[0:03] Okay, good evening everyone. Welcome to the August 25th, 2026

[0:10] town hall town hall town meeting. Please rise and join me

[0:15] for the pledge of allegiance.

[0:36] Couns Council person Manikio. >> Council person Weiss

[0:41] » present. >> Uh deputy supervisor Meyer

[0:45] » present >> and supervisor Felman

[0:47] » present. >> Okay. Okay. A rec recognition of the

[0:51] fire of the first responders for the fire at Parthnulls.

[0:55] » Okay. Okay. Tonight we come together to recognize an extraordinary emergency

[1:00] response and to express gratitude, the gratitude of the town board and the

[1:04] whole town of Austining for the many people and agencies who answered the

[1:08] call when a fastmoving fire struck 87 Hawks Avenue, the Parthnull Complex.

[1:14] What could have been an even greater tragedy was met with courage,

[1:18] professionalism, quick thinking, and remarkable coordination. More than 30

[1:23] emergency response agencies and over 200 first responders came together to

[1:27] protect our residents and our community. We are especially grateful that despite

[1:32] the intensity of and danger of this fire, there was no loss of life and no

[1:36] injuries to residents or first responders.

[1:39] That outcome began with the immediate actions of eight police officers and two

[1:44] firefighters who entered the building without hesitation to get the residents

[1:48] to safety. Their courage and commitment in those critical first moments made a

[1:52] profound difference and today we will recognize them for their heroic actions.

[1:57] We will also present certificates of appreciation to the many fire

[2:00] departments, ambulance cores, emergency service agencies, and other responders

[2:04] whose teamwork and dedication were essential throughout this emergency. And

[2:09] finally, we will recognize Chiefs Luis Luis Sanchez, First Assistant Chief

[2:13] Anthony Martinez, and Second Assistant Chief Joseph Raldi. Their exceptional

[2:18] leadership and coordination of this massive response. Today is an

[2:22] opportunity to say on behalf of the entire town of Oening, thank you. Thank

[2:27] you for your courage, your professionalism,

[2:30] and your willingness to answer the call. And most importantly, for helping bring

[2:35] everybody through this terrible incident safely.

[2:38] And it is my honor to begin these recognitions. So, if we were going to

[2:42] start with calling up our fire chiefs, Chief Sanchez, Chief Martinez, and Chief

[2:48] Raldi. Um, okay. Yeah. And we will let Chief

[2:54] Raldi give a brief synopsis of the

[3:00] all chiefs.

[3:04] » All right. So, I figured it'd be a good idea to give a little update or actually

[3:08] what happened that evening to the town board here. So, Friday, August 7th, 2026

[3:14] started out as any typical August day, sunny, hot, and humid, and preparations

[3:18] for were underway for the Austining Fire Department annual parade. The stage on

[3:22] Main Street was set. The flag raising ceremony in Market

[3:26] Square with US Ambassador Lu Rinaldi was a success. The parade lineup was covered

[3:31] and preparations for the post parade festivities were complete. Then heavy

[3:36] thunderstorms moved into the area. As the storms intensified, there was

[3:41] growing uncertainty as to whether the parade would be able to take place.

[3:45] Participating sorry, participating departments began arriving while the

[3:50] Austin Fire Department handled a fire alarm call on the south end of the

[3:53] village. At 17:30 hours, our parade standby crews arrived from Pirmont,

[3:58] Spring Valley, Mount Kiscoco, and Katona. Chief Sanchez, Chief Martinez,

[4:02] and I met with the parade judges and unfortunately made the difficult

[4:06] decision to cancel the annual parade due to weather at approximately 1857 hours.

[4:11] The Austining Fire Department and our standby crews were alerted to 87 Hawks

[4:15] Avenue, Parthn Noles, in the town of Austining for a reported building struck

[4:20] by lightning with smoke in the area. Multiple units immediately began

[4:23] responding. In less than four minutes, foreman Michael Aurora, Lieutenant Lewis

[4:28] Raldi, and I arrived on scene to find a large volume of thick smoke emanating

[4:33] from the roof of building number one. I immediately advised Wester County Fire

[4:38] Control that we had a working fire assignment and were transmitting a 1075,

[4:42] reporting heavy smoke from the roof. As we pulled it into the complex, I

[4:47] remember Lieutenant Raldi asking me, "What do you want us to do?" and I

[4:50] simply replied, "Go save as many people as you can." And that is exactly what

[4:54] they did. Foreman Aurora and Lieutenant Raldi immediately exited my vehicle and

[4:59] ran into the building alongside eight Austin police officers. Initial reports

[5:03] indicated that the building's fire alarm system was not alerting res residents

[5:07] with Austin PD officers reporting they attempted a manual pole station. It was

[5:11] later determined that the alarm system may have been compromised and rendered

[5:15] inoperable as a result of the lightning strike. however, never confirmed. Within

[5:20] seconds, fire broke through the roof line and rapidly traveled throughout the

[5:24] entire common loft. Due to the number of potential occupants, the

[5:28] building construction, and the significant fire load, a second alarm

[5:32] was transmitted. Only 2 minutes after our arrival, the standby crews arrived

[5:36] and immediately began deploying a hose line into the interior and then flowing

[5:40] large volumes of water using deluge guns and ladder pipes. Fire conditions

[5:45] continually uh continue to rapidly deteriorate and firefighters were

[5:49] ultimately ordered out of the building and due to multiple structural

[5:53] collapses. At that point, the entire roof was fully

[5:57] involved. Fortunately, everyone was successfully evacuated from the

[6:00] building. Seven families were evacuated through the courageous and immediate

[6:04] actions of foreman Michael Aurora, Austining Fire Department. Lieutenant

[6:08] Lewis Ronald, Austin Fire Department. Sergeant James Castanis, Austining

[6:12] Police Department. Police Officer James Hazel, Austining Police Department.

[6:16] Police Officer Brett Malfetano, Austining Police Department. Police

[6:20] Officer Diego Mango, Austining Police. Police Officer Luke Malone, Austining

[6:25] Police. Police officer Steven Pupchek, Austining Police. Police Officer William

[6:29] Puffers, Austining Police. Police officer Farooq Kapalo, Austining Police.

[6:34] These 10 brave individuals successfully evacuated an entire multi-occupied

[6:38] residential building in only a matter of minutes without protective gear. And

[6:43] while conditions inside the building were rapidly deteriorating, I truly

[6:46] believe their actions saved lives that evening. What else? What? Sorry. What

[6:51] makes this even more remarkable is the outcome. Approximately 200 firefighters

[6:55] responded, including members of our own junior corps, our standby crews, mutual

[6:59] aid, EMS, police officers, and despite the tremendous fire conditions and

[7:03] structural collapse, there were no reported injuries, and most importantly,

[7:06] no fatalities. The events of August 7th are a powerful reminder of what our

[7:11] firefighters and police officers do. Not only when conditions are ideal, but when

[7:15] plans change, the weather turns dangerous, and people need help. On

[7:19] behalf of the fire, Austining Fire Department alongside the town of

[7:22] Austining, we extend our sincere appreciation to all the mutual aid

[7:26] partners and agencies who responded and assisted that evening. Westers County

[7:30] Department of Emergency Services, Austining Police Department, Austining

[7:33] EMS, and most importantly, the volunteer members of the Austining Fire Department

[7:37] and the Austining Fire Department Junior Corps. August 7th may have started as a

[7:41] day of celebration, but it ended as a night that demonstrated the courage,

[7:45] dedication, and selflessness of the men and women, sorry, men and women who

[7:49] serve our community. Thank you.

