:43] Um, I just want to call out that the, um,
you know, part of the consent agenda,
[1:42:49] which is amazing news, is the, um,
flashing beacons that, um,
[1:42:54] will hopefully be installed installed
before the school year,
[1:42:59] soon after the school year starts on Maple
Street, which is fantastic.
[1:43:04] I also, just from a process perspective,
for folks in the audience that are here,
[1:43:11] we are scheduling a public hearing next
week for our Local Law 10,
[1:43:16] which includes the fowl and pigeon
conversation.
[1:43:20] So the public will come next week and make
statements on that.
[1:43:25] And then we'll decide whether or not we'll
vote at that point,
[1:43:29] or we will table that conversation, or,
you know,
[1:43:33] make some changes next week based on
public feedback.
[1:43:40] Is that fair? I think so.
[1:43:42] Do you think that it makes sense to
schedule a public hearing the last week of
[1:43:47] August, or do you think it makes sense to
move it to September?
[1:43:52] When it— this is obviously a popular
topic,
[1:43:54] and I want to make sure that everyone who
wants to speak on this topic is able to.
[1:44:00] Um, and the last week of August—
[1:44:02] Well, it's September 2nd.
[1:44:04] Oh, I thought—
[1:44:05] I'm sorry, I thought—
[1:44:07] No, well, I mean, it's— I, I did think
about— I had the same concerns,
[1:44:10] but I figured school has already begun at
that point, so people are going to be—
[1:44:14] I just want to be— I just know that it's
very— it's a very, um, popular topic,
[1:44:19] and I just want to make sure that we are
not scheduling it—
[1:44:22] we are scheduling it at a time when
everybody who wants to have their voice
[1:44:26] everybody who wants to have their voice
heard is
[1:44:26] able to have it heard.
[1:44:27] I don't know if, you know, Labor Day is
late, school is starting early,
[1:44:31] Labor Day is starting late.
[1:44:32] I just wanted to— I just want to think
about when we've scheduled it.
[1:44:36] There's no requirement that you close the
public hearing, right?
[1:44:40] You can, you can keep it open to the next
meeting if you feel like there's
[1:44:46] additional comments you may want to hear.
[1:44:48] So, okay, I just want to let everybody
know it seems like our Zoom computer has
[1:44:54] know it seems like our Zoom computer has
not
[1:44:54] been great. So we've lost our attorney.
[1:44:57] Oh, that's a problem.
[1:44:58] Yeah, so we're still we're working on it,
but I just want to.
[1:45:02] Does that mean that can the public
watching it on?
[1:45:06] Yeah, no, it doesn't affect anything on
that.
[1:45:08] It's just it's just that we can't display
the agenda or and we don't have Zoom.
[1:45:11] Zoom at the moment.
[1:45:12] Okay.
[1:45:12] So, but we're trying to bring it back.
[1:45:14] Stream's good.
[1:45:15] Yeah.
[1:45:16] Manager, just a question because I'm even
though I'm nine months in, I still am new.
[1:45:22] I feel new.
[1:45:25] Item number six: consider acknowledging
receipt of local law number
[1:45:30] fourteen. So what is being asked of us on
that?
[1:45:34] Like when you consider acknowledging
receipt. I received a bit.
[1:45:39] It doesn't mean that— are we—
[1:45:41] All you're doing is saying, I've received
this.
[1:45:44] That's right.
[1:45:45] Yes.
[1:45:45] All right.
[1:45:46] Because you have to—
[1:45:47] Working on it.
[1:45:47] No, you have to receive it and then refer
it.
[1:45:51] Right.
[1:45:51] Right? So that's—
[1:45:52] I just wanted to make sure that's all it
is.
[1:45:54] You can't give it to someone else unless
you have it first.
[1:45:58] All right.
[1:45:58] Thank you. All right. Very good.
[1:46:03] Thank you.
[1:46:04] Further discussion?
[1:46:05] Yeah, could I just go back to the item
that Trustee Nicholson pulled out?
[1:46:08] Do we have any— do we have any information
on— I know there was—
[1:46:12] we weren't sure what the timing was going
to be with the flashing beacons.
[1:46:15] We were waiting for something. Can you
just talk a little bit about—
[1:46:18] Yeah, so Maple Street is a state road,
right?
[1:46:22] And so even though we've installed 2
flashing beacons on Maple Street already,
[1:46:27] flashing beacons on Maple Street already,
Uh,
[1:46:27] New York State DOT asked for some
additional information this time compared
[1:46:32] additional information this time compared
to the
[1:46:33] other 2, so it took us a little bit of
time to get that information.
[1:46:38] Uh, we have since submitted everything.
[1:46:40] I've spoken with the, uh, uh, sorry, I'm
blanking on what her title is right now,
[1:46:46] but one of the engineers in the, uh,
Katona office, the Northern Westchester
[1:46:51] Katona office, the Northern Westchester
office,
[1:46:52] um, who said that she was ready to issue
the permit.
[1:46:56] But we can't start work in the state
right-of-way unless we have DOT's
[1:47:00] right-of-way unless we have DOT's
approval,
[1:47:01] right? So until we get that permit, we
can't start the work.
[1:47:05] So, um, I'm hoping that at the very least
we will have some of the work started
[1:47:11] before school begins, if not fully
installed,
[1:47:14] so that people will at least see that it's
making progress.
[1:47:18] Um, but we're certainly going to do our
best to, uh,
[1:47:22] To have it done before September 1st.
[1:47:24] So, manager, the, um, the—
[1:47:28] did I see on here the, um,
[1:47:32] the sidewalks regarding the snow removal?
[1:47:37] Uh, we're scheduling a public hearing for
that.
[1:47:41] That's, uh, Local Law Intro Number 12.
[1:47:43] Also for September 2nd.
[1:47:45] Same day. Yeah.
[1:47:46] So is that When we can discuss potentially
adding the 2 homes that—
[1:47:53] Yes, we would discuss that as part of the—
I mean, although, I mean, the laws,
[1:47:58] if you want to discuss, we could discuss
it now as well, because if,
[1:48:03] if a majority of the board wants to do it,
[1:48:05] we might as well add it to the law now so
we don't have to rehold the public
[1:48:10] hearing. So, I mean, you know, like I put,
like I put in my memo,
[1:48:15] and I apologize for not being able to Put
it up on the screen here.
[1:48:19] You know, it was—it's my—it's—it's my
understanding of the law, right?
[1:48:23] That we generally only exempt sidewalks
that have geographical limitations, right?
[1:48:29] So like if you live—if you live on top of
a hill,
[1:48:32] but your property goes all the way down to
the bottom of the hill,
[1:48:36] and you have a sidewalk at the bottom of
the hill.
[1:48:40] It would be unreasonable, you know, for
you to get down to the bottom of the hill.
[1:48:45] And so, you know, you're exempt from that,
from that regulation.
[1:48:49] Mm-hmm.
[1:48:50] Um, you know, and so I put together in
that memo showing the areas that, um,
[1:48:56] specifically on Farrington, right,
there's, um, the, the Bank Street
[1:49:01] there's, um, the, the Bank Street
affordable, uh,
[1:49:02] condominiums, right? They don't have any
access to the sidewalk on Farrington.
[1:49:08] And then, um, the 4 homes on Palmer, um,
[1:49:12] don't have any access from their
properties on Palmer to Farrington.
[1:49:17] Um, I did not include the last 2 homes on
Palmer because they do have access down to
[1:49:24] Farrington. They have staircases on their
property that connect right down to the
[1:49:30] sidewalk.
[1:49:31] Right.
[1:49:31] So, um, in my interpretation That's not a
limitation.
[1:49:35] Obviously, that's a policy decision that's
up to the board.
[1:49:39] If you want to determine that, you can do
that.
[1:49:42] I don't know if there are other
circumstances in the village where if you
[1:49:47] circumstances in the village where if you
do do
[1:49:48] that, you know, you may get further
requests.
[1:49:51] Yeah, I don't know if my other colleagues
are familiar enough with this to weigh in.
[1:49:57] Um, I know how I feel about this. No. And
I will share.
[1:50:01] I think, uh, that adding— there are 2,
[1:50:04] 2 households that are now being kind of
excluded that are on Palmer,
[1:50:09] that because they have stairs down to
Farrington,
[1:50:12] they're not included in the exemption.
[1:50:15] I think we should just include all of
Palmer, uh, and not—
[1:50:19] and just not disclude these 2 houses.
[1:50:22] I think that's reasonable.
[1:50:23] And those are the ones that we received
correspondence regarding, correct?
[1:50:27] Well, we've only heard— I, I don't know if
the board received—
[1:50:30] I've heard from one homeowner. You're
right.
[1:50:32] Yeah.
[1:50:33] Yeah. So, I mean, I don't know if you're
going to do that.
[1:50:36] I don't know if you want to also include—
I mean, there's,
[1:50:40] there's other homes there on Farrington,
right?
[1:50:42] The home on— there's 2 homes that have
Farrington addresses that have the same
[1:50:46] situation, right? That have sidewalks on
2—
[1:50:49] On Palmer or on—
[1:50:50] which way do they go?
[1:50:51] Both.
[1:50:52] They go both ways.
[1:50:53] Right. So there's, um, it's 24 and 26
Palmer.
[1:50:59] Right.
[1:51:00] And then 27, and I think that might be 31.
I can't really read that.
[1:51:04] I think it might be 27 and 31 Farrington.
[1:51:07] And the only access that they have is a
staircase up to Palmer.
[1:51:13] Well, 27— so 27 Farrington has a— has—
they front Farrington, obviously,
[1:51:20] and then they have a— they have a walkway
that leads them up to, um,
[1:51:26] To the sidewalk on Palmer.
[1:51:28] So there are
[1:51:31] potentially 4
[1:51:35] addresses then.
[1:51:39] Yeah, I mean, I, I just,
[1:51:41] I just caution again that the purpose of
looking at this whole section and making
[1:51:48] the changes that we did is that DPW was
overburdened this past winter. Right.
[1:51:54] And so my only concern— it's not my—
[1:51:57] I don't necessarily have a specific
concern about adding 2 more houses here.
[1:52:03] My concern is that if we change our
criteria for what we—
[1:52:07] what we use to add the sidewalks,
[1:52:10] do we then start getting requests from
other areas in the village that, you know,
[1:52:17] for every, every house that has 2
sidewalks?
[1:52:20] Mm-hmm.
[1:52:22] Yeah, because you— I mean, you could have
corner lots.
[1:52:26] There's a lot of— yeah, there are a lot.
[1:52:28] Well, that's my point is, yeah, yeah,
[1:52:30] I understand the idea of adding these in
because it's only 2,
[1:52:34] but it's also then what's—
[1:52:35] Yeah, no, very steep set of stairs down,
right?
