[0:21] if anybody would like to speak during
public comment please make sure that you
[0:24] just write your name down
[0:28] please
[0:49] [Music]
[0:58] h
[1:08] this one yeah it is 6:30 pm. on Monday
December 1st or excuse me December 11th
[1:15] uh 20123 I'm going to call the meeting
of the port tourist common Council to
[1:19] order before we do the pledge um 10
years ago when I was inaugurated um I
[1:26] had asked uh Mr seagull's grandchildren
um that were alive I should say or young
[1:32] or old enough old enough to be able to
do it Emma was seven and Johnny was four
[1:38] and since this is my last meeting I've
asked Emma and Johnny to come back to
[1:41] lead us in the pledge Emma is now 17 and
Johnny is now 14 so if you guys would
[1:47] like to come up and I really truly
appreciate
[1:50] it please rise for the
[1:57] pledge to the flag of the United States
of America and to the Republic for which
[2:03] it stands one nation under God
indivisible with liberty and justice for
[2:09] all God Bless America it was very much
an honor guys thank you very much
[2:14] welcome
back don't stay away so long right are
[2:19] you inviting them to join the council no
they can leave
[2:24] now okay um roll call Mr Foster M Foster
first word council president
[2:30] Liz Miller first W council president
misser second councel presid Maria man
[2:35] second council president Stan s council
at large presid Kelly Decker mayor
[2:40] presid Tim Simmons fourth W council
president Melissa newuser fourth W
[2:45] Council
presor counil thank you uh we have three
[2:50] public hearings uh the first is a
continuance uh for the public hearing of
[2:55] local law 13 of 2023 decree article 3
chapter 4 430 of short-term rentals um
[3:02] I'll entertain a motion to open so Move
Motion by Mr Simmons second by Mr
[3:06] seagull discussion all in favor opposed
so carried um this is gone back to code
[3:13] I know that uh it has bounced back and
forth between Corporation Council and
[3:17] our building department um I spoke with
uh members of the new Council and the
[3:22] new mayor and uh they'll take it up in
um in January so what we're going to do
[3:28] is we're going to keep this do you want
to keep it open because we it's got to
[3:32] be discussed yes also I spoke with the
planning board attorney city planning
[3:37] board attorney they expect to have some
comments to us after December 19th
[3:42] perfect um so that actually will
probably fall as in uh in planning three
[3:49] of 2024 and I'll explain the what one
and two will be um I'll entertain a
[3:55] motion to keep the public uh meeting
open moot by Mr Mr Simmons second by Mr
[4:01] seagull discussion all public hearing
open yes all in favor opposed so carried
[4:09] thanks uh we have set a real property
exemption for First Responders I need a
[4:15] motion to open second motion by Mr
Simmons second by Mr seagull discussion
[4:21] all in favor opposed so carried um you
have all the paperwork on this in
[4:28] regards to
um this will be budgeted in the
[4:33] 2025 budget um as we discussed this
we're having the public hearing tonight
[4:39] uh so to allow the coun the next Council
the um affordability of of the first
[4:46] meeting to pass this if they choose to
this is for a local law providing for
[4:50] partial tax exemption upon real property
based upon the owners uh volunteer
[4:55] membership in the port JIS fire
department or the port JIS ambulance
[4:59] pursuant to section
466a of the real property tax law uh
[5:04] anyone from the council with any
comments yes sir um I think this is a
[5:09] really good program for uh our local
fire departments and EMS workers because
[5:15] um a lot of other communities are able
to afford uh what's referred to as a
[5:20] lowp program where
um money is is is put away so that at a
[5:27] certain point in time uh there's like a
retirement benefit for lack of a better
[5:32] term to those uh to those individuals
who are First
[5:37] Responders um unfortunately we're not in
a financial position to establish such a
[5:44] thing here uh and I think this is the
next best thing to that uh a lot of
[5:50] people put in a lot of time um
to keep our community safe myself I know
[5:58] I've got s years in the fire department
Stan's got over 50 and uh Dennis is
[6:05] right up there although he's not here
tonight the mayor's been involved with
[6:09] the fire department and and the
Ambulance Corp um and it's just a small
[6:15] way to to get back I believe thank you
thank you anyone else yeah um Tim's
[6:21] right and this might be a great
opportunity for people in the community
[6:25] would like to get involved with the port
J Fire Department like to said we're
[6:30] we're
aging um I'll have 60 years next year