[7:57] » You want to say anything? >> Oh, one more thing, town supervisor, I

[8:01] just want to say the building owner is here, Mr. Beldi. He has been great.

[8:05] worked with us all night and he was very very sincere about his residence and uh

[8:10] you don't see that often with a landlord and we also thank you for that

[8:35] I have a big

[8:48] Okay. All right.

[8:56] Emily woman Dana Levenberg would like to say a few words.

[8:59] » Thank you. Uh pleasure to be here on Town of Ashley town hall meeting. I just

[9:04] wanted to uh um also express my great appreciation for the incredible work of

[9:11] uh all of the men and women who responded. Uh I was actually out of town

[9:15] at the time. Uh but I heard about it and uh I know that I've heard from the

[9:21] residents um some of whom are here tonight how grateful they were to the

[9:25] incredible response of all of the first responders, the fire department, police

[9:30] department, um EMS, but also uh I wanted to just recognize uh Supervisor Liz

[9:36] Feldman. She also was there. she was she responded immediately and did everything

[9:42] she could to help the residents find um and feel better that night and find a

[9:47] safe place to lay their heads and that's what all that we can ask for from

[9:52] anybody and certainly that's what all of you give us the ability to do every

[9:56] night. So knowing that we can be safe because of you uh we couldn't be more

[10:00] appreciative. So I know that uh the the um town has prepared certificates for uh

[10:06] for all those of you up here as well as some of you in the audience and um I

[10:11] have also have certificates for you from New York State Assembly. Again, my

[10:15] sincere appreciation. Thank you. and

[10:20] really

[10:30] uh this is just a bonus for Supervisor Liz Feldman who deserves special

[10:34] recognition for her empathetic and dedicated response to the devastating

[10:37] fire at Perth no Apartments on August 7th, 2026. Thank you so much. Appreciate

[10:41] you.

[10:46] There you go.

[10:52] Okay. Unexpected, but thank you. Okay. All right. So, this proclamation is in

[11:00] recognition of our three chiefs. I'm not going to read all three. I'm going to

[11:03] read one, which will be for Chief Luis Sanchez. Um, but know that the other two

[11:09] match. Whereas on August 7th, 2026, a

[11:14] fast-moving dangerous fire caused by a lightning strike erupted 87 Hawks Avenue

[11:18] in the Parthnull area of Aening. And whereas the magnitude and rapid

[11:23] progression of the fire required immediate and extraordinary emergency

[11:27] response involving more than 30 emergency service agencies and over 200

[11:32] first responders. And whereas through exceptional leadership, preparation, and

[11:36] coordination of Chief Lewis Sanchez, emergency personnel from throughout the

[11:41] region work together to protect the residents, neighboring properties, and

[11:44] the Austin community. And whereas, despite dangerous conditions and

[11:49] intensity of the fire, the coordinated efforts of the first responders resulted

[11:54] in no loss of life, no injuries to residents or emergency personnel. And

[11:59] whereas Chief Lewis Sanchez has demonstrated outstanding leadership,

[12:02] professionalism, courage, and unwavering commitment to public safety during one

[12:07] of the most significant emergency responses ever in our community. Now

[12:11] therefore, be it resolved that I, Elizabeth Felman, supervisor of the town

[12:15] of Austining, with the enthusiastic support of the entire town board,

[12:20] proudly recognize and honor Chief Lewis Sanchez, for extraordinary leadership

[12:24] and service during the emergency response to the fire of 86 87 Hawks

[12:28] Avenue, and extend the gratitude and appreciation of the entire town of

[12:32] Aening for helping to ensure the safety of our residents and first responders.

[12:36] Thank you.

[12:57] Okay. Do you want a picture? Okay. Who's taking pictures? I guess Martha's taking

[13:01] pictures.

[13:46] Next, we'd like to recognize the fire department members and officers who

[13:52] bravely ran into the building to rescue the residents and to clear the building.

[14:03] Uh oh. Okay. Uh, foreman fire foreman Michael Aurora

[14:20] and Fire Lieutenant Joseph Lewis Ronald.

[14:34] So this certificate is proudly presented for extraordinary bravery and quick

[14:38] thinking in the line of duty on October August 7th. Your fearless response

[14:44] during the Parthnulls fire at 87 Hawks Avenue fire saved lives and protected

[14:48] our community. Your selfless actions show the highest standard of public

[14:52] service. Thank you.

[15:05] You know, you want to come

[15:46] Okay. Sergeant James Castanis.

[15:56] Officer William Peppers.

[16:07] » I think he worked at >> Officer James Hazel.

[16:23] Officer Luke Malone,

[16:35] Officer Brett Malfetano,

[16:43] Officer Farooqap, elbow,

[16:56] officer Diego Manco,

[17:03] and Officer Steven Pupchic.

[17:07] You could just hold it. Okay. So this certificate is pres pr proudly

[17:13] presented for extraordinary bravely extraordinary bravery and quick thinking

[17:18] in the line of duty on October 7th 2026. Your fearless response during the

[17:23] partnels at 87 Hawks Avenue fire saved lives and

[17:28] protected our community. Your selfless action showed the highest standard of

[17:32] public service. Thank you.

[17:39] We'll get this. Okay.

[18:43] I see Luke Powell from the governor's office. Did you want to say anything or

[18:46] just Governor Hokll sent her representative here to honor you all as

[18:51] well? Okay. I'm going to call up a representative from each of the fire

[18:55] departments that's here to receive your proclamation. So Bedford Hills Fire

[19:01] Department, Briercliffe Manor Fire Department,

[19:05] Buchanan Engine Company, Continental Village Fire Department, Croin Falls

[19:11] Fire Department, Croinon Hudson Fire Department, Dubs Ferry Fire Department,

[19:17] Golden's Bridge Fire Department, Katona Fire Department, Mayapac Falls Fire

[19:22] Department, Mount Kiscoco Volunteer Fire Department. I know I saw Mayapac here.

[19:27] Uhhuh. Now, Kiscoco Volunteer Fire Department,

[19:31] Mutual Engine, North White Plains Fire Company, number one, Austining Fire

[19:36] Department, not all of you, please. Austining Police Department, Austining

[19:41] Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Pleasantville.

[19:47] All right. Uh, Pleasantville Volunteer Fire Department, Mechanical Hills Fire

[19:52] Department, Portchester Fire Department, Putnham Valley Fire Volunteer Fire

[19:57] Department,

[20:05] » Scarsdale Ambulance Corps, Sleepy Hollow Fire Department, South Salem Fire

[20:10] Department, Spring Valley Hook and Ladder Company, Terrytown Fire

[20:14] Department, Thornwood Fire Department, Valhalla Fire Department, Burplank Fire

[20:19] Department, Village Piermont Fire Department, West Harrison Fire

[20:23] Department, Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, and

[20:27] Yorktown Heights Volunteer Fire Department.