[1:52:38] I mean, I'm pretty familiar with that
area.
[1:52:40] So, so if we were to do that,
[1:52:42] would that mean that none of the sidewalks
on either side of Farrington Would be
[1:52:48] able— were, were going to be shoveled by
any— so I'm looking at 24 Farrington.
[1:52:53] So it looks like if that's the case,
[1:52:55] then there are sidewalks on both sides of
that street,
[1:52:59] neither of which would end up being
cleared.
[1:53:02] Well, the DPW would clear them.
[1:53:03] Yeah, so the law, the law exempts— the law
exempts the owner from having to do it,
[1:53:10] so we end up doing it. The law doesn't say
we have to do it, but we end up doing it.
[1:53:17] Right, so the residents are just doing the
ones that are—
[1:53:19] But I do feel like this is a little bit of
a special situation where it's not like
[1:53:25] there are houses on the other side.
[1:53:27] Like, if there are houses on the— I'm
looking at it sort of driving north, I
[1:53:32] looking at it sort of driving north, I
guess.
[1:53:32] It's a pretty special situation where both
of the sidewalks on both sides— well,
[1:53:37] actually, I don't know if it is or not.
[1:53:40] But this is a case where both sides of the
street are impacted by the decision we're
[1:53:45] going to make, which would mean that then
DP—
[1:53:48] this would be impassable on the sidewalks
if DPW didn't do it.
[1:53:52] It's not like you can cross the street and
walk on the other side.
[1:53:56] The one, the one sidewalk that abuts, uh,
the Bank Street condos, um, we,
[1:54:01] we have been doing that one.
[1:54:04] It just for whatever reason has not been
included in the list. Okay.
[1:54:09] So, um, so we're, we're making that
correction now.
[1:54:12] I'm not sure who has been doing those
Palmer sidewalks.
[1:54:16] Maybe it's the— maybe it's the homeowners
who have been doing it.
[1:54:21] They've, you know, maybe they've had to
drive all the way around and, and do it.
[1:54:27] So, or maybe one of the—
[1:54:29] I feel like they've been on the fine list
too.
[1:54:32] They could have. Yeah.
[1:54:33] I mean, you know, we,
[1:54:35] we do our best to try to check different
areas in different storms.
[1:54:39] I think a couple years ago they were on
Yeah.
[1:54:42] So, um, I mean, yeah,
[1:54:44] my perspective is to add them as well as
the 2 houses on Farrington.
[1:54:49] You know, and I think it's a harder task
in the future, you know, to,
[1:54:54] to evaluate new requests, but I don't
think that should stop us from,
[1:54:59] from going forward with these 2.
[1:55:01] Well, if there are future requests, then I
think we will have to reevaluate,
[1:55:07] but we can add it for now.
[1:55:10] Yeah, I'm not against doing it.
[1:55:11] I just, I want, I want to make sure that
the sidewalks are clear so the kids can
[1:55:14] walk to school because these kids would do
not get a bus to school.
[1:55:17] That's what I'm thinking as I'm
considering this.
[1:55:19] So just, just to be clear, are we just
adding to the 2,
[1:55:23] the 2 houses on Palmer, those 2 sidewalks,
[1:55:26] and not adding the 2 on Farrington?
[1:55:28] I mean, I, I think that we should add them
all. Can we get— I don't think—
[1:55:34] all right, let's get the— now that we got
our computer back, let's get the memo.
[1:55:41] Up, Rachel, sorry. Go to Local Law Number
12. Scroll down to the second page.
[1:55:49] Okay, so there we go.
[1:55:51] So can you make that— Yeah, can you—
sorry, can you zoom in a little bit?
[1:55:58] So, I mean, those two, it's,
[1:56:00] it's a little bit strange because the two
homes on Palmer, right,
[1:56:06] their backyards are Farrington, but then
the other two homes,
[1:56:12] their front yards are Farrington. So maybe
we just stop at the two on Palmer.
[1:56:19] Yeah.
[1:56:22] So, I mean, it seems like you should have
to shovel the sidewalk in front of your
[1:56:27] house. Like when you need to like walk
downstairs and go to another street,
[1:56:31] like that seems like a lot of effort,
right?
[1:56:34] I mean, if we're already excluding those
houses, I mean, this would—
[1:56:38] it's like they have to drive all the way
around the block to do it.
[1:56:42] No, that's, that's what I mean.
[1:56:45] When I was looking at this, I'm like, I'm,
[1:56:48] I'm really shocked that these people on
Palmer have not complained in the past.
[1:56:54] So unless it's just not being done,
period, right?
[1:56:58] Which, I mean, right, it's, it's possible.
[1:57:01] So, um, okay, so we will— did you get the
Zoom up? Sorry, Rachel.
[1:57:06] Um, can we just take a minute break here
so I can get the Zoom back up?
[1:57:11] Because I would like— I would like Lori
Lee to pop since we're changing the law.
[1:57:18] I just would like to get her opinion on
this. Thank you.
[1:57:22] Okay.
[1:57:22] Thank you.
[1:57:23] Yeah,
[1:57:24] don't turn it.
[1:57:29] That's fine.
[2:00:32] Where is Lori?
[2:00:34] Lori Lee,
[2:00:38] are you back?
[2:00:42] Laurie Lee,
[2:00:46] are you back?
[2:00:59] Just probably like, meeting's over.
[2:01:07] I am here.
[2:01:08] Oh, good. Okay. Okay, so, uh,
[2:01:12] sorry to, uh, sorry for the technical
[2:01:17] issues.
[2:01:18] Um, I waited it out.
[2:01:21] I filled up my water bottle, so I'm good.
[2:01:23] Very good. Um, we're discussing—
[2:01:26] we had a little conversation about Local
Law Introductory Number
[2:01:32] 12, um, which has to do with changing the,
uh,
[2:01:36] sidewalk exemptions with regards to snow
shoveling.
[2:01:41] Yes, I remember we talked about this at
the work session.
[2:01:44] Yes, so the village board, um, did we
just— sorry, did we decide to just do the
[2:01:50] just— sorry, did we decide to just do the
2?
[2:01:50] I think we're still discussing whether or
not to do the 2.
[2:01:54] Okay, so they want—
[2:01:56] We just did the 2.
[2:01:57] Just do the 2, is that what we said? Is
that right? So everybody's okay with that?
[2:02:04] All right, so, um, we,
[2:02:05] we need to change the length of the
exemption area in the law to include 2
[2:02:12] additional properties.
[2:02:14] So can we still schedule the,
[2:02:16] the public hearing for now with the
understanding that we'll update the
[2:02:22] understanding that we'll update the
wording
[2:02:23] before the— before the law is published?
[2:02:26] Absolutely, yes.
[2:02:29] All right, I just want—
[2:02:30] I just wanted to make sure we were doing
everything By the book. So, yeah.
[2:02:36] Okay, so we will. So, so it's just, it's
just a length. Correct.
[2:02:40] I need to, I need to have,
[2:02:42] I need to have Superintendent Balbi just
measure it out and update, you know,
[2:02:48] whatever it is, you know, 250 feet to 350
feet, whatever it might be.
[2:02:52] Great.
[2:02:53] So, all right, thanks.
[2:02:55] Well, if I was there, you know, I'd have,
[2:02:58] I'd have out my Tape measure and I go out
there right now for you. Okay, no problem.
[2:03:04] Yeah, yeah, we can, um,
[2:03:05] you can make that change once you have
that number and just get it uploaded.
[2:03:11] That's great.
[2:03:12] Perfect. Thank you. Okay.
[2:03:19] All right, so I guess, uh, do we have a
motion to approve the, uh,
[2:03:23] consent agenda as amended?
[2:03:26] So moved.
[2:03:27] Second.
[2:03:29] Yes. Motion by Trustee Simon, second by
Trustee Nicholson. All in favor? Aye.
[2:03:34] Very good. All right. And then we had the
item that was removed.
[2:03:38] Do we want to discuss that?
[2:03:40] Yeah, let's put that— let's put that one
first, I guess.
[2:03:42] Um, I missed that. Which one? The MNR
referral to the WAC.
[2:03:51] Got it. Thank you.
[2:03:52] You want me to start?
[2:03:57] No, I'm just— I'm looking for the
resolution. Sorry. Okay. Yep.
[2:04:00] Oh, well, I guess that would be the
correspondence resolution because that's
[2:04:05] correspondence resolution because that's
where
[2:04:05] it's under. All right. So, um, yeah, so
it's the first resolution there, Rachel.
[2:04:10] Okay. So, uh, now therefore be it
resolved,
[2:04:12] the Village Board of Trustees hereby
undertakes the following actions.
[2:04:16] 1, approving the request to hold Hudson
Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce
[2:04:21] Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce
Scarecrow
[2:04:21] Contest during fall 2026.
[2:04:23] 2, refer the consistency review request
from MTA Metro-North Railroad to the
[2:04:27] Waterfront Advisory Committee for their
review and comment.
[2:04:30] 3, filing for the record the 2025 Energy
Benchmarking Report,
[2:04:34] the letter from Westchester County
Department of Senior Programs and Services
[2:04:38] Department of Senior Programs and Services
for
[2:04:39] the Senior Citizen Hall of Fame,
[2:04:40] and the letter from AAA Northeast
announcing the 2026 Gold Award for the
[2:04:45] announcing the 2026 Gold Award for the
Village of
[2:04:45] Croton-on-Hudson. in the AAA Community
Traffic Safety Award Program.
[2:04:49] Do I have a motion?
[2:04:52] So moved.
[2:04:53] Second.
[2:04:54] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. Discussion?
[2:04:58] So I will— I want to thank you, Manager,
for meeting with me this week.
[2:05:04] I know we discussed this M&R project, um,
and, you know, the,
[2:05:09] the questions that I raised around it and
I left that meeting at the—
[2:05:14] at that time feeling like, okay, we'll
refer it to the WAC.
[2:05:19] But after thinking about it, I would like
to just have the discussion, you know,
[2:05:26] with the board and get their, their
thoughts on it.
[2:05:30] And also just give more visibility to this
project to the public, because it's—
[2:05:37] if someone's just glancing at an agenda,
they're not going to really understand.
[2:05:43] Okay. That this is probably one of the
most significant Metro North railroad
[2:05:50] projects, I think, facing Croton on Hudson
in in a while.
[2:05:54] What this is, it's it's related to coast
coastline resiliency, right?
[2:06:00] And you know, in in efforts to improve the
resiliency of the railroad,
[2:06:06] what they're looking to do is.