[6:34] getting tired but I love doing it um but
we need Young Blood we need people with
[6:41] more energy than us old people so if
there's anybody out there go to any
[6:46] Firehouse get an application they're
online you can email me text me I'll
[6:51] send you an application but we're really
desperate because we're losing more
[6:55] firefighters than we're getting in and
it's really important to provide that
[7:00] service um as a
volunteer group uh we can't afford a
[7:06] paid fire department so we need more
volunteers so I encourage anybody that's
[7:10] interested come to a firehouse see what
goes on we can explain um what you have
[7:16] to do unfortunately there's a lot of
training hours but once you get past
[7:21] those training hours you're fully
equipped to be a firefighter to help our
[7:26] community so once again if you're
interested please contact the firehouse
[7:30] or myself or any a firan and we will get
you an application thank you thank you
[7:36] anybody else from the council anybody
from the public that would like to speak
[7:39] on this matter sir come up to the podium
please state your
[7:46] name hi my name's Craig
fan uh I think it's a great idea to to
[7:51] help the firewor they're doing a service
to the community and I think that's
[7:54] great unfortunately I I don't think this
is the greatest way to do it because it
[7:57] has no connection it's a it's reward
that has no connection to their service
[8:02] so you say you need young people there
might young people might be renting they
[8:05] won't get any benefit from this at all
um and a person that's been here a long
[8:10] time maybe isn't contributing as much
might have a big house he going to
[8:13] benefit a lot so it seems like that
disconnect bothers me a little bit and
[8:17] and um I know this is prompted by the
state law that allows this and you're
[8:22] sort of limited to the 10% that that's
the specification of state law um my one
[8:27] suggestion maybe would be to partially
uh address those concerns maybe to put a
[8:34] cap on it at uh 10% of the median
assessment value that way the the
[8:39] wealthy person that maybe doesn't need
it as much wouldn't get as much benefit
[8:44] and then you could keep the tax rate a
little bit lower so the people that
[8:47] weren't getting as much benefit that's
um
[8:52] um that's that's my main point I I again
I wish there was a better way that you
[8:57] you could just pay them directly and
that would most corre Fairway but um
[9:01] again that's my
comment so uh thank you very much just
[9:05] uh so you know under our assess value uh
it would come out to for all the all the
[9:11] firefighters and ambulance um by the way
I believe you had to you have to be two
[9:16] years yeah that's part I guess I don't
know I haven't seen the actual text of
[9:20] the requirements but the total amount
cost to the city is $32,400 okay okay I
[9:26] figured it was fairly modest amount but
I thank you to and it has to be primary
[9:34] residence correct anyone else from the
public not hearing I'll entertain a
[9:40] motion to close the public hearing
motion by Mr Simmons second by Mr
[9:44] seagull discussion all in favor opposed
so carried uh our last public hearing is
[9:52] on the 2024 budget as many people may
have seen that we went ahead and passed
[9:57] the budget uh last last uh last meeting
not realizing that we did have um
[10:03] assigned public comment and public
hearing during the workshops but it
[10:09] wasn't technically correct so we had to
make sure that we we did it so we're
[10:14] having a public hearing now on the 2024
budget and then it'll be presented to
[10:18] the council again uh for a vote so I'll
entertain a motion to open the public
[10:23] hearing motion by Miss Miller and second
by Mr Simmons discussion
[10:29] all in favor opposed so carried is
anybody from this this budget is
[10:37] um this was a presented to them as a
four the council as a
[10:45] 4.23% uh tax levy on the general fund uh
it is now a
[10:50] 4.16 which is being presented to them
tonight um is there anybody from the
[10:55] council that like to
[10:58] comment not hearing is there anybody
from the public that would like to
[11:02] comment yeah
one please come up to the microphone
[11:07] please state your
[11:17] name hi I'm Joan McBride I'm sure you
all remember me I've been here
[11:23] before um just so that you know there is
somebody that's
[11:27] watching um
this budget hearing does not follow the
[11:33] city
Charter according to the city
[11:38] Charter um honored before the 10th day
of November in each year the common
[11:43] Council shall give notice of a public
hearing on the proposed budget such
[11:48] notice shall be published in the
official City newspaper once at least 5