[20:36] H >> and Milwood, didn't I say Milwood? Yeah.

[20:43] » Milwood came like repeatedly.

[20:50] picture. >> Okay. Martha, can I have one of the

[20:54] certificates?

[21:02] » Yeah. Come on down. Okay. This certificate accommodation is

[21:10] awarded to each and individual fire department in

[21:15] recognition of their part in the rapid and coordinated response to the August

[21:19] 7th fire at Barthnol. The town of Austining will forever be grateful for

[21:23] your teamwork and your coordination with our fire department and the county. And

[21:30] it is heartening to know how the Austining community and the greater

[21:37] Westchester and beyond fire communities work together and coordinate to protect

[21:42] life and limb and most of your volunteer. So with you and all of your

[21:46] 200 volunteer firefighters that showed up, we just wanted to say thank you.

[21:50] Thank you very much.

[21:57] And you can all see Martha for your actual certificate.

[22:02] Oh, picture. Yes, sorry. Picture again.

[22:56] people. Good work.

[23:57] Good.

[24:01] » Thank you guys. >> Okay.

[24:05] Now, anybody that wants to stay for our audit report is absolutely welcome to

[24:55] very much.

[25:07] Yeah, right.

[25:19] Okay.

[25:33] Okay, perfect.

[25:42] Chief, could we close those two doors possibly?

[25:47] » How'd I get one? Stop listening. >> Okay,

[25:50] » my first one.

[26:02] Keith, there's one there for you, Keith.

[26:17] Okay. Uh, we're going to begin with our We're going to begin with our public

[26:22] hearings. Our

[26:27] first public hearing is we're going to

[26:35] Okay. I need a motion to table the first public hearing on local law 2026

[26:40] regulating drones in the town. Do I have a motion?

[26:43] » So moved. Second. >> All in favor? I

[26:49] » I do it all the time. Uh, our second public hearing will be the 2026 Cabaret

[26:54] license for Flames Bar and Grill LLC. There anyone online since there's no one

[27:00] left in our audience now um that would like to speak on that public hearing?

[27:08] Seeing no one, do I have a motion to close the public hearing on uh the 2026

[27:12] Cabaret license for Flame Spar and Grill?

[27:15] » So moved. Second. >> All in favor?

[27:17] » I. Special presentation.

[27:22] » Oh, there he is. Uh, the 2025 audit presentation. Robert A. Denell, CPA of

[27:30] PKF O'Conor Davies. And we would like to welcome our comproller, Dale Brennan,

[27:36] and our deputy comproller, Liz Nikari, who are also here.

[27:40] » Good evening. Okay,

[27:47] it's going to get a little bit quieter.

[27:54] » All right. Do we have the PowerPoint up um that we can present?

[28:01] » One moment, please. Yeah.

[28:11] Um, it's up and ready, Rob. Just let me know when you want me to skip to the

[28:14] next slide. Okay, >> you got it. Thank you. All right, so

[28:18] we'll start. Uh, good evening and thank you for having me present the audit

[28:21] results for the town of Austinine again for the fiscal year ended December 31st,

[28:26] 2025. Uh, before I begin, I just wanted to

[28:29] thank all the finance folks led by Dale Brennan at the town uh for all their

[28:34] assistance throughout the audit process. We began this process sometime in

[28:38] December doing some preliminary work and we were able to issue this probably a

[28:44] month or so ago um or even sooner actually and we're here presenting the

[28:49] results. So again, thanks to to Dale and her team. Um so again, we prepared a

[28:53] PowerPoint rather than go through a 100page audit report. So uh if you turn

[28:57] to the next page, next slide, table of contents,

[29:03] we'll go through a brief overview and required communications. What are

[29:07] management's responsibilities? What are our responsibilities as your external

[29:11] auditors? The reports we have issued and the opinions we have rendered. Uh we'll

[29:16] spend a couple of minutes in the general fund and the town outside villages fund.

[29:20] Those are the main operating accounts of the town. We'll go through some budget

[29:24] to actual summary. Um, we do have a few slides and some three-year comparison of

[29:30] how you ended up as far as fund balance and a three-year comparison as well as

[29:35] your revenues and expenditures and maybe, you know, we won't spend that

[29:39] long on those, but it'll give you some trends uh that are happening. Same thing

[29:43] with the town outside village, a budget to actual summary and give you some uh

[29:47] some of the budget to actual revenues and expenses and then a three-year uh

[29:51] look back. Uh the town does operate other funds. We'll spend a couple of

[29:55] minutes on those funds as uh we have a slide on your debt service requirements,

[29:59] your your bonds outstanding and then we'll close with some summary closing

[30:03] points. So very quickly if next slide um although that we do prepare the

[30:09] financial statements we have to say they're ultimately management's

[30:12] responsibility. So we do make sure that management is selecting and implementing

[30:16] the appropriate county policies and fairly presenting the financial

[30:20] information in accordance with the standards generally accepted accounting

[30:24] principles that they're establishing and maintaining effective internal controls

[30:28] over financial reporting throughout the year and more importantly that they're

[30:31] in compliance with laws, regulations, provisions of contracts and then really

[30:36] providing us with all of the financial records so that we can complete the

[30:40] audit. Next slide. So our responsibility is we take all

[30:46] that information um and we are charged with rendering an

[30:51] opinion on the financial statements taken as a whole. You could go to the

[30:54] next slide if you don't mind. So again we are crunching numbers but ultimately

[30:59] we issue an opinion on on on the financial statements taken as a whole.

[31:03] It's the first couple of pages in the audit report entitled independent

[31:06] auditors report on the basic financial statements. We have issued what is

[31:10] termed an unmodified opinion. An unmodified opinion is a clean opinion.

[31:14] It's the highest level of assurance that an entity can receive and it basically

[31:19] states that the financial statements uh present fairly the financial position of

[31:23] the town again as of December 31st, 2025 and in accordance with the current

[31:29] accounting standards. We also issue a report on our required communications

[31:33] together with our management letter. I'm happy to report that although we did

[31:37] have a couple of comments, nothing rose to a level that we call a material

[31:41] weakness or a significant deficiency. Uh and we also audit the town justice court

[31:46] and we issue a separate report. Uh and during the course of our audit, um we

[31:51] are required to communicate any fraud or illegal illegal acts noted during the

[31:55] course of our audit. Again, I'm happy to report there were no allegations of

[31:59] fraud or actual fraud that was uncovered. uh business office very

[32:03] cooperative, no difficulties. Internal controls appear to be in place and

[32:07] operating as designed. What we mean by uncorrected or corrected misstates that

[32:12] just means if there was something that we proposed as far as an entry that it

[32:16] was recorded by management and it's included in your numbers and again the

[32:20] business office very cooperative. Uh next next slide. So this is a highle

[32:26] look at the general fund budget to actual summary. Uh details can be found