[2:06:08] Proposed installation of new signal
equipment and fences at various locations
[2:06:15] equipment and fences at various locations
along
[2:06:15] the Hudson River all the way up to
Peekskill. This is the phase that we're
[2:06:21] Peekskill. This is the phase that we're
in.
[2:06:22] Poughkeepsie.
[2:06:22] Poughkeepsie, sorry. Yeah, even further
than that. Yeah.
[2:06:27] And I know, you know,
[2:06:29] we've already given permanent easements
and temporary I guess, placements or—
[2:06:37] Both permanent and temporary easements.
[2:06:39] Easements years ago for, for this.
[2:06:42] But I just wanted to explain that this
work will occur adjacent to the Croton
[2:06:48] work will occur adjacent to the Croton
River
[2:06:49] and the Havestraw Bay, significant— with
significant fish and wildlife habitats.
[2:06:55] The work will occur within You know, the
active rail corridor.
[2:07:01] There'll be in-water river work going on
at several locations for the placement
[2:07:08] footings for platforms, lots of steel
work.
[2:07:11] And when I reviewed this, you know, we're
asking the WAC,
[2:07:16] the Water Advisory Commission, to, you
know, review it for consistency,
[2:07:22] the coastal form. And I know that that
group and Deputy Mayor, your chair,
[2:07:29] take their job seriously.
[2:07:31] And I felt, because I'm on the WAC,
[2:07:34] that there's no way that I could
personally answer any of these coastal
[2:07:40] personally answer any of these coastal
assessment
[2:07:41] determinations based on the information
that Metro North has provided.
[2:07:47] I think that what they provided is
incomplete.
[2:07:51] And I know that the engineering department
goes through painstaking efforts to make
[2:07:58] sure applications are complete before they
pass them along, you know,
[2:08:04] to planning boards and other boards.
[2:08:07] And, you know, I do have concerns, you
know, around this, this project, you know.
[2:08:14] It's— let me say, so we don't know, you
know,
[2:08:18] what equipment is being placed in the
floodplain.
[2:08:22] We don't know what the elevations are of
everything they're doing.
[2:08:28] How do we answer how it will impact the
scenic vistas of the river when we have no
[2:08:35] information about heights of anything? We
don't know what the fill is.
[2:08:41] Will construction alter drainage?
[2:08:44] The plans, the maps they provided— I'm
calling them maps, but they're dated—
[2:08:50] many of them are dated draft November '22.
[2:08:54] And the document is signed by a senior
planner at Dewberry on behalf of MNR.
[2:09:00] So, you know, basically, you know, we
don't really know how large this project
[2:09:07] don't really know how large this project
is,
[2:09:07] what the height is, what the footprint,
the dimensions, the foundations.
[2:09:13] Right.
[2:09:15] There's in-water work being done.
[2:09:18] We don't know how the footings will be
installed, what equipment's being used,
[2:09:25] where the staging areas necessarily are,
how they're managing disturbed soil,
[2:09:31] if they're doing— you know, so my request
is to discuss with the board,
[2:09:38] can we ask MNR for More complete
information before we refer this to the
[2:09:44] information before we refer this to the
WAC.
[2:09:44] Because the other option is we just refer
this to the WAC and we sit around the
[2:09:51] table and maybe 3 of the 5 of us or all of
us say, you know,
[2:09:56] we don't have the complete information
here.
[2:10:00] This is a project that will likely cause
many nuisances to the village,
[2:10:06] and I think it would be Very helpful for
us to have more transparency around how
[2:10:13] they're going about this project.
[2:10:16] I know that we don't have control over
Metro North; they can do whatever they
[2:10:22] Metro North; they can do whatever they
want,
[2:10:23] and we can't impose any fines on them.
[2:10:26] I mean, but here's an opportunity for us
to say, "Wait a minute!
[2:10:32] This is coming to our Waterfront Advisory
Commission to evaluate,
[2:10:37] make determinations on."
[2:10:39] the LWRP, um, 43 or 44 points, we, we need
more information on the project.
[2:10:46] So that way we, we have it on record, you
know, more information for the public.
[2:10:53] Um, and that's, that's my, my— that's my
ask.
[2:10:57] I mean, I, I did a lot of research on The
project,
[2:11:01] and I can tell you that they made
determinations,
[2:11:05] but they did not share any data to back up
their determinations.
[2:11:11] And the determinations came from a
planner, not Metro North themselves.
[2:11:17] So, you know, I'm personally not
comfortable with this.
[2:11:22] But so thank you, Trustee Nachtaler.
[2:11:24] As I Said when we met on Monday,
[2:11:27] I agreed to request more information from
the planning firm.
[2:11:31] And I also said that the WAC was more than
able to invite a representative from
[2:11:37] their group to attend the meeting to
answer the questions that you may have.
[2:11:42] So I don't think people would sit around
the table and say, oh,
[2:11:47] we don't have enough information. But All
of that aside, you're— this is a referral.
[2:11:53] This is an administrative task that you
are doing, and it goes to the WAC,
[2:11:58] and then it comes back to you.
[2:12:01] So even if you don't— you don't have to
agree with what the WAC says.
[2:12:06] You could take what the WAC says and say,
no,
[2:12:09] I still think we need more information.
[2:12:12] And then, my opinion, that would be the
appropriate time for this board,
[2:12:17] the village board, to ask for more
information.
[2:12:20] This is not— this is not your, your time
right now. You— this is the WAC's time.
[2:12:26] So, you know, I think the proper course of
action here in accordance with our law is
[2:12:32] that this gets referred to the WAC.
[2:12:35] The WAC, if you read the section of the
code with the WAC,
[2:12:39] they are entitled to ask for more
information, delay their decision.
[2:12:44] They can ask for experts and charge the—
charge it to the consultant. Right.
[2:12:50] I mean, they have a lot of power to do
these consistency reviews.
[2:12:54] So, but there's no— there's no— this is
not—
[2:12:58] this is not an application like a special
permit application, right?
[2:13:03] This is not a village application.
[2:13:05] This is— you don't have any— as Stacey
Nachtaler was saying,
[2:13:09] you don't have necessarily any authority
over the project that they are conducting.
[2:13:15] You know, certainly not any Activity in
the water, right?
[2:13:20] That's, uh, Coast Guard— um, sorry, DEC
and Army Corps.
[2:13:24] Um, you know, and the rest of it on there,
on, you know,
[2:13:28] Metro-North or MTA property, right, is,
you know, as,
[2:13:32] as we know from many activities over the
year with, with the railroad, right,
[2:13:37] we don't have, you know, authority over.
So, um—
[2:13:41] And this is going to be in the river.
[2:13:43] People will see this Activity on the
Riverwalk.
[2:13:46] You know, I just think,
[2:13:47] when is the time where we have any
leverage at all to be asking for more
[2:13:52] leverage at all to be asking for more
complete
[2:13:53] information on the project?
[2:13:54] You know, is it— and, and I just,
[2:13:56] I don't personally understand how the WAC
could do its job with—
[2:14:01] No, I know, but as I just said on Monday
while we were in my office, I,
[2:14:05] I asked them for more information. I've,
I've made the ask already.
[2:14:09] So yeah, no, so I, I mean, I just I don't
necessarily see what benefit— well,
[2:14:14] besides the fact that I don't think it's,
it's necessarily right in the process, um,
[2:14:19] but I don't really see the benefit in
delaying it for another 2 weeks, um, to—
[2:14:23] you're going to see the information anyway
at, you know,
[2:14:27] because it has to come back to you. You're
not being asked to make a determination.
[2:14:32] You as the village board are not being
asked to make a determination tonight.
[2:14:36] All you're doing is referring it to the
WAC so that they can—
[2:14:40] Oh, I know. It's just that I'm on the WAC,
so I'm thinking—
[2:14:44] I know, but you're not sitting in your WAC
capacity right now. Right. I understand.
[2:14:49] Manager, just— I think I heard you
correctly.
[2:14:52] Is it possible to have either Metro North
or the Dewberry firm
[2:14:57] available for—
[2:14:58] Yeah, they've already agreed to be there.
[2:15:01] In person or by Zoom?
[2:15:02] I think they're going to be on Zoom.
[2:15:03] Okay. That's— yeah, I think that's
helpful. Yeah, and yeah, because they'll—
[2:15:08] and like I said, they'll be able to either
answer your questions or say,
[2:15:12] I'll need more time to get that
information.
[2:15:14] And then if the WAC feels like they can't
make a determination,
[2:15:18] there's nothing that requires you to make
a determination in one meeting.
[2:15:22] You can hold it over until the next— your
next meeting.
[2:15:25] And you've given them, I would imagine, of
course, you know,
[2:15:28] Trustee Nachtaler was there with you,
[2:15:30] but the range of information that you're
interested in in terms of—
[2:15:34] Yes.
[2:15:35] So they should come prepared.
[2:15:36] Yes, they— yes. So unfortunately, the, um,
[2:15:38] the lead planner on the project is out of
the office this weekend,
[2:15:42] but she will be back— sorry, this week—
and she'll be back on Monday.
[2:15:46] Okay.
[2:15:47] So, and we're meeting Tuesday, so yeah,
that's fine.
[2:15:49] Okay, so I agree. I mean, I think that
process-wise it should go to the WAC, um,
[2:15:54] and then they can, if they have the
ability to ask for more information,
[2:15:58] that's the point. Um, I also just want to
say I appreciate your research.
[2:16:03] I appreciate your concerns. I have a very
big concern.
[2:16:06] I think the biggest economic risk to
Croton-on-Hudson is the tracks being
[2:16:11] underwater, uh, in 20 to 30 years. And
that's a real possibility.
[2:16:15] And that's, you know, why they need to do
this work.
[2:16:18] So unfortunately, it may cause some
nuisance in the village, but—
[2:16:22] Or safety in general.
[2:16:24] And safety in general.
[2:16:25] We're going to see these tracks flooding,
and they, they do need to do this work.
[2:16:30] So I Do support being careful, but at the
same time, um,
[2:16:33] I also don't want to be a roadblock to
important work that needs to be done from
[2:16:38] important work that needs to be done from
a
[2:16:38] track.
[2:16:39] You know, and actually, I, I commend you,
Trustee Nachtaler.
[2:16:42] It's, it's an innovative approach to try
to get them to actually come into the WAC
[2:16:46] and, and meet with us and, and be
available for, uh,
[2:16:49] to supplement the information that they've
given us.
[2:16:52] Yeah, thank you. I'm definitely not
looking to be a roadblock to Progress on
[2:16:58] looking to be a roadblock to Progress on
coastal
[2:16:58] resiliency. But if it's an opportunity to
share more transparency around this
[2:17:04] project for the village,
[2:17:06] because we know that we're going to be
getting calls when stuff starts popping
[2:17:12] getting calls when stuff starts popping
up.