[11:53] days before such public hearing is held
in no event shall the public hearing on
[11:59] the tenative budget be held later than
the 30th day of November in each
[12:07] year so far you're ahead of the rest of
it but that one you didn't
[12:12] follow um also there were a lot of
questions at the last
[12:20] Workshop there was a lot of it about the
revenue and as far as I know it the
[12:27] budget has been passed away is and none
of the questions that the lady asked
[12:31] about the revenue has been
[12:35] answered thank you thank
you you want make any comments on that
[12:41] technically that's what the charter says
um unfortunately there was mix up
[12:48] everyone thought that the public hearing
notice had been published and the public
[12:52] hearing was held in time I believe in
past years this is just anecdotal
[12:57] information times when the public
hearing notice was not presented byv I
[13:03] can tell most of the years lot of the
years so what MCB said about the timing
[13:09] on that aspect of it is technically
correct there's
[13:14] no although it is technically not up to
what the charter says the budget being
[13:21] passed before the you know within
December is is generally accepted as far
[13:27] as the revenue questions know if they
were
[13:30] addressed you know if they were
addressed yeah they were addressed with
[13:33] the individual um I had a conversation
with her separately and they were
[13:39] addressed and
amended thank you anybody else from the
[13:44] public not hearing any I'll entertain a
motion to close the public hearing on
[13:49] the 2024
budget motion by Miss Miller second
[13:53] second by Mr Simmons discussion all in
favor opposed so carried
[14:02] we have before us tonight our Orange
County Clerk Kelly escu and she's here
[14:06] to talk about our DMV and then give us
an update good Flo's yours thank you
[14:12] good evening first I wanted to um
congratulate mayor dear on his uh 10
[14:16] years of service to uh the city of Port
JIS I have a certificate of appreciation
[14:20] signed by myself and legislator F oh
thank
[14:27] you
[14:31] and then I wanted to just update you on
how the mobile unit has been doing and
[14:36] then the new brick and mortar that we'll
be opening so the the mobile has been in
[14:41] service since April of um this year and
to date we have done
[14:46] 1,717 transactions we average about 200
a month you know give or take sometimes
[14:52] it's 300 sometimes it's 100 but never
less than 160 so it's been very well
[14:58] received
um the residents are very happy to have
[15:01] us back in Port Jervis and during this
time we've been working on the um the
[15:07] brook and mortar which is in the
government center on Sussex Street so
[15:12] that has been a big a big lift so we are
ready to open except we are waiting for
[15:20] equipment so I just wanted to let you
know and the equipment is beyond my
[15:24] control it's New York State DMV has to
go through procurement process which we
[15:29] all know how long that can take we were
hoping to be open um by January 1st I'm
[15:35] that's not going to happen but it will
be shortly thereafter I can't give you a
[15:39] date because you know how that is oh
Kelly said we'd be open and we're not so
[15:44] I just wanted to let you know that um
the mobile unit no one Waits outside in
[15:49] the cold they wait in their cars and the
security guard calls them over when it's
[15:53] their turn to go into the unit because I
know we're getting into uh cold weather
[15:57] also they can wait inside the building
there's a Lobby in a hallway it's not
[16:01] huge but if someone walks and doesn't
have a car they would be able to wait
[16:04] inside the building so um I just want to
say this has been a big project we've
[16:09] worked very hard we're very proud to be
coming back to Port JIS I know there is
[16:13] the need here and um we've been working
hard on it and I want to thank members
[16:18] of the city council that have worked
with me to bring this back here it's
[16:21] been uh it's been a great project so
Madam clerk I want to thank you and
[16:26] thank you for keeping me appraised of
everything along the way and I we really
[16:30] do appreciate it and we appreciate it
coming back to Port chis have any
[16:34] questions any questions yeah um I
contacted the state commissioner about
[16:40] the equipment I didn't get an answer yet
but I went
[16:45] there oh God a month ago after I had a
stroke and had difficulty navigating
[16:52] steps no one told me that I could sit in
my car stood out in the rain uh people
[16:59] that were there also stood out in the
rain there's no signage there to tell
[17:03] anybody they could go in the building
it's getting cold I think there should
[17:08] be some sort of a canopy or a popup or