[32:30] on pages 64 to 69 in the actual audit report. You can see there are four

[32:35] columns. The original budget is what you folks, the town board approved back in

[32:40] the fall, I guess, of 2024. Uh I'm going to give you some highlevel numbers and

[32:45] then we'll get into details. Um but again, from a from a high level, $6.4

[32:50] million in revenues, almost $6 million in expenditures representing in excess

[32:56] of $495,000. When you factor in uh what we call other

[33:00] financing uses, those are transfers to other funds. Transfers to the debt

[33:05] service fund to cover your principal and interest on your outstanding debt. Uh

[33:10] transfers to the capital projects fund to do your ongoing capital improvements

[33:14] and transfers uh to the special purpose fund. You do operate a Dale Cemetery

[33:20] that requires some funding from the special uh purpose fund. When you factor

[33:25] in the the bracketed 529,000, you come down to that bracket at 33,000 and

[33:30] that's just open purchase orders from the prior year. Those automatically roll

[33:35] and amend the 2025 budget. The middle column is your final budget. Um during

[33:40] the year, you can amend the budget. You can see that your revenues went up about

[33:44] close to $400,000. The town did recognize a portion of its

[33:48] American Rescue Plan Act funding in 2025 to the tune of about 400 385,000 close

[33:56] to 400,000. So that was amended. Uh expenditures weren't really touched and

[34:01] and uh you could see the transfers out went up uh about a million dollars, a

[34:06] little over a million dollars. Uh and 385,000 was the ARPA, the American

[34:11] Rescue Plan Act funds that you recognize. Uh but the town did

[34:15] appropriate about a million dollars to cover some capital projects rather than

[34:20] going out and borrowing. Uh so from its own surplus it transferred about a

[34:24] million dollar. Some of the projects were the uh angle waterfront uh

[34:28] waterfront park capital project they transferred at $375,000

[34:33] and the geared back uh park project about $230,000. Those were some of the

[34:39] uh larger transfers. Third column is your actual results and you can see your

[34:44] actual revenues came in at a little over $7.2 million, $423,000

[34:49] better than your final budget. You also had expenditure savings of about a

[34:54] little over $97,000, $5.8 million compared to a budget of

[34:59] just under $6 million. Uh you take your revenue, subtract your expenses, you

[35:04] have an excess of $1.4 million. When you factor in transfers in and transfers out

[35:09] to the other funds, again remember these were planned transfers uh that you did

[35:13] for for capital projects mostly you come down to that net change in fund balance

[35:18] which just means that your expenses exceeded your revenues by $188,000 but

[35:24] as I mentioned you did transfer uh close to a million uh for these capital

[35:29] projects. So you subtract $188,000 from your opening fund balance of $6.9

[35:34] million and you do end the year at $6.7 million. So um although you do show a

[35:41] small loss I would call that break evening uh because you did make those

[35:45] transfers that's what caused that. So, um, overall a really good year in the

[35:50] general fund. And if you look at that net change in fund balance line, you can

[35:53] see that again, if everything went according to your budget, you would have

[35:57] anticipated using $762,000 of your own funds, and you only really

[36:02] needed to utilize $188,000. So, you had a budget surplus all the way to the

[36:07] right there of almost $575,000. U, so I mentioned you end the year at

[36:13] what, $6.7 million. If we go to the next slide,

[36:18] um, and we focus on the 20 2025 column, that's your 6.7 at the bottom. Um, it's

[36:25] broken down into really three buckets, if you will. Uh, $87,000 is what we call

[36:31] non-spendable fund balance for prepaid expenditures. That just means that you

[36:35] paid an insurance bill early for 2026 in 2025. So these funds are set aside and

[36:42] once that expense is recognized in 2026, it'll be taken from that bucket. You

[36:48] have a small amount of what we call purchase orders, $8,430.

[36:52] Again, this is going to automatically roll and amend the 2026 budget. And more

[36:58] importantly, you have unassigned fund balance of $6.6 million, which is free

[37:02] and clear to spend as you have utilized in doing capital projects. Um, so 6.6 6

[37:10] million on a 2026 adopted budget of $6.6 million. You have pretty much fund

[37:17] balance equal to 100% of of of next year's budget.

[37:22] So, next slide. How did you get there? Very quickly, um these are your

[37:26] revenues. Some of the uh amounts highlighted in green. I have some backup

[37:31] down below, but real property taxes. Real property taxes came in short of the

[37:35] budget. Uh that doesn't mean you're not going to collect those. there there are

[37:39] different rules. Um you can only recognize revenue to the extent that

[37:43] they're collected within 60 days of your fiscal year end. Uh so you have some

[37:48] slowpaying taxpayers. As I said, it doesn't mean you're not going to collect

[37:53] it. You'll probably get it in 2026. So there could be a chance that your

[37:58] revenues for real property taxes could exceed uh your budget because of this in

[38:03] 2026. Other tax item the these are interest

[38:06] and penalties on taxes. you do have a budget of about $500,000.

[38:11] Uh those interest and penalties uh received exceeded the budget by $57,212

[38:18] that generated some of the surplus. And then if you go down to use of money and

[38:22] property, which is just another fancy name for interest earnings. And given

[38:26] that the interest rates slightly went down but stabilized, u you were able to

[38:31] generate uh interest income of $360,000 uh which was $270,000

[38:39] more than the final budget of $90,000. And again, it's interest earnings and

[38:44] and and includes some rental income in that line as well. The next line is your

[38:49] fines and forfeitures. These are tickets that your police officers issued. Again,

[38:54] um although less than the prior year from an actual perspective, the revenues

[38:59] generated were $392,000 and that did exceed the budget by over $182,000.

[39:06] And then lastly, under state aid, uh there is a caption there. The mortgage

[39:10] tax revenues, they did exceed the budget by approximately $10,000. Uh final

[39:15] budget was $461,000. He did receive over $472,000.

[39:21] So, the $423,000 was the revenue surplus that you saw.

[39:26] Um, if you turn the page, um, these are some of the the next slide. Um, these

[39:33] are some of the major revenues and giving you a three-year look back again.

[39:36] Real property taxes. Um, those are in line. You're the town has not exceeded

[39:41] the tax cap. You've you're within the 2% tax cap uh from actually for a long

[39:47] time. I just presented three years here. Your interest in penalties on taxes

[39:52] actually dropped in 2024, but it's trending upwards in 2025. You do provide

[39:58] clerk services for the town and village, and you do receive a revenue offset from

[40:02] the village. Uh historically, that's been around $2 $300,000. So, it did drop

[40:07] a little bit in 2024, but it's a little over $200,000

[40:12] and 25. Use of money and property, your interest earnings. again um you know we

[40:17] go back to 22 where we're getting out of the COVID years 22 23 uh we've expected

[40:24] interest rates to kind of go down they have stabilized um you did have pretty

[40:28] good interest uh earnings in 2024 it dipped a little bit in 2025

[40:34] um but relatively right around $300,000 on a $90,000 budget uh I'm sorry

[40:40] $378,000 on a $90,000 budget. your fines and forfeited bail. Again, these are

[40:45] your tickets and and your bail. Uh roughly about $400,000. It dropped a

[40:50] little bit in 2025. Uh state aid, your mortgage tax revenues. It's encouraging

[40:56] to see mortgage tax um on an upscale. It did dip a little bit

[41:02] in 24, but we're back up to uh numbers that we've seen in 23 and 22. And then

[41:08] all other categories I just wanted to tie into your overall uh revenues and

[41:13] that's just other items uh significant amount of items there.