[2:17:12] And if we don't know, you know, it just—
we don't—
[2:17:16] we know what that position is like. And if
we can avoid it, great. So.
[2:17:21] Is this also an opportunity for us to
invite our planner to sit into that
[2:17:27] invite our planner to sit into that
meeting
[2:17:28] just to help to give some perspective and
some additional guidance to the WAC as
[2:17:35] they approach the pre— you know, the
proposal, to help them ask questions?
[2:17:41] I know that everyone on the WAC is very
skilled,
[2:17:45] but I do think that This is both an
environmental situation and a, you know,
[2:17:52] transportation situation.
[2:17:54] I just think I have grown to really
appreciate what Valerie and her team bring
[2:18:01] appreciate what Valerie and her team bring
to
[2:18:01] the table. And I think this could be
another opportunity to, you know, just
[2:18:07] another opportunity to, you know, just
have,
[2:18:08] you know, more perspective and people at
the table from Croton.
[2:18:13] Yeah.
[2:18:14] I don't have any objection to that, but I
think we should let the WAC review it.
[2:18:18] Can we offer it to them?
[2:18:19] Yeah, and make that decision if that's
what they would like.
[2:18:22] It's a good idea.
[2:18:25] Yep.
[2:18:25] Thank you. All right, thank you for— thank
you.
[2:18:32] So, oh, do we need a separate resolution?
[2:18:35] No, I think— well, I mean, we've had a
motion and a second, so.
[2:18:37] All in favor? Aye.
[2:18:40] Trustee Nachtaler, do you want to vote
nay, or—
[2:18:42] If— well, you said you're— they're going
to come and speak at the WAC.
[2:18:47] Yeah.
[2:18:47] So I'm— I support that.
[2:18:50] Okay.
[2:18:50] Yeah, thank you for asking.
[2:18:52] So that's unanimous, Judy.
[2:18:53] But I didn't know they were able to come.
It's unanimous, no confusion.
[2:18:57] Yeah.
[2:18:57] Yeah.
[2:19:00] Back on track.
[2:19:05] All right, we proceed to proposed
resolutions.
[2:19:08] Okay.
[2:19:10] 2.
[2:19:12] Bless him. Thank you.
[2:19:16] Whereas the Village of
Cortlandt-on-the-Hudson recently solicited
[2:19:19] Cortlandt-on-the-Hudson recently solicited
sealed bids for
[2:19:20] trade labor services under bid number 22
of 2025,
[2:19:22] and whereas this bid was broken down into
the following categories,
[2:19:26] allowing vendors to individually bid on
the categories applicable to them:
[2:19:29] general construction, plumbing, heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning,
[2:19:33] ventilation, and air conditioning,
masonry,
[2:19:34] and roofing. Whereas 6 bids were submitted
by the deadline of January 22nd, 2026.
[2:19:38] Whereas of the 6 bids received,
[2:19:39] 2 vendors submitted proposals for the
plumbing portion of the bid.
[2:19:43] And whereas the lowest responsive bid
received was from Joe Lombardo Plumbing of
[2:19:47] Suffern, New York, in the amount of
$42,557.60.
[2:19:49] Whereas Frank Balbi, Superintendent of
Public Works,
[2:19:52] has reviewed the bids and recommends
moving forward with this bidder.
[2:19:55] Now therefore be it resolved that the
Village Manager is hereby authorized to
[2:19:59] Village Manager is hereby authorized to
award
[2:19:59] bid number 22 of 2025 For trade labor
services, plumbing, to Joe Lombardo,
[2:20:03] Plumbing of Suffern, New York, in the
amount of $42,557.60.
[2:20:06] Do I have a motion?
[2:20:10] So moved.
[2:20:12] Second.
[2:20:12] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson.
[2:20:15] So that, that dollar amount just kind of
represents the average, you know, that's—
[2:20:20] that doesn't mean that that's what we're
going to pay him because it's based on how
[2:20:24] often we have to have services done.
[2:20:26] There's no payment until their call— their
services are called upon.
[2:20:29] Right. Yeah, so that's just based off of
what an average year of, um, plumbing is.
[2:20:37] Yeah.
[2:20:37] All right, further discussion? All in
favor?
[2:20:46] Aye.
[2:20:48] Whereas the village issued an invitation
to bid on July 16th,
[2:20:51] 2026 for the purchase of a 2025 or 2026
Chevrolet Tahoe police Pursuit Vehicle.
[2:20:55] Whereas one bid was submitted by the
deadline of July 24th, 2026.
[2:20:59] Whereas the lowest bid received was from
Emergency Vehicle Specialists of
[2:21:02] Poughkeepsie, New York, in the amount of
$51,900.
[2:21:05] Whereas John Nikitopoulos, Chief of
Police,
[2:21:07] has recommended moving forward with the
low bidder.
[2:21:10] Now therefore be it resolved that the
Village Manager is hereby authorized to
[2:21:14] Village Manager is hereby authorized to
award
[2:21:14] bid number 7 of 2026 to Emergency Vehicle
Specialists of Poughkeepsie, New York,
[2:21:19] in the amount of $51,900. Second.
[2:21:22] Do I have a motion?
[2:21:22] So moved.
[2:21:23] Second.
[2:21:24] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson.
[2:21:27] This was one of the, uh, vehicles included
in the capital budget for this year, so.
[2:21:33] All right, further discussion? All in
favor? Aye.
[2:21:38] Whereas the village issued an invitation
to bid on July 30th, 2026,
[2:21:42] for the purchase of a loader-mounted
snowblower,
[2:21:44] and whereas 4 bids were submitted by the
deadline of August 11, 2026,
[2:21:48] whereas the lowest bid received was from
FDR Hitches of Roselle Park, New Jersey,
[2:21:53] in the amount of $62,599, and whereas
Frank Balvi, Superintendent of Public
[2:21:57] Frank Balvi, Superintendent of Public
Works,
[2:21:57] has recommended moving forward with the
low bidder.
[2:22:00] Now therefore be it resolved that the
Village Manager is hereby authorized to
[2:22:04] Village Manager is hereby authorized to
award
[2:22:04] bid number 10 of 2026 to FDR Hitches of
Roselle Park, New Jersey,
[2:22:08] in the amount of $62,599.
[2:22:09] Do I have a motion?
[2:22:14] So moved.
[2:22:15] Second.
[2:22:15] Motion by Justice Hyman, second by Justice
Nicholson. Discussion?
[2:22:19] I know FDR is looking down from above.
[2:22:23] Just very, very glad that he's being
[2:22:26] celebrated with—
[2:22:28] And I know the DPW team was very excited
about this particular piece of equipment.
[2:22:33] Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, the superintendent's
memo was excellent, I thought,
[2:22:38] just in terms of describing The
efficiencies that it helps bring about.
[2:22:43] And it assures us less snow.
[2:22:45] Yeah, we're already— we're gonna have no
snow.
[2:22:47] Yeah, we've already talked about sidewalk
shoveling, snow blowers, right?
[2:22:52] So continue.
[2:22:54] If you buy— if you buy salt, I'm leaving.
[2:22:56] And also the parking, alternate side
parking.
[2:23:01] Yes. Yeah, that's coming next.
[2:23:03] Fix the roof when the sun is shining.
[2:23:06] All in favor? Aye. Whereas the replacement
of traffic signals on South Riverside
[2:23:10] Avenue at its intersection with Benedict
Boulevard and its intersection with Cordon
[2:23:15] Point Avenue was included in the 2025-2026
capital budget,
[2:23:18] and whereas the level technical
specification needed for the development
[2:23:21] specification needed for the development
of the bid
[2:23:22] documents requires third-party assistance,
and whereas Nelson and Pope Engineering,
[2:23:26] Architecture, and Land Surveying of
Melville,
[2:23:28] New York has provided the proposal in the
amount of $9,500 to develop the bid
[2:23:32] documents and provide assistance during
bid review.
[2:23:35] Now therefore be it resolved that the
village manager is hereby authorized to
[2:23:39] village manager is hereby authorized to
accept
[2:23:39] the proposal from Nelson and Pope
Engineering, Architecture,
[2:23:42] and Land Surveying of Melville, New York,
in the amount of $9,500.
[2:23:46] Do I have a motion?
[2:23:49] So moved.
[2:23:50] Second.
[2:23:51] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. Discussion?
[2:23:54] Well, uh, Mayor, the firm has been doing a
great job for us in grant writing,
[2:24:00] been doing a great job for us in planning.
[2:24:02] And so I'm glad to know that—
[2:24:04] learned recently that they've got this
capacity as well.
[2:24:08] And it's, it's in effect like bringing on
additional staff capacity so that the
[2:24:14] superintendent doesn't have to put aside
everything else that he's doing for a week
[2:24:19] to prepare the paperwork, the
specifications.
[2:24:22] Yeah, we have over the past couple of
years, you know,
[2:24:26] the board has wanted to support a lot of
capital projects, which is great.
[2:24:30] And, you know, we want to improve our
infrastructure.
[2:24:34] But there's only so many hours in a day,
right?
[2:24:37] And so, you know, like, for example, this
project was funded last year in, you know,
[2:24:42] June of 2025. But it just—
[2:24:44] there's a lot of work that goes into this
type of bid specification.
[2:24:48] And so we haven't been able to get it
done.
[2:24:51] So, you know, I was happy, like Trustee
Simon said,
[2:24:54] I was happy to learn that Valerie's firm
also offers this Uh, you know, capacity.
[2:24:59] And so I was, I was very happy to get the
proposal from them.
[2:25:04] Indeed.
[2:25:07] Great. All in favor? Aye.
[2:25:10] Whereas the Village of Cortlandt Hudson
assumed the ownership of and maintenance
[2:25:15] requirements for the Half Moon Bay Bridge
over the Metro-North railroad tracks in
[2:25:19] 1996, and whereas in order to address past
safety issues and the proper maintenance
[2:25:23] of the bridge, the village is moving ahead
with the rehabilitation and construction
[2:25:27] of the Half Moon Bay Bridge.
[2:25:29] And whereas on February 7th, 2024,
[2:25:30] the Village Board of Trustees adopted
Resolution Number 29 of 2024 to accept the
[2:25:34] proposal from Tectonic Engineering of
Rocky Hill, Connecticut,
[2:25:37] to provide consulting and engineering
design services for the project.
[2:25:41] And whereas Tectonic has provided a
proposal to cover an additional scope of
[2:25:45] proposal to cover an additional scope of
work
[2:25:45] related to submissions required by the New
York State Department of Transportation
[2:25:49] in the amount of $32,230.