something to provide for the people that
[17:13] are waiting to go in there and some
accommodation needs to be made for
[17:19] accessibility for this disabled there is
a handicap onap well no I didn't know
[17:24] that the guy just said come on up come
on up and I'm like there's a big sign
[17:28] kep blue sign I didn't see it like an
elevator lifts you up just it's just
[17:32] very awkward it's hard to believe it
could take this long for the equipment
[17:35] to come I I get a lot of complaints
about it um and and not much we can do
[17:42] if you're waiting for equipment and the
state hasn't gotten back we don't even
[17:45] know when that's going to be I just
think it's I think we could do better
[17:49] for our residen here you have to take
New York State and her hands are tied
[17:55] yor we could do
better
[17:59] on the building there's amount on the
building on the unit that can come out
[18:02] when it's windy it retracts it's for a
safety reason there's all sorts of
[18:06] things built into the unit I have not
had one complaint except for you Mr seel
[18:12] about the mobile unit not because
they're coming to me that's why well I
[18:15] go all over Orange County if no one's
complaining to me not any other
[18:19] municipality because it doesn't just go
here it goes all over I get it and but
[18:23] the thing is here twice a week the the
thing the problem is that here we had a
[18:30] we had an indoor
facility and people were accustomed to
[18:34] that and we don't have that we but
they're working on it we're we're
[18:38] getting it her hands are tied but it's
I'm not blaming anybody I'm just
[18:42] bringing for the complaints concerns
that I get called into me it's that
[18:47] simple and I will contact the
commissioner tomorrow cler that Orange
[18:52] County's ever had so I have that's
absolutely true than thank you very much
[18:56] thank
you okay I have no appointments uh we
[19:00] have executive session uh oh I'm sorry
public comment uh public
[19:13] comment she doesn't trust them send it
back send it to her tomorrow sometimes I
[19:18] well sometimes I forget to send it to
her after I take Miss McBride I already
[19:23] did that okay thank
[19:27] you
Craig I don't know how you say your last
[19:30] name FIA FIA fan okay are you here go
okay Mr
[19:40] Cox five minutes
right
[19:48] time okay good evening everyone my name
is Michael Cox ladies and gentlemen and
[19:54] count common Council Ste Mike you can
push that mik up
[19:59] citizens
[20:02] won congratulations mayor Decker on your
years of service to our city while
[20:07] acknowledging your dedication it is
essential to highlight that it came at
[20:11] the expense of the taxpayers you've made
may have done what you think is a lot
[20:15] for the city but in reality it has been
more for yourself family and friends
[20:19] rather than the taxpayers and those who
have helped you get in this position
[20:23] along the way you've made nepotism
disguised bribes as raises and favor ISM
[20:28] for friends including protecting
individuals who have lied under oath the
[20:32] norm and common practice I'm here to
advocate for my grandmother who damages
[20:36] to her home caused the city of Port
Jervis an exceed of
[20:40] $250,000 and remained unaddressed
leaving her nearly bankrupt and indebted
[20:44] to loans to repair her property a broken
pipe at her home is concealed beneath a
[20:49] mere temporary bandage and yet to be
addressed and is still leaking the issue
[20:54] is particularly disheartening for my
grandmother who as an immigrant arriving
[20:58] in this country almost 60 years ago and
have worked tirelessly with their
[21:01] husband to say for a secure
future who have worked tirelessly to
[21:07] secure a a secure future now almost all
their hard-earned savings are on the
[21:11] verge of depletion due to this ongoing
predicament in response to my concerns
[21:16] which I posted on the mayor's Facebook
page expressing my wish that the mayor
[21:20] would advocate for my grandmother like
he has done for others the mayor has
[21:23] offered a private response on his
Facebook St and Michael not on my
[21:27] personal Facebook page you have part of
a story and have no idea what I've done
[21:32] or what I have or haven't done as City
administrator on the situation but Mr
[21:36] Mayor there has been countless insurance
claims made and no denial letter
[21:40] received which goes against New York
state law Laura quick even told my
[21:44] mother City Hall will deny any claims
moving forward Mr Mayor is this the norm
[21:50] it was also stated by you that you
brought this to the common Council years
[21:55] ago everyone I spoke to denies that and
as has no recol recollection of even