[41:19] Uh we did the same thing if you next slide on your expenses.

[41:23] Um to the left there these are general terms your general government support

[41:28] basically the town's administrative costs from the supervisor's office the

[41:33] engineering office. you do pay certain tax or shirari claims from those, but

[41:38] you can see that generated a favorable variance all the way to the right of

[41:42] $72,000 on a $2.7 million budget. Uh you do have economic opportunity and

[41:49] development and these are your senior programs, nutrition programs, your

[41:54] transportation support services um to generate a small variance 7.7,200

[42:02] on a $726,000 budget. Your culture and recreation,

[42:06] which is your parks programs, also had a a favorable variance on the expenditure

[42:11] side. home and community services, which is your refuge and garbage, small

[42:15] surplus. Uh, again, on the expenditure side, and your employee benefits, which

[42:21] most significantly is your medical insurance, also was pretty much break

[42:24] even compared to your final budget. It's actually a little bit less than when uh

[42:28] you originally adopted. Your debt service is your interest on bond

[42:33] anticipation notes. And then you do have transfers as we talked about. uh you did

[42:37] amend the budget to transfer more money to the capital projects fund for ongoing

[42:41] capital activities, but overall you had expenditure savings of just under

[42:46] $100,000, about a little 1.6 million, 1.6% of the

[42:51] overall budget. Same thing on the expense side, just to

[42:55] give you some perspective on the next slide. Um a three-year comparison. Uh

[43:00] you can see your general again general government support your administrative

[43:04] cost pretty much in line over the past three years roughly about $2.6 million.

[43:09] Your transportation support services um did did see a little drop in 2024. You

[43:15] did purchase uh equipment that wasn't present in 25 and that accounts for the

[43:21] the expense expenditures being slightly less parks programs. Um we did see a

[43:28] a rise in salaries. You did hire a new full-time person in the parks department

[43:33] and you did purchase some equipment in 2025 and that results in the increase

[43:38] compared to 2024. State retirement is uh based on the

[43:44] employees that are reported uh at the contribution rate. The contribution rate

[43:49] is up slightly. Um, I believe it's up five or 6% and that really translates

[43:55] into a slight rise in your state retirement expenditures from um 33

[44:01] $34,000 and 24 to 355,25.

[44:07] And the good news is the medical insurance, the nice ship rates. Uh, we

[44:10] all expected some double digit increases and the rate increases wasn't as

[44:15] significant. um you did have less retirees and that translated into being

[44:21] a little bit less uh than 2024 and then you do have transfers out debt service

[44:28] fund that covers your principal and interest on debt pretty much in line

[44:32] based on the amortization schedules. Capital projects fund that's can change

[44:36] uh based on your capital needs. Um, you can see that last year you did work on

[44:42] that continued in 2025. And again, some of the funding in the special purpose

[44:47] fund is to cover the Dale Cemetery. Um, so that's the general fund. Next

[44:53] slide. Um, you do operate a town outside villages. Same presentation here. Um,

[44:58] four columns. The original budget is what you folks approved back in the fall

[45:02] again of 2024. Details can be found on pages 70 and 74 of the audit report.

[45:08] Again, from a high level, 4 point almost $4.7 million of revenues, expenditures

[45:14] of $4.4 million representing an excess. And when you factor out transfers again

[45:20] to other funds, you come down to that net change in fund balance of the

[45:24] bracket at $177,000. That represents two components. 77,928

[45:31] again are open purchase orders from 2024 that automatically roll and amend the

[45:38] 2025 budget. That just means that the town committed to funds. It just didn't

[45:42] receive them as of December 31st 24. Um so again they automatically roll and the

[45:49] $100,000 is what the town um designated from its own fund balance in 24 to

[45:57] balance the 2025 um budget.

[46:02] Final budget very very little change in the final budget. Um again the town did

[46:08] uh appropriate some funds. You can see that net change in fund balance went

[46:13] from 177,000 to $214,000. So slight amendment about $30,000.

[46:20] Um and then you come to the third column, your actual results. Your actual

[46:24] revenues came in $485,000 better than your final budget and your you had

[46:29] expenditure savings of $195,000. So take revenue, subtract your expenses and

[46:35] subtract your other financing sources. You come down to that net change in fund

[46:40] balance. Again, you had revenues that exceeded expenditures by $464,000.

[46:45] So, you're able to add that to your opening fund balance of $5.7 million and

[46:50] you end the year at $6.2 million. Again, from a budgetary standpoint, that third

[46:56] line from the bottom, that change in fund balance, um you anticipated using

[47:00] $214,000 of your own funds. Um, but not only did you not need to utilize those,

[47:05] you actually generated a surplus in the town outside villages fund of $464,000.

[47:12] So that swing from anticipating using 214 to actually generating $464,000

[47:20] represents a budgetary surplus of almost $680,000.

[47:25] So again, uh, next slide. Um, we're going to focus on the 25

[47:30] column. You ended the year with $6.2 $2 million in fund balance. Again, same

[47:34] presentation. You have money set aside for prepaid expenditures. You do have

[47:39] money set uh restricted for cable television purposes to the tune of

[47:44] $347,000. So, that's slightly up. In the current

[47:48] year, you do have purchases on ordered and again, these will automatically roll

[47:53] and amend the 26 budget. uh you did utilize $50,000 to balance the current

[47:59] budget that you're in, the 2026 budget, and you do have a healthy fund balance

[48:04] of $5.7 million on an overall uh budget of about $5 million.

[48:12] Again, next slide. How did you get there? Again, here, same presentation.

[48:16] The two big factors again were your nonpropy taxes, which is really your

[48:21] sales tax revenues that the count that Westchester County shares with you. And

[48:26] you can see that those revenues exceeded the budget by $376,000.

[48:31] $1.2 million budget in your actual revenues came in at $1,576,000.

[48:37] And the other significant area is your use of money and property again which is

[48:41] your interest earnings which um generated income which was $44,000

[48:46] more than the final budget. And really those categories there uh translated

[48:51] into your revenue surplus of $484,000. Uh we did the same next slide. Uh those

[48:58] some of the major revenues just to give you uh some historical trends. Real

[49:02] property tax is all in line with the 2% property tax cap uh slightly up in

[49:08] accordance with the levy increase. Franchise fees are uh pretty much

[49:13] roughly around $160,000 over the past 3 years. Your nonpropy tax

[49:18] distribution from the county sales tax uh has been rising. It's trending

[49:22] upwards which is a great sign uh not only for Austin but all the communities

[49:27] in Westchester. Uh your departmental income which is your permit fees. Um we

[49:32] saw a little drop in 2024, but that's trending upwards. Uh you know, with the

[49:37] interest with the mortgage interest rates um being a little bit high still

[49:41] people are, you know, deciding to do some work and on their homes and pulling

[49:45] out permits and things like that. So that generated a pretty good surplus.