[2:25:50] Now therefore be it resolved that the
Village Board hereby authorizes the
[2:25:54] Village Board hereby authorizes the
Village
[2:25:55] Manager to accept the proposal from
Tectonic Engineering for the above scope
[2:25:58] Tectonic Engineering for the above scope
of
[2:25:59] work, and be it further resolved that
funding for such work is available in
[2:26:02] funding for such work is available in
account
[2:26:03] H5110.2106.15287.
[2:26:04] Do I have a motion?
[2:26:05] So moved.
[2:26:06] Do I have a second?
[2:26:09] Second.
[2:26:10] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. Discussion?
[2:26:13] So, Manager, how does this work evolve?
[2:26:16] From what we'd previously had in terms of
the engineering work?
[2:26:21] These are just additional scopes of work.
[2:26:24] You know, New York State DOT, as they go
through their review process, you know,
[2:26:30] asked for— I mean, I could pull it up
here. Exactly.
[2:26:34] But they just asked for tweaks to
different things that were outside the
[2:26:39] different things that were outside the
original
[2:26:39] scope of the proposal.
[2:26:41] So they calculated that that Um, that
additional asks came up to that number.
[2:26:47] So it's nothing like, um, oh gee, we never
looked at that before.
[2:26:50] This is an additional requirement, uh,
from— I'm sure, sure it's worthy, you
[2:26:54] from— I'm sure, sure it's worthy, you
know,
[2:26:54] coming from—
[2:26:55] Yes. Yeah, you know, Superintendent Balbi
reviewed it and agreed with it.
[2:26:59] So yeah, you're good.
[2:27:02] Yep.
[2:27:02] Very good. With the resolutions concluded,
[2:27:05] we proceed to public comment on non-agenda
item— oh, sorry, all in favor?
[2:27:10] Aye.
[2:27:10] Aye.
[2:27:10] All right, uh, with, uh, resolutions
concluded,
[2:27:13] we proceed to public comment on non-agenda
items.
[2:27:15] Anyone wishing to comment on anything,
this is your opportunity.
[2:27:18] Please state your name and address.
[2:27:20] Hi, Dave from Farrington. Thank you for
this time to speak.
[2:27:25] First, I'd like to say thank you to
whomever is responsible for the yellow
[2:27:31] whomever is responsible for the yellow
markers
[2:27:31] in the no parking spots on Riverside at at
Farrington and High Streets.
[2:27:37] This is a big help trying to navigate
those left turns, so thank you.
[2:27:42] Now, as much as smoking on commercial
aircraft is now unthinkable,
[2:27:48] future generations will wonder why
gas-powered leaf blowers remained
[2:27:53] gas-powered leaf blowers remained
commonplace
[2:27:54] long after their harms became abundantly
clear.
[2:27:58] It's because lawmakers like you that we
all wait,
[2:28:02] covering our ears and mouths and
sheltering our children inside.
[2:28:07] Waiting for the toxins to dissipate.
[2:28:10] Mayor Pugh, do you remember playing
outside when you were a kid?
[2:28:15] Do you remember when your parents asked
you to come inside from the backyard
[2:28:21] you to come inside from the backyard
because
[2:28:21] carcinogens are coming over the fence?
[2:28:24] Did you close the window to concentrate on
homework,
[2:28:28] but a machine was making 100 decibels
outside, making it difficult to
[2:28:34] outside, making it difficult to
concentrate?
[2:28:35] Well, that's what our kids have to deal
with now.
[2:28:39] Board of Trustees, Mayor Pugh, you have
not acted in the interest of public
[2:28:45] not acted in the interest of public
health.
[2:28:45] in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and
so far 2026, after the knowledge,
[2:28:51] the facts delivered to you by the CAC in
October of 2020.
[2:28:56] Now, just about 6 years later,
[2:28:58] with towns across Westchester already
multiple years into full-year ordinances,
[2:29:05] you've not seen fit to follow their lead,
[2:29:08] but instead punted the issue of this
public health threat back to the CAC with
[2:29:14] public health threat back to the CAC with
a
[2:29:14] huge list of new asks that has resulted in
exactly what you wanted— further delay.
[2:29:21] You've given them a task equivalent to
Charlie Brown reading War and Peace over
[2:29:27] summer break. You only acted finally on
May 27th of this year, 3 months ago.
[2:29:33] They told me to expect a recommendation 3
months from now.
[2:29:38] You've asked too much of the CAC.
[2:29:40] It's taking too long, and it's not the
CAC's fault.
[2:29:45] Let's take a closer look at that first C
in CAC.
[2:29:48] It stands for conservation, and this
committee works very hard for Croton.
[2:29:54] But with all this respect they deserve,
[2:29:57] why are you relying on them to advise you
on legislation intended to protect the
[2:30:04] public health of Croton?
[2:30:06] What is the CAC's expertise or even
experience with hearing loss, with
[2:30:11] experience with hearing loss, with
carcinogens,
[2:30:12] with carbon monoxide inhaled by children?
We all demand faster action.
[2:30:18] We demand you protect public health. Not
later, now.
[2:30:22] It isn't protecting public health in
Croton what your seat—
[2:30:27] you are in your seats to do?
[2:30:29] In less than 2 weeks, on September 1st,
[2:30:32] a 4-month-long assault on the public
health of Croton begins again.
[2:30:37] Decibels that strip the naked ear, toxins
known to cause cancer, Cool.
[2:30:43] It appears this legislative body of Croton
is okay with that.
[2:30:48] This is what I ask of you beginning
September 1st.
[2:30:52] For the next 4 months, every time you see,
hear, or smell a gas leaf blower,
[2:30:58] right on through the day of New Year's
Eve, I want you to remember that someone,
[2:31:04] a whole lot of someones, including you, is
in harm's way.
[2:31:09] Hearing damage, emphysema, asthma, Lung
and esophageal cancers,
[2:31:14] cardiovascular disease. I hope it's not a
child. Your child. My child.
[2:31:19] The case for ending the use of gas-powered
leaf blowers has been made over and over
[2:31:26] again, going back years.
[2:31:28] The only question is, if you, as the
elected leaders of Croton,
[2:31:33] are willing to do something about it For
the town you were elected to serve.
[2:31:39] It will take commitment and maybe some
intestinal fortitude. Do you have it?
[2:31:45] Is our public health worth it? Thank you.
[2:31:48] Thank you.
[2:31:50] Thank you.
[2:32:02] Thank you. Oh, actually, thank you.
[2:32:07] Thank you.
[2:32:19] Just off topic, I'd like to say that I've
done my lawn for 77 years,
[2:32:23] and my wife insisted that An outside guy
do it, part of the landscaping industry,
[2:32:29] you know. Guy makes about $65,000 a year
and he's the manager,
[2:32:33] as opposed to the other guys that make
like $35,000.
[2:32:36] Um, and so they showed up and he showed up
one of those big jobs,
[2:32:41] lawn mowers that the village uses, which
makes a lot of noise.
[2:32:45] And I have an electric lawn mower, which
makes a lot— Or not electric lawn mower,
[2:32:50] a gas lawn mower. Which makes for a lot
of—
[2:32:53] so he started doing it with the
gas-powered leaf blower, and I ran out and
[2:32:58] gas-powered leaf blower, and I ran out and
said,
[2:32:58] you can't do this, you can't do this.
[2:33:01] Use this electric leaf blower, which I
have, which sucks.
[2:33:04] They really suck, and it costs a lot more.
[2:33:07] Um, don't have the power, don't have the—
they don't last very long either,
[2:33:12] the charge. So he put his away, and, and,
um, I said, let me see that one.
[2:33:17] It's a gas-powered— and he had a low-noise
gas-powered leaf blower.
[2:33:22] And so between whatever leaf blower he
uses and my lawnmower, which spits out
[2:33:27] uses and my lawnmower, which spits out
stuff,
[2:33:27] makes dust all over the place, blows crap
away,
[2:33:30] I'll bet you we make as much noise as any
damn leaf blower does.
[2:33:34] It's when you gang up on leaf blowers.
[2:33:37] And I think that maybe gasoline lawnmowers
are next because They hate gasoline or
[2:33:42] whatever the hell else. I'd like to remind
you of something.
[2:33:46] This is what— I was off topic.
[2:33:48] Um, I was looking as we were dealing with
this outrageous housing proposal across
[2:33:54] from ShopRite, and I believe housing's
going in there.
[2:33:57] It should only be half the size, maybe 30
units. It should look nice.
[2:34:02] It's going to have to reinforce the hell
out of the bank.
[2:34:06] You can use Van Wyck Street as an example.
Reinforce the hell out of that bank.
[2:34:11] Thank you.
[2:34:12] And, and make a project look attractive,
[2:34:15] which the other tracts are either mediocre
or terrible.
[2:34:19] The exceptions being the one that's a
plain development next to the Harmon Deli,
[2:34:26] the 3-story job fits perfectly. It's a
narrow building.
[2:34:30] And then the one which you approved years
ago on a corner where Baked by Susan is
[2:34:36] and on top of the pot shop. It should be
appropriate.
[2:34:40] sized building for the lot, and it should
be in sync with the neighborhood,
[2:34:46] the landscape, and the neighbors.
Neighbors have rights.
[2:34:50] And the infrastructure, which is in doubt
down there.
[2:34:54] In passing these documents around,
[2:34:57] somebody passed the comprehensive plan
from 2005 around,
[2:35:01] and I looked at the front page and I burst
into laughing. I had a laughing out loud.
[2:35:07] Because they said as follows,
[2:35:10] this is a favorite of our state senator
and our governor,
[2:35:14] talking about transit-oriented housing.
[2:35:17] Talking about transit-oriented housing,
you know, parking lot A.
[2:35:22] This is a new up-and-coming idea,
transit-oriented,
[2:35:26] and it's especially put in place in the
states of California and New Jersey.
[2:35:32] Right.
[2:35:32] And when I read that, I said,
[2:35:34] if we follow anything in housing that the
states of New Jersey or California do,
[2:35:40] we're in big trouble.
[2:35:42] We already lost a million people out of
this state in the last 3—
[2:35:47] a million people left this state.
[2:35:49] There's only 2 other states proportionally
that lost more, and that's California,
[2:35:55] Illinois, which is terrible, and New
Jersey. And their housing plans suck.
[2:36:01] If you drive up and down the East Coast of
the United States,
[2:36:05] which I do on a regular basis,
[2:36:07] you will see what their transit-oriented
housing plans look like.
[2:36:12] And Montrose is a perfect example, and of
course, Parking Lot A will be another.
[2:36:18] Montrose looks like a maximum security
prison.
[2:36:21] And I assume as we develop, that's the
kind of housing we're going to get,
[2:36:27] especially with some of the contractors
that have proposed stuff to us lately.