[22:00] this but Mr may you are correct I may
not have all the details but what I do
[22:05] know is that as the leader of our city
you bear the responsibility for the
[22:10] welfare of its citizens my grandmother a
model taxpayer and homeowner is left
[22:15] practically bankrupt and both you and
the DPW have done nothing this has gone
[22:19] on for years now have you instructed
them to back off what I do know is that
[22:25] it appears mayor that you're committing
a d elction of Duty leaving my
[22:28] grandmother to handle everything on her
own with the assistance of my mother it
[22:32] raises the question are you truly
helping or are you protecting
[22:36] individuals who may have lied on sworn
affidavits given that you are the DP you
[22:40] and the DPW were on our property even
after behind it I've even included
[22:44] photos on your Facebook post that I made
as proof these photos interestingly
[22:50] enough were taken by the city and
attained by foiling mayor you're the
[22:54] driving force behind the wheel here and
the buck stops with you after countless
[22:58] pleas to you and the DPW no efforts on
your end have been made this rebuttal is
[23:04] easy for you to say since you have done
nothing and are so Adept to diverging
[23:07] from the
truth who have you helped besides
[23:11] yourself in a Selected Few Mr may you
forgotten those who help you along the
[23:15] way most importantly the taxpayers and
those who voted voted for you like my
[23:20] elderly grandmother in the past what I
now know is that you're the definition
[23:24] of corrupt people see through your
disingenuous AC
[23:28] actions as we welcome mayor elect ciss I
extend my congratulations on your
[23:34] Victory I hope you can learn for Mr
Decker's wrongdoings and in particular
[23:38] assist in mediating the current problem
my grandmother has been battling myn I
[23:43] acknowledging her and many others in the
city that have been duped by the current
[23:47] mayor it would mean a lot after all it
would be the right thing to do it would
[23:52] also help restore faith and trust back
into our local government something that
[23:55] has been lost and only known to those
who have been in the only know to those
[24:00] who have been in the orbit of Mayor deer
as the new mayor I believe if you remain
[24:05] honest and prior prioritize the
well-being of the taxpayers you'll be
[24:09] met with success corruption ER erodes
the very fabric of our community and I
[24:14] trust you will uphold the values that
poor JIS deserves by putting the city
[24:18] before yourself family and friends I
wish you the best of luck Mr CES now Mr
[24:24] Mayor I'm sure you will say the Court
ruled in the city's favor since there is
[24:27] no notice a claim filed or incident
report made within 3 months of the
[24:31] city's city of Port J doing its initial
work on it upon our property on my
[24:37] grandmother's property in which the
corrugated pipe was attached to very old
[24:41] clay in which the corrugated pipe was
attached to the Very Old Clay pipe that
[24:46] was found snapped and drained eight
after eight years of rainwater ran into
[24:52] my grandmother's property thus far it
has not been permanently repaired
[24:58] we do know that prior that prior to the
city coming on the property and
[25:03] completing this work eight years ago
there was never any kind of existing
[25:08] damage or existing problem of any kind
we also know that you were on the we
[25:13] also know that you were on the property
along with the DPW and could have told
[25:17] my grandmother to file a notice of claim
there is even documentation from 2012
[25:22] made by Mr Mr Fuller our engineer
stating the property was in good
[25:28] standing when a roof was being rebuilt
ultimately it takes more than 3 months
[25:34] for erosion to present itself due to
water over the last two years there have
[25:38] been additional two more notice of claim
submitted by Toral quick for ongoing
[25:43] water damages from the unrepaired pipe
there has been no response it is sad
[25:49] that no City official comes until you're
leening the problem yourself and
[25:53] uncovering the damage and uncovering the
damaged utilities what are your ulterior
[26:00] motives Mr Mayor because we know the
problem exists but we're left to be
[26:05] blamed for damages is this how we run
our city as an esteemed administrator Mr
[26:10] Mayor thank you
[26:17] everyone okay uh we will move into
executive session I have five Personnel
[26:23] matters two
contractual um I'd like to invite in the
[26:26] police chief as as well as any member of
the new Council what's your pleasure
[26:31] motion by M Miller seconded by Mr
Simmons discussion all in favor opposed
[26:37] so carried we shouldn't be too
[26:56] long
[27:06] oh