[49:49] And your state aid, your mortgage tax, we've seen um those are trending upwards

[49:53] as well. the the general fund and the town outside villages share in in that

[49:58] uh mortgage tax. Um and that's really it. I just wanted

[50:03] to tie in and I just put everything else in all other categories. So same thing

[50:07] on the expenditure side real quick. You had a u expenditure savings of in all

[50:12] categories. Um same setup. General support is your administrative cost. In

[50:17] this case your public safety is your police services. Um your culture and wer

[50:22] your parks program. Uh and then again your employee benefits overall you had

[50:26] expenditure savings of 195,000 a little over 4% of the town outside villages

[50:32] funds budget. Um

[50:37] next slide is just to give you some of the major expenditures. Again a

[50:41] three-year comparison. Um general government support is roughly around a

[50:46] half a million dollars. We did see a slight increase uh in the engineering

[50:51] department for some drainage work in 2025 and that resulted in that slight

[50:56] increase um in the police line and those are increases in salaries in accordance

[51:02] with your uh police IMA contract um from 2.5 to $2.6 million. Building inspection

[51:10] uh fees roughly around $200 $220,000. your intermunicipal agreement with the

[51:16] village slight increase um but gen generally around the 400 and

[51:22] $400,000 mark over the past three years and then the transfers are going to be

[51:27] on an annual basis of what's needed. Highway Department did a lot of paving

[51:31] in 2024, transferred more more funds. Um did significant amount of work in 25 as

[51:39] well, but not to the extent of 2024. Capital projects. Um again doing some

[51:45] capital work and debt services to cover some interest on your debt obligations.

[51:51] Next slide. Um you very quickly you do operate some other funds. You have a

[51:57] highway fund that remained strong that ended the year with revenues that

[52:01] exceeded the expenditures by a little over $63,000. You have a healthy fund

[52:06] balance there of $1.6 million which is a sign specifically for the highway

[52:11] department. You have a special districts fund where expenditures did exceed

[52:16] revenues. It was almost a break even year. You still have fund balance there

[52:20] to the tune of $970,000. again specifically assigned for special

[52:25] districts. And you do have an active capital projects fund. There are

[52:29] currently over 30 active projects. Although the fund does show a deficit of

[52:33] $1.19 million, it is supported by a $3.97

[52:39] million short-term bondicipation notes. Um the accounting for short-term

[52:45] bondication notes is different than when you issue uh permanent financing such as

[52:51] bonds. The short-term bond anticipation notes are not recognized as revenue

[52:56] until you pay them down or you convert them to permanent financing. So although

[53:01] the fund has a deficit overall, it is supported by short-term financing.

[53:08] That leads into the next slide which is your your this is your debt service

[53:12] obligations and this is your bonds only. You can see that the town has 1.86

[53:18] million in bonds outstanding at December 31st, 2025 with interest rates from a

[53:24] low of a half a percent to a high of 4.25%.

[53:30] Um the higher interest rate will be paid off um in in April of 2027. down at the

[53:37] bottom, we are required to report those payments to maturities over the next

[53:41] five years and then in increments of five years. So you can see your debt

[53:45] service requirements if we look at the total column is very small compared to

[53:50] your overall town and town outside villages funds uh 468,000

[53:56] that's probably less than 1%. Um, and then it it kind of drops down. Again,

[54:02] you do have short-term bonds and if you do convert them into permanent financing

[54:07] into bonds down the road, it could change uh what's due in 28 29 and so on.

[54:13] But right now, your debt service requirements are low overall.

[54:18] So, uh that's it. Next slide. And just some closing points. Um the town had a

[54:23] great year. uh town's in great uh financial health and that could be

[54:27] credited to you folks the town board as well as the finance department. You have

[54:31] demonstrated a history of uh prudent budgetary management and tax levy

[54:36] discipline. As I mentioned, you haven't exceeded the tax cap since uh I could

[54:41] recall. uh the general fund performed better than budget and you did have

[54:45] revenues exceeding the final budget by over $442,000

[54:51] and your expenditures were below budget by almost $100,000. So after plan

[54:56] transfers, your fund balance did show a modest decrease of $188,000 as

[55:01] discussed, but your overall fund balance is at a healthy $6.7 million. And the

[55:06] tan outside fund also had favorable um had a favorable year with revenues that

[55:11] exceeded the budget and expenditures that were below the budget and actually

[55:15] increasing fund balance uh by approximately $465,000.

[55:20] So why is all that important? Because it's going to help you when you uh come

[55:25] and sit to formulate your 2027 budget in the fall of this year. It's going to

[55:32] improve your cash flow. You have a great bond rating. So that translates into

[55:36] better interest earnings when you do decide to go out and get some permanent

[55:40] financing. Um it allows you to fund unexpected um budgets or uh revenue

[55:47] shortfalls. In your case, the town did uh transfer some funds to the capital

[55:53] projects fund for its ongoing capital improvements rather than going out to

[55:56] borrow funds. So it allows the opportunity to do that by having uh that

[56:02] fund balance. Um and you do the town does guarantee the full payment of the

[56:07] school district warrants. Um so the town pays the school uh no matter if it's

[56:12] collected and they assume um the the uncollected taxes. So from a cash flow

[56:18] perspective the town has to factor that in but overall you do have uh you know

[56:22] fund balance to account for that. Um there are a couple of pronouncements at

[56:26] the bottom there that will impact the uh town uh in 2026 and we will work with

[56:31] the finance department to make sure that those are implemented. But overall a

[56:35] great year. I know I went through a lot of numbers in a short time but if

[56:39] there's any questions.

[56:45] No, we appreciate the uh thorough comprehensive

[56:50] uh brought going through it. You want to

[56:55] say something? >> Yes. Um thank you for the effort.

[57:05] Um just want to thank the finance team and

[57:10] effort very strong confident.

[57:17] Yeah. And and Martha, we can't forget Martha who does a lot of work. So

[57:21] between Martha, Dale, and Liz, um myself, we really keep an eye on the

[57:26] numbers. And I really do have to thank the department heads for being

[57:29] responsible and really thinking through each person purchase and each process.

[57:34] Um, we work hard to make every dollar count. So, and thank you for putting

[57:43] that all in paper for us. So, have anything to add, Dale?

[57:53] » Uh, I just wanted to say a big thank you obviously to the town board and town

[57:58] supervisor and of course, Magical Martha. Um, but of course to the finance

[58:04] team as well, Liz Nikari's on um who really uh they all everybody pitches in.

[58:11] There's never anybody that says, you know, can't do it, don't have time. Even

[58:17] if they don't, they don't tell me that. So [laughter]

[58:20] that that that's something else. And and a huge thank you to Rob and his team. Uh

[58:25] always always a learning experience because of all these new pronouncements

[58:29] every year. So, um, get ready for the next ones, right, Ron? [laughter]

[58:34] » Yeah. >> So, I appreciate that because they they

[58:37] they're they're a huge help and and and help us keep the train train moving.