[2:36:33] So I just wanted to bring that to your
attention. Thank you.
[2:36:37] My prime concern right now is RU46. RU
stands for Russell.
[2:36:41] Damn, Euclaf, which was a German French
pharmaceutical firm that was searching for
[2:36:47] stuff to deal with thyroid problems,
[2:36:50] and then they had a six-digit code which
they shortened. 46, 3 digits.
[2:36:55] And then they dumped this abortion pill in
the market.
[2:36:59] And when you look at the development of
that pill in Europe, it had the same
[2:37:05] that pill in Europe, it had the same
tawdry,
[2:37:05] dirty, corrupt development as in the
United States with state and federal
[2:37:11] United States with state and federal
officials.
[2:37:11] Last thing I'd like to put on the record,
[2:37:14] this is a card on how to save a child
after The first drug has been administered
[2:37:20] after The first drug has been administered
to
[2:37:21] a woman. You can save that child.
[2:37:23] You can save those twins if you get help
within 72 hours.
[2:37:27] It's the same treatment that is used for
miscarriages. It's only—
[2:37:32] Time, time expired.
[2:37:33] 50 years old. Thank you.
[2:37:34] Thank
[2:37:37] you.
[2:37:41] Hello.
[2:37:45] Ned Rust, Morningside Drive.
[2:37:48] I didn't realize there was a meeting
tonight till yesterday,
[2:37:52] so you guys are in luck.
[2:37:54] And I didn't have— so I didn't have time
to prepare a full 5-minute speech.
[2:37:59] And you're extra lucky because I'm going
to offer you some of the best life advice
[2:38:05] to offer you some of the best life advice
I
[2:38:05] can. I know everything in the world is
really Complicated.
[2:38:09] There's a lot of gray. There's a lot of
nuance.
[2:38:12] There are a lot of exceptions and
extenuating factors and caveats running
[2:38:17] extenuating factors and caveats running
over all
[2:38:17] around and, you know, threatening to bite
us in the butt.
[2:38:21] But here's a handy way to make things
really simple.
[2:38:26] There are 2 types of action you can make
in this world and things you can say.
[2:38:30] There are considerate ones and there are
inconsiderate ones.
[2:38:34] And you're either thinking more about
other people when you do or say something,
[2:38:39] or you're thinking more about yourself.
[2:38:42] And guess what the leaf blower
preservationists are doing when they,
[2:38:47] or when they have their paid servants,
[2:38:50] fire up these outdated cancer-causing
pollution machines?
[2:38:54] Are they thinking about others?
[2:38:55] About the carcinogenic legacy of aromatic
hydrocarbons on the children of our
[2:39:01] community about the respiratory and
auditory health of our landscape workers?
[2:39:06] Is that considerate or is that
inconsiderate?
[2:39:10] It's a simple rubric, and you can take it
to your work here on the board too.
[2:39:15] I thank you for your consideration, which,
by the way,
[2:39:19] can be sometimes be include being brief
and decisive.
[2:39:23] Thank you.
[2:39:23] Thank you. Does anyone else wish to
[2:39:29] comment? Seeing no one else wishing to
[2:39:36] comment, we proceed to reports.
[2:39:41] Trustee Slippen.
[2:39:44] Thank you, Mayor. Um,
[2:39:45] there aren't a lot of committee meetings
going on.
[2:39:48] I can't even remember the last time we had
a regular meeting.
[2:39:53] July 15th.
[2:39:54] July 15th. Okay. So there haven't been a
lot of committee meetings,
[2:39:58] but I do want to shout out the Arboretum
who has met throughout the summer,
[2:40:03] and the Arboretum looks terrific.
[2:40:05] I don't know if people have made it there
recently,
[2:40:08] but it looks terrific in spite of the
beaver dam or because of the beaver dam.
[2:40:13] So thank you to the Arboretum folks for
doing so.
[2:40:16] Also, our— a newly formed Although not
technically village committee,
[2:40:21] the Friends of Croton Parks have been busy
at work all summer long also.
[2:40:25] I'm sure that Trustee Nicholson is going
to speak more about that, so I won't, um,
[2:40:30] say too much. But I do just want to thank
that— those 2 organizations for their,
[2:40:36] their work, um, throughout the summer.
[2:40:38] Um, and I just want to take a minute to
talk about committees in general.
[2:40:43] Um, I heard this quote this week, or read
it,
[2:40:46] Just about democracy and how it really
doesn't happen without public
[2:40:50] doesn't happen without public
participation.
[2:40:51] And I really believe that,
[2:40:52] which is why I have been so adamant about
working on our volunteer committees,
[2:40:57] our citizen committees, you know,
[2:41:00] and getting them in a place where not only
the volunteers are being well served,
[2:41:05] but so is the community. I know there's
been a lot of conversation recently about—
[2:41:10] Yeah.
[2:41:10] about the minutes and the agendas and how
everything is working.
[2:41:14] And I do think that it's a work in
progress that we have not perfected yet.
[2:41:18] Trustee Nicholson and I spent a lot of
time on the guidelines and how that was
[2:41:23] time on the guidelines and how that was
all
[2:41:23] going to work and what that's going to
look like.
[2:41:26] And we have certainly not perfected it
yet.
[2:41:29] But in my meeting with the manager this
week, I probably, much to his annoyance,
[2:41:33] said that I would like to have another
work session Or minimally a meeting with
[2:41:38] work session Or minimally a meeting with
the
[2:41:38] committee chairs just to talk about how
it's going and how we can do better,
[2:41:43] because I really do appreciate all those
people who do so much work in all
[2:41:47] people who do so much work in all
different
[2:41:48] capacities for the village.
[2:41:49] Whether or not everybody agrees with
everything they're doing all the time,
[2:41:54] I think we should really be grateful to
them.
[2:41:56] So I just, I think the work is really
important to everyone in the village and
[2:42:01] important to everyone in the village and
how
[2:42:01] we're doing.
[2:42:02] Um.
[2:42:03] You know, another component of that, which
I've been talking about frequently,
[2:42:08] is the inclusion of high school students
on these committees.
[2:42:11] I think it's going to be a very nice way
to create another connection,
[2:42:16] bring in another perspective.
[2:42:17] I do think that there are some items on
the guidelines that we put together that I
[2:42:22] would like to revisit.
[2:42:23] I don't know how exactly that happens,
[2:42:26] if that has to happen at a meeting because
we adopted them if it can happen more
[2:42:30] informally. Um, and I don't need to go
into them now, but, um,
[2:42:34] the activities fair that I hope Trustee
Nicholson will join me at is going to be
[2:42:39] Nicholson will join me at is going to be
on
[2:42:39] September 15th, where we will talk to some
high school students, um,
[2:42:43] about participation on these committees.
[2:42:45] So I just wanted to first say out loud to,
you know,
[2:42:48] all the families whose kids are in the
high school that that's going to happen on
[2:42:53] the 15th, but it is also open to high
school students.
[2:42:56] Thank you.
[2:42:57] who are village residents that maybe don't
go to the high school.
[2:43:00] So I just want to remember that that's an
important component,
[2:43:03] but also talk about making some
adjustments to that.
[2:43:06] So I don't know how that happens,
[2:43:07] but maybe you and I can continue that
conversation.
[2:43:10] And yeah, I mean, depending on what they
are, uh, it was adopted by resolution.
[2:43:15] So I think it says that it's supposed to
be revisited during the organizational
[2:43:20] meeting. So that would be December.
[2:43:23] I just, I think the way it's written right
now maybe would exclude some people that
[2:43:28] I would otherwise— I think we— it says the
students have to be village residents,
[2:43:31] which is not even consistent with what our
regular committee rules are.
[2:43:35] I don't want to spend too much more time
talking about this.
[2:43:38] Meeting's already gone on for a while, but
I did want to bring it to your attention.
[2:43:42] Okay.
[2:43:42] And I also, I just want to make sure that
people are aware of this.
[2:43:47] I want to— we had a meeting today
regarding some more planning for Gouveia,
[2:43:52] which is a very frustrating and exciting
project for me, but—
[2:43:56] and for a lot of people.
[2:43:58] But I do think that progress is getting
made there and will continue to get made
[2:44:04] there. There is work being done.
[2:44:06] I hope that we can continue to highlight
the work that's being done there and share
[2:44:12] it in the newsletter.
[2:44:13] And on social media because progress is
getting made,
[2:44:17] especially our our this new group Friends
of Croton Parks has some really exciting
[2:44:22] ideas along with collaborating with the
Recreation Advisory Committee and the Arts
[2:44:28] and Humanities Committee.
[2:44:30] So you know there is progress that I would
like to be celebrating whenever we can
[2:44:36] because it's been a very long how long is
it twelve years?
[2:44:40] But there was progress made there today.
[2:44:42] The other thing I know that you know there
are a couple you know there are a few hot
[2:44:48] topics happening in the village right now,
[2:44:51] and obviously there's been a lot of
attention to the revising of the law that
[2:44:57] includes the pigeon situation.
[2:44:59] I think that what got us to where we are
now are a A couple things, you know,
[2:45:04] that have been unfortunate in how it got
here.
[2:45:07] You know, some decisions were made at the
zoning board meeting that have impacted
[2:45:13] where we are now, and some— I just,
[2:45:15] I really want to be thoughtful about how
we proceed,
[2:45:19] and I really want to make sure that
everybody gets to speak at the public
[2:45:24] everybody gets to speak at the public
hearing
[2:45:25] and that we are not making decisions You
know, we're putting numbers on animals.
[2:45:30] You know, I'm hearing from people, you
know, it's not— it seems that when we,
[2:45:36] when we embarked on this project,
[2:45:38] it seemed like it was going to be a simple
way to make things better.
[2:45:43] And it's very complicated.
[2:45:45] I think that we— I just want to be very
careful about how we're considering what
[2:45:50] we're doing because a lot of people are
going to be impacted and a lot of people
[2:45:56] have opinions about it.
[2:45:57] Yeah.
[2:45:59] And I don't— we can't fix the, the way
that decisions were made in the past,
[2:46:05] but we're going to have the opportunity
over the course of what I hope is a robust
[2:46:10] public hearing to make the right decision
that is going to be the best for the
[2:46:16] village going forward and not create more
issues. That's my report.
[2:46:21] Thank you.
[2:46:25] Judy. Judy.
[2:46:29] I'd like to change my vote to no referral
to the WAC. I don't— thank you.
[2:46:36] I don't think you can do that.
[2:46:38] You've already— attorney. The attorney is
here.
[2:46:41] Let's go to the attorney.
[2:46:42] Go to the video tape. You can't change it
absent another resolution.
[2:46:50] That is a subsequent resolution,
[2:46:54] and that would have to be at the chair's—
[2:46:58] at the chair's option to re-resolve an
action. Okay.
[2:47:04] In other words, you can't— I don't know,
[2:47:08] you can't call the resolution yourself.
[2:47:13] Yeah, once the vote is done, it's final,
right?
[2:47:17] It's like You know, so you can't, you
can't re—
[2:47:23] well, a single member— recall your vote.
[2:47:25] Yeah.
[2:47:26] Or change it in the same meeting that we
just spoke about 5 minutes ago.
[2:47:32] No, I'm saying, what I'm saying is a
single member of the Board of Trustees
[2:47:38] single member of the Board of Trustees
cannot
[2:47:39] reopen a resolution.
[2:47:40] So you'd need to ask, um, the chairman of—
the mayor to, uh,
[2:47:45] to call the question as to whether you
would like to reconsider the resolution.
[2:47:52] Okay, Mayor, I'm sorry to bother you with
this.
[2:47:56] I'll know in the future not to do this.
[2:48:00] If we can possibly reopen it, everyone
will vote the same way, and I'll just,
[2:48:06] for the record, vote no. You just need a
vote of the board to renew it.
[2:48:12] I don't think we've ever recalled a vote,
[2:48:15] and I think it's fine to note your
objections and proceed from there.
[2:48:19] Okay, so—
[2:48:21] But I'm not— I do not wish to reopen the
vote.
[2:48:24] Right. So how— Judy will note my
objections on the minutes?
[2:48:28] Yeah, just as part of your— as part of
your report, right?
[2:48:32] Just say that, you know, Trustee
Nachtaler, upon further, uh,
[2:48:37] reflection, uh—
[2:48:38] Yes, and also comments I heard from here,
which were upsetting.
[2:48:43] So we don't have to get into that, but
thank you for noting it, Judy.
[2:48:49] I appreciate what you do.
[2:48:51] Okay.
[2:48:52] Um, okay, so Sunday, um, this past Sunday,
August 16th,
[2:48:57] I attended the 50th Annual Jewish Music
and Arts Festival, um,
[2:49:02] put on by the Westchester Jewish Council.
[2:49:05] Pam Goldstein invited the board, and, you
know, I had the privilege of, of going.
[2:49:12] And, you know, it was, um, it was great.
[2:49:15] They had a lot of great vendors, a lot of
great music, um, and, you know,
[2:49:22] lots of great attendees and, and good
engagement.
[2:49:26] So there were lots of great services too,
um, for the community.
[2:49:31] So, um, I appreciated that.
[2:49:33] Thank you.
[2:49:35] Also, I appreciated— and I didn't get his
name, but he was in the fire EMS group—
[2:49:42] but I'm grateful for everything that the
fire and EMS teams have been doing.
[2:49:48] I heard they answered 5 calls today.
[2:49:51] We know that they've had, you know, super
challenging rescues at the county.
[2:49:57] Um, it sounds like, um, county park calls
have been kind of heating up.
[2:50:03] So, you know, I guess with summer and, you
know, you have more, you know,
[2:50:09] folks there, um, partying or, you know,
having a great time.
[2:50:14] But, um, you know, I'm really grateful to
them.
[2:50:18] And I do want to mention that the county
emergency service group put out new fire
[2:50:25] safety tips and videos.
[2:50:27] Oh, great.
[2:50:28] Which I think, um, Manager,
[2:50:30] I don't know if that's something we can
ask the Fire Council or, you know,
[2:50:35] the group to put on their website, or
maybe if you—
[2:50:39] if it's appropriate to add a link on our
website.
[2:50:43] But I found these fire safety tips videos
done by the county to be, like,
[2:50:48] really helpful. You know, they're short.
[2:50:51] I've seen them. Yeah.
[2:50:52] Yeah, they're good.
[2:50:53] Yep.
[2:50:53] You know, and Like the gentleman who spoke
tonight, he said that,
[2:50:58] you know, they've been answering a lot
more calls than usual.
[2:51:03] And, you know, so I, I think it's, uh,
it's helpful if we can, you know,
[2:51:08] promote those.
[2:51:09] We can, we can link to those, and I'll,
I'll, you know, um,
[2:51:13] reach out to the chiefs about using their
social media to promote it also.
[2:51:17] Yeah, thank you. Um, And I do want to
thank the planning board.
[2:51:22] You know, they've worked very hard on the
425 South Riverside project,
[2:51:29] and I thought that they handled the
planning board meeting, you know,
[2:51:35] with real professionalism.
[2:51:37] You know, and I know that the public is,
and thank you, Laurie Lee, as well,
[2:51:44] and to our planner. I think everybody did
a great job.
[2:51:48] So I know, you know, that we're waiting.
[2:51:52] The planning board is waiting for that
application to come back with more
[2:51:58] specifics, right? So, you know,
[2:52:01] we'll see if it ends up getting on the
September—
[2:52:06] Yeah, the August 25th meeting was
canceled.
[2:52:09] So the next meeting would be September
Right.
[2:52:12] Yeah, so the— and the deadline for that
would be Monday.
[2:52:16] Yeah, yeah. So I know there's a lot of
public interest in that, but I,
[2:52:21] I thought the planning board did a really
good job.
[2:52:25] Um, and, um, I do want to just give a
shout out to the VEB,
[2:52:29] the Visual Advisory Board. They met.
[2:52:32] I know Trustee Slippen was on the call
with me, and so were you, Manager.
[2:52:37] Um, you know, they're a small but mighty
group.
[2:52:41] So, you know, I know we're going to look
forward to the meetings in person, um,
[2:52:47] as well. I understand, right, they'll move
from Zoom to in person,
[2:52:52] which I think will be great.
[2:52:54] And I know— thank you, Manager, for
sharing,
[2:52:57] giving them advanced peek and opportunity
to weigh in on,
[2:53:01] on the color for underneath the Half Moon
Bay Bridge for paint.
[2:53:06] Yes.
[2:53:07] So, you know, that was, that was good, um,
good timing on that. I appreciate it.
[2:53:12] We're happy. I'm happy to have them weigh
in on stuff.
[2:53:16] You know, it's, it's what they're—
[2:53:18] that's what they're there for to do it.
[2:53:21] Yeah. So, yeah. And, um, just the seniors
club, um, you know, the senior club, I'm,
[2:53:28] I'm a liaison with Deputy Mayor Simon, and
they meet every Friday, uh, 11.
[2:53:34] To 1, and their meetings from 12 to 1.
[2:53:37] Um, and they have a pizza party coming up
at the Yacht Club September 11th, uh,
[2:53:44] for senior members. It's just $5 or $10
for guests.
[2:53:48] So that's, you know, at the Yacht Club.
Should be fun.
[2:53:53] Um, and then, um, there's a senior
barbecue, um, which is—
[2:53:58] Right.
[2:53:58] Actually, that's August 28th next Friday.
[2:54:02] So, um, that— I'm trying to see where that
is, but probably,
[2:54:07] probably at Senosqua. Yeah, DPW's cooking.
[2:54:11] It's— I would assume it's Senosqua. Yes.
[2:54:14] Oh yeah, so that's this Friday for anyone
that wants to go. Should be fun time.
[2:54:20] Um, and I know that, uh, Deputy Mayor
Simon will update on some exciting—
[2:54:25] your exciting FPD DR trip, right?
[2:54:28] Coming up.
[2:54:29] The seniors. Okay. Yeah. Um, so, all
right. So that's— yeah, that's it. Thank
[2:54:36] right. So that's— yeah, that's it. Thank
you.
[2:54:36] Oh, sorry. The, uh, my notes are getting
smaller and smaller, my font.
[2:54:42] Um, I do want to acknowledge all the
letters that we received on the pigeon
[2:54:49] letters that we received on the pigeon
topic.
[2:54:50] Um, on kind of both, both sides.
[2:54:53] You know, and I was very moved by the
speakers tonight, you know,
[2:54:58] including Tony and Nora and, you know,
everyone who spoke on the topic.
[2:55:05] So I think like Trustee Slippen,
[2:55:08] I look forward to the public hearing and
to further discussion around this to make
[2:55:15] sure that you know, we all do the right
thing and, and just feel good about, um,
[2:55:23] any changes that we propose to the law. So
thank you.
[2:55:27] Thank you. Um, so I will keep it brief.
[2:55:30] I just want to thank the DPW and
Recreation Department, um, this—
[2:55:35] for the summer concert series.
[2:55:37] It ended, um, really successfully the
other evening, Friday night.
[2:55:42] It was It was a beautiful night and it was
so nice to see a couple that actually got
[2:55:48] married down at Senosqua.
[2:55:50] Oh my God.
[2:55:51] And the bride and groom did their dance
and Valerie and I were like, what?
[2:55:56] Yeah, so amazing. Just so special to
everyone in the community.
[2:56:01] It was so nice to see.
[2:56:03] And the DPW has been working,
[2:56:05] the DPW has been working so hard on all of
the various road projects in the Village.
[2:56:11] I noticed that the sidewalks, um, on Old
Post Road are being taken care of,
[2:56:16] which is very exciting.
[2:56:18] It's been a pet project of mine.
[2:56:19] So that is happening as we speak, uh,
which is really exciting.
[2:56:24] And then kind of all of the new painting
and roadwork and Cleveland Drive, um,
[2:56:29] are just beautiful. So that is amazing.
[2:56:32] And then the recreation department has
been working, um, on successful camp
[2:56:37] been working, um, on successful camp
years.
[2:56:38] A challenging Silver Lake year.
[2:56:40] But, you know, really putting in a lot of
great effort there.
[2:56:44] Maria alluded to the meeting that we had
today,
[2:56:48] which was with the landscape architect
that the board had contracted with to do a
[2:56:53] master plan of the grounds of Gouveia
Park.
[2:56:56] So it was amazing to see someone that has
had history with the village and has done
[2:57:02] various village projects in the past, was
a former resident,
[2:57:07] sort of see what his vision was of the, of
the park and what it could be.
[2:57:12] So, you know, it continues to move
forward, which is really exciting.
[2:57:17] As Maria said, Friends of Croton Parks is
now a nonprofit separate from the village.
[2:57:23] So if residents are interested in
supporting parks,
[2:57:26] they are going to plan some upcoming
opportunities.
[2:57:30] Where they'll be doing a workday at Gwabea
Park where they'll be doing some weeding
[2:57:36] and some, you know, beautification. So
that's really exciting to see.
[2:57:41] And with that, I will pass it to my
colleague.
[2:57:44] Well, thank you very much.
[2:57:46] And I think, like we've all said, it's
been a—
[2:57:49] it's been a month or so since we've sat in
these seats.