[58:43] » Yeah. You definitely keep us on our toes with what we have to go find for you.

[58:47] [laughter] >> We'll find a receipt from Okay.

[58:53] » Anyway, thank you. >> Thank you.

[58:55] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[58:58] » Okay. Okay, thank you very much. Moving on, supervisor and town board

[59:04] announcements. >> Okay,

[59:08] the Austining River Jam Con summer concert series finale is this Friday

[59:12] with another great evening of live music on our waterfront. This week's featured

[59:16] performer is the Barn Barn Vultures performing a mix of classic Americana

[59:21] and Roots Rock. The food trucks will begin serving at 5:00 p.m. and the

[59:26] concert starts at 7:00 p.m. Lewis Engle Spray Park remains open 7

[59:31] days a week from noon until 7:00 p.m. During periods of extreme heat, the town

[59:37] may extend the operating hours 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.

[59:41] Any scheduled changes will be announced on the town website and Facebook page.

[59:46] Residents visiting the John Paul Rodriguez Operations Center at 101 Route

[59:50] 9A are reminded that the building is secured daily at 3:30 p.m. Appointments

[59:56] are available between 3:30 and 4:30 for town applicants and submissions by

[1:00:00] contacting the building department in advance at 9147628419.

[1:00:08] We're also pleased to remind the residents that the Aston Havstra ferry

[1:00:12] is offering hourly weekly weekend hourly weekend service also on Saturdays and

[1:00:18] Sunday through October 31st. Naerta Health and Wellness Journey will

[1:00:24] be hosting free guided meditation on Wednesday, August 26 at 5:30 at the

[1:00:29] Cedar Lane Art Center. There will also be a wellness talk and additional

[1:00:33] giveaways. The friends of Old Croin Aqueduct are

[1:00:37] running an invasive plant removal extravaganza on Saturday, August 29th

[1:00:41] from 11 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Learn from the expert crew leaders of the N New

[1:00:47] York New Jersey trail conferences invasive strike force to manage invasive

[1:00:51] grasses and bushes. No experience is needed and tools will be provided. For

[1:00:56] more information, please visit aqueduct.org.

[1:01:03] The 7th annual ASA Hispanical Festival is scheduled for Saturday, September

[1:01:08] 12th. Join them for a vibrant celebration of Hispanic culture. Enjoy

[1:01:12] live Latin music, folklore, dance, and authentic food. The event also features

[1:01:18] arts, crafts, family-friendly activities, and is presented by Austrian

[1:01:22] Padre Suspenos. It will take place at Nelson Park from noon until 7:00 p.m.

[1:01:28] Up the Rivers Blues Festival returns this year Saturday, September 12th at

[1:01:32] the Louiswis Englewaterfront Park. For more information, please visit up the

[1:01:36] ros riverbluesfest.com.

[1:01:41] Elig eligible moderate income household households may qualify for monthly

[1:01:46] utility bill discounts through the New York State Expanded Energy Affordability

[1:01:50] Program. To learn more, please visit nyapp.com/program.

[1:01:59] Jazz at the Lodge continues every Thursday evening. Please visit

[1:02:02] jazzatthewthedge.com for the performance schedule and additional details.

[1:02:07] Sustainable Westchester reminds residents that its free grid rewards

[1:02:10] program allows participants to earn incentives by reducing electricity

[1:02:15] during periods of peak demand. Additional information is available at

[1:02:19] sustainable westchester.org. Neighbors Link continues to provide

[1:02:24] valuable services and trusted resources for our immigrant community, including

[1:02:28] know your rights webinars offered in both English and Spanish. Residents can

[1:02:32] find information for trusted local professionals by visiting

[1:02:35] neighborslink.org and selecting the resources page. The Austining Public

[1:02:40] Library continues to offer outstanding educational culture and family program

[1:02:44] throughout the year. For the latest calendar of events, please visit the

[1:02:48] library's website or follow its official Facebook page. Um, they are doing

[1:02:53] construction and they will be possibly moving their book um, lending

[1:03:00] services to alternate locations. So, please keep an eye out for that as well.

[1:03:04] The Loft LGBTQ plus community center offers a wide range of support programs,

[1:03:10] groups, educational opportunities, and community resources for LGBTQ plus

[1:03:14] individuals and families. For more information, P is available at the

[1:03:18] lofgaycenter.org. And as always, there are many more

[1:03:23] exciting events taking place in our community and we have time to mention. I

[1:03:27] encourage everyone to visit the weekly supervisors update on the supervisor's

[1:03:31] page to stay informed about upcoming events, programs, and opportunities

[1:03:35] throughout the town of Austin. Thank you. Anybody have any

[1:03:44] » Oh, >> nothing waterfront

[1:03:46] » and it's the 25th anniversary, I can't believe it, of 911. And there will be a

[1:03:52] waterfront ceremony at >> Louis Engle Park. From 5 to 8:00 PM

[1:03:57] 911 >> from 5 to 8:00 p.m. at Louiswis Engle

[1:04:01] Park. We'll give you more information next week.

[1:04:04] Thank you. I think it's two weeks. Two weeks.

[1:04:08] » Yep. And I think we have one more meeting before that.

[1:04:11] » Yeah, he said she'll give them.

[1:04:16] Okay. [clears throat] Thank you all. Moving on, public comment

[1:04:21] on agenda items. Visitors are accorded a fourminuted opportunity to address the

[1:04:25] board on any of the resolutions on the agenda. Is there anyone online that

[1:04:28] would like to raise their virtual hand? No one. Let's move on to board

[1:04:33] resolutions. Approval of minutes regular meeting August 11th, 2026.

[1:04:38] Resolve that the town board of the town of Austin hereby approves the August

[1:04:41] 11th, 2026 minutes of the regular meeting as presented. Do I have a

[1:04:45] motion? >> So move.

[1:04:46] » Second. >> In favor?

[1:04:48] » I. I >> approval of voucher detail report that

[1:04:52] the board of trustees of the village of Austin hereby approves the voucher

[1:04:55] detail report dated August 25th 2026 in the amount of $588,58648.

[1:05:04] Do I have a motion? >> So move second.

[1:05:06] » All in favor? Hi, I'm wrong group.

[1:05:14] » Personnel appointment highway seasonal labor resolved that the board of

[1:05:17] trustees of board of trustees resolved that the town board of the town of

[1:05:21] Austin hereby uh appoints Jonathan Aurora Austining to a seasonal position

[1:05:26] of labor on the town highway department at an hourly rate of $17 an hour

[1:05:31] effective August 17th, 2026. Do I have a motion?

[1:05:36] » So moved. All in favor? >> I

[1:05:40] personel, [laughter] >> we had a second on there, didn't

[1:05:42] » Sorry, I said I didn't second. >> Personnel appointment highway seasonal

[1:05:47] labor resolved that the town board of the town of Austin appoints Darien

[1:05:51] Blocking Blocking

[1:05:56] to the seasonal position of labor for the town highway department at an hourly

[1:06:00] rate of $17 an hour effective August 17th, 2026. Do I have a motion?

[1:06:06] » Move. Second. >> All in favor?