[2:57:53] So just a few things to catch up on.
[2:57:56] On July 16th, our Bicycle and Pedestrian
Committee met.
[2:58:00] Mayor was there and So was I.
[2:58:02] And we got an update from the team there
on next steps on the redo of the bicycle
[2:58:08] pedestrian master plan. So looking forward
to progress on that.
[2:58:12] We received a lot of plaudits from
everyone on the Cleveland Avenue repaving.
[2:58:18] Everyone was just very pleased about that.
[2:58:21] So we were— it was quite good to hear
that.
[2:58:24] And we talked a little bit about Some of
the funding that we're seeking from
[2:58:29] the funding that we're seeking from
Project
[2:58:30] Mover, that's set-aside funding for
infrastructure projects,
[2:58:34] and we'll be submitting some paperwork to
them on funding for bike lanes,
[2:58:39] additional RRFBs, bike racks, and signage.
[2:58:42] So we'll have more to report on that in
the future.
[2:58:46] Unfortunately, on July 18th, we had to
cancel our bike skills training class,
[2:58:52] which was 50% indoors, 50% outdoors.
[2:58:54] 'Cause that, that was the, the height of
the Canadian forest fire bad air days.
[2:59:00] And so it was, it was canceled for that.
And I think it was raining as well.
[2:59:06] So we're working with, with the recreation
department to,
[2:59:10] to reschedule it for sometime in the fall.
So I'll let everyone know about that.
[2:59:16] On July 24th, I sat in on the quarterly
Zoom that Congressman Lawler has for For
[2:59:21] local elected officials in the district,
[2:59:24] and he gave us a quick briefing on the
housing bill, the Road to Housing,
[2:59:29] which we've talked about briefly here
before,
[2:59:33] some work he's doing on surface
transportation reauthorization,
[2:59:37] and how he's pushing back against some of
the proposed amendments to the grants
[2:59:43] process, which would tend to politicize
it. So it was always, always good to get.
[2:59:49] information from that office.
[2:59:51] On July 25th, just congratulations to the
Recreation Department for the community
[2:59:57] paddle. It was terrific. My wife Linda and
I were pleased to participate.
[3:00:02] The mayor was there as well. I thought it
was a great success.
[3:00:07] I think there were about 40 or so folks
there, mostly in kayaks,
[3:00:11] a few rowboats there.
[3:00:13] And of course, Mark Cheshire did a great
job in trying to Put the whole thing in
[3:00:19] perspective with a little talk on one of
the islands.
[3:00:22] And so I want to thank Recreation.
[3:00:25] Also want to thank the 125th Committee
chaired by Carolyn Whiting,
[3:00:30] which actually came up with the original
idea to do the community paddle in 2023.
[3:00:36] And it's continued every year, every year
since.
[3:00:39] So, and I think it's going to be— continue
to be a great institution.
[3:00:44] On 425 South Riverside, as Trustee
Nachtaler said Croton should be very
[3:00:49] Nachtaler said Croton should be very
proud,
[3:00:50] I think, of the planning board's care and
deliberate work that they're doing.
[3:00:55] Our engineer, our planning staff, and our
village attorney are really,
[3:01:00] really doing a fantastic job in making
sure that we're going step by step and
[3:01:06] holding the proposed developer to a very
high standard.
[3:01:10] And the absence of any subsequent meetings
Since the 28th, I think,
[3:01:15] is a good indication that's working.
[3:01:17] On July 29th, I think all of us were
participating in the Lions barbecue.
[3:01:22] I was grateful for the invitation and to
participate in that,
[3:01:27] and it's amazing how much good work the
Lions do for Croton.
[3:01:31] They should really be applauded for that.
[3:01:34] On July 30th, I had the great honor to
appear with Senator Pete Harkam To receive
[3:01:40] $100,000 in CREST funds for the village,
[3:01:43] which we will hope to use for the Harmon
Firehouse new roof with additional other
[3:01:49] funds. And assuming that we go forward
with that, it'll be a couple of years,
[3:01:54] I think, before the funds actually float
into our account.
[3:01:59] But once, once we get the roof work done,
[3:02:02] There's the potential for putting solar
panels on the Harmon Firehouse,
[3:02:07] just like we have on the Washington Engine
Company.
[3:02:10] We looked at this before through the
Sustainability Committee,
[3:02:15] and fact is you can't put solar tiles on a
bad roof.
[3:02:19] So we've got to get that roof done.
[3:02:21] And of course, Independence Day, we were
all there as well.
[3:02:25] Dwayne Jackson, and Joe Serrato are great
reenactors doing that in blistering heat,
[3:02:31] you know, just wearing these heavy cotton,
you know, or whatever they were,
[3:02:37] burlap colonial uniforms.
[3:02:39] And it was especially—
[3:02:40] I'm so grateful to the village manager and
everyone for having had the idea of not
[3:02:46] doing that on July 4th,
[3:02:48] but doing it on August 1st when there were
less distractions like the big ships that
[3:02:54] were coming into the, into the, into the
port in New York.
[3:02:58] And of course, we had,
[3:03:00] we had a second half of that because in
addition to the great reenactment,
[3:03:05] I think was longer than I've ever, ever
experienced. They did a fantastic job.
[3:03:11] But secondly, then we were able through
the Hart Committee to honor Mark Cheshire
[3:03:17] and the Historical Society for all the—
Mm-hmm. All the great work that they do.
[3:03:22] And second last, second to the last is
National Night Out just last week.
[3:03:28] Again, I think we were all there.
[3:03:30] Thanks for the police department, fire
department, EMS, everyone, drone.
[3:03:35] DPW drives the drone.
[3:03:37] Yeah, DPW, everyone that participated.
[3:03:40] It's a great, it was a great community
event and a great, great coming out.
[3:03:45] And of course, thanks also to the golf
course for the wonderful food.
[3:03:49] So it was just great.
[3:03:50] And as long— just wrapping up, as long as
Trustee Nachtaler mentioned it,
[3:03:55] we are taking all of the seniors that want
to.
[3:03:58] It's at least 30, so last time I checked
the registration.
[3:04:02] We're taking them up to FDR.
[3:04:03] I'll be giving them a tour of the library
and the museum,
[3:04:07] and we're very excited about that.
[3:04:09] And for those of you that aren't going on
that trip but would like to Uh,
[3:04:14] like to make a special trip, uh, up there
between now and December.
[3:04:18] Um, long story short, you know, until
about, uh, 1812 or '13, uh,
[3:04:22] there were no copies of the Constitution—
of the Declaration of Independence.
[3:04:27] Uh, you know, there were, uh, there were,
[3:04:30] there were newspapers that had repeated
the words,
[3:04:33] but there were no copies like we're used
to seeing.
[3:04:36] So the, uh, the federal government at the
time was—
[3:04:40] Uh-huh.
[3:04:40] Um, had the idea of commissioning a, um,
a, a steel plate that, uh, that had, um,
[3:04:46] the reproduction of the words and the
signatures of the, um, of the Declaration.
[3:04:52] And they were generous enough to print up
200 copies for the, for the whole country.
[3:04:58] There are only 50 left of, uh, that, that
are known of,
[3:05:02] and we now have one of them at, at FDR.
[3:05:05] Wow.
[3:05:05] on loan to us through December 26th by the
great David Rubenstein,
[3:05:10] who is a great philanthropist and owner of
the Baltimore Orioles,
[3:05:14] who are now tied with the Yankees, in case
anyone knows.
[3:05:18] So, if you're interested in coming up,
just let me know,
[3:05:22] but we're very much looking forward to the
seniors being there on February 10th.
[3:05:27] All right, thank you all for your
comprehensive review of the intervening
[3:05:32] comprehensive review of the intervening
weeks.
[3:05:33] And thank you to everyone that spoke, uh,
tonight's meeting.
[3:05:37] Um, I want to, uh, thank the, uh,
[3:05:39] Trail Subcommittee of the Conservation
Advisory Council for a great cleanup on
[3:05:45] August 8th. And I also— there will be a
meeting before this,
[3:05:49] but I want to give people maximum notice—
[3:05:52] a village town hall on a potential New
York Forward application.
[3:05:57] New York Forward Being the younger sibling
to the Empire State Development
[3:06:02] Corporation's Downtown Revitalization
Initiative.
[3:06:06] This would be potential state funding for
economic development and the creation of
[3:06:11] various amenities in the village,
[3:06:14] something that we are eligible for as a
pro-housing community.
[3:06:18] A new round has not been announced yet for
New York Forward,
[3:06:23] but it has been budgeted for.
[3:06:25] So in order to prepare our application,
[3:06:27] we want to get public input sooner rather
than later.
[3:06:31] And our planner/grant writer will be
explaining some of the thinking in terms
[3:06:37] explaining some of the thinking in terms
of the
[3:06:37] overall strategy for this application,
[3:06:40] and we will also be hearing from Mayor
Marjorie Hsu of the Village of Sleepy
[3:06:45] Marjorie Hsu of the Village of Sleepy
Hollow,
[3:06:46] which is a previous New York Forward
winner.
[3:06:49] Who will be describing,
[3:06:51] summarizing some of the projects that New
York Forward has allowed Sleepy Hollow to
[3:06:57] pursue. So that will be taking place on—
did I say September 3rd?
[3:07:01] Because I'm not sure that's right.
[3:07:03] It is.
[3:07:04] It is the Thursday. All right, so very
good.
[3:07:06] In this very room.
[3:07:06] Yep, in this very room.
[3:07:08] So more information will be coming out
shortly, but it is on our village
[3:07:12] shortly, but it is on our village
calendar,
[3:07:13] and I hope we have robust participation.
Manager, do you have anything else to add?
[3:07:18] Um, I don't. Did you have any
appointments?
[3:07:20] Uh, not at this time.
[3:07:24] The VEB.
[3:07:25] Oh wait, sorry, uh, uh, Jen Johnson, uh,
[3:07:28] Jen Johnson rather, uh, for, uh, the VEB.
[3:07:31] Yes, do I have a motion on Jen?
[3:07:33] So moved.
[3:07:34] Second.
[3:07:35] Uh, motion by Trustee Slippen, second by
Trustee Simon. All in favor?
[3:07:38] Aye.
[3:07:39] Thank you.
[3:07:40] To clarify, that's for the chair.
[3:07:42] Yes, as chair.
[3:07:43] She was already a— she was already a
member.
[3:07:45] She was already a member.
[3:07:50] Yeah. Oh, do I have a motion to adjourn?
[3:07:52] So moved.
[3:07:53] Second.
[3:07:54] Motion by Trustee Simon, second by Trustee
Nicholson. All in favor? Aye.