[1:06:07] » I. >> New York State Liquor Authority special

[1:06:12] event permit up the river Bluesfest resolve the town board of the town of

[1:06:15] Austin hereby authorizes the supervisor to sign a landlord authorization form

[1:06:20] for the New York State Liquor Authority special event permit application for

[1:06:24] each of the following vendors. 6° or less brewery and wana sip for a craft

[1:06:30] beverage corral at the up the river Bluesfest event September 12th 2026 at

[1:06:36] Lewis Angel Park and be it further resolved that each applicant will

[1:06:40] provide the proof of insurance and a letter of indemnity to the town in a

[1:06:44] form acceptable to council for the to to the town. I have a motion.

[1:06:48] » So moved. Second. >> All in favor? I

[1:06:53] » finance capital project 2026-5271-2026

[1:06:59] chapar and Gord Gordon stream slope reinforcement for the highway department

[1:07:04] resolved that the town board of the town of Austin authorize the opening of the

[1:07:08] 2026 capital project 2026-5271 entitled the 2026 chapar and Gordon

[1:07:15] stream slope reinforcement for the for the town highway department with

[1:07:20] projected budget of $70,000 and the project will be funded by transfers for

[1:07:24] the fund highway fund balance of $70,000 and the ins and outs of uh the debits

[1:07:31] and the credits are will be posted on the clerk's bulletin board and on the

[1:07:35] web page. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second.

[1:07:38] » All in favor? >> I. Resolution Park nullles amendment to

[1:07:42] the affordable declaration. And whereas due to fire in building one of a

[1:07:46] two-building multi-family residential rental property located at 87 Hawks

[1:07:51] Avenue known as Parthnos, residents of building

[1:07:55] one have been displaced and whereas the owner of the property of Parthnos LLC

[1:08:00] has requested the town temporarily authorized modification to the owner's

[1:08:05] declaration of restricted covenants for affordable housing dated December 2nd,

[1:08:10] 2021 and allow displaced residents of building one to reside in those two of

[1:08:15] the designated below market rate units at the current at the currently vacant

[1:08:21] in building that are currently vacant in building two. And whereas while the town

[1:08:25] board recognizes the need for affordable housing giving the BMR units are vacant

[1:08:31] and there are Austining residents who currently have nowhere to live, the town

[1:08:35] board believes it's unprecedented and time-sensitive circumstances warrant

[1:08:39] temporary allowing of these two units to be used to for the displaced market rate

[1:08:44] residents of building one provided there is a plan in place for the owner to

[1:08:49] reestablish the BMR units with a reasonable period of time and that a

[1:08:54] third vacant BMR unit in building 2 be rented to a former occupant of building

[1:09:00] one BMU. And therefore, be it resolved that the town board hereby authorizes

[1:09:05] the supervisor to enter into the agreement amending the declaration of

[1:09:08] restricted covenants for affordable housing effective a excuse me August

[1:09:13] 18th, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second.

[1:09:17] » All in favor? >> I.

[1:09:19] Resolution tax certuary statement by Cliff Commons. Be resolved that on upon

[1:09:25] recommendation of the town assessor and the town council and findings to be in

[1:09:30] the best interest of the town, the town board approves a settlement of tax

[1:09:33] circuitary proceedings pending at 139 Scarboro LLC versus the town of Austin

[1:09:39] at all Westchester County Supreme Court index 71702-2825

[1:09:47] for the property located at 139 Scarbor Road, village of Briercliffe Manor, town

[1:09:52] of testing as to set forth in a proposed consent uh judgment for assessments for

[1:09:58] year 2025 the estimated total tax refund of $1,224.33

[1:10:05] and a 2026 final assessment role to value the subject property at $2

[1:10:09] million. And we had further resolved that the

[1:10:13] town supervisor, the town assessor, the town receiver of taxes, town controller,

[1:10:18] the town council and other revelent revelent staff are authorized to take

[1:10:23] the necessary step steps and appropriate actions to ex execute, file, process and

[1:10:28] make payment on the aforementioned settlement. Do I have a motion?

[1:10:32] » No move. >> Can we have it as amended? Um just the

[1:10:36] heading um it's not even the resolution itself but um the Brier Cliff Commons is

[1:10:41] incorrect. It should be 139 Scarboro.

[1:10:46] » Do I have a motion as amended? >> The motion as amended.

[1:10:50] » Second as amended. >> All in favor?

[1:10:53] » I

[1:10:58] I'll uh resolution taxuary uh settlement Eminem realy corporation. That's

[1:11:04] correct. >> Excellent. Uh, be it res I just want to

[1:11:07] know it ahead of time. Of course, I read the whole thing and didn't realize. Uh,

[1:11:11] be it resolved at the recommendation of the town assessor and the town council

[1:11:15] and finding that be in the best interest of the town, the town board approves the

[1:11:19] settlement of taxuary proceeding pending for Eminem realy corporation versus the

[1:11:23] town of Osning at all Westchester County Supreme Court. And then the indexes

[1:11:29] follow for the property located at 520 North State Road, town of Austining and

[1:11:34] set as set forth in the proposed consent judgment for the assessment year 2025

[1:11:39] with an estimated total t tax refund of $2,528

[1:11:45] and a 2026 final assessment rule to reflect the aggregate value of the

[1:11:50] subject parcels at $74,000. And be it further resolved that the

[1:11:56] board the town supervisor board supervisor town supervisor, town

[1:12:01] assessor, town receiver of taxes, town controller, town council and other

[1:12:05] relevant staff are authorized to take the necessary steps and appropriate

[1:12:08] action to execute, file, process and make payment on the aformation

[1:12:13] settlement. Do I have a motion? >> So move second.

[1:12:15] » All in favor? >> I.

[1:12:18] » Okay. Monthly reports.

[1:12:23] Resolve the town board of town of Austin hereby accepts the following monthly

[1:12:26] reports for the month of July 2026. Dale Cemetery and Highway Department.

[1:12:31] There's a recognition. Visitors shall be accorded a fourm minute opportunity to

[1:12:35] speak. Is it motion vote on the res? >> I apologize. I should have done that.

[1:12:40] Okay. Do I have a motion? >> So move.

[1:12:42] » Second. >> All in favor? I

[1:12:46] » pass. I'm so close. Visitor recognition. Visitors are accorded a one fourm minute

[1:12:52] opportunity to speak. Is there anyone online that wishes to speak to the ward?

[1:12:55] Thank you. And do I have a motion to adjurnn? Are you going into executive

[1:13:00] session?

[1:13:04] Um Martha, do you have anything? I think we're good.

[1:13:09] » Motion to adjurnn. >> So move. Second.

[1:13:11] » All in favor? Hi. >> Hey. I'd like to thank everybody for

[1:13:15] joining us um our meeting and for our recognition of the amazing first

[1:13:21] responders that are in our community and beyond. Um

[1:13:26] see you when is our next meeting?

[1:13:32] September 1st. See you September 1st work session, right?

[1:13:37] » Town hall meeting. >> Town hall.

[1:13:39] » Or a town hall meeting. Thank you.

Town of Ossining Legislative Meeting 8 25 2026

Transcript